Chapter 16: The Little Trumpet Starts Broadcasting

  "Cicada......, cicada......"

  No one knows what the cicada actually knows, anyway, the big cow and Cuīyún were called to sleep by it. As soon as summer arrives, the cicadas' chirping sounds rise and fall in waves, uninterrupted. Don't mention those who have been sitting in the classroom for a long time, even pedestrians walking on the road will feel drowsy when they hear this sound, with their eyelids constantly fighting each other.

  However, Xiaoxian was very spirited. In the waiting room of the Qingzhou Prefecture Government's Second Hall, she felt particularly cool. This place never saw the sun all year round, and even on a hot summer day, it was breezy.

  The courtroom was empty except for a few benches, and Liu Dama was the first witness to be brought in for questioning. The remaining three eyewitnesses, Xiaodi, Cuiyun, and Daniu, sat on the benches, staring blankly at the railing in front of them. No one was allowed to speak inside, and two bailiffs stood outside the railing, watching everything that went on inside the courtroom.

  Xiao Ding wasn't afraid of this place at all, she curiously looked around after entering the classroom, and after curiosity turned into boredom, she went to chat with Cui Yun sister. As a result, she was stopped by Da Ge after saying only two sentences, so she asked Da Niu brother to tell her jokes instead, but was again sternly stopped by Da Ge. Xiao Ding had no choice but to sit there listlessly and let her mind wander.

  "Young master's courage is really small, jumping and shouting, I'll use this to tease him later. But... it's not surprising that the young master is afraid, Zhang Shisan's dead appearance is too scary, the young master is a scholar, knowledgeable and polite, gentle and refined, has never seen such a thing before, how can he not be afraid? However, unexpectedly, the young master's body looks so good, hehe..."

  Xiao Qi's eyes slowly curved downwards, and the corners of her mouth slowly curled upwards: "When he was young, Young Master was as fat as a ball, climbing trees like a big bear, so clumsy... but now his appearance...... his shoulders are so wide, his chest is so thick, his arms are thicker than my thighs, his legs are thicker than my waist, and that thing of his..."

  The chaotic scene reappeared in my mind: the young master's naked body, swinging clothes rack, robust chest muscles, and that fleeting glimpse of a string of large "grapes" jumping with him...

  Xiao Ding's face suddenly turned red, she quickly closed her eyes, then opened one of them with a guilty conscience, and secretly glanced at Cuiyun sister who was sitting on the side. Seeing that she was looking straight ahead, a bit tense, and hadn't noticed the change in her expression, she finally felt relieved.

  Although she had always served the young master's food and daily life, this was still the first time she saw the young master's naked appearance. The male body full of masculinity left a deep impression on her mind. In addition to her serious consideration of what her father said to her last night, this strong impact suddenly rippled in her heart. The image of the young master began to blur in her heart, sometimes as a respectable and lovable brother, and sometimes as a man who made her face hot and heartbeat. This feeling made her a little scared.

  She didn't want to think about this heart-pounding thing anymore, and immediately changed the subject. She thought to herself: "It's strange, who would want to kill such a good person like Young Master? Luckily, there was Thirteen Lang this time. Although I've always disliked him, it seems that he's not too bad after all. At least he's loyal and deserves praise. If it weren't for him risking his life to protect Young Master, Young Master would have been killed. However, if I were there, I would also risk my life to protect Young Master!"

  She thought wildly for a while, and her mind turned to the strange behavior of the young master last night. She couldn't figure it out - why did the young master run to the ice cellar in the middle of the night? He didn't come out for a long time, surely he wasn't sneaking in to eat ice? What was the reason?

  Just then, a loud shout came from outside: "Xiao Ding, come out and wait for Master's inquiry."

  Xiao Ding let out an "ah" and quickly stood up, brushing off the dust from her buttocks...

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  In the interrogation room, Magistrate Zhao Ximu sat upright and asked Xiaodiang carefully: "Xiaodiang, from the five-cornered pavilion where you were, can you see the surrounding situation outside the bathroom?"

  "Of course, the bathroom is in a flowerbed, and it's about 17 or 18 steps away from the corridor. The area in between is all low grass and flowers, not enough to hide a person. Oh! That's not right either. If we sit in the pavilion, it won't work. On the left side of our small pavilion, there are several clusters of bamboo. When we sit in the pavilion chatting, the flowerbed on the right half of the bathroom is clearly visible, but the left half can't be seen very clearly because of the bamboo blocking the view."

