After Zhu Ping'an figured out the method of sorting the books, he asked Lao Li and Lao Ma, who were responsible for cleaning the library, and was prepared to mobilize them to help organize the library. However, he found out that they were illiterate and had to give up.
It seems that I can only be a lonely handsome man.
However, just as Zhu Ping'an rolled up his sleeves and prepared to start his journey alone, he heard a commotion coming from the Hanlin Academy, and then saw Zhang Siwei, who was working in the recording study, walked in from outside with a constipated look on his face.
"Zihou, come out with me quickly, something strange has happened." Zhang Siwei came in and pulled Zhu Pingan out, with a look of surprise still on his face.
"What's the matter? Why did it make our knowledgeable brother Ziwei change his expression?" Zhu Ping'an asked curiously as he followed Zhang Siwei out.
"Come out with me and you'll know." Zhang Siwei pulled Zhu Ping'an and quickened their pace.
Soon they arrived at the entrance hall of the Hanlin Academy. There were quite a few people in the hall, including Li Chunfang, Yuan Wei, Zhang Juzheng and others. In addition to the people from the Hanlin Academy, there were two officials. One of them was an official about fifty years old and wearing a fourth-rank Yunyan official uniform. Zhu Ping'an had met this person once. It was none other than the Shuntian Prefecture prefect Zhou Houjie, who had covered himself with a big red silk when the Imperial Street praised the officials. Sitting next to Zhou Houjie was a seventh-rank county magistrate.
After Zhu Ping'an and Zhang Siwei came in, they greeted their superiors who were present. Li Chunfang nodded and motioned Zhu Ping'an and Zhang Siwei to take a seat.
"The Hanlin Academy handles literature and history, and has read a lot of historical records and newspapers. Has anyone ever heard of seeing ghosts in the past or in the present?"
Lord Zhou, the governor of Shuntian Prefecture, was sitting in the upper seat. His face was a little pale at the moment, as if he had experienced something incredible. He took a sip of tea to calm himself down and asked the Hanlin scholars present.
"There are many anecdotes, but almost no official history." Li Chunfang shook his head.
"I saw a ghost the night before yesterday." Lord Zhou, the prefect of Shuntian, spoke clearly and solemnly as he recounted the news of seeing a ghost the night before yesterday.
"Huh?" Li Chunfang was slightly startled. The others were also surprised.
If you have been in the capital for a long time, you will know that Shuntian prefect Zhou Houjie is a serious official who never lies. He is diligent in his work and loves the people. He is serious and conscientious in his work. He never says anything without basis. In addition, Mr. Zhou is also very capable, otherwise he would not have been promoted from a seventh-rank county magistrate to a fourth-rank prefect. It is precisely because of knowing Zhou Houjie's character that Li Chunfang and others were surprised.
"This is what happened..." Lord Zhou took a sip of hot tea and slowly explained the whole story.
This matter was also related to the seventh-rank county magistrate who sat above Lord Zhou. Zhou Houjie was diligent in his work and loved the people. He was serious about his work. When he reviewed the prison files submitted by the subordinate counties, he found that among the files submitted by Wanping County, there was a flaw in the prison file materials of a murder case, and the case seemed to be wrong.
The magistrate of Wanping County was the seventh-rank magistrate who was sitting at the head of Zhou Houjie. Zhu Pingan saw that this man was about forty years old, with an ordinary appearance and no special features. He sat upright and had no unusual expression.
Continuing from the above, after Zhou Houjie discovered the problem with the file, he sent someone to bring the case to trial. Wanping County belonged to the capital county, and the magistrate of Wanping County quickly brought the prisoners and relevant evidence and witnesses to the Shuntianfu government office.
Zhou Houjie personally interrogated the criminals and witnesses and gained a deeper understanding of the case. As usual when he encountered difficult cases, Zhou Houjie stayed in the yamen that night to study the files and materials related to the case all night.
That night, Zhou Houjie lit the oil lamp in the government office and sat by the window to study the files all night.
It happened to be drizzling that night, just like the drizzle before Zhu Ping'an performed the vegetable-releasing ceremony. It was drizzling at night. It was very dark outside with dark clouds covering the moon. You couldn't see your hand in front of you.
When Zhou Houjie was absorbed in studying the files in front of the oil lamp, he suddenly heard a faint crying sound coming from outside the window. The sound came from far away and was so sad.
"Tang San, go see who is crying outside." Zhou Houjie ordered the officer on duty, Tang San, to see who was crying and whether there was any injustice.
In ancient times, it was common for people to block the road and cry for justice, or even cry outside the government office, but it was rare to see people crying inside the government office.
"Yes, sir." Tang San was a thin man. After hearing Zhou Houjie's instructions, he nodded and walked out of the room.
Almost one second later, Zhou Houjie, who was studying the files under the oil lamp, heard a scream, followed by the sound of someone falling to the ground.
"What happened?" Zhou Houjie was surprised and left the room with the oil lamp.
Tang San, who had just gone out to investigate as ordered, was now lying on the ground. He fainted after a scream.
Seeing this, Zhou Houjie was even more surprised. Tang San was also a skilled warrior. He had transferred him to be his follower because of his skills. He didn't expect that he only had time to let out a scream before fainting on the ground.
What happened
Zhou Houjie looked outside with the oil lamp in hand, and then he saw a scene that made his scalp tingle. Not far from the steps outside the door, there was a man kneeling with disheveled hair and a bloody face, wearing clothes that were torn by a knife and stained with blood.
Very spooky
Because it was drizzling that night, the sky was dark, and the light of the oil lamp was dim, I couldn't see as clearly as I could during the day.
"Who are you?" Zhou Houjie pinched himself and asked loudly with courage.
As soon as Zhou Houjie finished speaking, he heard the man kneeling on the steps with disheveled hair and blood on his face, speaking in a resentful voice while kowtowing.
"Your Excellency, I am the murdered person in the murder case you are trying today. I have a grievance to report. The Wanping County Magistrate generalized the whole case and arrested the wrong person, allowing the real murderer Zhang Dalin to go unpunished. The person who killed me was Zhang Dalin, not Lin Dafu in prison. I came here today to complain about my grievance and beg you to catch the real murderer so that I can rest in peace."
"I understand."
Zhou Houjie nodded, and his hand holding the oil lamp trembled slightly.
As soon as Zhou Houjie finished speaking, he saw the dead ghost kneeling on the ground kowtowed again and then floated away.
After the ghost left, Zhou Houjie still had doubts about this. After dawn, Zhou Houjie interrogated the prisoners and witnesses again, and carefully inquired about the deceased's body shape, height, and the style and color of the clothes, shoes and socks he wore on the day of death.
After asking, Zhou Houjie felt his scalp tingling. The man was tall and thin, wearing a navy blue shirt, black shoes and white socks... He looked exactly like the dead man last night.
Then, Zhou Houjie overturned the murder case in Wanping County, released the suspect in prison, and arrested Zhang Dalin, the real murderer mentioned by the dead ghost, and personally interrogated him.
Zhou Houjie personally took care of everything and strictly interrogated Zhang Dalin who was arrested and brought to justice.
The magistrate of Wanping County did not agree with Zhou Houjie's proposal to overturn the verdict. He made several defenses, but all he got was Zhou Houjie's words: The South Mountain can be moved, the North Sea can be filled, but this case cannot be overturned.
The Wanping County Magistrate insisted on his defense, and the real murderer Zhang Dalin refused to plead guilty during the rigorous interrogation, so Zhou Houjie came to the Hanlin Academy to find similar records to add evidence to the case. (To be continued.)