Chapter 481: Repeat offender

Chapter 481 Repeat offense

Zhu Bantou made a mistake, and when Jiang Xianwei looked at him with a sword-like look, he could no longer say anything to refute.

Jiang County Lieutenant asked him: "During the fire, did anyone send people to keep an eye on each door, and did the patrols outside the wall withdraw? If Zou Yuzhen really escaped, he would definitely take advantage of the chaos to escape."

A flash of panic flashed across Bantou Zhu's face, and he quickly calmed down and said: "Sir, I have been posting people guarding the entrances of the Zou Mansion for a long time, and there are no patrols outside the wall..."

With a bang, Lieutenant Jiang County gave Zhu Bantou a slap in the face before he could finish his words, pointed at him and cursed: "Zhu Laiwu, if you tell me lies at this time, I'm afraid you don't want to live anymore!"

"Do you think you can get away with it? Your government officials also have to listen to me. As long as I say a word, they can help you fake it?"

Knowing that he could not deceive Lieutenant Jiang, Bantou Zhu immediately knelt down and said, "Excuse me, my lord, but I deserve to die... At that time, the fire broke out, and I only wanted to put out the fire. I once called the guards into Zou's house to put out the fire, but it only took half a day." Within a quarter of an hour, after the humble officer came to his senses, he immediately sent back the government officials who were guarding the gate and patrolling the outer wall."

“Zou Yuzhen is so familiar with Zou Mansion, half an hour is enough for him to escape several times.” Lieutenant Jiang County was so angry that he really wanted to slap Bantou Zhu.

Seeing Lieutenant Jiang being so angry, Captain Zhu was frightened, but in order to keep his position, he still had to say a question: "Sir, Zou Yuzhen's death escape is just a guess, maybe this charred corpse is really his. "

"Ha!" Lieutenant Jiang Xian laughed out loud, pointing at Bantou Zhu, who was no longer interested in beating him.

Just when Jiang County Lieutenant was about to die of anger, Lao Zhong and Uncle Yu hurried over with their county soldiers and said to County Magistrate Xu and County Lieutenant Jiang: "Your Excellency, County Magistrate, Lord County Lieutenant, the humble officials have already searched Zou. Mansion, Zou Yuzhen was not found."

While putting out the fire, Lieutenant Jiang County was worried that someone in the Zou Mansion would take advantage of the chaos to escape, so he asked Lao Zhong and Uncle Yu to lead the county soldiers to search the Zou Mansion.

Jiang Xianwei was not at ease and said to Uncle Yu: "Old Yu, you and your soldiers will search twice more. Be sure to search every corner of the Zou Mansion to see if Zou Yuzhen is hiding in the manor?"

Then he said to Lao Zhong: "Go and take a look. How many servants of the Zou family have died? How many are alive? Call them all. The fire tonight must have been put out by the servants of the Zou family. It was only Zou Yuzhen who was responsible for the fire." Maybe they could quietly pour pine oil on so many yards and set them on fire."

"Yes." Lao Zhong and Uncle Yu took their soldiers and ran to search the Zou Mansion, count the dead servants of the Zou family, and summon the surviving servants of the Zou family to assemble.

Two quarters of an hour later, Lao Yu came to report: "Your Excellency, the house where the servants of the Zou family lived caught fire, and a total of twenty-nine servants were burned to death. Among these servants, there were two stewards and seven servants. , five maids, and the rest are nursing homes.”

He then handed Jiang Xianwei a list of his servants and the nursing home: "All the names underlined are those who did not come during the roll call. They should be the ones who were burned to death."

The county soldiers under Lao Yu brought in all the living servants and guards. They were all unkempt and their faces were blackened by the dust. Some of their family members were burned to death. They were crying and wiping their tears.

Jiang Xianwei looked at these people and his eyes fell on Zou He.

At this moment, Zou He was trembling all over and mumbling words, not knowing what he was talking about.

Jiang Xianwei narrowed his eyes, pointed at him and said: "Capture Zou He."

 Lao Yu immediately took action and dragged Zou He to Jiang County Lieutenant.

County Lieutenant Jiang grabbed Zou He's lapel and asked: "Did something happen in Zou Mansion these days? Someone sent news to the manor? Did Zou Yuzhen deliberately set fire to escape? Where did he go? Who was there to meet him outside? Who is it? Tell me!"

Jiang Xianwei's voice was like thunder, which frightened Zou He to the ground: "Hard, so cruel... So many people died... So many people died..."

Zou He was trembling while continuing to speak words that only he could understand. There was something wrong with what he said. Jiang Xianwei immediately picked up Zou He and gave him a few slaps, finally knocking him out of his wits.

After a while, Zou He burst into tears: "It's murder. The third master wants to kill everyone in the house in order to survive!"

Zhu Bantou turned pale when he heard this. Judging from the meaning of these words, the charred corpse was really not Zou Yuzhen's.

Jiang Xianwei immediately grabbed Zou He's shoulders and asked, "Tell me what you know. As long as you tell me, I will spare your life."

Magistrate Xu also said beside him: "Speak quickly, as long as you tell me why Zou Yuzhen killed the entire Zou family, I guarantee that you and your family will not die."

 Just being used as an official slave.

Zou He was frightened by the fire. Now he came to his senses and cried to Jiang County Lieutenant: "The third master doesn't want to be executed. Ever since I was arrested, he has been thinking about how to escape... But I I never thought that Third Master would be such a beast, and for his own sake, he would actually set fire to half of the Zou Mansion...Mother Zou and Zou Hu are all dead."

After Zou He finished speaking, he burst into tears again.

Jiang County Lieutenant had no time to listen to his cry and continued to ask: "Who is helping Zou Yuzhen outside? Who is helping him in the house?"

Zou He thought for a while and said: "The third master has hired some people over at Liuye Lane. The leader is Chang Laopeng. It should be those people who are helping him... As for the house, the third master has recently been with Zou Hu and Gu The master is very close. Master Gu’s son is the boy next to Third Master, and the arrested master guarding the courtyard, the one named Cao, is Master Gu’s uncle.”

 After saying that, he started to cry again: "Dead... Zou Hu and Zou Hai are both dead!"

A courtyard near the reverse house was also on fire. It was the courtyard where the steward lived, where Zou Hu and Zou Hai lived. He lived in the yard next to him. He heard the screams of Zou Hu being burned to death, and saw the charred corpses of Zou Hu and Zou Hai being carried out, so he was so frightened that he trembled.

After hearing this, Lieutenant Jiang County said to County Magistrate Xu: "Sir, the matter of Zou Yuzhen's death and escape is confirmed. I will lead my troops to the city to search, and I will surely capture Zou Yuzhen."

 County Magistrate Xu hurriedly said: "Master Jiang, go quickly, we must catch the felon."

Zou Yuzhen was originally just an accomplice who was executed. But in order to escape, he not only set fire to Zou's mansion, but also burned down several alleys and street shops in the county to create chaos. He killed many people and became a serious criminal who committed murder.

If such a serious criminal cannot be caught, he will be punished, let alone promoted.

Zhu Bantou wanted to make up for his past mistakes, so he asked Jiang County Captain for a tassel: "Sir, I would like to go with you to capture Zou Yuzhen!"

Jiang Xianwei sneered: "Take your people and stay here, don't cause any more trouble to me."

Having said that, without looking at Bantou Zhu’s pale face, he led Lao Zhong and the others straight to Liuye Alley.

The fire in Liuye Lane was also quite intense. Among the three houses that were burned, one of them belonged to Chang Laopeng and his friends.

 (End of this chapter)