Chapter 28 Taihe Academy
The county magistrate had already met with the county magistrate Qin and was placed in the Yin Hotel. Shi Yan Gui brought Su Yan and the other two to the second hall.
County Magistrate Qin had just sat down to drink a sip of tea when he saw Shi Yangui again. He jumped up in an instant, "General Shi, why are you…"
In front of County Magistrate Qin, Shi Yangui put away his smile and calmly raised his hand to signal County Magistrate Qin to sit down. "I was just strolling around and happened to run into them. They said they had new evidence. County Magistrate Qin, I have also heard about Cheng Wenshan's incident. Such a horrific murder happened in the place under your jurisdiction. You should give an explanation to the people as soon as possible."
Others did not know when Shi Yan returned, but County Magistrate Qin knew it very well.
Shi Yangui seems to be easy to get along with and talk to, but how can a man who has fought on the battlefield for many years and is accustomed to scenes of blood and flesh flying be a truly good person?
Compared with the county magistrate, County Magistrate Qin was more afraid of this ruthless general.
Shi Yangui's few words made County Magistrate Qin sweat profusely. He bowed repeatedly and said, "This case is strange and has been under investigation. I will give the general an explanation."
Before Shi Yangui could express his opinion, County Magistrate Qin heard Su Yan's voice first - "Shi Yangui said he would give an explanation to the people, but County Magistrate Qin only wanted to give an explanation to his superiors. His heart is not pure. I think he..."
In his haste, County Magistrate Qin forgot that this was just Su Yan's inner thoughts, and shouted, "No, you don't want to!"
The room was quiet, and everyone looked at County Magistrate Qin in confusion.
Especially Su Yan, her eyes were so sincere and her attitude was so earnest, as if County Magistrate Qin was her closest relative.
County Magistrate Qin: “…”
He coughed loudly a few times and laughed dryly, "What I mean is that this case must be solved! Xiao Su is here to look for Xiao Zhao, right? I just asked him to take care of some trivial matters, and he will be back soon."
Shi Yangui smiled faintly, "Captain Zhao has been in charge of this case. Does he need to take care of other trivial matters?"
County Magistrate Qin bent his waist in fear and said, "General Shi is right. We will handle this case exclusively."
Su Yan could see that County Magistrate Qin cared more about his official position than finding out the truth, so when the county governor and the general arrived, his mind was no longer on the case.
This also shows that these two people did not come for the case. If it weren’t for the case…
Su Yan always felt uneasy.
After Shi Yangui gave the order, County Magistrate Qin did not dare to delay any longer and immediately recalled Captain Zhao.
Su Yan handed the "blood letter" he found to Captain Zhao.
It only took a moment for Captain Zhao to go from being calm at first to being so angry that he could hardly control himself.
"This blood letter was left by Sister Chun? This is really too much! Cheng Wenshan opened this Charity House just to send the children to those dignitaries?! They are so young and they respect Cheng Wenshan like a father. What did they do wrong?!"
Sister Chun was originally illiterate, but because Cheng Wenshan gave every child the opportunity to study and also let students from the academy go to Ciyu Village for lessons, Sister Chun also learned a few words.
It's just that she didn't have time to practice calligraphy, so not only was her handwriting crooked, but there were also many mistakes.
The "blood letter" accused Cheng Wenshan of his demonic behavior.
Every child in Ciyou Village is his "stock" for exchange of benefits.
He would give the children to different people according to their preferences. They were all dignitaries, including businessmen who had made their fortunes through business and officials who passed by to inspect. Anyone Cheng Wenshan could contact would be given a child to show his sincerity.
Every year, there are children leaving Ciyu Village. In name, they are adopted, but in reality, they are given away and die.
There were also many children who died of illness. Cheng Wenshan would ask a doctor to see them, but he never let Chunjie and the others see the children for the last time. It was often only when they were about to be buried that Chunjie would go to change their clothes.
