Chapter 1515 Taihe Academy
With Qin Wanyue around, Su Yan found it much easier to do things in the yamen.
Qin Wanyue first took her to find the most senior person in the yamen, Lin Shanfeng, who worked in the kitchen and was already in his sixties. However, he was alone and helpless, so County Magistrate Qin kept him in the yamen to do some light work so that he would not end up alone.
He is old and has a lot of experience. He has always stayed in the yamen. On weekdays, after working, he can drink tea and chat with others. He may know no less than the constable.
Qin Wanyue blocked Lin Shanfeng in the kitchen as he was going to empty the slop bucket. After waiting for a cup of tea, Su Yan finally jumped over the threshold and ran in, holding something in his hand.
Qin Wanyue complained: "You keep saying that human life is at stake, but you still have the time to go out on the street? And you bought something?!"
Su Yan just blinked at Qin Wanyue, then looked at Lin Shanfeng, smiled like spring breeze, and diligently brought him a stool, "Uncle Lin, please sit down."
Lin Shanfeng is old and has a head full of white hair due to worrying a lot. He looks at Qin Wanyue and Su Yan warily and asks, "What are you two girls doing?"
"Tell us about the past of Anping Town. I heard that a temple was built on the mountain behind the academy, and a fire broke out there. Did the fire kill a woman?" Qin Wanyue wanted to count on her fingers and list all the questions she wanted to ask.
Lin Shanfeng, however, held the broom in his arms alertly and refused to sit down. He leaned against the tree trunk and said, "Miss, please forgive me. I am an old man and cannot stand the torture. I have never heard of any fire or mountain temple."
Qin Wanyue didn't expect Lin Shanfeng to refuse to answer. She almost rushed over with her fists clenched. "Hey, don't talk nonsense. How could you not know?"
Su Yan stopped her, walked forward with a smile, and took out a brown jar from the cloth bag. Qin Wanyue recognized that it was a jar of wine.
Without waiting for Qin Wanyue to question him, Su Yan pulled out a ceramic bowl from his cloth bag like a magician. "Uncle Lin, you must be tired after a busy day. Have a drink first to relieve your fatigue. I just bought this at the wine shop. The shopkeeper said it was newly brewed using a new method and is very popular."
Qin Wanyue was furious, "He refused to cooperate, and you gave him wine?!"
"Uncle Lin is old, so maybe his memory is not good," Su Yan said with a smile, "I heard from the detectives that Uncle Lin is very knowledgeable about wine tasting."
Lin Shanfeng didn't want to do anything else but have a couple of sips. Su Yan filled a whole bowl, the aroma of wine filled the air, and Lin Shanfeng's gaze also remained on the wine.
Su Yan handed it over with a smile on his face, "Uncle Lin, we asked about the fire in the temple in order to find the murderer. You must have heard that the head of the academy, Cheng Hall, was also killed and his body has not been found yet. He was a kind person and did a lot of good deeds on weekdays, but now his body is in a disused place. There is nothing we can do for him. We can only try our best to find the murderer."
Qin Wanyue frowned and curled her lips, not understanding why Su Yan wanted to please Lin Shanfeng.
Two murders have already happened, and Lin Shanfeng is still trying to conceal it. She must talk to her father and punish the person who is obstructing the investigation!
Just as Qin Wanyue was angrily thinking about how to settle accounts with Lin Shanfeng, Lin Shanfeng had already started talking to Su Yan earnestly, "It's not that I don't want to talk about this matter, it's really... Alas, this matter is not allowed to be spread. When the incident just happened, several people who talked nonsense died in accidents within a few days. Some fell into the river, some met bad guys, and some even choked to death while eating! Who dares to say anything about this?"
Qin Wanyue was surprised and asked, "How could such a thing happen? Didn't you report it to the police?"
Lin Shanfeng's gaze was meaningful.
Su Yan knew that the person who did this was probably from the government office. If the government office intended to conceal it, the fire might have far-reaching consequences.
Su Yan advised: "It has been so many years since this happened. The officials at that time may no longer be here. Are you still worried?"
"This..." Lin Shanfeng glanced at Qin Wanyue and drank the big bowl of wine in one breath.
Su Yan continued, "We can also guarantee that we will never tell anyone else about our visit today. Think about it, if we don't catch the murderer, I'm afraid other people will be killed."
After Su Yan finished speaking, Lin Shanfeng remained silent.
He poured himself another bowl of wine and drank it by himself.
Qin Wanyue looked a little anxious.
Judging from Lin Shanfeng’s reaction, something big must have happened that year, and this matter was deliberately concealed. It might be related to the murder case.
Thinking of this, Qin Wanyue wanted to urge her, but Su Yan stopped her with a look.
Su Yan winked at Qin Wanyue, then looked carefully at Lin Shanfeng, and then looked at Qin Wanyue again.
Qin Wanyue: “…”
What kind of messed up code words?
Although she didn't understand, Qin Wanyue could see that Su Yan didn't want her to say too much, so she didn't say much.
She closed her mouth, but felt uncomfortable again - why on earth would she listen to the orders of a coroner? !
Lin Shanfeng drank for a long time before he raised his head as if he had made up his mind. "That was more than ten years ago. The county magistrate at that time was not County Magistrate Qin, nor was he the previous one... It should be County Magistrate Zheng. Yes, County Magistrate Zheng."
Su Yan asked: "Was there really a big fire? How many people were burned to death?"
Lin Shanfeng nodded, "The ones who were burned to death were a few children. They were all from Ciyou Village. Because of Master Cheng, they often ran to the back mountain. They were in the temple when the fire broke out. The children didn't escape and were all burned to death. Alas."
Qin Wanyue was horrified when she heard this. "So many children were burned to death? And they wanted to keep it a secret?"
"What if I don't hide it? If the higher-ups blame us, County Magistrate Zheng will also be punished."
Su Yan vaguely felt that the matter was not that simple. "The child in Ciyou Village has no parents and no one to rely on. Is it necessary to kill someone just to conceal this matter?"
And the person who knew about this must be someone in the yamen. In order to conceal this, they even killed the official?
Do they regard the lives of ordinary people as so important?
Qin Wanyue asked: "What do you mean? So many people were burned to death. This is a big deal."
Su Yan said thoughtfully: "I was wondering, were there really only a few children who were burned to death back then? Could it be that... a more powerful person died in the fire?"
Perhaps there were bigger implications, so the county magistrate at the time had to suppress the news at all costs.
Lin Shanfeng was surprised by this statement. "Are there other people who died? How could it be possible? Apart from those children, who would go to the temple? Only people from the academy often go to the back mountain."
"Yes," Su Yan repeated, "Few people go to the back mountain, so why is the temple built there?"
Lin Shanfeng said: "The temple was newly built, and it flooded not long after it was built. It's really strange. It must be because of bad feng shui."
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