The Famous Detective of the Red Mansion

Chapter 60: The Case of the Dismembered Body in Daxing County [Part 1]

Seeing Jia Yucun got on his carriage and went off angrily, Sun Shaozong also gets into a rage that he didn't bother to go home to change his vest. He rode across the market on his horse wearing this coquettish yellow and bright red and went straight to Daxing County Yamen.

When he arrived at the gate of the County Yamen, the two Yamen guards on duty thought he was some Royal relative, and they were trembling to come forward to greet him.

Sun Shaozong kicked off his horse and reported his surname, "I’m the Assistant Prefectural Magistrate in the Criminal Department of the Central Judicial Office. At present, there is a case that I want to discuss with the Magistrate of your County. Who can help me report it?"

As soon as the two Yamen guards heard that it was the "Divine Judgement Assistant Prefectural Magistrate Sun,” they dared not neglect it, and immediately separated one person and rushed in to report it.

Not long after, he saw the middle gate open, and seven or eight officials rushed out. The leader was about fifty years old, and his face was full of wrinkles.

At the sight of this man's appearance, Sun Shaozong felt a little unhappy at first. Although he had never met Wang Qian, the Daxing County Magistrate, he also knew that the other party was a gallant young scholar. How could he look like such a rural old farmer?

Although the Daxing County Magistrate was also in the sixth grade, Sun Shaozong was at least the upper official of the Yamen. Now he was here to denounce him publicly for his crimes. It was unreasonable for Wang Qian to not come out to meet him personally!

At this time, he saw the “old farmer” official quickly step down the steps, bowed deeply in front of Sun Shaozong, and said in fear, "Greeting to the Assistant Prefectural Magistrate, I’m Shen Dan, the County Deputy Governor of Daxing County."

Wang Qian sent Shen Dan to come forward to meet him. Did he want this old man to be the scapegoat?

If so, this guy was so shameless!

As a local Magistrate, he was first abused by using torture, and then became a coward when the situation becomes critical. He doesn't know why the Zhen family chose him as a son-in-law?

Sun Shaozong thought like this and felt a little more sympathy for the Old County Deputy Governor in front of him. He came forward to help him up personally and asked genially, "Lord Shen, don't need to be so polite. Anyway, where is your County Magistrate?"

"This..."

Shen Dan hesitated for a while before he said, "Lord Wang left Beijing on leave eight days ago because his mother was seriously ill."

Left Beijing on leave eight days ago?

Now it's the fifth day of February. Didn't Wang Qian leave on the 28th day of the first month?

So…

Sun Shaozong immediately sank his face and sternly said, "So, you are the judge of the dismembered body case?"

Shen Dan suddenly folded his straight waist in half, shrunk his neck, and clamped his shoulders, shaking like chaff, "It... It was indeed me who judged the case. I’m terrified. I don't know what's wrong with this case. Please make it clear."

Tch!

Seeing that he had only become a seventh-graded Deputy County Governor in his fifties, he knew that this man was a person with no backer. Compared to him, Sun Shaozong has indeed become a formal officer of the second generation.

Originally, he wanted to scold those people that have power, but he turned out to be the one who bullied others with power. For a moment, Sun Shaozong didn't know whether to be happy or depressed. If he had known this result, what’s with the quarrel with Jia Yucun earlier on?

However, since Wang Qian was away, it would be easier to settle.

Sun Shaozong shook his bright yellow sleeve, put on the face of an upper-ranked official, and scolded, "What's the mistake? You still don't know? It's ridiculous! Let's go, take me to see the evidence of this case, and I'll tell you what's the mistake!"

This Deputy County Governor Shen just received the invitation post this morning and was already in a panic. Now that he saw Sun Shaozong's “bullfighting suit,” even he was scared that his bones were soft. How dare he disobey his meaning?

He hurriedly ordered his people to summon the testifier and pass on the evidence, and then personally led Sun Shaozong into the County Yamen Hall.

This inner hall was usually used for pre-trial proceedings so that the court officials could get familiar with the case in advance, to avoid any jokes in the actual court. According to the rules, Sun Shaozong still couldn’t hold a court trial here for questioning, so nominally, it was still mainly Shen Dan.

So after Sun Shaozong entered the door, he directly sat on the scribe's seat at the left head.

However, when Shen Dan saw him sitting at the scribe seat next to the main seat, how dare he occupy the position of a presiding judge behind the legal case?

He also quickly gathered to the left side of the scribe's seat and bowed pitifully.

After a while, he saw three people hurrying in from outside, Hu-Shi and an old man with a big waist standing on the left and right, and Zhou Da, the Criminal Inspector, was the one who led them in.

After entering the door, Zhou Da immediately came forward to report, "Report to the Lord, Zhou Liang was seriously injured, and he’s still being treated now, so he can't move."

Hearing this, Hu-Shi couldn't help choking while sobbing again.

Sun Shaozong didn't answer but just raised his chin, motioned for Zhou Da to stand behind him, and quietly waited for the physical evidence to be presented.

Who knows, after waiting for a long time, he saw a scribe carefully holding the file, as well as two pieces of oil paper with blood stains, and there was no more following.

Sun Shaozong's face suddenly sank for a few minutes. He turned to stare at Shen Dan and asked, "Are these the only evidence? Also, where is the dead body? Where is it buried?”

Shen Dan was so frightened from head to toe. He hurriedly bowed like a shrimp as if it were a turtle with his neck shrunk and said in a trembling voice, "Reply... Reply to Your Lord, it's inconvenient and unsightly to put the body in the County, so... so I sent it to the leased farmstead with rental allocated for the relief of the needy for temporary storage."

Seeing that Sun Shaozong was about to get angry, he hurriedly pointed to the volume and said, "My Lord, there are official documents for autopsies in the volume. The records on it are quite detailed. It's not necessary to look at the body..."

Before he finished speaking, Sun Shaozong sneered, "If everything was subjected to the autopsy documents made by the corpse examiner, what's the use of you as the Chief Judge? Fine, let’s put the body of the dead aside, but where are the other exhibits?"

Shen Dan touched the cold sweat on his forehead and said, "Report back to Your Excellency, this case... This oilpaper bag is the only evidence in this case, and no other evidence has been found."

"Ha... Haha... An oil paper bag as evidence! Has not found any other evidence!" Sun Shaozong laughed angrily and gritted his teeth. "Let me ask you, where was the rest of the body found except the head?"

"It was... It was dug out of the wasteland outside the back wall of Butcher Hu's house."

"Then let me ask you again, how can Butcher Hu dig a big pit enough to bury the body now that the weather is so cold that the ground is frozen? Does he have a pair of pangolin claws?!"

"This..."

Shen Dan said inexplicably, "My Lord, if he wants to bury the body, he will naturally use a hoe or a shovel..."

SLAM!

Sun Shaozong slapped on the table and said angrily, "Then why is there no hoe, shovel, or other tools here in the hall? Especially in the first month, these tools are put idle. You just need to have someone check whether there are recently used traces on them, which is enough to prove whether the body was buried by Butcher Hu!"

"This... This, this..."

Shen Dan stuttered for a while, he was lost in words. Finally, he had to bend his knees and kneel, bowing his head to the ground. He cried, "Forgive me, My Lord! I have a seventy-year-old mother and young..."

"It's useless to talk about these!"

Sun Shaozong waved impatiently and said, "If you want to atone for your sins, hurry to get the body back for me. Remember to bring it all back. If there is one part missing, I will take your skin and flesh for the count!"