Since they've already made a plan, why not turn the tables on them?
Xu Yuehuai followed the group to the backyard. The guy repeatedly checked the wall before finally reaching the corner and starting to pluck leaves from the ground.
Xu Yuehuai smiled sinisterly upon seeing this.
Let's see what kind of trouble you can cause.
The man rummaged around for a while, clearing away the dead branches and leaves. At this moment, Xu Yuehuai also felt curious and couldn't help but move closer to take a look, but as she looked, the hairs on her back started to stand up.
They had been doing business here for more than five months and were unaware that there was a sealed-off dry well.
Zhou Wan had previously mentioned a foul smell in the area, and everyone had searched for it, only to find a dead dog. Now it seems there really is a secret here.
Xu Yuehuai turned around and looked at Third Sister for her opinion.
The expression on San Niang's face was almost identical to hers.
Judging from Third Sister's expression, she probably knew nothing about it either.
Chun San Niang hurriedly approached her, "There's a well here that I had no idea about. A Yue, I bought this inn at a low price before you came. I was too lazy to renovate it, so everything is as it is. I didn't know there was a dry well here."
At this point, the man had already cleaned up the leaves and other debris from the well opening, and a foul stench that was hard to conceal immediately wafted out. Everyone gasped and hurriedly retreated.
“Master,” the dog-like man stood up, bowing, and pointed inside, “Master, alright, you can send someone down to take a look. They’ve killed quite a few people in the last six months.”
Is it really true?
The stench permeated the entire courtyard.
Xu Yuehuai felt strange, but after pondering it repeatedly, he still couldn't figure out what was inside. If there really was a corpse down there, or if the previous shop owner had been making a murder and robbery deal here, then now that the person had disappeared, they had been framed and caught red-handed.
In the future, let alone guarding the door and welcoming guests, it's not impossible for people to roll their heads.
She quickly looked for a breakthrough and a starting point.
Lord Ming sneered and gestured towards the two guards beside him.
The two guards couldn't wait any longer. They tied their waists with ropes and slid inside. The cave was slippery from the rain, and the depth below was unfathomable. The two guards remained silent for a long time after entering.
Lord Ming stroked his beard, his icy eyes fixed on the three of them.
Xu Yuehuai felt uneasy under his gaze. "Why are you looking at me like that, sir? I haven't done anything wrong. Even if there are corpses down there, it has nothing to do with us."
"Whether it's related or not, the county's eyes are sharp as lightning. We will investigate and ensure the deceased is laid to rest, and bring the thieves to justice and punish them according to the law."
"Whatever." Xu Yuehuai shrugged.
Soon the rope below swayed, signaling the people above to pull hard.
The rope quickly became taut.
Before long, a man emerged from inside, panting, with a skeleton on his back.
The flesh on the skeleton had long since decayed, but the stark white bones were disgusting to look at. The man threw the skull in front of everyone, and a stench hit them. The timid waiter was so frightened that he retreated one after another.
Xu Yuehuai, however, suppressed his nausea and fear and continued walking forward.
This is a serious matter. If the details aren't clarified, the blame will fall on them. Xu Yuehuai and the other two approached, and she quickly discovered that the corpse's bones were bluish-purple.
The bluish-purple color indicated that the person most likely died from poisoning. Upon further observation, it was discovered that the bones in the person's wrist were broken, seemingly severed during the fight.
At that moment, someone shouted again from below the cave.
The second person who went down the well came up as well, and he also brought up a corpse.
Lord Ming, his brows furrowed in anger, pointed at the corpse and said, "Still saying it has nothing to do with you? Today, this county magistrate has arrived and caught you red-handed. Xu Yuehuai, Zhou Wan, Chun San Niang, how many heinous things have you done?"
“This was not done by us, sir. I only arrived here half a year ago and had no idea about this matter.”
Third Sister was a little scared. Rather than saying she was afraid of the fierce old man, it would be more accurate to say that Third Sister was afraid of the corpse.
“When it’s hot, I often smell a faint stench. I didn’t investigate carefully, so how would I know there was a corpse down there? Sir, you can’t make a mistake. I’m an honest businessman, I haven’t killed anyone.”
"No one was killed? How do you explain that? In my opinion, this is all the work of you wretched women. Let's wait and see if there are any more clues."
Immediately afterwards, three more skeletons were unearthed below.
In this way, even if Xu Yuehuai and his group tried to divert the Yellow River, it would be to no avail.
Everyone looked at the skeletons on the ground.
The skeleton was completely exposed, and the flesh on the body had long since decomposed. In other words, it would have taken at least six months for the body to decompose to this state.
However, both Xu Yuehuai and Chun San Niang had only taken over the shop six months prior.
This has nothing to do with them, of course.
"Take them down, throw them in jail, and use severe torture. We won't have to worry about them not confessing. The commotion at Tianxiang Tower is naturally related to Xiao Er and his gang. Come on!"
Lord Ming, completely disregarding right and wrong, roared furiously.
Several burly men appeared from behind, and they approached Xu Yuehuai and his companions to capture them.
Xu Yuehuai roared, "Sir, you pride yourself on your keen observation, but is it really us who did this? Where is your evidence? We've only been here a short time, and the body is already in such a state of decomposition! I beg you to investigate this thoroughly!"
"Take them down. Stop spouting nonsense. Take them all down."
Suddenly, a brocade dagger landed on Xu Yuehuai's neck.
As a result, Xu Yuehuai dared not speak.
However, it was Li Feng's subordinate, the man who reported Xu Yuehuai, who approached her and whispered in her ear, "Our master gave you money. Five hundred taels to send you on your way is not a loss at all."
"you!"
Enraged, Third Sister spat a mouthful of phlegm onto the man's face.
The man didn't seem disgusted; he wiped himself and continued laughing.
The corrupt official didn't care about anything else and immediately ordered them to be taken away for investigation, leaving Xu Yuehuai and the others speechless.
“Sir,” Xu Yuehuai continued to argue, “I demand that a coroner be called in to investigate. We didn’t kill him.”
Seeing Xu Yuehuai explaining, San Niang immediately stepped forward as well, "We business people have records that can be investigated. I have ledgers that show how many vegetables were sold in a day and how many people stayed at the inn. You must take a look at this, sir."
"This county," Lord Ming said aggressively, "will naturally investigate. This county acts with reason and evidence; do I need your guidance?"
Seeing that things were going badly, Zhou Wan wished she could take all the blame upon herself.
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