Chapter 216

"Zhang Dianshi, what crime have I committed? Why do you want to search my house?" Chen Muyan stood at the doorway.

"I know nothing about it," Zhang Dianshi replied. "This is an order from the Magistrate. I'm just following orders. Ambassador Chen, I'm sorry."

"I'm a righteous and upright official. There's nothing shameful in my house, so I'm not afraid of you searching my house. However, you can't search my house until I've been convicted. I may be a lowly official, but I won't allow you to bully me like this!" Chen Muyan said.

Ma Hui could no longer hold back and said to Zhang Dianshi, "Warden, why are you wasting your breath on him? Just tie him up and search his house."

Dianshi Zhang readily accepted the advice, and immediately waved his hand. Two bailiffs immediately rushed forward and pressed Chen Muyan down. They wrapped his arms around his shoulders, and very deftly tied him up. Chen Muyan was so angry that his eyes were about to spit fire. Ma Hui found a rag out of nowhere and stuffed it into Chen Muyan's mouth. The constables swarmed in and began to search the Chen Family's house …

…

Register Wang rushed to the County Yamen. Ye Xiaotian and Magistrate Hua were sitting opposite each other. Register Wang coughed and stepped into the hall. He said, "I heard the sound of drums in the County Yamen. I didn't know what happened, so I hurried here to check it out. Magistrate, Magistrate, what's going on? "

Magistrate Hua stood up and said, "Ah! Register Wang, please take a seat. I've just heard about it from Magistrate Ye. "

Register Wang sat down and looked at Ye Xiaotian. Ye Xiaotian smiled and said, "It happened in a hurry. After I received the news, I was afraid that the thief would escape. So I acted first and reported later. Please forgive me, Magistrate …"

Ye Xiaotian continued what he was doing. But because Register Wang came late, he briefly repeated what he had said to Hua Qingfeng. After listening to him, Register Wang said in a serious tone, "Magistrate, you're too rash!"

Ye Xiaotian winked at him and said with a smile, "I'm a rash person. Ever since I became an official, I've been meditating and meditating. I feel that I'm much steadier than before. But I wonder what Registrar Wang is talking about when he says he is reckless? "

Register Wang said unhappily, "Can the account book of Moon Bay Shipping Company be used as evidence? That's just the account book of a civilian carriage company. Who can guarantee its reliability? "

Ye Xiaotian touched his chin and said with a smile, "Then in Register Wang's opinion, we should use the tax account book as the standard? That's an accountant hired by the government. There's the seal of the tax department on the account book and all kinds of receipts at the bottom. Of course it's the most reliable! "

Ye Xiaotian's smile suddenly disappeared and he said in a low voice, "Unfortunately, if they want to fake it, it's still fake even if they put a hundred seals on it. Moon Bay Shipping Company only ferries goods. The purpose of the account book is to pay the shipwrights according to the numbers. Secondly, it's convenient to calculate their daily income and expenses. There's no other conflict of interest. So although it's a shipping company's account book, it's much more reliable than our government's account book! "

Register Wang looked at him coldly and said, "Lord Ye, justice and prison matters are your duty. I don't want to say much. But we're both officials and colleagues. Seeing that you're so rash, as a senior, I can't not remind you. You should know that if you're determined to be corrupt based on the account book of a shipping company, you can't stop if you can't produce solid evidence! "

Ye Xiaotian nonchalantly picked up the tea, blew the tea foam and said, "Do you want solid evidence? My people are searching their homes. I don't believe there's no solid evidence! "

As soon as these words came out, Hua Qingfeng and Register Wang stood up in shock. Hua Qingfeng got up in a hurry and his sleeve knocked over a cup of tea. The two turned pale with fright. Hua Qingfeng rushed to ask, "What? Magistrate Ye, you … you sent people to search their homes? "

Ye Xiaotian said unhurriedly, "Why are the two of you so surprised? I didn't search their homes, I searched their homes. "

Hua Qingfeng stamped his feet and said, "Isn't that the same! You … you … Aiya, my Lord Ye Qingyu, this time, you're really too reckless, too reckless. "

Ye Xiaotian looked at Hua Qingfeng with an amused look, and then turned to Register Wang.

Register Wang sneered and shouted in a deep voice, "Magistrate Ye, you're so arrogant. You dare to search your colleagues' homes without being convicted! If you just got some evidence and suspected them of corruption, it's not wrong to ask them to cooperate with the investigation. But now you just rely on some evidence that can't be used as evidence, and brazenly order to arrest them, and even want to search their homes. Now it's not a question of whether you're rash or not, but you're breaking the law knowingly! "

Ye Xiaotian looked up at the sky, rolled his eyes, and said lazily, "I want it to be legal? Easy … I can find a few people at any time and claim that they were robbed, and they saw it with their own eyes. The robbers are the people that I want to arrest and search. Then I will arrest people and search their homes, right? "

Hua Qingfeng fainted with anger when he heard these words. Register Wang had seen domineering, arrogant, cowardly, and cunning, but he had never seen such a rogue official. He was also trembling with anger because of Ye Xiaotian's words, "Magistrate Ye! You … you're an official of the imperial court. How can you say this kind of thing, and in this court! What is the law and justice in your heart! "

"Pa!"

