Gu Yanzhou encounters difficulties upon taking office, and the dismemberment case becomes complicated and confusing.

As the end of the year was approaching, the government was short of staff. Gu Yanzhou, who was not scheduled to take office until mid-January, had someone knock on his door early in the morning to say that a transfer order had been issued and he had been appointed as the "Chang'an County Court Clerk" in charge of criminal justice. Although it was called a court clerk, it was actually a tough job that required exposure to wind and rain. Not only did he offend people, but he also had to deal with vicious and murderous criminals. It was because he had no one to report to him and no money to smooth things over. But at least there was only one person, and there was a surplus in his monthly salary after deducting the rent.

At noon, Gu Yanzhou reported to the Chang'an County Office. The two yamen runners at the door were chatting boredly. "It's almost the end of the year, and I don't know how much reward silver there will be this year."

"Reward? That depends on how much the superiors have missed out on, and how much we will get." Ban Jin replied.

Before he could finish his words, Gu Yanzhou came forward and said, "Excuse me, just let me know..."

Seeing the visitor's shabby white clothes, Ba Liang changed his cheerful expression and said, "Don't you see I'm chatting? If you want to beat the drum, come back at 3 p.m. If you want to ask for help, then..." After that, he stood sideways with his eyes narrowed, rubbing his fingers together, as if asking for money. Gu Yanzhou was stunned. Seeing this, Ban Jin softened his tone and said, "Sir, do you have any business?"

Gu Yanzhou came back to his senses, smiled, and bowed, saying, "I am the newly appointed court official of Chang'an County, and I have come to report."

When Ba Liang heard this, his eyes widened and he trotted down and said, "So it's the court official, Master. You've worked hard. Come on, come on, come into the house quickly. You look so lightly dressed."

Ban Jin shook his head. The three of them entered the mansion together. They soon arrived in front of the county magistrate's room. They heard snoring like thunder from inside. Ba Liang glanced at Ban Jin, who stood there without moving. Ban Jin hesitated for a moment and then knocked on the door. The man inside heard the knock and shouted angrily, "What's the matter? Why are you knocking?"

Gu Yanzhou said softly, "Excuse me, I am the newly appointed Chang'an Court Official, and I have come to report here today."

"Court official? Court official?" I heard the man inside the room mutter as he got out of bed and opened the door. As the door opened, I saw a man with a broad forehead, fat face, flat nose and back lip. He looked me over and asked, "Are you the new court official?"

Gu Yanzhou replied, "Yes, County Magistrate, you are polite."

"Gu? There's no official named Gu in the court, so where are you from?" the county magistrate asked.

"I am from Jingyang County, Chang'an," said Gu Yanzhou.

"Jingyang County is a poor and remote county under the jurisdiction of Chang'an. Well, you can go to the case room." The county magistrate said unhappily and closed the door.

Banjin led Gu Yanzhou to the office, only to see that the window was broken and the door was dirty. As soon as he opened the door, a gust of dust rushed into his nose. The documents in the room were piled like mountains and scattered everywhere. "Sir, this is the office, please feel free to do as you please." But Banjin and Yirenbaliang had disappeared long ago, while Gu Yanzhou was still looking through the documents.

Pei Linyan heard the servant report, "Master Gu received his transfer order this morning and went to the yamen this afternoon, where he was appointed a clerk in Chang'an County. The yamen runners at the gate gave him a hard time, making him stand outside for quite a while, his face and hands red from the cold." Pei Linyan remained silent, his face darkening. He clenched his right hand, and without a word, he left the house, mounted his Dayuan horse, and headed for the Prime Minister's residence. Pei San hadn't caught up yet, thinking, "What's wrong with the master? He's been so moody lately. This is the first time in years that's happened."

Gu Yanzhou was still reading the documents when he heard Banjin come running over and say, "Sir, someone has reported that body parts and a crazy beggar were found in the land temple north of the city. The county magistrate has sent you to investigate."

Gu Yanzhou would come to the front of the hall from time to time and see the county magistrate sitting there with an angry face. Sun Er, the night watchman, was kneeling in the hall and trembling and saying madly, "County magistrate, there is a ghost, there is a ghost killing people."

The magistrate roared in anger, "Under my rule, Chang'an County has been peaceful and prosperous. How could this be a ghost? I think you are talking nonsense. Someone, give me twenty lashes of the cane."

"Wait a minute, sir, as an official, you should eliminate harm for the people and share the worries of the country. Why do you want to kill without understanding the whole story?" Gu Yanzhou said

"You poor wretch, I am the county magistrate. I have the final say on all county affairs. How can you have a say? If you disrupt the order again, you will be punished together with him." After saying this, he made as if to give an order.

