Upon hearing a clue, Ma Bing’s eyes sparkled. Immediately, he hastily stuffed the rest of his food into his mouth, stood up, and ran off.
The young woman selling lotus-leaf pancakes chased out behind him shouting, “Young lady, you haven’t paid yet!”
Without turning his head, Ma Bing shouted from afar, “That baby-faced guy will pay for it!”
The vendor was taken aback, looked around, first at Xie Yu, then at Yuanpei, and then, after a brief pause, stole another couple of glances at Xie Yu before finally fixing her gaze on Yuanpei.
Yuanpei: “…It’s not me!”
Instinctively, he turned his eyes to Xie Yu for help.
Xie Yu slowly blinked his eyes and actually stood up and left, saying, “Hurry up.”
Yuanpei: “…”
I didn’t even get to eat anything!
Later, after settling the bill and catching up, Yuanpei heard Xie Yu say he would personally lead the way.
While casting angry glances at Ma Bing, Yuanpei tried to appear indifferent: “Sir, why would you personally attend to such a trivial matter?”
Ma Bing made a face at him and giggled.
Yuanpei: “…”
Thirteen wén! Thirteen wén in just one morning! How hasn’t it choked you to death!
Standing expressionless between the two childish rivals who were exchanging hostile glances, Xie Yu said, “Since the neighbors of the suspect can see the reward and report, who’s to say the suspect’s family hasn’t seen it too? Therefore, we must prevent him from fleeing.”
If he indeed escaped, people needed to be immediately dispatched to capture him. If he didn’t go personally, many things would require back-and-forth consultations, thus wasting valuable time.
The constable who had come to report looked at the increasingly hostile Ma Bing and Yuanpei, wanting to laugh but not daring to, quickly replied, “Then I’ll go immediately to have someone fetch our horses.”
Just as Xie Yu was about to nod, he felt the intense gazes from both sides.
He pinched the bridge of his nose, “Prepare their horses as well.”
If the suspect had truly fled, they would need people skilled in tracking.
The three returned to the Kaifeng Prefecture to meet the informant. Meanwhile, others split up to prepare the horses, pack travel bags, and request various official documents from Tu Yao, and soon everyone was bustling about.
“Little servant’s humble name is Li Shuang. The man is named Song Fu, and he lives on the same street as me in the Whitehead Village of Qihé Town,” the informant, a burly man, spoke rapidly, his eyes gleaming with anticipation for the reward, “He usually works for Master Zhang in the city and rarely comes back, but about half a month ago, he started staying home.”
“Which Master Zhang?” asked Xie Yu.
Kaifeng Prefecture was teeming with high-ranking officials, and there were countless people surnamed Zhang. Without a given name, how could they identify the correct person?
Li Shuang was at a loss, scratching his head and muttering, “How would we commoners know the noble’s full name? We just know he’s surnamed Zhang… Oh, right! His house is on the east side of Xiaohuazhi Alley, Baihu Street. I once went there to deliver something. It has two black lacquered gates, quite impressive indeed.”
In the Great Lu Dynasty, officials of the fifth rank or above were allowed to paint their gates vermilion. Therefore, a house with black lacquered gates was not a legitimate aristocratic family, but likely a minor official, a petty clerk, or a merchant.
Li Shuang continued, “Initially, I didn’t think much of it. I assumed he had injured his leg and had come home to recuperate, after all, big households don’t keep idle people. If not at home, where else could he go?”
“When he returned, was his leg already injured? Which leg? And why was it injured?”
“The right leg. At that time, we even asked him, and Song Fu’s father just said it was an accidental fall while working, and his master was kind enough to let him come home…”
Xie Yu assigned a constable, “Go to the Household Bureau to check which family it is, whether there was indeed a servant named Song Fu working there, the true cause of his leg injury, and whether he had any conflicts with that ruffian, Lao Liu.”
They couldn’t just believe everything the informant said. The Kaifeng Prefecture had six bureaus, among which the Household Bureau was responsible for household registration, taxation, etc., and any changes in residence due to renting or selling houses in the civilian sector needed to be updated there promptly. This matter was best directed there.
The constable accepted the order and left. The informant’s small eyes sparkled with excitement, “Sir, I’ve said everything I know. What about the reward money?”
At the mention of money, Yuanpei frowned, “Why the rush? We naturally need to verify everything is correct. If it indeed proves to be him, we will give you the money then.”
As if the Kaifeng Prefecture would give money to just anyone who came in with a few tales? Nonsense!
