Chapter 191: Struck by Lightning
"You are really nimble."
A faint voice was heard, and then the lights of lanterns and torches were instantly lit up, and the originally dark night was almost illuminated like day.
The light was so bright that the dark shadow couldn't open his eyes. He subconsciously covered his face with his sleeves, hurriedly threw away the shovel and things in his hands, and ran away in panic.
At this point, how could Li Zhongan let anyone get away?
As soon as he raised his hand, the yamen runners nearby rushed over and tied the man up tightly.
When the person who looked like a zongzi was thrown in front of him, Li Zhongan saw the person's face clearly.
"You are..." Li Zhongan paused, "A student of Wende Academy?"
There are not many students in Wende Academy, because they are all scholars and the best in the county, and they may become juren in the future. Li Zhongan attaches great importance to this and often goes to Wende Academy, so Li Zhongan can basically remember everything about the scholars there.
After searching his memory for a while, Li Zhongan said with almost certainty, "You are, Zhang Yaosheng?"
Zhang Yaosheng was caught at this time, and he knew that he couldn't escape even if he had wings, so he stopped struggling to escape and just nodded, "That's right."
"You are willing to admit it." Li Zhongan snorted coldly, "As a scholar, you should study hard, become a pillar of the country and benefit the people in the future. I never thought that you would do such a sneaky thing. It is really despicable and a disgrace to scholars!"
"I don't quite understand what you said, sir." Zhang Yaosheng looked surprised.
"Don't understand?" Li Zhongan shouted angrily, "The thing in your hand is the property that someone lost recently. With such evidence in front of you, you still say you don't understand?"
"Of course the students didn't understand." Zhang Yaosheng said loudly, "The students heard some noise in the middle of the night and saw a dark figure sneaking around outside, so they followed to check. As a result, they saw that the dark figure disappeared after reaching here, so I came here to check."
"As a result, I saw the black shadow burying valuables here. When he found me following him, he ran away. I dug out the valuables and prepared to hand them over to the government."
When Li Zhongan heard Zhang Yaosheng say this, the corner of his mouth twitched, "You mean, you want to catch a thief?"
"Of course." Zhang Yaosheng nodded vigorously.
"But you haven't caught the thief, so how can you prove that what you said is true?" Li Zhongan said, "And since you followed the thief here, you must have seen the thief's body shape and face clearly, why don't you tell me about it?"
"Your Excellency, I saw it clearly. The thief was none other than the owner of this house, Song Jingyun," Zhang Yaosheng replied.
"But I have inquired. When someone's property was lost some time ago, Song Jingyun was in Jiangjia Village. There are many people who can testify."
Li Zhongan narrowed his eyes, "Why do you say that the person who stole the things was Song Jingyun?"
"Of course it's because I saw it clearly. That person was Song Jingyun! And many people in the neighborhood have lost things at home, but Song Jingyun's home didn't lose anything. Don't you think it's strange?"
Zhang Yaosheng said, "If someone else had stolen it, why would they have left it somewhere else but in Song Jingyun's house? Of course, the adults would say that someone might have slandered it, but why didn't that person slander others, but why did he slander Song Jingyun?"
"If you think about it carefully, there are many strange things going on. But if Song Jingyun is the thief, then it makes sense."
"That does make sense." Li Zhongan nodded and raised his hand, "Take the man away!"
After receiving the order, the yamen runners responded with a "yes" and then dragged Zhang Yaosheng, who had been tied up like a dumpling, out.
Zhang Yaosheng was stunned at first, then he shouted, "Sir, I am innocent, the thief was Song Jingyun!"
"Shut up!" A yamen runner nearby couldn't stand it anymore, so he slapped Zhang Yaosheng in the face and shouted at him.
"Why should I shut up? I'm telling the truth!" Zhang Yaosheng retorted.
"I really don't know how he passed the imperial examination to become a scholar when he is so stupid!"
"That's right. You still think you are very smart."
"Isn't this brain filled with paste?"
"Who knows? Maybe he has become stupid from studying..."
He's stupid? How is he stupid?
Even though he was mediocre in aptitude and not as gifted as others in studying, he was still a scholar after all. He was much smarter than these lowly yamen runners!
They actually laughed at him for being stupid! How abominable!
Zhang Yao was so angry that his teeth were chattering. "You are the stupid ones. I'm afraid you haven't even read the Four Books and Five Classics. You don't even know what the left turn of the Spring and Autumn Annals is. How dare you call me stupid?"
"Whether we know those things or not is not a big deal. The key point is that you look so stupid that it's really funny."
"That's right. Mr. Song had already spread the word that his family had lost paintings and medicinal herbs. Everyone knew that he had lost something, but how come you knew that he didn't? Only the thief himself knew this."
"Also, you said you saw a shadow in the middle of the night and chased after it, but the government has been saying that the thief has been caught. How can you be sure that the shadow was the thief when you saw a shadow at night and why did you chase after it?"
"You are really too clever to think of using this method to frame Mr. Song."
"I'm afraid all the books I read over the years have been in vain. Have they all gone to waste?"
"Maybe I read it in a pig's stomach..."
“…”
Listening to the ridicule and sarcasm of the yamen runners, Zhang Yaosheng's face turned purple.
Therefore, both Li Zhongan and the yamen runners knew everything from the beginning, and he struggled with excuses for a long time.
If you think about it carefully, Li Zhongan waited at Song Jingyun's house on purpose and caught him red-handed. I guess he had already expected that he would go there tonight?
In other words, the news from the government office that the thief had been caught was just a cover-up. The purpose was actually to make him think that the frame-up failed because the government office did not find those dirty things and deliberately lured him into the trap.
Combined with the fact that Song Jingyun deliberately spread the news that his family had lost something, did Song Jingyun know from the beginning that someone wanted to frame him? Maybe, he knew from the beginning that it was him?
Zhang Yaosheng's face went from red to pale as paper.
But after a moment, he became so angry that his face turned blue again.
Song Jingyun, you are so smart that you want to play with others? Such a person is really abominable and unforgivable! Such a person should be struck by lightning by God!
“Crack!”
In an instant, a bolt of lightning came down from the sky and headed straight towards Zhang Yaosheng.
Ah, I worked overtime in the afternoon, but in the evening I was told that something went wrong with the overtime work. I felt so depressed...
(End of this chapter)
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