The wind was strong and there was a thunderstorm. The atmosphere inside and outside the watchtower is even weirder.
Madam Ninth got off the bed and went to close the window.
Chang Feng lay on the couch and said, "It's good to rain. It should be cool after this rain."
Madam Ninth was stunned by the window: "Brother, come here and listen. What's the sound?"
Chang Feng came to the window. In the thunderstorm, I heard the woman's miserable cry, "Mi, mi, mi!"
Then there was another strange sound, which seemed to be a woman shouting at the top of her lungs: "Gabiyi is drooping! Oumayi is drooping! Mi ah mi ah!"
Madam Ninth was surprised: "It's Tujia dialect! Is there really a ghost?"
Chang Feng asked: "What is that voice shouting?"
Madam Ninth explained: "You are calling me to claim your life! Clean the bird and wait for me!"
Chang Feng said: "Oh, I wonder who is pretending to be a ghost again."
Mrs. Jiu is a Tujia people and believes in ghosts and gods. She took out a large box from under the couch.
After opening it, there are all the magical tools used by the Tujia people to exorcise ghosts. Such as master's sword, horn horn, chopping knife, copper bell, colorful willow towel stick and so on.
Madam Ninth placed the horn under the pillow, the master's sword at the door, hung the copper bell on the tassel of the bed, placed the colorful wicker stick beside the bed, and placed the master's sword on the dressing table.
Chang Feng frowned: "You are just like Zhou Wen. You treat people as ghosts."
Mrs. Jiu said: "I would rather believe that it exists than that it doesn't exist! When my grandfather was alive, he told me that he had seen transvestites and corpse chasers in western Hunan."
Chang Feng didn't take it seriously: "Those are all made up by old people to scare children. They can't be taken seriously."
"You also said that the scars on the neck of the murdered government servant were left by the animal trap. They were not caused by the bite of the changeling woman."
"Bang!" Suddenly there was a loud noise, and the door was knocked open!
Chang Feng subconsciously raised the scorpion crossbow.
Fatty Xu ran in in despair: "I saw a female ghost! Oh my God, what a big female ghost!"
Chang Feng put down the scorpion crossbow and cursed: "Fortunately, my sister-in-law and I didn't have sex, otherwise I would have let you see the live spring picture! Why did you come in just as you said?"
Fatty Xu sat down on the chair: "You scared me to death, Fatty!"
Chang Feng asked: "What's going on?"
Fatty Xu took a sip of tea and calmed down his shock: "Did you hear the ghost scream just now?"
Chang Feng replied: "I heard it. When people pretend to be ghosts, they naturally have to scream a few times to scare others."
Fatty Xu said: "That's what I thought just now. I opened the window and looked under the watchtower. I saw a black figure standing in the yard!"
"There just happened to be thunder in the sky. The light of lightning made the dark shadows clear!"
"When I saw it, my God, that man had disheveled hair, pale skin, and two eyes that were glowing blue!"
Mrs. Ninth interjected: "My grandfather told me that the eyes of the transfiguration woman are glowing green."
At this moment, the three of them smelled a fishy and smelly smell.
Chang Feng subconsciously covered his mouth and nose: "Fat man, did you fart again?"
Fatty Xu said: "I didn't fart! What does it smell like? It's disgusting!"
Madam Ninth was a little panicked: "Bian Po always carries a fishy smell with her wherever she goes."
Fatty Xu stuck out his tongue: "Zhou Wen said that the transfigured woman likes to abuse men. She won't come to me tonight, right?"
Chang Feng comforted him: "Don't scare yourself. You have the blood of King Zhongshan flowing in your body, and all ghosts will avoid you."
"Don't say that the transformation into a mother-in-law is fake. Even if it is true, I don't dare to touch you."
"Even if it touches you, I can't tell who is ruining whom."
After hearing this, Fatty Xu became more courageous: "Yes! My ancestor was killed from the mountain of corpses and the sea of blood. Our Xu family is very murderous and not afraid of ghosts!"
