Returning to the capital again, Zhuang Zhong didn't have the previous daze and uncertainty about the future, stroked the Buddhist beads on his wrist, and stepped into the gate of the capital with more confidence. Although it is still impossible to avenge Yuanjue now, it will not be like an ant like before. It only needs to be gently pinched by the other party to die. He has the patience to wait until that day. Besides, he still has a lot of things to do now, and he also has a lover, so he won't always feel like he hasn't integrated into this world and live in chaos without a goal like before.
Feng Huan sent Zhuang Zhong back to the Marquis of Wenyuan, and rushed to the palace without even stepping into his own house.
There is a clear difference between this solemn return and the first time, which can be seen in the attitude of the servants. Today, he is Dayou's youngest probation officer, a world-renowned expert in judging cases, with a bright future. Mrs. Hou Wei Yuhua has no children. Although Aunt Yin has a son and is very intelligent, she is still young, let alone a concubine. Zhuang Zhong is the son of Wen Yuanhou's original spouse, he has no affection, and Zhuang Zhong has been separated from Lord Hou since he was a child, and the relationship between father and son is weak. Before, everyone was not optimistic about this country boy who came halfway, but now they dare not look down upon him.
Zhuang Zhong stepped into the Hou's mansion again, feeling a little dazed, the same few people greeted him, but the feeling was completely different. It was still the great aunt Cao who greeted her enthusiastically, with the same exaggerated tone, but the difference was that she was more sincere than before.
"Hey, my poor eldest nephew, he has lost weight in the past few years in that remote mountainous area. It really makes people feel distressed."
"Auntie is still the same as before." Zhuang Zhong nodded and said hello, not as innocent as the first time, but her attitude was still indifferent.
Mrs. Cao was not angry, but exaggerated: "Sure enough, I have been an official. This mouth is much sweeter than the first time I saw it. I am old now, so I am still the same as before."
Zhuang Zhong just smiled politely, greeted other people present, and distributed the gifts that Fang Yingying had prepared for him one by one. None of them are valuable items, they are all local specialties, such as pheasants and mushrooms. Contempt flashed in many people's eyes, but they thanked them repeatedly on their faces, not daring to express their dissatisfaction.
Now Zhuang Zhong is not only promoted to the fifth-rank judge, but also a celebrity in front of the emperor. He has made good friends with King Si Zhao, but he is not a young monk who just came from the countryside. Zhuang Zhong performed outstandingly in Mei County, especially in the area of refugee resettlement, with outstanding results, like a breakthrough, the situation in the entire Yunzhou improved, which made Long Xin very happy. The most important thing is to have a good relationship with King Si Zhao. Although the two had a close relationship in the capital before, they are even closer now, and even the most arrogant Yin Yuehan is flattering.
Now that the situation in the court has changed, the prince, who was originally weak and seemed to be going at any time, is now getting better and better. That's all, the princess has just had a son, so the rumors that the prince might not be able to inherit the throne Immediately dissipated a lot. Now the emperor attaches great importance to the prince, which also makes Yin Guifei's power decline, which also makes Yin Yuehan keep a low profile a lot.
Seeing Zhuang Zhong, Wei Yuhua's heart was still complicated. On the one hand, he hoped that Zhuang Zhong would get more and more confused, so that Yin Yuehan would be pissed off, but on the other hand, Zhuang Zhong was not his own son after all, but the woman she despised, so he felt very uncomfortable. But no matter what he thinks in his heart, his face looks like a housewife's mistress, with a clear sense of scale, and every expression seems to be well thought out.
Only Wen Yuanhou was still the same as when he first met, like a banished immortal, with neither salty nor indifferent attitude.
"It's not a disgrace to the mission." Wen Yuanhou said.
Solemnly bowed his hands, "As long as I don't disappoint you."
"Don't be proud, there is still a long way to go."
"I will always do my best."
Wen Yuanhou nodded, the two of them got along only a little better than strangers, which made the two women present unpredictable.
Zhuang Zhong spent an hour of fiddling with these people, and felt more tired than working continuously for a whole day. If he hadn't something on his mind, he really didn't want to come back to this place. Thinking of the years in Meixian, although he was busy and tired, he was free, and he didn't feel like he had trouble breathing like now.
However, when he went to visit Lu's house the next day, he dissipated all the turbidity, and finally felt like going home. Without these people, there is really no place for him to be attached to in the capital.
"Master." Yu Zi'an urged, his eyes narrowed into a line from laughter. Today, he is much taller than three years ago, but he is still thin, but he looks good. Although he is still shy, he is not as timid as before. He is so white and tender that people want to go forward and pinch his little one Face.
Zhuang Zhong touched his head, "It's already so tall."
Lu Xiaobao kept rubbing against Zhuang Zhong's side to show his presence, "Uncle, I grow more!"
