Imperial Treasure-Chapter 1000 - 598: Floating Corpse on the Water (Part 2)

The lotus picker was already quick with his hands and eyes, and with the attendant tossing so precisely, he swiftly caught it: "Alright, master, I’ll go over right away."

If it weren’t for this bit of silver, ordinary people wouldn’t dare go see the mystery.

Swish, swish, the person rowed the boat over.

As he approached the lotus cluster, he peered inward through a multitude of water lilies, his face suddenly turned pale, his body recoiled backward, and he shouted: "A dead body!! A dead body!!"

Just after shouting, the person fell into the water as he wobbled, and the people by the lakeshore and bridgehead suddenly stirred into a frenzy.

Dead body?

The pleasure-seekers on the painted boat were all stunned, and the music inside the boat suddenly ceased.

The crowd by the lake were jostling about, some discussing bringing the dead body back to shore, others saying to report it to the authorities, but in the end, no one acted too quickly, as it was quite a distance from here to the Yamen, taking an ordinary person an hour on foot, so common folk hesitated while some merchants wanted to figure out what was really going on before anything, was there really a corpse in there?

Watching the chaos unfold, the nobleman at the bow furrowed his brow and said: "Go report to the authorities."

"Yes" the attendant behind him heard and then leapt from the edge of the painted boat, stepping over water, bouncing several times to leap the ten or so meters to the bridgehead, landing and jumping, tossing a few copper coins, and then mounted a horse kept by a horseman along the lakeside street, spurring it forward, go!

The common folk watched, dazed, as they applauded the man’s martial arts, while being curious about the identity of the person at the bow.

But that person had already entered the painted boat.

Inside the painted boat were several noblemen of similar age to him, drinking and chatting, and a Dancing Girl was dancing, but with all the commotion outside, they became restless too, and upon seeing the man come in, they asked: "Brother Song, what’s happening outside, why is it so lively"

"There’s a dead body" the man with the surname Song said indifferently, lifting his wine jug, pouring a cup, downing it in one gulp, casting a glance at the Dancing Girl and singers present, saying calmly: "The people from the Yuhang Yamen will be arriving soon"

Upon hearing this, several men shuddered immediately, they were all living off the shadow of their ancestral family positions, holding leisurely posts in the Yamen without much to do on ordinary days, but once the Yamen people arrived, everyone on the painted boat around the lake would surely be questioned by the Yamen, if they were to expose themselves before so many people, not only Yamen would lose face and reprimand them, but their own reputation would also suffer.

"You all, retreat... lower the small boats, let them leave"

After the command was given, each of those noblemen organized themselves, one of them admiringly said: "Luckily, Brother Song reminded us, otherwise we’d be in trouble, it was fine before, but that Constable Fu is really hard to deal with"

The Constable Fu they mentioned was the chief constable who joined the Yuhang Yamen two years ago, with outstanding martial skills and impressive abilities, solving hundreds of cases in two years, among them many longstanding major cases, even those widely recognized, with the Prefect of Yuhang showing him much respect.

If such a person were to see them as public officials drinking and consorting during working hours... everyone shuddered.

The man with the surname Song observed these people’s timidity and superficial essence, flicked his finger, concealed his face with a folding fan, and hid the indifference and mockery on his face.

A while later, they heard shouting from outside.

"Yamen people are here!"

By the lakeshore.

A fast horse galloped over, among them the fastest horse was entirely black, its mane flying, the whip flicking up and down, the rider atop had already become somewhat unclear to see.

The wide avenue by the lakeshore had already seen the fast horse of the Yamen coming, surely not obstructing the path of the public official, smoothly arriving.

Upon reaching the lotus cluster.

The reins were pulled, the horse neighed.

The person on horseback, in robes, lifted a leg, jumped off the horse, threw the reins, looped around the trunk of a willow tree, a tug and pull with the fingers, the horse was already tethered by the tree, he held a sword with one hand, striding forth.

Iron Constable of Yuhang, surname Fu.

Afraid not even outsiders imagined this renowned iron-faced chief constable would look like this...

The person walking out of the painted boat slowly lowered his fan, looking at the person standing by the lakeshore opposite.

The solemn black and red Government Office attire, with iron wrist gauntlets on wrists and backs of hands, waist wrapped in a black leather belt, not very tall, but lean and thin, back straight, features quite distinct, high nose, big eyes, eyebrows exceptionally sharp, skin slightly tan.

Is this Iron Constable Fu Zhuo?

At first glance... does not quite look like the famous iron-blood chief constable from outside.

More like a thin, agile, elegant young man.

But soon he dismissed that view.

Only to see this great Iron Constable Fu’s gaze sweep coldly: "Send three people over to retrieve the body, you four clear the idle people around, do not destroy surrounding traces, have all boats on the lake dock, detain suspicious people for questioning, call the district governor from around here over to me"

"Yes"

The Yamen people were quickly assigned tasks, dispersed, acting rapidly, execution was very high, and more importantly Yuhang’s local citizens were obedient, with very good attitude.

Soon the district governor was summoned, and three small boats approached the lotus cluster, but they were evidently not lotus pickers, they seemed at a loss amidst the dense lotus clumps, fortunately the lotus picker who had fallen into the water earlier had climbed back onto his small boat, leading them in.

Fu Zhuo observed the four small boats cautiously entering the lotus clump, suddenly, the four small boats began spiraling around.

This frightened the people on the shore and the boat, even those noblemen were quite startled. (To be continued. If you enjoyed this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets, your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)