Interrogation

Xu Qi'an watched him leave, less than optimistic.

So many days had passed that gathering evidence would be difficult.

There's no way to check fingerprints, so gathering evidence is practically impossible. The shoeprints couldn't possibly have been Zhang Xian's own... hmm, setting those aside, what other methods could help solve the case in this era? He racked his brains for an answer.

"Those useless clerks! When there's money to be squeezed out, every last one of them is as cunning as a monkey. They could squeeze oil out of a stone. But when there's real work to be done, they're all useless dogs."

The county magistrate was throwing a fit in the inner hall. A murder was already a major case, and the victim happened to be related to Lord Xu, a supervising secretary.

What sort of people served as supervising secretaries?

They were remonstrating officials who fancied themselves paragons of integrity, mad dogs who bit anyone they caught and submitted memorials impeaching anyone they disliked.

Registrar Xu, a lean-faced man with a goatee, stood beside him and said with a smile, "My lord, if you keep pressuring them like this, they'll start slacking off."

They were all old hands, and their superiors knew exactly what schemes the clerks under them were hatching.

When it came to dirty tricks in officialdom, the clerks were elementary schoolers at best. Those at the highest level were in the imperial court, followed by the high officials governing the provinces.

"Slacking off?" County Magistrate Zhu snorted. "Ordinarily, that would be one thing. But with the capital evaluation approaching, how could I face anyone if I were impeached for extorting a confession under torture?"

As they spoke, hurried footsteps sounded. Head Constable Wang entered the inner hall and stopped after crossing the threshold. His manner was respectful, but his voice was full of excitement. "My lord, I've found a lead in the Zhang case. Please issue a warrant, and I'll go make the arrests at once."

County Magistrate Zhu and Registrar Xu exchanged a glance. The former sneered, while the latter smiled as if to say, "Just as I thought."

Seeing that something was wrong with their expressions, Head Constable Wang urged, "My lord? There's no time to lose."

County Magistrate Zhu slapped the table and cursed, "Idiot! At a time like this, you're still thinking of slacking off? Do you have a pig's brain?"

Extorting a confession under torture was something they could do in ordinary times, but there was a problem here.

Once a criminal confessed, the confession and case files had to be submitted to the Ministry of Punishments, which would verify them and deliver a verdict.

The capital evaluation was at the end of the year, and the atmosphere in the capital's official circles was tense. Everyone was cleaning up their own loose ends while keeping an eye on one another, eager to catch their political enemies slipping up.

This was a time when a case could be overturned at the drop of a hat.

Head Constable Wang hurriedly explained, "You've misunderstood, my lord. I really am confident I can catch the true killer. I'm certainly not slacking off. Please believe me."

Don't I know what you're capable of? County Magistrate Zhu was not reassured. He glanced at Old Wang. "Tell me everything."

Head Constable Wang thought, My time to show my divinity before others has finally come.

"My lord, please allow me to explain. There are many suspicious points in the Zhang case..."

Old Wang repeated Xu Qi'an's deductions to the two officials, word for word.

County Magistrate Zhu wore a sneer at first, but as he listened, his back unconsciously straightened. By the end, he said nothing, but his face was solemn.

He was thinking.

"Brilliant!" Registrar Xu clapped his hands with a loud smack, looking highly excited. "He unraveled the threads of the cocoon with such clear reasoning, deducing the whole course of the case from these inconspicuous details. Even a veteran of the Ministry of Punishments could do no better."

It still needed to be verified, of course!

But this line of reasoning had undoubtedly pointed the thoroughly baffled people at the county yamen in the right direction.

Head Constable Wang smiled. "You flatter me, sir."

County Magistrate Zhu scoffed. "Tell me, who taught you that?"

Head Constable Wang pondered briefly, then suppressed the urge to take credit. "Constable Xu Qi'an," he answered truthfully.

Kuaishou was not a livestreaming platform, and Xu Qi'an was not a streamer. A kuaishou was a clerk in the pursuit squad, also called a constable.

"Xu Qi'an." County Magistrate Zhu was the first to react. "It's him."

County Magistrate Zhu had shared drinks with Xu Pingzhi several times, and they were on friendly terms. A few years ago, Xu Pingzhi had spent twenty taels of silver to secure the lucrative post of constable for his nephew.

In the Great Feng Dynasty, a clerk's post could be passed down to his son.

It was an iron rice bowl, steady as an old dog.

"If it's him, then it must be right." County Magistrate Zhu smiled.

Registrar Xu's eyes flashed as he thought of the Tax Silver Case that had implicated the Xu Household. He immediately asked, "What do you mean by that, sir?"

Head Constable Wang also pricked up his ears.

County Magistrate Zhu smiled. "The robbery of the tax silver caused a storm throughout the city, and the Xu Household bore the brunt of it. They should have been held accountable. Do you know why they were able to escape punishment?"

Head Constable Wang answered at once, "I heard Lord Xu of the Imperial Saber Guard helped solve the case. His Majesty was merciful and pardoned him for his service."