Chang Feng analyzed: "There was a heavy rain outside. The smell was washed away. I think the smell came from inside the watchtower. There must be an insider."
At this time, the old longevity star Sun Guishou also walked in.
Sun Guishou said: "Master Chang, did you hear any strange noises or smell any strange smells?"
Chang Feng nodded slightly.
Sun Guishou smiled slightly: "I have lived for eighty-four years and been a cadre for sixty-five years. I have seen too many people pretending to be ghosts. This is the first time I have seen them pretending to be so real."
Chang Feng pointed at Sun Guishou and said to Mrs. Ninth and Fatty Xu: "You heard it! The old birthday star has been around for a long time and has seen a lot. He also said that he was a man pretending to be a ghost."
Fatty Xu smiled bitterly: "Old birthday boy, I will sleep in the same room with you tonight."
"Ah, it's not that I'm afraid. The main reason is that I have the blood of the King of Zhongshan, and a hundred ghosts avoid it. I have to protect you, an old-timer."
Sun Guishou said: "Okay. Then let's go to my room."
The next morning, the rain stopped. The entire Yinjiang River was shrouded in thick fog.
Chang Feng got up, opened the window and looked at the fog outside the door. He felt wet and damp.
Chang Feng sighed: "No wonder they don't want to come to Qianjiang to serve as officials. What a horrible weather."
Half an hour later, Chang Feng came to the lobby of the inner watchtower.
Before he entered the lobby, he heard the scribes and government officials talking: "I saw Chang Po last night! She was standing in the front yard!"
"Yes, I saw it too! The face is rotten and the eyes are glowing green. If that thing hurts me, don't kill me. I'll kill myself first!"
It seems that Fatty Xu was not the only one who witnessed the transformation into a woman in the middle of the night last night.
Chang Feng entered the lobby and raised his hand towards Zhou Wenyi: "Master Zhou, please gather all the subordinates who are involved in the lawsuit. I know them personally."
Chang Feng is ostensibly Zhou Wen's successor "Chang Huayu".
Except for Zhou Wen, no one on this side of the lawsuit knew Chang Feng’s true identity.
Zhou Wendao: "Okay, Master Chang. I'll gather the people right now."
Not long after, more than 140 people in the Yamen gathered in the lobby.
Inspector Gao Chenghu, chief official Jin Bao, tax collector Huang Liang, and squad leader Lin Sanjiu led their respective men to salute Chang Feng.
Chang Feng said: "In the next three years, I will share the joys and sorrows with you. We are now our own people. Watch your seats!"
Zhou Wen asked tentatively: "Mr. Chang, we have completed the handover. Can I leave the Yamen in advance?"
Chang Feng shook his head slightly: "I arrived three days early. Mr. Zhou, your term of office only ends in three days."
"According to the law, local officials are not allowed to leave their territory until their term of office is completed. Otherwise, they will be regarded as abandoning their land and should be executed!"
How could Chang Feng let Zhou Wen, the fishing bait, leave so easily?
Zhou Wen sighed: "Okay. Then I will follow the rules and stay for another three days."
Chang Feng smiled and said: "When I first came to Guibao Land, I saw the local ghosts. It seems that I have to worship the local gods."
When he said this, Chang Feng's eyes were observing the four subordinates who were in charge of the lawsuit.
Inspection officer Gao Chenghu was just like his nickname, a drunk cat with blurred eyes, listless and expressionless face.
Jin Bao, an old official, is very calm. Drinking tea with a calm expression.
The ancestor of the tax collector Huang Liang was a color-eyed person with blue eyes. If it were green, Chang Feng would definitely suspect that he was a "changed woman".
Lin Sanjiu, the leader of the strong class, was very powerful and was playing with an iron wrench for archery in his hand. (Finger pulls didn’t just appear in the Qing Dynasty. Please understand and don’t spray)
Among the four, Chang Feng was most suspicious of Lin Sanjiu.
Lin Sanjiu was born as an Orion hunter. The bear trap is used for hunting.
Chang Feng asked with a smile: "All four of you have been working in the court for a long time, right?"
