I am born with insufficiency

Chapter 18

The county magistrate Lu had to wait patiently. He held the chopstick rest in his hand for a long time and then put it down again.

When the old man stopped coughing and the old woman breathed evenly, the two were smiling, but they were not in a hurry to answer the county magistrate's question.

Zhu Ding felt very uncomfortable being caught in the middle, but there was a group of servants such as Lu Yang in front, and Ling An and Gu Buquan in the back, and the servants of Zhu's house just mingled among the guests to watch the fun, without any hope, and suddenly became gloomy face.

"Old man, I want to play with his big finger." The old woman's white hair covered most of her face, and her voice was old but soft, which made people get goosebumps.

"It's easy to say, whatever my old lady wants, I'll pick the stars in the sky for you too." Looking at the old woman's pampering face, the old man put a palm under Zhu Ding's nose with a smile, and shook it.

"What do you two old dry woods want to do?" Zhu Ding said angrily.

"Didn't I just say it, my old lady has taken a fancy to your big finger wrench and wants to borrow it for fun."

Before Zhu Ding could speak in the future, the old man had already grabbed his wrist, and his big green finger was immediately pulled off and handed to the old woman's palm.

The old woman smiled instantly.

"Old Kusang, are you robbing in front of everyone in broad daylight? If the county magistrate doesn't decide for me today, I will go to the government office and sue you for lax governance and education. Funing Prefecture will not succeed. , report it to the Fuzhou government, I don’t believe you can cover the sky with one hand.”

After all, Zhu Ding followed the master when he was an official in Taichang Temple, and he was well aware of the secrets. To deal with a small seventh-rank county magistrate, he only needs to use his superior to overpower him.

County magistrate Lu really liked this, his expression changed instantly, and he slammed the "gavel" down, smashing it to pieces.

"The two old men are old and disrespectful. How can this county allow you to be presumptuous here? If you have evidence, tell us quickly. If you don't, this official will punish you for the crime of false accusation, and you will be beaten forever."

"Yes, one of you is not at the scene, and the other is dim-sighted. Why do you believe that I killed the person?" Zhu Ding's voice was higher than that of County Magistrate Lu.

"The evidence is in this finger." The old woman held the big finger in her palm and looked at it in turn in front of the crowd. Monk Zhang Er couldn't figure it out.

Gu Buquan shook his head, raised his eyes inadvertently, just met Ling An and shook his head lightly, then gave him a slight nod knowingly.

This extremely subtle movement was noticed by the old woman, and she turned in front of her like a whirlwind, spread her big finger under her eyes, then turned her head and said softly to the old man in her rough voice, "Old man, someone Unconvinced."

"I'll be convinced when I let them open their eyes." The old man looked at the old woman's eyes as always doting, held up the old woman's palm, and exhaled towards the palm, "Open."

I saw that the red silk thread wrapped around the big wrench was broken one after another, and the wrench bounced away as if by magic, it looked like a delicate little box, and there were a few bright needles in the box.

It turns out that this big finger is actually a hidden weapon, with a poisonous needle hidden inside, as long as the mechanism is lightly pressed, the poisonous needle will fly out, killing people.

After a terrible silence, everyone came back to their senses.

"It turns out that it was you, the slave, who killed Master Taichang and Miss Qiao'er."

Zhu Ding's complexion changed suddenly, he turned his head and wanted to run, but was immediately surrounded by angry guests.

"Slave dog, killed my father." Zhu Yuanbao stepped forward and punched and kicked.

"You dog, you still want to withhold my money." Qi Liuhai also took the opportunity to step up and slap Zhu Ding hard on the ear, and finally let out a breath of anger.

"Old dog, pay back my Qiaoer's life." Tang Wang greeted Zhu Ding's most painful spot with every punch.

Sixi was also dragged forward by Li Zheng's arm.

"My old arms and legs can't move anymore, Sixi, beat me hard, beat me to death, and avenge Qiao'er."

Sixi hesitated, but in the end he didn't make a move. Everyone looked at him and shook their heads, saying that he was really not a man.

"What a waste, thank goodness I didn't marry Qiaoer to you." Lizheng cursed, swung his old arms and legs and went into battle himself.

With a bruised nose and a swollen face, Zhu Ding cried and howled: "I'm wronged, my lord, you said that you will judge the case impartially."

Lu County Magistrate Quan should turn a blind eye and ignore it. Who told Zhu Ding to use him as a scapegoat in such a bad way before, which made him almost lose his official authority and ask for help from an idiot. Now he doesn't need to take any action to report the crime. Revenge, why would he not do it?
Satisfied in his heart, he involuntarily made a circular motion on his left thumb, raised his eyes, and met Ling An's sharp gaze on him.

