Chapter 82 Chapter 82 The true nature is cold.
This Fuxiang Restaurant is owned by the Qiao family. The owner seems to be doing nothing unusual and still orders fifty yuan worth of tofu from her every day.
However, because Mrs. Wu got off the car at Qiao's house, Ji Xu no longer went to see her off himself. Instead, he paid seven coins a day and asked a young man who was waiting for work in the city to go to see her off.
There were two wealthy families who needed ten blocks of tofu every day. Ji Xu used to deliver them home, but now he had given the job to that boy. The job was easy, and the boy was happy to do it.
The younger sisters spent most of the day in the library and would not go out. When they came home from school, they listened to Ji Xu's words and did not go out to play alone until the thief outside was caught.
Occasionally, I would go for a walk at Chen's house, and I would be accompanied by adults from both families.
That afternoon, as the sky gradually darkened, servants were already lighting lamps at the corner gate of the Qiao family. The alley in the distance was pitch black. Zhuang Gaiyi's dark brown and green cap concealed him in the shadows, his sharp phoenix eyes fixed on the door.
With a creaking sound the door opened, and a servant came with a lamp to light the way.
The one who came out was Qiao's uncle, County Magistrate Pan, with a pointed jaw and bald forehead. He was dressed modestly, looked around, bent down, and got on the carriage beside the corner gate.
Soon, a woman came out, wearing a cloth jacket and a silver hairpin. She climbed gently onto the rented ox cart and, before curfew, left the city and headed for a quiet country road.
After half an hour, the woman pointed to a bamboo forest in front and said:
"Stop right there."
There was another oxcart waiting next to the bamboo forest. The man on the cart was of middle age and had a rough appearance.
The woman got on his cart, exchanged a few words of flirtation with the debt collector, and then the ox cart drove off on the road.
It was dark at night and the country road was quiet. The oxcarts on the road at this time seemed conspicuous.
The ox cart of a man behind her had been attached to her at some point, and she hadn't noticed it when they left the city. Now she became alert and said to the man driving the cart:
"Jianlang, there's something wrong with the car behind us. I'm afraid it's someone named Pan who's following us."
So Wu Jian stopped the car and stood still for a while, holding the big knife in the car vigilantly.
They saw a handsome man on the ox cart behind them, without any sign of guilt. He drove straight past them and went forward.
When they reached the pavilion gate in front, the gatekeeper from Yongle Township opened the door for him and asked familiarly:
"Gai Yi is back. Is the farming department busy with spring plowing these days? Your second uncle asked about your whereabouts the other day."
The Wu cousins saw them from a distance and finally put aside their suspicions. Wu Liang said:
"So you're from this village. Hurry up and drive the car to the village pavilion and deal with that Pan. I need to wash myself properly."
Living in the inns in the county town was unsafe, so the village pavilion in the remote Yongle Township became their place of residence for the time being, and they paid for accommodation every day.
Ting's father let them into the house, and the boy from the kitchen at the back brought in hot water.
After the sound of water, Wu Liang came out of the cubicle and was suddenly hugged from behind. Wu Jian sniffed her shoulder with a lecherous look and said jealously:
"Did the old man named Pan touch you?"
The woman turned around and punched him in the chest. "Why are you asking these questions? If you hadn't lost all that money in your business, I wouldn't have to take the risk again."
Four years ago, Wu Liang was involved in human trafficking. At that time, County Magistrate Pan was just a small county clerk in Lingshui County, working in the Household Affairs Office. He dealt with reports submitted by various villages on a daily basis.
By chance, the two of them got together, and County Magistrate Pan forged a travel brochure for her; she relied on her friendly temperament to sell men and women everywhere, and when they left the county, she would transport them to the north by grain boat, and she had her own connections.
At that time, slaves were worth much more than cattle, and one slave was worth ten thousand coins. They made a lot of money from this. The original Pan clerk also used the money to bribe his superiors, and his path to promotion was smooth. Within a year, he became the magistrate of Pan County.
Wu Liang never stayed in one place for long when doing this business. Four years ago, she left Lingshui County and took her money to live with her cousin Wu Jian who was far away in Qingzhou.
Wu Jian himself is a scoundrel who roams around with a knife and a bullet. He is not a decent person. The two of them are like maggots in a ditch, with similar odors, and have lived together for many years.
"Has that old fellow agreed?" Wu Jian asked.
Because he believed his brother's words, he invested all his money in a spice business. As a result, something went wrong during the long-distance transportation and he lost all his money. Then he persuaded Wu Liang to ask Pan for money, handed over the previous secret code, and made an appointment to meet at Qiao's house.
Wu Liang stroked his chest with his hand, and with two fingers he pulled out a piece of cloth-wrapped wood from his collar, and said with a smile:
"With this false report, how could he not respond?"
At the beginning, Pan Wenshu was extremely cautious. When she was about to leave Lingshui County for Qingzhou, he ordered her to burn all the bamboo scrolls that contained the accounts between the two of them in front of him, including the false documents he had prepared. Otherwise, he would not let her go.
Wu Liang was cautious and secretly hid a copy, which was the one she was holding.
Years had passed, and the wood had turned yellow, but Pan's official seal, which had been used to stamp the document, was still there, and the words written on the document were still legible. The reason for the trip was written:
He took his daughter to live with his relatives.
It also describes the appearance of Wu Liang and his daughter, who have round faces, willow-shaped eyebrows, long eyes, and a mole at the right corner of their mouths. The daughter is in her early teens and is described as frail.
