Chapter 93 Let Me Tell You a Fortune
When these words were spoken, Xiao Yu and Xu Chuchu were both surprised.
He has already been in prison for five years, with only two months left. Why can't Yan Nanan hold on a little longer and wait until he is released? Instead of forcing his way out of prison and making himself a fugitive?
If I get caught again this time, it won’t be so easy to make up for the last two months.
Jailbreaking is a serious crime. According to the laws of the Xia Dynasty, the minimum sentence is five years, with no upper limit. In serious cases, the death penalty is imposed.
No matter how you look at it, it's not worth it.
However, Xiao Yu quickly discovered something suspicious and asked County Magistrate Lin, "Wait, you said he was a well-known 'gangster' here, so why was he only sentenced to five years after being arrested?"
Yeah, that makes sense. After hearing this, Xu Chuchu silently gave his disciple a thumbs up.
It is normal for an ordinary thief to be sentenced to three to five years after being caught for theft. However, those who can be called a big bandit must have committed big crimes and offended high-ranking officials and nobles. It is too outrageous to be sentenced to only five years.
County Magistrate Lin sighed again, "Although Yan Nan'an committed countless crimes, we can't find evidence for most of them, and we don't know where the stolen goods were moved. He confessed to only one crime that was a sure thing, but he denied everything else. We have no choice but to sentence him to five years."
The more Xiao Yu listened, the more puzzled he became. "Does he have any enemies? Is he afraid of retaliation after he's released from prison, so he fled early?"
Generally speaking, people like this who travel around the world have few enemies and would feel embarrassed to tell others about them.
"I haven't heard of any enemies..." County Magistrate Lin looked embarrassed. "Not only does Yan Nan'an have no enemies, he also has many benefactors. Some say they received help from Yan Nan'an in the past, and they send him clothes and food from time to time, hoping to make his life in prison more comfortable."
Xiao Yu and Xu Chuchu: "..."
"You took all these? And gave them all to Yan Nanan?" Xiao Yu couldn't help but press the bridge of his nose.
"I gave it to him," County Magistrate Lin said calmly. "He's sincere, so it's hard for us to stop him, right? Besides, Yan Nan'an has been quite well behaved in prison these past few years."
Seeing Xiao Yu's eyes gradually rolling up, County Magistrate Lin quickly added, "But we searched everything before it was sent in. There's nothing unusual, and we have detailed records."
Xiao Yu's eyes rolled up and then slowly fell. "That's fine. Go back and sort out the records and show them to me. Towns don't have walls like county towns, so they're harder to defend. If we want to find out where he fled, we have to find out the reason for his sudden escape."
"Okay, sir!" Finally someone told him what to do, and County Magistrate Lin's eyes were full of admiration.
It was almost dawn when the group returned to the yamen, and they were all very tired. County Magistrate Lin arranged a room for Xiao Yu and Xu Chuchu to stay in, and waited until the next day to officially start searching for evidence.
In fact, besides the reason of being an enemy, Xiao Yu had some other guesses. For example, whether Yan Nanan was abused and intimidated in prison, so that he could not stay there, etc., but it was not convenient to ask now. The specific details would be known after visiting the scene.
However, the results of the investigation the next day left him feeling very confused.
He and Xu Chuchu first interrogated several prison guards separately, asking them about what happened on the day Yan Nantian escaped from prison and his living conditions in recent times.
The result was that there was no sign of Yan Nantian's escape from prison, and his life in prison was not bad at all.
They learned that this man was known as "Xia Dao" and that most of his crimes involved robbing the rich to help the poor, specifically robbing corrupt businessmen and officials, and distributing the stolen money to the poor. In addition, he was humorous and liked to tell interesting stories, so no one had any bad feelings towards him.
Not to mention abuse and intimidation, sometimes when someone has leftover fruits and vegetables, they will bring some to share with him.
The hypothesis that he escaped from prison because he "could not bear the suffering in prison" can basically be ruled out.
Xiao Yu turned his attention to the things sent to him by the outside world, wondering if there was some information mixed in these things, which made Yan Nanan find out and had to risk spending decades in prison and forcibly escape from prison.
However, after looking through the records of supplies sent to him over the past five years, no useful clues were found.
Most of the people who sent him things were poor people in the neighborhood who had received his kindness. What they sent him were just some homemade clothes, bedding, and food such as potatoes and beans grown in their own homes.
According to County Magistrate Lin, the clothes and bedding were checked repeatedly to make sure there were no hidden notes or weapons before they were sent in.
The food was directly handed over to the kitchen of the yamen, and was distributed to all the jailers and prisoners after being prepared. It did not pass through Yan Nanan's hands at all, and there was no possibility of any mystery.
If there is no mistake, then where is the problem?
"How about, sir, you check in the yamen first, and I'll take people to search outside to see if we can find any clues?" County Magistrate Lin was a little restless.
It's not that he didn't trust Xiao Yu, he was just too anxious. Even if there was no result, it would be better to go out and work than to wait in vain.
Xiao Yu shook his head, saying, "No need. We haven't figured out anything yet. With so many people all over the mountains, where are you going to search? Since you've posted wanted notices at every post station and horse market, there's no need to worry about him getting away. Once we get to the bottom of this, we'll catch him in a few days."
"Yes, yes." County Magistrate Lin had no choice but to agree awkwardly.
Xiao Yu added, "Bring over his case files from previous years and see if you can find any clues in them."
County Magistrate Lin did as he was told and sent his men to bring the case file.
Although Yan Nan'an was only sentenced to five years, his case file is taller than a mountain.
It records many cases of theft and robbery, the methods and style of which are almost exactly the same as those committed by Yan Nan'an in his early years. However, Yan Nan'an has always insisted that these were committed by other thieves impersonating him and not by him.
In addition, the government could not find any solid evidence to convict, so they could only classify these cases as unsolved cases and not blame Yan Nanan.
Xiao Yu personally read through these case files one by one. He read very quickly, glancing at almost every page before turning it over. It can be seen that he had done quite a bit of research in this area before.
But Xu Chuchu was of little help. She had only been in the Xia Dynasty for a short time and didn't even recognize all the characters. In addition, the case files contained a lot of professional terms, so she couldn't understand them at all.
She thought for a moment, took out a set of bamboo sticks from her bag, and said to Xiao Yu, "How about I tell you about this case?"
Xiao Yu was delighted when he heard this: "Is it okay? Thank you very much."
Of course, he did not forget that Xu Chuchu was good at fortune-telling. When he was investigating the Fang family massacre in Fengyang Village, it was thanks to Xu Chuchu's fortune-telling that he figured out the burial place of another victim and solved the case.
But he also knew that divination by physiognomists was intricate and profound, and it would be best if Xu Chuchu could help. If she didn't speak, there must be a reason for not speaking, and he would not force her.
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