"Sir Qi, you have such great authority." A man wearing a bright red kirin stepping on the clouds brocade came towards him and said, who are you talking about? It must be Pei Linyan.

"Oh, it's Master Pei. Thank you for your hard work. What wind blew this big Buddha like you to my small temple?" County Magistrate Qi ran down to greet him with a flattering look on his face.

"County Magistrate Qi, I can't stand it. Didn't you just try to kill my savior?" Pei Linyan said unhappily.

"You, you said that Gu Tingyuan was your savior?" County Magistrate Qi asked tentatively.

"Of course, Yan Zhou has been kind to me by sucking out the poison, but I never hurt him at all. You came up and wanted to kill him. Do you want to deal with me too?" Pei Linyan said angrily.

Hearing about sucking poison, Gu Yanzhou couldn't help but think of the day when he was lying on Pei Linyan and heard the sound of each other's heartbeats, and his face turned slightly red.

"I dare not, I dare not. I just spoke without thinking and was possessed by evil spirits. Please forgive me." Qi County Magistrate trembled and said

"Don't be afraid, Magistrate Qi. I'm just asking casually. We'll have plenty of time to spend together later. I'll need your guidance in the future." Pei Linyan said

"Will you teach me from now on? Master Pei, I don't understand what you are saying." County Magistrate Qi asked

"What's there to not understand? My son just received a transfer order. From now on, he will be the county lieutenant of Chang'an County." Pei San said loudly.

Everyone was shocked to see Sun Er trembling. Gu Yanzhou asked, "When, where, and what did you see?"

"I am Sun Er, the night watchman of the county. Last night at midnight, I was on patrol when I suddenly felt the urge to urinate. I went to the land temple in the north of the city to relieve myself. As a result, I saw a white shadow quickly floating into the temple. I bravely went in and heard the beggar shouting, "Help, help, let me go, I didn't mean to, please spare me, I won't dare to do it again." Then I saw the beggar squatting on the stone platform. Under him was a broken land statue and corpses. Then I ran all the way home. I was so scared that I came to the county government office to beg for help." The night watchman Sun Er said tremblingly.

"Hearing you say that the Earth God Temple in the north of the city is the crime scene, it seems worth a visit." Gu Yanzhou analyzed calmly

"You can't go, you can't go, sir, there are ghosts, there are ghosts, if you go there you will be killed." Sun Er said in panic

"Young Master, I also want to know whether there are ghosts or people are playing tricks." Pei Linyan said with a smile

"Then I'll leave this case to Master Pei and Gu Tingyuan." County Magistrate Qi said and turned to leave.

Soon, the group arrived at the Earth God Temple. They saw a dark and empty temple filled with a gloomy atmosphere. The Earth God Temple should be a place of great worship, but it was covered with spider webs, crows and birds built nests, and the ground was littered with corpses of various sizes, broken feet and hands, intestines, and a foul odor that rushed straight to their heads. Looking closely, they saw a beggar curled up and trembling on the stone platform, saying, "Let me go, let me go."

Gu Yanzhou was about to go closer to check, but Pei Linyan stopped him and said, "Be careful."

"It's okay," Gu Yanzhou replied.

Gu Yanzhou examined the body parts and found some bloodstains and cut marks mixed with moist clay pieces. There was more dust in the middle of the desk. The little beggar was unconscious and his clothes were tattered.

"Someone, collect the body parts, bring them back to the government office, and hand them over to the coroner." Gu Yanzhou called out, and Banjin was ready to start.

Pei Linyan said "No need" and turned around and said to Ba Liang jokingly: "If you come, you can only use your hands."

Balian picked up the things with a look of disgust, his hands were covered with mucus, blood and residue, a foul odor pierced his nose and his head was dizzy. "Why are you deliberately making things difficult for him?" Gu Yanzhou asked puzzledly.

"Nothing, I just don't like him." Pei Linyan said with a smile

"What do you think about this?" Gu Yanzhou asked

"It's not a ghost or god. If it were, there would be nothing here. It wouldn't be filled with corpses. It looks more like someone has dismembered the body." Pei Linyan said

"That's right, and there's another point. There are body parts all over the ground, but there's no body." Gu Yanzhou said

Pei Linyan turned around and said, "Collect the body parts, are there any bodies?"

Ba Liang had already lost his soul and was in a daze. Ban Jin stepped forward, opened the bag and said, "County Lieutenant, there is no body."

