Chapter 11

In the Yanggu County Yamen, County Magistrate Shi Shi Wenbin was dressed in the green official robe representing his Rank 7 official position,

wearing a headscarf on his head (a type of soft headscarf commonly worn by Song Dynasty officials,

because it was often dark blue or black, it was also called "Wusha," which is the origin of "Wusha Hat"),

with a leather belt tied around his waist, sitting upright in the official chair in the middle of the yamen.

His eyes were slightly narrowed, and his face was expressionless, making it impossible for people to see his joy, anger, sorrow, or happiness.

Standing to his left and right below him were the second-in-command, the Assistant County Magistrate, and the third-in-command, the County Commandant.

On both sides of the yamen, two teams of yamen runners holding water-fire staves stood separately.

In the open space in the middle of the yamen were the corpses of Ximen Qing and Dai An, covered with white cloth.

"Mrs. Ximen, do you know who killed Official Ximen?"

Shi Shi Wenbin asked Wu Yuelang, who was kneeling beside Ximen Qing's corpse, with an expressionless face.

Wu Yuelang was Ximen Qing's legal wife; although she was a second wife,

she was the undisputed mistress of the Ximen family, and choosing her to answer was most appropriate.

And as a dignified County Magistrate, he, Shi Shi Wenbin, naturally would not be like the common people

who feared Ximen Qing's wealth and power and respectfully called him Ximen Daguanren.

But Ximen Qing was already dead, and he had been associated with the two eunuchs Liu and Xue during his lifetime,

so after some deliberation, Shi Shi Wenbin addressed Ximen Qing by the title of "Official."

"Replying to the County Magistrate, this humble woman only learned that the Official had died at the hands of thieves after being informed by a family servant.

I hope the County Magistrate will be like a bright mirror hanging high, bringing the thieves to justice,

so that my Official can smile in the underworld!"

Wu Yuelang, who was crying like rain and wiping her tears with a silk handkerchief, bowed gracefully.

"Official Ximen was a well-known virtuous gentleman in this county; Mrs. Ximen, rest assured,

this county will definitely bring the thieves to justice and execute them publicly."

As soon as Shi Shi Wenbin opened his mouth, it was a series of righteous official jargon.

"Thank you, County Magistrate."

Wu Yuelang, who had been lost since learning of Ximen Qing's death, finally felt a little more at ease.

"Come here, bring that Ximen family servant in."

After comforting Wu Yuelang, Shi Shi Wenbin ordered the servant who first discovered Ximen Qing's death to be brought in for questioning.

"Yes!"

One of the yamen runners from the two teams immediately took the order and left.

A short while later, the servant was brought into the yamen.

The gazes of the County Magistrate, Assistant County Magistrate, County Commandant, and the two teams of yamen runners were all focused on the servant.

This servant was just a low-level odd-job servant in the Ximen family,

and having never seen such a formation, his legs immediately trembled, and he could barely stand steady.

"This commoner greets the Blue Sky Great Lord, greets the Blue Sky Great Lord!"

The servant kowtowed to Shi Shi Wenbin, who was sitting in the main seat, like he was pounding garlic.

"This county asks you, did you see the thief who killed Official Ximen?"

Shi Shi Wenbin did not let the servant stop kowtowing, but asked directly.

"Replying to the Blue Sky Great Lord, when this commoner entered the room, the Daguanren was already not breathing.

This commoner also did not see the thief who killed the Daguanren."

The servant trembled and said everything he knew.

"In that case, does no one in the large Ximen family see the thief?"

Shi Shi Wenbin couldn't help but frown.

Although he had been obsessed with the imperial examinations for the past ten years and had not studied personnel matters much,

he had gained quite a bit of experience in his few years as an official.

As soon as he saw the servant's terrified appearance, he knew he was not lying.

Not knowing the thief's height, weight, or even whether they were male or female—this case was very difficult to handle!

"Coroner, can you see the thief's method of killing?"

The next second, Shi Shi Wenbin's gaze shifted to the coroner, He Jiushu, who was standing beside the corpses of Ximen Qing and Dai An.

He Jiushu was the very coroner in the Water Margin who, after Ximen Qing and Pan Jinlian poisoned Wu Dalang to death,

discovered signs of poisoning during the autopsy, pretended to faint,

secretly stole Wu Dalang's bones, and kept them together with the silver given by Ximen Qing,

providing key evidence for Wu Song to investigate the case later.

He was an old coroner who had worked in Yanggu County for decades and had extremely rich experience.

In Shi Shi Wenbin's view, if anyone in Yanggu County could find out the specific cause of Ximen Qing's death, it had to be He Jiushu.

As for the head constable responsible for investigating cases in Yanggu County?

