The wealthy merchant, sweating profusely, begged for mercy, saying, "Young lady, I thought you were new to this restaurant, that's why I offended you. Please forgive me this time!"
Wangwang had been facing off against him for a long time. When he saw Amian arrive, he was completely exhausted and almost collapsed to the ground.
"What exactly happened?"
At this moment, everyone went upstairs.
Originally, Wangwang wanted to visit some of the shops that Song Dongjia had mentioned to her when they were chatting before. However, the wealthy merchant saw her walking alone from the second-floor window and decided to take her by force.
Having killed fish for years, Wangwang's heart had hardened like an icicle hanging from the eaves in winter. Seeing no way to escape quickly, he grabbed a passerby in the chaos and asked her to go to the inn to report the news.
The wealthy merchant thought she was a sickly beauty and that he could easily win her over.
Later, seeing that he couldn't succeed for a long time, he started to swear and curse, "You cripple, I'm doing you a favor by liking you!" After that, Wangwang smashed a vase and managed to get through until A-Mian and her men appeared.
"Get up and come with us to the yamen! Forcing a woman in broad daylight, according to the law, if the crime is committed, the sentence is hanging with reprieve; if it is not committed, the sentence is one hundred strokes of the cane and exile for three thousand li." The clerk Chen simply called his men and tied up the legs of the wealthy merchant who was so frightened that his legs went weak.
He originally intended to bring Wangwang back to the yamen as a witness, but upon glancing at her, he noticed several wounds on Wangwang's neck. He paused, turned his head, and said, "Do you have any clean bandages or strips of cloth? Young lady, bandage yourself. You also need to come with us to the yamen to explain the situation. We'll need to sign and affix our fingerprints then."
“Then I’ll go to the clinic to take a look…” As soon as A-Mian finished speaking, she saw Wangwang, who had never shed a tear even when she was seriously ill before, now with tears streaming down his face, looking pitiful: “Kind sir, my little injury is nothing serious.”
She stood up with remarkable "strength," her figure as withered as a willow leaf, a few strands of sorrow between her brows.
Amian was about to help her up when Wangwang turned around and secretly gave her a wink.
Then Wangwang "had no choice" but to ask Chen Limu to help him up and escort him to his horse.
Wangwang's voice became much softer, and A-Mian vaguely sensed something. Just as she was about to ponder it carefully, she saw Meng Chijian rushing over.
"Why are you only arriving now? It was a close call that something terrible just now happened."
Ah Mian whispered to him what had just happened, whispering in his ear, "Wangwang is completely different from usual. In the past, when fish blood splattered on her face, she would just wipe it off with her hand. But as soon as Constable Chen came, she collapsed at the first sign of wind. She must have taken a fancy to this constable."
Previously anxious to rescue Wangwang, Ah Mian now looked at Constable Chen from a different angle.
He's tall, looks like he can do the work, and is reasonably good-looking.
Their clothes were simple, but without any patches.
At this moment, A-Mian chatted with the other minor officials for a few minutes and subtly revealed that these minor officials in the government did not have a fixed monthly salary.
"No woman wants Chen! He's different from us. He doesn't want a wife at all. He just likes to solve strange and unusual cases."
"How many cases are there for him to handle? He'd be too busy thinking about them to even have a proper meal!"
Other minor officials preferred tasks like collecting taxes, and accepting bribes was their main source of income.
In short, Ah Mian found out that Officer Chen was twenty years old and still unmarried, mainly because he was dirt poor.
After making inquiries, A-Mian returned and pondered the matter but still couldn't figure it out. She was somewhat worried that if Wangwang married this person, life would be very difficult.
After a while, she noticed that Meng Chijian remained silent.
"What's wrong? What happened? Why are you carrying a bundle?" A-Mian squeezed the bundle and felt something was strange. The bottom of the bundle was wet, as if it had been soaked in water.
Furthermore, Meng Chijian was usually impeccably dressed (he would iron the wrinkles in his clothes the day before with a metal cup filled with boiling water), but now his clothes were disheveled. She took his hand, her eyes widening instantly.
Meng Chijian had several scrapes and bloodstains on the back of his hands at the joints!
"It's nothing, I was in a hurry to come out and I accidentally tripped and fell."
Ah Mian said sullenly, "If you fall and brace yourself with your hand, your palm should be injured, not the back of your hand."
Ah Mian is not easy to fool now.
"I didn't fall to the ground; I bumped into the wall when I turned my head," Meng Chijian replied calmly.
"oh."
She didn't believe it.
After arriving at the yamen, they were busy with various tasks, including interrogating the owner of Xixiang Courtyard. However, this person had extremely strong connections and extensive influence in Zhoucheng, and he managed to smooth things over with just a few words.
Seeing that there was nothing more for her to do, and that more than half the day had passed, Ah Mian realized she hadn't gone to any fun or interesting places!
"We should definitely go see the clock tower."
"Wait a minute." Meng Chijian took out a hot food wrapped in oil paper from his pocket. "Crab meat bun, a famous delicacy only found in Zhoucheng."
"Oh right, I forgot to eat breakfast and lunch."
Strangely enough, when no one reminded her, Ah Mian felt like she had inexhaustible energy in her body. However, as soon as she realized it, her legs were as weak as noodles, and she could hardly walk.
She took the bun, took a bite, and exclaimed, "It's fresher than regular meat buns! Delicious! So this is what crab roe tastes like... How much are these two crab roe buns?"
"It's free, I found it."
They're lying again.
Ah Mian wolfed down her food, determined to ask him again when she got home that night.
"Something terrible has happened!" A scholar from the academy rushed over from the yamen gate.
"You never stop causing trouble all day long?!" A-Mian roared in anger.
The scholar, panting heavily and with a mournful face, exclaimed, "Something terrible has happened!! We were originally at the Bell Tower when someone looked out into the distance and spotted a burlap sack floating on the moat! We sent people to retrieve it, and guess what..."
At a time like this, he actually kept everyone in suspense.
With no one responding, he continued, "It turns out it was Ji Hengzhi inside! He was beaten black and blue, and he choked on water. If we hadn't pulled him out any later, he might not be alive. Right now, he's delirious and has a high fever. No matter how we ask him, he can't explain anything. He just keeps muttering things like 'ghost' and 'show yourself if you dare,' and things like that."
Constable Chen listened intently, "Did he get a clear look at the 'ghost'?"
“We asked him too. He’s still talking incoherently, but from what I heard, he guessed that this is what he meant: He was walking along the road when he heard strange noises in the alley, so he went to investigate. As a result, he was put in a sack from behind and then beaten up. He was probably knocked unconscious at the time.”
"The villain carried the sack and searched all the way. When no one was paying attention, he threw it into the inner river. At this time, Ji Hengzhi also woke up, tore off the sack and started splashing around. He splashed all the way to the moat and was discovered by us."
As Lu Amian listened, she glanced at Meng Chijian.
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