Martial Arts: Starting from a Seemingly Real System

Qiao Rui, Lao Yu from the Industry Department and the head of the police, Chen Nian, worked together to analyze the case of Tian Jing poisoning her husband. Through careful analysis, they soon came to a conclusion.

"So, the first thing we have to do is find that gangster?" asked Lao Yu.

"Yes, hiring a killer like this would cost at least 180 taels of silver. With such a large sum of money, the hooligans would usually spend their days drinking and having fun in gambling houses and brothels. Those with a little brains might buy land and real estate." Chen Nian analyzed. He was good at this kind of thing, so he made the arrangements without hesitation: "Old Yu, go to the company and check the transaction records within 100 taels of silver to see if there are any unusual people who have purchased land and real estate. Qiao Rui, you are good at martial arts, go and monitor Lu Yanjun to see if you can find any clues. I will take people to investigate the rest of the gambling houses and brothels. There is no time to lose, everyone should act separately!"

"Okay!" Qiao Rui and Lao Yu said at the same time.

Everyone hurriedly ate some food and drinks, then went their separate ways.

Qiao Rui went out and wandered around the Lotus Inns and Lotus Restaurants in the city, looking for Lu Yanjun. It was not until the evening that he found Lu Yanjun, who was drunk, in a restaurant. He was followed by a tall and strong man who seemed to be a master. Qiao Rui did not dare to get too close for fear of being discovered by him.

Following far behind, Lu Yanjun walked into the main branch of his family's Lotus Inn. Qiao Rui sneaked in under the cover of night and watched Lu Yanjun return to his room. The big man was sleeping next door. Qiao Rui did not return to rest until Lu Yanjun fell asleep.

The next day at the hour of Mao, Qiao Rui got up to monitor Lu Yanjun. This guy slept until the hour of Chen before getting up to eat, then wandered around the streets, flirting with girls, but he didn't dare to go too far, just slurping and taking advantage of them. He drank at noon, listened to books in a teahouse in the afternoon, and invited a few young masters from aristocratic families to a brothel for a drink at night, and didn't return until the hour of Hai. Although this day was a life of debauchery and a typical dandy behavior, there was really nothing unusual.

Three days passed in a flash, and Lu Yanjun was fine. The bodyguard was always with him, leaving Qiao Rui no chance to mask Lu Yanjun and torture him. Qiao Rui sighed inwardly, it seemed that he had to rely on the power of the Sky Guards, but he didn't know if the stubborn old man Chen would agree to help him.

Today is the day that Qiao Rui and the county magistrate agreed upon. In one hour, the court will reopen the case of Tian Jing poisoning her husband. Qiao Rui and Lao Yu met each other, and neither of them noticed it. They shook their heads regretfully. Lao Yu sighed, "Now it all depends on Chen Nian!"

“Yeah!” Qiao Rui responded. Seeing Old Yu’s anxiety, he chuckled and said, “Don’t worry, Uncle Yu. Even if Chen Nian doesn’t have any clues, I still have another plan!”

"Oh?" Old Yu glanced at Qiao Rui. This guy is quite capable!

After waiting for a while, there was still no news from Chen Nian, so Qiao Rui decided to go to Changyun Coach and Horse Shop to try to find Old Chen. At this moment, Lu Jia came running over and said out of the blue, "He's caught. Mr. Chen is interrogating him. Don't worry!" After that, he ran away. He also had to inform the county magistrate.

At noon, the county magistrate came to the court. The runners on both sides shouted "Weiwu" together. Chen Nian brought Tian Jing to the court, and also brought in a thin man with a pointed chin and a pale face. The man knelt on the ground, trembling.

The county magistrate slammed the gavel, startling the man. He shouted, "What's your name, man, and what do you do in the city?"

The man shuddered at the sound of the gavel, and stammered in response to the county magistrate's question, "I am Niu Er... I have no business, I just find some honest and dull people in the city to earn some spare money to live!"

"Then why did you poison Bi Yuntao? What grudge do you have against him?" asked the county magistrate.

"No, it wasn't me, he poisoned himself!" Niu Er replied tremblingly.

"Ridiculous! How could you poison yourself? Niu Er, tell me everything you know. If you dare to lie, you will be severely punished!" The county magistrate slammed the gavel and shouted.

"It really wasn't me. I was also instructed by someone, Mr. Huang, the shopkeeper of Yunlai Inn. Master, please have mercy on me!" Niu Er was so scared that he was trembling with tears streaming down his face. He cried and kowtowed.

Huh? There was an uproar in the crowd, as if a pot had exploded. How could it be related to Huang the shopkeeper? And he was from Yunlai Inn. This case was really complicated.

Even Qiao Rui's expression changed. He never expected that this matter was actually related to the shopkeeper Lao Huang. No wonder he took a leave of absence and stayed at home instead of reporting to the inn today.

Upon hearing this, the county magistrate immediately ordered Captain Chen to bring Manager Huang to the court, and then continued to interrogate Niu Er, "How did Manager Huang instruct you, and how did you poison him? Tell me one by one!"

"Manager Huang, Manager Huang was afraid that Tian Jing would take his position as manager, so he gave me ten taels of silver and asked me to take the opportunity to seduce Bi Yuntao. Bi Yuntao is narrow-minded and very suspicious of his wife. I provoked him and he fell into the trap. He went to the Yunlai Inn and made a big scene, causing Tian Jing to quit his job." Niu Er said.

"Since Tian Jing has resigned, she is no longer a threat to Manager Huang. Why did you still want to poison Bi Yuntao?" the county magistrate asked with a frown.

"I really didn't poison her," Niu Er said defensively, and then said, "It was Shopkeeper Huang. Two days after that incident, he found me again and gave me 100 taels of silver, asking me to instigate Bi Yuntao to poison Tian Jing!"

"What? It's not you who want to poison Bi Yuntao? Instead, you instigated Bi Yuntao to poison Tian Jing?" Everyone was talking at once. Wasn't this reversal too sudden?

Niu Er continued, "I asked Manager Huang why he did this, but he didn't tell me. He just gave me a set of excuses to follow, and told me that even if something happened, it would have nothing to do with me, because it wasn't me who did it. For the sake of the one hundred taels of silver, I..."

"What did you say to Bi Yuntao?" the county magistrate asked in a deep voice. He felt that although this case was bizarre, it would finally be solved.

Niu Er looked at Tian Jing who was kneeling beside him awaiting trial, then looked at the county magistrate and said, "Manager Huang asked me to tell Bi Yuntao that Tian Jing had been flirting with Boss Qiao at Yunlai Inn all day long, and I'm afraid he had already betrayed her. It's ridiculous that he didn't even realize he was cuckolded. Sure enough, Bi Yuntao was furious and threatened to cut them into pieces."

"After venting for a while, Bi Yuntao started to cry again, saying that his martial arts skills were wasted and he couldn't kill the couple. I told him at the right time that he could swap the poisoned buns used to poison rats with the buns that Tian Jing usually ate. I guess something went wrong after the swap and he accidentally ate them, which led to his death from the poison."

"Puff!" Tian Jing, who was kneeling beside him, suddenly straightened his body, spat out a mouthful of blood, and slowly fell down.

Qiao Rui was shocked. Without thinking much, he moved to Tian Jing's side and asked anxiously, "Tian Jing, what's wrong with you?"

Tian Jing's face was as pale as paper, she was drowsy, and she was mumbling, "Why, why do you do this to me!"