Transmigrated into a female county magistrate during a famine, leading her country to prosperity

Chapter 1135 Investigating the Parrots

Huaifu is located in the southeast corner of Liuyang Prefecture, bordering the prefectural school and government offices to the east and residential streets and alleys to the south, far from the hustle and bustle of the city.

The main gate of the mansion has three rooms. The main courtyard and inner courtyard are not particularly special, but there is a special detached courtyard on the east side of the mansion - Tingyingxuan.

"Ka-"

"Caw caw—Chirp—"

As soon as Shen Zheng and the others arrived outside Tingying Pavilion, they heard bursts of bird calls.

A huge lock hung on the gate. The steward of the Huai family glanced at Shen Zheng's face, tremblingly took out the key, and began to unlock it.

Whether he was doing it on purpose or was too nervous, he couldn't get the key into the lock no matter how long he tried.

Shen Zheng glanced at him, and he was on the verge of tears: "I...I didn't mean it, Master Shen, please wait a moment..."

"Chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp—" The parrot inside the pavilion seemed to hear someone coming and chirped even more happily.

Shen Zheng looked at the butler's flustered fingers and asked, "Do you know the origin of those birds in the pavilion?"

The butler had just inserted the key into the lock when he heard this and hurriedly shook his head: "I...I don't know, Master never talks to me about these things..."

"That would be best." Shen Zheng placed her hand on the door of the pavilion and smiled, "If you know something but don't report it, you'll be considered an accomplice, but if you don't know anything, then you're safe."

Upon hearing this, the butler shuddered violently, and it was this shudder that caused the lock to open.

Shen Zheng pushed the door open, and the scene inside came into view.

Inside the pavilion was a square pond, with three bronze bird stands beside it. On each stand was a huge bronze birdcage, and in each birdcage was a colorful parrot larger than a pigeon.

When they saw someone open the door, the three large parrots became very excited. They used their beaks and claws to climb onto the side of the cage and chirped at them.

"Such a big parrot?" Yu Zhengqing followed Shen Zheng inside, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper.

Although he was unfamiliar with the bird market, he knew that such a large parrot must be very valuable.

After a few breaths, the group stood in front of the bird stand.

Shen Zheng looked at one of the green parrots and said, "This is the... Green-feathered Celestial Bird that Wu Shun mentioned?"

This parrot is entirely emerald green, and under the sunlight, the tips of its wings and tail feathers shimmer with a very faint golden light, like scattered gold dust on green silk; it is clearly very valuable.

Yu Zhengqing guessed, "It should be this one."

After all, the other two parrots weren't green; one was red and the other was white.

Shen Zheng circled the bird stand once, her gaze finally settling on the red parrot.

Yu Zhengqing asked in confusion, "What's wrong with this red parrot?"

Shen Zheng paused for a moment, but before she could speak, the red parrot suddenly opened its beak.

Then, in a strange voice, it said to Yu Zhengqing, "My darling! Chirp! Chirp! My darling! Who is my darling? You are my darling!"

Yu Zhengqing was caught off guard and startled: "This one has even learned to talk!"

Although he had heard people say before that parrots could mimic human speech, hearing it suddenly now was still quite frightening.

Shen Zheng stepped forward and said, "I just overheard it talking. Not only can it talk, but it's also the largest of the three, and probably the most expensive... Let's take them all back."

Based on the value of these three parrots alone, the charge of Huai Gongwang accepting bribes is already half proven.

Xu Yunyan summoned the guards and moved all three bird stands out, but the birdsong in the parrot pavilion continued unabated.

Shen Zheng followed the sound of birdsong to the back of the pavilion.

The small garden behind the pavilion is surrounded by a bamboo fence, and the chirping of birds spills out from behind the fence, sounding noisier than the calls of the three large parrots in the front yard.

Shen Zheng raised her hand and pushed open the fence gate. The scene before her made her gasp.

There were more than twenty birdcages hanging on bamboo frames, each containing a colorful parrot. They were all robust, colorful, and valuable.

What Shen Zheng saw was no longer birds, but bribes and ill-gotten gains.

"So many rare parrots?!" Even before Yu Zhengqing's footsteps, his shock was palpable: "These parrots don't look any cheaper than the three in the front yard..."

Yes.

Shen Zheng thought so too.

The scene before her eyes shocked her and made her heart race.

After the massive impact, Yu Zhengqing staggered half a step, his face turning pale.

He had thought that Liuyang Prefecture was becoming more and more prosperous under his rule, but he never expected that... the officialdom had become so corrupt.

How could he possibly have the face to return to Beijing to report on his duties?

Where there are many birds, there is also a lot of bird droppings.

Bird droppings smell similar to chicken droppings; they're not exactly smelly, but they're definitely not pleasant either.

Shen Zheng held her breath and supported Yu Zhengqing, pursing her lips to comfort him: "Lord Yu, the prefectural school administrator is not under the jurisdiction of the prefectural school, and Huai Gongwang's official rank is only half a grade lower than yours, you... please don't blame yourself too much."

Yu Zhengqing shook his head silently, and after a long while, said in a hoarse voice, "There's no need to comfort me. Although I don't have the authority to manage the prefectural school administration, I do have the responsibility to supervise. I thought Huai Gongwang hadn't taken much bribery, but I never expected..."

The dozens of birdcages before him all seemed to be accusing him of dereliction of duty.

Shen Zheng didn't want to see him so dejected, and was about to say something to comfort him when she saw him suddenly perk up.

"Guards, take all these birdcages back to the government office and count them one by one!"

Having said that, he looked at the birdcages, his eyes sharp: "This time, I will definitely take responsibility for my dereliction of duty, restore justice to the people, restore blue skies to Liuyang Prefecture, and restore a prosperous era to the Great Zhou!"

Shen Zheng: “?”

How did it suddenly catch fire...?

Several soldiers jogged over, shocked as they took the birdcage down from the bamboo frame.

Half an hour later, all the birdcages were loaded onto the carriage. Shen Zheng glanced at the steward of the Huai family and was about to leave when a guard from the manor came to report: "Lord Shen, Young Master Huai says he wants to see you."

"Huaijin?" Shen Zheng frowned.

Before coming to Huai Mansion, she had a general understanding of the situation there.

Huai Gongwang and his wife Liu Manying were both from Dezhou. Liu's father was a seventh-rank official in the Dezhou government. After their marriage, Liu Manying was unable to conceive for a long time, and it was not until ten years later that she gave birth to a son.

This boy's name is Huaijin. He is fifteen years old this year. He should be studying at the age of 15, but he is not studying at the prefectural school.

He rarely went out, so much so that when outsiders mentioned "Young Master Huai," they were referring to Huai Zhizhen, the son of one of his concubines.

Huai Zhizhen was eight years older than Huai Jin. He had passed the imperial examination at a young age and often traveled between Dezhou and Liuyang. He was well-known among the literati in Dezhou. Recently, he had been staying in Liuyang.

Actually, Shen Zheng was more curious about Huai Zhizhen than Huai Jin.

But it was Huaijin who wanted to see her at that moment.

After a moment's thought, Shen Zheng went to Huai Jin's courtyard, led by the guards.

The courtyard didn't look big from the outside. It was guarded by several soldiers, and it was quiet inside, without a sound.

When the guards saw Shen Zheng arrive, they saluted and then pushed open the courtyard gate.