A piece of Japanese incense

My cousin walked into the crowd and his figure gradually became blurred. I wanted to ask about the progress of the Huang family case, so I hurriedly followed him.

"Uncle! Uncle!" I called him repeatedly, but Pei Du stopped me.

He held a long sword in his hand, crossed his arms over his chest, looked down at me with a cold gaze, and said sharply: "Miss Zhi, please go back!"

My breathing stagnated and I stood still, staring at his departing back, lost in thought.

"Ah He! I didn't keep an eye on you for a while and you ran away." Yu Nian put his hand on my shoulder and pulled me to the side. Yu Tuan and Yu Yi also followed after me, panting.

"I just saw my uncle, and I don't know how the interrogation went."

"He's so cool. He just rode in a carriage and passed by the government office!" Yu Tuan said unhappily.

"What? Haven't been caught yet?"

A fruit vendor nearby interrupted, "Are you talking about the murder of the four members of the Huang family that was personally tried by the top scholar yesterday?"

"Yeah, brother, do you know what's going on?" Yutuan took out a few copper coins and stuffed them into his hands, then took a small bag of plums from his cart and shared them with us for us to taste.

"Hmph! I've been setting up a stall here for four or five years. I know all kinds of cases." The young man had a faint, confident smile on his face.

"Then tell us quickly what happened yesterday!" Yu Tuan asked excitedly.

"The case of the Huang family, where four of the five people died and one is missing, has long been a hot topic. About two or three months ago, someone submitted a petition and beat the drum to appeal for justice. Lord Xin accepted the petition and promised to investigate it thoroughly. I thought the matter was over, but who would have thought that the first time the newly crowned number one scholar pleaded for the people, he would handle this case! And it even involved the son of the Minister of War. Hey! Guess what!"

Yu Tuan waved his hands impatiently, threw him another ounce of silver, and urged him to continue.

The young man licked his lips, put the silver into his waist pocket, laughed, placed a few small stools for us, and then continued:

"The eldest son of the Bai family, Bai Xun, was summoned to the court. The bully looked arrogant and didn't take our number one scholar seriously at all. He had a bulging belly, his legs spread apart, his hands on his chest, his mouth corners raised, and his eyes rolled up, as if he was not here to be tried, but to show off his power."

"The number one scholar suppressed his anger, slammed the gavel, and asked in a stern voice: 'You bold lunatic, I am an editor of the Hanlin Academy appointed by the emperor himself. Why don't you kneel down when you see me!'" The young man imitated the exaggerated movements and described the situation vividly, which made us all laugh.

"The bully curled his lips and said disdainfully: 'Why should I kneel to you! Why don't you ask who I am? My father is the Minister of the Ministry of War, in charge of the selection of military officers, the assembly of troops, military equipment and military orders across the country. Just because you are a small number one in the liberal arts, you dare to act so rudely in front of me?'"

"At this time, the champion asked: 'I don't care who you are in the court. Even if a prince breaks the law, he is guilty of the same crime as the common people. Now the villagers are suing you, and I have found that the death of the four members of the Huang family is closely related to you. Do you plead guilty?'"

"I didn't expect that the bully replied calmly: 'Four members of the Huang family died? I know nothing about it. It has nothing to do with me!'"

"Zhuang Yuanlang slammed the gavel again and shouted angrily: 'Now that there are witnesses and evidence, you still don't plead guilty!' As soon as he finished speaking, someone came up with the case file, along with a few elderly villagers."

"One of the elders said that he had personally witnessed a bully going to the Huang family to propose marriage; an old woman recalled that she had seen someone from the Huang family during the Lantern Festival; and another old woman who claimed to be a matchmaker confirmed that she had indeed gone to the Huang family to propose marriage."

"The bully was still stubborn and retorted, 'I did fall in love with his young lady! But I didn't steal or rob her. I just brought generous gifts to propose marriage, but the old scholar was stubborn and kicked me out. I am broad-minded and don't bother with them. I did go to the Huang family on the Lantern Festival, but the old man wouldn't let me see his granddaughter and hid her. So I gave up the idea and went to the brothel to have fun! You can go to Qianyanfang to verify it. I asked seven girls to accompany me, hahahaha~'"

"The audience frowned and turned their heads away, unwilling to hear such foul language. However, the champion remained calm and refuted the statement loudly: 'What nonsense! This ring was found in the firewood room in the backyard of the Huang family. It was you who bought it at the 'Jinshizhai' for 110 taels last February. Here is the receipt from the owner, and you still dare to quibble!'"

"The bully smiled disdainfully: 'I was wondering where my ring went, and it turned out to be stolen by the Huang family! Well, the person is dead, so I won't bother with them.'"

"The champion was furious: 'On the night of the Lantern Festival, you arrived at Qianyanfang around the hour of Xu, and you were at Huang's house around the hour of You, when the lion dance team was parading to Qili Street. The two places are only a quarter of an hour apart. You must tell me honestly what you did during that hour.'"

"The bully softened his attitude, but still said lightly: 'I did spend quite a while at the Huang family that day. The old man hid his granddaughter, so I sent people to look for her. The four of them tried to stop us many times, and it took a long time to find Xiao Zhuer from the woodshed.'"

"The top scholar then said sternly: 'The autopsy report shows that all the deceased had signs of being tied up. A young woman was strangled to death with a hemp rope, and the other three were stabbed to death and bled to death. Is it because you were not able to win your love, so you were so angry that you ordered your men to tie up and kill the four members of the Huang family, took away the only survivor, Xiao Zhu, and fled the scene!'"

"The bully hastily defended himself: 'Sir! Please don't talk nonsense. I did tie them up, and we did have some quarrels. But I think that a forced melon is not sweet. We don't want to spoil the fun of the Lantern Festival, so we left. You also said that there was a lion dance performance that day, so the carriage was moving slowly.'"

"Seeing that the champion wanted to say something, the bully immediately continued: 'Sir, tell me, is it possible that the little girl Xiaozhu admired me and stole my jade ring to relieve her lovesickness. After I left that day, she hated my family for preventing us from staying together. In anger, she killed her whole family and ran away~'"

"At this time, Lord Xin, who had been silent, spoke up: 'Mr. Bai's words make sense. The Huang family locked the door because Mr. Huang couldn't bear to see his granddaughter's murder exposed. So, even if he had to fight to the last breath, he and his son would close the door to prevent anyone from finding out! This also explains why the two of them fell to the ground at the gate. I think the most urgent thing is to search the whole city for Huang Shuzhu's whereabouts. Once she is found, the truth will come to light.'"