Just then, Huo Ping came to report, “Sir, everything is ready.”
Xie Yu stood up, “Let’s go.”
Qihé Town was a town directly under the jurisdiction of Kaifeng Prefecture, located about twenty miles southwest. People from the town often went to the city to work. Xie Yu and others rode swiftly, reaching in less than half an hour.
Li Shuang had ridden a sturdy mule to come, which hadn’t moved quickly before, but now, surrounded by a group of tall horses, it ran desperately and didn’t fall far behind.
“Huff, huff,” both Li Shuang and his mule were exhausted, and he trembled as he pointed toward the village entrance, “I had my kids secretly watch from home, there’s no way he’ll escape, no way at all!”
He was determined to get that reward money!
Once inside the village, sure enough, a little girl with yellowish hair timidly came forward, “Dad, Uncle Fu ran away.”
Li Shuang: “…”
Everyone: “…”
What a load of nonsense!
Li Shuang quickly jumped off his mule, “When did he run away? Which way? Tell dad, and I’ll buy you some nice floral cloth for clothes later!”
What they had chased after wasn’t a person, no, it was their family’s food supply for the next two months!
The little girl’s eyes lit up, and she no longer seemed so afraid. She pointed east with her little hand and said clearly, “Right after you left, me and my brother heard some noise from that direction. Uncle Fu left early in the morning with a bundle on his back and led his mule out. We went home and told grandma. Grandma picked up two eggs and wanted to give them to Uncle Fu for nourishment, but Grandpa Song wouldn’t let her in. Later, when he realized he couldn’t hide it anymore, he said he was visiting relatives.”
Li Shuang stamped his foot, “Sir, that old Song is clearly lying! We’ve all lived in the same village for half our lives, who doesn’t know who? They only have a few relatives, all either in this village or the neighboring one, and it’s less than an hour’s walk. Why would he need to leave on a mule before dawn?”
The little girl whispered, “Grandma said the same thing.”
Despite knowing it was inappropriate, Yuanpei couldn’t help but laugh. Wow, your whole family has joined in on this!
Ma Bing was delighted. This little girl, though thin and small, had such a sharp tongue, quite likable indeed.
She casually took out a piece of candied dried fruit from her pouch, “You spoke so well, here, have this.”
The little girl looked up at her and then at Li Shuang. Li Shuang’s face turned red, not knowing where to put his hands, but eventually, with a thick skin, told his daughter to accept it.
Come to think of it, since when did the yamen have female bailiffs?
Xie Yu was not surprised by this outcome. Without delay, he divided the imperial guards and yamen runners from the Kaifeng Prefecture into four groups. Following the direction indicated by the little girl, they set out to encircle and pursue.
At present, the reward notices had already been posted throughout the major villages and towns around Kaifeng Prefecture. Song Fu would certainly not dare to stay overnight recklessly. Moreover, without a travel permit, even if he left Kaifeng, he couldn’t enter other towns and cities, leaving him no choice but to head towards the nearby mountains.
Song Fu was just an ordinary person, how would he know the importance of erasing his tracks along the way? After chasing for a while, they quickly found fresh mule hoofprints on the ground. Based on the description of Song Fu’s mule’s build and age from the little girl and Li Shuang, Ma Bing quickly identified one set.
Sure enough, he had entered the mountains.
Near Kaifeng, there were many mountains, with dozens of ranges stretching endlessly. If they didn’t hurry, once Song Fu escaped deeper into the mountains, it would truly be a case of seeing him but being unable to catch him.
Fortunately, Song Fu himself seldom went into the mountains and was unfamiliar with the trails. In terms of speed, he was far behind the well-trained imperial guards and yamen runners.
The forest in the mountains was dense, so riding horses would actually slow them down. Therefore, they tied up their horses at the foot of the mountain first and proceeded on foot.
Sure enough, not long after entering the mountains, they discovered Song Fu’s abandoned mule, which showed he had realized the burden of riding a mule in mountainous terrain.
Unaware of the situation, the mule was delighted to be led out by its young master for fresh grass, happily lowering its head to munch away, its tail swishing back and forth.
About half an hour later, Ma Bing heard two sharp bamboo whistles coming from the northwest.
Each military unit had similar ways of transmitting messages. Some used whistling arrows, others bamboo whistles, which could convey messages regardless of terrain and environment, allowing for quick communication.