At the same time, Gu Buquan's eyes also fell on Lu County Magistrate's thumb.

"Cough cough cough... Be quiet!"

The county magistrate Lu coughed a few times, stopped the crowd, and then rescued Zhu Ding from the crowd's fists, and handed him over to Lu Yang for custody.

"I'm wronged, the little one really doesn't know the mystery hidden in the finger. Besides, the little one has always been by the master's side, and the master treats the young one with such kindness as a mountain. There is no suspicion. The young one has no reason to harm the master. There is also Miss Qiao'er. , she has no grievances with the little one, why did the little one want to harm her?

"Because you hate the old master's old tree sprouting forever youth."

Uh, what reason is this to kill?County magistrate Lu was so serious that it made people laugh.

"There is no reason to harm others, but you actually do harm, it must be due to your own interests." The old woman brushed her white hair, raised her chin and squinted at Ling An, "Stupid , look for it."

Ling An looked at her and stood still.

"drink--"

Ling An didn't listen to the old woman's commands, the old man was a little annoyed, and was about to explode, Gu Buquan smiled and said: "Although the idiot is stupid, he can't be manipulated by just anyone. Don't you just want to find the needle that the finger puller shoots out? Instruct the servants of the Zhu Mansion to look for it."

County magistrate Lu waved his hand: "Look for it, the main hall, the banquet, and all the places that Master Taichang has been to, I will carefully search for it."

The people from the county yamen went to battle with the servants from Zhu's mansion, and searched carefully. Sure enough, on the door frame of the main hall, on the edge of the wine table, they found several poisonous needles that were the same as those hidden in the wrench.

Zhu Ding's forehead was covered with cold sweat, and there was no reason to quibble.

"Say, why did you kill my father?" Zhu Yuanbao kicked Zhu Ding's chest with a "boom".

"Zhu Ding, this is the end of the matter, you don't need to argue anymore. Someone, the real culprit who killed Mr. Taichang has been found, and the culprit has been arrested and returned to the Yamen."

County magistrate Lu could be considered to have revenged Zhu Ding, but for some reason, with a look of anxiety, he grabbed the chopstick rest and slammed it on the wine table, intending to take Zhu Ding away.

"Slow down." The old man and the old woman did not agree, and immediately stopped them.

"It is true that the murderer has obtained all the stolen goods, but he has not yet been tried. There are at least a hundred people as witnesses, and it is too much trouble to go to the county government, and the old bones of the old man and the old woman are also punished." Don't be tired all the way."

The county magistrate Lu clearly showed displeasure on his face: "Then what will happen to the two of you?"

The old man chuckled: "According to the old man, since the magistrate of the county has already regarded this place as the court of the county government, why don't he take the criminal back after the trial? Why, is there anything we and the common people can't listen to?"

"That's right, it hasn't been tried yet, why on earth did he want to kill Master Taichang?"

Everyone knows that they are curious, and after being instigated by the old man, they all booed one after another, and more and more people from Maple Leaf Town came after hearing the news, almost breaking the gate of Zhu's mansion.

Everyone wants to know, this Zhu Ding has followed Master Taichang for decades, and has always been in harmony with his master and servant, why did he harm his master so much?
County magistrate Lu couldn't resist the momentum, so he had to sit down again.

"Forget it. Zhu Ding, you should quickly recruit from the truth, so that I can return to the Yamen sooner. The sun is about to set, doesn't it?"

"Quickly say it!" Zhu Yuanbao kicked Zhu Ding a few more times, forcing him to confess immediately, but Mrs. Taichang stepped forward to stop him.

"Bao'er, don't hurt him too much."

Mrs. Taichang asked Zhu Ding in a trembling voice: "Housekeeper, you are the master's attendant when you hit me into Zhu's house. For decades, the family has never regarded you as a real person. The master treats you like a brother, Yuan Bao The son is also your favorite, these eight younger sisters are all arranged by you to marry into the family, and they all treat you like relatives, and have never treated you badly, but why do you want to kill the master?"

"Ma'am..." Zhu Ding sighed, tearing up, "I have nothing to say, but I don't regret it."

According to Zhu Ding's confession, on the night of receiving the imperial decree, a masked man appeared in Zhu's mansion and threatened the lives of dozens of people in Zhu's mansion, so that Mr. Taichang could not come to Beijing to preside over the Queen Mother's birthday ceremony .

"Because you blocked the way of others." The masked man said.

(End of this chapter)