In the courtroom, the bailiffs brought in about ten prisoners one after another. Some people recognized these people at a glance.
"Is this someone from Longjiazhuang? He looks a bit like it."
"Exactly. I've seen them go to the Long family before, but I heard they haven't done anything wrong. Why are they pretending to be ghosts to scare people this time?"
"Who knows? Stop talking and listen to what the magistrate has to say. It's been so many years since we've seen a court session."
"Who are you in the hall? State your names one by one."
"Your Excellency, I am Long Dazhuang, I am Long Datou, I am Long Daben."
After a night of interrogation, those kneeling below dared not hesitate any longer and gave their names one by one.
"You have been in the Long family mansion for more than half a month. What exactly is going on, and why are you pretending to be a vengeful ghost to scare people?"
In fact, Fu Changfeng had already investigated these matters thoroughly last night, but since it was a court hearing, the onlookers naturally needed to know the reason.
"Your Excellency, we were also blinded by greed. It was Long Datou who said that when he came to the Long family before, he accidentally overheard Master Long saying that they had hidden treasures in their home."
The Long family has suffered a terrible misfortune this time; everyone is gone. We were planning to come and see if it was really true.
However, they were worried about being discovered, and even if they found it, they wouldn't be able to move it. That's why they came up with the idea of pretending to be a wronged ghost crying out. If anyone heard the noise, they wouldn't dare to come out.
Who would have thought that we'd just found the location of the Long family's treasure when you, sir, discovered it too!
Long Dazhuang explained everything clearly and answered everyone's questions.
"I knew it! The Long family is really rich. No wonder these people have been tempted to steal from them, and my family hasn't been able to sleep well these past few days."
"Now that they mention it, I do remember. I think I did hear digging sounds coming from the Long family's courtyard last night. So that's what they were doing, digging something."
"We'd like to see just how much treasure the Long family has hidden away."
The onlookers were also intrigued and wanted to continue watching.
"How did you manage to do that? Those people said there were wronged spirits flying in the sky?"
"Reporting to Your Excellency, it was a method that Long Datou discovered before. All you need to do is use a long pole, tie a rope to the pole, tie a person to the rope, and someone below can pull the other end of the rope to make that person fly in the air."
We used this method to create the illusion of people flying in the air.
"Bring up what they made."
Two constables brought up what they had made, and after having it tested, the onlookers finally understood.
Some people initially thought it was a story about the county magistrate deliberately sending someone to exorcise a wronged spirit, but now they all believe it.
“Bring up the treasure they found.”
Soon, all the large boxes were carried up, and everyone craned their necks to see what was going on.
When the constables opened it, they all exclaimed in surprise.
"This whole chest is full of silver! The Long family really has multiple burrows. I wonder what other treasures they have in store."
"Look, why is there so much rag in there?"
Everyone's eyes immediately shifted away, and they all stared at the box.
"These are all fabrics that the Long family bought in the past. Judging from the evidence, they are all Shu embroidery and Suzhou embroidery. However, they have been buried underground for a long time and there are no bees. Now only these rags are left."
"Sir, there are remains in this box!"
"Wow, how many people are there? The Long family is really too evil. They not only killed people, but also put them in boxes like this. It's too cruel."
In the end, all the boxes were opened. Apart from one box containing about two thousand taels of silver and another containing about three thousand taels of jewelry, the rest contained either corpses or rotten cloth.
“These bodies still need to be claimed. We need to search the whole county to find out who else is missing. Right now, we can only identify them by the clothes they are wearing.”
"Long Dazhuang and his accomplices stole property that already belonged to the county government, and then pretended to be vengeful spirits to scare people. Fortunately, no one was killed. You are all sentenced to twenty strokes of the cane each and imprisoned for one year. Do you have any objections?"
"Thank you, sir. Thank you, sir."
Hearing this, the men were saddened, but thankfully they hadn't lost their lives, and they all signed the document.
After the court session ended, the news spread far and wide among the onlookers, and even people outside the city heard about it.
In the afternoon, the county government posted a notice inviting people to come and identify the relatives, and the matter was thus concluded.
Fu Changfeng returned to the backyard and saw Xichun dozing in the house.
"You're back? I didn't hear you."
"It's alright. Go lie down on the bed quickly. Be careful not to catch a cold. You're carrying a lot of weight now, so you can't afford to get chilled."
Fu Changfeng stepped forward to support her. Because of Xichun's emotional changes, Fu Changfeng had someone call a doctor and found out that Xichun was pregnant.
"It's okay. Fortunately, this baby is well-behaved and doesn't have much morning sickness. He just keeps dozing off."
By the way, is court over? What do you mean?
"Just as you guessed, my wife, those people used a pole and a rope to create the illusion of someone flying in the sky."
They've all admitted it, and everything's been dug out; it's all over now.
Knowing that Xichun was pregnant, Fu Changfeng did not mention the corpse in the box.
"In those few days, it's fine as long as we catch them. Otherwise, it's not good for these people to act like gods and demons and cause panic among the people."
"Okay, just focus on your pregnancy. I'll take care of everything else, so don't worry too much."
Winters in Shaoming County are really cold. My parents said they'll bring the children to visit next spring, but they're worried they might catch a cold on the way.
"Alright, once we've cleared out all the rooms, we can let Mom and Dad stay for a few more days. You've been so busy these past few days."
"It's alright. It's good to be able to do more practical things. Brother Zeng wrote to me the day before yesterday, asking about the situation here. He also has some tricky things to deal with. It's not easy to do anything anywhere!"
"That makes sense. Being an official is much harder than being a businessman. When you're in business, you only have to consider whether you can make money, but when you're an official, you also have to consider the difficulties of the people in your area."
By the way, I've been reading a lot these days, and I've noticed that Shaoming County gets heavy snow every winter.
Some families lived in thatched huts, which were easily collapsed by the weight of snow, resulting in many deaths.
These are matters of life and death and affect political performance; you should take a closer look.
"With my wife here, it really saves me a lot of trouble. Don't worry, there shouldn't be much to do next. I'll have people patrol more often and have the village chief check on the houses of everyone in the village. If there are any in trouble, I'll have the villagers lend a hand. We'll save whoever we can."
The two discussed and went over all the things that needed to be done in Shaoming County recently. Xichun then yawned repeatedly, and Fu Changfeng quickly told her to lie down on the bed and rest.
Fu Changfeng hadn't rested since last night, and he was very sleepy at the moment, so he fell asleep immediately.
In his dream, Fu Changfeng saw that Xichun had given birth to a daughter, and he couldn't suppress the smile on his face.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