Sorry, Yanggu County currently has no head constable.

Since the last head constable left, County Magistrate Shi Shi Wenbin, the County Commandant, and the Assistant County Magistrate all wanted to support their own people to take the position.

As a result, the three giants in the county had been deadlocked,

and every time one recommended their own person, they would be jointly vetoed by the other two,

which led to the vacancy of the head constable in Yanggu County for a long time.

Fortunately, no major or important cases had occurred in Yanggu County in recent years, so the days just passed by in a muddled way.

As for why Shi Shi Wenbin, who nominally had absolute power, did not forcefully push a head constable to the position?

My Great Song Dynasty has laws stipulating that one cannot be an official in their hometown, to prevent officials from becoming too powerful.

Shi Shi Wenbin, this county magistrate, was just a floating official who would be transferred away in a few years,

while the Assistant County Magistrate and County Commandant were local snakes from wealthy families that had lasted for a hundred years here.

Even Ximen Qing, who had no real position, could make Shi Shi Wenbin wary by associating with Eunuch Liu and Eunuch Xue,

and sending servants to Bianliang to give gifts to Prime Minister Cai Jing.

Let alone the Assistant County Magistrate and County Commandant?

Behind these two guys, there might be this official or that official, this marquis or that marquis standing there.

Although Shi Shi Wenbin could be called powerful in Yanggu County, he could not cover the sky with one hand.

He Jiushu, who was called by Shi Shi Wenbin, bowed slightly:

"Replying to the County Magistrate, this case is very strange."

"Oh? How is it strange?"

Shi Shi Wenbin became interested and asked.

"County Magistrate, please look, both of Official Ximen's arms are broken.

We all know that the human femur and arm bones are extremely tough,

and according to the degree of fracture of Official Ximen's arms,

only a person with infinite strength holding heavy weapons like axes or hammers could do it.

But strangely, this humble person did not find hammer wounds or axe wounds, but instead found a palm print,

as if Official Ximen's arms were broken by someone with one palm."

He Jiushu uncovered the white cloth, revealing the injuries on Ximen Qing's arms to Shi Shi Wenbin and the others.

"Eek~"

Although Shi Shi Wenbin learned from his yamen runners that Ximen Qing died miserably, he did not expect it to be so miserable.

Ximen Qing's arms were almost completely broken, with white bones protruding from the wounds,

and the blood flowing from his seven orifices had turned black; the whole corpse was like a fierce ghost that had escaped from hell!

The most impressive thing was that although he had been dead for several hours,

Ximen Qing's eyes were still wide open in anger, refusing to close!

"This is dying with eyes wide open!"

"Who is the person who committed such a vicious act?"

"How much hatred and resentment must there be?"

The yamen runners could not calm down either, and all began to whisper.

Even the County Commandant and Assistant County Magistrate, who had been standing on the side without saying a word, looked sideways.

"Silence!"

Shi Shi Wenbin was indeed a veteran who had been in the imperial examinations and officialdom for many years,

with extremely strong psychological quality, instantly suppressing the horror in his heart,

and slapped the gavel to stop the discussing yamen runners.

"You said there is a palm print, where is it?"

At this time, the Assistant County Magistrate standing below spoke.

To be honest, he couldn't see any palm print on Ximen Qing's broken arms at all.

Shi Shi Wenbin, sitting in the Grand Master's chair, cast an appreciative look at the Assistant County Magistrate:

Actually, he didn't see any palm print either, but as a county magistrate, he held his status and found it difficult to ask directly.

Other government runners, Ximen family servants, and Wu Yuelang also cast inquiring glances at He Jiushu.

Facing everyone's gaze, He Jiushu spoke unhurriedly: "My lords, please look,

are these five indentations on Official Ximen's arm similar to a person's five fingers?"

As he spoke, he pointed out the location of the five indentations one by one.

"Hiss~"

Shi Shi Wenbin, who subconsciously clenched his fists, couldn't help but gasp.

These five indentations combined together were clearly the five fingers of a palm!

"Hiss~"

The Assistant County Magistrate, County Commandant, and yamen runners also gasped in unison,

making their own contribution to global warming.

Cold air sauce choked: Don't, don't suck anymore~

Among them, the Assistant County Magistrate and some yamen runners even broke into a cold sweat:

Thinking that they had actually gone to search for such a fierce person,

they felt as if they had passed by the gates of hell.

Isn't this like an old man drinking arsenic—if the King of Hell doesn't call you, you go yourself—seeking death?

"These two wounds won't kill Ximen Qing for a while,

have you found his direct cause of death?"

The terrified Shi Shi Wenbin no longer called Ximen Qing "Official," but called him by his name directly.

