Merit-based card draws, quickly become a Heavenly Emperor

An old servant opened the door; his face was contorted so badly it looked like he'd been burned, and the left side of his face was scrunched up, making him look rather unpleasant.

Upon seeing that it was the county magistrate knocking on the door, the old servant quickly opened it.

Huo Shouguang asked, "Where is Magistrate Shen?"

I did not see him at the county office today. This is our newly arrived supervisor in Cangwu, Lord Fang Zheng.

The newly appointed official has come to pay his respects to Lord Shen.

The old servant stepped aside to make way, saying, "Master got up a little late today and hasn't left the house yet."

Huo Shouguang, standing nearby, chuckled and said, "County Magistrate Shen probably knows he'll be promoted soon and is so happy that he's probably out drinking somewhere. He only slept in until late morning tonight."

Fang Zheng didn't reply, and stepped into the courtyard.

I walked through the courtyard to the living room, sat down and waited for a while, but no one came.

Huo Shouguang sat opposite him, slowly sipping his tea without urging him on.

Fang Zheng was somewhat puzzled. With his keen senses, a county magistrate of the eighth rank should not have such a faint aura, so faint that it was almost imperceptible.

Huo Shouguang seemed to see what he was thinking and took the initiative to speak: "County Magistrate Shen is a simple official. He only has one old servant, Shen Fu, who came with him to Cangwu to take up his post and has lived there for many years. The master and servant have a deep bond."

After waiting a while longer, the old servant Shen Fu still hadn't summoned the county magistrate.

Fang Zheng couldn't sit still any longer, so he got up and walked towards the bedroom, with Huo Shouguang following behind.

When I got to the door, I knocked twice, but no one answered.

Fang Zheng's nose twitched slightly as he smelled an unusual odor. Sensing something was wrong, he quickly pushed open the door.

A strong, pungent smell of blood wafted over, as if something had been suffocating for a long time before dissipating.

A body lay on the ground, headless, with jagged wounds on its neck, as if it had been bitten off by something.

The corpse was dressed in an official robe, its flesh mangled and bloodied, with a large patch of dark red blood on the ground, already half-dried.

Huo Shouguang's face turned ashen, and he took a step back, his voice trembling.

"Oh no, this is a tiger attacking a corpse."

"It must be that Magistrate Shen somehow offended the White Tiger Spirit, and a white tiger descended from the sky and bit off his head!"

Fang Zheng ignored him and squatted down to examine him.

The deceased was wearing the official robe of a county magistrate, with a lot of blood on the hem. There were deep teeth marks on his neck, not from a sword or knife, but from being bitten by a great force, which matched the shape of a tiger's mouth.

Fang Zheng had previously hunted tiger demons in Yongqing County and witnessed how a hunter's entire family had been wiped out by the tiger demon, so he had a deep impression of the tiger demon's sharp teeth and bite marks.

He stood up again and scanned the room.

The windows were closed, the door was bolted from the inside, and there were no signs of a struggle inside.

At this moment, the old servant Shen Fu also arrived upon hearing the news. Seeing the corpse on the ground, he was so frightened that he collapsed onto the threshold, crying uncontrollably.

Fang Zheng walked over and asked, "Come and identify the body. Is this Lord Shen?"

The old servant examined the body carefully, then nodded through tears: "It's the master, it's the master!"

He was just saying a couple of days ago that Miss was coming back and asked me to clean up the west wing. Who would have thought…”

He wiped away his tears, crying so hard he could barely speak.

Fang Zheng turned to Huo Shouguang: "Lord Huo, you are the county magistrate, it is your duty to examine corpses. Come and take a look."

Huo Shouguang's expression changed, and he took a step back.

"The old servant Shen Fu has identified the body. Judging from the physique, it is indeed the body of County Magistrate Shen Xingzhou."

I don't think we need to test it again.

Shen Fu, you should begin preparing for the funeral.

Fang Zheng was dissatisfied and asked, "Human life is at stake. As the county magistrate, how can you handle this so carelessly?"

Failure to conduct an autopsy when required constitutes dereliction of duty.

Huo Shouguang hesitated for a long time before finally expressing his concerns.

