The Female Assistant of Wei Yuyan Shuangfei

The next day.

Just as Xie Shuting finished washing up, a maid came hurriedly and told her that Lord Xie had summoned her to discuss a case. She had no choice but to agree.

As soon as the maid left, Lian Xi said with a slightly complaining tone: "Miss! How old are you? How could you fall asleep in the garden yesterday?"

"I don't know why, but I felt a little sleepy after you left." Xie Shuting combed the hair around her ears, looking helpless.

Her body had been taken care of by the doctors at Huichuntang, and her qi and blood were in good condition, so she had no other underlying illness. But she took a short nap in the hospital yesterday, and her throat felt a little sore today.

Her voice was a little hoarse. Fortunately, Lian Xi had stewed some rock sugar and snow pears early in the morning. After she drank a small bowl of it, her voice gradually recovered.

Lian Xi fixed her hair and asked in a softer tone, "Miss! Isn't Doctor Li at Yuelai Inn? I'll go get some medicine later."

"Okay!" Xie Shuting nodded in response.

She didn't want to talk like a duck these days. Now that her body was unwell, she naturally had to take care of it early. What's more, Yan Shuang was still in Laigu County, and it was really inappropriate for her to meet him in her current state.

After Xie Shuting had packed up, the master and servant quickly walked towards the front yamen. As soon as they entered the main hall, they saw that everyone who should and shouldn't have come to the house had arrived.

All the six heads of the yamen were present, including Captain Cao, and even Xie Weiyuan sat on one side. Another clerk in blue stood respectfully at the door.

Xie Shuting naturally recognized him. He was the clerk who burned paper outside the county government office on the Double Ninth Festival, and he was also Zhang Yuan who temporarily replaced the head of the household office.

Xie Shuting quickly stepped forward, patted the head of the seat Xie Tingwen and said, "My daughter greets my father."

"Hmm!~" Everyone was stunned for a moment after hearing that.

Xie Tingwen frowned and asked with a hint of concern, "What's wrong with your throat?"

"I went to bed a little late yesterday and accidentally caught a cold at night. Don't worry, father."

"Have you found a doctor?" Xie Ningzhi asked hurriedly.

"I've found a doctor, brother, don't worry." Xie Shuting nodded to everyone as she spoke, then looked at Xie Tingwen and said, "Father! What happened today..."

"In the Zhang's house corpse hiding case, the current clues have been investigated clearly. I called you here to discuss how to try this case."

While speaking, Xie Tingwen gave Sun Cheng a look, who instantly understood what he meant. He took out the prepared files from his sleeves and distributed them to everyone.

Sun Cheng glanced at everyone, and then said loudly: "Zhang Lei! He is from Laigu County. His family is well-off and he has never suffered any hardship since he was a child. He took over the Zhang family grain store after his father passed away. His business is also ordinary, but there is nothing outstanding. In the 22nd year of Jingyun, his first wife Zhang Wang died of illness, and he married Zhang Han from Hanjiazhuang as his second wife. He has a son and a daughter."

"Yeah!~"

Xie Tingwen nodded approvingly, looking at the file in his hand, and couldn't help but ask: "According to the file, Zhang Lei had no grudges against anyone, so why was the whole family killed?"

"I have also sorted out the matter according to the information I collected. Zhang Lei is a kind person. He has done a lot of work in building bridges and roads. He almost had a dispute with others." Sun Cheng responded hurriedly.

"He did good deeds and didn't quarrel with anyone. It must be no small matter for such a person to be exterminated." Xie Shuting pondered for a moment before looking at Zhang Yuan and asked, "Can the Household Department calculate Zhang Lei's wealth?"

Zhang Yuan was suddenly called out by name. He panicked and hurriedly stepped forward and leaned over to say, "I checked the account books of the Zhang family's grain store and found that the Zhang family's surplus silver deposits over the years were no more than 20,000 strings of silver. The accounts were also clear and there was no abnormality found."

What Zhang Yuan called "nothing unusual" was unusual to Xie Tingwen and his daughter. After all, only the two of them had seen that small account book.

After decades of operation, the bank had only 20,000 strings of silver in reserve, but 50,000 strings of silver were buried under Zhang's garden. The origin of this silver was quite interesting.

The father and daughter looked at each other and understood each other tacitly. They did not make the matter of the account books public. After all, this matter was not of much help to the case.

After hearing Zhang Yuan's report, Xie Tingwen looked at Sun Cheng again, and asked with a puzzled look on his face: "Did you find anything out of the ordinary during your visit?"

"unreasonable?"

Sun Cheng thought for half a minute, then shook his head and said, "Sir! I didn't find anything wrong. Zhang Lei's incident was too common. I couldn't see anything wrong. Please punish me, sir."

"It's not your fault. After all, it's been more than a year." Xie Tingwen waved his hand and then glanced at the file. Han Qi's name instantly caught his eye.

"This Han Qi is Zhang Lei's brother-in-law. How did he successfully take over the grain store?"

As soon as Xie Tingwen finished speaking, Zhang Yuan beside him hurriedly said, "Sir! Zhang Lei was imprisoned a year ago, and his family members were nowhere to be found. According to the laws of the Song Dynasty, if there are no relatives to take over these shops, they will be taken over by the government. Later, a man named Han Qi found me, and it was me who helped him pass the shop on to his name."

"Oh! The person in charge of the Household Department at that time was Qian Ming. How did you do it?" Xie Tingwen couldn't help but ask.

Zhang Yuan was able to attend the meeting today, which was also the plan of Xie Tingwen and his daughter. After they checked everyone, the spearhead of the Zhang's house corpse case was directly pointed at Zhang Yuan.

In order to scare the enemy, the father and daughter tacitly dragged Zhang Yuan into the water, with the original intention of obtaining more information about the unsuspecting person from the other party.

Hearing Xie Tingwen's question, Zhang Yuan did not show any fear. He stroked his hand and said, "Sir! I was just an intermediary at the time. I am not sure about the specific details. It is possible that the two of them had financial dealings."

"This kid is still on guard. Who is he guarding against?" Xie Shuting muttered to herself.

Xie Tingwen also realized that the other party was still unwilling to give in, and then looked at Sun Cheng and said, "Master Sun! What are the results of the autopsy?"

"Reporting to you, sir! The coroner has counted and found that all the bodies were killed by blunt instruments, and those people must have been tortured before they died. The bones showed multiple fractures, not posthumous ones. However..."

"But what? Tell me in detail."

Sun Cheng did not dare to hide it and said hurriedly: "Sir! After the coroner's inspection, he found that one of the bodies had six toes. I did not record this."

"Six fingers?" Xie Tingwen asked with a puzzled look on his face.

Xie Shuting listened to Sun Cheng's report, but her eyes were always on Zhang Yuan. When Sun Cheng said "one of the bodies had six toes", Zhang Yuan's expression changed instantly.

His originally clear eyes showed a hint of barely perceptible panic. Xie Shuting's gaze was also noticed by Xie Ningzhi.

"What are you doing, little sister? Is there something wrong with this clerk?" Xie Ningzhi couldn't help but feel a little doubtful.