Ye Xiaotian slammed the teacup on the table and stood up suddenly, "The law and justice? Register Wang, you're talking about the law and justice in front of me? I've suppressed bandits, restored public security, fetched water from the mountains to solve the drought in the two villages, worked my heart out, and was loyal to the imperial court. But when an official document came down, I became a prisoner and was escorted to Nanjing City. Excuse me, was I convicted at that time? "

Registrar Wang was startled and said, "This … this …"

Ye Xiaotian said, "At that time, I was a historian, an official of the imperial court! With my status, I should still retain the treatment of an official. Why was I escorted to Nanjing in a prison cart? The law and justice? The word 'official' has two mouths, the power is great, but it depends on what he wants! Now that you're talking to me about the law, I can only laugh … "

Register Wang was so angry that his old face turned red. He pointed at Ye Xiaotian and trembled all over, unable to say a word.

Hua Qingfeng also felt that Ye Xiaotian had some groundless evidence and made such a big fuss. He was afraid that things would get out of hand. He couldn't help saying, "Magistrate Ye, you're making such a big fuss. If you can't get any evidence, how will you end up?"

Ye Xiaotian slowly sat down and held the teacup in his hand again. He was silent for a long time, then leisurely said, "There's a saying: it's easy to change mountains and rivers, but it's hard to change a person's nature. I'm such a person! Whoever wants to compete with me, then let's fight to the death! If the fish doesn't die, the net will break! "

… …

Chen Muyan's house wasn't big. They searched inside and out, but didn't find many valuable things. Chen Muyan looked at them searching inside and outside with a sneer on her face.

"Your Excellency, there's nothing."

"Your Excellency, there's nothing."

Zhang Dianshi listened to the reports one by one and his face was slightly sweaty.

Ma Hui wandered around and even went through the woodshed. Unwilling to give up, he went back to Chen Muyan's study. Chen Muyan's study wasn't big and didn't have any valuable furnishings. There were only some calligraphy and paintings hanging on the walls. It was easy to find a place to hide things.

Ma Hui patted the wall and tested it a few times. Ma Hui furrowed his brows when he heard that the wall was solid. The reason why Deputy Magistrate Ye didn't follow the rules was that it was very difficult to solve the case according to the normal judicial procedures. In the process, the hidden force in Hulu County could obliterate all the evidence of the crime.

However, Ye Xiaotian had done so, and the price he had to pay was that if he failed, his future would be ruined. It didn't matter how many illegal methods he had used to solve the case. What was important was whether the result could prove his previous conjecture. At times like this, a hero was judged by his success or failure.

Ye Xiaotian dared to take this risk because he had already grasped all kinds of clues and was sure that there was something wrong with these people. But if he couldn't find any evidence, it would be meaningless. Chen Muyan was the tax ambassador. If he was a member of the smuggling group, it was impossible that he didn't get a lot of benefits. If he was honest, it would prove that all of Ye Xiaotian's inferences were wrong. If that was the case, it would be a disaster!

Thinking of the pros and cons, Ma Hui stamped his feet angrily. He could imagine what would happen to those who followed Magistrate Ye wholeheartedly if he were to fall. As he stamped his feet, Ma Hui suddenly shivered. The sound under his feet seemed to be a little hollow.

He quickly looked down at the ground. He was sitting behind a desk in an old-fashioned wooden armchair. The armrests were very shiny because of the friction. Ma Hui stamped the ground again. The floor was made of green bricks and nothing unusual could be seen, but the sound was indeed a little hollow.

Ma Hui immediately crouched on the ground like a hunting dog and carefully observed for a long time. Then he turned his head and shouted, "Someone, move this desk away!"

Starting from the foot of the wall, the green bricks were pried off and piled up to one side. Below them was a square hole that was less than half a foot deep. A wooden board covered the top. When it was lifted, there was a dark entrance. At this time, a thin constable had already jumped in, and the torch was flickering inside.

The silver ingots on the floor of the study kept increasing. The white snowflake silver that had just been dug out was completely covered by the black silver ingots. Chen Muyan's face was ashen when he saw the silver that they had dug out. His legs trembled for a long time, and finally, his body tilted and he collapsed on the ground.

Zhang Dianshi looked at the dark and dull silver ingots. They had changed color because they had been stored in the cellar for too long. He then looked at the simple layout of the study and was puzzled. "The silver has gone moldy. Obviously, Ambassador Chen only stored it but didn't spend it. He can't eat meat and vegetables, and he can't live in a simple house. He doesn't have a son, and he only has one daughter. Why is he greedy for so much money? I really don't understand … "