The other officer who chased us out came back panting and said, "There was no one outside. He must have watched us enter the door, and that person stuffed the letter in."
The officer holding the letter thought for a while and asked Qiu Henian: "Your adoptive father's surname is Wang. The letter mentions that this man is also surnamed Wang. What is your relationship?"
Qiu Henian then talked about his relationship with the two remaining brothers of the Wang family, as well as his past grudges.
The yamen officer frowned and said, "It seems that no matter who the messenger is, they have to go to Mr. Wang's house to have a look."
Because Wang Heyao and Qiu Henian had a lot of quarrels in the past, the government officials did not let them lead the way. Instead, they asked for the general direction and searched all the way there.
When the two government officials arrived at the east of the village, the half-grown children who had never seen this behavior along the way were all running and playing behind them.
The story that the second son of the Wang family lost money had been circulated in the village for several rounds last night. Many people stuck their heads out to see the yamen servants as they walked by, and some asked the yamen servants if they were going to Mr. Wang's house to arrest someone.
The officer stopped and asked, "How do you know we are going to Mr. Wang's house, and why do you think we are going to arrest him?"
The man looked around, lowered his voice and said: "I originally heard that the money of the second son of the Wang family was stolen by a hired worker, but you didn't take the hired worker away, and instead came in the direction of Mr. Wang's family. So there's a good chance that Even if I went to catch him, his mother was so hungry that she turned blue recently, and she didn't stop him from going out to eat, drink, whore, and gamble. Yesterday, I heard their mother crying in the yard, and his husband was also sobbing. I don't know if it was After losing all his belongings, he jumped over the wall and went to steal money from the second son of the Wang family."
The officials looked at each other with even more suspicion in their eyes.
After not walking far, we arrived at the place. After knocking on the door, the person who opened the door was a thin man in his thirties wearing a gray robe. There was a clear blue slap mark on one side of his face.
When he opened the door and saw the yamen servant, he looked a little flustered, but it was normal. Common people would inevitably be cautious when meeting people who were eating from the government, especially in this remote mountain village, where most of the villagers had never seen much of the world. I have never dealt with the county government.
The leading Yamen servant asked: "Are you Shen Wen, Wang Heyao's husband?"
Shen Min lowered his head and nodded with some fear, "Yes, sir."
The yamen servant asked again: "Is Wang Heyao at home?"
Shen Wen shook his head and said, "He's not here. He went out just now..."
Before he finished speaking, an elderly woman asked from behind: "Who is here?"
Shen Wen quickly turned around and responded: "Mom, it's two government servants. They asked where my husband was."
The woman came out, her face a little gray, with deep wrinkles on her face. She was scared when she saw the yamen servant. She hunched her shoulders and said, "My family went to the county together, and a friend asked him to go have a drink."
As soon as these words were spoken, the leading Yamen servant noticed keenly that Shen Wen suddenly looked back at her mother-in-law, and then quickly lowered her eyes.
The yamen servant looked at Shen Wen and said, "Tell me, where did Wang Heyao go? If he doesn't tell the truth, he will be slapped in the hall!"
Shen Min suddenly raised his head, his face turned pale and said: "He...he went to the casino in the town."
The yamen servant narrowed his eyes and asked, "I've asked my neighbors a long time ago. If your family can hardly afford to eat, how can they get the money to go to the casino?"
Shen Wen was about to answer, but the old lady who was shrinking her neck suddenly got angry, rushed up and wanted to hit someone, and cursed: "You bitch, how dare you talk nonsense, let's see if I can't beat you to death!" Seeing that slap! Just greeted him in the face.
The two government officials were not vegetarians. They raised their hands to stop the old lady and scolded: "If you make trouble again, I will take you back to the county government office!"
But the old lady spoke harshly and said with red eyes: "You can't catch the thief. Come and catch us together to replenish the money. He loves gambling and fun, but he's not a bad kid. He definitely didn't get the money. If you dare to arrest him, I will report you to the county magistrate..." She thought for a moment, her eyes lit up, "I will report you for accepting Qiu Henian's money and joining forces with him to frame us!"
Her accidental nonsense really hit the right place. Such an incident did happen to the county government officials. After the incident, it also affected the promotion of the county magistrate and county magistrate at that time. Therefore, the county government has no control over this aspect. The punishment is extremely harsh. If found out, not only will you be dismissed from your post, but you will also be imprisoned. That would be extremely miserable.