  "So, to say, if the murderer sneaked into your mansion, rushed from the left corridor down to the bathroom, broke the window and rushed in to commit the crime, killed someone and then retreated along the original route, as long as he acted quickly, you wouldn't have time to discover him?"

  At this moment, the door creaked and Inspector Feng walked in lightly. The inspector's duties were somewhat equivalent to those of an office director, also in charge of documents and files, so he was qualified to be present. The affairs of welcoming and sending off at the prefecture also belonged to him, so he was very familiar with all the officials. This Zhao Pushan had a close relationship with him, so he walked in with great fanfare, nodded only to Zhao Pushan, and stood beside the clerk.

  Xiao Qi said to Zhao Pushan, "Yes, the young master will call me after he finishes his bath. He didn't call me, so why would I be staring at the bathroom? Liu Dama, Cuiyun Jie and Big Cow Brother were chatting with me in the pavilion at that time. However, the murderer didn't need to break open the window because our young master likes to take baths even in winter, so the windows are not installed with window frames but with tightly closed wooden boards. In winter, they are sealed to prevent cold air from entering, and in summer, they are completely opened, just one jump and you can get in."

  "Hmm, with the window open and you sitting in the pavilion, can you see what's going on inside the bathroom?"

  Xiao Dingdao said, "The bathroom is built high for drainage convenience. Sitting in the pavilion, you can't see what's going on inside the bathroom. Even if you stand up...what are we looking at in the bathroom?"

  Magistrate Zhao rubbed his nose: "Hmmm, now you carefully recount the situation of Zhang Thirteen appearing in the backyard until he entered the bathroom, without omitting any details."

  Xiao Ding said with a smile: "Yes, at that time the young master had already been in the bathroom for a while. We were chatting in the pavilion when Thirteen Lang suddenly came over and asked us: 'Is the young master taking a bath?'"

  The official suddenly said: "Wait a minute, just now Liu's wife said that Zhang thirteen came with an unpleasant face and seemed to be angry, is that so?"

  Feng Xihui's eyes sparkled as he listened, and he immediately fixed his gaze on Xiao Qi. Xiao Qi rolled her eyes and said, "Yes, Zhang Shisan relies on the young master's favor and looks down on everyone in the mansion. He thinks he's superior to everyone, and even walks with his nose up in the air. It's disgusting. Yesterday evening, he deliberately found fault with me to teach me a lesson..."

  Xiao Qi recounted the incident of drinking sour plum soup with ice cubes and quarreling with Zhang Thirteen last night, speaking in a vivid and detailed manner. However, this kind of bickering among servants in a wealthy household was quite common, and Magistrate Lord found it rather dull, so he simply kept raising his cup to drink tea.

  "...Later, Father also said that I didn't understand things. As someone who has been following Young Master since childhood, I should set an example for the new servants in the mansion. If not, everyone will learn from me and it will be chaotic. I thought about it and realized that Father was right. I should help Young Master and not let him worry, so I didn't get angry..."

  The Magistrate put down his teacup, helplessly holding his forehead, while Xiao Qi continued: "This morning I combed Young Master's hair. He saw that I was still angry and deliberately teased me into talking. Actually, he has a very good temper and wasn't angry at the time. But yesterday he had just gotten angry, if Young Master didn't coax me a bit, I wouldn't have been angry, how embarrassing would that be? So I ignored him..."

  The yamen runners standing on either side with their water-fire clubs lowered their heads silently, as if mourning in silence, Xiao Ding continued: "Actually, the young master has always been very good to me. Seeing that I was still angry, he thought of ways to coax me into happiness, saying that he would take me out to play and buy things for me. It's clear that this is the young master apologizing to me..."

  "Cough! Get to the point and just say why Zhang Thirteen looks unhappy!"

  "Yes, sir. So I was saying... Thirteen Lang thought that after what happened yesterday, the young master wouldn't care about me anymore. But it turns out he's still being nice to me. He knows how to be jealous, doesn't he? When he walked into the pavilion, he didn't even glance at me and directly asked Liu Dama and Cuiyun Jie: 'Is the young master bathing?' He didn't look at me, do I care about looking at him? So I deliberately chatted with Big Cow Brother and ignored him. Then he went to the bathroom. After a short while, I heard the young master shouting loudly inside: 'Save me! Quickly save me!' I jumped up..."

