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墨書 Inktalez
The county magistrate frowned in displeasure, but his attention was drawn to the copper badge swaying at the old soldier's waist—a gilded badge of the Jinyiwei. Though it had dulled with age, the words "Beizhenfu" were still clearly visible.
"Lead the way," the county magistrate's tone immediately became respectful.
On the offering table in the side hall of the ancestral temple lay several oil-paper packages. The old soldier opened them one by one: the first contained moldy official grain, the second was black powder used by the Zhou family, and the third...
"What is this?" The county magistrate pointed at the reddish-brown powder in the third package.
"Your Excellency might want to take a whiff," the old soldier sneered.
As the magistrate leaned in, he suddenly sneezed violently. "Spicy... chili powder?"
"Exactly what the Zhou family has been dumping into the canal!" The old soldier pulled out a ceramic jar. "This was intercepted from their laborer's possession."
Inside the jar were a few grains of millet, already sprouting purple-black mold. Lin Dahe added at an opportune moment, "Just like the relief grain that went bad in Yanzhou during the first year of Chongzhen."
Cold sweat broke out on the county magistrate's forehead, soaking a large patch on his official robe. He suddenly turned to leave, saying, "I just remembered I have official documents to attend to..."
"Your Excellency should take a look at this." The old soldier stopped him and unfolded a yellowed map. "This shows the vein of the Western Mountain mines; the Zhou family's mine has already crossed into our territory." He pointed to a dashed line. "Just three more zhang and it will reach the dragon vein of our county's ancestral grave."
The county magistrate's face turned pale instantly.
Before sunset, the patrol officers retreated in disgrace. As he left, the county magistrate deliberately scooped up a bowl of water from the spring and remarked meaningfully, "Better than the pre-rain tea offered by the Zhou family."
The villagers let out a long sigh of relief, but Lin Dahe was fixated on a new red dot flashing on the system map—the location of the Zhou family's cellar was marked as [Key Evidence].
In the dead of night, Lin Dahe and the one-armed old soldier sneaked into the Zhou family's backyard. The entrance to the cellar was hidden behind a pile of firewood, with a lock still bearing Zhou Liangzhang's ever-present sandalwood abacus.
"Strange," muttered the old soldier as he pried open the lock with his dagger. "There used to be at least two servants guarding this place."
With a click, the lock opened. A musty odor mixed with an acrid scent rushed out to greet them. Lin Dahe held up a fire stick for light and saw that inside the cellar were more than twenty large boxes sealed with stamps. The most recent box had already been pried open, revealing...
"Government silver?" The old soldier picked up a silver ingot for closer inspection but suddenly exclaimed, "The weight is off."
The system display automatically scanned: [Outer layer wrapped in silver, embedded with lead blocks, marked as 'Yanzhou military pay silver from Year Seven of Tianqi']. Lin Dahe suddenly realized—this was military pay that had been embezzled back then!
They continued their search and found an account book in a hidden compartment at the back. Flipping to the first page revealed records of grain storage for Yanzhou during Year One of Chongzhen; however, on the last page was written "April of Year Six of Chongzhen," detailing recent quantities of moldy grain sold to various counties.
"We found it!" Lin Dahe pointed to a small iron box in a corner. The shape of its keyhole matched perfectly with half of Madam Old Woman's copper badge.
Just as the old soldier inserted the badge into the lock, chaotic footsteps echoed from outside. A familiar female voice screamed, "It's in the cellar! I saw it with my own eyes!"
It was Aunt Ma! Followed by Zhou Liangzhang's furious roar: "Shoot! No matter what happens!"
The first fire arrow shot into the cellar with a whoosh, embedding itself in a wooden box and igniting fiercely. Lin Dahe grabbed up the iron box and was about to rush out when more fire arrows rained down like hail...
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