60 Was it Chen Jingshan who did it?
"You killed him?" they both said in unison.
The bells on the donkey's neck jingled and shook, and Ye Yunzhao felt nauseous. She suppressed her discomfort and said, "County Magistrate Han, is the Yuezhou prefect injured, or..."
Han County Magistrate's face was filled with sorrow. "I don't know anything about this either. The yamen runner who brought the message said it was a tragic death..."
Ye Yunzhao clicked his fingers nervously. Since it was a message from the government servants, it was most likely true...
But the prefect was the highest-ranking official in the prefecture. Who would dare touch him? To murder an official appointed by the imperial court was a capital crime... The more Ye Yunzhao thought about it, the more terrified he became. Could it really be Chen Jingshan? Was this the method he'd proposed to rescue Master Wanjun? How could a mere merchant like him have such courage? Wasn't he afraid of death?
Ye Yunzhao had many questions in her mind. She wished Chen Jingshan would appear in front of her right now. She had to pour out all her worries!
Seeing her sad face, County Magistrate Han thought she was worried about the Yuezhou prefect. After all, the prefect had previously allocated some money to Lingnan County and agreed to reopen the county school. These things all showed that she had indeed received a lot of favors from the prefect. So he said to comfort her:
"Alas... don't worry too much. Perhaps the messenger was exaggerating..."
Ye Yunzhao sighed deeply. If Chen Jingshan really did it, then once he confessed, he and Master Wanjun would probably not be exempted from responsibility either.
What should I do? !
More importantly, the Yuezhou prefect, while a respectable official, lost his life for unknown reasons. Ye Yunzhao naturally understood the principle of "the lips and teeth are cold." Furthermore, Yuezhou was currently without a leader. If the officials sent down were inferior to the prefect, life would be even more difficult.
Then the two of them looked at each other in silence and arrived at Yuezhou City. The city was bustling with people and shops were everywhere. There was no sign that the prefect had passed away.
The two men led the donkey to the house of the Yuezhou prefect, but the door was closed, which seemed a bit out of place with the lively scene around them.
Han County Magistrate sighed and knocked on the door several times. After a while, a young voice came from inside and said, "I have something to do at home today. Please come back another day."
Han County Magistrate said in a deep voice: "The Lingnan County Magistrate has an important matter to report."
As soon as he finished speaking, the servant slowly opened the door and looked at the two of them through the narrow gap: "You are the county magistrate, and she is?"
"I am the magistrate of Lingnan County."
Only then did the servant open the gap a little and let the two people in.
The front yard was as pleasant as usual, but a closer look revealed that there were very few servants and maids, and all of them had sad faces.
The servant showed them the way and led the donkey away. When the two of them walked along the corridor to the backyard, they could already faintly hear the sobbing of women and children.
There were no servants or maids in the backyard. Surrounding the yard were yamen runners armed with swords, each five meters tall. They were all tall and had angry eyes, which was frightening.
Seeing this scene, Ye Yunzhao's heart gradually turned cold, fearing that the tragic death of the Yuezhou prefect was true.
Dozens of people sitting around in the courtyard were all wearing official uniforms. One of them saw them and waved, "Brother Han, here."
Han County Magistrate waved his hand and whispered, "The one waving is the magistrate of the neighboring county. He came here three years earlier than you. He is a kind man. His surname is Lin and his given name is Ping."
"Brother Lin, we are a little late." County Magistrate Han bowed.
As soon as he opened his mouth, dozens of officials, both big and small, turned their heads. The first person they saw was not County Magistrate Han, but Ye Yunzhao.
News spreads quickly in official circles, and the news that a female county magistrate had arrived in Lingnan County spread even faster. I had only heard of her before, but today I finally saw her in person.
The warm and kind County Magistrate Lin said with some curiosity, "Brother Han, please don't introduce me. Let me guess. This must be the new County Magistrate of Lingnan County."
Although it is said to be a guess, the tone is actually certain and it is an indisputable fact.
Ye Yunzhao smiled calmly: "Brother Lin has good eyesight. I am Ye Yunzhao."
"No, no." County Magistrate Lin smiled and waved his hand, then opened the folding fan with a "click".
Ye Yunzhao was stunned. She looked at everyone's clothes uncertainly. In such weather... is it suitable to use... a fan...?
Ye Yunzhao was not familiar with him, so he naturally would not speak his mind. The official sitting next to him drinking tea saw his action and spat out the tea in his mouth with a "puff" sound:
"Oh my, Magistrate Lin, why haven't you changed your bad habit of pretending to be elegant? Don't you see what season it is now? It's so hot!"
There was a thick smile in his tone. Lin Ping, who was teased, was not angry. He just looked up at the sky and shook the folding fan in his hand: "You, a rough man, naturally don't understand~"
The two of them didn't look like they were dead. Ye Yunzhao coughed lightly and brought their discussion back to the topic: "I wonder if everyone has seen the prefect?"
This question is both offensive and defensive. If he is not dead, it is not offensive. If he is dead, it is not too ridiculous.
Mentioning this, a hint of melancholy finally appeared on everyone's faces. County Magistrate Lin sighed and said with a sense of loss, "The prefect has already...already gone. The magistrate brought people here last night and also sent someone to inform the governor. I heard that the governor will be here tonight."
"It happened last night..." Ye Yunzhao said in shock.
Han County Magistrate stood aside and asked, "Does the magistrate say who did this? Has the perpetrator been caught?"