Zhuang Zhong was shocked when he saw him, this guy seemed to be on steroids, he was almost as tall as him! Where does he still look like a little kid from before, he looks like a little grown-up from the back.
"What do you eat to grow so tall?"
Fifth Madam smiled and said: "Xiao Bao has been shorter than other children since he was a child, and thought he would be as short as me. I didn't expect that in the past three years, I didn't know how to make it so much taller, and I didn't even have time to make clothes for him. gone."
Zhuang Zhong sighed, why doesn't he have such a high growth speed! Although he has grown a bit in the past three years, he can't compare with Lu Xiaobao at all.
The Lu family talked a lot and overwhelmed Zhuang, asking him how he was doing in Meixian these years. They often heard solemn stories in the capital, such as how to solve a case, such as how to turn a poor small county into a rich place, and they felt very proud. Now that the person came back, he must ask the person concerned to talk about the situation at that time, whether it was as mysterious as the rumors.
"In the case of murder by cholera, how did you know that the man was poisoned and killed by Shanglu Honggen instead of the plague?"
This case happened in other counties in Yunzhou, where the situation is also complicated. The county magistrate died not long after he went there. At that time, the first village in that county happened to be suffering from cholera, and the county magistrate went to see it, but he got the same symptoms and died not long after. Everyone thought he was infected with cholera and died. If the county magistrate's wife didn't believe her life and death, she went to Mei County to find Zhuang Zhong. I'm afraid that the county magistrate would have to die so unjustly and the world would not get the truth. It was also because of this case that the old forces in that county, such as He Xianwei, were wiped out and stabilized from then on.
If a person eats the red root of Phytophthora chinensis, he will suffer from vomiting and diarrhea. After death, the body will be stiff, his eyes will be sunken, and his lips will turn blue, which is very similar to death from cholera. At that time, the murderer wanted to use this to get away with it. If it wasn't for the autopsy, according to Dayou's current level, if you don't pay attention, you won't be able to see the difference between the two.
When asked about professional matters, Zhuang Zhuang tried his best to explain in a way that everyone could understand, but he often couldn't convert some technical terms, even though people sometimes didn't understand what they heard, but it didn't prevent everyone from feeling the excitement.
"Although poisonous death and cholera have some similar appearances, they are not the same thing after all. You just need to investigate carefully to know." Zhuang Zhong couldn't help explaining the reasons one by one, making people dizzy. Only Yu Zi'an's eyes were bright, and he listened with gusto.
Although Yu Zi'an hasn't given Zhuang Zhong a hand-in-hand over the years, he hasn't left behind his homework. He spends part of his day studying the relevant forensic materials left and sent by Zhuang Zhong, and sometimes goes to the scene to see him. Everyone knows that he is a So solemn apprentice, so I didn't stop him, but now I know a lot.
"Zian has also solved a case!" Lu Xiaobao suddenly shouted when everyone was praising his solemnity.
Yu Zi'an blushed immediately when she heard this, "My little ability is nothing, it is not enough in the eyes of Master."
But Lu Xiaobao disagreed and said: "You are very powerful! If it weren't for your case, you might not be able to solve it. You let that bastard take advantage of it for nothing, and let the little lady bear that terrible reputation!"
Hearing this, Yu Zi'an was even more ashamed, "But what's the use of that, the lady is still dead."
After saying this, everyone couldn't help but sigh, but Zhuang Zhong was curious, "What case did Zian solve? Why haven't I heard from you?"
Fifth Madam sighed: "It's only happened two months ago, because you are coming back soon, so I didn't deliver the letter to you."
This little lady is Lu Shiniang's friend, and she is also a poor and unlucky person. This little lady has a cousin who told ghost stories to this little lady during the day, frightening the little lady for a moment. In the evening, she pretended to be a ghost and sneaked into the little lady's boudoir to do mediocre things. The little lady was innocent and thought she had encountered a ghost, she didn't even know that she was violated. As a result, the little lady got pregnant later, and everyone thought it was the little lady who had an affair with someone because of her heart, or Yu Zi'an felt that it was strange to find out the truth.
Yu Zi'an is only twelve years old now, it's admirable to be able to do so at such a young age, solemnly and generously praised, "Zi'an is amazing!"
Yu Zi'an's face turned red, and she felt that her little ability was not enough to be appreciated, especially in front of Zhuang Zhong. But being praised, he still couldn't help being happy. What he hopes most is to become a dignified person.
"No, no, I just don't think Sister Duo'er is that indiscriminate, so I went to check it out, but it's useless." Yu Zi'an was very frustrated.
Yu Zi'an also knew the little lady, and the two families were separated by a wall, so he also knew what happened. The little lady couldn't tell who the adulterer was, and she couldn't believe that she would be pregnant. She had never done anything shameful. The little lady is like white paper, she is pregnant, and she doesn't know how two people can make a human being together.
