Minglong

Chapter 42 Confusing
An hour later, at the county government office.

County Magistrate Zhang Yuanqing, dressed in a light green official robe, stood respectfully at the side of the hall, his eyes watching his nose and his nose watching his heart.

The calm and composed Zhou He, the cigarette-smoking Yang Ting, and even the unruly Yang Dabiao all seemed like different people at this moment, with their hands hanging down and their waists hunched, and a bit of restraint could be seen in their standing posture.

Behind the long desk where the county magistrate originally sat, a middle-aged man in a dragon robe leaned back on a large chair, holding a white porcelain teacup in his hand, slowly scraping the floating tea leaves. Zhu Wenyuan stood beside him, holding a folding fan.

In the lobby, the Dean of the Imperial Academy Li Jing, the attendants Huangfu Qi and Ji Shiqing, all gathered in front of Li Zixian, carefully examining his bones, skin, flesh, meridians, acupoints, etc., and even took out the Bagua mirror that could detect blood, evil and evil.

Li Zixian faced an exaggerated lineup second only to the emperor himself, and lost all his aura as a wealthy young man. He knelt on the ground and dared not move:

"Your Highness, I am truly wronged. I have absolutely nothing to do with the demon bandits..."

Although the Dan King was a daughter slave, his demeanor was elegant yet dignified, and the aura between his eyebrows was extremely oppressive:
"Did you order these three bodies to be buried in the farmland?"

"Yes, but they weren't buried alive. These three men owed gambling debts and worked on the farm to pay them off..."

"Li Zi first."

Zhu Wenyuan picked up the lease on the table and threw it on the ground:
"You could fool ordinary officials, but you even dared to deceive the prince? I've just ordered an investigation of the farmhands, tenants, gambling house managers, and gamblers. It's confirmed that these three people disappeared one after another after they ran up debts and couldn't repay them. No one has seen them since. Do you think you can get away with it by forging a few IOUs?"

Li Zixian knew that he could not withstand the investigation, but he did not dare to admit the crime of burying someone alive.

Since the King of Dan is here in person to investigate the case, there must be a fair and just result.

Even if he really had nothing to do with the demon bandits, the crime of burying three civilians alive was enough to sentence him to immediate execution.

With so many people watching, if the King of Dan knew the truth and still showed favoritism, what would the people of Danzhou think? What would the imperial censors in the capital think?
As a prince, you are governing Danzhou on behalf of the emperor, but you are opening the door wide for the sons of wealthy families to kneel down and lick the feet of powerful officials in the capital?

Li Zixian is likely to be guillotined if he pleads guilty. All he can do is grit his teeth and stall for time, waiting for the capital to make arrangements. When questioned, he responded:
"These three people have been dead for nearly half a year. The IOUs were lost. I was afraid it would be difficult to explain, so I was blinded by greed and wrote a few new ones. These three people really died of illness..."

Zhu Wenyuan pointed to the three skeletons placed outside the lobby:
"You mean, all the teachers in Danwang Pavilion and the Academy have made a mistake?"

Li Zixian said sincerely, "I don't know the reason, but these three people definitely didn't die from witchcraft."

"Then how do you say they died?"

"Ill…died of illness…"

"What disease?"

"I don't know. They saw that he was dying and didn't treat him, leaving him to die..."

Li Zixian was talking nonsense and gradually began to sweat profusely.

Ji Shiqing, a Taoist who had traveled in southern Xinjiang for many years and was the palace's 'demonic consultant', stood up and interjected after a careful examination:

"Li Zixian's physique is normal and he has never been exposed to the magic of the demonic way. However, these three corpses must have died from the Yuan-stealing magic."

Huangfu Qi stroked his goatee, examined the three skeletons, and nodded:
"Indeed. The 'mummy case' in the capital is similar to these three corpses. Perhaps they were all committed by the same group of demonic bandits..."

Seeing that many experts were speaking with conviction, Li Zixian knelt and took two steps forward:
"Your Highness, this corpse must have been tampered with. I swear to heaven..."

"It's all just nonsense, who would believe it if I swear?"

