The thought wouldn't leave my mind.
Xu Ningyan couldn't sleep, so she sat on the bed and started to think.
This could be considered ill-gotten gains for Deputy Director Qin. Should she go and find out what's going on?
From a selfish perspective, she also wanted a share of this ill-gotten wealth; otherwise, why would she wait several years to let someone else benefit from it?
From a purely altruistic perspective, if this is true, helping to find the ledger of bribes and gifts would be enough to bring Director Qin down.
The removal of Deputy Director Qin from office is a good thing for the people of Jingshan County.
It's good for both public and private reasons, so why not go?
Having made up her mind, Xu Ningyan lay down again.
The next day, Xu Ningyan made an excuse to go out on business, asked around for directions to Tuanshan Cemetery, and then slowly rode his bicycle toward the cemetery.
Tuanshan Cemetery is located halfway up a small hill outside the county town.
The martyrs' cemetery is located at the top of the mountain, while the public cemetery is halfway up the mountain.
Since she was already there, even though it wasn't a day for the memorial service, Xu Ningyan parked her bicycle at the bike shed at the foot of the mountain, walked up the mountain road, picked some wildflowers along the way, tied them into a bouquet, and entered the martyrs' cemetery.
Although there was an old man guarding the entrance to the cemetery, no one was seen at the moment.
Although the martyrs' cemetery is also lined with pine and cypress trees, it does not have the eerie atmosphere of other cemeteries.
The cemetery was very quiet, with only the occasional bird call. When they saw people coming, a few birds would flutter their wings and fly far away.
This cemetery is the final resting place of several hundred martyrs who fought against the Japanese invaders.
Xu Ningyan placed the wildflowers under the tombstone in the center of the cemetery at the entrance, bowed, and then walked around the cemetery at the back.
The old man who guarded the tomb took great care of it; the tombstones were all clean, and there were no weeds except in the corners.
Xu Ningyan cleared away the weeds before coming out.
I didn't see many people on the way down the mountain. When I got halfway up the mountain, there was a small path on the left leading to Tuanshan Cemetery. Unlike the mountain path to the cemetery, which is made of stone steps, this small path was just a dirt road and stones.
At that time, the cemetery was not very large, since most families had ancestral graves, and the idea of ​​returning to one's roots after death was valued, so they were all buried back in their ancestral graves.
The cemetery is unmanaged and rarely visited.
I don't know why, but as soon as I entered the cemetery, surrounded by pine and cypress trees, I felt a chill all over my body. Even in broad daylight, it felt somewhat eerie.
Xu Ningyan had already observed the cemetery when she came down the mountain; there was no one there.
Furthermore, I gained a general understanding of the location and the division of the cemetery.
Once inside the cemetery, Xu Ningyan's goal was clear.
I walked straight to a corner that was higher up and quieter.
This place is completely invisible from the mountain and the mountain road; it's located right at a bend in the road, with trees blocking the view.
Upon closer inspection, it was indeed found that this place faced another mountain. Even from the opposite mountain, the view was obscured by trees, making it difficult to see what was happening here.
The corner also obscures the view from the mountain and the mountain road, making it a perfect place to hide treasure.
I looked down at the tombstone, which read "Tomb of Qin Dagen and Fang Qinshi".
Let's look at the person who erected the monument, Qin Yiping.
Yes, this is the place.
After confirming the location, Xu Ningyan carefully observed the tombstone and noticed that it wasn't sealed with cement or anything like it would be in later generations.
It was all gravel and mud.
At first glance, it looks similar to other places, but upon closer inspection, you can see that there is a large stone slab in the back, and the soil and stones next to it seem to have been piled up recently, unlike other places that are already covered with weeds and moss.
Xu Ningyan reached out and tapped the stone slab, which produced a dull sound.
I carefully felt along the stone slab with my hand and found a groove at the bottom, just big enough to put my hand in.
When I reached in and applied force, the stone slab didn't budge.
With another pull, the stone beside her loosened slightly. Xu Ningyan gritted her teeth, focused her energy in her dantian, and with another effort, she finally managed to pull up the stone slab, revealing the dark tomb below.
It's fortunate that it was daytime, otherwise the scene would have been quite frightening.
Even though Xu Ningyan was very brave, she broke out in a cold sweat.
He pulled out a solar-powered emergency lantern from the space and leaned in to shine it inside.
There was no unpleasant smell or bones in the tomb, only two large coffins.
With such a small opening, Xu Ningyan could only reach the edges of the two coffins with difficulty. If he wanted to take out the contents, he would probably have to dig up the entire grave, which would cause a huge commotion.
But this couldn't stop Xu Ningyan, since she had the space that was essential for murder, robbery, and burglary.
She didn't mind at all, and put both coffins into her space. Then she opened the space and couldn't stop smiling.
The two coffins were filled to the brim with banknotes, various jewelry, gold bars, antiques, and the like.
There was a whole box of yellow croakers of various sizes, and pearls, gemstones, gold jewelry, jade, and other precious stones were haphazardly stuffed together.
There were also some calligraphy, paintings, porcelain, seals and the like, all placed in another coffin, just casually.
Xu Ningyan searched for a long time inside and finally found a notebook in another small box.
Upon opening it, one finds that every page is filled with details of the date, who gave him what, what he was asked to do, and whether the task was completed.
Or, on a certain day of a certain month of a certain year, he gave someone a gift of a certain value, asking them to do something for him, whether it was successful or not.
Every single detail, from three years ago until now, is meticulously recorded.
The notebook was almost full of notes. At the beginning, Qin Yiping was just an ordinary member of the Revolutionary Committee, and his income was not much.
Later, he gradually accumulated more and more records, especially after he was promoted to deputy director of the Revolutionary Committee. Almost every month, people would send him generous gifts and money.
However, his notebooks never mentioned the income he received from frequent house raids as the deputy director of the Revolutionary Committee.
It should be noted that this Deputy Director Qin was known in Jingshan County as the "Director of Confiscating Homes".
In Jingshan County, almost all the prominent wealthy merchants, landlords, or scholarly families with a bit of heritage have had their property confiscated by this Deputy Director Qin.
Putting everything else aside, the contents of this coffin are probably mostly proceeds from the confiscation of property.
To take a recent example, two months ago, Wang Bancheng, a well-known figure in the county who owned a cotton yarn factory, sensed something was wrong before the turmoil. He donated most of his assets, including the factory, and only received a small share of the profits each year to make ends meet.
They had been living peacefully for a few years, but two months ago Qin Yiping found an excuse, saying that they were colluding with overseas forces, and raided the Wang family's property.
The entire Wang family was arrested and taken to the Revolutionary Committee. After interrogation and criticism, some committed suicide because they could not bear the humiliation, while others died because they were old and weak and could not withstand the criticism. The remaining two or three were directly sent to a farm in Northwest China.
The once-famous Wang Bancheng family vanished without a trace.
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