Zangshi Town is located on the border of Jin State and is under the jurisdiction of Zhiyuan County.
The town is not big, and the streets are dirt roads, which became a bit muddy due to the heavy rain last night.
There are not many people on the street.
However, the breakfast shops in the town were already overcrowded.
Mu Qingyao observed the people eating breakfast. They were all men in coarse cloth and their hands were covered with calluses.
These people are all coolies.
Mu Qingyao remembered that there was a jade mine in Zangshi Town, and many jade articles in the imperial capital came from this place.
When I walked to a steamed bun shop, I immediately smelled the aroma of meat buns.
Mu Qingyao glanced at the steaming cage and quickly looked away, maintaining the dignity of a princess.
But my stomach growled unsatisfactorily.
Fortunately, there were many people nearby, so no one could hear me.
"Make room."
Yun Que stood behind a table full of coolies, his voice cold.
"Didn't you see that the seats are all full? Why give in? You're late and you're squatting to eat!"
A lean man looked back and immediately changed his words: "Hey! Brother Yun! Come here, I have a place, you can sit down!"
The men at the table stood up to give up their seats one after another, and no one was left. They squatted in a row at the corner of the bun shop, holding big bowls in their hands and continuing to eat.
"Two drawers of meat buns."
After Yun Que sat down, he knocked on the table and said.
The owner of the steamed bun shop immediately brought the two drawers of steamed buns that had been brought to other tables to Yun Que.
The whole process was done skillfully and naturally. Both the boss and the diners who had their buns cut off felt it was completely normal and no one had any objections.
In Mu Qingyao's impression, only the yamen in the imperial city could do this kind of thing.
But she found that the men around her, including the owner of the bun shop, were not afraid of Yun Que, but respected him.
Respect from the bottom of my heart.
Mu Qingyao picked up a hot meat bun and took a small bite.
good smell.
When the little princess was savoring the sweetness of the first bite of the bun, Yun Que's side was already half full.
"Their steamed buns are the best in town. They only sell a fixed quantity every day. If they run out, you have to wait until tomorrow. The way you eat them, you deserve to be hungry."
While Yun Que was devouring the food, he stared at the drawer of buns in front of Mu Qingyao, his eyes shining like a hungry wolf.
Mu Qingyao immediately protected her buns and sped up.
She herself felt a little puzzled. As a princess, how could she act like a protector of food?
It's so out of character.
But the buns are really delicious...
There is a commoner lane in the town, where all poor families live.
At the end of the alley is a small house, with a broken wall half a person's height, and an old hut built with the front high and the back low, with the door wide at the top and narrow at the bottom.
The small courtyard is clean, with short white wild flowers growing in the corners.
This is Yun Que's home.
When entering the small courtyard, Mu Qingyao felt as if she was walking in a mourning hall.
In front of the house door, Yun Que stopped.
"I'm home. If you have nowhere to go, you can stay here, but not for too long."
"I can pay, and I don't care about reputation. You don't have to worry too much." Mu Qingyao said.
"It's not a question of whether you care or not, it's a matter of me."
Yun Que frowned and said, "If you stay here for a day or two, the neighbors will think I brought back a daughter-in-law. If you stay here for a long time, they will think I brought back a daughter-in-law. After a while, you leave." , what should I do with my reputation, tell others that my wife ran away?"
Mu Qingyao was stunned for a moment and was speechless.
"Brother Yun! You are finally back!"
There was a loud roar outside the courtyard, and a middle-aged man broke in, wearing the clothes of an official.
The visitor is Wu Dachuan, the head catcher of Zangshi Town.
Wu Dachuan came forward anxiously and said: "Something happened! The county magistrate has an extra daughter!"
"It's a good thing. When are you going to eat? The old rules are that after three courses, you cough five times toward the wall, three long and two short." Yun Que said.
Mu Qingyao heard this strangely and asked, "Why do you have to cough five times, only after three dishes?"
