My Promotion Story Through Time Travel

Chapter 79 Returning to Pingding Village

"Hmm~ Hmm~" With limited funds, Lin Ziping and Lao Huang found a donkey cart and headed towards Pingding Village. The donkey cart moved slowly along the rugged road, with the old man driving the cart occasionally cracking his whip, accompanied by the braying of the donkey.

"Hmm, have we arrived?" Old Huang, who had been lying on the donkey cart, suddenly sat up and asked.

The old man driving the cart took a puff of his pipe and replied leisurely, "Sir, it's still early."

Lin Ziping gradually calmed down from his initial anxiety. He even picked a large leaf from the roadside and leisurely fanned himself in the breeze.

"I'll lie down for a while longer. Call me when Xiao Lin arrives," Old Huang said, and then lay down again.

The old man driving the cart smiled and said to Lin Ziping, "Young man, why don't you lie down and rest for a while?"

"No need." Lin Ziping looked at the wooden plank, which was less than 1.5 meters long, glanced at Old Huang lying there, shook his head firmly, and asked curiously, "Grandpa, do you live around here?"

The old man took two more puffs of his pipe, tapped it lightly against the edge of the donkey cart, and said, "The fields are terribly dry; almost nothing grows. That's why I borrowed a donkey cart to go to the county town to pick up people and goods, just to barely make a living."

"No wonder it's so hot." Lin Ziping wholeheartedly agreed.

"Yes, some people in Maomao Village have fallen ill from the heat. I heard that many people are experiencing dizziness, nausea, vomiting, and even high fever," the old man said.

Lin Ziping thought it was probably heatstroke due to the hot weather and reminded him, "It's too hot today, sir, you should also be careful not to get sick."

"Thank you for your concern, young errand boy. Farmers aren't that delicate," the cart driver laughed heartily. "Are you going to Hu Xinhua's house in Pingding Village, young errand boy?"

"You know that too..."

"Cough cough cough..." Lin Ziping's words were interrupted by Lao Huang's sudden cough.

Lin Ziping realized he had misspoke and smiled apologetically.

The old man rushing to catch the carriage also looked away.

We walked in silence for about half an hour until we could finally vaguely see Pingding Village.

"Uncle Huang, we're almost at Pingdingshan," Lin Ziping nudged Old Huang to remind him.

"Hmm~ We're here~" Old Huang rubbed his eyes, stretched and said, "Xiao Lin, get out of the car, let's walk."

"Oh, okay, sir, please stop for a moment," Lin Ziping said quickly.

"Whoa!" The old man driving the cart tightened the reins.

Lin Ziping took five copper coins out of his pocket and handed them to the coachman, then jumped off the carriage with Lao Huang and ran towards Pingding Village.

"Old Huang, over here!" The two men ran breathlessly to Hu Xinhua's house, and Shi Yong, who was standing in the yard, called out as soon as they arrived at the door.

"Is there any water? We came all the way from the county government office, we're exhausted!" Old Huang said, fanning himself with his hand while panting.

Lin Ziping thought to himself, "It's not far from here after getting off the donkey cart, it's just that I ran so fast that I got a stitch in my side."

Lin Ziping glanced at Lao Huang and saw that he remained calm and serious. So this is the art of speaking! He realized he had learned something new.

"Here you go, have some water." Shi Yong brought over two bowls of water and handed them to Lin Ziping and Lao Huang.

Old Huang took the water, drank it down in one gulp, and sighed contentedly, "Refreshing!"

"Old Huang, how's things going on your end? I'm almost done here, and I'm planning to go back with the brothers this afternoon," Shi Yong said.

Old Huang patted Shi Yong on the shoulder: "Brother Shi, I guess you won't be able to go back this afternoon."

"Why is that? The case is already clear. The murderer is Hu Xinhua's wife, Qin Niang. The magistrate can just make the judgment directly. What's the use of the brothers staying here?" Shi Yong frowned.

“Alas, times have changed. The county magistrate is watching us closely and wants us to find out the whole story,” Old Huang said.

"This..." Shi Yong hesitated, "Then I'll call the brothers over, and you can talk to them?"

“Brother Shi, this isn’t appropriate. Officer Qi arranged this for you, so it’s not fair for me to intervene,” Old Huang said with a smile.

