Making money, taking exams, and raising a family in rural imperial examinations

In fact, the Wei family's affairs were not very thorough at the beginning, it's just that no one thought about it deeply.

After a little careful analysis, many loopholes can be seen. How can there be so many coincidences in the world.

Lin Ze suspects Lin Jianwen the most. After all, the original body has a major conflict with him, and others will not spend a lot of time messing with the original body just out of jealousy.

However, Lin Jianwen seemed confident, and without any concrete evidence, he could only investigate from the servants of the Wei Mansion as a breakthrough point.

Apparently County Magistrate Wang and others thought the same way, and they all focused their attention on several related servants of the Wei Mansion, two servants and two maids, respectively the maids who guarded the arch in the backyard and the maids who waited on Wei Yunying.

Why didn't you guard the door and wait for the lady, and all of them ran away?Be honest!

"Big, my lord, the little one didn't lie, the little one was really called away because the front yard was too busy..."

"My lord, I am too. I was called away with Zhang Dali, and it was Housekeeper Liu who called me. Otherwise, we wouldn't dare to leave..."

"I'm going to serve hangover soup for the young lady..."

"I heard a stray cat calling to beat the cat. It was just by the window. Who knew Lin Xiucai broke in at this time."

The four servant girls each had their own testimonies, except for the last one who had a loophole. They were all witnesses, and they were really wronged when they cried.

They were unlucky to say the least, they were supposed to be assigned to work in the backyard to steal some free time, but who would have thought that a foreigner broke into the lady's boudoir by such a coincidence that day, so they were beaten bitterly at the beginning.

If Mr. Wei didn't care about the reputation of "benevolence and virtue", they might have been betrayed.

Especially the last one who said that she heard the cat barking and went to hunt wild cats. She almost cried to death. Everyone else had other things to do.

This maid is Xiao Xing'er, she is a pretty girl, her eyes are red from crying,

"My lord, it's really none of my business. I really went to hunt wild cats when I heard cats calling. Miss hates cats the most. If she finds that there are cats in the house and ran to her boudoir window, she will definitely be very angry. I was afraid that the cat would wake up the lady and be punished, so I hurried to beat the cat, woo woo..."

"You said you left after hearing the cat meowing. Do you have evidence? How can I trust you with empty words? You'd better tell the truth. Did you leave on purpose and let the outsider into the house?!"

County Magistrate Wang frowned and interrogated severely.

"I, I have no evidence, but it's really none of my business, my lord..."

Xiao Xing'er cried aggrieved and helplessly.

How could she produce evidence in this situation? Could it be that the wild cat was found to testify?Just kidding.

Although the other three people had evidence to prove that they were called away, they still couldn't get away with it. How could it be that they were all called away by such a coincidence?Who will believe it if it is not tricky.

Even Wei Hongyan himself didn't believe it.

At the beginning, I was so angry that I didn't think about it carefully, and I vented all my anger on Lin Ze. Now that I analyze it this way, the county magistrate's interrogation really has a lot of doubts.

How could it be such a coincidence!

Thinking of this, Wei Hongyan suddenly slapped the table with a sullen face, "You guys, tell me honestly, are you being bribed!"

If it is, then the nature of being designed by someone and Lin Ze's mistaken intrusion are very different.

"No, master, it's none of our business, woo woo..."

"Master, we are wronged, we are convicted based on guesswork, small wronged..."

A few related maids and servants were frightened, and denied it with mournful faces.

If you haven’t done it, you can’t admit it, even if you did it, you can’t admit it. If you bear the crime, you will suffer more than yourself, and your family members will also be sold.

Several people refused to admit it, and there was no conclusive evidence during the interrogation, so the scene froze for a while.

Ancient investigative methods were backward, and a small place like Qingshan County did not have the legendary "God's arrest", and there was no other way except to extract confessions by torture.

But now, in front of so many people, it is impossible to execute a sentence with just a doubt or guess, and the county magistrate Wang also has a headache.

Since the problem was caused by Lin Ze and he couldn't solve it, County Magistrate Wang immediately kicked the ball to him.

"Lin Xiucai, although they are doubtful, there must be solid evidence for conviction and sentencing. You say they were bribed, do you have evidence to prove it?"

"My lord, I don't have any evidence for now, but I have a few words I want to ask them."

"Yes, you can ask."

Magistrate Wang nodded.

Lin Ze turned around and walked in front of the four servant girls, and only when he saw a few people feeling uneasy with his calm eyes, did he speak out,

"You and you, both of you said that the housekeeper Liu in the house asked you to do something that day?"

"That's right, it's Steward Liu, if Steward Liu didn't call me, and there are two servant girls in the house, how dare we leave, let a foreigner break into the backyard, it's a crime to betray me..."

The two servants who were called were crying.

"What were you called to do that day?"

"Butler Liu said that the people serving in the front yard are not good enough, so he told me to serve tea and water in the front yard. Anyone who works in the front yard can testify to me..."