That was what he had just heard Xu Qi'an say.

Registrar Xu glanced at County Magistrate Zhu's expression and ventured, "Is there more to this case than meets the eye?"

The details of the missing tax silver case were beyond Registrar Xu's level, but County Magistrate Zhu was the official charged with looking after Changle County. Granted, in a place like the capital, where the powerful and influential gathered, he was only a little brother.

Even so, without a backer, he could not hold his position securely.

County Magistrate Zhu scoffed. "Xu Pingzhi is merely a crude martial man. He was nothing but a scapegoat in this case..." He suddenly stopped, seemingly unwilling to reveal too much, and changed tack. "He wasn't the one who turned things around for the Xu Household."

"Who was it?" Head Constable Wang asked instinctively.

The answer flashed through Registrar Xu's mind, and he waited for County Magistrate Zhu to continue.

"It was Xu Qi'an. He uncovered the truth of the Tax Silver Case. It's recorded in the case files. A fellow who passed the imperial examinations the same year as me serves at the Capital Prefecture," County Magistrate Zhu said. "A son bears his father's punishment, and a son pays his father's debts. Though he's a nephew, the principle is the same."

Registrar Xu drew a sharp breath. "After the incident, Xu Qi'an should have been locked up in the prefectural yamen's prison. How did he do it?"

County Magistrate Zhu pondered. "I thought it was unbelievable too, but now I understand."

Registrar Xu had thought of it as well. He said in disbelief, "From the case files alone?!"

From the case files alone? Head Constable Wang's mind went blank. He occasionally heard the three officials above him discuss secrets of officialdom like this.

What he found unbelievable was that Xu Qi'an had played such a tremendous part in the tax silver robbery case and saved the Xu Household.

That can't be right, Head Constable Wang thought. It doesn't make sense.

When the lad had first arrived, he had been honest and stubborn, knowing only how to bury himself in his work-a genuine greenhorn.

How had such a greenhorn suddenly become a god at solving cases?

When Head Constable Wang obtained the warrant and returned to the rest room, Xu Qi'an was asleep at the table. He had spent too much of the previous night thinking about all sorts of things and had not gone to sleep until after the third watch.

Someone reached out to shake Xu Qi'an awake, but Head Constable Wang stopped him at once. "Let him sleep," he whispered.

He picked two men at random. "You two, come with me to the Zhang residence."

The three constables brought their respective white-clad runners, nine men in all, and hurried out of the Changle County Yamen.

The white-clad runners were temporary workers, a form of corvée labor drawn from the common people. They received no wages, and neither food nor lodging was provided.

But there was one very considerate thing about the arrangement: they did not have to take the blame.

Xu Qi'an was jolted awake by the cry of "Majesty!" He wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth and walked toward the county yamen's main hall.

He reckoned the suspects had been brought back and the county magistrate was questioning them in court.

In the courtroom, County Magistrate Zhu sat high behind the magistrate's desk, with court attendants and personal servants on either side.

Below the desk, the three squads of yamen runners stood to the left and right. Two people knelt between them: a young man in a blue-green robe embroidered with cloud patterns, and a beautiful woman in a purple silk skirt.

The woman looked frightened and uneasy, while the young man was comparatively calm.

Smack!

County Magistrate Zhu brought the court block down in anger and called out, "Who kneels before this court?"

The woman instinctively glanced at the young man. He gave her a reassuring look and straightened his back. "I am Zhang Xian, a commoner."

The woman said in a soft voice, "I am Yang Zhenzhen, a commoner's wife."

County Magistrate Zhu shouted, "How did the two of you kill Zhang Yourui? Confess the truth!"

The woman trembled in fright, her long eyelashes quivering as terror appeared on her face.

The young man, Zhang Xian, was shocked. "My lord, why would you say that? How could I have murdered my own father?"

County Magistrate Zhu asked, "Where were you when it happened?"

"I was in the study."

"Why weren't you sharing a bed with your wife?"

"I was going over the accounts."

"Is there anyone who can attest to that?"

"In the middle of the night? Where would I find a witness?"

Zhang Xian's answers were clear and orderly, without a trace of panic. Either he had a clear conscience, or he had prepared his answers long ago.

Based on his own reasoning, Xu Qi'an favored the latter possibility.

Though Zhang Xian had no alibi, there was likewise no evidence that he had committed murder. Deduction was one thing, but without solid evidence, a suspect was presumed innocent...

The county magistrate turned to the woman. "Lady Yang of the Zhang Household, let me ask you: you were married to Zhang Yourui for ten years without bearing a child. Why are you pregnant now? Tell me honestly. Did you have an illicit affair with your stepson and murder your husband?"

Lady Yang of the Zhang Household flinched and cried, "My lord, I've been wronged! My health was poor, and I've been treating it every day these past few years. It wasn't easy for me to conceive my husband's child. How can you accuse me of murdering my husband on that basis?"

She began to sob.

How could questioning them like this possibly bring out the truth? Xu Qi'an gazed at the fresh-faced woman for a moment, and an idea occurred to him-a good one.

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