Jiangshan Fengwuzhi

Chapter 8 Zombies (Thanks to the leader "Yan ZK")

"Tick tock, tick tock."

The handkerchief was wrung out in warm water and used to wipe the powder off the dead man's face, revealing the bloodless and stiff skin.

Su Xiaoyi brought a candle, sat down next to the corpse, carefully cut a lock of hair, and stuck them around the lips of the deceased one by one.

He is a undertaker, that is, a coroner. He took on this public business after being recommended by his uncle who was a coroner in Shuyang Prefecture. The deceased was a middle-aged man dressed as a woman, and it was unknown what special hobbies he had.

No matter how terrible a quirk is, it will be wiped out when a person dies. Su Xiaoyi will tidy it up decently for relatives and friends to mourn.

This was a delicate job, and it took almost two hours. He nodded with satisfaction, stood up, picked his ears as if listening, and then glanced around in confusion.

"Too tired?"

Su Xiaoyi muttered to herself, preparing to change the clothes of the deceased, but the next moment she was stunned, holding up the candle and moving closer to look at the deceased's chest.

The stitches were still there, but the wound was almost invisible. The big hole was originally quite large after he stitched it, but now there was only a thin crack. When I opened it with my fingers, there was no blood.

Faintly, the deceased's stomach seemed to be rising and falling slightly.

Su Xiaoyi couldn't help but reach out to feel the patient's breath, but it was cold and motionless. He scratched his head and continued to put clothes on the dead man.

A corpse came to life, was put into a coffin and carried out.

In the dark and narrow space, a faint sound gradually sounded.

--------

In addition to a large number of runners doing miscellaneous tasks, the Kaiping Division also had inspectors, with ten people forming a patrol and a patrol chief. Above the patrol chief was the captain of the police, and there were also people who worked in clerical work, called bookkeepers, who also had ranks. Above the captain of the police and the bookkeepers were the investigators, with ten people in each of the North and South Yamen. Above them was the inspector, with two people in each of the two Yamen. Above them were the pacification commissioners and commanders of the two Yamen, and the rest included deputy commissioners, civil servants, etc.

Pei Nian was in charge of investigating matters. He had to deal with orders from his superiors and also had to take care of a lot of trivial matters.

As soon as she entered the yamen, she heard a series of reports.

"Investigator, the Chief Inspector wants you over. Someone from the Gu family has come. It's the tenth son, Gu Jiye. Inspector Wang is meeting him. A chief from the Ministry of Justice has also come to take Gu Jingnian away for questioning. Captains Huang and Zhao have returned with something to report. Bookkeeper Wu has also found a clue. Lu Laowu lost Lu Yanning and came to apologize. An inspector said that there was something unusual in the houses in the south of the city, which seemed to be related to the drugstore. In addition, Tingqiao Bing wants to take a day off to pay tribute to Luo Quan..."

Pei Nian walked and listened, without showing the slightest impatience. He spoke with a calm tone.

"Tell Huang Hu and Zhao Heng to go to the bookkeeping office and wait immediately. I'll meet the Commissioner and then see them and Mr. Wu."

"Yes."

"Tell Tingqiao Bing that I will take him to the memorial service tomorrow, and order him to immediately ask Lu Laowu about Lu Yanning's whereabouts. Remind Lu Laowu that if he still doesn't know Lu Yanning's whereabouts before midnight, he will be severely punished."

"Yes."

"Let Elder Ge find out what Gu Jiye and Wang Qinghe said, and then warn Wang Qinghe not to interfere in our case."

"Yes."

"Take the head of the Ministry of Justice to the inn to have tea and leave him alone for an hour. When Mr. Ge is free, go and confess the crime. Tell him that Gu Jingnian is seriously injured and cannot move."

"Yes."

"Let Yougui investigate Chengxi's case first."

"Investigating the case, Captain You said that his old cold legs have come back and he wants to rest for some time..."

"Tell him that if he dares to be sneaky again, he won't be able to wear this brocade robe anymore!"

"Yes."

Just after all these arrangements were made, another person came to report: "Investigation, Su Changfu has been transferred here. When I arrived, Gu Si Niang also sent someone to his house to express her gratitude and invite him to serve as a priest. I would like to..."

"What do you think? Tell me."

"I think his medical skills are really great! I have been having pain in my lower abdomen for a month. Can I ask him to treat it?"

"Go."

Pei Nian then passed through the high walls, entered the office, and bowed to a sinister man sitting behind the desk.

"Meet Tis."

Liu Jikun looked unhappy and said straight to the point: "Have you found evidence of Gu Beiming's conspiracy to rebel?"

Pei Nian said: "There is no conclusive evidence yet."

"It's been eight days. Kaiping Division has raised a bunch of rubbish?" Liu Jikun said, "The day after tomorrow at 3 p.m., Kaiping Division will arrest the Gu family. Before that, collect enough evidence."

"Secretary, this matter involves the border troops. If we act without solid evidence, the consequences will be..."

"Your Majesty has been assassinated! If we don't solve the case and catch the murderer as soon as possible, will you bear the consequences? Can you, or even the Pei family, bear it?"

