Chapter 185: Investigating the Zhou Residence

Good!

The first real confession is finally in my hands!

Mo Xiaobai couldn’t help raising his fist in excitement. He opened his mouth to speak but saw Li Guang rushing over: “My Lord, this subordinate has investigated. The night watchman from the past was close friends with the County Commandant, He Yin. Apart from the watchman patrolling inside the County City, his two brothers also worked under He Yin.”

“The County Commandant? The one who went out of the county to hunt bandits?”

Mo Xiaobai smiled, and there was a bit of mockery in his expression: “It seems Ziwu County is truly a place where snakes and rats live in one hole. Go and get Maogong. I have something to instruct him.”

Half a censer of time later, Li Ji arrived at the County Government Office with ten new recruits.

As soon as Li Ji arrived, Mo Xiaobai spoke directly to give orders: “Maogong, I have three important tasks for you now. First, send someone to detain the night watchmen of Ziwu County. Second, seal the ‘Chunli Building’ and take Miss Yun and the cook, Lin San, away with you. Third, find a few reliable new recruits to spread the news that the bandit leader is actually hiding inside the County City and has been caught red-handed by my men.”

“Carry out all three tasks simultaneously without the slightest delay. I do not want any information to leak, which would give our opponents even a tiny fraction of time to react.”

“Fengxiao, Flying General, we can now go to the Zhou Residence to meet that big landowner, Zhou Dashen.”

The truth was almost on the surface now, and only then did Mo Xiaobai feel confident enough to deliver the final blow.

The reason for not visiting the Zhou Residence before was the fear of exposing his weakness in interrogation and extracting information. Now, the situation was different. Mo Xiaobai already had enough information.

He could go and test the Zhou family to see how hard their door walls really were.

Both groups acted together. Li Ji went ahead to command his men to arrest people, while Mo Xiaobai brought Guo Jia and Li Guang to the Zhou Residence.

At this moment, the entire Zhou Residence was covered in white cloth, and Zhou Yi’s funeral hall was also set up in the Zhou family.

No one in the Zhou family dared to stop the arrival of the three. They first went to the front of the funeral hall to light three sticks of incense for the deceased. Mo Xiaobai glanced at a young boy kneeling on the ground, and a bit of amusement once again appeared on his lips.

“Where is your master?”

“The First Master nearly fainted from grief over the death of the Second Master. He has been resting in the back courtyard these past two days, and it is the Lady who has been taking care of him.”

“It seems the two brothers of the Zhou family have very deep feelings for each other, which is truly admirable.” Mo Xiaobai matched his words with a low sigh, then looked at the old man beside him: “I wonder how long the steward has served in the Zhou Residence?”

“It has been about six or seven years. Before, the old steward passed away from illness, and the First Master sent his whole family back to their hometown, so I joined the Zhou Residence.”

Mo Xiaobai nodded silently after hearing this: “Six or seven years, it seems the steward must be deeply trusted by your master. Now that the County Magistrate of the Zhou family has suddenly encountered this change, you have set up the funeral hall to mourn, and I suspect he must have instructed you on many things.”

“In normal times, that would be true. However, in recent days, the First Master has rarely given any instructions. Even the arrangement of the funeral hall was handled entirely by the Lady.”

“Oh?”

Coming out of the funeral hall, Mo Xiaobai raised his eyebrows again: “Lead the way. Since we are here, we must meet your master.”

“County Magistrate, this way please.” The steward did not refuse and immediately led Mo Xiaobai forward.

A moment later, when Mo Xiaobai walked into a bedroom.

The first thing he saw was the deceased County Magistrate’s brother, Zhou Ding, lying in bed, and the Zhou family lady accompanying him.

After exchanging greetings, Mo Xiaobai stopped Zhou Ding from trying to get up and waved his hand to sit down beside the bed: “I am new here. I should have come yesterday, but due to official duties, I was delayed until today. Although there are many complicated matters in the county, rest assured, I will certainly give your Zhou family an explanation.”

“If My Lord can investigate the truth behind my younger brother’s death and bring the criminals to justice, I, Zhou Ding, will be eternally grateful.” The man lying in bed seemed to be quite ill. After speaking with difficulty, he began to cough.

“Are you so seriously ill? Have you seen a doctor?”

“Replying to My Lord, my master has a heart sickness. Several doctors said he can only rest quietly.”

Seeing the Zhou family lady reply, Mo Xiaobai immediately shook his head: “Those are just words of incompetent doctors. When people are sick, they must take medicine. It is like when one is hungry, one must eat. How can resting quietly work? Luckily, there is a famous doctor who came with me this time. Her medical skills are amazing, and she can handle both the living and the dead. This morning, she even told me a secret. Making the dead eat? That is also very easy to achieve.”

“What does My Lord mean? How does the dead eating relate to my master?”

“Hehe, just a casual remark, just a casual remark.”

Mo Xiaobai kept his words brief and then smiled: “I just want to tell you that the person I brought is a Divine Doctor. Wait a moment, and I will send someone to invite her to the residence for a consultation. I guarantee that you will be able to stand up vibrant and energetic tomorrow.”

After saying that, he immediately got up and made a gesture as if to call Li Guang from outside the room.

“No need, no need. It is just a minor issue. It does not require My Lord or the Divine Doctor to trouble themselves. My master will be fine after lying in bed for a day or two.”

The woman’s voice came from behind. Mo Xiaobai’s lips curved slightly upward, and he turned back to say: “You are a strange woman. I am seeking a doctor for your husband, yet you repeatedly block me. Do you know what you are doing? Or do you have other schemes?”

“I, I am not, not!”

“Not what? If you cannot explain the reason today, this County Magistrate will first punish you for the crime of deliberately plotting to harm your own husband!”

Just as Mo Xiaobai raised his voice, Zhou Ding, who was lying in bed, propped himself up: “My Lord misunderstood. It is I who do not wish to see any doctor anymore. I only want to rest quietly for a while. My Lord need not hold her, a woman, responsible.”

“You yourself do not wish to? Fine, let it be that I was overstepping.”

Mo Xiaobai stopped in his tracks and turned around to speak: “My original intention was to make you recover faster. Because the murderers are currently all under my control. Even if there are a few fish that slipped through the net, they cannot escape. In two days, the court session for this case will begin. If you are able to walk, it would be better if you came to listen.”

“If My Lord discovers the killer, I will certainly go.”

“Very well, then you rest assured and take your rest. I will return to the County Government Office first. There is a huge pile of official business waiting to be processed over there.” After finishing his words, Mo Xiaobai turned and walked out of the room, leading Li Guang and Guo Jia to slowly leave the Zhou Residence.

“My Lord, did we gain anything from this visit?”

“Heh~ We gained a lot.”

Mo Xiaobai gave a hidden smile and then looked at Li Guang: “Flying General, I will have to trouble you again. Keep a close watch on this main gate. If anyone comes out, see where they go.”

“Yes!”

Li Guang clasped his fist and agreed, then quickly went to find a place to hide.

As soon as Li Guang left, Mo Xiaobai turned to Guo Jia: “Fengxiao, did you gain anything? Did you find out how the Zhou brothers were related in the past?”

“Jia just asked a few elderly servants in the residence. They all said that Zhou Yi and Zhou Ding had very deep feelings as brothers. After Zhou Yi’s death, Zhou Ding adopted his own youngest son as Zhou Yi’s heir because Zhou Yi had no children during his lifetime.”

“Brothers with deep affection? We will know tonight whether it is true or not!”