Daming: Internship also counts as work experience

Chapter 28 New Case

Jia Chuan and the other two returned to the official residence. Before they even entered, they heard deafening snoring. When they pushed the door open, the smell of foot odor was no less pungent than the stench of the corpse that day. The three of them failed to fall asleep first. It was indeed difficult to fall asleep peacefully in such an environment. However, Jia Chuan was really tired, so he found a place to lie down on the big bunk and fell asleep.

Shunzi was a little late, but fell asleep quickly. Only Dong Shuben was left. Not to mention the harsh objective environment, even in the silence at this moment, he had no intention of sleeping.

……

The next day, Jia Chuan was woken up by someone. The moment he opened his eyes, he didn't even know what day it was or who he was.
It took him a moment to react, and then seeing Dong Shuben's anxious expression, Jia Chuan's first reaction was: The decree has arrived! County Magistrate Cui wants to arrest them and throw them into the cell.

Thinking of this, he sat up in fear. Before Dong Shuben could speak, he whispered, "Do you know where the back door of the county government office is?"

Dong Shuben was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and said, "I don't know."

"Can you get any money?"

This question really hit Dong Shuben's nerves. He immediately forgot why he had woken Jia Chuan and could only say sadly, "Where can I get the money? Where can I get it? I'll go home and ask my wife for it. She has to be willing to give it to me! I told her about my daughter's marriage before, but when it comes to the dowry, she got anxious and kept asking me to find a way. She..."

Jia Chuan knew he had stirred up a hornet's nest, so he kicked Shunzi, who was still fast asleep next to him. Shunzi suddenly woke up and asked, "Is dinner ready?"

"You only know how to eat! Get up and run! Do you know where you can hide?"

"Why are you running away?" Shunzi asked, rubbing his eyes. He immediately stopped moving, then suddenly woke up from his nap and looked at Jia Chuan in fear: "Are you going to catch us?"

Dong Shuben was also shocked. He grabbed Jia Chuan's arm and asked, "When will you come to arrest him?"

Jia Chuan was stunned for a moment, then looked at Dong Shuben and asked, "You pushed me awake because..."

"Why?" Dong Shuben still looked terrified.

Jia Chuan felt the blood rushing to his head slowly recede. He took a deep breath and asked in a calm tone, "Why did you wake me up?"

"Oh, yes. There was a murder this morning. Captain Gao and his men went there, and then a constable came back and said, 'Captain Gao asked you to go quickly.'"

"Just...this?"

"The constable who came back said that Captain Gao meant that Dongzhao County had always been peaceful, and it was only because of your coming that there was so much trouble. If you didn't go, he would have the county magistrate imprison you to prevent you from causing trouble."

Jia Chuan rubbed his face and asked, "Morning? What time is it now?"

"It's almost noon."

"Oh, let's eat first. Investigating a case isn't about preventing murder. It doesn't matter if we wait a little longer."

"You..." Shunzi grabbed Jia Chuan's arm: "Are you scared too? Just now..."

"Afraid? Humph! What a joke! I don't even know how to write the word afraid!"

After saying this, Jia Chuan wanted to get out of bed swiftly. Perhaps because he had just woken up and the blood circulation in his limbs was not smooth, his wrists were not very strong. He wanted to use his hands to support himself and jump down to show that he was not afraid. Unfortunately, his wrists were weak and he could not hold on, and he fell back onto the bunk bed.

This made Dong Shuben and Shunzi feel as if they were sinking into an icy cave. In their opinion, Jia Chuan was pretending to be strong, but in fact...

How could Jia Chuan not be afraid? He didn't know much about the ways of the world here, especially among the upper classes. Of course, he didn't know much in his previous life either, but he knew from books, movies and TV shows that the suffering after being wronged was unbearable. Zhu Zhanji had a little affection for him, and after so many days, it must have been almost worn out. It was the main manifestation of imperial power to rather kill a thousand people by mistake than let one go. How could he not be afraid?
Although it was scary, he felt that since he had come here, he should try his best to live a decent life, not one stained with blood. If he was smart, it was not impossible for him to find a chance to escape.

Jia Chuan sat up again, got off the ground casually, and said, "Let's go eat!"

……

Whether in his previous life or in the Inspection Office, Jia Chuan always ate in the "canteen", so in his opinion, going to the canteen to eat at the appointed time was the most normal thing, which was like muscle memory.

Although I haven't been to the "canteen" in the past two days since I came to the county government, I still want to eat. As long as there is food to eat, it doesn't matter where or what you eat.

It was not until he really followed the county yamen servant to the 'canteen' that he realized that this was the Ming Dynasty!

There is actually a cafeteria, and a few lines of words are written on the wall: Observe etiquette through food and drink, observe fortune and disaster through etiquette, observe politics through meetings, observe promotions and demotions through politics, then record their good and evil and remember their deeds, it is appropriate to do so in this hall - Liu Zongyuan.