These words were very serious. Pei Nian understood them, but remained silent.

Liu Jikun's tone softened a bit, and he continued, "After all, they are a military family with many guards. Gu Jizu is very powerful, so you should be prepared."

Gu Jizu is Gu Beiming's eldest son. He broke both legs in his early years, but Liu Jikun is still afraid of him.

After hearing this, Pei Nian knew that no matter whether or not evidence was found, action would be taken against the Gu family the day after tomorrow.

There are countless examples of the Kaiping Division arresting people first and then convicting them when handling cases. In addition, since this is a major case of assassination of the emperor, all parties want to close the case as quickly as possible.

But if Gu Beiming is wronged, aren't you afraid of forcing him to rebel by doing this?

Pei Nian had no right to interfere, so he responded expressionlessly and walked out.

In charge of the bookkeeping room.

Two men in brocade robes were leaning against a large pillar and chatting. When they saw Pei Nian coming over, they stepped forward and

They were none other than the two captains under Pei Nian, Huang Hu and Zhao Heng.

"We found out something," Huang Hu said. "After the battle of Yangshachuan, more than a hundred veterans of the Xiaoyi Army deserted. I found one of them. He saw with his own eyes that there were leeches in the Yong army. Gu Beiming and the Du Biao Camp had indeed disappeared for three days, and only a few people were left when they returned."

"Where are the witnesses?"

"Bring it back."

Zhao Heng reported, "The eldest son of the Gu family, Gu Jizu, has been indifferent to worldly affairs since his legs were broken. But six days ago, someone sent him a letter, and on the same day, Gu Jingnian went to the Marquis' Mansion to cancel the engagement."

"How did you find out?"

"I have bribed the Gu family."

"Where's the messenger?"

"I don't know. I guess Lu Yanning must have informed him that something had happened in the western suburbs."

Pei Nian pondered and said, "If I remember correctly, when the Kingdom of Yue was destroyed, Wu Dinghou was the commander-in-chief, and Gu Beiming was only the vanguard. Was it in that battle that Gu Jizu broke his leg?"

"Yes."

"Make preparations in the next two days, and catch the thief at 3 p.m. the day after tomorrow. Also, do not let the news leak out."

"Yes."

In the bookkeeping room, the rustling sound of flipping through files continued.

Wu Mozhi is nearly 70 years old and has very poor eyesight. He always squints and looks very close when looking at things, but he has an excellent memory and can remember everything he sees.

"Old Wu."

"I'm here to investigate. I found a clue. Wait a moment."

Wu Mozhi leaned over the shelf to search, and it seemed quite strenuous because he had to get very close to see clearly, but he soon found a file.

"This is the verification record of the captive surrender team passing through Zhenyun Pass. The general guarding the pass was very careful and recorded all matters clearly. Look at this, '298 Yong captives, all strong, with a daily supply of 1.7 dou of rice', which shows that there was no abnormality when the captives arrived at Zhenyun Pass, but look at this again... there is a page missing in the seam of the scroll."

“How come you see?”

"There was a scrap of paper in the seam, and the contents before and after didn't match up, so the tax clearance work from the previous day came to an abrupt end."

"What does Mr. Wu think?"

"Perhaps something that shouldn't have been recorded was torn off. For example, the prisoners may have mutated when they passed through the customs."

Most of the evidence in this case pointed to the possibility that there might be something wrong with the prisoner surrender team sent by Gu Beiming, but Pei Nian still arranged for someone to rush to Zhenyun Pass to investigate.

Knowing that the Kaiping Division was about to arrest the Gu family, she hoped that this order was correct.

Half an hour later, another bookkeeper, Ge Qingzhi, came back.

Ge Qingzhi had a round face and was always smiling. He was very organized when reporting to Pei Nian.

"Gu Jiye came to Wang Jishi to plead for justice. The two knew each other before. Master Gu said a lot, but none of his words were useful, at least I didn't hear them. What's interesting is that Wang Jishi promised me in front of me that he would protect the Gu family." "What about the head of the Ministry of Justice?"

"They were instructed by the peace faction to convict him as soon as possible."

……

Although he was busy with many things, Pei Nian took some time out the next day to take a few of his subordinates to pay tribute to Luo Quan.

Tingqiao Bing and Qi Laowu finally failed to find out Lu Yanning's whereabouts. They were worried and worried about the face of the police officer.

But for the first time ever, Pei Nian did not speak a word about official business along the way. He remained silent.

Only one inspector kept humming.

"Hey Yu Wu, didn't you go see Divine Doctor Su?" Ting Qiao Bing asked, "Why? Didn't Divine Doctor Su cure you?"

"Dr. Su asked me to lie down, took off my clothes, and felt around for a long time. He said there seemed to be a lump in my kidney."

"and then?"

"He said we have to cut it open to find out what it is, so I have to think about it carefully. I am not brave enough, after all, he used to be a coroner."

"Just cut it open, what's there to be afraid of?" Tingqiao Bing said, "His medical skills are amazing. I saw it with my own eyes. It was such a serious injury, but he stopped bleeding as soon as he treated it."

