"Do you really want to do this?"
After an incense stick of time, Jing Li's eyes were slightly red, and he gently pulled Qin Zhao's finger: "Can you guys just stop worrying about these things?"
Near noon, there were quite a few people on the street, but most of them were in a hurry. Few people stopped to linger and made a lot of noise.
There was only one solemn mansion standing on the street.
Jiangling government office.
"What's wrong?" Qin Zhao raised his hand to wipe away the water marks at the corners of Jing Li's eyes and smiled, "Are you scared?"
"I..." Jing Li glanced across the street and said hesitantly, "I just think... there's no need to cause trouble for myself."
Qin Zhao said: "Don't you believe that Mr. Chang was framed? Murder cases are unusual. Without solid evidence, the government will not easily arrest people and put them in jail. Now there is no one except you who can help him overturn the case. If you do nothing, his only fate is to die unjustly."
"But we don't have any evidence." Jing Li said, "These are just speculations. What if someone really killed him..."
"Whether it is true or not, you will know it after checking."
"But..."
"Xiao Yu, are you being distant with me?" Qin Zhao asked.
"Ah?" Jing Li shook his head quickly, "Of course not, I, I just want to..."
"But you've been worried about causing trouble for me." Qin Zhao said, "If you think about it this way, my illness has been recurring for the past few months, and you've been taking care of the family while trying to make money outside. Isn't that causing trouble for you?"
Jing Li was startled: "I didn't think so..."
He never felt that Qin Zhao was causing him trouble.
It's not his fault that he's sick.
"I don't think you'll cause any trouble for me." Qin Zhao interrupted, "Besides, this incident is not your fault in the first place."
Jing Li pursed his lips and lowered his head: "It's my fault."
If he had not been unable to resist intervening in the first place, he would not have made the bet with Ji Zhifei, and the subsequent events would not have happened.
Qin Zhao sighed silently and took Jing Li's hand and crossed the street.
The door of the government office was wide open, with two bailiffs standing on both sides.
Qin Zhao was now quite famous in the government office. The two guards at the gate happened to know him. When they saw him, they came forward and asked, "Aren't you Mr. Qin? What brings you to the government office?"
Qin Zhao bowed to them, raised his hand and pointed at the big drum standing in front of the government office, and said calmly: "Beat the drum to appeal for justice."
The big drum standing in front of the government office was called the "Ming Yuan Drum", which was used by the people to report grievances to the officials. Once the "Ming Yuan Drum" was struck, no matter what the reason, the government office had to go to court to judge the case, which was the rule set by the late emperor.
Even if the person who came was just an ordinary citizen, the yamen runners would not dare to look down on him, let alone Mr. Qin who is now very famous in the capital.
The two yamen runners looked at each other, then quickly stepped aside to allow Qin Zhao and Jing Li to walk to the drum for appealing for justice.
Qin Zhao pulled out the drumstick and hit the drum hard.
The tranquility on the street was suddenly broken.
The dull drumbeats came slowly and steadily, again and again, but seemed to strike into people's hearts.
The pedestrians on the street stopped unconsciously, and in a flash, a dozen onlookers gathered. Qin Zhao knocked more than ten times, and several yamen runners filed out. The one at the head shouted, "Who is beating the drum to complain?"
Qin Zhao put down his drumstick, turned around and saluted him: "I am Qin Zhao."
"Qin Zhao?!"
"Is it that little Sanyuan Qin Zhao?"
"That's impossible. Could it be that they have the same name?"
…
When the people around heard Qin Zhao introduce himself, they immediately started talking about it.
The yamen runner at the head was the one who had brought the good news of Xiao Sanyuan to Qin Zhao the first time. He was also slightly stunned when he saw Qin Zhao, and then he came to his senses: "So it turns out that it's Mr. Qin. The prefect is waiting in the lobby. Please come in."
Qin Zhao turned around and said to Jing Li: "Wait outside."
"No." Jing Li didn't even want to answer.
This was Jing Li's first time facing such a situation, and he was indeed a little scared. But Qin Zhao had come here for him in the first place, so how could he let Qin Zhao face it alone
Jing Li whispered: "Don't be afraid, I'll go in with you."
Qin Zhao: "Okay."
