The journey of the only child of a peasant family to take the imperial examination

Zhang Ping'an and County Magistrate Lu received their brother-in-law very politely.

Six hundred thousand taels is not a small amount, and the brother-in-law was also very cautious. He was accompanied by a group of soldiers from the Qian family, all of whom were dressed in uniform, equipped with long swords and bows and arrows, and looked quite powerful.

The crowd didn't even have food. After counting the number and making sure it was correct, they rode back to Lin'an.

It really comes in a hurry and goes in a hurry.

Guo Jia sat down to rest, watching this behavior coldly, with a flash of disdain and contempt in his eyes.

Zhang Pingan happened to notice it, his heart skipped a beat, and he pinched his fingers, wondering if it was...

After thinking it over again and again, Zhang Pingan suppressed his thoughts and pretended not to know.

Let Green Bean Eyes take Guo Jia downstairs to eat and rest.

He took Hua Wanli with him and sat in the hall to watch Magistrate Lu's interrogation.

The trial could have been held tomorrow, but County Magistrate Lu couldn't wait any longer.

With the official document from the Ministry of Justice, County Magistrate Lu was now fully confident.

More than 600 people were interrogated together, and there was almost no room in the county government hall. Many gentry were standing at the door watching.

After only two days and two nights, everyone in the Yu family looked haggard and covered in blood. It was obvious that they had been beaten up many times in prison.

Yu Xiancheng had been a local tyrant for so many years and had some intelligence. When he saw that he was re-interrogated so quickly, he immediately realized that there was no hope for him to turn things around.

Holding on to his last breath, he cursed loudly in the hall: "Lu Guangzong, you old bastard, you have been pretending to be a pig and eating the tiger for so many years, right? I really wronged you. Don't you think about when you first came to Ci County and were beaten to a pulp by me? If I hadn't been kind enough to let you go, you would still be sitting here today. Bah! I tell you, even if I become a ghost, I will not let you go!"

After saying this, he looked like a madman and shouted, "A traitor pretending to be loyal, a traitor pretending to be loyal, what a black-hearted and rotten-lung thing!"

Upon hearing this, County Magistrate Lu's face flushed red, his hands shaking with anger. He pointed at County Magistrate Yu and said, "Shut his mouth! Shut it! He's still spewing filth. He's on the verge of death, and he still doesn't realize it. How dare you blame me!"

The bailiff walked over swiftly and covered County Magistrate Yu's mouth.

Everyone knew it tacitly that the interrogation was just a formality.

In less than half an hour, he was sentenced to be executed at 3:30 p.m. the next day.

If it weren't for the taboo against ghosts and gods, Zhang Ping'an believed that County Magistrate Lu would have wanted to drag these people out to Caishikou and behead them immediately.

Why must beheading be done at 12:30 noon? Mainly because the ancients believed that this time was when the yang energy was at its peak in the day.

Choosing to behead at this time can prevent the prisoner's ghost from causing trouble and ensure that the people involved in the execution will not be entangled by the ghost, thus achieving a balance between yin and yang.

County Magistrate Lu was born in Lingnan, where there was a lot of miasma and many people in the village knew how to use Gu. He believed in the theory of Yin and Yang without a doubt.

At noon the next day, County Magistrate Lu was supervising the execution at Caishikou. Crowds of people gathered to watch. Zhang Ping'an had never seen so many people gathered at once during the time he had been in Ci County.

Although Zhang Ping'an had killed people before and experienced many deaths, this was also the first time he saw a beheading in broad daylight.

Especially when more than 600 people rushed down like chopping melons, the scene was really shocking!

The onlookers were noisy at first, but later, thousands of people gathered together and became silent. You can see how great the deterrent was!

It seemed that County Magistrate Lu was also shocked. His mentality was not as strong as he imagined.

Zhang Ping'an saw that during the beheading process, he asked Master Lu to make him a lot of calming tea, and he was muttering that he would go to the temple to burn incense tomorrow, bathe in the Buddha's light, and drive away evil spirits!