Huangfu Qi showed displeasure and asked in a deep voice:

"Could it be that the demon bandits are threatening your family to keep you quiet?"

"The demon bandits didn't threaten me..."

"Oh?"

Huangfu Qi frowned and continued to ask, "You mean, the demon bandit didn't threaten you verbally? Then why did you know about it but didn't report it, insisting on hiding his whereabouts?"

"I... huh?!"

Li Zixian realized that Huangfu Qi was setting a trap, and his face suddenly changed:

"No demon bandits threaten me. I have never come into contact with any demon bandits..."

King Dan had already seen that Li Zixian was counting on the Li family to save him, and would not admit anything at the moment. He put down the teacup and waved to Tie Fengzhang.

Tie Fengzhang has always been a tough guy. This time he didn't let his subordinates do anything. He personally took out the splints and put them on Li Zixian's ten fingers.

Li Zixian saw that the King of Dan was about to torture him, and his face turned pale:

"Your Highness, the Li family must have been framed by those evil bandits, just like what happened to Sanhe Building. Your Highness! Your Highness...ah——"

Screams rang out from the lobby.

Xie Jinhuan had been standing outside the lobby as a spectator, watching the entire interrogation process, and he was actually a little confused.

He didn't understand the magic methods of the demons, and didn't notice the abnormality inside the skull at first. It was the ghost wife who told him that the deceased was killed by the magic of stealing the essence, and the method was the same as the magic of the demons in the corpse cave!
The murderer who buried the corpse alive must be the mastermind or accomplice of the "Crazy Corpse Flower".

Judging from Li Zixian’s response, it was the Li family who buried the people, so the mastermind behind the scenes was naturally the Li family.

But Li Zixian thought that being wronged didn't seem like an act, and the Sanhe Building incident was even more unexplainable. If the bandits had secretly framed him and tampered with the corpse, their methods were a bit too drastic...

Xie Jinhuan was pondering the matter secretly, but before he could figure out the reason, he suddenly heard a voice from the side:
"Are you Xie Jinhuan?" "Hmm?"

Xie Jinhuan came back to his senses immediately and looked over, only to see the gentle and respectful King Dan, who couldn't bear to see anyone suffer physical pain, had already walked out of the lobby.

Although Xie Jinhuan had lived in the capital for sixteen years, he had never come into contact with the top dignitaries. The Dan King was the highest-ranking official he had ever met. Seeing this, he bowed and said:
"Meet the prince."

The Dan King carefully examined Xie Jinhuan's appearance and demeanor, with a hint of praise in his eyes:
"You're young, but you're quite capable. If you hadn't been running around these past few days, the government wouldn't have found so many clues. Thank you for your hard work."

Why should I work so hard? If I don't run around to check on them, you will have to run around to check on me... Xie Jinhuan thought so in his heart, but on the surface he was still quite humble:

"Your Highness, you are too kind. I simply wanted to resolve this mess as quickly as possible so I could return to the capital to visit my family. I didn't contribute much. I have made some contributions recently, all thanks to the guidance of Yang Weishi and Miss Linghu."

When Yang Dabiao heard this, he was shocked and his eyes probably meant - Oh! This brother is really good at getting along!

Linghu Qingmo had been trying to stop the coal ball from the python dragon that wanted to eat the Dan King, and now he looked a little ashamed.

"You are modest."

The Dan King had been seeing Xie Jinhuan's name in the files these past few days. He was sure to have a good impression of him because of his father's death in the line of duty, his strong abilities, his integrity, and his modesty. He smiled and said,

"Your father died in the line of duty, and your descendants should be cared for by the court. You have grown up and are dedicated to catching thieves and pleading for the people. How can the court not give you a chance?

"Keep working hard. When this case is over, I will write a letter to my brother, the Emperor, asking him to grant you a good position."

? !
The many people following behind all looked envious when they heard this.

After all, King Dan and Emperor Qian are brothers who have shared hardships, and they are also powerful officials.

The King of Dan personally recommended talents to the emperor, and I'm afraid they would all start out as positions of the sixth or seventh rank.

Xie Jinhuan is young but very capable. He is also a decent person and knows how to deal with people. Given ten or twenty years, it is not impossible for him to be able to stand in the third row in front of the Tai Chi Hall.

