The new book of the burning prairie star

Chapter 108: Master, please jump over the fire basin

"Your Majesty, I, Ying Jian, pay my respects to you!" Imperial Censor Ying Jian had returned from Guangping Prefecture. He was ordered by Emperor Tianqi to investigate Xia Zhaofeng. Emperor Tianqi intended to marry his only daughter to the crown prince, so he wanted to know the character of Xia Zhaofeng, the future father-in-law of the crown prince, and whether he was an honest official.

"My dear Minister Ying, did you gain anything from this trip?" Deep down in his heart, Emperor Tianqi did not want anything to happen to Xia Zhaofeng. This man was capable of managing local affairs, and the prince's maternal family was weak. If he were allowed to become the prince's father-in-law, then he and his son would surely be able to help the prince in government affairs in the future.

"Your Majesty, there is nothing wrong with Xia Zhaofeng himself. His wealth comes from his ancestral inheritance and the dowry brought by his wife, but..." Xia Zhaofeng did not rob or embezzle. Ying Jian was weighing whether he should tell Sun Xuanli about this matter, as this person might become a problem for Xia Zhaofeng in the future.

"But what?" Emperor Tianqi secretly breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that Xia Zhaofeng was fine. However, Ying Jian's tone took a turn, which made his heart rise to his throat again.

"However, Xia Zhaofeng's nephew is a restless person. He has been the steward in Xia Zhaofeng's mansion for three years. Relying on his uncle's power, he robbed many local people's properties. However, he was discovered by his aunt Liu, who expelled him from the mansion and sent him back to his hometown, and returned all the stolen property to the original owner." After thinking it over again and again, Ying Jian reported the results of the investigation to Emperor Tianqi.

"What is the name of Xia Zhaofeng's nephew?" Emperor Tianqi's face turned a little gloomy, and those who knew him knew that he was angry.

"Your Majesty, his name is Sun Xuanli. He is currently in Jiahe County. This kid does nothing all day and wanders around." He is the eldest son of the Xia family and the first grandchild born in the Sun family. He grew up in great pampering, never considers the consequences of his actions, and behaves in an extremely arrogant and domineering manner.

"Well, my dear Lord Ying, you have worked hard on this trip. Go home and rest early!" Emperor Tianqi waved his hand and asked Ying Jian to kneel down and leave. He sat there alone until the eunuch chief steward Luo Xiang lit the room and retreated to wait outside the door. Then he walked to the window of the room and said to the darkness, "That Sun Xuanli cannot be kept."

"I obey your order!" A man in black appeared and knelt outside. After receiving the order from Emperor Tianqi, he disappeared into the darkness in an instant.

"Hey, Yang Biao, you need to take a bath with grapefruit water to get rid of the moldy smell on your body!" Qin Xiaoran took Jiang Sheng and others to the prison to pick up Yang Biao, who had been imprisoned for thirteen days. Halfway through the journey, he wanted to get off the car to see the new restaurant, but Qin Xiaoran stopped him and told him to go home first.

"Okay, I'll listen to you!" Although Yang Biao felt that this was too superstitious, he still didn't want her to feel bad. Whenever something bad happened to him in the future, he would think it was because she didn't bathe in grapefruit water today.

"Master, quickly jump over the fire basin!" Xue San placed a basin of charcoal fire made of sandalwood, which contained three grams of red beans and three grams of cinnabar, in front of the door and asked Yang Biao to step over it.

"Wow!" Everyone watched as the master stepped over the fire basin and lit the firecrackers. They cheered amid the crackling sound of the firecrackers, "Drive away evil spirits and bad luck, and bring prosperity to your life!"

"Zhaofeng, you have to do something for Xuan'er!" Xia cried. She really couldn't swallow the pain of losing her son in middle age. She suppressed her inner grief and immediately took her son's body and took a carriage to the provincial capital to find Xia Zhaofeng.

Her son was living well in the provincial capital. It was all Liu's fault that he drove him back to Jiahe County. Otherwise, how could he be inexplicably killed in his hometown?