Jia Chuan barely recognized all the traditional Chinese characters and didn't quite grasp their meaning, but he was surprised by the final signature. Why was he surprised? Perhaps it was because this period was several hundred years closer to Liu Zongyuan's time.

In the middle of the cafeteria sat a clerk holding a pen, looking at everyone with a serious expression. Dong Shuben whispered to Jia Chuan, "Don't talk nonsense, someone will take notes."

"Do you remember to eat a meal?"

Dong Shuben pointed at the words on the wall and asked, "Can you read?"

"Nonsense, how did a dozen illiterate people write on the wooden sign?"

"You wrote that? I thought you drew it."

Since he could read, Dong Shuben didn't say anything else. He thought Jia Chuan could understand the literal meaning.

Jia Chuan didn't dare to ask, for he was afraid that the clerk would really write down the truth: a fool.

……

Judging from the servants' attitude towards them, Jia Chuan was sure that County Magistrate Cui probably knew nothing yet, which made Jia Chuan look at Gao Yuntian a little differently.

But then he thought that the prince's deterrent power might be greater than he thought. Even if County Magistrate Cui knew about it, he might not dare to touch him without the emperor's order.

Jia Chuan ate the meal with big mouthfuls. Although there was no meat and it was all vegetarian, Jia Chuan thought it was delicious. He thought hard and remembered that he had eaten pancakes all day when he went to Huangluling yesterday and slept until noon. When he was hungry, anything tasted delicious.

Seeing that Jia Chuan was eating with great relish, Shunzi also started eating with big mouthfuls, but Dong Shuben still couldn't eat any more.

The constable who came back to deliver the message was getting anxious and kept urging Jia Chuan to burp, but he didn't stop.

……

Gao Yuntian waited anxiously in a two-story house west of the city. He had been a police captain for over two years, but had he ever encountered such a string of murders? It wasn't that the people of Dongzhao County lived forever, but a murder case needed a victim to report it to the authorities. Otherwise, even if rumors spread among the neighbors, the county constables wouldn't proactively investigate the case based on rumors. This morning, a man cried and threatened to rush into the county government office. He was stopped by the bailiffs and then told them that his wife had been murdered in their home.

At that time, Cui Youzhi had just burned incense and was about to cry when he heard that another murder had occurred. His crying became more heartfelt. At the end of the year, the Ministry of Personnel conducted an assessment and found that murders of all sizes had occurred one after another in the area he governed. No matter how good his performance was, it would be in vain.

Before, he felt that the loss of more than 40 lives in Huangluling was ultimately due to the prince choosing this route to return to the capital, and it could not be blamed on him in any way, but there were always people behind the scenes who were supporting him.

It was originally none of his business, but with so many murders, it was related even if it was not his business. At least the feng shui was bad.

Cui Youzhi was worried. He found Gao Yuntian and ordered him to catch the murderer today no matter what. He wanted nothing else but to do it quickly!

Perhaps a quick word could solve his predicament.

Gao Yuntian was in an excited mood. He had always wanted to show more of his talents, but unfortunately he had not been given many opportunities before. Now that the opportunity had come, he was going to shut up those who said that his becoming a police chief was related to his uncle!

Gao Yuntian rushed to the crime scene with Old Zheng, who was not yet fully awake, and the detectives. Old Zheng was still sleepy after the autopsy, which showed that it was not difficult. The murderer stabbed the victim in the chest with one knife, and there was no second knife. The time of death was between 3:00 and 5:00 yesterday.

After Old Zheng finished his work, he squatted aside and listened to Gao Yuntian questioning the victim, the deceased's husband.

The deceased's husband looked like an honest man. He said that he ran a small business and was always away from home all year round. He felt very indebted to his wife. Yesterday morning, he was going on a long journey again. The deceased just said that she was not feeling well and did not get up to see him off. When he reached the outside of the city, he turned back because he was worried about the deceased.

Sure enough, when he got home, he saw that the deceased was indeed not feeling well and did not even have the strength to speak. He felt that he was right to come back, so he wanted to ask for a doctor, but the deceased refused and just said that he just needed to lie down. He thought that the deceased must not have eaten yet, so he wanted to go to the kitchen to cook some porridge for the deceased, but was also refused by the deceased. The deceased also advised him to leave the city quickly so as not to delay the business, but he refused and insisted on leaving tomorrow. The deceased got angry about this and said that he just needed to lie down and told him to leave quickly. Seeing him get angry, it would be difficult for him to get better. He had no choice but to leave, looking back every few steps.

"Since you had already left, why did you come back this morning?"

The honest man cried and complained, "I did leave, but I was worried. When I wanted to go back into the city, the gate was closed. I had no choice but to spend the night outside. When the gate opened, I went home. Who knew, who knew what I saw was..."

