Chapter 83 Report
No one is stupid as an official in the court.
What's more, Zhending is so close to Kyoto. Even if he cannot get the news of any disturbance in Kyoto immediately, after a few days, he heard about the incident of selling military rations in Xishan Camp.
Now, the Crown Princess appears here again.
With a shiver in his heart, the county magistrate vaguely realized something.
Su Qingqing looked at his expression and said, "Since there are people waiting for you outside, I won't waste your time. But I'm not here to play in public, so please bear with me."
…
The meeting room in the county magistrate's house.
Fu Mingchang was sitting there anxiously when he suddenly heard hurried footsteps. He immediately looked towards the gate and saw Lord Liu, the magistrate of Zhending County, rushing in from outside.
As soon as he entered the room, the county magistrate bowed to Fu Mingchang and apologized, "I didn't know that the commander-in-chief was coming, and I failed to welcome him. Please forgive me for keeping you waiting for so long."
Fu Mingchang said nothing more, and went straight to the point with a sullen face, "How many peddlers did your people catch at the Laishun'er Fish Rice Noodle Roll Restaurant on Shuntiao Street today?"
He was the commander-in-chief of an army. People who marched and fought were naturally powerful, not to mention that his official position was much higher than that of a county magistrate.
At this moment, he was in an interrogation posture again...
The county magistrate's heart shuddered and he smiled bitterly.
What kind of life is this for him!
Can disaster strike while you are at home?
Trying his best to suppress his emotions, the county magistrate said calmly, "That's right. We just caught him. How come..."
Fu Mingchang didn't say much, and directly said in an extremely strong tone, "Release the person."
His attitude was cold and he had an air of not refusing to be refused.
The county magistrate pretended to be surprised, "What are you talking about, sir? Release him? Why?"
Fu Mingchang said expressionlessly, "There was a commotion in the Xishan Camp regarding the sale of military rations. The Ministry of Justice is investigating the case. According to Zhao Chunming's confession, the buyers who came to collect the rations were a group of Northwest merchants. According to reasonable investigations by me and the Ministry of Justice, the people you arrested had dealings with those Northwest merchants. Why did you let them go?"
If the Crown Princess had not been sitting in the backyard, and if the Crown Princess had not given him some instructions before he left, he would have almost believed Fu Mingchang's words.
But now, remembering the Crown Princess's order, the county magistrate frowned and shook his head, "It's not that I don't want to release them, sir, it's just that these people are a little special. If you want to release them, you have to show me the documents from the Ministry of Justice."
Of course, Fu Mingchang, the clerk of the Ministry of Justice, did not have it.
He just wanted to use his status to pressure others, but he didn't expect things to come to this. Logically, anyone who is smart and doesn't want to get into trouble will release the person immediately to avoid being implicated.
How come the Zhending County Magistrate...
Frowning, Fu Mingchang asked, "Are they special?"
The magistrate of Zhending County smiled bitterly, "To be honest, sir, a group of pirates have been roaming around Zhending County these days, and I suspect these few people are that group of pirates."
Pirates, pirates.
This is a capital crime in the Great Yan State . The Great Yan State does not open the sea, and neither private fishing nor any kind of livelihood on the sea is allowed. Anyone found sailing out without permission will be convicted as a pirate, and once discovered, they will be executed on the spot without even being sentenced.
Now, the Zhending County Magistrate told him that these people were pirates?
When Fu Mingchang heard these two words, he was in a trance for a moment, "Pirate?"
The county magistrate nodded, "It's not that I don't want to release him, nor am I trying to embarrass you or not cooperating with you in investigating the case. This pirate... you know, sir, I can't take the blame."
Fu Mingchang stared at the county magistrate, "Are you sure they are?"
The county magistrate shook his head. "I'm not sure, but I dare not take it lightly. I have to investigate after receiving a report. I have to interrogate him to find out. When this person was arrested, I went to the cell and heard that the master had come. I didn't have time to interrogate him and hurried back..."
The county magistrate rubbed his hands, feeling a little uneasy.
Fu Mingchang was confused and asked, "Did you receive a report?"
The county magistrate nodded immediately, "Yes, we received a report."
As he spoke, he took out a letter from his pocket and handed it to Fu Mingchang, "We received an anonymous report."
Fu Mingchang took the letter of complaint suspiciously and unfolded it. The first time he saw it, he froze in place as if struck by lightning.
It was as if he had lost the ability to read in an instant.
Everything in front of my eyes was blurry and my ears were buzzing.
This word...
He couldn't read what was written, but he knew that the handwriting was very familiar to him.
This is the handwriting of General Su, the former commander of the Su family army!
His hands were shaking so much that the papers were rustling. The county magistrate looked at Fu Mingchang in confusion, but did not dare to ask any more questions.
Fu Mingchang held the letter of complaint and looked at it for a long time before the handwriting in front of him gradually became clear. The words also entered his mind and formed complete sentences, rather than just handwriting.
It was a simple report letter that didn't even include a reason. It just directly stated that it suspected that the group of merchants eating fish rice noodle rolls in the fish rice noodle roll restaurant were pirates.
If this kind of report letter was for any other crime, the government wouldn't even look at it.
But this crime is a pirate...
This crime was equivalent to treason for the imperial court.
The government dare not take it lightly.
So the county magistrate immediately sent people to arrest him.
only……
With a trembling heart, Fu Mingchang asked the county magistrate, "Do you know who wrote this letter of complaint?"
The county magistrate shook his head. "I don't know. I took it out of the report mailbox at the entrance of the county government office this morning."
After a pause, the county magistrate looked at Fu Mingchang, unable to hold back his doubts, and asked again: "What's the matter, sir?"
Fu Mingchang smiled bitterly in his heart.
What's wrong?
Scared!
He was able to get to where he is today only because General Su died, otherwise...
Thinking of this, Fu Mingchang let out a sigh of relief. When he saw the words just now, he subconsciously thought that they were written by General Su.
These words are so similar!
"Nothing. Since someone has reported them as pirates, you should go and check them out. Although I can assure you that these people are definitely not pirates, you still have to go through the necessary procedures. I won't make things difficult for you. I'll wait for you here. I'll take them away after you've finished your investigation!"
Fu Mingchang suppressed the emotions in his heart, but his voice remained cold.
The county magistrate responded and left and went straight to the prison cell.
When he arrived, Su Qingqing was already there. The seven or eight merchants were locked up in different cells. Su Qingqing was sitting on a chair in the interrogation room. Next to her stood the two best constables in the county government, who were reporting something.
Seeing him coming, Su Qingqing smiled and said, "You've come at the right time. You should listen too."
The county magistrate hurried forward.
One of the captains repeated what he had just reported, "Sir, these people are very skilled in martial arts."
Jixiang stood behind Su Qingqing, looking extremely ugly.
Just now in the noodle shop, she whipped the opponent with a whip and the opponent couldn't even dodge, but she just thought it was because of her good kung fu.
Now, the captain told her that these people only hid their skills and treated themselves as ordinary people.
The county magistrate glanced at the Crown Princess and asked the head constable, "How did you find this out?"
The captain licked his lips and said, "They are all from Nanliang."
The county magistrate was even more surprised.
How was this discovered?
He was only away for a quarter of an hour!