The two were led into the hall by the bailiffs.
The prefect was already sitting high up in the hall. He saw who was coming and asked in surprise, "Qin Zhao?"
Qin Zhao led Jing Li to stand in front of the hall and bowed to the prefect: "Greetings, Mr. Prefect."
The atmosphere in the government office was solemn and oppressive, and everyone who entered was trembling with fear and timid. But even at that time, he still showed no fear at all, and behaved calmly and naturally, with extraordinary demeanor.
The prefect began to feel somewhat favorable towards Qin Zhao.
He has admired this person for a long time.
As early as when he passed the imperial examination and ranked third in the imperial examination, the prefect had considered recruiting him into the government office, but he unexpectedly was rejected by him politely on the grounds that he was preparing for the imperial examination.
Whenever he thought of this incident, the prefect felt sorry.
He knew clearly that Qin Zhaolin had not simply rejected his invitation. He was telling him in a disguised way that he wanted much more than that.
Qin Zhao's ambition is not limited to a small prefectural city. What he wants is the capital and great power.
Moreover, the prefect never doubted whether he could do it.
No matter his talent or his way of dealing with people, he could not find any fault with her. The prefectural government officials were very talented and could tell at a glance that she would definitely have a bright future.
Of course, the prefect was an honest and fair official, and even if he liked and respected someone, he would not give Qin Zhao any special treatment.
He thought about this, cleared his throat, and slapped the wooden stick: "You just beat the drum outside the government office to complain about your grievances, but do you really want to report your grievances?"
"Yes."
Qin Zhao said, "I heard that the government arrested a murderer yesterday. He was Mr. Chang, the owner of Jing'an Bookstore."
The prefect had some impression of the name, so he tilted his head and instructed the lawyer sitting beside him: "Find a case."
The lawyer looked through the files on the table and said quickly, "Your Excellency, there is indeed a case. The government received a report the day before yesterday that a male corpse was found in the suburbs. It was the younger brother of Mr. Chang, the owner of Jing'an Bookstore. After investigation, it was found that Mr. Chang had gone out of the city the day before yesterday, and his location was near the body. The murder weapon and bloodstains of Mr. Chang were also found in Jing'an Bookstore. There are witnesses and evidences, and the case was closed yesterday."
The prefect frowned and asked, "Is he your relative?"
"No."
"Then what do you do to him?"
Qin Zhao retorted: "As long as there is an injustice, you can beat the drum to appeal for justice. Which law stipulates that you cannot redress the injustice of others?"
"What are you talking about..." The prefect was choked for a moment, and then continued, "You want to overturn his verdict?"
Qin Zhao: "I just think there are still some doubts in this case. I hope the prefect can review it again."
Jiangling Prefecture had a large population, and beating drums to appeal for grievances was not uncommon. However, this was the first time the prefect had seen someone redressing grievances for others, and he was a little confused.
What medicine did you take wrong today
Qin Zhao: "No?"
"That's not impossible," the prefect said, "Do you have evidence to prove that he was wrongly accused?"
Qin Zhao: “No.”
"… "
The prefect immediately threw away his previous thoughts of not giving him preferential treatment. He knew that if the person in the hall did not stand up to Qin Zhao, he might have kicked him out.
"Then what are your reasons for believing that he was wrongly accused?" The prefect was slightly angry, but he still tried to reason with him patiently, "Mr. Qin, I have always felt that you should be more reasonable. You are here to accuse me of making a wrong judgment without providing any evidence. How can I be convinced? How can the people be convinced?"
"I can agree to re-examine the case, but if there is no evidence to prove that Mr. Chang was wrongly accused, how will you explain it?"
Qin Zhao: "What does your Excellency want?"
"..." The prefect's face turned red with anger, and he stiffened his neck and said, "Then I will sentence you to the crime of disrupting the court!"
Jing Li's eyes trembled.
The consequences turned out to be so serious.
He quietly pulled Qin Zhao's sleeve and whispered, "Forget it... We can go find evidence first. If we can prove that Boss Chang is innocent, then we can..."
"It's too late." Qin Zhao shook his head. "The case was closed yesterday. I'm afraid that before we can find out the truth, Boss Chang will be executed."
