Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside

County Magistrate Xu's eyes lit up upon hearing this, and immediately said to County Captain Jiang, "Hurry and arrest these two men for torture, we must extract a confession about Zou Hai's handling of the fake household registrations."

"Yes." County Captain Jiang answered, immediately ordering Luo Wu to seize Clerk Li and Secretary Chi.

The homes of these two clerks were located in an alley not far from the county government. Luo Wu led his men directly to the homes of the clerks and effortlessly escorted them to the county government.

On the way, Clerk Li and Secretary Chi, panicked, asked, "Constable Luo, what does Lord County Magistrate want with us at the county government? We are honest officials who have done our duty, not the brutal kind who exploit others. The County Magistrate must see this clearly."

Ever since County Magistrate Zou was arrested and imprisoned, all his trusted clerks had been put under house arrest by Lord County Magistrate, forbidden from going anywhere.

They were very worried and wanted to communicate with each other, but with government officials guarding their front doors, they couldn't send any messages out, even the purchase of grain and vegetables for their households had to be done by the government officials.

Luo Wu's face had lost its youthful immaturity, turning resolute. Hearing their words, he said without looking sideways, "Luo is but a lowly constable; if the two clerks have any questions, you can ask Lord County Magistrate yourself when you see him shortly."

At those words, Clerk Li and Secretary Chi wished they could strangle him on the spot.

A cup of tea's time later, Luo Wu had brought Clerk Li and Secretary Chi to the punishment room of the county government.

Clerk Li and Secretary Chi nearly fainted from fear and exclaimed, "Luo Wu, didn't you say that Lord County Magistrate wanted to see us? Why have you brought us to the Punishment Room? What do you intend to do?"

The accompanying government officials had already dragged Clerk Li and Secretary Chi into the Punishment Room, and with a bang, Luo Wu closed the great door of the room and turned back to say, "Lord County Magistrate said to torture the both of you, we are merely carrying out orders."

"Torture! Lord County Magistrate wants to torture us?" Secretary Chi's legs went soft from fear, yet he put on a show of defiance, "We are clerks of the county, receiving salary from the court, you cannot just torture us at will, that would be a violation of the Criminal Law!"

Luo Wu laughed and said to them, "Clerk Li and Secretary Chi, are you really unclear about whether you have violated the Great Chu Criminal Law?"

With that, he turned to Squad Leader Jiang who was already waiting inside the Punishment Room and said, "Uncle Jiang, they're here, you may carry out the punishment."

Squad Leader Jiang nodded without a word of nonsense, and directly ordered the government officials to tie the two clerks to the punishment rack and start the torture.

The punishments in the county's Punishment Room could not be compared with those in the military; they were merely minor tortures like pinching hands, branding with iron, and whipping with saltwater lashes. But Clerk Li and Secretary Chi, being scholars and having led privileged lives for decades, couldn't withstand such tortures at all. Fearing they would die in the Punishment Room, in less than half an hour they could no longer bear it and cried out, "We'll confess, we'll confess, stop beating us..."

If the beating continued, they would have lost their lives.

However, Clerk Li and Secretary Chi were also quite clever; they demanded, "We want to see County Magistrate Xu... if we don't see him... we won't speak, even in death!"

Luo Wu snorted disdainfully at this; still won't speak in death, they couldn't take even a few types of punishments in the Punishment Room, obviously just two death-fearing pretenders feigning unbending will.

But he still stood up and went to call over County Magistrate Xu and County Captain Jiang.

Others who came along included Zou Jiang, Jiang Qi, Squad Leader Yang, and the Qin Brothers.

The Punishment Room was rife with a peculiar stench; County Magistrate Xu covered his mouth and nose with a handkerchief and said, "I will only ask you once, do you recognize the Zou family's steward, Zou Hai? Do you know about the household registration that Zou Youlian processed for him? Which ones were they?"

He continued, "You are well aware of the crimes committed by Zou Youlian, punishable by the execution of the entire clan. As accomplices, you will not escape punishment either, but if you answer truthfully, your family members might be spared."

People fear death, even more so the extermination of their entire family. Both clerks had sons and they were both smart. Knowing that their fate was sealed, they had to leave something behind for their family.

Clerk Li was more timid; upon hearing this, he broke down and cried, begging County Magistrate Xu, "My Lord, please leave a future for my family. My Li family has only had one male heir for two generations; my son must not be implicated."

County Magistrate Xu said angrily, "Quit your wailing, I have no time to listen to you cry. Speak quickly about Zou Hai's household registration and only then can your son be spared."

Clerk Li hastily nodded, "Yes, yes, I will speak now."

But they had processed so many household registrations that it was impossible to speak clearly about them directly; they could only look through the thirty-four registrations.

Luckily, both men had good memories. After going through the thirty-four registrations personally handled by County Magistrate Zou several times, they finally singled out three registrations.

"It seems to be these three. At that time, County Magistrate Zou said that there were a few servants in the house who were to be released, and new household registrations were needed for them. But as everyone understands, this was just an excuse, a usual tactic used by officials and wealthy families to hide certain household assets." The two clerks had been in their profession for a long time and were naturally aware of certain matters, knowing that many officials and rich households liked to use this trick.

County Magistrate Xu, having received the three household registrations and noticing one was related to the Central State Kang Family, was overjoyed, "This one from the Central State Kang Family is here, it must be these three registrations for sure."

However, the remaining two places were quite far, one even in Jiangnan; searching now, who knew if they would be able to catch anyone.

However, they had to send someone to capture him at any cost; Zou Hai must not be allowed to escape.

"County Captain Jiang, we cannot delay. Take your men immediately and follow the addresses on the household registrations to capture Zou Hai." County Magistrate Xu spoke excitedly, "Rest assured, I will write to Magistrate Liang and General Guo. They will assist us, and capturing someone across jurisdictions will not be hindered."

Zou Jiang had been silent all the while, his brow furrowed as he stared at Secretary Chi... during Clerk Li's confession, he had keenly noticed that something was off with Secretary Chi; it looked like he had something to say but was afraid to speak.

Qin San Lang had noticed too; he suddenly drew his knife, brandishing it with a swoosh towards Secretary Chi's neck, and demanded sternly, "What else do you know? Speak!"

Frightened, Secretary Chi started shaking, and instinctively blurted out, "I-I'll tell, someone from the Tong family in the county, Old San Tong, once paid me to process a new household registration for him, to Baihe Town. I saw the registration was to the Tong family's ancestral home and he paid a lot of silver, so I took the silver and did it... But not long after, I saw Old San Tong drinking with a man at Futai Building, and it seemed they were discussing the registration. At that moment, I became suspicious and had some beggars follow that man, who ended up entering the Zou household through the back door!"

"Now that I think about it, that man must have been Zou Hai."

Filled with joy upon hearing this, County Magistrate Xu immediately instructed Master Tian, "Quick, check the register, see where the main household of this registration has moved to now?"

Certainly, it was no longer in Baihe Town of Tianfu County.

Master Tian and Steward Yu hurriedly had the clerks search through the household registration records of Baihe Town, and found it in less than two hours.

"The head of the household is Sun Dazhu, fifty years old, widowed, with a son named Sun Tianxi. They moved to Baihe Town three years ago and later relocated with the entire family to the county town of Yujiang County, transferring their household registration there," reported Steward Yu, holding the register.