"Why is there no corpse? Could it be that the murderer has a collecting habit and collects a corpse for every person he kills? If so, then we should search the entire Chang'an County. Whoever hides the corpse is the murderer." Pei Linyan said to Gu Yanzhou

"Not really. I looked through the case files of Chang'an County before. There has only been one missing person case in recent years. The rest were nothing more than theft, robbery, neighborhood disputes, and marital quarrels. If there really is a corpse collector, there must be many dismemberment and missing persons cases." Gu Yanzhou replied.

Coming back to his senses, Gu Yanzhou asked, "Why does Brother Pei want to be a small county lieutenant in Chang'an County?"

"That's... that's because Shaobai told me that there are many interesting things in Chang'an County. And you see, it's really interesting that I encountered the headless dismemberment case on my first day in office." Pei Linyan said guiltily.

"Is that true?" Gu Yanzhou asked suspiciously.

"That's true," Pei Linyan said.

After a while, Pei Linyan and Gu Yanzhou returned to the county government office with the body parts and the beggar.

The beggar in the cell was still unconscious and talking nonsense. Gu Yanzhou ordered his men to open the cell. When he walked forward, he could only smell a faint fragrance on the beggar, his mouth was greasy, there was some powder on his clothes, and there were wax marks on his hands. Gu Yanzhou thought for a long time and then returned to the case room. When Pei Linyan saw Gu Yanzhou coming back, he took out the dishes that Pei San had just bought at Jinyulou - Yellow River carp, braised prawns, stir-fried vegetables and a pot of wine. Gu Yanzhou looked at the dishes and stared at Pei Linyan blankly. This wine was a famous wine in Chang'an, one gold a pot, and only dignitaries could drink it. He, a small official in the Chang'an County Court, was also lucky enough to taste it because of Pei Linyan. Before the two of them started eating, someone came running over and said, "Young Master, the master wants you to go back to the mansion for questioning." Pei Linyan looked as usual and took Pei San back to the mansion, leaving Gu Yanzhou alone to drink.

In the mansion of Duke Anguo, a middle-aged man was sitting at the top. He wore a Jinxian crown, a black Zen robe, and black shoes. He was dignified without being angry and had a solemn and murderous aura. At the bottom sat a beautiful woman in her forties with a delicate face, gorgeous clothes, and a faint sense of nobility. At the bottom of the hall sat a cute child who looked about twelve or thirteen years old.

Pei Linyan walked to the front of the hall, bowed deeply, and said, "Greetings, Father, Mother, Changle Weiyang."

The middle-aged man showed no expression. The beautiful woman smiled kindly and said, "Yan'er, you are now in your twenties and have made great achievements in the six arts. It seems that you also have the idea of ​​entering the government. You are very sensible. I am very happy for you."

"Sensible? Sensible. A few days ago, he was riding a horse in the market. Fortunately, he didn't kill anyone, otherwise I would punish him according to military law." Pei's father said angrily

"Don't bring the military camp set home with you. Yan'er is your son, not your soldier." Mother Pei retorted.

Father Pei asked gently, "Lin Yan, the Queen Mother saw the transfer order today and found out that you are serving as the County Lieutenant of Chang'an County. What is the reason?"

"My son has recently thought that I am already a young man and need to consider my future. I want to improve my abilities. Since Chang'an County has few affairs and is close to home, I have asked Prime Minister Shen for a small official position." Pei Linyan replied.

"Really?" Pei's father asked

"You are so suspicious. Before, your son was not at home, so you scolded him. Now that he has found a job, you still doubt him. What do you want?" Mother Pei asked loudly.

"I was just asking, why are you so angry? If Yan'er really wants to find a job, the position of Imperial Guards or Lieutenant of the Imperial Guards is no better than the Lieutenant of Chang'an County," Pei Fu said.

"Son, I know that I have little experience in officialdom and I am afraid of bringing trouble to my father, so I found a small official position and started from the grassroots level." Pei Linyan replied

"Look, I said Yan'er has become sensible and learned to consider his father and take responsibility. I am happy for him." Mother Pei said

"If you think this way, I will be less worried. I hope you take care of yourself. If you are all right, go to the inner hall to pay your respects to your grandmother." Father Pei said with relief.

Pei Linyan arrived at the inner hall and saw his younger sister chasing him out: "Brother, brother, when will you find me a sister-in-law?"

"Little sister, don't be afraid that your sister-in-law will be very fierce and bully you." Pei Linyan threatened

"Then I... I will choose for myself. Only the one who is good to Yu'er can be Yu'er's sister-in-law." Pei Linyu said with a smile

My sister-in-law? She's my wife, and the person who will be with me for the rest of my life. I can't sleep in the middle of the night, and the rain begins to fall outside my window, dripping as I slowly drift off into a dream.