Among the four, Jin Bao is obviously the leader.
Jin Bao replied: "Tax Collector Huang and Team Leader Lin, I and I have all been working in Yinjiang for more than ten years."
"Only Inspector Huang was transferred two years ago."
Chang Feng said: "You have been in Yinjiang for a long time, so you should be familiar with local people's customs. Can you tell me why the reform of native land and returning to local people cannot be implemented in Yinjiang?"
Jin Bao replied: "Your Majesty, Chang Gui Liu. It is not as simple as changing the chief lawsuit to the county government or changing the title."
"The so-called "guiliu" means that the power is transferred to the officials appointed by the imperial court. It is to seize the power of the four major chieftains in the local area. Naturally, the four major chieftains are unwilling."
"Each chieftain family has been entrenched in the local area for hundreds of years and is deeply rooted. The officials of the Southern Song, Mongolian, Yuan, and Ming Dynasties could do nothing to them."
"unless."
Chang Feng asked: "Unless what?"
Jin Bao replied: "Unless the imperial court sends troops to massacre all the local Miao, Tujia, Dong, and Yi people, and move a large number of Han people to the Central Plains."
Chang Feng waved his hands repeatedly: "The Ming Dynasty is not the barbarian Meng Yuan. It will not do such things as massacre foreigners."
Jin Bao said: "Then there is no way to implement the reform of native land and return to local status. There are only about 140 people like us in the imperial court in Yinjiang. But there are a total of 50,000 people from the four tribes."
"If you piss them off, they'll even file a long lawsuit. They'll feed us all to the bears."
Chang Feng suddenly asked: "By the way, I looked at the county government's staff list last night. In addition to Liuguan and Han people, there should be four native officials and four hundred foreign people. Why don't they come to the lobby?"
Jin Bao replied: "The four native officials are the four chieftains in name. The people of the foreign races are also their people."
"The chieftain doesn't come to file lawsuits on weekdays. We don't dare to let foreigners guard the inner and outer towers."
Chang Feng sighed: "The imperial court also sent me to Yinjiang to implement the reform of the land and return to local rule! It seems that it may not be implemented."
Having said this, a greedy look appeared on Chang Feng's face: "What's the point of being a sixth-rank official for me? I can't get out of the watchtower!"
"Hmph, some of my close friends who were admitted as Jinshi were assigned to the Hanlin Academy and the Sixth Department, and they have a bright future."
"Some are sent to the splendid places in the south of the Yangtze River to serve as county magistrates, and they can always achieve a good job in a three-year term."
"I am the only one guarding this hellish place where no oil can be squeezed out."
Jin Bao smiled slightly: "It's not that there is no money. In name, Yinjiang's taxing rights are subject to long-term lawsuits."
"But if you have to file a lawsuit to collect taxes, you won't be able to collect even a tael of silver. You might even get slapped with a knife from a foreign tribe."
"Successive officials have entrusted the power of tax collection to the four chieftains. The tax money received is 30% to 70%."
Chang Feng was surprised: "Why is it only 70%?"
Jin Bao explained: "70% belongs to the chieftains. Only 30% belongs to the chief!"
Chang Feng pretended to be greedy: "Ah! It's only 30%. I can't get more than a few drops of oil and water from my hands."
"Being an official in such a hot and humid place. You have to live in the same office as a ghost and you can't get any money or water. I've been really unlucky for eight lifetimes!"
Jin Bao smiled and said: "Don't worry, Mr. Chang. The imperial court doesn't take taxes from barbarian lands that seriously."
"You only need to report that the aliens are barbaric and unreasonable. I can't collect even one tael of tax money. The superiors will not blame me."
"That 30% of the tax, you are not just passing on the tax, but you are keeping it all to yourself."
When Jin Bao said this, Zhou Wen was so embarrassed that he wished he could dig a courtyard with his feet!
He cursed in his heart: Jin Bao, Jin Bao, you don't know that the person in front of you is not my successor, but Chang Tu of Jin Yiwei!
Call me corrupt in front of him. You'll make me lose my head!
