Oh dear, she originally planned to take some silver and quietly leave the Jin residence, then pretend she had never been there. But now that she has discovered an important clue, is she about to expose her identity as a little money-grubber?
No, she had to hurry back and tell Brother Lin so he could arrange for someone to move the box out and investigate.
As for why Qingluo and Qingyan weren't allowed to move the boxes directly, it was because she couldn't reveal her precognitive abilities, so she didn't say anything at the moment.
After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Zhu Lin personally arrived at the Jin residence. By this time, Song Wu and his men had already searched the Jin residence thoroughly, but they found nothing useful, or more precisely, they found no evidence of collusion between Jin Chang and the Great Silver Kingdom or the Great Bronze Kingdom.
Song Wu was somewhat disappointed and was about to order his men to leave the Jin residence.
"Lord Song, please wait. My men have found some clues. Have you checked the Jin family's granary?" Zhu Lin asked.
"We checked, and found nothing besides grain," Song Wu replied.
Zhu Lin walked towards the granary. "Search it again. There should be a secret room or hidden compartment there. My men won't make a mistake."
Song Wu followed closely behind, somewhat hesitant to speak. He really wanted to ask why, since Young Master Zhu's men had already found out everything, he hadn't told him earlier, leaving him and his constables to search for most of the day without any results.
However, he didn't dare to ask the question. Although the young master was young, he had a strong presence, which made people subconsciously afraid to refute his words.
Zhu Lin glanced at Song Wu out of the corner of his eye. He knew what the latter was thinking, but it didn't matter. Finding the box in the secret room was the most urgent thing right now.
After entering the granary, Zhu Lin did not immediately point out the location of the secret room. Instead, after watching the soldiers search around and still not find it, he pretended to help them search and then pointed to the left corner of the wall with his toe.
"It seems to be hollow inside. Lord Song, try knocking on it; you should be able to sense something."
Song Wu did as he was told. He knocked on the wall and heard an echo coming from inside. He was overjoyed. "Young Master Zhu is right. There really is a secret room here."
Song Wu quickly found the mechanism to open the secret room door. The secret room was not large, less than five square meters. Inside there was a table and a chair, some books on the bookshelf, and a large box in the corner of the bookshelf.
After Song Wu and his soldiers entered the secret room, they busied themselves searching for evidence on the bookshelves. Zhu Lin waited patiently for a while, and soon he saw Song Wu show a relieved smile, as if he had found something useful.
“Here are the correspondence between Jin Chang and Wanyan Xiong, as well as some account books. These can fully prove that Jin Chang colluded with the enemy. Confiscating his property is too lenient for him. He should be punished along with his entire family,” Song Wu said as he walked over carrying a large stack of letters.
Zhu Lin nodded indifferently, "It's good that the evidence has been found. There's a box over there; have someone carry it out, but don't take it back yet. Get the coroner to come and take a look."
"Huh? Could there be a dead person in the box?" Song Wu was shocked. The coroner was only needed when there was a wrongful conviction.
"It's an inanimate object. Be careful when opening it to avoid harming innocent people." Zhu Lin's expression was solemn, and his words were full of hints and reminders.
This made Song Wu nervous as well. The coroner was experienced in autopsies and often had to open the coffins of those who died unjustly. The coroner had his own ways of dealing with this. No matter how you looked at it, there couldn't be anything good in this box.
Soon after, Zhu Chumo arrived, his face still covered with a handkerchief. After opening the box, he and the coroner examined the dead rats that had been stored in ice.
"Burn it. These dead rats carry the plague. If it spreads, the people of Qingyang Prefecture will suffer." Zhu Chumo frowned. The princess had said that someone in a certain village had contracted the plague that morning. It was likely that Jin Chang had thrown the dead rats into a well or stream in a village, which was an easy route of transmission.
Now that there is a flood, if dead rats carrying disease are thrown into the floodwaters, the entire Northwest region will suffer.
The Jin family mansion and residence were very spacious, so they simply placed the box containing the dead rats in the center of the courtyard, poured oil on it, and set it on fire.
After dealing with the dead rats, the group quickly left. As for Jin Chang's family, they were temporarily kept in watch. There weren't enough people, so they had to deal with the plague first. The city gates of Qingyang Prefecture were not open, so the Jin family couldn't escape even if they wanted to.
The village with the epidemic that the stars foresaw has been found; it's a small village about half a day's journey from Qingyang Prefecture.
Next, we need to interrogate Jin Chang and pry him out of his mouth whether any other villages have been harmed.
Jin Chang was unconscious all night and only woke up this morning. He was very weak. Zhu Chumo gave him a few acupuncture needles, which restored some of his energy. Then he started questioning him, but he was very stubborn and refused to admit that he had colluded with the enemy.
"You'd better tell the truth. We've already found the secret room in your granary, all the letters of treason, and the dead rats carrying the plague in that box. There's no use in you trying to deny it. If you tell the truth, the court might spare a few members of the Jin clan in consideration of your redemption. But if you don't tell, your entire clan will be wiped out." Zhu Lin said coldly.
Jin Chang was pale, furious and heartbroken. "I'm a cripple now. What's the point of living? I might as well die. I can't even save myself. What do I care about my clan? What do the lives of others have to do with me?"
"So you really want to die, and you want to die right now?" Zhu Chumo asked in a sinister tone.
"What... what do you want to do?" Jin Chang's pupils suddenly contracted as he watched the other person approach with a needle in hand.
With a half-smile, Zhu Chumo pointed the silver needle at his brow, "If this silver needle is inserted into your fatal point, you can immediately go to the King of Hell. I'm just being kind and sending you on your way."
"No, I don't want to die, get away from me." Jin Chang's face was full of horror.
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