Speaking of temples, Zhang Ping'an touched the amulet on his neck. He didn't know what material it was made of. He had worn it for more than ten years, and apart from some fading, it was not damaged at all.

Regardless of whether it is useful or not, he has developed an attachment to it after wearing it for so many years.

The execution was not over until after midnight.

As soon as the meeting was over, County Magistrate Lu couldn't wait to return to the county government office.

On the second day, the two began the formal handover.

County Magistrate Lu did not hide the fact that there were indeed deficits in the granaries and treasuries, but it had nothing to do with him. It was all handled by County Magistrate Yu alone, and also involved the clerks under him.

Now that County Magistrate Yu is dead, naturally everything is blamed on him, after all, there is no evidence when he is dead.

Zhang Ping'an knew that there was some water in these words, but he did not delve into it. After all, under the nose of Yu County Magistrate, even if Lu County Magistrate made some small moves, they could not be too exaggerated.

And to be honest, County Magistrate Lu did make some achievements in Ci County in the past few years. Some things are judged by deeds rather than intentions. Whether good or bad, as long as he can benefit the people, he is a good official.

Besides, County Magistrate Lu is buried up to his waist in the earth and is about to step down, so it’s better to turn a blind eye.

The handover went exceptionally smoothly.

Within two days, County Magistrate Lu said goodbye and left with his family, legal advisor and servants, preparing to return to his hometown in Lingnan.

"Sir Zhang, we will not meet again after today. Take care!" Magistrate Lu bowed.

"Take care, Lord Lu. The world is not peaceful right now, so you must be extremely careful on the road," said Zhang Ping'an.

"Thank you, Master Zhang, for reminding me. I understand. After all, I've lived for most of my life." Magistrate Lu stroked his beard and smiled. "I'm lucky, after all. I'm grateful that Master Zhang was sent here this time. Otherwise, I might have to return home with nothing. It's fate!"

After saying this, he bowed one last time and said, "Goodbye!"

Zhang Ping'an stood there for a long time, watching the receding figures of Magistrate Lu and his entourage.

No matter what, County Magistrate Lu had a good end in officialdom, but what about him?

Shaking his head, Zhang Ping'an returned to the back court.

After County Magistrate Lu left, he should have moved to the back court with his family and servants.

After Yu's family was beheaded, Guo Jia took his men back to Lin'an.

Green Bean Eyes and Hua Wanli will have to stay and help Zhang Pingan for a while.

He divided the silver among the three of them. All three of them were smart people, so they took the silver notes without any nonsense.

Although the tactic of killing a chicken to scare the monkey is cliché, it is indeed very effective. At present, all the gentry in the county and the officials in the county government have tightened their necks and behaved themselves.

Zhang Ping'an's official duties went smoothly.

As soon as he sat down in the back court, Zhang Ping'an received a letter sent from Lin'an.

After opening it and reading it, he didn't say anything for a long time.

Qian Youyi saw that Zhang Ping'an looked unhappy, so he waved his hand to dismiss the maids and servants, then walked over and asked, "Who sent the letter? What happened?"

"The letter my second brother sent said that half of the 600,000 taels of silver that my second brother-in-law brought back a few days ago was robbed on the way, and more than ten family soldiers were killed. They sent people to Lin'an to investigate, but found no clues, so they asked me to pay attention to it," Zhang Ping'an said lightly.

Qian Youyi took the letter and quickly glanced at it. After reading it, he looked annoyed and slammed the letter on the table, saying, "This is outrageous! Isn't he doubting you in both open and covert ways? This letter must have been sent by my second brother on his own initiative. No one else in the family is as impatient as him!"

"This is really a coincidence. It's normal for them to be suspicious, but it definitely wasn't me," Zhang Pingan said as he stood up and walked to the window.

But he probably knew who did it.