  The county magistrate suddenly regained his spirit, he raised his head and asked sharply: "Wait a minute, from Zhang Shisan entering the bathroom to your young master shouting for help, how long did it take? Say it again."

  Xiao Ding thought for a moment with his head tilted, and replied affirmatively: "A cup of tea is just the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. At that time, Big Brother Niu was telling me a joke. He said there was a man whose family was so poor that he didn't even have a name. Later, he married into a foolish sister's family and from then on everyone called him Brother-in-law. One day, when he was in court with someone, he asked someone to write a complaint for him. The person asked him: 'What is your name?' He said my name is Brother-in-law..."

  The yamen runners' heads hung even lower, their chins almost touching their chests. Even Zhao the magistrate was getting impatient, but Xiao Ding's sweet face and delicate features made everyone feel kindly towards her. The magistrate had four sons at home, but only one daughter, whom he spoiled terribly. The young Miss Zhao was about the same age as Xiao Ding, and Magistrate Zhao couldn't bear to scold her, so he propped himself up on his elbows, rubbing his forehead in distress.

  Xiao Ding said with a smile: "The document was handed over to the yamen, and County Magistrate Sheng shouted from the hall: 'Summon my brother-in-law!' The attendants all shouted together: 'Please invite Old Master Ji (brother-in-law) to the hall!' County Magistrate Sheng got angry and said: 'You bunch of rascals, what's with this "Old Master Ji"?' The attendants replied: 'But sir, isn't your brother-in-law our Old Master Ji?'"

  The yamen runners were propping themselves up with their water-fire clubs, each with a red face and a swollen belly, like a toad puffing itself up. The clerk's shoulders were shaking, the pen in his hand was trembling wildly in mid-air, unable to come down. Magistrate Lord raised his head, saying helplessly: "You're saying that Zhang Thirteen came to ask you if your young master was bathing, and you deliberately ignored him while talking to Big Cow Brother, then he walked towards the bathroom. At this time, Big Cow Brother started telling you a joke, and after you finished listening to the joke, you heard your young master shouting for help, is that right?"

  "Really! So Master already knew, did he? If I had known you knew, I wouldn't have had to explain so carefully."

  With a "clang", a nearby yamen runner's water pipe fell to the ground, and he hastily held his hat and bent down to pick it up, apologetically bowing to Zhao Pushan.

  The county magistrate took a few deep breaths, calming his demeanor before speaking in a low tone: "Alright, Miss Xiao, tell me what happened next. After hearing the cry for help, how did you proceed? You must be meticulous about these details and not omit anything. If you conceal even the slightest detail and we miss the true culprit as a result, Miss Xiao, you will have to face the consequences."

  "Ah! Hearing the cry for help, we didn't know what had happened, so we all ran over together. Whoosh! We rushed into the bathroom and saw Master holding a clothes rack, jumping around like a madman. There was a big puddle of blood on the ground. Then we saw Thirteen floating in the bathtub, his eyes wide open. We were so scared that we started shouting and jumping around with Master..."

  "Wait!"

  The county magistrate leaned forward slightly, his hands on the table, and said intently: "Let's be more careful here. Was there a shadow of the murderer in the room at that time? Was any weapon left behind? What was your young master wearing at that time, was he dressed neatly?"

  "Murderer has already escaped, how can he still be here? If he was still here, we would have definitely killed him. Young master is taking a bath, how can he wear clothes?"

  The official's eyes narrowed and he asked, "Really? Not a single thread?"

  "Uh... yeah... I guess..."

  "Don't be ambiguous! This is not a place for vagueness, speak clearly, is it or isn't it?!"

  "Yes!"

  "Hmm, and what about his hair, was it tied up or scattered?"

  "Others haven't even combed your hair yet, so of course you're disheveled."

  "Hmm... I see. What's going on down there? How is it down there?"

  Xiao Ding hesitated for a moment, blushing and lowering her head, fiddling with the hem of her clothes, and said in a bashful tone: "Master, I'm still an unmarried young lady, it's really...it's really too embarrassing to say this to you..."

  "Hahaha……" The whole hall of officials could no longer hold back, and they all burst into loud laughter.

  The county magistrate's face was red with rage, his cheeks twitching as he struggled to contain himself for half a day before finally waving his hand and saying: "You... get... out of here."