In his heart, he was still fiercely cursing Ximen Qing for provoking such a fierce person, who might not even exist in the Western Army

or in Bianliang, to Yanggu County.

This was not only putting him, Shi Shi Wenbin, on the fire to roast, but also threatening the life of him, County Magistrate Wen!

If this fierce person came to the yamen for a visit, who could he count on to stop him?

Relying on the fat County Commandant and the soldiers under him who were all old, weak, sick, and disabled?

Counting on them, Shi Shi Wenbin felt it was better to count on his old servant who was nearly eighty years old and had almost no teeth left!

"Replying to the Lord, according to my observation, Official Ximen and his personal attendant Dai An,

both died under the thief's head-on palm."

He Jiushu did not know the twists and turns in County Magistrate Wen's heart at this time and continued to honestly state his judgment.

"Produce your evidence."

Shi Shi Wenbin, who barely suppressed the fear in his heart and tried his best to keep his face unchanged, asked.

"My lords, please look, this is the evidence this old man found."

He Jiushu lifted the white cloth covering Dai An's corpse,

pointing at Dai An's dark scalp, which had been shaved of hair only a few hours ago,

and still had stubble.

Shi Shi Wenbin and the others looked closely and saw a black palm print on Dai An's scalp.

Obviously, it was this palm print that took Dai An's life.

Of course, Zhang Jie would not leave his own palm print at the scene.

If someone took this palm print to compare with his hand,

they would find that this palm print was not only a circle larger, but the fingers were also much thicker.

"Is there one on Ximen Qing's head too?"

The anxious County Commandant spoke.

"This~"

He Jiushu hesitated for a moment, then smiled bitterly: "This humble person does not know,

Mrs. Ximen does not allow this humble person to damage Official Ximen's corpse."

As he spoke, he glanced at Wu Yuelang, who was standing on the side.

"Shave, shave immediately!"

The County Commandant's eyes flashed with fierce light; he didn't care about Ximen Qing's dignity or Dongmen Qing's dignity.

Thinking that he might have met the King of Hell in the early morning, he felt lingering fear while also burning with anger.

"This is also to solve the case early and bring the murderer who killed Official Ximen to justice."

However, the County Commandant was the third-in-command of Yanggu County after all, and he still had this bit of scheming.

He had a flash of inspiration and found a reason that Wu Yuelang could hardly refute.

Facing such a high-sounding reason, Wu Yuelang, who could hardly refute, had to nod.

Seeing Wu Yuelang suppressed by the County Commandant, He Jiushu quickly entered his working state.

He took a leather pouch from his sleeve pocket, and small tools such as knives,

scissors, ear picks, and nail clippers were all available in the pouch.

He Jiushu took out a small razor that was no different from a barber's razor except for its size,

came to Ximen Qing's corpse, said "Excuse me,"

and shaved off the hair on the corpse in a few strokes.

"Hiss~"

When everyone looked, a palm print of the same size and shape as the one on Dai An's head

appeared on Ximen Qing's head.

"What powerful and precise control!"

Shi Shi Wenbin and the others were terrified.

This palm shook Ximen Qing and Dai An's brains into real brain paste,

but did not damage a single hair on their heads; what kind of terrible control was this!

Shi Shi Wenbin and the County Commandant and Assistant County Magistrate looked at each other,

and saw undisguised fear in each other's eyes:

If this person quietly gave them a palm, wouldn't they die inexplicably?

Confirmed the look, it was a person who couldn't be provoked.

The three of them prepared to close the case quickly and skip this matter.

"Ahem!"

Shi Shi Wenbin coughed twice, cleared his throat, and said to He Jiushu:

"Coroner He, you quickly draw a rough portrait of the thief based on the thief's palm print.

This county will issue a notice to hunt this person down throughout the county."

"Yes."

He Jiushu bowed and agreed.

Old coroners like them could roughly estimate the height and weight of the person who left the print based on the size of the footprints

and palm prints.

For example, the height is about 2 chi (about 60 cm) plus six times the length of the palm print.

"However, Ximen Qing's death is not without benefits for me!"

County Magistrate Wen couldn't help but feel hot in his heart when he thought of Ximen Qing's vast wealth.

As the saying goes, a clean magistrate for three years, one hundred thousand taels of snowflake silver.

He, this county magistrate, could not compare to a prefect, but if he served as a county magistrate for three years,

he had to make at least ten or twenty thousand taels of snowflake silver!

After all, he had studied hard for so many years; could it be that he really did it to be loyal to the Zhao emperor in the Bianliang palace?

He didn't have the guts to catch this fierce person,

but he had the guts to collect money in the name of catching the thief, and it was very big!