Ming Dynasty: My Father Zhang Juzheng

Chapter 28 There is another mystery
Soon, the news of Mrs. Zhao’s death spread like snowflakes to all parts of Wanping County.

Officials of all ranks who came to pay their respects were overjoyed and gathered in the Zhao family courtyard like leeches smelling blood.

The alley was packed with sedan chairs, horse-drawn carriages and people were unable to get through.

Finally, Mrs. Zhao had no choice but to set up the mourning hall at the entrance of the alley.

"Look. Look." Feng Qi, an editor at the Imperial Academy, pointed at the two coffins and gnashed his teeth, indignantly saying, "Poor old mother of County Magistrate Zhao, she is nearly seventy years old this year, and she has lost her son before her. Today, she dies again. Who do you think should be held accountable for this vengeance?!"

"Eunuchs are ruining the country!" One man rolled up his sleeves and roared loudly, "If you have blood, follow me and report this to the emperor and give justice to County Magistrate Zhao."

"Yes, let's seek justice." The atmosphere in the entire courtyard was ignited, and the visiting officials raised their fists and roared loudly.

Mrs. Zhao couldn't stop shouting and her voice was almost hoarse.

"A bunch of poor scholars who only know how to rub salt into other people's wounds." In a teahouse facing the street, Han San looked at these officials jumping up and down with disdain and disgust.

In his opinion, these people just wanted to use the death of County Magistrate Zhao to gain fame for themselves.

For the sake of fame, they can ignore the lives of others and take risks.

Ever since Hai Rui became famous, everyone has dreamed of becoming a celebrity like Hai Rui, being beaten with a stick in the court and becoming famous throughout the world.

He has always looked down upon those hypocrites who seek fame and reputation and pretend to be noble.

Just as he was thinking, he heard a series of footsteps downstairs. He turned his head and saw a junior officer in the robes of the Jinyiwei walking up.

As soon as he saw Han San, the man immediately clasped his fists and said, "Boss, the old man vomited."

"Let's go and take a look." Han San's brows were raised with joy.

Having said that, he and his men left the teahouse.

Of course, he came here not to express condolences, but to investigate a case.

If the higher-ups want to protect Feng Bangning, then naturally they have to find evidence to protect him, so as to avoid making things difficult for their higher-ups.

The biggest doubt is the time of death.

There was a gap of nearly half a month between being beaten and dying.

If this matter did not have such a serious impact, most people would not think that the death of County Magistrate Zhao was related to Feng Bangning.

In order to find evidence, Han San came to Wanping County for open and secret investigations, and found out that County Magistrate Zhao was already ill.

Han San was overjoyed and immediately sent people to control the doctor and interrogate him overnight.

In just half a day, the pharmacy owner told everything.

Han San stepped into the interrogation room, told his men to close the door, then sat down directly in front of the pharmacy owner and slammed his sword on the table.

The boss' neck shrank and he shuddered.

Han San brushed off his clothes, crossed his legs, and said with a fierce smile: "Tell me, if you are not satisfied with what you say, I will make you pay."

"Yes, yes." The drugstore owner nodded repeatedly, swallowed his saliva, and said, "Zhao County Magistrate has been ill for several years. He used to come to me every half a month to get a few prescriptions."

"What disease?" Han San asked.

"He has lung disease and coughs badly. The medicine he took only treats the symptoms and not the root cause. I estimate he has at most two years to live." The drugstore owner replied respectfully.

"So? He committed suicide?"

"What?" The drugstore owner was shocked.

"County Magistrate Zhao knew that he didn't have much time left, and he didn't want to burden his wife and children, so he bought two coins of arsenic from you a few days ago and committed suicide. Am I right?" Han San smiled sinisterly and reminded.

“Sir, he…” The drugstore owner was about to retort, but when he saw Han San’s cold look, his momentum softened: “Yes, he bought arsenic from our store half a month ago, and he must have committed suicide.”

"That's right." Han San slapped his thigh and ordered his men to bring the complaint and write down what he had just said.

The drugstore owner gritted his teeth and signed his name on it.

"Sir, I wanted to cooperate with you, but arsenic poisoning should make the face black. If the coroner finds out the identity of the person, wouldn't we all be exposed?"

"That's not up to them." Han San smiled and had an idea in mind. On that day, Han San sent someone to the pharmacy owner's store to tamper with the pharmacy's purchase records.

Afterwards, when it was midnight and everyone was asleep, he led two followers to the Zhao family's morgue site.

Today the sky is overcast and there are no stars.

Deathly silence spread throughout the alley.

When he arrived, Zhao's widow was still kneeling in front of the mourning hall, with white paper money scattered all over the ground. The three of them were all wearing white linen mourning robes with a hemp rope tied around their waists.

Han San quickly turned around and stuck close to the brick wall, hiding his body in the shadows.

"Boss, what should we do now?" asked a strong man.

"Wait, wait until they go in, then we will take action."

"What if they stay all night? Wouldn't that mean we've waited in vain?"

"Even tigers take naps sometimes." Han San glared at the man, turned his head away, and ordered with his eyes slightly closed, "Watch them carefully. Call me when they go in."

The cold wind blew the three people's clothes.

Mrs. Zhao knelt for a long time, and her knees were sore and painful. It was naturally even more unbearable for the two children.

Her face was full of distress. She looked at her two children and said, "Yong'er, Yue'er, are you tired?"

"Not tired." The two shook their heads.

"You're lying. Go to bed now." Mrs. Zhao frowned.

The two of them refused to go and insisted on pulling their mother into the house to sleep with them.

Mrs. Zhao couldn't persuade her children, so she glanced at the sky, stood up and walked into the house with her children.

As soon as he left, the warrior in brocade clothes became excited: "Boss. Boss."

"what happened?"

"It went in. It really went in."

Han San opened his eyes and took a look. He was delighted and said, "Get ready."

After saying that, the three of them tiptoed up together.

All of a sudden, a cold wind blew around, making several people shiver.

"Boss, is this guy going to come back to life?" one of them said tremblingly.

"Fuck you, why don't you take out the arsenic quickly?" Han San glared at the man who spoke, then turned his head to look at another person and ordered, "Li Gui, go open the coffin, and be quiet."

Each of them did their own thing.

Han San took out three incense sticks, lit them, and placed them in front of him. He knelt down and said, "Brother Zhao, I'm sorry. You said you took the money, so you have to do something. I can't do anything about it. I will apologize to you when I get to the underworld later."

After saying all this in one go, Han San stood up.

At this time, the coffin had been opened.

Han San picked up a bowl of white medicine and sent it in. Because the weather was not too hot, County Magistrate Zhao had just died less than three days ago, and his body was well preserved.

With the help of the light from the fire stick, Han San quickly saw the face of County Magistrate Zhao.

At one glance, his eyelids jumped in shock.

Because there was something wrong with his face, Han San became suspicious.

He quickly took out a silver needle and inserted it into County Magistrate Zhao's stomach.

When I took it out, I found that there was a black spot on it.

"Okay, now let's see how you deny it." Han San was delighted. He ordered his men to cover the coffin and quickly disappeared into the night.

(End of this chapter)