Chang Feng turned to look at Zhou Wen: "Master Zhou, how much money have you made in the three years of your term? Tell me, I have a good idea."
"Don't worry, the sky is high and the emperor is far away. No one has informed the court of the number."
Zhou Wen was speechless: "This, this. Let's talk about it in private."
Chang Feng said: "Okay. By the way, I want to see four chieftains tomorrow. Team Leader Lin, you send someone to invite them."
Lin Sanjiu cupped his hands and said in a loud voice, "Yes!"
The discussion was completed in the lobby. Chang Feng entered the study with Zhou Wen, Fatty Xu and others.
Chang Feng said with a smile: "Brother Zhou, don't worry. I'm not here to investigate corruption. I'm here to protect your life, investigate murder cases, and promote reform."
"No matter how much money you took, I won't hold you accountable. After all, it's not dirty money, it's just bad officialdom."
"You should get some compensation for being an official in this damn place."
Zhou Wen cupped his hands and said, "Thank you Chang Qianshi for your understanding."
Chang Feng made a silent gesture: "From now on, you should call me brother Chang. Don't call me Qian Shi, so as not to reveal your secret."
Zhou Wendao: "Yes."
Chang Feng smiled slyly: "Tell me, how much money did you make during your three years in office?"
Zhou Wen was speechless.
Chang Feng said: "I'm here to save your life. Why don't you tell me the truth? If I want to harm you, I can just leave the lawsuit and let you fend for yourself."
Zhou Wen could only answer truthfully: "There is more than ten thousand taels."
Chang Feng was surprised: "So many?"
Zhou Wen explained: "The four Yinjiang tribes are all good at hunting. They produce a large amount of rare furs every year and sell them to traders."
"Although Yinjiang is mountainous, it is not a poor place but a rich one."
"Here is rich in fragrant glutinous rice, ponkan, Yinqiu tea, grapefruit, and Gastrodia elata."
"When these things are shipped to Han Dynasty, they are all good things that are in short supply."
"The chieftains gave me 30% of the tax money, which is always more than 10,000 taels. But money is something that you can earn but you may not spend it!"
Zhou Wen's words reminded Chang Feng.
Chang Feng said: "Wait a minute. According to what you said, Chief Yinjiang is a fat vacancy."
"The first four officers who died mysteriously should have accumulated a lot of money."
“Where does their money go after they die?”
Zhou Wen replied: "I don't know that."
Chang Feng asked: "Where is your previous commander? When you came here, you always had to help him with his funeral affairs, right? Didn't you see the silver he left behind?"
Zhou Wen patted his head and said, "Ah! When I was handling his funeral affairs, I was so frightened that I heard people talk about the legend of becoming a mother-in-law. I ignored the fact that his money was missing!"
"Logically speaking, no matter how honest he is, he still has thousands of taels of silver on hand! I haven't seen one tael!"
Sun Guishou interjected: "Mr. Chang, do you suspect that the murderer's motive for pretending to be a ghost was to kill people for money?"
Chang Feng nodded: "That's right! If you kill one person, you can get more than ten thousand taels! This is not a small amount."
"After killing people and robbing wealth, they then fabricate rumors that the ghost government officials turned into women and killed people to confuse the public. Ha, what a good trick."
Sun Guishou said: "I understand. Mr. Chang, your inference confirms that the mole is in the lawsuit!"
"Only those close to previous officers will know how much wealth they have. It's not surprising that they get interested in wealth."
The words are unclear. After a few people talked, Chang Feng had a rough idea.
The so-called ghost yamen turned into women and killed people, but it was just that there were bad people in the yamen who wanted money and killed people.
Chang Feng asked: "Jin Bao, Huang Liang, and Lin Sanjiu have all been in office for more than ten years. They have experienced five terms of office."
"I now doubt Lin Sanjiu!"
Sun Guishou asked: "Because of the animal trap mark on the neck of the officer who was killed last night?"
Chang Feng nodded slightly: "Exactly. Lin Sanjiu was born as an Orion! Brother Zhou, how is Lin Sanjiu usually doing?"
