Jackie Chan's Son-in-Law

Chapter 21 Three Reports
Magistrate Hong's voice wasn't particularly loud, but the drawn-out tone was basically the unique accent of an official.

At this moment, the attendant following Magistrate Hong added a very perceptive remark.

"The county magistrate has arrived—"

At times like this, someone has to step forward and say these things to highlight the identity of the person in charge; otherwise, if the county magistrate himself were to introduce himself, it would immediately seem a bit beneath him.

After this exchange of greetings, Magistrate Hong, with his hands behind his back, arrived at the simple mourning hall in Gu Shouyi's home. He peeked at the pale-faced little child and couldn't help but shake his head and sigh.

"It's such a pity that there's only so little."

At this moment, the Gu family members finally realized what was happening, but most of them had no experience speaking with the county magistrate, or even the courage to do so. They all lowered their heads and dared not speak.

This is a normal reaction for most ordinary people.

In the eyes of the bigwigs in the imperial court, a county magistrate might be a minor official, but as long as he wasn't the magistrate of a county attached to the city, he was practically the emperor in the local area.

Most people don't even have the confidence to communicate with "God of Heaven".

Only Gu Shouzhou braced himself, stepped forward, clasped his hands, and bowed, saying, "This humble citizen, Gu Shouzhou, greets Your Excellency, the County Magistrate."

Magistrate Hong looked around at the scene, then his gaze fell on the child. He said in a deep voice, "Is this child the Gu family's child?"

Gu Shouzhou bowed his head and said, "Your Excellency, this is the son of my brother Gu Shouyi. He was not even five years old this year. I never expected such a sudden change to happen, and he died."

Magistrate Hong glanced at the child before turning his gaze to Gu Shouzhou. He said in a deep voice, "Today, Chen Qing went to the county office to report this matter, and that's how I learned about it. Since your Gu family has lost a son and suspects that Chen Qing killed him, why didn't you report this murder case to the county office?"

Gu Shouzhou stammered and dared not speak.

Magistrate Hong looked at him coldly and shouted, "Although Chen Qing's father is also an official in the court, he is hundreds of miles away from Huzhou Prefecture and has no jurisdiction over this county. I have never even met him. Yet you, with your white lips, spout off about officials protecting each other!"

"Come."

Magistrate Hong, with his hands behind his back, demanded, "I ask you, how have I protected him!"

These words were truly sharp. Even Gu Shouzhou, who had seen some of the world while working with Master Gu, was so frightened that he knelt on the ground, bowing his head and saying, "Your Excellency, Your Excellency..."

He panicked a little, knelt on the ground, and kept looking around. He first looked at Chen Qing standing behind the county magistrate, and couldn't help but grit his teeth in anger!

This guy surnamed Chen has gotten involved with the local county magistrate!
He was afraid, yet he couldn't help but let his mind wander.

This man surnamed Chen comes from the Chen family of Huzhou, yet he willingly became a son-in-law. Clearly, he doesn't have much ability. Logically speaking, he should be staying in the Gu family compound right now, feeling anxious and uneasy.

But within half a day, he summoned the county magistrate. Clearly, this man surnamed Chen had made preparations in advance. Perhaps he came to Deqing to seize the Gu family's property!

In the end, he might not even marry into the family!

Thinking of this, Gu Shouzhou glared fiercely at Chen Qing, then lowered his head respectfully and said in a trembling voice, "Your Excellency, a life has been lost in our Gu family. Naturally, we should report it to the authorities, but this morning, my brothers and I examined the child's body..."

At this point, Gu Shouzhou shed tears: "He had two round, hole-like wounds on his calves, which must have been caused by a poisonous snake bite."

At this point, he raised his head and stared fiercely at Chen Qing: "Your Excellency, my brother is an honest and kind man who has never offended anyone over the years. His only offense is against this man surnamed Chen. Therefore, we suspect that the child was killed by this man surnamed Chen."

"However, because the child was bitten by a venomous snake, and we have no evidence to prove that this man surnamed Chen was responsible, so...so..."

Gu Shouzhou lowered his head and said, "That's why we didn't report the murder to the county government."

Magistrate Hong raised his eyebrows and walked into the mourning hall himself. He turned around and gave a wink to the several constables behind him. The constables immediately stepped forward, lifted up the corpse's trousers, and saw that there were indeed two round hole-like wounds on the child's left calf, and the bloodstains on the wounds had turned black.

Magistrate Hong turned around, looked at Gu Shouzhou, and sneered, "Fine!"