Wu Dachuan blurted out:
"Because after three courses, the boss is the busiest, and most people tend to neglect when it comes to writing accounts. To put it bluntly, it is the best time to eat for free... Oops! Instead of giving birth to a daughter, I have an extra daughter and a little Cui'er. Exactly the same daughter! There is a mystery at the county magistrate's house!"
After hearing about the twins' mystery, the little princess became curious and blinked her bright eyes at Yun Que.
Mu Qingyao was not only curious about the case itself, she was also curious about why after a mysterious case occurred in the Yamen, the police did not solve the case themselves, but instead came to Yun Que first.
Yun Que said lazily:
"Isn't it good to have more girls? In the future, if you get double gifts, the county magistrate will definitely be merciless if he is so greedy for money."
Wu Dachuan said with a bitter face:
"You're still soft-hearted. Now the county magistrate's feet are weak and he can't even stand! Brother Yun, go and have a look. I'm waiting for your help."
Yun Que said: "Brother Wu is joking. You'll definitely find me when you're eating. This kind of conspiracy sounds scary. I don't have an official position and am just a commoner. It's better to stay away from this kind of thing."
Wu Dachuan: "Brother Yun is not an ordinary citizen! You are also from the yamen. Didn't the county magistrate just support you two years ago? Now you are a yamen servant like me!"
Yun Que said: "Can you and I be the same? You are the head catcher, and your salary is less than ten taels of silver a month. The county magistrate has promoted me to be a gangster. Without salary, you have to deal with corpses, and you can only examine a corpse." One hundred copper coins, one tael of silver for ten corpses, if I want to catch up with your salary, Zangshi Town will have to die at least a hundred people a month, and more than a thousand people will die a year, and ten years..."
Wu Dachuan: "No, no, ten years! If you continue to die like this, everyone in the town will have to move out within two years."
Mu Qingyao finally understood that Yun Que had another job and was a gangster in the town.
In the Jin Dynasty, although Wuzuo was a servant of the government, he did not have any official position. He was paid for autopsy. To put it bluntly, he was a temporary worker, just like the watchman on night watch, the groom who raised horses, and the cook who cooked rice.
And it’s hard to find people for this job.
After all, no normal person would be taboo about dealing with corpses.
Most of the widowers are old people who have already died and no longer care about it. There are basically no young adults in this field.
The watchman was on duty at night, and the groom spent most of the day feeding the horses and getting some fodder. Not to mention the cooks, all of them had fat bellies.
Only Wuzuo can't get any oil or water out of it.
Whenever there is a corpse in a murder case, the people from the yamen have already filtered it through, and no better clothes can be left behind. When you get here, you only have two sleeves to keep the wind flowing, and a fig leaf is enough.
Of course it's not all without benefits.
If you're lucky, you might see a ghost.
"Everyone performs his duties and takes care of his own business. When the county magistrate becomes a corpse, I will definitely do business and help him have a good inspection."
After Yun Que finished speaking, he raised his legs and left.
Mu Qingyao didn't know where Yun Que was going, so she could only follow.
Wu Dachuan had long been accustomed to Yun Que's temper. He was anxious but not annoyed. He followed him, laughed with him, and kept persuading him.
Yun Que turned a deaf ear and went directly to the market.
Don't buy anything else, just look for eggs.
The market in Zangshi Town is very lively and crowded early in the morning.
There are all kinds of people selling mountain products, selling fur coats, selling jewelry, selling snacks, and selling children.
When passing a pork stall, the butcher with a broken hand insisted on giving Yun Que two kilograms of pork belly for no money.
"If Brother Yun hadn't gone to the mine last year, few of us old miners would have survived! I swore at that time that even if I change my career in the future, Brother Yun will be free when he comes! Selling noodles is free, selling pork is free, and selling one's body is free. It’s free too!”
The man selling pork chuckled.
"You should sell pork. If you sell yourself, I will definitely never come to your house to trade."