When I come to Danyang again, I guess only the King of Dan will dare to speak with confidence.

Unspoken rules for Mo Mo, Mo Mo is afraid to say a word...

Xie Jinhuan knew that Dan Wang had good intentions, but if the case of the "Purple Emblem Mountain Demonic Spirit" was truly solved, he and his ghost wife would be buried. He really couldn't accept such a huge fortune, so he just responded politely:
"Thank you for your kindness, Your Highness. I will definitely continue to work hard in the future."

King Dan didn't say much, waiting quietly for Li Zi to confess first.

Everyone else's eyes were focused on Xie Jinhuan, with some expressing envy and admiration.

Zhou He, a captain of the Chilin Guard, who was standing in the hall, seemed to be watching Li Zixian being tortured after hearing this, but a subtle shadow flashed in his eyes...
-
At night, in a villa by the river.

There was a painting table on the terrace overlooking the river, and there was no one around. In the meditation room at the back, Tai Shudan was sitting on the ground in a robe, with a puppet in front of him.

The puppet was covered in a gray cloak, and the skin on its hands and cheeks was bronze, as if cast from gold or stone. There were also complex spells on the surface of its skin. The whole person did not show any life, but at this moment, he spoke:

"Li Zixian is being very stubborn, insisting the gambler died of illness and denying any connection to the demon bandits. The Dan King is searching all of the Li family's residences and shops. If nothing goes wrong, he can drag this matter out until after the Mid-Autumn Festival. You must remember not to leak any more information."

The puppet had no consciousness, and Tai Shudan didn't know why it could speak, but he nodded in agreement to the explanation.
"Brother, don't worry. We've gathered enough Crazy Corpse Flowers, and we can start the Mid-Autumn Lantern Festival the day after tomorrow. However, the Peony Pond is only twenty miles away from Danyang City. If the masters in the city are alarmed by the bloody evil spirit, it won't take more than half a quarter of an hour for them to arrive, especially Mu Yunling..."

The puppet had no expression and spoke word for word without any emotion:

"Just do your work. I will find a way to get rid of these people. Once you are done, you can escape immediately and send the Blood Demon Pill to the capital."

Tai Shudan felt that it was a bit difficult to get all the experts out of the way, and wanted to discuss the details, but outside the terrace, there was a sound of breaking wind:

Call ~
The puppet froze immediately and didn't move at all.

Tai Shudan looked around and saw his disciple He Can landed on the terrace, panting and looking quite surprised. As soon as he appeared, he complimented him:
"Master, you've really planned everything out. The government offices are all targeting the Li family... Eh? Master, what are you doing?"

The incident happened suddenly, and Tai Shudan had no time to get up. He took out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the puppet's shoes:
"Weapons need constant maintenance, and so do puppets."

"is it?"

This was the first time He Can heard this, but he didn't ask any more questions and continued:
"According to what I've heard, the palace's experts have been looking at the skeleton for a long time but can't find anything wrong with it. Even Xie Jinhuan is speechless."

Tai Shudan sat down on the futon and said, "Those three people were killed by the demonic power. However, they were not gamblers buried alive by the Li family. Instead, they were corpses obtained from other places. The senior brother in the city used a secret method to switch them.

"The body is real, even the time matches. The Li family wouldn't remember a gambler's bones, and the ground had just been turned over. How could Xie Jinhuan have figured out the problem?"

He Can had been wondering how they could have concealed this all along the way, and when he heard this, he couldn't hide his surprise:
"What is the identity of the uncle-in-law in the city? The marks were made so perfectly, and his skills are too powerful."

Tai Shudan frowned, looking unhappy:

"You don't understand the teacher's style yet?"

The meaning of this was to tell He Can that the master always planned before acting and kept his mouth shut. Even to his apprentice, he would not easily reveal key information!

But He Can, as a disciple, knew his master best, so he nodded thoughtfully:
"Indeed, considering Master's character, if he knew the exact identity, he would be able to sell it at the palace for a sky-high price tomorrow. It is understandable that the uncle didn't tell Master."

"?"

……

(End of this chapter)