The Daily Life of a Rich Peasant's Boy in the Imperial Examination

Captain Zhu explained that the wanted order was conveyed from Changde Prefecture.

Three wanted criminals killed a rouge and powder shop owner. One of the girls was hacked to death by the criminals but miraculously survived.

Based on the information provided by the little girl, we roughly know that there are three criminals who are very strong and their accents are very similar to that of the little girl's grandmother, who is from Xiangxi.

The little girl either couldn't remember their specific appearance, height, weight, or features, or didn't want to remember them. She only mentioned that the three criminals were armed with machetes and attacked anyone they saw. She couldn't provide any more information.

After learning of the multiple homicides, Changde Prefecture also attached great importance to it.

While sorting out the information, he unexpectedly discovered that there were similar murder cases in the counties under his jurisdiction, and all of them mentioned that the deceased were hacked to death with a machete.

After that, they unraveled the mystery and summarized all the murders, and finally determined that this was a gang robbery case that roamed around the country, killing and robbing, and committing serial burglaries.

The area from Dongting Lake to Wuling Mountain is characterized by complex terrain and a diverse population, including ordinary people, dignitaries, foreign merchants, as well as pirates and mountain bandits. Trade flows continuously along Dongting Lake, traveling back and forth from north to south.

Not only are there many disputes, but deaths are also common.

There are so many people and they talk a lot. They will start fighting if they disagree with each other. People will die in a matter of minutes for some petty gains.

When people first died, the government didn't care, thinking they were victims of pirates, mountain bandits, or deaths in accidents.

The three criminals were also smart. They adopted a roving crime and robbery method, killing people to silence them, so that there would be no survivors who could recount the process of the crime.

Fortunately, there was a little girl who survived this time, otherwise they would have no idea that there were three criminals committing the crime. Even if the government filed a case, they would have no idea where to start.

Moreover, many local governments do not file a case at all, and simply treat it as an ordinary accidental death.

If someone dies within his jurisdiction, the magistrate's first priority is to cover it up. If that fails, he will try to cover up the truth. If that fails, he will give warnings and threats.

After all, death is also an aspect of performance evaluation, and local officials do not want to have a stain on their official resume.

Because one of the victims survived and his entire family was killed, it caused panic in the local area.

The magistrate could only solemnly promise to catch the murderer so that the people would not panic.

The magistrate drew a picture of the murderer based on the little girl's description and then launched a county-wide search for him.

But the little girl said that the crime was not committed by an acquaintance, and the murderer did not have a local accent. The murderer could not be found in the entire county, so they had to seek help from the local government, Changde Prefecture.

The prefect of Changde Prefecture was not a good-for-nothing, but rather smart and capable. Based on the little girl's description and checking past murders, he discovered that the modus operandi of the three criminals was similar to that of previous cases.

People were sent to check and found that the victims' fatal wounds were all caused by a machete, and the size and depth of the wounds were surprisingly similar.

Therefore, the Changde prefect boldly speculated that these several murders must have been committed by the same person or multiple people.

All the blame is directed at the three criminals who committed the crime.

The Changde prefect initially issued a wanted notice in the prefecture, but unfortunately there was no news, which proved that the criminal had fled to the surrounding provinces and cities.

The three criminals always ran away after committing crimes and rarely stayed in one place to commit crimes. The Changde prefect was even more certain that the criminals had left Changde Prefecture and fled to the surrounding prefectures and counties.

So they had to seek help from the surrounding government offices and issue a wanted order.

By the time Magistrate Liu received the wanted order, Sun Shan had already captured the criminal and told him the news the next day.

Captain Zhu glanced at Sun Shan furtively, wondering why Lord Sun had managed to capture the criminal by such a coincidence.

More importantly, there was no murder in Yuanlu County. They were arrested after investigation because three people were considered suspicious.

Oh, if Captain Zhu hadn’t experienced it himself, he would never have believed that such a coincidence could exist in the world.

Captain Zhu never believed in coincidences. From an outsider's perspective, he would definitely think that the three gangsters were working for Sun Shan.

But now that the matter has been exposed, Sun Shan simply killed the person to silence him and handed him over to take the credit.

Not only does it relieve your worries, but you can also get praise, killing two birds with one stone.

Of course, this was also Captain Zhu's wild imagination. Sun Shan was just an ordinary seventh-rank magistrate. How could he have the motive to allow criminals to kill and rob? Such a nonsensical idea quickly dissipated.

Captain Zhu said, "Sir Sun, after reading your letter, the prefect is almost certain that the three thieves are the wanted criminals. The machete they used is almost identical to the one that injured the victim. The prefect has ordered us to escort the three thieves to Chenzhou Prefecture and Changde Prefecture to investigate. This will help redress the little girl's injustice."

Sun Shan passed the letter from Magistrate Liu and the wanted order to his subordinates for review.

Everyone was stunned.

Not to mention that Magistrate Liu thought it was a coincidence, as the people involved in the situation, they also thought it was a coincidence.

As soon as the thief was caught, a wanted warrant was issued.

This is the first time I have encountered such a coincidence in my life.

Wu Zhubo and others looked at Sun Shan, then at Captain Zhu, and decided to leave the matter to Lord Sun. They, the younger brothers, could just stand aside and serve as a foil.

Sun Shan sighed, "I never imagined these three thieves would commit such evil and bring such harm to the local area. Thank goodness that they were apprehended by me today."

He turned and said to the captain, "I am very happy to find the murderer of the little girl's family. Captain Zhu, the three thieves are locked up in the prison. Come with me to take a look."

Sun Shan knew that he would make a contribution, but he didn't know it would be so simple and easy.

It's like wanted criminals are cabbages, you can buy them casually on the street.

Otherwise, it would be hard to explain why Sun Shan was able to catch the three criminals so easily.

Oh, this damn bad luck, there is nowhere to go.

Sun Shan led Captain Zhu to the prison.

The three thieves were serious criminals and were held in solitary confinement. Even though their legs were broken by County Magistrate Wang, they were still wearing heavy shackles and bracelets.

Captain Zhu walked in and couldn't help but widen his eyes.

With years of experience in investigating cases, even if he wasn't a coroner, he knew a little bit about medicine. He saw at a glance that the three prisoners had broken legs and couldn't walk straight.

Sun Shan explained calmly, "Captain Zhu, the thief tried to escape, but during the pursuit, he broke his leg. Humph, now that he's in my hands, he still wants to escape? No way."

When County Magistrate Wang, who was standing next to him, heard what Sun Shan said, he couldn't help but shrink his neck and felt a little guilty.

He glanced at Sun Shan secretly again.

Haha, Lord Sun tells lies as easily as eating lettuce, without changing his expression or heartbeat.

Captain Zhu just glanced at it casually. It didn't matter whether the criminals broke it themselves or Sun Shan did it. As long as the three wanted criminals were still alive, it was fine.

Captain Zhu bowed and said, "It's their own fault. These three criminals were so brutal that they deserved to have their legs broken. Thanks to Lord Sun, they were apprehended and brought to justice."