Shi Yong quickly said, "Old Huang, don't refuse. This time you and Ziping are escorting people back. You know best what the adults are planning. By the way, the brothers also need to report to you on what they found out these past two days."

“In that case, I shall respectfully accept your offer,” Old Huang said.

Lin Ziping observed the interaction between the two. Although they appeared calm on the surface, their words were full of hidden meanings, and they were both carefully avoiding getting involved. He quickly said, "The brothers from the fast class are all inside, right? I'll go and call them out."

After saying this, Lin Ziping went inside and called out several yamen runners and some of his companions who were out conducting inquiries. Soon, all thirteen people gathered in the courtyard.

Old Huang first recounted the findings of the coroner at the mortuary and the discovery at the pharmacy that Qin Niang had asked the little girl to buy arsenic. Shi Yong then recounted the findings of his visits to Pingding Village and the search of Hu Xinhua's home.

“It seems that the murderer is Qin Niang now, but we don’t have direct evidence yet. I haven’t seen a wife killing her husband like this in Fuchun County for many years. The officials in the county government want us to investigate carefully and give the villagers an explanation. So, brothers, we still have to work hard.” Old Huang said loudly with his hands on his hips.

The constables looked at each other, bewildered.

"Do you have any more questions?" Old Huang asked seriously.

"No," the constables replied.

"Next..." Old Huang gave instructions to everyone.

Lin Ziping and four others were responsible for searching the house, while Lao Huang and Shi Yong each led three constables to revisit and question the villagers.

After Lao Huang and Shi Yong led their men out, Lin Ziping, who wasn't very familiar with the others, casually greeted them and went to search a room on his own. Hu Xinhua's house wasn't big and was unusually quiet at the moment, with the faint sounds of the other constables discussing among themselves.

“This case is already quite clear, I don’t know what else is there to investigate. The villagers of Pingdingshan saw it with their own eyes. When we arrived at the scene, Qin Niang was still committing the crime. Isn’t that evidence?” A yamen runner’s voice was rather loud.

"Shh, keep your voice down, Scholar Lin is still next door," another constable quickly reminded him.

Hearing these discussions, Lin Ziping became curious and pressed himself against the wall to listen carefully.

"Just investigate when I tell you to. Why are you making so many excuses?"

"I just find it strange. In the past, wouldn't it have been enough to just catch the person? Why do we have to find evidence this time?"

"I heard that some important person is coming to Zezhou. What if he suddenly decides to come to Fuchun and sees this kind of case happening here? If he asks the officials a few questions and they can't answer them, wouldn't that be embarrassing? Besides, this happened when the county magistrate was unveiling the bronze mirror, and the petition drum was sounded. So many people were watching. How can we not investigate it thoroughly?"

"Haha, speaking of unveiling the plaque, look at the magistrate's face yesterday, it was so ugly."

"This county government is so poor they can't even afford to eat, yet they're still making things up with bronze mirrors, talking about straightening clothes, distinguishing good from evil, and clarifying right from wrong. These officials are all talk and no action. The people of Fuchun are starving to death and nobody cares, the fields are short of water and nobody pays attention. Besides, are the bandits on Maomao Mountain even bandits? They're just villagers from the surrounding villages. Pushing out a couple of scapegoats is considered an achievement..."

"What nonsense are you talking about? Don't you want to work here anymore?"

……

The murmurs gradually subsided, and Lin Ziping could no longer hear them clearly.

He looked around. The room was filled with farm tools and some miscellaneous items, clearly untouched for a long time, covered in a thick layer of dust. Thinking of how protagonists in movies and TV dramas always find clues in inconspicuous places when solving cases, Lin Ziping became interested. Although he was currently only a rotating employee in the county government, having transmigrated here, he would be considered a protagonist in a novel.

Ignoring the dirt, they cleaned up the farm tools and miscellaneous items, carefully inspected the walls and ground, and even found a ladder, climbed onto the roof beams, and searched inch by inch.

Perhaps he still had a bit of protagonist's halo, because he actually found a small cloth bag in the gap of the roof beam. Lin Ziping carefully took it down, blew off the dust, and curiously wanted to know what was inside.