"Ah," Xia Zhaofeng was extremely angry when he saw his grief-stricken sister coming to visit him late at night, and the body of Sun Xuanli being carried in. Who dared to kill someone in his jurisdiction, and who killed his own nephew? "How did Xuan'er die?"

Xia didn't know how her son died, nor did she have the energy to ask the servants who served Sun Xuanli. She only knew that her eldest son had died, so she came to Guangping Prefecture to ask her brother, who was the prefect, to make the decision.

"The young master was having dinner in a restaurant when he was killed by five people who suddenly appeared!" Sun Xuanli's personal servant hurried forward to reply. In fact, the young master was fooling around in a brothel, but he didn't dare to tell the truth to Xia Zhaofeng.

"Eating in a restaurant?" Xia Zhaofeng frowned. How could he offend someone while having a good meal?

"My husband, let Judge Cao go to Jiahe County to look for witnesses." Liu, who was woken up in the middle of the night and followed, felt that something was fishy. However, as a mother, she also sympathized with her elder sister-in-law who lost her son in middle age, so she told Liu Nanen, "Go find Pan Zhiting and ask him to come to the mansion."

"Second brother's wife, what do you mean?" Xia was dissatisfied. She came to find her second brother and asked him to quickly catch the murderer and avenge his son. This Liu had so many things to do and just jumped out to waste time.

"Well, your sister-in-law is very rigorous in her actions!" Xia Zhaofeng helped Liu, who had not slept well, to sit on the chair. It was his own nephew who died, which made it difficult for him to remain calm. He thought that he had made the right decision to marry Liu, who was his good wife.

Glaring at Liu who was sitting on the chair, Xia was helpless. Her second brother's idea of ​​sending troops to capture people was interrupted by her. She could only kill him with her eyes. Who told her that she could give birth? All her sons were promising. How great it would be if her own child could become a Jinshi!

"Sir, he was killed by a sword in the throat, and there are purple palm prints on his chest. It should be that someone shattered his internal organs with a palm. This must be done by a person with great martial arts skills!" A master killed someone, and even if he was rescued in time, it would be impossible to save him. After examining Sun Xuanli's body, Pan Zhiting wiped his hands with a cloth while informing the people present of the autopsy results.

"Thank you, Pan Wuzuo, for your hard work!" Liu gestured to Nanny Xu beside her, who stuffed a silver note into his hand.

"Thank you so much, Mrs. Xia!" Pan Zhiting accepted the silver, bowed and said goodbye.

"Sir, can you please spare me a moment's talk?" Judge Cao felt that this method of killing was quite rare. Anyone with great martial arts skills could kill Sun Xuanli alone, so why send five people?

"Just say what you want to say." Xia Zhaofeng took him to his study, indicating that he would not be angry and asked him to speak frankly.

"Sir, why did the killer want to shatter Young Master Sun's internal organs after he had already killed him with one sword?" Judge Cao expressed his doubts. It seemed that the only way to deal with this matter was to find the deceased's personal servant.

"Let's go, let Xuan'er's servant come and interrogate him!" Xia Zhaofeng walked out of the study and returned to the hall. Looking at his sister who was still crying, he had some impression of his nephew's servant. He pointed at Hu Zi and asked, "You said Xuan'er was killed while eating in the restaurant?"

"In reply to your Excellency, every word I said is true!" Hu Zi saw Xia Zhaofeng's sharp eyes, which was the majesty of a superior, and he was so scared that he fell to his knees on the ground.

"Don't tell the truth? Come on, give me thirty lashes!" Xia Zhaofeng was angry. Under Liu's influence, his rationality had returned.

"My lord, I am not lying, my lord..." Hu Zi was still making a last-ditch struggle. He believed that Xia Zhaofeng was just trying to scare him. After all, Xia was still sitting here. She would never beat her beloved son's servants. There is an old saying: When you beat a dog, you have to look at its owner first!

"Ah..." It was not until the board hit his body that Hu Zi realized that Xia Zhaofeng was not threatening him. He was trying to make him tell the truth. But would he still be alive if he told the truth?