County Magistrate Lin didn't say anything else, but just nodded with his chin. Ye Yunzhao looked over there and saw a group of children, wives and concubines crying and kneeling. The most important thing was that they were surrounded by several officials with knives.
Everything is implied.
Ye Yunzhao already understood. He was afraid that the magistrate now felt that the people in the back house were suspected of murdering the prefect, so he was watching them so closely.
County Magistrate Lin sighed and said, "County Magistrate Ye, Brother Lin, you should also go to the main room and burn some incense."
Ye Yunzhao was about to agree, but his eyes met Ming Wanjun's among the group of women and children. Her eyes were clear and there was a hint of temptation in them.
Ye Yunzhao said, "County Magistrate Han, please go first. I will be there soon."
After saying that, she covered her stomach and anxiously stopped a maid beside her: "I wonder if..."
Before she finished speaking, the little maidservant serving in the mansion quickly understood Ye Yunzhao's meaning and said with a stern look, "I'll take the master with me."
Ye Yunzhao nodded quickly, deliberately walking faster, and falling behind her. When he passed by Ming Wanjun, he glanced sideways, and all he had said was there.
"Sir, please come this way." The little maid in front lowered her head and said.
Ye Yunzhao walked in the direction she pointed. When she was about to reach the toilet, she said to the little maid, "Thank you very much. I remember the way. You don't have to worry about me."
The little maid looked at her nose with her eyes and her heart with her nose, responded and left in a hurry.
Ye Yunzhao didn't want to go in. She couldn't say she was impressed by the ancient outhouses. But the outhouse at the prefect's house was quite nice. Probably to mask the smell, they'd planted many unfamiliar trees around it. It was late autumn, but the trees were still as green as spring, and a faint fragrance emanated from them.
Ye Yunzhao glanced around and saw that there was no one around. In the blink of an eye, he disappeared into the forest.
She waited patiently for a while, and Ming Wanjun hurried over here.
Seeing her about to turn into the toilet, Ye Yunzhao picked up a stone from the ground and threw it at her feet. Ming Wanjun followed the movement and looked into the grove of trees. Their eyes met, and she quickly slipped in.
"It's you?" Ye Yunzhao said as he made a sliding gesture on his neck.
"You killed him?"
The two said in unison.
After these words were spoken, there was nothing left to understand. Instead, the atmosphere became strangely silent.
Ye Yunzhao was stunned: "If it's not you...if it's not me...then who could it be..."
The answer she had come up with earlier emerged in her mind, and her right eyelid twitched at an inopportune time.
Ming Wanjun was equally stunned upon hearing the same question. No wonder she had misunderstood Ye Yunzhao; it was all just too much of a coincidence. A few days ago, this official-looking woman had sneaked in disguised as a maid, just to convince her to continue working as a teacher at the county school. And just two days after she left, the prefect had... died...
Ming Wanjun's eyes were still guarded, and she was obviously not satisfied with Ye Yunzhao's answer: "You don't know how he died?"
Ye Yunzhao looked bewildered. "How should I know? What's going on with the people in your house? Don't you have any servants? The prefect was killed without any noise?"
Her series of questions belatedly aroused Ming Wanjun's suspicions: "Last night...last night I really didn't hear a single unusual sound..."
Ye Yunzhao waved his hands and said helplessly, "It's ridiculous that you could hear something in such a remote place like Youzhu Residence. I'm talking about the magistrate's concubine, his wife, and even the servants and maids who served him. How could no one notice anything unusual?"
Ming Wanjun seemed to be lost in thought. She shook her head slightly and said, "No, I've always had a lot of dreams and often wake up in the middle of the night. But these past two days, I've actually... I've actually had no dreams at all..."
"Alright, I've been out for too long. I have to go..." Ye Yunzhao suddenly stopped talking and sighed. "What you said is indeed a bit unusual. You should consider whether you want to tell the governor. I'm leaving first. Let's both wash our hands. If we stay too long, people might get suspicious."
After saying that, Ye Yunzhao sneaked out from the bushes, and then turned into the toilet as if trying to cover up her crime. Seeing that there was no one inside, she hurried out, pretending to straighten the corner of her clothes as she walked.
"Sir, there is a master ahead who asked me to look for you."
As soon as Ye Yunzhao walked out of the toilet, he bumped into a little maid. She pretended to be calm and said, "Lead the way."
When they returned to the yard, County Magistrate Han had already burned incense, so Ye Yunzhao naturally wanted to go too. She took four incense sticks from the servant and walked into the house.
It was said to be inside the house, but in fact it was the mourning hall of the Yuezhou prefect. Ye Yunzhao lit the incense stick in his hand with the flickering white candle flame, raised it above his head, and bowed slowly.
Four roots are for worshiping ghosts, and three roots are for worshiping gods. Ye Yunzhao didn't know why he died, but after closing his eyes, he felt a little sad in his heart.
The governor did not make things difficult for these subordinates, and in order to find the real culprit, he quickly sent people to send them away.
"Let's go back." County Magistrate Han sighed and pulled the hemp rope that led the donkey.
Ye Yunzhao wanted to meet Chen Jingshan before returning to Lingnan County, but the two were just acquaintances. If he rashly explained the reason to County Magistrate Han, it would probably bring disaster to Chen Jingshan.
But if he didn't ask clearly in person, Ye Yunzhao really couldn't feel at ease.
She hesitated again and again, then called out to Han County Magistrate, who was getting farther and farther away. Although Ye Yunzhao's heart was already surging with emotions, her face remained calm and she forced a smile.
"County Magistrate Han, I still have to go to the embroidery workshop."
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