Sister Chun discovered this by accident. A child who had been "adopted" escaped and came back. She trusted Sister Chun and told her everything.
Su Yan said: "Judging from the contents of the blood letter, the bones dug out from the bottom of the pond are probably those of these children. Cheng Wenshan's secret room is extremely luxurious, and it is likely that various forces will be involved."
"No wonder after discovering the secret room, County Magistrate Qin hesitated and didn't want to investigate further. It turns out he was afraid of being implicated!" Captain Zhao said angrily, "Could it be that he knows the inside story?"
Su Yan didn't dare to make a conclusion.
Qin Wanyue flatly denied, "My father is not that kind of person. Although he is usually a little timid, he would never do such a heinous thing. I know him better than you! He is just worried about being implicated!"
Su Yan observed Yan Gui's reaction out of the corner of his eye.
If Cheng Wenshan and Yin Yuan had not colluded with the officials in the capital, why did Yun Xing and his men come here to take their lives? They would not have stolen the files in the secret room.
The murderer can be found and punished, but if they want to find out what happened behind Cheng Wenshan, the power of just a few of them is far from enough.
If Shi Yangui could support them, everything would be much simpler.
But will he?
Su Yan didn’t know.
Captain Zhao was not stupid enough to argue with Qin Wanyue. He just mumbled a few words to get the matter over with, and said, "Girl Su, the autopsy is still up to you. You stay in the academy for one more night. I will check the rest, including the files in the secret room. I will make sure I get everything clear."
Su Yan nodded.
Captain Zhao finally got himself free from the trivial matters and rushed to investigate. After giving the instructions, he left.
The bones at the bottom of the pool had not yet been moved to the morgue, and Su Yan wanted to return to the academy to continue the autopsy.
Shi Yangui stood up and walked over, with a hint of regret in his words, "It seems that you have to stay in the academy today."
Su Yan's eyebrows jumped, "I'm afraid I can't entertain the general today."
Why is it "also"? He had just arrived in Anping Town, how did he know that she had been staying in the academy for the past few days?
Su Yan observed Shi Yangui calmly.
If I cover half of this face...
Su Yan didn't dare to think any further. Shi Yangui was very easygoing, "I am somewhat interested in the case of the academy. Do you mind if I go to the academy with you?"
How could Su Yan have the courage to mind? She made a "please" gesture.
Chu Feng watched the two of them leave one after the other, his thick brows never relaxed.
Although his mind was not on matters between men and women, he could see that Shi Yangui's attitude towards Su Yan was different from that of others. He wondered if it was because of this "life-saving grace".
Chu Feng never thought that Su Yan could have a relationship with someone of such status.
Qin Wanyue didn't notice Chu Feng's little thoughts. She just stamped her feet and sighed, "I want to go to the academy, and I want to catch the murderer, but my father won't let me go. No matter how I argue with him, he won't allow me to go... Well, let's go to the restaurant to eat something. Anyway, we have nothing to do. I'll treat you today."
In the past, Qin Wanyue often took Chu Feng to the restaurant in the town.
The place Qin Wanyue chose has top-notch food and great prices.
Chu Feng didn't want to spend her money all the time, so he always lived frugally and saved some money to accompany her to places she wanted to go.
The waiter at the restaurant would always smile sarcastically when he saw the change Chu Feng had saved, but Chu Feng was neither humble nor arrogant and never got angry.
Qin Wanyue likes him just like this.
Chu Feng would not refuse her. After she finished speaking, she was about to leave, but Chu Feng did not follow her.
Qin Wanyue had no choice but to turn back and asked, "Are you still not leaving?"
"I... I still have some things to do in the academy," Chu Feng said after a brief hesitation, "I must go back to deal with them. Besides, there was a murder in the academy. It's not good for me to always wander around in the name of the county magistrate. I'll take you back to the mansion."
Qin Wanyue glanced in the direction where Su Yan and Shi Yangui left, and nodded half-believingly.
