CHAPTER 484: CHAPTER 484: A CROOKED BAMBOO YIELDS GOOD SHOOTS

The official documents and evidence were sent to the Prefecture Government Office, County Magistrate Xu began feeling restless and uneasy, fearing that Magistrate Liang would chastise him.

Master Tian saw him pacing back and forth, unable to settle down, and comforted him, "My lord, there’s no need to worry. This is not your fault, Magistrate Liang won’t blame you for this."

County Magistrate Xu, with a mournful expression, said, "It was all supposed to be over once the officials from the capital took over the river bandit case. But at this critical moment, something like this happens with the Zou family, it’s truly disappointing!"

He pointed in the Zou family’s direction and said, "What kind of people are in the Zou family, anyway? Not to mention Zou Youlian’s multitude of crimes, of his three sons, the two older ones have corrupted private morals, and the youngest has committed such a major crime before dying. Have they all succumbed to hysteria? Can’t they do something a normal person would do?"

County Magistrate Xu utterly detested the Zou family. He cursed at the Zou family people at length, spitting flying in all directions, prompting Master Tian to silently take a few steps back to avoid the saliva.

After County Magistrate Xu had vented his frustrations, Master Tian then spoke, "Although Zou Youlian and his sons are worse than beasts, Zou Chengzu born to Ms. Bao is still not bad, at least he hasn’t harmed anyone."

"Hmph," County Magistrate Xu snorted coldly, "Zou Chengzu is only seventeen. Who knows what he’ll be like in the future? Maybe he’ll turn out like Zou Yuzhen, the kind who won’t stop until he’s killed someone."

Now, County Magistrate Xu had no good feelings towards the Zou family people.

Upon hearing this, Master Tian didn’t continue to speak in favor of Zou Chengzu and instead shifted the topic to the civilian residences and shops that were burnt in the county.

"Two shops burned down, one shop assistant died, and four were injured. These deceased and injured shop assistants are all servants of the Xu Family. Elder Xu said that the county government need not worry about his family’s losses, suggesting you to focus on the civilian houses instead."

The Xu Family is a well-known landlord family in Tianfu County, sizable and wealthy; the loss of two shops would not make much of a dent for them.

After hearing this, County Magistrate Xu praised the Xu Family, then inquired about the situation on the civilian houses side.

Master Tian said, "Seven civilian houses were burned, fifteen people died, and five were injured. Among them, in Elder Chang’s residence on Willow Leaf Lane, there were eight charred bodies."

County Magistrate Xu asked in a hurry, "Were the seven dead civilians sturdy working men? How are the injuries for the other five?"

Master Tian replied, "Three of them were the heads of their households, two were elderly over fifty, and two were children."

"That’s tragic," County Magistrate Xu said, his heart heavy with pain. The three breadwinners are gone, how will those families survive?

Master Tian continued, "The five who were burned are being treated at Doctor Zhou’s clinic... Doctor Zhou said that two more are likely to die."

"What?" County Magistrate Xu exclaimed, standing up from his chair in shock, "Why? Weren’t they said to be spared from smoke inhalation? Why can’t they be saved?"

Master Tian said, "Doctor Zhou mentioned that the burned flesh is difficult to heal and will rot away. Once it rots, the person won’t make it."

He had visited those burn victims at Zhou Family’s Clinic, and the wailing cries and the blood-soaked bandages still sent chills down his spine when he thought about them. It was horrifying.

County Magistrate Xu was not a doctor, he did not have the skills to save or treat people. After listening, he could only sigh and say, "Tell Doctor Zhou to do his best in treating them, the county government will pay for the medical expenses."

When County Magistrate Xu finished saying the last part, his heart ached at the expenditure, but the medical fees were indispensable; it was a matter of life and death.

Just after feeling distressed about one matter, two Government Officials hurriedly came and said, "Lord, Master Tian, the commoners whose homes were burned are wearing mourning clothes and carrying coffins to the government office, saying they want the Lord to redress their grievances!"