Yun Que thanked him and walked to the mountain goods stall not far away, carrying two kilograms of pork.
Seeing that Yun Que hadn't gone far, Mu Qingyao asked the man selling pork.
"Brother, what happened in the mine last year?"
"Forget it, there was an evil in the mine last year and several people died! My hand was bitten off by the evil. If I hadn't run fast, I would have been dead! I reported it to the Yamen, but the police officers didn't dare to go in. Check it out! Later, Brother Yun went into the mine with a knife and the mine calmed down. We miners are very grateful to Brother Yun."
At the market, Yun Que only looked for bird eggs and snake eggs.
Other eggs and duck eggs abound, and Yun Que never stops.
Mu Qingyao remembered that when Yun Que was in the wooden house on the mountain, he had swallowed bird eggs alive without removing the skin. She didn't know what kind of strange habit it was.
After walking around for a long time, it was already noon.
Wu Dachuan looked at the sky and said:
"It's almost time, Brother Yun. Dinner is about to begin in the Yamen. Ma Xiaojiao gave instructions in the morning to eat meat at noon."
"Who is Ma Xiaojiao?" Mu Qingyao asked.
"It's the county magistrate. This gentleman is constantly greedy in small ways but dare not be greedy in big things. Because of his small feet, he was nicknamed Ma's Little Foot by the people."
After Yun Que finished speaking, he and Wu Dachuan headed towards the county government office.
Mu Qingyao smiled helplessly. She became more and more interested in Yun Que's unique behavior.
It turns out that I walked around so long just to wait for some food...
Zangshi Town County Government.
At the gate, a tall, middle-aged man was pacing back and forth, rubbing his hands together with cold sweat on his palms.
Seeing Wu Dachuan and Yun Que arriving from a distance, the man immediately went to greet them.
"Brother Yun! I've waited for you. The county magistrate is almost dying of anxiety."
This person is the chief bookkeeper of the county government, and his name is Niu Bucai.
As the name suggests, he has no talent at all and is illiterate. He relies on his uncle at home to be an official in the court, so he can get the position of bookkeeper. Since he is illiterate, he always has the accountant at home with him.
Yun Que cupped his hands and said:
"How long does it take for the county magistrate to die of anxiety? I'll wait here for a while. I'm not in a hurry."
"Don't bother me, brother Yun! You are a government official, and the county magistrate is our immediate boss. If something happens, none of us can escape the relationship!" Niu Bucai said bitterly.
"This is a humble job. You only look at corpses, not living people." Yun Que said.
In the yamen, the money is calculated based on the corpse, but you can't get a single copper for a living person.
Niu Bucai had no choice but to say:
"Just think that the magistrate is dead! Hurry up and help take a look. This time, the price is the same as the autopsy!"
Yun Que said: "The county magistrate has worked hard for the country and the people, and has won the love and respect of the people in Zangshi Town. Now that our family has undergone tremendous changes, we ordinary people are really uneasy."
Niu Bucai quickly boasted out of habit:
"That's right! The county magistrate is a parent. He has worked diligently for the benefit of the people for many years and is a role model for our generation..."
As he was talking, Niu Bucai saw Yun Que stretch out one hand.
"Brother Yun, this is..."
"Since Mr. Bo also agrees that the county magistrate is worthy of respect, do we need to pay more for setting such an example?" Yun Que said.
"Double?" Niu Bucai asked tentatively.
"Five taels." Yun Que said, "No price, otherwise I will just do the autopsy."
"You're too shameless! The county magistrate only collected twenty taels this month..." Niu Bucai realized that he had slipped his words and nodded hurriedly: "Okay! Five taels is five taels!"
After saying that, his face was full of pain and he paid five taels of silver in advance.
Anyone who is familiar with him knows Yun Que's rules: take money first and then do things. This rule applies whether you look at the living or the dead.
The little princess on the side was once again dumbfounded.
Can you still make money like this?
Mu Qingyao opened her eyes today.