"You people already knew that the child was bitten to death by a poisonous snake, and you probably also knew that this matter had nothing to do with Chen Qing, yet you went to find Chen Qing early this morning to pin this on him!"

"When Chen Qing reported the case, and the attempt to frame him failed, he kept accusing officials of protecting each other!"

Magistrate Hong glared at Gu Shouzhou and demanded, "Is my reputation so worthless that you Gu family members would wantonly ruin it to achieve your goals?"

"Gu Shouzhou, putting aside the child's case, you are slandering this county."

"And they also slander others."

Magistrate Hong, his face dark, said, "Come with me to the yamen!" Gu Shouzhou knelt on the ground, gritting his teeth, and said, "Your Excellency, I did not accuse this man surnamed Chen, so how can you say I'm slandering him?"

"As for the county magistrate's reputation..."

Gu Shouzhou bowed his head and kowtowed, saying, "I was confused for a moment and said the wrong thing. Please punish me, Your Excellency!"

Upon hearing this, Magistrate Hong frowned, remained silent, and turned to look at Chen Qing.

Chen Qing noticed Magistrate Hong's gaze. He narrowed his eyes, first cupped his hands in greeting, and then said loudly, "Your Excellency, this matter cannot be covered up by the word 'poisonous snake'."

He looked at Gu Shouzhou and said in a deep voice, "If this child had been bitten by a snake at home, that could be considered an accident. But he went missing in the middle of the night and was only found this morning, so that can't be called an accident!"

"He was bitten by a snake released by someone."

"Whether it was a case of being killed by a snake after the fact, or being killed by someone else to cover it up, is still hard to say."

Chen Qing said loudly, "Your Honor, although I am not a member of the Gu family, I cannot ignore this murder case. I am reporting this case to Your Honor and implore you to investigate it thoroughly."

Young Master Chen looked at Gu Shouzhou with burning eyes: "The county magistrate can have the coroner examine the child's injuries. If he has another fatal wound, then it means he was not bitten to death by a poisonous snake."

"And if he doesn't have many injuries, that means..."

At this point, Chen Qing looked at Gu Shouzhou and sneered, "That means that last night, the child wasn't lost at all. He was probably lured out of his house by an acquaintance and tricked into losing his life!"

Magistrate Hong looked at Chen Qing, raised an eyebrow, and seemed somewhat surprised.

Logically speaking, once Chen Qing's identity and situation are cleared of suspicion, everything will be fine.

Moreover, the fewer murder cases in local counties, the better, since murder cases have to be reported all the way to the Ministry of Justice for investigation.

The more murders a place has, the worse its public security is.

Magistrate Hong glanced at the child, then at Chen Qing, and said calmly, "Young Master Chen is neither family nor relatives of this child. Do you really intend to report this child to the police?"

Just as he finished speaking, Chen Qing was about to reply when Miss Gu, who had entered with the magistrate and was already standing not far away, stepped forward and bowed to Magistrate Hong, saying, "Your Honor, I am this child's aunt. If Chen Qing's report is invalid, I will report it to Your Honor on behalf of the child."

"I request the magistrate to dispatch a coroner to examine the body and ascertain the truth as soon as possible!"

As soon as she said this, all the Gu family members' eyes fell on her.

Gu Shouzhou also looked up at her suddenly, then lowered his head again without saying a word.

He couldn't possibly stand up and oppose such a thing. After a moment, he gritted his teeth and said, "This matter should indeed be investigated thoroughly. Although the man surnamed Chen didn't leave the Gu family compound last night, he has accomplices in Deqing!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Qing's face suddenly darkened.

That beast not only has spies in the Gu family compound, but he also sent people to follow me!

Magistrate Hong stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the child's corpse. Just as he was about to speak, the door was pushed open again, and a sturdy man dressed plainly with disheveled hair, who had been listening outside for a long time, strode in.

It was Gu Shouyi.

He knelt down in front of Magistrate Hong with a thud and bowed his head deeply.

At this moment, Magistrate Hong was standing in front of the coffin. It was unclear whether he was kowtowing to Magistrate Hong or to his son.

This member of the Gu family's collateral branch was trembling all over, his forehead touching the ground.

"I, Gu Shouyi, am reporting a murder case to Your Excellency: the death of my son..."

"There are many doubts."

He lowered his head, but tears were already streaming down his face.

"I beg Your Honor to investigate this matter thoroughly and give my family justice!"

(End of this chapter)