"The head of this corpse was clearly bitten off by the white tiger."

Previously, there had been several cases in the county where tigers had mauled bodies, but the perpetrators could not be caught and the cases were eventually dropped.

"It might just be the White Tiger Holy Spirit issuing a decree in anger; I dare not get involved."

Fang Zheng felt a surge of anger; the reason was utterly absurd.

A county lieutenant, a rank-eight official, was actually afraid of the so-called White Tiger Holy Spirit's wrath.

However, despite his repeated urging to conduct an autopsy, County Magistrate Huo Shouguang refused to do so.

Driven to desperation, Huo Shouguang simply pinched his nose, approached the corpse, hastily circled it once, and then waved his hand.

"The deceased was wearing the official robes of a county magistrate and holding the official seal of a county magistrate. He had multiple wounds on his body, the fatal one being a severed head, suspected to be from a wild beast."

An on-site autopsy and identification by the family servants confirmed that the deceased was Shen Xingzhou, the magistrate of Cangwu County.

He glanced at Fang Zheng. "Lord Fang, are you satisfied now?"

Then he urged the old servant Shen Fu to quickly collect the body and prepare for the funeral.

Fang Zheng was dissatisfied with Huo Shouguang's perfunctory attitude, but the examination of the body and the pursuit of the murderer were the responsibility of the county magistrate. As the county supervisor, he could only urge the investigation, but could not interfere arbitrarily.

So he flicked his sleeve and said coldly, "The death of the county magistrate is a major case. I will report it to the Dinghu Prefecture truthfully."

Huo Shouguang was not intimidated at all and said, "Anyway, with the county magistrate dead, all matters, big and small, in Cangwu County need someone to take charge."

I will also report this to the Dinghu County government to see who can be temporarily appointed as the county magistrate.

Upon hearing this, Fang Zheng immediately understood his intentions.

This county magistrate is a proper county official of the eighth rank. If one can temporarily assume the position of county magistrate, one might be promoted to the position of county magistrate in the future.

For Huo Shouguang, this was an opportunity to rise to the top in one step.

No wonder he was so reluctant to conduct the autopsy; what he was really after was the position of county magistrate.

What if the autopsy reveals something wrong, and it turns out that the deceased was not the county magistrate Shen Xingzhou? Wouldn't all our efforts be in vain?

Having seen through Huo Shouguang's intentions, Fang Zheng simply had the old servant collect Shen Xingzhou's body, then wrote an urgent report announcing Shen Xingzhou's murder and sent it to the county town via the Jade Platform.

Soon, the palindrome arrived.

The thin sheet of paper was stamped with the vermilion seal of the prefectural supervisor, and the wording was extremely official.

"The county is too busy with affairs to send anyone. The case of the murder of Shen Xingzhou, the magistrate of Cangwu County, will be investigated by the county lieutenant of Cangwu County in conjunction with the supervising official, and the case is to be concluded within three months."

Fang Zheng placed the palindrome on the table and looked at it twice without saying anything.

Guan Tieyi stood to the side, his face ashen, and said in a low voice, "Sir, is the county government just going to ignore this?"

A county official died, and they didn't even send anyone to investigate, leaving us to investigate ourselves. Isn't that just shirking responsibility?

Could it be that the White Tiger really did commit the murder, and the county is afraid to investigate further because of the White Tiger Society?

Fang Zheng didn't reply. He folded the palindrome and put it into his sleeve, then got up and walked towards the back hall of the county government office.

Huo Shouguang was sitting in a grand chair with his legs crossed, drinking tea. There was a plate of peanuts in front of him, and a man who looked like a secretary was standing next to him.

Upon seeing Fang Zheng enter, he quickly put his legs down and put on a smiling face: "Lord Fang, you've arrived. Please have a seat."

Fang Zheng sat down and handed over the reply from the prefecture.

Huo Shouguang took it, glanced at it, and his smile widened. He put the palindrome on the table and spread his hands.

"Lord Fang, you've seen the prefecture's intentions; we'll investigate ourselves."

But I've been so busy these past few days, I'm completely overwhelmed, and this case...

"How about we trouble Lord Fang to make the trip?"