Volume 1 Zhangqiao Iron Coffin Chapter 46: Neglected Means of Transportation
Inside the courtyard of the county government office, the snow was falling heavier and heavier, and a layer of silver had already appeared on the huge iron coffin.
Those standing in the yard, regardless of the cold weather, all stood on tiptoe, keeping a close eye on the changes in the court.
"Let's start with the Iron Coffin Case!" Xu Zun, the case leader, puffed out his chest and said loudly, "This case has been confusing and strange from the beginning, which has prevented us from grasping the key points and from where to start.
“But in fact, we just overlooked the most basic element in this case, which is - the means of transportation!
"We don't know how the murderer managed to transport such a huge and heavy iron coffin to the top of Zhangqiao.
"At that time," Xu Zun said, "we checked the roads on both sides of Zhangqiao, but did not find the corresponding wheel tracks, which led us to believe that the iron coffin had fallen from the sky!
"To be honest, this question has been bothering me for a long time, until one day, I finally found the answer." Xu Zun turned around and pointed at the iron coffin in the yard and said, "I wonder if you still remember how long it took those workers to transport this iron coffin to the yard and put it in place?"
After Xu Zun said this, everyone started to recall the past.
"Don't think about it, I'll tell you the answer!" Xu Zun said, "It took them two hours to transport the iron coffin from the charity cemetery to the county government office and finally place it there!"
Two hours is equivalent to four hours in modern times.
"Oh?" Everyone frowned, obviously not understanding what Xu Zun meant.
"Don't you understand?" Xu Zun said solemnly, "A few days ago, our county government officials transported the iron coffin from Zhangqiao back to Yizhuang, and it took them two hours. What does this mean?"
" Hmm..." Everyone pondered, and one of the yamen runners said to himself, "The journey seems to be a little longer, right?"
"Yes!" Xu Zun immediately gave the man a thumbs up, "The distance from Zhangqiao to Yizhuang is more than ten times that from Yizhuang to the county government office.
"Everyone, why did it take the same amount of time to move the iron coffin twice? Can anyone tell me why?"
"Oh... I understand!" At this time, Chen Taiji, the censor in the court, thought of the answer, "It's because people are different!"
"Great," Xu Zun snapped his fingers and praised, "Your Excellency the Censor has hit the nail on the head. The workers who were responsible for moving the iron coffin today were all newly hired. They had never lifted such a heavy object before, so they were delayed because of their lack of familiarity.
“Last time, in addition to the hired workers, those responsible for the transportation also included runners and constables from our county government.
"But I didn't expect that they were able to move the iron coffin so smoothly even though it was their first time. This is really... intriguing!"
Xu Zun deliberately slowed down his speech and took the opportunity to glance at everyone in the courtyard to observe their reactions.
"Xu Zun," Governor Li Yan asked, "what do you mean? Are you saying that there is something wrong with the people in your county government?"
"Sir Governor, this is a big problem!" Xu Zun said with his eyes wide open, "In addition to the people, the carriage used to transport the iron coffin also had a big problem.
“I observed carefully at the time and found many scratches on the frame, which matched the shape of the iron coffin. The key is that those scratches were not new.
"Also, the size of the carriage is just right, and the two old horses pulling the carriage seem to be very familiar with the route, and it's not the first time they've pulled such a heavy load...
"So, at that time, I had a bold idea in my mind," Xu Zun said with a raised corner of his mouth, "The reason why the murderer of the iron coffin case did not leave any tracks was not because he wanted to create mystery, but because he did not want people to find out that the iron coffin was actually pulled over by the county government's carriage!"
Oh oh oh…
Xu Zun's shocking words once again caused exclamations, and some people even made surprised sounds similar to the crowing of a rooster.
"This... this is weird, isn't it?" County Magistrate Luo Baiwan said, wiping his sweat. "That carriage is used by our county office to transport coal in winter. If the murderer used that carriage to pull the iron coffin, then you... you are saying that everyone in our county office, I... we..."
At this point, Luo Baiwan began to doubt himself for the first time, and there was uncertainty in his eyes as he looked at Qiu Yongnian.
"Hahaha..." Xu Zun suddenly laughed, stopping the noisy discussions at the scene. He said loudly, "Everyone, don't worry, this is just the beginning, the best is yet to come.
"County Magistrate Qiu," he turned to Qiu Yongnian and said, "If one person does something bad, it may be easy to be exposed, but if a group of people do something bad together, then it will be difficult to be discovered, right?"
"You..." Qiu Yongnian blushed, but didn't know how to refute.
"Do you think that I was determined to investigate the Qijiawu case? It was just a trick!" Xu Zun said fiercely, "At that time, I had already noticed that something was wrong and realized that my opponent was not just one person.
"So, I can only use the excuse of investigating the Qijiawu case to investigate what I really want to investigate."
"Oh?" After hearing this, Qiu Yongnian was slightly shocked, and his body involuntarily became uneasy.
"In the archives room," Xu Zun continued, "I deliberately knocked over the bookshelves and pretended to be mad because I couldn't find any clues.
"In fact, I quietly opened the bolt of the iron window of the archive room, and that night, a friend sneaked into the archive room and took away what I wanted!"
Bang, bang!
As he spoke, Xu Zun clapped his hands twice, and a tall woman immediately came in from the entrance of the court. It was none other than the female general Huo Anu with the iron umbrella!
Huo Anu entered the courtroom with a pile of files in his hands and threw them all on the ground.
"Master Qiu, these are the personnel files of Xinye County, which were compiled by Master Liu Zhang, the chief clerk." Xu Zun said, "When I looked through these files carefully, I suddenly made a surprising discovery.
"This amazing discovery is completely consistent with my previous guess. Therefore, I am more certain that the person who has been manipulating the situation behind the scenes is you!!!"
"Ah?" Qiu Yongnian was surprised again, and his expression became even uglier.
"Xu Zun, tell me quickly," At this moment, the governor Li Yan almost stood up and asked repeatedly, "What did you find ?"
“I discovered that since Lord Qiu came to Xinye County to take office a year ago, he has successively transferred personnel in the county and arranged for more than 20 people to work in the county government.
"There are legal advisors, yamen runners, constables, errand boys, and of course, jailers," Xu Zun said. "Originally, it's only natural for the county magistrate to arrange the positions, and there's nothing to say.
“But the weird thing is that all the people he arranged are foreigners without exception!
"It doesn't matter if they are all outsiders! Mr. Qiu is from Nangeng, Shangzhou. If these outsiders are from the same hometown as Mr. Qiu, then it makes sense.
“But these people all come from different states and counties. This is hard to understand, right?
“So, with this question in mind, I asked Miss Huo to help me check all walks of life in Xinye County to see if there were any outsiders who came to the local area to do other work before and after County Magistrate Qiu took office.
“This investigation is incredible, they found more than 20 people!
"Almost all walks of life in Xinye County are included. Oh, yes, there are a few people whose names can be called out," Xu Zun raised the corner of his mouth, revealing a wicked smile, "For example, the postman Liang San, the inn clerk Cheng Wen, and the You Dalang and his wife from the silk shop..."
