Rise From the Humble

After Zhu Ping'an thought about the method of sorting books, he asked Lao Li and Lao Ma, who were responsible for cleaning the library, and planned to mobilize the two of them to organize the library together. Then he found that they were not literate at all and had to give up.

It seems that I can only be a lonely handsome man.

But just as Zhu Pingan rolled up his sleeves and prepared to start his own journey, he heard a commotion from the Hanlin Academy, and then saw Zhang Siwei, who was working in the study room, walking in from the outside with a constipated look on his face.

"Zihou, come out with me, something strange happened." Zhang Siwei came in and pulled Zhu Pingan out, with a look of surprise still on his face.

"What happened? Did our well-informed brother Ziwei change his attitude?" Zhu Ping'an couldn't help but curiously asked as he followed Zhang Siwei out.

"Just follow me out and you'll find out." Zhang Si pulled Zhu Pingan and quickened his pace.

Soon we walked to the hall where the Hanlin Academy entered. There were many people in the hall. Li Chunfang, Yuan Wei, Zhang Juzheng and others were all there. In addition to the people from the Hanlin Academy, there were two officials, one of whom was wearing a Zhu Ping'an, a fifty-year-old official in the fourth-grade Yunyan official uniform, had an acquaintance with him. It was Lord Zhou Jie, the magistrate of Shuntian Prefecture, who had wrapped himself in red silk when he praised his officials in the imperial street. Sitting next to him is a seventh-grade county magistrate.

After Zhu Pingan and Zhang Siwei came in, they greeted the Shangguan present. Li Chunfang nodded and motioned for Zhu Pingan and Zhang Siwei to take their seats.

"The Hanlin Academy deals with literature and history, and has read all the historical materials and newspapers. Is there any news of seeing ghosts in the previous dynasty or at that time?"

Mr. Zhou, the prefect of Shuntian Prefecture, was sitting in the upper position. His face was a little pale at the moment, as if he had experienced something incredible. He took a sip of tea to suppress his shock and asked all the officials present.

"There is a lot of unofficial news, but as for the official history, there is almost no official history." Li Chunfang shook his head.

"I saw a ghost the night before yesterday." Mr. Zhou, the prefect of Shuntian, clearly told the news about the ghost the night before yesterday, solemnly and formally.

"Huh?" Li Chunfang was slightly startled, and everyone else was also surprised.

If you have been in the capital for a long time, you will know that Zhou Houjie, the prefect of Shuntian, is a serious official who never lies. He is diligent and loves the people, is serious and conscientious in his work, and never says unfounded words. In addition, Mr. Zhou is also very capable, otherwise he would not be able to follow the rules. A seventh-grade magistrate should be a fourth-grade magistrate. It was precisely because they knew Zhou Houjie's character that Li Chunfang and others were surprised.

"This is what happened." Mr. Zhou took a sip of hot tea and slowly told the whole story.

This matter is also related to the Qipin County Magistrate who sits under Mr. Zhou. Zhou Houjie is diligent in government, loves the people, and is serious about his work. When he was reviewing the prison lawsuit files submitted by his subordinate counties, he discovered that among the files submitted by Wanping County, there was a murder case. There are flaws in the prison lawsuit files, and the facts of the case appear to be wrong.

The magistrate of Wanping County is the seventh-rank magistrate who is sitting under Zhou Houjie at the moment. Zhu Pingan thinks that this man is about forty years old. He has an ordinary appearance and has no special features. He sits upright and has no unusual appearance.

Continuing with what was said above, after Zhou Houjie discovered the problems in this file, he sent someone to bring the case to trial. Wanping County belongs to Jingxian County, and the magistrate of Wanping County quickly brought the prisoners and relevant evidence witnesses to the Shuntian government office.

Zhou Houjie personally interrogated the prisoners and witnesses and gained a deeper understanding of the case. As usual when encountering difficult cases, Zhou Houjie stayed in the Yamen that night to study the files and materials related to this case.

That night, Zhou Houjie lit the oil lamp in the Yamen and sat by the window all night studying the files.

It happened to be a light rain that night, which was the light rain before Zhu Ping'an's vegetable serving ceremony. The light rain was pattering at night. The dark clouds covered the moon outside and it was very dark, and I couldn't even see my fingers when I stretched out my hand.

While Zhou Houjie was studying the files in front of the oil lamp, he suddenly heard a faint cry coming from outside the window. The sound sounded from far to near, and it was very sad.

"Tang San, go and see who is crying outside." Zhou Houjie ordered Tang San, the guard on duty, to go and see who was crying and whether there was any grievance.

In ancient times, it was common for people to block roads and cry for grievances, or even cry outside the yamen, but it was rare to cry inside the yamen.

"As you command, my lord." Tang San was a thin man. After listening to Zhou Houjie's instructions, he nodded and walked out of the room.

Almost a second later, Zhou Houjie, who was reviewing the research files in front of the oil lamp, heard a scream, and then the sound of falling to the ground.

"What happened?" Zhou Houjie was surprised and left the room holding an oil lamp.

Tang San, who had just gone out to investigate as ordered, was now lying on the ground. Just now he screamed and fainted.

Seeing this, Zhou Houjie was even more surprised. This Tang San was also a capable hero, and he had taken a fancy to Tang San's skills so he moved him to follow him. Unexpectedly, he only had time to let out a scream before fainting to the ground.

What happened?

Zhou Houjie took an oil lamp and looked outside, and then he saw a scene that made his scalp numb. He saw a man with disheveled hair and bloodstained face kneeling not far from the steps outside the door. Clothing.

Very eerie

Because there was light rain that night, the sky was dark, and the light of the oil lamp was small, so I couldn't see as clearly as during the day.

"Who are you?" Zhou Houjie pinched himself and asked loudly with courage.

As soon as Zhou Houjie finished speaking, he heard the man kneeling under the steps with disheveled hair and blood-stained face, kowtowing and replying with a faint resentment.

"Replying to your lord, I am the dead ghost who was killed in the murder case that your lord is trying today. I have grievances to report to your lord. Wanping County Magistrate overgeneralized and arrested the wrong person, allowing the real murderer Zhang Dalin to go free. My killer This person is Zhang Dalin, not Lin Dafu in prison. Today I am here to complain and plead with you to catch the real culprit so that I can rest in peace."

"I know."

Zhou Houjie nodded, his hand holding the oil lamp trembling slightly.

As soon as Zhou Houjie finished speaking, he saw the dead ghost kneeling on the ground kowtow again and then float away.

After the ghost left, Zhou Houjie still had doubts about this. After dawn, Zhou Houjie interrogated the prisoners and witnesses in custody again, and carefully asked the deceased about his height and weight, as well as the style and color of the clothes and shoes he was wearing on the day of death.

After asking, Zhou Houjie felt his scalp was numb. He was tall and thin, wearing a navy blue shirt, black shoes and white socks, which were exactly the same as the ghost last night.

Then, Zhou Houjie overturned the murder case in Wanping County, released the suspects in prison, and ruled out the police officers to arrest Zhang Dalin, the real murderer mentioned by the dead ghost, and bring him to trial in person.

Zhou Houjie took matters into his own hands and strictly interrogated Zhang Dalin who was arrested and brought to justice.

The magistrate of Wanping County did not agree with Zhou Houjie's overturning the case. He argued many times, but all he got was Zhou Houjie's words: Nanshan can be moved, Beihai can be filled in, but this case cannot be overturned.

The magistrate of Wanping County persisted in his defense, and the real murderer Zhang Dalin refused to admit guilt under strict interrogation. Therefore, Master Zhou Houjie came to the Hanlin Academy to find similar records to add evidence to the case.