Qing Yao

Chapter 117 Still the County Magistrate's Professional
Zhao An was all too familiar with the eight-character phrase, "When Heshen fell, Jiaqing feasted."

The question is, when Heshen fell, could you also cover up his three holes?
Theoretically, it is possible; in reality, it is also possible.

Why?

Because he fell so quickly, the old master passed away and he followed him right after.

Seamless integration.

This resulted in the following consequence: the seal of the Imperial Household Department, which was in charge of the Grand Secretary's office, was not handed over; the public accounts were not handed over; the private accounts were not handed over; in short, nothing was handed over.

There are no debts, so why should I pay back any money?

It is estimated that when news of Heshen's death reached the Imperial Household Department, countless doctors and officials were busy burning invoices in order to use Heshen's death to settle the accounts.

There's no reason why the people below shouldn't make a little money if the emperor gets rich.

Reconcile accounts? What accounts?

The accounts are all in He Zhongtang's belly!

Your Majesty, why don't you invite Grand Secretary He back?
The idea is correct. If it's still wrong, then the only option is to storm the Forbidden City and send the creditor and his heirs to their deaths.

But we can't tell Lao Ding and Lao Song this now; we have to tell them what they can understand and are willing to do first.

Otherwise, all that hard work in preparing the nest will be wasted.

As for Qian Xiuwen, he had to die. The moment he called out Zhao An's real name, Zhao An had already decided to kill him.

There's no room for negotiation; there's nothing we can do. This scoundrel is a ticking time bomb.

If we meet his demands today, should we meet his new demands tomorrow or the day after?

Human greed is limitless, especially when it involves Zhao An's most fatal weakness.

Who can guarantee that after this scoundrel has squeezed all of Zhao An's economic value, he won't just turn around and write a letter of complaint?

Their actions are shameless and cannot be viewed through the eyes of a normal person.

Zhao An dared not gamble on Qian Xiuwen's character. As a martial artist, if he had no other way to solve the problem, he would resort to violence. So, taking advantage of Qian Xiuwen's unpreparedness, he decisively struck him on the head with a weight.

The mouth of a dead person is the safest.

The presence of a weight in the office of a professor at a prestigious academy may seem inexplicable, but it makes perfect sense in fact, as it is used by the professor to weigh the small amounts of silver he has received as bribes.

In those days, a pound weighed sixteen ounces. Zhao An hadn't mastered the skill of grabbing everything at once, so how could he know exactly how much loose silver he had collected? Of course, he had to weigh it.

In your past life, when you went to deposit money in a bank, wouldn't a normal person count the bills first before depositing them?

Therefore, Zhao An wasn't just sitting around with a steelyard balance in his office for no reason; everything has its own reason for existing.

However, it seems the two senior leaders didn't heed Zhao An's words, or rather, they weren't considering whether Zhao An's solution was correct, since this was a murder scene.

On the table lay a blood-stained weight, and in front of him stood Zhao An, who had just killed someone. On the ground lay a corpse with its head split open.

The pervasive stench of blood throughout the room caused both senior leaders to experience noticeable physical and physiological discomfort.

Zhao An understood that the two were not in a good state to talk about work, so he walked up to Wang Wanquan, who was slumped against the wall after vomiting, bent down and whispered, "Cousin, I'm sorry, if he doesn't die, I will."

"what?"

Wang Wanquan wanted to speak, but upon seeing his brother-in-law's still-warm body on the ground, he vomited violently again, as if his stomach was churning.

Nothing came out; he just kept vomiting.

Zhao An silently got up, picked up the copper kettle, poured a bowl of water for his cousin, and took the water from his younger cousin, Wang Wanquan, but didn't drink it. He just held the bowl and stared blankly.

Helpless, Zhao An could only tell his cousin to take it easy. He returned to his desk and looked at one of his former superiors, whose eyes were filled with fear, while the other seemed to have regained some clarity. The one who was fearful was Principal Song from the county school, while the one who had somewhat come to his senses was County Magistrate Ding.

"Have you two recovered yet? If so, when the outsiders arrive later, you two must bear witness for me that this villain was the one who committed the crime first."

Even though Zhao An is a professor at the prefectural school, the death of someone still requires official intervention.

In this way, the testimonies must be consistent.

Make the case airtight and ensure that Qian Xiuwen deserves to die.

If Lao Ding hadn't been present, the case would have been tried by the magistrate of the county where the prefectural school was located. The problem was that Lao Ding was present and was one of the witnesses, so to avoid suspicion, the case would most likely have to be tried by Jiangdu County, or it could be brought directly to the prefectural government for trial.

Therefore, Qian Xiuwen must be characterized as a villain who, having been stripped of his official rank, harbored resentment and broke into the prefectural school seeking revenge against the professor.

Even if there was a county magistrate and an instructor present to testify, or even if there was only Zhao An, the authorities would still have to maintain his authority as a professor.

Otherwise, if everyone sought revenge against officials out of personal grudges, how could officials possibly hold their positions?

What are Lao Ding and Lao Song doing at the prefectural school?

It was a business discussion, specifically regarding the matter of borrowing a place to study.

Zhao An planned to have his cousin go home later and take a few days off, meaning his cousin wouldn't be present at all, to avoid any problems with his cousin's connection.

Having regained his senses, the county magistrate glanced at Zhao An, whose face was covered in blood, and thoughtfully asked a rather professional question: Could Qian Xiuwen, this treacherous student, have any other tricks up his sleeve, daring to openly extort Professor Zhao from the prefectural school?

There are accomplices outside.

Zhao Anli immediately thought of his cousin, who had three brothers-in-law, including Qian Xiuwen and two younger brothers.

A fierce glint flashed in the county magistrate's eyes: "We must immediately take those two younger brothers from the Qian family to jail. Whether they know about this or not, they cannot live!"

Upon hearing this, Wang Wanquan, who was slumped against the wall, trembled. He wanted to plead for his two brothers-in-law, but the thought that Qian Laoda might tell his cousin's secret to his two brothers made him feel tormented.

On one side were his wife's brothers, and on the other side was his own cousin. It was truly a difficult choice for the honest Wang Wanquan.

Zhao An also realized that the other two brothers of the Qian family might also pose a threat to him, so he hurriedly said to the county magistrate, "There is no time to lose, Lao Ding, you should go back to the yamen and issue arrest warrants to detain them."

It goes without saying how to kill someone once they've been detained; the county magistrate doesn't even need to lift a finger. A mere supervisor in the yamen has plenty of ways to kill or maim a living person, and they can even do it so that outsiders can't tell the difference.

The title of "county magistrate who ruins families" is not just a figure of speech.

"No rush, we need to solidify your case first!"

Suddenly, the county magistrate grabbed the inkstone from the table and struck himself hard on the forehead, instantly splattering ink and blood all over his face.

This scene stunned Zhao An and Instructor Song. They hadn't expected the county magistrate to be so persistent, tearing at his clothes as he yelled, "Help! Help!"

Then he lay down on the ground, pretending to be seriously injured. Realizing something was wrong, he grabbed the already stiff right hand of Boss Qian and scratched his face a few times.

"This"

Zhao An was surprised by Lao Ding's professionalism. He also realized that it was unreasonable for him to be completely unharmed. His gaze fell on the scale covered in blood.

Just as he was hesitating whether to hit himself too, a fair and delicate hand grabbed the weight first, followed by a scream of pain.

"puff!"

Old Song spat out a mouthful of blood, and there was a tooth in the blood.

It was a bad tooth that Old Song had wanted to have pulled for a long time.

(End of this chapter)