Chapter 16

Jin didn't struggle anymore and huffed hard, "Then you ask."

    Jiang Qingyue gave a wink, and the two magistrates on either side lowered their arms that were holding him in place.

    Yan Shi asked, "Where have you been these past few days?"

    "This year my brother sent me to the shop to learn how to do business, three days ago I went out of town with the shopkeeper to do business, I just returned to the city and heard someone say that my brother had an accident ..." Jin Ge'er's eyes were red again, a few lines of tears flowed down.

    Hua Ling stood by and bit his lip, not knowing what he was thinking.

    When Jin realised that Yan Shi was wiping his tears, he was a little embarrassed and stopped crying for a moment. Seeing this, Yan Shi gave him the handkerchief and let him wipe his own tears.

    "Does your brother have any enemies?" Yan Shi asked again.

    "There are no enemies, my brother's people are especially good, my brother will go to help anyone who has a big or small problem."

    What Jin had said had actually been investigated by Yan Shi and was indeed true.

    "Then what is your brother's abnormal behavior these days?"

    Jin thought for a long time, "Nothing unusual, just the same as before."

    Yan Shi asked a few more small questions, but got no useful clues, which was to be expected. The two people who had disappeared before were the same, no enemies before they died, and no abnormalities.

    "Come on, let's take a look in the house." Yan Shi said, taking the lead and walking in, followed by Hua Ling.

    Jin's house was very small, and when he opened the door, he could see the inside of the house in full view. There wasn't much furniture either, just a chair, a table and a worn out box, and the most valuable thing in the whole house was the suona.

    "My father and mother died of illness a few years ago, and it cost a lot of silver to treat them." Jin stood in the doorway, watching Yan Shì and Jiang Qingyue look inside, and spoke to himself, "In order to pay off the debt my brother worked in the dark and early in the morning, I was too young to help him much. The debt was finally paid off last year, and the day was just about to get better, but my brother ... joked with me before I left town that I was going to earn a lot of money to get him a daughter-in-law.

    Yan Shi looked at him carefully and then exchanged a glance with Jiang Qingyue: "Let's go." Since we haven't found any clues, we might as well look elsewhere.

    "Your Excellency," a magistrate outside the door arched his hand, "A footprint was found on a tree."

    There was a thick willow tree by the gate of Jin's house, and the footprint the magistrate had mentioned had been found on that tree.

    "Oh?" Yan Shi looked towards the tree, he hadn't noticed the tree yesterday, so it seemed he had been careless. A painter had already painted the footprints, but fortunately it had rained last night and the mud had stuck to the soles of the shoes, so the footprints had been left behind.

    After another day, the footprint did not look very clear, but according to the shape and size, it was a man's footprint.

  When Yan Shi looked at it, Hua Ling was also straining his neck to see it.

    Jin also went over to look, "So my brother was murdered?"

    Hua Ling gave him a blank look, "What else, do you think he was captured by a ghost?"

    "I... I didn't think so!" Jin Ge'er choked on Hua Ling's words for a moment, and when he looked back he was a little annoyed, "I was just a little surprised, my brother has no grudge against anyone, who would harm him?"

    Hua Ling was not willing to show any weakness either, "Then I have to ask you, did you make some kind of enmity outside and dragged your brother into it."

    "You ..." Jin was so angry that his face turned red and he couldn't say anything.

    The first thing Yan Shi thought was that he was only twelve or thirteen years old, so it seemed to him that it was just two children quarrelling.

    The time was almost noon, so Yan Shi and Jiang Qingyue discussed the matter and decided to go to dinner first.

    Hua Ling had a few more words with Jin, and only when he had finished arguing did he realise that Yan Shi had already gone ahead.

    "Brother! Brother, wait for me!" Hua Ling was busy trotting after him, and when Yan Shi heard the sound, he stopped and turned around to wait for him.

    Hua Ling wanted to throw himself into his arms, but then he thought about it and didn't dare, for fear that Yan Shi would think he was too scheming, so he just grabbed his sleeve and shook it gently, "Brother, where are we going?"

    "It's almost noon, let's go and have dinner." Yan Shi said, "Is there anything Mingting wants to eat?"

    When Hua Ling heard that he was going to eat, his face lit up with joy, "I've never eaten outside, I'll follow whatever brother eats."

    Hua Ling was already extremely pretty, and now with a bright smile under the shining sun, he looked even more and more beautiful.

    But Yan Shi only felt pity for him, for a nobleman's son as old as he was, which one of them had not eaten and played all over the imperial city. Thinking of this, Yan Shii's sympathy for him went one step further.

    "Come on, let's take you to eat something delicious. There is a restaurant not far from here that does good food."

    "My lord! Your Excellency, wait for me!" Hua Ling hadn't followed Yan Shi for a few steps when he heard Jin Ge'er shouting behind him.

    Hua Ling's grip on Yan Shii's cuff tightened: "Go quickly, go quickly."

    But when he said "go", Jin had already caught up with him in the blink of an eye.

    "Da, my lord." Jin was slightly out of breath from running, "Can you, can you take me with you? I want to investigate the case with you."

    Hua Ling gripped Yan Shi's sleeve even tighter, practically tearing it.

    "Little brother, you can't investigate the case with us if you're not from the government." Hearing Yan Shi's words, Hua Ling's grip on his sleeve loosened slightly.

    "I, I just want to find out the truth as soon as possible," Jin's head bowed slightly, "can't I promise not to cause any trouble? I'll do whatever you tell me to do."

    Jin's height didn't reach Yan Shi's chest, so Yan Shi rubbed his hair to comfort him, "Trust me, I will help you find out the truth as soon as possible."

    Hua Ling's eyes instantly glared wider than copper bells, a side step squeezed towards Yan Shi, shaking his head in a frantic gesture.

    It was hard to ignore such a large presence, and Jin Ge'er suddenly asked, "So what is he?" He was not wearing official clothes, although Jiang Qingyue was also not wearing any, that Yan Shi was discussing the case with him from time to time, and at first glance, he was also here to investigate the case, only Hua Ling, who looked like he was totally here to watch the fun.

    Before Yan Shi could think of what to say, he heard Hua Ling say rather miraculously, "I am my brother's official royal wife."

    Hua Ling aimed to declare his sovereignty, but unexpectedly gave Jin a handle, don't look at Jin's young age, but his heart is not small, so he asked, "Then you are not a member of the government, why can you follow the case?"

(oh my God, Jin is a character 😂😂)