Therefore, upon hearing this, the expressions of the two yamen servants changed. The leading yamen servant clasped the old lady's shoulders with his iron palm, with disgust and coldness in his eyes, and said: "In that case, why don't you come back to us?" Go to the county government and file a complaint in front of the county magistrate," the government official said with a sneer, "but I have to tell you something in advance. There is no evidence for false accusations, but you will be punished. At your age and body, I'm afraid there's no turning back!"
As he said that, the two yamen men carried Mrs. Wang and walked out. Mrs. Wang struggled hard and dragged her legs into two ditches on the ground. She was still shouting: "The yamen men killed people. The yamen men have wronged a good person..." ...!"
Shen Min stumbled out of the house and chased after her. His face was full of panic and tears, and he shouted: "Please, adults, don't take my mother away. She is just too worried about the union. She is not lying on purpose. I beg you, adults, to show your respect!"
Mrs. Wang was being carried away for a while now, and she found that her usual tricks of playing tricks were not working. Seeing that she was about to get beaten up, she suddenly lost her strength. Tears and snot ran all over her face, and she begged for mercy: " I don't dare anymore, sir, I don't dare anymore, please let me go..."
At this time, the road in the village was already full of villagers who heard the noise and came out to see it. Mr. Wang, mother and son, had offended many people. At this time, no one sympathized with such an incident. Instead, they just took out a handful of melon seeds to crack them. While watching the fun.
However, some people still sighed and said: "It's a pity that their husband is an honest man. This brother is really good. Almost everyone in the village knows how the mother and son treated him. If he gets angry, he will be beaten and scolded, and they will be kicked out of the house." I was not allowed to go back, and I was not given food. I was forced to jump into a well a while ago and almost died. Look at me now, I am sincerely begging for my mother-in-law!"
Others also chided in: "If I, this evil mother-in-law, were captured, I would like to buy a thousand firecrackers and set them off to celebrate. This guy Shen Min is so honest, that's why he was bullied so cruelly."
On the way, Shen Wen had already hugged the trousers of the leading yamen servant, knelt on the ground, and begged.
The yamen servant was originally trying to scare the old lady. When he saw this, he sighed and said, "She treats you like this, but you still insist on her, so it doesn't matter." He raised his chin at the other yamen servant, and they both let go at the same time. Hands, the old lady sat down on the ground and let out an "ouch" sound. The yamen servant said: "I have pity on your daughter-in-law, who is so filial, I will let you go today, but your son's luck is not so good!"
With that said, the two government officials shook off their clothes and strode out of the village without looking back.
Now that the matter is over, whether Wang Heyao stole the money or not, he went to the gambling shop to arrest the person and bring him back to the court for a first trial.
As soon as the people left, Mrs. Wang sat down on the ground, slapped her thighs and started crying. Shen Wen also burst into tears, and she cried so much that she didn't know what to do for a while.
Someone went to help Shen Wen up and reminded him: "No matter what, take your mother-in-law back first. There are so many people here, and they are all watching the excitement of your home."
Shen Wen nodded quickly, wiped away her tears and went to help Mrs. Wang who was sitting on the ground.
When the old lady saw him, she stopped crying. Her eyebrows stood up and she stretched out her hand to hit him again. The villager next to her stopped her and said, "He was kind enough to help you. What are you doing!"
Mrs. Lao Wang scolded: "It's him who is causing trouble. Ever since I married him, nothing good has happened..."
The scolding continued in the same way, but the degree of hurt did not decrease slightly. Shen Wen covered her face and cried loudly, and the villagers who watched were all sighing.
Lao Mrs. Wang didn't want to be watched anymore, so she got up from the ground, dragged the crying Shen Wen back, and slammed the door after entering the courtyard, blocking the eyes of those watching the excitement. .
After entering the house, the old lady rounded her arms and slapped Shen Wen, cursing, "Bitch, I asked you to betray your husband!"
But the slap didn't hit Shen Min's face. Shen Min grabbed her wrist, with no cowardly look and constant tears on her face.
His eyes were bright, his back was straight, and he seemed to be much taller all of a sudden. He looked at the old lady with a slight smile on his lips.
Mrs. Wang was startled when she saw her daughter-in-law, who had always been submissive, smiled and said to her: "If you don't discipline your son well, someone will do it for you. I'm afraid he won't be able to come back. You are already old. Think about it carefully." How will you spend your days in the future?"
With that said, Shen Wen threw her hand away, causing the old lady to stagger, then entered the back room and closed the door with a bang.
Mrs. Wang's eyes were full of anger, and she was about to kick open the door and go in to settle the score with him, but when she raised her feet, she almost fell to the ground with her legs weak.
She is already old. If her son really cannot come back, who can she rely on?
