Chapter 542 Interrogation 1 (Additional chapter 4 for the book friends who are the crowdfunding leader)
The light from the torch was dim, but it could still illuminate the small piece of land in front of me. As far as the eye could see was a row of newly grown vegetable sprouts.
The Yan family, which had been raided for two years, obviously had no one who would grow vegetables in the garden, and the Xiao family who had just come out of this hole...
Manbao held a torch and went up to look at the vegetable field. After walking more than ten steps, he found that it was still a vegetable field and stopped involuntarily.
Even Bai Shanbao couldn't help but exclaim, "How many vegetable plots have been opened up?"
Zhou Silang was confused. "Why would you pretend to be a ghost and scare people if you're just growing vegetables?"
The neighbors who followed in were all stunned and exclaimed, "I was wondering where they got so many vegetables to sell. It turns out they're using the Yan family's garden to grow vegetables."
"I, I thought they rented land outside the city..."
"They're so bold," one neighbor exclaimed in amazement. "How did they come up with the idea of growing vegetables in this garden?"
Naturally, this can only be asked by the Xiao family outside.
The three yamen runners put all the members of the Xiao family together and put them under guard. Someone came out and told them that the Xiao family had opened a large vegetable garden inside, so they pretended to be ghosts to scare people.
They don't really believe this.
So the yamen runner A climbed in to take a look, and finally he and Manbao and the others quietly retreated out of the cave.
Yamen Runner A said, "First, seal up all the holes and bring the Xiao family back to the yamen."
He paused and asked the village head who had just arrived, sweating profusely, "Who else is left in the Xiao family now?"
The village head quickly said, "There is also Xiao Dalang's wife and a three-year-old child."
Bailiff A nodded and said, "Alright, we won't take them into custody for now, but you must send someone to keep an eye on them. If they escape, it will still be your responsibility."
The head of the village responded "yes" repeatedly, and the yamen runners warned the neighbors and strictly forbade them to enter Yan's house again, and then they took the Xiao family away.
Manbao and the others went back after they had dispersed, and excitedly said that they would go to the yamen to attend the trial tomorrow.
Mr. Zhuang exhaled and turned to return to his study, but then he thought something was wrong and called the three children over to give them a lecture. "You're really too bold! We're new here. What if the yamen runners don't come tonight and no one comes to support us? Or if everyone here knows about the Xiao family pretending to be ghosts, I'll see what you can do."
Manbao whispered, "If the people in their family weren't so fierce, we wouldn't have wanted to make such a big fuss."
Zhou Silang nodded repeatedly and explained, "Sir, I was the one who knocked the copper basin."
Mr. Zhuang snorted. If it weren't for this, he would have given them more than just a scolding.
He asked, "Where are their sackcloths?"
"Burning it is not auspicious. There is hot water boiling in the stove right now. I just put it in there and burned it. No one can find it."
Mr. Zhuang then nodded and waved his hand, saying, "Alright, go wash up and go to bed. Get up early tomorrow to study. You can go to the county government office and take a look."
Mr. Zhuang said, "Come back and tell me after you've finished reading this. You can also think about whether you did the right thing or the wrong thing tonight."
The three of them agreed obediently.
Manbao said, "Sir, you are tired. Why don't you stop reading for now?"
Bai Shanbao nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes, sir, I'll help you go and rest."
Bai Erlang said cleverly, "Sir, I'll get you some water."
The three of them worked together to calm Mr. Zhuang's anger, and then they went to wash up and go to bed.
The next morning, they got up early, read the morning lessons first, and then went to write. After finishing two large characters, they packed up their things and excitedly went to the county government office to join in the fun.
Mr. Zhuang took a look at the calligraphy they practiced today, shook his head slightly, and saw that they were almost running to the door, so he didn't stop them.
It just so happened that he was going to meet Lan Cheng today and was too lazy to take them with him.
Zhou Silang was also particularly interested in ghost stories, so he went to the county government office with them with great interest.
Huayang County was the affiliated county of Yizhou, and Kangxue Street was under the jurisdiction of Huayang County, so the person was directly escorted to the Huayang County government office.
Across the street from the county government office is the prefectural government office, and next to the prefectural government office is the Jiannan Road government office. It can be said that there is nothing much in that area except for many officials.
But there are also quite a few people, especially in the Huayang County government office, because that is the outermost area of the government office. Basically, high-end restaurants, hotels, and even antique shops are not far from the county government office.
Because further inside were the government office and the Jiannan Road government office, they could not drive in.
The haunting of Kangxue Street was not only famous in the Kangxue Street area, but also in the entire Yizhou City. So early in the morning, when people heard that someone had caught the ghost of Kangxue Street, many people ran to the county government office to join in the fun.
When Manbao and the other two arrived, the outside of the county government office was full of spectators, and they couldn't squeeze in at all.
Bai Shanbao thought for a moment, then dragged the two of them to the gatekeeper and said, "We were the ones who caught the ghost last night, and we're here to testify today."
"testify?"
"Yes, doesn't this trial require witnesses?" Bai Shanbao asked as a matter of course.
The yamen runner thought so too. Seeing that the three of them were so young, he thought that they were called by the yamen runner who was on night patrol last night, so he stepped aside and let them in through the small door.
Seeing Zhou Silang and Daji were about to follow in, he reached out to stop them.
Manbao immediately said, "They are my brothers. They also participated in catching ghosts last night."
The bailiff then withdrew his hand and said, "Don't move around once you're inside."
Except for Daji, the other four all responded in unison, "Yes!"
Enter through the small door and walk along the courtyard, you will arrive at the small courtyard outside the lobby. If the people want to watch the trial, they can only watch from outside the courtyard and cannot go inside.
The courtyard was where witnesses and prisoners stayed, and it was said that executions also took place in the courtyard.
When Li Erlang squeezed to the front with the help of the other four people, he looked up and saw Manbao and his five companions craning their necks to look inside.
Li Erlang: ...I always feel like I'm one step behind others in everything I do.
Magistrate Tang of Huayang County straightened his clothes, sat upright on the chair, and signaled that he could go into the classroom.
Unlike Luojiang County, where there is no major case for ten days or half a month, Yizhou is very prosperous and has a large population, both rich and poor.
When there are a lot of people, all kinds of cases are likely to occur, such as murder, robbery and theft. There is no case that County Magistrate Tang has not seen, only cases that he cannot solve.
So unlike Yang Heshu who only held court once every seven or eight days, County Magistrate Tang was very satisfied if he could hold court once every two days.
Therefore, he was particularly experienced in court trials. As soon as he entered the court, he banged the gavel and ordered Xiao Erlang, who was dressed as a ghost, to be brought up first. Then he took the time to ask the yamen runner, "Were the Xiao family members detained separately last night?"
"Yes, according to the master's orders, all prisoners who follow the group are held separately. The principal offender is on one side, and the accomplices are on another."
County Magistrate Tang nodded with satisfaction.
After thinking about it, I decided to write another chapter, so the next chapter will be updated around 10 o'clock.
(End of this chapter)
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