When Ma Bing arrived, she saw a young man dressed in black being held down with his arms tied behind his back. Someone nearby was questioning him, “Are you Song Fu?”
At first, the man refused to admit it, but as he saw more people gathering around, his resolve crumbled, and he had no choice but to tremble and confess.
The yamen runner asked again, “Do you know Lao Liu? Why did you kill him?”
Ordinary people were often far removed from murder cases and prone to overthinking. They assumed that murderers must be vicious criminals who would inevitably cause a dramatic scene when arrested by the constables. Even when escorted back to the yamen, they would surely resist fiercely and refuse to confess.
However, in reality, unless they were born as natural-born killers, over 90% of murderers would be utterly terrified after committing the crime. Just hearing the word “yamen” would make them tremble with fear, and the sight of officials’ uniforms would leave them unable to resist.
Song Fu was no exception.
At first, he still held onto some hope, but now, hearing the bailiff ask like this, his heart sank.
“I… I didn’t mean to do it. He forced me, he forced me…”
Since it was a murder case, Tu Yao, the Prefect of Kaifeng, personally oversaw the trial, while Ma Bing openly mingled in the crowd to listen.
The yamen runners collected evidence from the Zhang family and cross-checked with Song Fu, confirming that his injury was not self-inflicted but rather caused by his employer.
Although Song Fu was not a servant born into the Zhang family, he knew how to endure hardship. After joining the Zhang household, he quickly became the personal servant of the young master. On that day, the Zhang family’s daughter and younger brother went out for a trip and, upon returning, went to a restaurant in the city for dinner. However, when they got off their carriage, a gang of ruffians saw them and began to tease them wantonly.
Miss Zhang, both ashamed and furious, scolded them a couple of times.
Rather than retreating, the ruffians found it even more amusing. Lao Liu, who prided himself on being good at charming women, stepped forward to mock them, scaring the Zhang siblings into crying loudly. They didn’t even eat their meal and fell ill upon returning home.
Master Zhang and Madam were furious, punishing and selling off those who had accompanied them that day. Song Fu was caught up in the aftermath, beaten with bamboo rods and then sent home.
Song Fu was naturally a proud person, how could he accept this willingly? He had always wanted to vent his anger, but Lao Liu and his gang were always in groups, giving him no chance to act.
“It was also heaven’s will that I was not forsaken. That day, I followed him again and heard him say he wanted to go to the wild graveyards, and my heart stirred with hope,” Song Fu gritted his teeth.
Tu Yao asked, “So you followed him and killed him?”
“No!” Song Fu turned red in the face. “I didn’t initially intend to kill him, but that guy didn’t even show any remorse, and…”
At first, he had only wanted to beat him up to vent his anger and let him taste the bitterness of a broken leg. However, he hadn’t expected Lao Liu not to recognize him at all! After hearing his explanation, Lao Liu even laughed and said, “That’s your master’s cruelty, what does it have to do with me?”
Song Fu was stunned.
Master Zhang might not have been particularly kind, but… how dare you?!
After harming others, how could you not feel the slightest guilt?
Song Fu was already angry, and now provoked like this, he felt a surge of rage swelling in his chest, making his head buzz loudly, almost exploding.
Seeing that Lao Liu didn’t even take him seriously and was about to turn and leave, Song Fu felt the string of “rationality” in his mind snap with a “pop!”
He bent down, picked up a stone from the ground, quickly stepped forward, and without saying a word, hit him hard, once, twice…
The case was solved, and Ma Bing’s mood was somewhat complicated.
Whose fault was it? It seemed like everyone was innocent, yet everyone also seemed to have some fault.
Lao Liu was indeed hateful, but perhaps his crime didn’t warrant death; Master Zhang, in defending his children, used ruthless methods, making the unreasonable seem reasonable; Song Fu failed to fulfill his duty as an attendant, seemingly deserving of his fate, but if Lao Liu hadn’t caused trouble in the first place, he wouldn’t have ended up in this situation…
On her way back to the herb garden in the evening, Ma Bing coincidentally met Xie Yu and couldn’t help but stop for a few words.
“Would you be interested in helping out with more cases in the future, Miss Ma?”
Under the moonlight, his eyes were full of encouragement, and his tone was gentle. Without hesitation, Ma Bing nodded vigorously, “Sure!”
It was actually quite interesting.
An hour later, lying on the kang bed, Ma Bing suddenly opened her eyes wide:
Wait a minute, didn’t I fall into a trap?
He clearly wanted me to do double the work for a single pay!
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