The housekeeper was still kneeling, but with his head lowered, as if he was sad about Mr. Zhao's sudden death.

County Magistrate Tong suddenly changed the subject: "What do you think of Mr. Zhao?"

Everyone looked at each other, not daring to speak.

The cooks: mean, greedy, often have to eat late at night, and are always a hassle.

Butler: He has a bad temper, is stingy, and hits people at the slightest provocation.

The young men in the backyard said: He is a complete bastard, and he has endless ways to torture people.

Housekeeper: He is just a beast. He doesn't treat us as human beings at all. We are all miserable. We eat worse than pigs and sleep later than dogs, but we are not allowed to complain.

Seeing that no one spoke, he set his eyes on the butler.

Perhaps because his gaze was too cold, the butler raised his head and bowed awkwardly: "Sir, the master usually beats or scolds us. Just look at me and I will know!"

At this point, he didn't want to flatter anymore. He had been flattering for more than ten years and was already tired of it.

Everyone: You're so brave! You dare to say that?

"Oh? It seems that you are very dissatisfied with your master?"

The housekeeper became even more agitated: "Sir, as a servant, we dare not disobey the master's wishes, but we have done nothing wrong, why does he always beat us? Is the life of a servant not a life?"

Tong County Magistrate handed him the slave registration and said, "Go to the government office later and have it removed!"

The butler took it gratefully, tears streaming down his face, "Thank you, sir!" At the same time, he felt relieved.

The servants were extremely envious, some even cried out loud, not knowing where they would be sold next.

At this moment, a bailiff stepped forward, bowed, and handed over a piece of paper. "Reporting to the Lord, this is the person who bought arsenic from various drugstores in the past six months!"

He took a closer look and found that the Zhao family had bought some last month. "Is Wang Er here?"

A dark-skinned man trembled and climbed forward, "Sir, it is me!"

"Why did you buy this arsenic?"

Wang Er couldn't help but tremble, hesitating, "There are... too many rats, I... I..."

Tong County Magistrate's pupils shrank: "Take him away!"

Wang Er panicked immediately, "Sir, I didn't kill him. It's unfair, it's unfair..."

He had been in charge of the toilet in the mansion. Last month, he accidentally spilled some in the yard and was seen by Mr. Zhao, who pulled his hair and beat him up.

After that incident, he felt resentful and used all his savings to buy a bag of arsenic, but before he could do anything, the arsenic disappeared.

He didn't dare make this matter public. If Mr. Zhao knew that he bought arsenic, he would probably beat him to death with sticks.

I thought it had been a month since this incident happened and he had forgotten about it and hadn't thought about the problem.

The bailiff covered his mouth and dragged him away.

At this time, two yamen runners came up carrying a large box: "Sir, we found these in the official's bedroom!"

He opened the box directly and saw some small torture instruments.

"Bang!" He closed it after just one glance.

I felt sick inside. My father-in-law is almost forty years old. How could he have such a special hobby?

"Put it back where you brought it from!"

If this were carried back to the government office, my colleagues would laugh to death!

He looked at the housekeeper in his house and waved, "After taking inventory of all the property in the house, please review it, Madam!"

The meaning is self-evident. These things originally belonged to Mr. Liu, so naturally they should be handed over to his wife.

He then turned to another yamen runner and said, "Go to Xiangyang Village and bring the village chief here!"

He didn't intend to care about other things. To be honest, he was somewhat happy that his father-in-law died. When his mother-in-law was still alive, his father-in-law was more restrained, but after his mother-in-law passed away five years ago, he became unscrupulous.

Now that this cancer is gone, he felt relieved, and the trial was then handed over to the county magistrate.

In the County Court:

Clan leader Liu knelt on the ground, confused.

"Are you the village chief of Xiangyang Village?"

Clan leader Liu bowed respectfully and said, "Your Excellency, Xiangyang Village currently has no village chief. I am the Clan leader of the Liu clan!"

The county magistrate nodded slightly.

"I heard your village is haunted? Is that true?"

Chief Liu waved his hand and said, "Sir, this is just a rumor!"

At this time, Master Li came forward and whispered something to him. He was slightly surprised, and then continued.

"In that case, you will be the village chief of Xiangyang Village from now on!"

Clan leader Liu had never expected to receive such an unexpected surprise when he returned to court. He quickly bowed and said, "Thank you for your trust, sir!"

The county magistrate was secretly complaining. The Liu clan leader had a square face and spoke respectfully and reasonably. Mr. Zhao died of arsenic poisoning. They had only been in Xiangyang Village for five days. It was impossible for him to do such a thing. The murderer must be someone else.

The county magistrate looked at the trembling Wang Er.

"Tell me why you bought this arsenic?"

Wang Er was shaking like a sieve, his teeth chattering, he stammered, and tears streamed down his face: "Sir...sir...there really are too many rats...so...so..."

"Can anyone prove it? Aren't you telling the truth?"

Wang Er was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.

A group of people gathered outside the county government office, and everyone was talking about it.

"This idiot, he didn't even know there were rats in the house. Did he need to report it to the housekeeper? Why would he have to buy them himself?"

"It's just that... arsenic isn't cheap, he's really willing to spend it!"

"Ah... I guess it's because Mr. Zhao bullied us too much, so he holds a grudge against me!"

"That's right, Mr. Zhao is a piece of shit. I live next door and I often hear his wailing!"

"Hey... I respect him as a man. It's so satisfying!"

There was constant discussion, and Wang Er heard it all, feeling very anxious.

"Sir, I bought arsenic, but it disappeared before I even used it! I swear to heaven, if I lie, I'll be struck by lightning!"

The county magistrate was almost annoyed to death. The issue of disaster relief grain had not been settled yet. He had to watch batch after batch of disaster victims pour into Nanzhou. There were so many things waiting to be dealt with, and now this incident had to happen. If it wasn't for the fact that the person who died was Tong County Magistrate's father-in-law, he wouldn't have wanted to care at all.

"Asshole, how can you lie in court? Since you lost the arsenic, have you informed the housekeeper?"

Wang Er was completely panicked and didn't know how to explain.

"Bang!" the county magistrate slammed the gavel and shouted angrily, "Come here, give him twenty lashes first!"

"Sir...it's unfair, sir..."

A moment later, screams were heard.

The people outside were watching with grimace.

"Damn, this is too cruel!"

"Don't hit him anymore. If he gets hit by these twenty lashes, he'll be crippled if not dead!"

"Heavenly Bodhisattva... He was trying to eliminate harm for the people, yet he had to endure such a severe punishment. It's unfair..."

"Sir, please stop fighting. If you continue, someone will die!"

The people knelt down and begged for mercy.

The county magistrate swung the gavel and shouted, "Silence! Silence!"

Everyone fell silent and looked at Wang Er with sympathy.