"Then let me go back and try?"

"Let's try it."

Pei Nian listened to the conversation between his subordinates and fell into deep thought again.

Luo Quan is a native of Shuyang and lives in Baidai Lane in the north of the city.

In the courtyard, relatives and friends were dressed in mourning and chatting as if they were having a party, sighing or sobbing from time to time.

It was not yet the seventh day and the coffin lid had not been closed, revealing Luo Quan's peaceful face, which had been tidied up. His face was powdered, his hair was neatly combed, and he had three long strands of beard stuck around his mouth. He looked very respectable indeed.

People said that Luo Quan was a strict father who liked calligraphy and Go. He was also a member of a government family with a good salary and often helped his clansmen.

They didn't know that he usually put on makeup, disguised himself as an old woman, stalked the murderer day and night, and lived a life of bloodshed...

Pei Nian felt uncomfortable after hearing this, as he felt that the dead person did not look like the inspector under his command.

Many inspectors have died, and people have become accustomed to it. But when a living person dies, many people mourn.

She lit a stick of incense and put down the ceremonial money.

"Wait a minute, I'm leaving. I have some official business to attend to at night, so I can't drink."

"Yes."

Tingqiao Bing felt that the investigation was a bit inhumane, so he took a basket of paper money, sat by the brazier and burned it, while speaking to Luo Quan in a low voice, just as they had done when they were on official business before.

"Lao Luo, Gu Jingnian told me that it was me who revealed the flaw. It seems that you are still more capable."

"Well, there are tricks to every profession. I still need to learn more..."

After muttering to himself for a long time, Tingqiao Bing suddenly stopped talking and looked up in surprise.

The mourning hall suddenly became quiet.

Everyone was stunned and looked in the same direction.

Luo Quan sat up from the coffin.

He did not support his body with his hands, but instead held his upper body straight, appearing somewhat stiff and twisted. There was no life in his eyes, which were bloodshot, but they were indeed open.

The musicians stopped their movements, the funeral music came to an abrupt end, and people heard a low roar.

"You...you're not dead?"

Following Tingqiao Bing's words, some people were stunned, some were ecstatic, some were frightened, and the scene was in chaos.

Luo Quan's wife cried with joy, and the two little children in her arms were also cheering and wanted to rush to their father.

"Dad is not dead, that's great!"

Suddenly, Luo Quan, who was sitting in the coffin, opened his mouth.

A snake as thick as an arm shot out of his mouth like a sharp arrow and bit directly on the arm of Tingqiao Bing, who was closest to the coffin.

"what!"

There was a scream in the mourning hall.

Tingqiao Bing wanted to break free, but he felt his strength being quickly drained away along with his blood, and half of his body became numb.

"Lao Luo, what are you doing?!"

The fact that he asked this showed that he was a little panicked. Luo Quan had obviously become a leech.

Yu Wu just reacted at this time, drew the sword at his waist and tried to chop, but the leech quickly let go and bit his throat like lightning.

"Yu Wu!"

Tingqiao Bing fell to the ground and watched Yu Wu lose his life in an instant.

Luo Quan's belly also began to bulge, and finally with a "puff" sound, another bloody mouth bit towards the crowd that was fleeing in panic.

Only two children didn't know how to run and kept crying.

Just as they were trampled to the ground, a figure came like a wisp of smoke and carried them aside.

It’s Pei Nian.

She put the child down, drew her sword, stepped forward, and slashed him down in one go.

The head of a leech fell to the ground, and Pei Nian chopped off Luo Quan's head with another sword.

The roar suddenly subsided, and the leech on the ground twisted its body twice and stopped moving.

Looking at Luo Quan's mutated headless body, Pei Nian suddenly remembered what Mei Chengzong said when he took him away: "As long as you can afford it."

She suddenly understood something and turned to look at Tingqiao Bing who was rolling on the ground.

With a flash of cold light, she cut off Tingqiao Bing's arm with a sword.

"what!"

Screams of pain echoed throughout the mourning hall.

Pei Nian walked towards Yu Wu and slashed with the sword again.

……

The sky was getting dark and the ground was covered with blood.

Someone rode up on horseback and limped into the mourning hall. It was You Gui, the Kaiping police officer who was ordered to investigate a case in the south of the city yesterday.

"Issue, something happened!"

You Gui is in his fifties, with a short gray beard. He has always been a lazy old man, but today he looks solemn.

"A leech appeared in a residential building in the south of the city, and five of my men died... What happened here?"

"You handle it."

Pei Nian walked out quickly, jumped on his horse, and galloped away.

The scenes that happened in the past two days flashed before her eyes, and it was not until today that she figured out what was wrong with Gu Jingnian.

He was seriously injured and could not be cured at all.

After returning to the Kaiping Division Yamen, Pei Nian ignored his subordinates and went straight to the northwest corner of the courtyard where Gu Jingnian was imprisoned.

"You guys go down."

Pei Nian waved away the two guards outside the door, held the sword in his hand, and kicked the door open.

The young man lying on the couch turned his head, his eyes still calm.

"Gu Jingnian, die!"

(End of this chapter)