The anger in Mrs. Wang's eyes gradually dissipated. She stood blankly at Shen Min's door for a while, then lowered her head, turned back to her room in despair, and closed the door.
...
At noon, news came from the town that the two government officials found Wang Heyao who was in the gambling house and took him to the county government office.
According to people present at the time, Wang Heyao was very lucky today. He kept winning as long as he sat down, grinning from ear to ear. It was not until the Yamen arrived that he realized that a disaster was coming. He got up and wanted to run, but he was too weak and could not run. After a few steps, his left leg collided with his right leg and he fell to the ground. The government officials easily tied him up and took him away.
In the afternoon, Qiu Henian was summoned to the county government office as the owner, and the village chief and Liu Fa accompanied him.
There were other good people in the village who followed.
Qingyan originally wanted to go, but Qiu Henian said that he might be tortured in court. Qingyan backed down when he heard that, so he had to wait for the news at home.
It was just before dinner that some villagers were anxious to come back for dinner and ran back before finishing their work.
Other villagers gathered around to ask, and the man said: "Good guy, Wang Heyao did it as soon as he got on the clamp. He was the one who stole the Wang family's second son's money. Yesterday morning, he jumped in and pried it away when no one was home. He entered the house through the window and took away his entire money bag. This kid was really useless. He couldn't open the pot at home. He stole the money and didn't even buy a grain of rice for his family. He stayed home for a while and then went straight to the town. Went to the gambling den."
"The interrogation was still there when I left. I guess it won't be finished for a while." The man said.
Qingyan waited until dark before she heard the sound coming from outside the courtyard door.
Aunt Li went out with him to take a look, and saw a familiar tall figure walking in from the outside. Qiu Henian, who looked a little tired, smiled at him and said, "I'm back."
During the meal, Qiu Henian briefly talked to them about the situation in the hall, which was similar to what the villagers who came back early said. However, after that, the magistrate asked some more detailed questions.
The reason why there are no signs of being broken into the doors and windows at home is because Wang Heyao used to come here often when he was a child and is very familiar with this place.
Qiu Henian didn't know that there was something wrong with the window in the house where Blacksmith Wang lived. Even if the inside was locked, it could be opened by pinching the window frame from the outside and pulling hard.
As for the location of the hidden money, Wang Heyao couldn't explain how he knew it. He just said that he thought it should be there. After entering the room, he went straight to the drawer under the bed and found it.
After dinner, Aunt Li went back. Qiu Henian took the money bag out of the bag and placed it heavily on the table. He opened it and showed it to Qing Yan. He saw more than four hundred taels of silver neatly stacked inside.
The feeling of regaining something is even more joyful than when I first had it.
Qingyan touched the coins and asked, "What will happen to Wang Heyao?"
Qiu Henian pondered for a while and said: "The laws of this dynasty impose severe penalties for theft. The county has to report it to the county, and the county will continue to report it. The specific results will not be known until a few months."
The two anxious days finally came to an end. After freshening up in the evening, the two of them went to bed.
The next day, Qiu Henian repaired the broken window and carefully inspected the other windows and doors.
In the morning, people from the village came over from time to time to ask about yesterday's situation at the county government. Qiu Henian just picked up what the villagers said yesterday and said that the visitors had heard too much and found it boring, so they stopped sending good letters.
In the afternoon, the husband and wife went to the town together and deposited all the money they did not need at home into the bank. In the past, they thought it was a bit troublesome to deposit and withdraw money, and they had to go to the town. Now, for the sake of safety, they had no choice but to deposit it.
They went to the grocery store and bought a strong lock. After returning home, they put all the money left for the purchase of materials and goods deep in the cabinet, and used the new lock they bought in town to lock it tightly, and then they felt relieved.
Everyone in the village knew that their family had lost a lot of money, but only a few people knew the exact amount. It was spread everywhere, and after a long time, it would gradually stop.
That night, the couple took a shower. Qingyan went to the cabinet to look for his white clothes, but found nothing wrong. He dried his body and put them on.
He lay down in bed and turned off the light.
Qiu Henian turned sideways and hugged him. He lowered his head and smelled the fragrance of his hair. He gently stroked his big hands from the back of his neck down his back. Qingyan hummed twice comfortably and put his face into the crook of his neck. Inside sticker.
Until the big warm hand went down and patted the meatiest part of him twice, Qingyan's body suddenly stiffened.
Qiu Henian felt the soft flesh in the palm of his hand, and although he felt a little restless in his heart, he had no real idea of what he wanted to do. His hands were just itchy.
He smiled helplessly, kissed Qingyan's head, and comforted her in a low voice: "You've been tired for the past two days. I won't touch you. Go to sleep."