In the face of difficulties, Zhang Dalang seemed very calm.
I saw that he was not angry, but still had a smile on his face and said:
"My lord, how could there be anything else hidden in my body?"
As he spoke, he patted his body everywhere with his palms to show that there were no foreign objects on his body.
In fact, his murder weapon was strapped to the side of his calf.
"Take off your clothes for me."
The guard still refused to give up.
When Zhang Dalang heard this, his face slowly began to shrink, turning an iron-blue color like a chameleon.
He secretly practiced his martial arts, clenched his palms into fists, and prepared to kill the two hateful guards in front of him.
"Why are you hanging around at the door? The magistrate is hungry and is waiting for his meal."
At this moment, Master Yao hurried out of the Yamen, shouting loudly.
"It's not a minor inconvenience, it's just that these two gentlemen won't let us in."
Zhang Dalang was not polite and directly pointed the conflict at the two guards.
When Master Yao heard this, he frowned and stared sharply at the two guards.
This means that extortion must be appropriate. If the food is cold and the magistrate is unhappy, then don't do it.
"I'm not denying entry. I'm just considering your safety for adults..."
The two guards were so frightened that they quickly nodded and bowed to explain.
"In that case, come with me."
Seeing that the two guards were cowardly, Master Yao didn't bother to argue.
He said nothing, turned around and walked inside.
Zhang Dalang followed up with a basket.
Go straight through the yamen from the long corridor and enter the magistrate's house.
Then pass through two corridors and come to the door of an elegantly decorated courtyard.
"The magistrate is inside, you can send it in yourself."
Master Yao stopped, pointed with his finger expressionlessly, and left.
"Thank you."
Zhang Dalang nodded and bowed, feeling that this master was strange and hard to figure out.
He stared at Master Yao's back for a moment, then continued walking in with the food basket in hand.
At this time, a servant met him face to face and saw a strange face wearing a hat. He said doubtfully:
"Is it... the food delivery person from Fumanlou?"
"Yes, the previous food delivery boy was sick, and the younger one came to take over temporarily."
Zhang Dalang answered calmly, all of a sudden eliminating the other party's doubts.
"Oh, then please come with me!"
Zhang Dalang lowered his head and followed the servant Xiao Suibu into the inner hall.
The inner hall is elegantly and exquisitely furnished, with famous paintings and calligraphy hanging on the walls, and mahogany or sandalwood tables, chairs, and tables.
There are many flower pots placed along the corner lines, and two large vases stand at the entrance.
The whole inner hall is quiet and pleasant.
An elegant man in his forties, wearing green official casual clothes, was sitting at a sandalwood coffee table, sipping tea.
When someone came in, he didn't even bother to raise his eyelids.
Zhang Dalang gently placed the food basket on the Eight Immortals table, turned around and bowed to Zhang Yunji very respectfully, "My dear, my dear, the magistrate!"
"No gift."
Zhang Yunji snorted feebly and continued to drink tea with his head down.
I don't know whether it was because he was unbearably thirsty or because the freshly brewed tea was particularly fragrant. He was so focused that he seemed to have forgotten to eat.
From the looks of it, it's not like "I'm hungry..." as the master said.
The state of being unable to wait.
Zhang Dalang still stood there with his eyebrows lowered and his eyes low. On the surface, he seemed to be waiting for a response from the adults, but in fact, he was listening to the movement outside with his ears straightened.
The hat on his head is really out of tune with the environment and atmosphere of the inner hall.
"Put down the food basket, why aren't you leaving?"
Zhang Yunji slowly put down the tea bowl in his hand, then raised his eyes and glanced at Zhang Dalang, looking at his attire quite displeased.
His energy throughout the afternoon was focused on the intelligence feedback in the Wu family compound in Gushan Town.
The imperial envoy Xu Qin used a thunderous force to confiscate the Wu family compound and destroy the entire family.
A public trial was also held in front of thousands of villagers.
Shocking and impactful.
In the past few days, all the local tyrants and evil gentry in all the towns and villages in the county have been in panic.
Like frightened birds, they actively cooperated with the work team, and the promotion of the new farmland policy became particularly smooth.
I heard that Mr. Xu’s team is leaving today for the county seat to continue their private visit incognito.
This made him nervous.
The main reason is that my butt is not clean, so I naturally have some concerns.
As the county magistrate, how could he not be tainted by various forms of exploitation in the name of corvee service, exorbitant levies of miscellaneous taxes, etc.?
Although this imperial envoy came here to promote the idea of "spreading one man into another", he would be in trouble if he happened to investigate corruption.
It is said that he stayed in Gushan Town for ten days and dug three feet into the Wu family's courtyard. All the gold and silver treasures and account books were exposed.
Zhang Yunji has been thinking about how to welcome the imperial minister's arrival so that he can win his favor without making any mistakes.
After all, the land tax transactions he had done with the Wu Family Courtyard for so many years, including salt smuggling, were quite large.
Wu Peigui, an old fox, definitely has an account and has recorded all the secrets of the transactions between them over the years.
These are all buried fire mines, and you don’t know when they will explode.
The key is that these also involve the prefect and the Runan family.
Do you want to talk to the Mei family so that everyone can be prepared?
Zhang Yunji seemed to have thought of something and suddenly muttered.
"Hmm... I don't seem to have ordered anything for dinner today. Could it be that you, Fumanlou, are here to honor me?"
Speaking of this, Zhang Yunji also felt a little strange.
Do any merchants do this kind of loss-making business?
He suddenly looked up at Zhang Dalang and shouted:
"Who sent you here and why?"
When he said this, he had not yet felt death approaching.
But when the other party made a move, he wanted to scream but it was too late.
A cold light flashed before his eyes, and Zhang Yunji suddenly felt a chill on his neck, and blood immediately splattered.
"Well…"
He held his throat in pain, unable to make any sound, and looked at the murderer with wide eyes.
Finally he saw the other party's ferocious face clearly.
It's a pity it's too late.
The moment he suddenly fell to the ground, Zhang Dalang grabbed his robe and let the deceased fall to the ground gently.
The dagger wiped Zhang Yunji's body skillfully, and then sheathed it.
His eyes scanned the surroundings, and it was as quiet as the night.
He turned and left, seemingly calm and leisurely.
The two guards didn't dare to make any mistakes now and watched him disappear in a swaggering manner.
After about a stick of incense, night fell.
A maid walked into the inner hall and was about to light the lamp.
A strong smell of blood rushed towards him.
In the hazy night, she discovered the murder scene.
"Ah! Someone come quickly! Master..."
She was too frightened to say the next words.
"The magistrate has been assassinated. Please seal off the scene and search for the murderer."
Hearing the screams, two government officials rushed in, knelt beside the body to inspect it, and then shouted loudly.
In just a moment, the entire Qinghe County government office was in chaos.
Cries and footsteps came and went.
…
The county magistrate Zhang Yunji was killed in the courtyard behind the Yamen. In less than half an hour, the news spread throughout Qinghe County.
The county magistrate has sent a horse to report to the Huai'an Prefecture.
