At this moment, in the courtroom, the Zhao family's steward and the servants brought in the group of monks. After receiving Zhao Yuanwai's lawsuit, County Magistrate Zhang began to investigate the monks.
Unfortunately, although he could see the clues, these people were tight-lipped and refused to confess. Helpless, he had no choice but to lock them up in prison and conduct the investigation slowly. County Magistrate Zhang ordered, "Lock them up in the prison and treat them well! We must get all their secrets"
After the group was taken away, County Magistrate Zhang looked at the pile of evidence and became even more interested. He asked Zhao family's steward, "I heard that this group of frauds was exposed by a young man. Is the ghost's cry really so terrifying?"
Zhao family's steward respectfully replied, "Lord County Magistrate, the bone that produced that terrifying sound was indeed very scary." "Otherwise, our master would not think it was caused by a real ghost."
County Magistrate Zhang tapped the bone lightly with a board, and it made a dull sound. It must have been filled with something. He called for someone to dismantle the bone and see what was inside. Zhao family's steward quickly stopped him, saying, "My lord, that young man said that the bone was filled with mercury! Mercury is highly toxic, and the bone cannot be opened easily! If opened without any precautions, one will be poisoned!"
County Magistrate Zhang asked, "Mercury?" He looked at the seemingly ordinary evidence on the table, but there was much to it. The most crucial thing was that the young man knew everything about it. Those who didn't know would have thought that the young man was involved in these things!
County Magistrate Zhang asked, "This young man is so knowledgeable and talented. Who is he?" Zhao family's steward honestly replied, "Lord County Magistrate, our young master said that he is his former classmate. He is a person from Shuiqiao Village named Zhao Ce."
"Zhao Ce..." County Magistrate Zhang repeated this name, and at the same time, he was curious about the word "former" in front of "classmate." "What does 'former classmate' mean?" Zhao family's steward said with a strange expression, "Our young master said that Zhao Ce has already been expelled by his teacher, so he is our young master's former classmate."
"Expelled by his teacher..." County Magistrate Zhang frowned. "What did this young man do to be expelled by his teacher?" Zhao family's steward roughly explained to County Magistrate Zhang the story of how Zhao Ce was expelled. After listening, County Magistrate Zhang furrowed his brow. He looked at the evidence on the table and thought, even if he were present, he would not have been able to expose all of these tricks all at once.
The young man named Zhao Ce is truly knowledgeable and talented. How could someone with such qualities have such poor conduct? What a pity... County Magistrate Zhang waved his hand and let Zhao family's steward, who had been waiting on the side, go.
After looking at the evidence for a while, County Magistrate Zhang decided to personally go to the prison to ask some questions. Just then, an official came in from outside and said, "My lord, all the lantern riddles for the Mid-Autumn Festival have been collected. Several of the city's scholar-officials have selected many good riddles."
County Magistrate Zhang became interested and said, "Oh? Show them to me quickly." The selected riddles were all screened, and only the first and second-class ones had a chance to be presented to County Magistrate Zhang. There were a total of six first-class riddles. County Magistrate Zhang skipped over the second-class ones and opened the first-class riddles. He looked at the first two, which were ordinary word-guessing riddles and were not particularly innovative.
He opened the third one with a lack of enthusiasm. On the paper was a simple circle drawn to indicate the position of the riddle. County Magistrate Zhang furrowed his brow. What kind of riddle was this? He had never seen anyone come up with such a riddle before. "Could it be that the city's scholar-officials have made a mistake?" County Magistrate Zhang looked suspiciously at the answer.
After reading it, his pupils suddenly dilated. "This...is brilliant!" "What a good riddle!" "Even I couldn't guess it!" "Who could have come up with such a magnificent riddle?" He looked at the name in the lower left corner of the blank paper. "Zhao Ce, a person from Shuiqiao Village..." County Magistrate Zhang repeated Zhao Ce's name, and upon recalling what he had heard about him earlier, he became even more interested in this young man. He said to the official next to him, "Go and find out more about this young man named Zhao Ce." "In addition, see if there is any hidden reason behind his expulsion from school."
When the official heard this, he was surprised that the county magistrate would personally investigate a student. This person seemed extraordinary... He said, "My lord, I will go and handle it immediately." After the official left, County Magistrate Zhang also drew a circle on the paper. Looking at the circle, he muttered, "Interesting." "I can't even come up with a better answer myself..."
..............
At this time, inside Shuiqiao Village, the sun was already slanting to the west. Zhao Ce was busy in the courtyard, preparing to clear some space and build a few new stoves outside for convenient sugar-making during the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival.
Meanwhile, the young girl was in the room, hurrying to sew clothes. After finishing her work, Zhao Ce prepared to wash up and get rid of his stinky sweat. In the room, Su Caier had spent the whole afternoon rushing to finish the large shirt that Zhao Ce was going to wear. After sewing the final stitch and biting off the thread, Su Caier stood up and swung the shirt in the air, saying, "Finally finished..." Looking at the large shirt, Su Caier couldn't help but imagine how her husband would look in it and felt a little happy. This was the first piece of clothing she had made for him with her own hands.
However, she was also a little nervous because she had only roughly sewn it before and couldn't tell how it would look when worn. She muttered to herself, "I wonder if it will look good on him?" Suddenly, she had an idea and blushed as she stuck her hand inside the sleeve of the shirt and put it on. Looking at the long sleeves that hung in front of her and the hem that almost covered her small legs, Su Caier felt a little embarrassed. Why was her husband's shirt so long? She hesitated and folded the sleeves up a bit before looking for a belt to tie the shirt and see how it looked.
Just then, the door creaked open, and Zhao Ce walked in, calling out to the young girl that it was time to cook. But as he looked at the small girl standing awkwardly, not knowing where to put her hands and wearing a loose-fitting shirt, he realized that it was actually his large shirt. Su Caier's head was about to explode from embarrassment as she looked around, not knowing what to do. "I, I was just trying on my husband's shirt..." A light laugh echoed in the room as Zhao Ce teased, "You already tried it on. Was it comfortable?"