After saying this, the honest man burst into tears.

Old Zheng shook his head repeatedly after hearing this. The deceased was indeed only wearing his underwear and it looked like he had not gotten up all day. His family said they were doing business and judging by the honest look of the man, he probably didn't make any money, otherwise he would have had a servant to serve him so that someone could take care of the family when he was out. But it looked like, let alone servants, there were not even any elderly people in the family, let alone children. The couple lived a quiet life.

Gao Yuntian looked at the man who was crying loudly, and pursed his lips tightly to prevent himself from scolding. At this time, the constable who went to question the neighbors came back and said that the neighbors did not hear any screams or see any suspicious people yesterday.

Gao Yuntian stood in the middle of the yard. He originally wanted to take the people and the corpse back to the yamen as usual, but he thought of the county magistrate's stern instructions and that Jia Chuan already knew who the real murderer was at the scene of the crime that day, so he thought about trying to identify the murderer on the spot.

But when he looked around, except for the victim, everyone else was his own people. Could it be that the victim killed his wife himself and wanted to frame others?
"Who do you think did it?" Gao Yuntian squatted down and asked the honest man who had collapsed on the ground crying.

The honest man shook his head and said, "On a daily basis, my husband and I treat everyone kindly, and I am even more cautious and prudent. We have never offended anyone."

Gao Yuntian wouldn't do that. He thought the honest man would loudly reveal who he suspected, and then he could follow the clues and find evidence of the honest man's frame-up...

"There are two courtyards. After you left, did the person in your family get up and lock the gate?" Gao Yuntian suddenly thought of a key point.

Old Zheng listened carefully with his eyes wide open.

The honest man wiped the tears from his face and nodded:

"When I left early this morning, she didn't get up to see me off. I figured she'd just lie down for a bit and then get up, so it didn't matter whether the gate was locked or not. But when I came back, it was locked. She must have been feeling very uncomfortable that day and was afraid someone might show up, so she locked it. I knocked on the door for a while before she finally opened it for me, covering herself with her clothes."

The heartbroken, honest man spoke so many words at once, breathing heavily. He paused for a moment before continuing, "She was afraid of delaying my trip, and repeatedly said she was fine and just needed to lie down for a while. She even got up to see me out. I only left after hearing the sound of her bolting the door. Oh, if I had known that this farewell would be a separation between the living and the dead, I wouldn't have left no matter what she said..."

The honest man started crying again.

"So when you came back this morning, was the gate open or locked?"

"She was tied up. I filmed her for a long time. Later, I was worried that she was too sick to get up, so I borrowed a ladder from a neighbor and climbed over the wall. But who knew..."

The honest man couldn't continue speaking, and a constable came forward and whispered to Gao Yuntian, "It is true."

Gao Yuntian straightened his back, his mind racing, but after a while his mind stopped. He looked around and ordered the detectives to check if there were any signs of rummaging through the walls on both sides and the backyard.

The constable who went to check quickly returned and said, "No traces of climbing over were found."

Gao Yuntian ordered people to check the walls on both sides of the courtyard gate, and the result was nothing except traces of the honest man climbing over them.

Gao Yuntian was even less likely to do so. He suddenly wanted to see how Jia Chuan would respond in this situation, so he ordered the constable beside him to go back to the yamen and call Jia Chuan over.

Just then, the yamen runners arrived and wanted to take the body back to the yamen. When Old Zheng heard that Jia Chuan was coming, he said, "Wait a moment. We can take a look when Jia Chuan comes."

Gao Yuntian pondered for a moment, then walked over to Old Zheng and squatted down, asking in a low voice, "Tell me the truth, are you not as good as him at autopsies?"

The old pillow thought for a moment and replied, "It's hard to say."

Gao Yuntian asked again: "You think... his father might be a coroner? He has been following his father since he was a child..."

"You'd better ask him yourself."

"Don't you find it strange? How could a clerk in the Inspection Office know so much about the profession of a coroner?"

"You're still the captain of the police, but you don't seem to be very good at investigating cases."

Gao Yuntian snorted and stood up, saying, "You think he can definitely do it if he comes, right? Then let's wait and see! The gate is locked, and no one has ever climbed the wall. Who was the one who came when the crime happened? Could it be that the deceased stabbed himself? Unless he has the ability to make the deceased speak."

……

　It's New Year's Eve again, and it feels like I've known you all for ages. I have the urge to look through the blessings from previous years, but unfortunately I can't remember which book or chapter they were in...

　　The blessings must continue.

　　On this auspicious New Year's Eve, I wish your new year will be as prosperous as the blooming spring, with each petal carrying happiness and hope, and your life filled with fragrance; I wish you will have a goal in mind, a smooth road wherever you go, meet good people everywhere, and have a happy and healthy family in the new year!
　　February is here! May you have a prosperous Year of the Snake!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)