Volume 2: Female Corpse in Monk's Clothes Chapter 120 My Choice
Two days later, Shangyuan City.
Shangyuan County Government Office.
"How ridiculous, absolutely outrageous... cough... cough... cough..." Governor Li Yan slammed the table in frustration, "In my Tangzhou, there are such rampant people, they are simply lawless! Cough..."
"Master Li..." Yuan Xingtai beside him hurriedly tried to comfort him, "You just caught a cold and haven't recovered yet. You must take care of yourself!"
"What a sin I have committed!" Li Yan felt compassion for the world and trembled all over. "Ligu County is less than a hundred miles away from Wude City. If this gets to the higher-ups, I will be blamed for it!
"Is the Wude County Magistrate just a freeloader? He didn't even investigate such a bad reputation!?
"The most infuriating thing is the Xingchuan County Magistrate. He actually colluded with the bandits. I wish I could chop off his head!"
"Sir, please calm down," Xu Zun advised, "We have already interrogated the Xingchuan County Magistrate. Based on his and his followers' confessions, I'm afraid he really didn't know about the Chongtian Temple's activities.
"In the end, he only admitted to accepting bribes, and said he knew nothing about the crimes of the training room and Yu Yangzi and others!"
"This is pure shirking of responsibility!" Li Yan shook his head helplessly, "It is obvious that there is money from unknown sources in Chongtian Temple. Not only did he not notice it, but he also accepted bribes. Now that something has happened, how can he still say that he knew nothing about it?
"Ji Ying," Li Yan gritted his teeth and said, "Use torture! We can't let this bastard county magistrate get away with it!"
"Sir," Xu Zun said with a bow, "It has already been used, otherwise, he would not have confessed so readily.
"However... considering the confessions of the bandits, the county magistrate probably doesn't know much..."
"Hmm..." Li Yan thought for a while and asked Xu Zun, "How are the investigations on those escaped bandits and the so-called dean going?"
"We have captured several escaped bandits in the past two days," Xu Zun said, "as for the dean Luo Yu, he has disappeared. Since he had the guts to kill Yu Yangzi, he must have made thorough preparations. I'm afraid he will be difficult to catch!"
"Ahem..." Li Yan covered his mouth and coughed several times before continuing to ask, "How is the girl from the Lu Family Bookstore now?"
"Well," Xu Zun frowned slightly and replied, "Lu Xiaofeng is still recuperating in the Marquis' Mansion. Although he has woken up, he is still a little dazed, so I can't get any information from him.
"I'm afraid she has been greatly stimulated and needs psychological counseling to recover, right?"
"Psychological counseling?" Li Yan had never heard of this term before, and he smacked his lips and said, "Tsk tsk... I hope she can recover soon!
"By the way, Jiying," he thought of something and asked again, "I heard that the girl from the Lu family was with a woman from Yuanzhou?"
"Yes," Xu Zun replied, "She said she was the personal maid of Aiyu, the Naiman princess of Haimier County in Yuanzhou, and her name was Timur Ani."
"Yuanzhou... ahem..." Li Yan was confused. "Why did she come from such a far place? What did she say?"
"This Timur Ani," Xu Zun introduced, "said that she was abducted from her hometown four years ago when she was only thirteen years old.
"She said that once she and the princess attended a tribal banquet, and she was knocked unconscious by some unknown agent during the banquet, and was abducted by criminals.
"In the past four years, she was sold several times and finally ended up in Chongtian Temple," Xu Zun said. "According to her own estimation, she stayed in Chongtian Temple for more than a month, because the temple master gave her a kind of elixir that caused her to be sometimes sober and sometimes hallucinated..."
"It's actually like this... These people really deserve to be cut into pieces! Ahem..."
Due to excitement, Li Yan coughed more and more violently. He finally drank a sip of tea, but choked on it and coughed even more violently.
At this moment, in the hall of the county government, in addition to Li Yan, Xu Zun, Yuan Xingtai and Ju Ran, the county magistrate Tai Min was also there.
Logically speaking, Chongtian Temple is located in Wude County, and this matter has nothing to do with Taimin.
However, Taimin is still the same as before, still looking cowardly and timid.
No matter what others said, he just kept silent.
Especially when seeing Xu Zun, those two eyes never dared to look at Xu Zun, it was clear that they were deliberately avoiding him.
Depend on……
Xu Zun secretly wondered, is it the nature of this county magistrate, or does he have some guilty little secret?
"Master Li," Yuan Xingtai said at this time, "Don't think that Yuanzhou is far away from us. In fact, Haimier County is in the northeast of Qinzhou. If we set out from Wude City and travel at full speed, we can arrive in four or five days!"
"Oh..." Li Yan nodded and asked, "Has Captain Yuan ever heard of this...something princess?"
"It's Princess Ayu of the Naiman tribe." Xu Zun reminded.
“I only know that the Naiman tribe is a large tribe in Yuanzhou. When Taizu founded the country, he and the Naiman leader of Yuanzhou became brothers. So after establishing Daxuan, he conferred titles on many tribes as princes.
“Although the daughter of a prince is also called a princess, her status is much lower than that of the Central Plains. At best, she is just a noble.
"As for this Princess Ayu, I have never heard of her!"
"In other words," Li Yan pondered, "this girl is just a maid in a wealthy family. In this case, is it necessary to send her back?"
"Sir," Xu Zun said hurriedly, "It doesn't matter whether she is sent back or not. What's important is that we must confirm her identity first!"
"This..." Li Yan was puzzled, "Is this necessary?"
"Sir, she is already seventeen years old," Xu Zun said, "We can't just listen to her one-sided story, right?"
"Okay!" Li Yan thought about it for a while, and then said, "If that's the case, then I'll leave it to you to take charge!
"Jiying, the Chongtian Temple incident had a huge impact. Although it was all done by a group of bad temple bandits, this matter is after all related to the state religion Xuandao, so it can be a big deal or a small deal!
"If this matter is not handled well, I am afraid that the emperor will punish me, so..." He pointed at Xu Zun, "Hurry up and get ready, come back to Wude City with me!"
"What?" Xu Zun was surprised. "Going back to Wude City now?"
"Of course," Li Yan said, "Chongtian Temple is under the jurisdiction of Wude County, I can't handle this case in Shangyuan County, right?
"Hurry up and make a plan to bring all the criminals and evidence back to Wude City. Only then will we be able to investigate this case in the provincial capital!"
"This..." Xu Zun hesitated to speak.
"What's wrong?" Li Yan was puzzled. "Do you have a problem? Jiying, you are now the chief judge of Tangzhou. You have to !"
"Sir," Xu Zun said, "It is my humble duty to thoroughly investigate this case, but... the case of the female corpse in the monk's clothing is still..."
"Oh...so you are still thinking about this case!" Li Yan frowned.
"Sir," Xu Zun said, "Chongtian Temple has been raided, and what remains is just the finishing touches, but that assassin in monk's clothes will strike again!
"If we extrapolate from the case ten years ago, he is very likely already planning his next murder!"
"Ji Ying, I don't mean to embarrass you, but..." Li Yan advised, "You have to know what is more important!
"The Chongtian Temple incident was caused by you. This matter can be big or small. You are a new official and don't understand the dangers of the officialdom. If you don't handle it properly, you may ruin your future. So..."
"Sir!" Xu Zun clasped his hands and said resolutely, "Please give me three days!
"If I can bring that monk-robed killer back to Wude City, won't my future be more secure?"
