My Silver Has All Gone to Helping Poor Women

Cui Lang had no idea whether Zheng Fengyun had believed him completely, or whether his hidden strength had been seen through, but at least he had become a constable.

And he had confirmed that Zheng Fengyun could not sense the little pot in his mind.

Before long, he arrived at the constables' office and was taken to see Constable Li.

Constable Li casually glanced at Cui Lang. "Since Magistrate Zheng has allowed you to become a constable, work hard from now on and learn some sense."

"Go collect a uniform and a waist saber. Starting today, you'll follow Zhao Changshan. Ask him if there's anything you don't understand."

"There happens to be a case here. Go handle it with Old Zhao."

Cui Lang cautiously asked, "Constable Li, I heard that once you become a constable, you can learn martial arts for free."

Constable Li barked, "You haven't achieved a single merit, yet you want to learn martial arts? Handle the case well, and what should be yours will naturally be yours."

"You have three days to solve this case. If you fail, don't blame me for showing no mercy."

Magistrate Zheng had said to knock Cui Lang down a peg, so this was perfect—he could toss this most troublesome case to him. If they failed, Cui Lang could take the blame directly.

If they solved it, even better. It would prove that he was good at employing people and skilled at leadership.

Cui Lang picked up the case file Constable Li had tossed onto the floor and went out to collect his uniform.

After changing into it, he found Zhao Changshan, who had just returned from the latrine. "Brother Zhao, I'm the new constable, Cui Lang. Constable Li told me to follow you, and he assigned us a case that must be solved within three days."

Zhao Changshan was a rough-looking man with thick brows, big eyes, and a large, towering frame.

He casually scratched himself twice. "Hahaha, Brother Cui, have you read the case file?"

Cui Lang shook his head. "Not yet."

Zhao Changshan immediately perked up. "I know about this case. Let me give you a brief rundown."

"A man named Zhang Si from Lower River Village came to report it. He said that ten days ago, after drinking, he was walking home at night. While sheltering from the rain in a ruined temple, he encountered a demon or evil specter."

"He insisted that he saw someone standing outside the temple gate, waving at him and calling him to the riverbank. When he went out to look, he found that person's eyes bleeding and face pale as a corpse's. It scared the wits out of him, and he ran home through the rain, then fell seriously ill."

"Wasn't he just drunk? But he claimed he saw it clearly—the thing waving outside was a corpse, and he had definitely encountered an evil specter."

"The case would have ended there, but two days ago, Zhang Si's family came to report it again. Guess what happened?"

Cui Lang promptly played along. "Don't tell me something happened to Zhang Si?"

Zhao Changshan slapped his thigh. "You guessed it! Zhang Si was still sleeping at home that night, but by morning he was gone. He didn't say a word to his family. They waited a full day and night, but he never came back. No one in the village said they had seen him."

Cui Lang thought for a moment. "Brother Zhao, did Zhang Si have any grudges with anyone?"

Zhao Changshan shook his head. "Petty conflicts, surely. He stole other people's chickens and ate other people's dogs, but that hardly seems worth killing him over, does it?"

"Besides, even if he'd been killed, there should be a body. They haven't found anything. A living, breathing man vanished into thin air."

Cui Lang asked again, "Could Zhang Si have had a lover outside?"

"Impossible. You haven't seen his wife—her looks, that waist... tsk tsk. At Red Sleeve Pavilion, even if she wasn't the top courtesan, she wouldn't be far from it."

When speaking of Zhang Si's wife, Zhao Changshan's eyes lit up. He even seemed regretful that she had not gone to Red Sleeve Pavilion.

Cui Lang asked, "Brother Zhao, could he really have encountered a demon?"

The lewd expression on Zhao Changshan's face vanished instantly. "Nonsense. Where would so many demons come from?"

"Brother Cui, Cloud Mountain County just executed a demon. Even if there were demons here before, they would surely have fled at the first sign of trouble."

"Read the case file carefully first, then look over the constables' rules. We can investigate later."

They had three days, anyway. When the time came, they could simply make a show of visiting Lower River Village. At worst, they would come back and get scolded by Constable Li.

There were plenty of unsolved cases in the county. One more made no difference.

Cui Lang thought, You've already told me the whole case. What is there left for me to read?

Still, an old hand was passing down the sacred art of slacking off, so he had to learn it.

He quickly read through the case file again. It was more or less what Zhao Changshan had said. This case really was difficult.

Although Cloud Mountain County had only twenty or thirty thousand people, its territory was not small. With only the two of them, they could not even visit every village in three days.

He had wanted to earn merit and learn more profound cultivation arts. It seemed he would first have to experience being scolded.

The constables' rules were not many, though he did not know whether there were any unwritten rules.

As noon approached, Zhao Changshan stood up. "Brother Cui, let's go. Since it's your first day here, I'll treat you to a tavern meal. How much money do you have on you?"

Cui Lang stared at Zhao Changshan in shock. "Brother Zhao, weren't you treating me to drinks?"

You were the one treating, so why were you asking how much money I had?

Zhao Changshan said righteously, "I've spent all my money. You pay this time."

"Spent it all? Your monthly salary is five taels of silver, isn't it?" Cui Lang looked unconvinced.

It would have been enough even if he ate meat every meal. How had he spent it all?

Zhao Changshan chuckled. "Mainly because I'm kindhearted. I use all my salary to help some pitiful women with no one to rely on."

Cui Lang eyed Zhao Changshan sideways. "Brother Zhao truly is a great philanthropist."

Didn't you just spend it on wine and courtesans?

Lust was a steel blade that scraped the bones. Even if one cultivated martial arts, one could not keep scraping forever.

Zhao Changshan looked as though he had found a kindred spirit. "Of course. In order to do good deeds, I'm already thirty and still unmarried."

After saying that, he looked at Cui Lang. It was time for him to take out his money and treat him, wasn't it?

Cui Lang smiled faintly. "Brother Zhao, I also want to save my money for good deeds."

Seeing Zhao Changshan's smile freeze, Cui Lang added, "I can't afford a tavern meal, but I can still treat you to a bowl of noodles by the roadside."

Zhao Changshan's smile returned. "Hahaha, I knew Brother Cui was generous. Once I have money, I'll definitely treat you to drinks at the best Grand Abundance Tower in the county."

Cui Lang thought, At this rate, I'm afraid I'll never see that drink in this lifetime.

One bowl of plain noodles each. Zhao Changshan even drank every drop of the broth, then casually wiped his mouth. "Comfortable."

"Let's stroll around the streets in a while. Maybe that Zhang Si ran into the city?"

They had to let the chief constable know that they had been searching all along. It was just that their luck had been bad and they had not found him.

That way, the punishment would not be too severe. A few scoldings neither hurt nor itched; he could just pretend not to hear them.

As they walked down the street, a constable suddenly ran over. "Old Zhao, I've been looking for you two."

Zhao Changshan immediately said, "We're handling the case Constable Li assigned us. We're searching for someone in the streets."

The other man quickly said, "Zhang Si's case, right? Constable Li told me to find you."

"You can stop looking. Zhang Si has already been found."

Zhao Changshan broke into a wide grin. "He's been found?"

What luck. They had done nothing, and the case was already solved.

"Yes, but it's a corpse. From the looks of it, it seems to be connected to demons."