Kunshan County Mansion.

In fact, Inspector Lin was reluctant to take the arson case file.

Because this is not a case like "Xu Lao Er attacks the gunner camp" which seems very serious but is actually not a big deal.

This is like burning the county's reserve warehouse! If you rashly intervene in such a major case, you might even have to pay for it yourself.

There's nothing wrong with helping the Xu family, but this is not the right way to help.

Lin Xunan glanced at the troublemaker with disdain. He had no choice, as these were people assigned to him by the Xu family, so he naturally sided with the Xu family.

He took the file unhurriedly and read through it quickly.

Not to mention, he actually discovered quite a few suspicious points.

For example, since Ku Ding was the informant, why didn't they arrest the criminal in advance to prevent the arson from happening? Instead, why did they wait until the criminal succeeded in arson before arresting him?

For another example, an arsonist was trapped in a warehouse and 16,000 dan of grain were burned, but not a single person was burned or suffocated to death?

Numerous doubts like these outline layers of mystery, making Inspector Lin feel like he has to transform himself into Di Gong, unravel the mystery, and restore the truth.

"Yuan Fang, what do you think?" Lin Xun'an asked his close follower.

Yuan Fangfang replied in a deep voice: "Sir, there are many doubts in this case. I am afraid that we cannot judge it based on the files alone. We should interrogate the prisoners and investigate the scene before making a final conclusion."

“Not bad.” Inspector Lin wanted to nod and gather his beard, but when he reached out his hand, he found nothing. Then he realized that he hadn’t grown a beard yet…

According to custom, men start growing a beard at the age of 28, so he will have to start growing a beard next year.

Inspector Lin clenched his fist to resolve the embarrassment, then picked up a pen to write a ticket and ordered the arsonists to be brought in for questioning.

~~

During the meal, the five main culprits were brought into the mansion.

The five men were so stinking that they almost made Inspector Lin faint. He quickly had them carried out, the wooden shackles removed, and they were rinsed clean before being brought into the hall for trial.

In the yard, as soon as the wooden yoke was put on, the five people reached their hands into their mouths at the same time and each took out a ball of hemp thread soaked in saliva.

This is to prevent them from speaking nonsense in public.

"Oh, I'm dying of suffocation..." Xu Yang's goatee was still stained with rotten eggs, and he said with tears in his eyes, "I never thought I would suffer such a great humiliation in my old age!"

"I will not be a human being if I don't avenge myself!" Zhang Dawu's big mole was already covered by the scar on his face.

“No, no, no,” Ma Dabing also stuttered, “If I don’t avenge this, I swear… I won’t be a human being!”

The inspector's attendants were all from the Xu family. They fetched them water, brought them cotton towels and clean clothes, and asked them to wash themselves before talking.

As a result, the five people washed with soap three times, but still couldn't wash off the bad smell on their bodies.

There was no other way, Inspector Lin could only have people burn incense in the flower hall to deceive himself.

In front of Xing Sili, he had to at least appear to be impartial.

After the five men knelt at the foot of the stairs, Inspector Lin slammed the table and shouted, "You bold lunatics, how dare you set fire to the reserve warehouse? Who gave you the courage?!"

"Your Excellency, allow me to report!" Xu Yang had dealt with Inspector Lin several times and knew that he was promoted by Xu Fan. During the year he came to Suzhou and Songjiang, he had deep ties with the Xu family.

You can tell at first glance that he is the reinforcement brought by the monkey... Oh no, the helper invited by the uncle.

Manager Xu had nothing to fear, so he started to lie with a tearful voice, "We are enthusiastic citizens. We were born and raised in Kunshan. How could we do such a cruel thing to the people of the entire county?"

"Then what will you say if you are caught in the act?" Inspector Lin asked sternly, "Is there some hidden secret behind this?!"

"Your Excellency is wise!" Manager Xu immediately answered excitedly, "It is true that we accidentally learned that more than half of the grain purchased by the county every day is counterfeit river sand! I didn't expect that the respected master would whitewash the situation and fool the people!"

Big Mole also understood and immediately said, "Then we can't help but ask, is it the loss of conscience or the decline of morality behind all this?"

"In fact, he is just seeking fame and reputation, deceiving the world and making a fool of the 300,000 people in the county!" Another arsonist, Zhou Wang, also shouted.

"No, no, no!" Ma Dabao stammered excitedly, "That's right!"

"That's why we risked our lives to explore the reserve warehouse at night," Xu Yang raised his hands high and said like a savior, "All I want is one word, the truth!"

"Yes, that's the truth!" Big Mole nodded vigorously.

"It smells really good." Ma Dabing nodded stutteringly.

"..." Lin Xunan listened to their serious words. He couldn't help but mutter in his heart, could it be that they really found some blind spot?

"Yuan Fang, what do you think?" Lin Xun'an asked in a low voice to his attendant beside him.

"Sir, there must be something fishy going on here." The attendant whispered, "We can't just listen to the confession, we should go to the scene and investigate first."

"Yes, that makes sense." Lin Xun nodded and said in a deep voice: "Prepare the sedan chair!"

~~

The bond room is outside the county government office.

Xu Wei was still drinking with Wu Cheng'en.

"Li Bai wrote hundreds of poems after drinking a lot of wine. All his inspirations came from the wine. Let's have a go." Xu Wei raised his glass and clinked it with Wu Chengen's. He said, "Do you know why you write slowly? It's because you don't drink enough."

"I can't imagine the abilities of you geniuses," Wu Cheng'en sighed, took a sip of wine and said, "Anyway, when I drink, my mind gets muddled. I can't even tell the difference between men and women, let alone writing a book."

"Oh?" Xu Wei showed a look of realization and pointed at Old Wu and said, "No wonder you called me your partner when you got drunk last time."

"Ah? I have it?" Wu Cheng'en was dumbfounded.

"I thought you finally came to your senses." Xu Wei laughed and said, "It's a pity that I'm only interested in women."

As the two were talking, a guard came in quickly and reported in a low voice: "The inspector went to the storage warehouse and said that he found a blind spot in the files of the arson case."

"What a boaster." Xu Wei spat, "I left him such a big loophole on purpose, and he even had the nerve to say he found a blind spot. Writer, I think he is even blinder than you."

"I'm not blind when I'm not drunk!" Wu Cheng'en glared at him, then couldn't help but worry: "Are you sure he won't find any big problems? If it's because of you, Meng Lang, that the boss is harmed, you have to apologize to the people of Kunshan, understand?"

"Don't worry." Xu Wei smiled and comforted him, "Even if you don't believe in my character, you should believe in my ability. With the doubts I deliberately left for him, he will only become more and more suspicious and won't be able to find solid evidence to overturn the case!"

"Can't he find evidence himself?" Wu Cheng'en sneered at first, then he looked at Xu Wei and said, "So you were thinking... this!"

"You finally figured it out. It seems you're not that stupid." Xu Wei raised his glass with a smile.

"Bad guy!" Wu Cheng'en smiled and clinked glasses with him.

ps. Third update, please give me a monthly ticket~~~