บท 3: Sorcery
บรรณาธิการ: Atlas Studios
Chu Nanzhi watched as Madam Chen left helplessly. She was the only one left in the empty hall, so she was not worried as she put the bundle back on the table. Just as she picked up the porridge, she heard a little girl's whispers coming from the room.
"Father, why don't they fight? That would be more interesting."
Chu Nanzhi shook her head helplessly.
Like mother, like daughter.
She was not afraid of the hatred of others, but she hoped that the ones who hated her to the core were criminals.
What that thought, Chu Nanzhi picked up the bowl of porridge again and continued to drink slowly. She started to recall some details about the case of Lin Jinxiao's missing taxes.
Over the past few days, although Lin Jinxiao could not go out, the few colleagues who had been conveying the taxes with him came almost daily to report on the situation. From their conversation, the Host had gained a rough understanding of the case.
This task to deliver the taxes to the prefecture office should have fallen on the county's officials. However, the day before the trip, the county magistrate had suddenly fallen ill and could not get out of bed, so he sent a messenger to beg Lin Jinxiao to take on the task and promised to find Lin Jinxiao a new job in the county office in return.
When they set off, Lin Jinxiao and his colleagues had carefully checked the gold before sealing the box. They did not expect to encounter robbers after they had traveled a few dozen miles. After fighting for awhile, they looked again and saw that the gold bars had turned into white stones.
They had hurriedly run back to the county office to report. The county magistrate believed that they had embezzled the tax money and wanted to condemn them immediately. The county lieutenant and the local gentry had come forward to plead for mercy and stand as their guarantors. For the sake of Father Lin, who had died in the line of duty and had performed a huge service to the country, the county magistrate gave them a few days of grace.
However, they still sent people from the surrounding villages to monitor their every move.
After thinking through all these carefully, Chu Nanzhi still had no clue.
However, she had been a top student in the police academy and a police officer for many years. She had encountered all kinds of difficult cases. She could tolerate such pressure.
Perhaps if she studied the case carefully, she might be able to recover the taxes and redeem herself.
With that hope, she looked at the inner rooms and shouted hesitantly, "Hey, Brother Lin…"
To her surprise, just as she finished speaking, a furious scolding came from the room. "Get lost, get lost quickly. Don't bother us anymore. Whether our family lives or dies has nothing to do with you."
Damn it, he had learned quickly.
Chu Nanzhi was a little angry. She really wanted to barge in and feed him a bowl of medicine.
However, she could not bear to think that such a handsome man was about to die.
It was more important to continue thinking about the case.
Based on Lin Jinxiao's conversations with his colleagues, the gold had never left their sight.
Even during the fight with the robbers, someone had kept a close eye on the wagon carrying the gold and the robbers had not taken it.
If that was the case, how had the gold inexplicably turned into stone before their eyes?
It was unbelievable.
Many people in the county office believed that the pirates could perform sorcery and turn gold into stone in an instant. Chu Nanzhi disagreed.
20,000 taels of gold was a total of 2,000 catties. Even the magicians from her world did not have this ability.
She would have to study the case more carefully.
After finishing the porridge, she placed the bowl and chopsticks back in the kitchen and went straight out.
It was pitch-black outside, and the faint light from the house only illuminated a small patch of her surroundings.
That ray of light allowed Chu Nanzhi to vaguely see a courtyard door surrounded by wooden railings.
She walked towards the courtyard door. Just as she opened the door, a dark face immediately appeared in front of her.
When that person saw her, he roared, "Evil woman, are you trying to escape again? Truly, the leopard cannot change its spots!"
However, his tone changed and he said helplessly,
"Forget it, forget it. Brother Li said you could go. For Brother Jinxiao's sake, Brother Li and I are willing to suffer a beating for this. However, I have to warn you that if you really escape, the four children inside will not simply be banished. Aren't you afraid of being despised for the rest of your life?"
Chu Nanzhi smiled blandly. "I'm not running away."
It seemed that Lin Jinxiao had already known the consequences of her escape. He probably did not want to see the four children suffering alone in the world.
However, she did not want to escape. She argued with the person standing in the darkness.
"Since you're willing to take a beating for Brother Lin, you must be a good friend of his. You definitely don't want to see him die. If I tell you that there's a way to save him, would you be willing to help?"
"You?"
The man in the darkness immediately laughed mockingly.
"Madam Chu, has hitting your head on a rock made you stupid? So many men could not find a single clue. What can you do?"
"Do you really believe that the pirates can do sorcery?"
Chu Nanzhi asked firmly.
That person was also stunned. The air instantly froze.
After a long time, that person suddenly asked, "Madam Chu, what do you want me to do?"
"Help me summon the two parties involved in transporting the taxes. I want to know more about the situation."
Chu Nanzhi replied.
In any case, these people all felt that the Host was unreasonable. It did not matter even if she could not come to any conclusions. At most, she would be despised again.
She would experience plenty of that if she was really sold to a brothel.
The person thought that this family would die at dawn. For the sake of his friendship with Lin Jinxiao, he had no choice but to agree.
"As long as you don't try to escape, it's quite easy to accomplish."
After saying that, he waved at the darkness. After some whispering, Chu Nanzhi heard footsteps walking over rapidly.
She thanked him and returned to the hall.
She took advantage of the break to size up her body. She was dirty and disheveled.
She subconsciously glanced at the room. She was afraid that they were all asleep, so she asked tentatively, "Brother Lin, help me get a clean set of clothes. I… It's not convenient for me to go in."
She remembered that the Host would not speak to him so politely.
However, she felt it would be awkward to speak so sharply for no reason.
The room was silent for a while. When Chu Nanzhi glanced in that direction again, she saw that a pile of colorful clothes had been flung out.
Chu Nanzhi caught two of them. Thinking of his pitiful half-paralyzed appearance, she did not want to waste her breath on him. She picked up the clothes and went to a small hut.
She changed into clean clothes and found some medicine to clean and bandage her wound. She looked at the person in the mirror. Although she was not devastatingly beautiful, she was very satisfied with her figure.
She went back to sit in the hall. After a moment, he saw the secret sentry who had been standing guard outside the courtyard lead two men in.
The two of them looked fixedly at the inner room, their expressions displeased.
Chu Nanzhi smiled. "Brother Lin is asleep. You don't have to worry about him. Please take a seat."
The two of them sat down hesitantly. One of them clearly did not want to have anything to do her. He frowned and said sullenly, "What else is there to ask? Who else could have taken the taxes money but those Dongsang men with their sorcery?"
A sharp glint flashed across Chu Nanzhi's eyes. "You've seen sorcery before?"
The man paused and shook his head blankly.
At this moment, the curtain in the inner room was lifted, revealing a young head. "Father asked me to ask you what's the matter with you now?"
Chu Nanzhi turned around to take a look and saw a pair of round eyes staring at her bitterly.
The moment their eyes met, the child was so frightened that he immediately retracted his head.
Chu Nanzhi raised her voice and shouted towards the room, "Solving the case!"
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