Qin Zhao squeezed Jing Li's hand soothingly, then looked up and said to the prefect, "I will obey your orders, sir."
When coming out of the government office, Jing Li was still a little dazed.
Qin Zhao raised his hand and waved it in front of him, saying, "What else do you want? Go home."
"Going home?" Jing Li asked in a daze, "Are you...are you going home?"
Qin Zhao retorted: "The case has been reported. Where else can I go if not home?"
Jing Li blinked blankly.
He thought they should hurry up and investigate the truth, such as going to the scene to look for clues, or at least looking for clues on the body.
So Qin Zhao brought him to the government office just to report the case
On the way back, Jing Li confusedly expressed his thoughts, and Qin Zhao didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "These are things that the prefect should worry about, what does it have to do with you. And..."
"What?"
"Do you really know everything?" Qin Zhao looked at him helplessly.
His young husband thinks so highly of him that he doesn't know whether it is a good thing or a bad thing.
He knows a lot of things, but he knows nothing about autopsies and investigating cases. Why does this little guy think he can get involved in the investigation
Jing Li knew he was in the wrong, so he lowered his head and muttered softly, "I was deceived by the detective."
Qin Zhao: "What are you talking about?"
"It's okay." Jing Li quickly changed the subject, "Then what should we do next? Just wait like this?"
"Of course not." Qin Zhao said, "The prefect of Jiangling is honest and upright, and he is not the kind of person who would easily wrongly accuse the people. He has now found out that the murder case is what Boss Chang said, which proves that at least in his opinion, there should not be too many doubts in the case."
Jing Li didn't understand for a moment: "Do you think Boss Chang is innocent?"
"No, I mean, if there is a wrongful conviction, it must be a very clean one."
This is also the reason why Qin Zhao wanted to seek help from the government.
This kind of premeditated injustice cannot be overturned by the efforts of one or two people.
"Anyway, put your heart back in your stomach first."
Qin Zhao said: "Your husband is too useless if he can't even solve a small problem."
"I'm not worried about that, I just..." Jing Li paused, and said, "I just don't want these things to involve you. You and Boss Chang don't know each other..."
Moreover, even Gu Heng didn't dare to interfere in this matter, for fear of being implicated.
How can it be a small matter
"But he is my husband's mentor, isn't he?"
Qin Zhao suddenly thought of something and paused: "Get up, we should go to the South City Bookstore first. I don't know if we can still buy the book "Dream Talk Notes". I haven't even read it yet."
"Ahh, that's not necessary!"
Jing Li originally thought that the matter should be resolved quickly, but he didn't expect that since they went to the government office to report the case, no news came back for several days.
Even Qin Zhao didn't mention this matter any more.
Gu Heng passed the county examination as he wished. On the third day after the results were announced, the Gu family held a grand banquet in the mansion, and all the famous people in the city attended.
Qin Zhao and Jing Li were naturally also invited.
At dusk that day, the Gu family sent a carriage to take Qin Zhao and Jing Li to the Gu Mansion. Just as the two got off the carriage, another carriage happened to drive over.
The servant of the Gu Mansion came forward to greet them: "Master Ji, Young Master Ji, we have been waiting for you two for a long time."
Jing Li paused.
Qin Zhao noticed his abnormality and turned to look at the carriage. The carriage stopped not far from the two of them, and the first person to get off the carriage was a middle-aged man, followed by a tall young man.
Ji Zhifei jumped off the carriage and looked up, then he saw Jing Li and Qin Zhao standing at the gate of Gu's house.
His expression froze for a moment, but then he seemed to have thought of something. He smiled nonchalantly at Jing Li, turned around and followed Master Ji into the mansion.
"He is Ji Zhifei?"
Jing Li had already told Qin Zhao everything that had happened a few days ago. Qin Zhao had never met Ji Zhifei in person, but as soon as he saw Jing Li's reaction, he guessed most of it.
Qin Zhao appears to be gentle and reserved, but his words clearly reveal disgust and coldness.
Jing Li had never seen Qin Zhao have such an attitude towards others.
He took Qin Zhao's hand and whispered, "Hey, but today is the banquet hosted by Mr. Gu, don't..."
"Don't worry, I won't do anything."
Qin Zhao raised a faint smile, his voice still calm: "At least not tonight."