Zhou Wen replied: "It shouldn't be him. He is usually very stupid. He doesn't look like a scheming person."
Chang Feng sighed: "Oh, Brother Zhou, you should not be judged by appearance! People who appear stupid may have an exquisite heart with seven orifices in their chest."
During the day, Chang Feng and Zhou Wen spent the night talking about "official business" in the study.
At night, Chang Feng ordered his warriors to "catch ghosts!"
They all carry scorpion crossbows. Once the "Chanpo" appears, you can shoot it into a hornet's nest.
Chang Feng arranged for them to be on guard at the lookout holes and arrow holes of various watchtowers.
Once they find a changeling, they will immediately aim and trigger the crossbow.
Chang Feng and Mrs. Jiu were in the bedroom, deliberately shaking the bed. Let the creaking sound of the bed spread throughout the inner watchtower.
Suddenly, the screams of "mi ah mi ah mi ah" sounded again in the yamen.
Chang Feng said to Madam Ninth: "The fish appeared again."
However, this time, Chang Po did not appear in the front yard. The scorpion crossbows of the Jinyiweipaozes were not put to use.
"Dong dong dong", someone knocked on Chang Feng's door.
Chang Feng, holding a scorpion crossbow, came to the door of the room alertly and looked out through the crack in the door.
Then he opened the door. Jin Bao, Huang Liang, and Lin Sanjiu stood in front of him. Behind them were a dozen government officials.
Chang Feng asked: "What do you want from me?"
Jin Bao said: "Mr. Chang, the transformation woman has started to scream again! Usually after the ghost screams, someone will be killed by her."
"You have just arrived. We are afraid that becoming a mother-in-law will be detrimental to you. We have brought fifteen government officials to protect you."
Chang Feng asked: "Where is Mr. Zhou?"
Jin Bao replied: "There are ten government officials for personal protection."
Chang Feng nodded: "Yeah, okay."
As soon as he finished speaking, a man's scream was heard, which echoed throughout the yamen.
"ah!"
Chang Feng frowned: "Is someone else being killed? Come on, let's patrol around."
Fatty Xu and Sun Guishou also heard the sound and came to Chang Feng with five or six strong men.
Chang Feng said: "You are here just in time. We are patrolling around the office."
Chang Feng turned to Madam Ninth and said, "Don't stay in the bedroom. It's not safe. Come with us."
Everyone inspected the office carefully. Chang Feng keenly discovered that most of the bedrooms where the scribes lived had lights on. Only one bedroom was dark.
Chang Feng led people to the door of the bedroom. The strong smell made him almost vomit.
Fatty Xu opened the door. Everyone goes in.
I saw a young scribe lying on the bed, naked.
Like Li Qi who died last night, this clerk also had wounds on his neck and his lower body was in terrible shape.
Jin Bao shouted: "Ah! Kill, kill, kill, kill! The transfiguration kills again!"
Chang Feng was a little strange: before the deceased screamed when he was killed, Jin Bao, Lin Sanjiu, and Huang Liang were all with me.
Could it be that the previous suspicion was wrong, that Lin Sanjiu, who was born in Orion, was not a murderer?
As for Jin Bao and Huang Liang, they can be ruled out.
Who could the murderer be?
Suddenly, a dark shadow swayed behind the bedroom window.
Chang Feng yelled: "Who is it?"
Jin Bao exclaimed: "Could it be that you have become a woman?"
Chang Feng said: "Jump out of the window! Get up! Catch the bad guy!"
Who among Jin Bao and other government officials dares to fight the ghost? None of them moved.
The warriors of Jinyiwei are still brave.
Sun Guishou, who was eighty-four years old, led five strong men to jump out of the window and pounce on the black shadow.
Several strong men knocked the black shadow down.
Sun Guishou shouted: "Caught!"
Chang Feng took a candle and jumped out of the window. Shine a candle on the shadow's face.
Chang Feng was extremely surprised: "It's actually you?"
(End of chapter)