It rained during the day and the wind was particularly cold at night.
The academy was quiet, with only Cheng Wenshan's courtyard brightly lit.
Torches were inserted on the wall, and constables kept carrying out the sorted files. Regardless of whether the contents of the files would be investigated or not, they had to be sorted out first.
Before Su Yan had the time to see the skeleton, she picked up a few files in the yard to read. The contents were similar, all about officials who had colluded with Cheng Wenshan.
Cheng Wenshan's reach was very long, not just in Anping Town, but there was not a single official from the capital, except for Chen Ri who had been killed.
Su Yan muttered quietly, "Chen Ri was a minister from the capital. He was ordered to build a temple, but he lost his life because of a fire in the temple, and the matter was concealed..."
Shi Yangui suddenly spoke, "I remember this man. He was a eunuch. The files record that he disappeared on his way back to the capital from Anping Town. The court sent people to look for him, but a small-scale rebellion broke out in the northwest a few days later, and no one paid attention to him anymore. They just thought he was killed by bandits."
Shi Yangui had already followed Su Yan all the way.
He said he was interested in the case, but he ran to Cheng Wenshan's yard to look at the files with her.
Su Yan noticed that he read the files very quickly and had already flipped through all of them before he opened his mouth to speak.
Su Yan pretended not to know and followed his words, "If the fire in the temple was an accident, why did they conceal the news of Chen Ri's death?"
Shi Yangui stood up facing the moonlight and said with a faint smile: "Officialdom is corrupt, you have never been involved in it, so it is normal that you can't understand it for the time being."
Su Yan said: "From what the general said, it seems that he knows the twists and turns behind it?"
Shi Yan returned without making any comment.
He walked up to Su Yan with his hands behind his back and said, "You have read all the files. Are you still going to perform the autopsy today?"
Rather than performing an autopsy, Su Yan wanted to go into the secret room again.
The jumping flames flashed across Shi Yangui's face. There was always a faint smile on his handsome face, and his eyes were as bright as stars, as if he was trying his best to express his friendliness.
Whenever Su Yan saw him, he always felt upset.
That half of his face looked too much like Yun Xing, but Yun Xing was the one who stole the files. Su Yan would rather believe that it was just her illusion.
And the token...
Su Yan didn't dare to think about it too much. She smiled and replied to Shi Yangui, "I still want to go to the secret room to take a look. If several children were killed, there must be a place where they were killed. I suspect they were killed in the secret room."
After Su Yan finished speaking, he put down the file and prepared to go to the secret room, but was stopped by Shi Yangui.
There was no one around, only the interweaving moonlight and firelight were the most dazzling.
The strange smile on Shi Yangui's face faded a little. He took a step closer to Su Yan and whispered, "I was the one who implicated the Su family back then. I didn't expect you to be alive. If I knew you could survive, I would definitely go find you."
Su Yan was used to concealing his true thoughts. Even if he was dissatisfied, he could still make up some nonsense.
But when it came to matters concerning her parents, she just couldn't make jokes like she used to.
Su Yan said with a cold face, "You were the one who rescued me that day, and now you say you don't know if I can survive? If you want to fool me, you should find some good excuses."
Shi Yangui's eyes darkened, and after a moment he said, "I went to ask around, and three bodies were found in the Su family. I thought they were you three."
That makes sense.
Just like when Su Yan saw the three bodies, he thought one of them was Shi Yangui.
After the tragedy, the county government believed that it was the work of bandits and was not serious about catching the murderer. The autopsy was also perfunctory. They even did not allow Su Yan to see his parents for the last time.
If he didn't investigate carefully, Shi Yangui might not be able to find out the truth.
Su Yan asked: "Do you know the identities of those people?"
Shi Yan Gui said, "It was the Hu people. I had just experienced a fierce battle and the soldiers all thought I was dead. The Hu people were worried and sent a group of people to investigate my whereabouts. It was me who implicated Brother Su. I am sorry for you."
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