Chapter 32 Burying the Corpse

  But at the time when the yamen runners of Tianchang County were posting the portrait of the deceased all over the city to look for informants, Bao Gong and Hualang, Wen Meng three people rushed back to the county government.

  They returned to the county government office, where the chief clerk Bai Butong was sorting through the archives of Tianchang County for the past few years, so that Bao Zheng could re-examine them. The original county magistrate Zhou Siping was packing his belongings in his own room, and would leave here soon to follow Zhang Gonggong and his daughter into the palace. His plan to deal with Hualang had been foiled, and although he was furious and indignant, he also felt helpless. He vowed in his heart that once his daughter gained power, he would come back to teach Hualang a lesson.

  Thursday, Ping and Bai were busy with their own affairs, but Bao Gong and his men didn't care about that because they had to interrogate the two scoundrels caught today, as they might be the masterminds behind the murder case in the suburbs.

  After arriving at the large prison, a foul smell hit him in the face, and the buzzing of mosquitoes was incessant. In an instant, Xiao saw that Bao Zheng's dark face had also been bitten to a slight redness. Bao Zheng saw that this large prison was not even a place for humans to live, and his heart suddenly became furious. Even if they were criminals, they were still human beings, and at the very least, their basic human rights should be respected.

  They could not bear the stench and mosquitoes in the big prison, so they had to let two jailers take those two scoundrels out of the big prison for trial. After being taken out by the jailers, seeing the sunlight and the sky, their hearts were suddenly relieved. They took a long breath and then quickly knelt down to beg for mercy from Judge Bao.

  Seeing them like this, Bao Zheng didn't take it kindly and coldly said: "You wicked thieves, quickly report your names."

  Those two scoundrels were shouted at by Bao Zheng like that, and immediately lost their temper, and had no choice but to answer.

  "See you at three downstairs."

  "Little thin... thin four."

  "Ah, their names are so fitting! Bao Zheng continued to ask: 'Fatty Three and Skinny Four, quickly recount your evil deeds of killing people and stealing their money, one by one, or else don't blame this official for being ruthless.'"

  Pang San and Shou Si both pleaded in unison, "Your Honor, we're innocent! We really didn't kill anyone. Those silver coins were truly picked up by us."

  Bao Zheng shouted loudly: "Nonsense! Who would throw 1,000 taels of silver on the road for you to pick up? What a good thing under the sky! The corpse in the suburbs has been found by us, what else do you have to say?"

  As soon as the county government found the body, Fat Three and Thin Four were immediately panicked. After a long time, Fat Three looked at Bao Gong and said: "Your Honor, spare our lives! That... that person really wasn't killed by us. Yesterday evening, we passed by the small path on the east side and found the corpse and the money bag placed beside it. We had a moment of greed and took the money bag for ourselves, and then buried the body. It's true that we didn't kill him!"

  At this time, that thin four also hastily followed and echoed: "No... no mistake, I... we only took away... money bag, didn't... didn't kill people."

  "This statement seems somewhat inconsistent, Bao Gong coldly smiled and scolded: 'Under the sky, is there such a thing? If it wasn't you two who killed him, then wouldn't the murderer know that there's money in the package? Why didn't he take the money as well, why did he just kill him?'"

  Bao Zheng said that, and the two scoundrels didn't know what to say anymore. The matter was strange from the start - why didn't the murderer take away the victim's money? Over a thousand taels of silver! Only an idiot wouldn't take it.

  The two scoundrels refused to say any more, insisting that they had not committed murder. Even when Judge Bao threatened to beat them with his rattan stick, they still refused to budge. In the end, there was nothing for it but to send them off to jail.

  After the prison guard led Fat Three and Thin Four into their cell, Bao Zheng turned to Hua Lang, who had been standing aside, and asked: "Brother Hua is cleverer than others, I wonder if you have seen any suspicious clues?"

  Hualang smiled faintly: "Want to verify whether the two people are telling the truth or not, it's simple. Send someone to inquire around Tianchang County, what time did these two people check in, one question and you'll know the truth."

  After listening to Hualang's words, Bao Zheng immediately understood that from the degree of decay of the corpse, the deceased had been dead for at least three days. If these two scoundrels hadn't arrived in Tianchang County three days ago, they wouldn't be the murderers, but rather they just buried the deceased.

  Having thought of this, Bao Zheng immediately sent someone to investigate the situation at each inn. Afterwards, he went to review the case files organized by Bai Tong. Hua Lang and Wen Meng saw that Bao Zheng had just arrived in Tianchang County and had many things to attend to, so they didn't disturb him anymore. After exchanging a few pleasantries, they left the county government office.

  After leaving the county government office, Wen Meng had a deeper understanding of Hua Lang and smiled: "Really didn't expect that you, a scholar, would actually be able to solve cases and examine corpses. Not bad, where did you learn it from?"

  Hualang naturally couldn't say it was something he learned from his past life. He looked at Wen Meng and smiled: "Guess?"

  Her eyes slightly opened, and she said disdainfully: "If you don't say it, then don't say it, let me guess? This heroine is not willing to guess!"

  Wen Meng was so charming, the flower gentleman hurriedly smiled and said: "I am a scholar, these things are naturally learned from books. Isn't there an ancient saying that goes like this? 'In books there is a house of gold, in books there is a jade-like beauty, in books there is...'

  Hualang said so, but Wen Meng suddenly interrupted: "Alright, alright, there's everything in the book, I don't believe your skills in solving cases and performing autopsies were all learned from books."

  By now, Wen Meng had lost interest in investigating where Hua Lang learned his skills of forensic analysis and autopsy. Her attention suddenly shifted to the murder case that occurred today.

  "Do you think those two scoundrels don't look like murderers?"

  Hualang wiped the sweat and sighed: "Whether they are murderers or not, we have to wait for Bao Zheng's investigation results. Before that, I can't make any judgment."

  As soon as she mentioned Bao Gong, Wen Meng suddenly thought of some questions and hurriedly asked: "Why do I feel that today's affairs are strange? Did you know early on that Bao Gong would come to our Tianchang County as the county magistrate, so you made friends with him and hinted at him to become sworn siblings with me?"

  Today's events were indeed within Hualang's calculations, but there were a few things that he couldn't be certain about or calculate, such as the sudden appearance of two evil men and the murder case in the suburbs. However, no matter what, things were still proceeding according to Hualang's intentions: befriending Baoqian, going to the county yamen, informing Zhang Gonggong of some facts he didn't know about, and helping Wen Meng escape her fate of entering the palace.

  Although things are as Wen Meng said, Hua Lang cannot admit it, and hurriedly laughed: "How can I have such skills? If I knew that Bao Zheng was the county magistrate of Tianchang County, wouldn't I become a half-immortal like Hua?"

  Wen Meng hummed and said, "I guess you don't have this skill either."