"I went to the back kitchen, butler Liu said the back kitchen was too busy, the lady in the kitchen can testify to me..."

The two young servants confessed tremblingly, not daring to hide anything.

There is nothing wrong with this explanation, and it is very logical. Considering that there are two servant girls in the yard waiting for him to walk away, although it is inappropriate, it is not impossible to temporarily mobilize the staff.

"No, Zhang Dali, the back kitchen is so busy. When I went to the back kitchen to serve hangover soup that day, it was obviously very relaxed. I even chatted with Mrs. Li, but I didn't see you here."

The maid in green clothes next to her suddenly said strangely, her name is Xiao Ping'er, and she was the one who left with the hangover soup.

Being questioned, Zhang Dali hurriedly made up his words in a panic,

"When I went to the back kitchen, the back kitchen was really not busy, so the lady in the kitchen asked me to move things. I didn't lie. You believe me, my lord. I twisted my handle when I moved things, and I went to buy them the next day. Boundary medicine..."

"How many servants are there in your house?"

Lin Ze continued to ask another topic before County Magistrate Wang took the gavel.

"Eighteen, because the master often holds tea parties and poetry gatherings at home, so there are more servants in our house."

The boy answered nana.

But hearing Wei Hongyan's uncomfortable expression, everyone looked away.

If they heard the rumors correctly, although Wei Hongyan is highly respected, he is still a master after all. It is not surprising that he can afford to live in a mansion and hire servants, but it is really hard to describe how to raise more than a dozen servants at home...

"I've heard of this Mr. Wei. Didn't he say that he is very respected and has a clean sleeve? His family actually has more than a dozen servants?"

"Don't you also say that you have heard about it, how can you believe the rumors, private schools are so expensive, it is not surprising that you are rich."

"That's true, but Mr. Wei is too exaggerated. The richest grandpa in our town seems to have only a dozen or twenty servants in his family..."

Everyone started a heated discussion because of the number of Wei family servants.

Although everyone's voice was very low, they got together, especially those at the bottom who were used to rough work and got used to loud voices. When Wei Hongyan heard all kinds of words, he almost wanted to kick the boy who answered.

The Yucai Private School is the best private school in Nanyang Town. How many members spend a lot of money to send their children there. Wei Hongyan himself is not so elegant and frugal, so he naturally wants to enjoy it when he has money.

But these are all closed in private, there is nothing wrong with spending your own money, but as a wife, being too extravagant is not a good thing...

"Ahem, Su Jing, Lin Xiucai, why are you asking these questions?"

Seeing that the discussion among the people became more and more heated, County Magistrate Wang hurriedly picked up the gavel and slapped the table to shake the scene.

Lin Ze glanced at Wei Hongyan, who had an uncomfortable expression, smiled lightly and turned around,

"My lord, I think the matter between me and Miss Wei can be revealed."

"Oh? What do you say?"

The county magistrate Wang suddenly regained his spirits, and the people watching the excitement around him also instantly pricked up their ears.

After asking a few questions, is there the truth?Did they hear correctly?

"My lord, it's very simple. There are a total of eighteen servants in Wei's residence. If I remember correctly, there were about twenty guests at the banquet that day. They were all Xiaosheng's classmates, and they were all students of Mr. Wei..."

"Let's subtract the four servants in the backyard first, then subtract the three who are busy in the kitchen and the one who guards the gate, which means that there should be 11 servants serving in the front yard that day..."

"And we were sitting together discussing poetry collections, and the servants were serving tea and water. Could it be that 11 servants could not serve more than [-] students?"

"Furthermore, Xiao Xing'er, who was left at the end, said that she heard a cat meowing at the time, and she was afraid that Miss Wei would be woken up and angry, because Miss Wei hated cats, so she ran to the window to hunt stray cats, and then ignored the door to let the outsider break in ..."

"Since Ms. Wei hates cats so much, with Mr. Wei and Mrs. Wei's character of doting on her daughter, there must be no cats in and around Wei's mansion. Wei's mansion is located in a wealthy street in Nanyang Town. I am asking, how did this wild cat come from? What? Why did you run to the Wei Mansion to call on that day by such a coincidence?"

"All kinds of coincidences must not be accidental. If you want to do this, you must be someone who knows the Wei family very well."

"To sum up, Xiaosheng dared to guess that there was no one in the backyard of the Wei Mansion because Steward Liu did it on purpose. As for why Steward Liu did this, I think the county magistrate should know when he brought him in for interrogation."

Lin Ze analyzed all the doubts and key points one by one.

So far, I can only get so much. What is the specific truth? Only by bringing Butler Liu here for interrogation can we know the strangeness.

"Come on, hurry up and go to Nanyang Town to bring Steward Liu from the Wei Mansion!"

County magistrate Wang took a heavy shot of the gavel and ordered.

The county seat is nearly two hours away from Nanyang Town to drive an ox cart, but it only takes less than half an hour to go there on horseback with light clothes. The government office usually has an official horse for office work, and this is the time to come in handy.