Chapter 40: Luring Him into Committing a Crime

  After a brief rest, everyone followed Bao Quan to the main hall.

  After arriving at the main hall, Bao Zheng immediately brought Zhu Yougui to trial. Although Zhu had waited for a long time and was somewhat impatient, he remained calm when questioned by Bao Zheng, kneeling down and answering his questions as commanded.

  Bao Zheng saw that Zhu Yougui was calm and composed, only then did he realize his cunning. However, despite this, Bao Zheng didn't show any concern, but instead looked at Zhu Yougui and asked: "On the day Dong Cheng was killed, did you go to Dong Cheng's rice shop and stay there for a short while?"

  Zhu Yougui nodded calmly and said, "What you said is true, but that's because I went to find Dong Cheng to drink wine and learned that he had gone out to purchase goods. At the time, I originally wanted to leave, but the small servant of the rice store was going to deliver goods to someone, and there was only one accountant in the store. The accountant suddenly had a stomachache and needed to go to the restroom, so he asked me to help take care of the store for a while since he knew that I was on good terms with Dong Cheng."

  Bao Zheng smiled coldly and said: "What have you been doing during this period of time?"

  Zhu Yougui's face changed slightly, and he hastily said: "I was just idle in the store, only helping to watch the store, nothing else."

  "You've done nothing, so how could Dong Cheng's account book go missing?" Bao Zheng shouted loudly.

  Seeing Bao Gong like this, Zhu Yougui smiled faintly: "Dong Cheng's account book is gone, what does it have to do with me? What do I want Dong Cheng's account book for? His account book is just a pile of waste paper to me."

  Zhu Yougui's glib tongue made Bao Zheng very annoyed. He looked at Zhu Yougui and suddenly said, "Why did you steal Dong Cheng's account book? Humph, because there is an IOU written by you in Dong Cheng's account book, you owe him over a thousand taels of silver."

  Zhu Yougui shrugged and said, "Sir, this is not something to be taken lightly. One thousand two silver coins are a lot, how could Dong Cheng lend me that much? Sir, you say I borrowed one thousand two silver coins from Dong Cheng, but there must be evidence for that."

  Zhu Yigui was certain that Bao Zheng and the others had no evidence, so he could respond calmly. But this sentence of his required evidence to back it up, and for a moment, even Bao Zheng was at a loss for words.

  Bao Zheng fell silent for a long time, then angrily said: "Don't be smug, I will definitely find the evidence that you borrowed one thousand two of silver from Dong Cheng. I don't believe it can't be found."

  After hearing Bao Gong's words, Zhu Yougui seemed to have thought of something and his face suddenly changed. However, he quickly regained his composure and said: "Since the adults have no evidence to prove that I stole Dong Cheng's account book, can I go back now?"

  This made Bao Zheng feel helpless, he looked at Zhu Yougui's complacent expression and nodded: "You go back first, but before this case is cleared up, you are not allowed to leave Tianchang County privately."

  Bao Gong had just finished speaking when Hua Lang hastily stood up and said, "Your Honor, it's not possible. He is now under strong suspicion, how can he be allowed to go back?"

  Bao Gong's face looked unpleasant, staring at Hua Lang for a long time before speaking: "Without evidence, how can I, the judge, arrest someone?"

  There was no evidence, so Zhu Yougui couldn't be thrown into prison. Hualang glared at Zhu Yougui with hatred, but Zhu Yougui seemed to have not seen him at all, and swaggered out of the county government office.

  Thus, Bao Gong had tried several more cases of unjust imprisonment and it was already dusk.

  The crowd dispersed, and the whole Tianchang County was spreading the name of Bao Zheng's Qingtian.

  The night was getting deeper, and the households in Tianchang County had already extinguished their lights. The cicadas were still calling out from time to time. Tonight, there were no stars or moon, and it was unusually hot and humid, as if a big rain was about to fall.

  On such a night, a black shadow quietly slipped into Dong Cheng's mansion and then quietly pushed open the door to enter Dong Cheng's room. The black shadow searched all around in Dong Cheng's room as if looking for something, but after searching for a long time, he found nothing.

  Even so, the black shadow still refused to give up. In the end, he even rummaged through under the bed and found a delicate box there. After taking out the box, the man in black hastily opened it. The box emitted a faint light after being opened, and the man in black was overjoyed. He picked up the jade pendant inside the box and prepared to leave.

  Just at this moment, Dong Cheng's mansion suddenly lit up, and his room was surrounded by people. The black-clad man was shocked, and then Dong Cheng's door was kicked open with one foot. Then Bao Zheng and Hua Lang walked in with big strides.

  The young man looked at the black-clad person and smiled coldly: "Old Zhu, long time no see!"

  "What's with the 'long time no see'? Didn't we just meet this afternoon?"

  Yin Wuchu suddenly appeared in front of the black-clad man, wanting to remove his veil. The black-clad man raised his hand to block him, but his martial arts skills were far inferior to Yin Wuchu's. Before he could react, Yin Wuchu had already torn off his veil and even snatched the jade pendant from his hand.

  Under the lamp light, Zhu Yougui's face looked a bit blurry, but in this blur, there was also a hint of terror. Hualang sneered: "Does Mr. Zhu have anything else to say?"

  Zhu Yougui has nothing good to say for himself. He sneaked into Dong Cheng's mansion to steal a jade pendant and was caught red-handed, what can he possibly say?

  Only Zhu Yougui was a bit puzzled, he sneaked into Dong Cheng's mansion at night, how did these government officials know about it? When he came out, he had clearly investigated all around and there was no one following him.

  When he saw the jade pendant with "You Gui" engraved on it, Judge Bao explained: "We found this jade pendant with 'You Gui' engraved on it, but we knew that using it as evidence to accuse you would have no effect. So, we thought of luring you into committing a crime. As soon as I said in court that we would find the evidence of your debt, you would think of this jade pendant and, being cautious, you would want to keep it with you to feel at ease. That's why we set a trap for you here."

  After hearing Bao Gong's words, Zhu Yougui finally understood that he had been deceived and everything was in someone else's plan.

  Seeing Zhu Yougui, there was no other doubt. Bao Zheng immediately ordered him to be taken back to the yamen and wait for trial.

  Two bailiffs led the way after receiving their orders, escorting Zhu Yougui away. By this time, the sky had darkened, and Hualang and Wen Meng bid farewell to Bao Zheng before hurrying towards the Wen residence.

  On the way, Wen Meng asked curiously: "Now that Zhu Yougui has been caught on the spot, he should admit to owing Dong Cheng over a thousand taels of silver."

  Hua Wan'er smiled faintly: "Of course, caught on the spot, no denial is possible."

  Yin shook his head hastily: "As long as he admits to owing Dong Cheng over a thousand taels of silver, then the crime of killing Dong Cheng is established and this case can be closed."

  Can it really end this easily?