However, the so-called mother-daughter relationship was naturally fabricated by Pan Wenshu, as she had abducted the daughter.
Now think about it, it was the lucky little butcher who was freed from slavery and became a good person. He said with a fierce look in his eyes:
"How dare you, little hoof, sue me."
If she hadn't held evidence of County Magistrate Pan's guilt, how could she have escaped from the county court unscathed? She was still here, weeping:
"Why don't you finish her off quickly, Jianlang?"
When Wu Jian mentioned this, he gritted his teeth and said, "I've been following her for these days, and she's never been alone. She always has someone with her on the ox cart. There are so many people in the city, so it's hard to make a move."
"Where are her family members? They have to help me get revenge."
"Do you think it's so easy to get into Niupi Township?"
Wu Liang did get the name, hometown and other information that the young slaughterer had left on the document when he reported the incident. However, since people had to pass through the pavilion gate to enter and leave the village now, the gatekeeper would not let a stranger like him pass.
He disguised himself as a merchant and stayed in the township pavilion first. When the pavilion's father was not paying attention, he slipped into Niupi Township and found Ji Xu's house, but the door was locked and no one was there.
Moreover, when a stranger like him entered Benguli, everyone looked at him sideways and told others about him.
If he had not withdrawn in time, a man called Old Man Chen would have led a group of people to attack him.
Seeing that she refused, Wu Jian said:
"When you get the money, I'll risk it all and help you vent your anger. Then we won't stay here anymore and will run away."
"I dare not refuse to pay this money to Mr. Pan, otherwise I will hand it over to the Inspector and sue him for abusing his power for personal gain, and he will be fired from his job as an official." Wu Liang leaned in his arms and said.
As expected, County Magistrate Pan had completed his three-year term and was at the peak of his career, so the 2,000-stone governor of the county sent a supervisory post to perform supervisory duties, reviewing the county magistrate's previous reports and cases, and only after verifying that there were no errors could he be officially promoted to county magistrate.
If at this critical moment he was accused of corruption and bribery and collusion with criminals, his promotion would be ruined.
Wu Jian was pleased with himself and said:
"It's just two thousand taels of silver. Can't the County Magistrate Pan, no, he should be called the County Magistrate Pan, come up with it?"
After saying that, he grabbed the hand on his chest, brought him to the bed, and made love with him.
It is said that Zhuang Gaiyi saw that the thieves were heading towards Yongle Township, so he found their tracks and returned to Zhuang's home.
This theater was the former residence of Zhuang the Butcher. His biological mother died of illness and his adoptive father Zhuang the Butcher was killed by thieves, leaving the house in a desolate state.
Zhuang Gaiyi simply dusted and swept the west room, and without taking off his shoes, he lay on the bed with his clothes on and his arms resting on the pillow.
After a while, there was a gentle knock on the door outside.
It was the second uncle of this family who was asking, and the voice sounded cautious.
"Gaiyi, you've had your meal. Why don't you go to your second uncle's house for dinner?"
"No need."
Zhuang Gaiyi's true colors are revealed now, he is completely inhumane.
Zhuang Er, on the other hand, breathed a sigh of relief, returned home, and said to his wife:
"If he doesn't come, let's eat."
At night, the couple lay in bed. Zhuang Er tossed and turned, causing his wife to wonder:
"What's wrong with you? Whenever he comes back, you can't sleep or eat."
"Oh, let's go to sleep."
Zhuang Er sighed, but didn't reveal his true feelings.
Back then, his brother coveted Jing's beauty and married her. It was said that before the Jing family fell into trouble, they were still a poor family, and girls like her had also studied some scriptures at home.
However, this was not a good thing in the countryside, especially in a small place where everyone had the surname Zhuang. As a person with an outsider surname, his butcher brother had also molested Jing before they got married.
Later, because her grandfather was seriously ill and she had lost her last support, she was able to marry him back. However, he started to dislike her again and often beat and scolded her, saying that she only married him for protection in the village and that she was bringing a burden with her and he even looked down on her.
Even the young Zhuang Gaiyi was beaten by him, and his face was often bruised and swollen, without a single piece of healthy flesh.
It was said that his elder brother made a good living as a butcher. Whenever he drank, he would beat and scold his wife and children at home, and would brag outside, boasting about how much money and property he had, how his wife was so unworthy, and so on.
If you talk like this too often, it will attract thieves to steal, and they will lose their lives in the fight for property.
But his brother, the butcher, was seven feet tall and strong because he had been butchering pigs for many years. Even though he was drunk, he would not be killed by a thief who was thinner than him by having his throat cut.
However, Zhuang Gaiyi was already over ten years old at that time, like a newly grown wolf mastiff.
Later, there was a rumor that he became famous for lifting a tripod and possessed supernatural powers.
Over the years, Zhuang Er felt something was amiss, and when he thought about it, his hair stood on end.
It just so happened that Zhuang Gaiyi was a filial son and an honest official, and his reputation became even better.
On this day, the Governor's Office,
When County Magistrate Pan came out of the mansion, his clothes still smelled of the wine he had exchanged with the Inspector. The two beauties he had brought with him were both accepted into his family.
Now he had a happy look on his face, and said to his close friend:
"I thought he, Li Duyou, was a man of integrity and high moral character, yet he couldn't resist the temptation of a beautiful woman. Go inform Wu Liang and ask her to come and get the two thousand taels tomorrow."
When he said this, he was confident.
"in addition……"
He whispered something in his ear, and the confidant looked very proud when he heard it. He nodded and went to do it.
This scene in front of the Inspector's Mansion was reflected in the dark eyes in the alley.
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