Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 18 Search
When Lu Zheng left, he did not leave through the front door, but left the back door for Li Yuan so as not to disrupt the scene.

Soon, the county lieutenant got his bearings in the yard and couldn't help but say, "Sir, there's half a footprint here!"

Li Yuan came to the place pointed by the county lieutenant and indeed found half a small footprint. It should be the footprint left by the intruder accidentally after being attacked by Wen Bao.

Judging from the size of this footprint, it is obviously a woman's footprint.

The two searched inside and outside the yard again, but found no other footprints, nor any remaining scent.

Being able to do this shows that the opponent's Qi-control and lightness skills are quite good.

And he came with a purpose, otherwise why would he be so cautious.

"Is it a human..." Li Yuan murmured.

If the demons and monsters simply want to harm people, then it is a simple demon incident, and its nature is only generally bad.

But if someone wants to harm someone else, or someone instructs a demon to harm Lu Zheng, the matter will be very serious.

He had just told Lu Zheng yesterday that the security in the county was good, but something like this happened today, which was a slap in the face.

The county magistrate whispered, "We can't rule out the possibility that it was done by a demon."

Li Yuan sneered, "A transformed demon? Whether it's a human or a demon, to be able to leave no trace, she must have at least reached the second level, and she's a woman..."

"Well, well, well, our county is truly home to hidden dragons and crouching tigers!" Li Yuan's voice grew increasingly stern. "Since that villain has been attacked by Wen Bao, he will surely not recover for a while. Search the entire city! This county magistrate wants to see who is so powerful as to dare to tamper with the Tai Sui. How absurd!"

Now someone dares to break into the house of Tiandi Xiucai at night with bad intentions, and who knows, he might dare to go to his mansion and do evil tomorrow.

This is no longer an ordinary case of breaking into a private residence at night, and a strong response must be taken.

Li Yuan gave direct orders, asking the county lieutenant to bring officials to search the entire city.

Although the possibility of finding the person is slim, Li Yuan doesn't mind taking this opportunity to clean up the entire Kaiyang County.

Otherwise, do you really think that he, the county magistrate, is usually so kind and easy to talk to?

The county lieutenant quickly took a copy of the half footprint, asked one person to stay there to monitor, and took the others back to the county government office to ask for help.

……

In a boudoir in Mingyue Tower, Su Mei was lying on the bed with a pack of ice on her head.

Although the bruise on her forehead had disappeared, her head still ached slightly, and she couldn't help but groan and cry out softly.

Zhu Sha was sitting aside, feeling a little annoyed by what she heard, so she stuffed a meat bun into Su Mei's mouth.

Just then, there was a noise outside.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Sha went out to take a look and quickly returned.

Su Mei chewed the meat bun and said vaguely, "What's wrong?"

"The police are here. Get up quickly and tidy yourself up." Zhu Sha said with a serious face.

She didn't expect the government to act so quickly and come here early in the morning.

Su Mei was startled and sat up instantly, "It's over, they're not really coming for me!"

"You're in such a hurry! I haven't even come for you yet. Put on your leather clothes first!" Zhu Sha frowned and said, "Are you scared now?"

Su Mei didn't dare to talk any more and quickly got up and dressed, changing into the former courtesan of Mingyue Tower. In the lobby of Mingyue Tower, the county lieutenant led his men to surround the area and personally search it.

He thought about what happened in Mingyue Tower yesterday, and this Mingyue Tower was highly suspicious.

Yesterday, Lu Zheng recited a poem to ridicule those scholars, which was also a curse on this brothel. It was inevitable that the other party would feel vengeful.

When the madam saw the county lieutenant and so many officials coming over, she came forward in a panic, "Oh my, sir, what happened? Why did you bring so many people here?"

The county lieutenant said calmly, "Last night, the county magistrate's house was robbed and valuables were stolen. I have ordered this official to search the entire city thoroughly!"

Li Yuan didn't want to push Lu Zheng to the forefront because of this matter, so he used the excuse that there was a thief in his house, and estimated that the wealthy families in the city would not dare to stop the search.

Upon hearing this, the madam couldn't help but say aggrievedly, "Oh, sir, we in Mingyue Tower are all weak women, each one innocent and never guilty of anything. Who would dare to steal anything from the county magistrate's house..."

The county lieutenant sneered, "You're just a shabby brothel owner, and you're still talking about innocence with me? Call everyone out here, I want to interrogate them one by one!"

The madam felt a little embarrassed. Their Mingyue Tower was an upscale place of entertainment. How could it be compared with those ordinary brothels?

Moreover, behind Mingyue Tower, there are local wealthy families as backers.

However, the madam still smiled and said, "Please bear with me, sir. I will go and call for help and cooperate with the authorities. But no one here has the courage to do such a thing..."

As she was speaking, the madam approached the county lieutenant, took out a bag of silver very familiarly, and stuffed it into the sleeve of the county lieutenant silently.

In the past, when government officials came to do business, some arrangements had to be made.

This county lieutenant would occasionally receive tributes from Mingyue Tower.

However, the county lieutenant took a step back and the bag of silver in his sleeve slipped out.

"Boom..."

The silver coins fell to the ground with a dull sound.

The sound attracted everyone's attention, and the atmosphere in the place froze for a moment.

The county lieutenant glared at her and said sternly, "You old woman! You actually tried to bribe me in broad daylight! You truly have no regard for the law! Someone, take this woman back to the county jail and have her interrogated!"

He is not obsessed with money. How could he not understand what is more important than what is less important?
The county magistrate is currently furious. If things don't have a good outcome, he estimates that he won't have a good life in the future.

Seeing this, the two officers nearby rushed forward without saying a word, locked up the brothel owner, and then dragged her out of Mingyue Tower.

Seeing that the county lieutenant was serious, the madam panicked and said, "Oh, sir, it's not me, I didn't do it, I'm innocent..."

When an officer saw the madam shouting and screaming, he took out a piece of rag and stuffed it into her mouth.

The county lieutenant then called on his other men to begin searching the Mingyue Tower. No one was spared and all were subject to interrogation, questioned about their movements last night, and their footprints were compared.

Zhu Sha and Su Mei were naturally among them, waiting in line for questioning.

When Zhu Sha saw the county lieutenant take out the footprints for comparison, he couldn't help but look at Su Mei. Is this what you meant by leaving no clues?

Su Mei noticed Zhu Sha's gaze and a hint of embarrassment appeared in her eyes.

She secretly used her inner strength to make her feet bigger, and also made the embroidered shoes she was wearing wider.

Soon, it was Su Mei's turn. She was used to dealing with these officials and remained calm and composed. After comparing the footprints, she successfully completed the interrogation and continued to wait in the hall.

(End of this chapter)