My Promotion Story Through Time Travel

Chapter 94 Darkroom (1)

The next day, before Magistrate Feng arrived, Lin Ziping came to his courtyard gate early in the morning and loitered around. When seeking favors from superiors, waiting is the least one can do to show respect.

However, as time ticked by, the sun was high in the sky, but Magistrate Feng was still nowhere to be seen. Just as he was waiting anxiously, a voice suddenly rang out, startling him.

"Who are you? Why are you here instead of attending to official business?" The man was dressed in a blue-gray shirt and official boots. His hair was neatly tied up with a wooden hairpin, and the wrinkles on his face showed the marks of time. At this moment, he looked at Lin Ziping with a serious expression and sharp eyes.

Lin Ziping took a closer look and realized it was Registrar Shen! He quickly bowed respectfully and said, "Greetings, Registrar Shen. Your subordinate, Lin Ziping, is here to await Magistrate Feng."

“It’s currently the duty shift for the third shift and the sixth room. If you need to report official business, you should contact your direct superior. How can you overstep your bounds?” Registrar Shen frowned, his tone revealing displeasure.

Upon hearing this, Lin Ziping offered no further explanation and respectfully replied, "Yes, Chief Clerk, I know my mistake and will leave immediately."

Upon seeing this, Registrar Shen's brow relaxed slightly, and he nodded in acknowledgment: "Go back immediately."

Lin Ziping understood that the registrar Shen had been speaking quite loudly, and since he had waited outside the courtyard for so long without seeing him, it seemed unlikely that he would see Magistrate Feng today.

So Lin Ziping decided to go to the Ministry of Personnel to ask Bai Xin.

Upon arriving at the clerk's office, he saw people rushing to and fro. He finally managed to stop one of them, clasped his hands in greeting, and said, "I am Lin Ziping from the Ministry of War. Please inform Bai Xin."

The man looked Lin Ziping up and down before replying, "Brother Bai went to the household registration office, didn't you know?"

He went to the Household Registration Office? So Bai Xin has been transferred. No wonder the Xiao family wanted me to find Bai Xin. I was wondering why he was in the Personnel Office. This office is a piece of real estate, and according to the functional division, he should be in charge of the Household Registration Office. I couldn't help but feel a little envious. He really has connections. I'm still struggling to do fieldwork, while Bai Xin has easily changed jobs.

After suppressing his emotions and thanking the other party, he hurriedly went to the Ministry of Revenue.

Unlike the Clerk's Office, the Household Registration Office didn't require an announcement to enter, so Lin Ziping went straight in, easily found Bai Xin, and explained his purpose.

Without a word, Bai Xin handed him a document: "Give this to the village head of Pingding Village. He'll know what to do. As for the transfer of ownership..."

"You want more money?" Lin Ziping was taken aback.

Bai Xin glanced at Lin Ziping and said, "What do you think? Normally, this kind of household affairs are handled by the village head. Otherwise, since we are familiar with each other and you made a contribution, and the higher-ups specifically instructed us, how could it have fallen to you? Take this to Pingding Village, and we'll talk about the rest when we get back."

Lin Ziping accepted the document and clasped his hands in thanks.

He then went to the horse shop, rented a horse, and headed straight out of the city.

I first went to the mortuary to see Dai Qin's grave. As expected of someone who specializes in this, the surface of the mound was smooth and flat, the height was just right, and the workmanship was very professional. He even gave me a wooden carved tombstone as a gift. If I need this kind of work next time, I will definitely ask Lao Liu for help.

Riding a horse is much faster than riding a mule or a donkey cart. In less than twenty minutes, Lin Ziping arrived at Pingding Village, found the village head, explained his purpose, and handed him the document given to him by Bai Xin.

“Although the people in our village sometimes have disagreements, they have always been honest and simple. When Hu Xinhua and Dai Qin first came here, I even helped them choose the location of their house. Who knew that now… sigh!” The village head took the document and held it in his hand, letting out a heavy sigh. “If I had known this would happen, I wouldn’t have let them move in. Now the whole of Fuchun County knows that there was a murder in Pingding Village, a husband-killing case, this…”

Lin Ziping didn't know what to say, so he changed the subject and said, "I'll go check on Dai Qin's house first."

The village head nodded, took out a key and handed it to Lin Ziping: "After you left, I bought a lock for that house and locked it. No one has gone in."

"Thank you." He took the keys, went out, and led the horse toward Dai Qin's house.

He didn't encounter many people along the way, but Lin Ziping felt many people secretly observing him from inside the houses on both sides, but he didn't care.

Lin Ziping opened the door to Dai Qin's house and went inside. He had originally planned to ask Zhang Xiaohu to come in with him from Zhang Ershun's house, but after knocking for a long time, no one answered. Unable to bear the fear in his heart, Lin Ziping went in by himself.

They pulled the horse into the yard, tied it up, and looked around.

What comes to mind is the scene when I first arrived here. I tripped over the threshold many times. The threshold is still just as high now. Although I tripped over it once, I can now step over it by lifting my leg a little higher.

I had already checked the storage room carefully last time. Hu Xinhua died in the kitchen, so I didn't dare go there. I walked into the main room. There was a calligraphy and painting hanging on the wall, and an offering table with several empty plates below it. Two wooden chairs were placed on either side of the offering table, and the table and chairs were covered with a thick layer of dust.

Upon entering the right side of the main room, there was a bed and men's clothes in the corner. This must be Hu Xinhua's bedroom. Lin Ziping stopped and quickly retreated.

Turning to the left, this was another bedroom, smaller than the previous one. Lin Ziping steeled himself and went inside. He saw clothes and bedding scattered all over the floor, and the bed was a mess, clearly the result of the previous search by the constables.

Lin Ziping planned to go to the toilet and then go back. Although Dai Qin had asked him to help deal with the house, he hadn't specified how. Letting the village head handle it would count as handling it. He had already spent over ten taels of silver, almost tens of thousands of yuan, because of Dai Qin. He was just an ordinary worker, and he felt he had done more than enough.

Perhaps it was because he had just resolved a major life event, or perhaps it was because he had put something to rest, but Lin Ziping felt inexplicably relaxed. There happened to be a well in the backyard, so he wanted to draw some water to wash his hands, as he had been living too roughly the past few days.

I picked up the bucket and went to the well. The water was shallow, and even after drawing a bucketful, it was quite murky. Sigh, when will this drought in Fuchun County end? Now, only deep wells like this have water. I couldn't help but worry. If it doesn't rain soon, what will we do when the water in this well runs out?

Back in the front yard, Lin Ziping suddenly stopped. The door leading from the front yard to the back yard was level with the house. It had taken him 15 steps to walk from the well to here. Moreover, looking at the back facade of the house from the back yard, the wall was flat and without any bumps. The two bedrooms seemed to be the same width. So why did he feel that Hu Xinhua's bedroom was bigger?

Lin Ziping returned to Hu Xinhua's bedroom and measured it again. The width was 6 steps and the length was 11 steps. Assuming each step was 0.6 meters, the room's area was approximately 24 square meters. Moving to the other bedroom, the width was 6 steps and the length was 8 steps, with an area of ​​approximately 17 square meters. The two rooms differed by 5 square meters?!

To verify his suspicions, Lin Ziping measured the main room, the storeroom, and the other side of the house. He even found a bundle of rope in the storeroom to measure. In the end, he confirmed that there was a dark room of about 10 square meters behind the main room and another bedroom!

Lin Ziping was excited about his discovery, but at the same time he was puzzled: how was he supposed to get into this secret room?