County Magistrate Xu had a headache so severe he wished he could faint on the spot, but he had to gather his spirits and go with Master Tian to console those affected families.

He talked himself dry, showed them the corpse of Zou Yuzhen, and finally dug into his own pockets to compensate each household with ten taels of silver, telling them to go back and arrange funerals for the dead first. He promised that as soon as there was any news about the case from the Prefecture Government Office, they would be informed immediately. It was only after much persuasion that he managed to send the aggrieved families back to their homes.

By the time he returned to the back office, County Magistrate Xu was nearly collapsed from exhaustion. Instead of resting, he had two Government Officials support him as he went to visit Zou Youlian in the prison cell.

Zou Youlian, who had been locked up for many days, had become so despondent that he was a mess. Seeing County Magistrate Xu come to see him personally, he arrogantly said, "To have Lord Xu Chongfeng lower himself to visit me, a prisoner, I must say being imprisoned isn’t so bad."

"To hell with you!" County Magistrate Xu exploded with coarse language driven by the troubles caused by the Zou family, and pointed at Zou Youlian saying, "I came to see you today to tell you some good news, Zou Youlian listen up, your Zou family is wiped out. Your beloved youngest son, in a fit of madness, set fire to your Zou home, burning to death your wife, your grandson, and including your daughter. And as for Zou Yuzhen, he got stabbed in the chest by one of his subordinates, because he had too many silver notes on him while escaping—dead for good!"

Having said this, County Magistrate Xu felt immensely gratified and let out several hearty laughs, the frustration in his heart somewhat alleviated.

County Magistrate Zou knew that a major case had occurred in the county these past few days, and he had secretly been pleased for several days thinking it was the river bandits coming back for revenge. But now, hearing County Magistrate Xu’s words, he was so shocked that he stood up, trying to rush to the door of the cell, but was unable to push through due to the shackles on his hands and feet, only managing to say in a stunned manner: "The Zou family people... are dead..."

County Magistrate Xu loudly declared, "They’re all dead, and it was your own son who set the fire, burning them alive!"

Upon hearing this, County Magistrate Zou’s eyes suddenly bulged, and after a long moment, he spat out a mouthful of old blood and collapsed.

County Magistrate Xu said to Squad Leader Yang, "Get a doctor to look at him. Don’t let him die, and don’t let him commit suicide either. He must stay alive."

With that, he walked away gleefully.

Master Tian, fearing something might happen to County Magistrate Zou, did not leave. He waited until Doctor Zhou had looked over and confirmed that County Magistrate Zou would not die, before finally being at ease.

After receiving treatment from Doctor Zhou, County Magistrate Zou regained consciousness an hour later.

But once awake, County Magistrate Zou seemed to have had the life sucked out of him, silently shedding tears and murmuring, "Jiang Sheng... you’ve won... my end is worse than yours..."

He had caused Jiang Sheng’s family to be ruined and left childless, becoming lonely. While he had lived a life of wealth for most of his life, in the end, he faced his entire family being wiped out, foreseeing the doom of extermination for his nine generations and six relatives.

As soon as he finished speaking, Squad Leader Yang, fearing he would commit suicide by biting his tongue, immediately stuffed his mouth with a cloth gag.

Squad Leader Yang and County Magistrate Xu thought wrong; County Magistrate Zou would not commit suicide. Even facing a miserable end, he clung to the last moments of his life.

...

Uncle Bao took Zou Chengzu and his sister back to County Magistrate Zou’s hometown, and after having the Zou clan erase the names of Zou Chengzu and his sister, he started packing the coffins with Ms. Bao’s surname and transported them back to the Prefecture.

When passing through the county and learning of the major crime committed by Zou Yuzhen, they were frightened and wiping cold sweat said, "It’s fortunate that we came early. If we had delayed for another two days, Chengzu and Lanhua would have been burnt to death."

Upon knowing that Zou Yuzhen, along with villains, had burned many commoners to death, Zou Chengzu immediately requested Uncle Bao: "Uncle, let’s make a trip to the county government... I want to donate half of my mother’s dowry as compensation for those burned families."