At first, the family thought she was covering up, but after seeing that she insisted on not saying anything, and after probing and questioning, they found that she really knew nothing about men and women, and the little lady was usually the most honest, so they believed her words . But children can't be born for no reason. This family is superstitious, so they suspect that it is a ghost.
Originally, family ugliness should not be publicized, but this terrible guess frightened the family. Originally, they wanted to secretly invite someone to do it, but this way the news could not be kept secret. Everyone looked at the little lady with strange eyes, and the little lady's family was fine. Although they were afraid, they only thought about how to save their child's life. But those tribesmen disagreed, such a person would cause big trouble if he was alive.
Yu Zi'an didn't believe in gods and ghosts because of his solemnity, so he felt that there must be tricks in this matter. But when something like this happens, even if you know it's not a ghost, you can't seek justice with great fanfare, otherwise you won't be able to be a human being. So Yu Zi'an took the initiative to find out the truth, but he did not expect to find out. That cousin is actually not very clever, it's just that this little lady is really simple, that's why she succeeded so unknowingly.
Originally thought that this would save the little lady's life and restore her innocence. But I didn't expect that the little lady committed suicide in the end, leaving one dead body and two lives. It's no wonder that the little lady can't think about it, the family actually asked her to marry that cousin. He thought that since he had children anyway, and lost face, he might as well just marry the other party.
But the little lady was unwilling. How could she be reconciled to such a person who ruined herself and had to marry him in the end. But the family members insisted, saying that the family's reputation was ruined by being pregnant before marriage, and who else could marry if he didn't marry him. This family has nothing to do, such things have already happened, so what if they are not reconciled, and there is still clan pressure. There are many rules in the little lady's clan, and they are very strict, and such things that humiliate the family are not allowed to happen.
Unexpectedly, this little lady was so violent and chose to die, which made Yuzi'an very depressed, and finally settled the case, but in the end, she still couldn't save the other party's life. It was also because of the disgraceful matter that even though Yu Zi'an had settled the case, no outsiders knew about it. Otherwise, such a small guy with such a powerful personality, plus he is a solemn apprentice, would surely be famous far and wide.
The hateful thing is that the little lady is dead, but the cousin is fine and fine. The little lady's family didn't dare to report it, for fear of ruining her reputation, she always felt that such a thing was disgraceful. For this reason, the Lu family also felt very disgusted, but the other party didn't want to make it public, and they couldn't do anything about it. If you want to seek justice for that little lady, it will be impossible without the support of that family.
Zhuang Zhong patted Yu Zi'an on the shoulder, and said: "How can it be useless, at least let everyone know that this cousin is not a good person. Skynet is not missing, and there will always be a day when he can teach him a lesson."
Lu Xiaobao also said: "Exactly! I beat him up before, if I didn't know how disgusting this man is, I couldn't make him suffer."
Yu Zi'an then grinned and nodded heavily, "Yes! Master is right, I will remember."
Lu Xiaobao rolled his eyes directly, and said angrily: "I have said these words many times!"
Yu Zi'an quickly grabbed Lu Xiaobao's hand, "What you said is also very good."
Only then did Lu Xiaobao smile.
The Lu family and Zhuang Zhuang couldn't help laughing when they saw the two children. The two children get along very well. One has a quick temper and the other has a soft temper. They are completely different types, but they play well and often sleep together at night.
After exchanging pleasantries, Zhuang Zhong was taken into the study by Lu Feng. Seeing Lu Feng's serious face, Zhuang Zhong couldn't help but think of something, "Uncle, is it possible that Yuanjue's death has some clues?"
Lu Feng glanced at him, but asked noncommittally, "How are you and King Si Zhao?"
Zhuang Zhong didn't understand why he mentioned this, and said honestly, "We get along pretty well."
"The rumor that you were with him... is it true?"
Zhuang Zhong was stunned for a moment, and nodded without concealing it.
Lu Feng frowned slightly, walking up and down the room.
"Have you thought about it?"
"Well, it's definitely not a joke." Solemnly said firmly.
Lu Feng nodded, "It seems that King Si Zhao's desire to support the prince is not a lie."
Zhuang Zhong didn't say a word, he knew that Feng Huan was also an ambitious person, but at the same time he also knew that he was a person who could let go, and he was not dazzled by the emperor's excessive pampering. Although he is powerful, it is not impossible to win that position, but he has to pay a high price, and he may not be able to sit firmly.
"That's fine, if the crown prince succeeds, Yuanjue's revenge can also be avenged."
Zhuang Zhong's pupils dilated, "Uncle means..."
"Yes, the Yin family has colluded with the King of Zhennan, and the person who killed Yuan Jue was sent by the Yin family." Lu Feng said viciously, a sternness flashed in his eyes.