That evening, everyone in the county government office received notice that recently everyone had been working very hard, so County Magistrate Song prepared a banquet to reward everyone.
The banquet was held within the county government office.
Although they felt the cooks in the county office couldn't make anything tasty, since it was County Magistrate Song hosting, everyone naturally had to attend.
The banquet was decent, and there was plenty of good wine.
"Today, don't be restrained. Drink freely!"
With these words, several clerks who were usually not allowed to drink much happily started drinking heartily.
County Magistrate Song saw that County Captain Zhang hadn't drunk much, so he deliberately toasted him several times. County Captain Zhang was overjoyed to be favored in this way, and obediently drank every time, soon becoming red-faced.
Just when everyone was having a great time, a thick smoke suddenly drifted over, and flames shot up from the rooftops of all the county office buildings.
"This is bad, there's a fire!"
"We're trapped inside, hurry and put out the fire!"
...
Everyone panicked, but the fire spread too quickly, soon trapping the drunk crowd inside the courtyard.
"The county seal!"
County Magistrate Song shouted and rushed into the study at top speed, rescuing the box containing the county seal.
He looked around and went to County Captain Zhang: "County Captain Zhang, take the county seal and hurry out... No, you've had too much to drink!"
County Captain Zhang: ...
He really wanted to slap himself. It was all because he was greedy for wine!
County Magistrate Song turned and shoved the box into Vice Magistrate Yu's arms: "Vice Magistrate Yu, right now you're the only one I can trust. You must protect the county seal! The rest of you, come with me to fight the fire, hurry!"
With a wave of his hand, County Magistrate Song led the others to join the firefighting efforts, leaving Vice Magistrate Yu alone in the chaos of the flames.
When he took the box, he had already noticed - this was an empty box!
But Song had already turned to leave, not giving him a chance to open the box. Everyone saw Song entrust the county seal to him, so if it went missing later, it could only be his fault for losing it.
Coming to his senses, Vice Magistrate Yu realized he had fallen into a trap.
Although he was furious, there was nothing he could do. He could only put his personal seal into the box and return it to Magistrate Song afterwards.
"Surnamed Song, you win this round!"
...
Although County Magistrate Song personally led the efforts, and the entire Baichuan town participated in fighting the blaze, because the fire was too big and fierce, they worked until dawn before finally extinguishing all the flames.
The entire county office had almost been reduced to ruins.
"Luckily all the documents and seals were rescued, otherwise the consequences would have been unimaginable!"
County Magistrate Song sat down outside the county office gate, exhausted. The officials and clerks inside the office were also completely worn out.
After resting a while, County Captain Zhang, his face black with soot, suddenly realized something strange about the great fire.
"County Magistrate," he quickly said, "I'm afraid this fire is not so simple."
"What do you mean?"
"The fire spread too quickly, and started on all four sides," said County Captain Zhang. "I suspect someone deliberately set the fire!"
County Magistrate Song greatly appreciated County Captain Zhang's astuteness.
He was right - this great fire was deliberately set, just not by someone else but by Song himself.
But in acting, one naturally had to act convincingly.
"Now that you mention it, it does seem very suspicious," County Magistrate Song said. "But I haven't held a grudge with anyone since taking office... County Captain Zhang, do you have any suspects in mind?"
"Not at the moment, but I will find out!"
"Then send people to investigate immediately," County Magistrate Song said. "Setting fire to the county office is a serious crime! Once the perpetrator is found, they must be punished severely!"
"Yes sir!"
County Captain Zhang took a group of clerks to investigate. Only then did Vice Magistrate Yu come forward holding the box.
By now the box was heavy again, as he had put the county seal back inside.
"The great fire is extinguished, so I should return the county seal to you."
"Is it damaged at all?"
"Perfectly intact."
"Good, very good," County Magistrate Song said. "Vice Magistrate Yu protected the county seal commendably. The county will reward you."
"You're too kind..."
"No need to decline, you've earned it." County Magistrate Song said, "Clerk, hurry and write a commendation order, then stamp it with the county seal and post it all over the county, to publicize Vice Magistrate Yu's merit!"
"Yes sir!"
The clerk immediately fetched paper and brush, and a letter of commendation was ready in no time. County Magistrate Song opened the box and took out the county seal, stamping it heavily onto the letter.
But the sharp-eyed clerk quickly noticed a problem.
"Sir, there seems to be something wrong with this seal."
"What's wrong with it?"
"Look," the clerk pointed to the corner of the large seal, "this part seems different from the previous county seal."
After comparing them, the seal just stamped did indeed have slight differences from the previous one.
"What is going on here?" County Magistrate Song exclaimed in shock. "Could the county seal have been swapped out?"
"County Magistrate, we used this seal just yesterday afternoon," said the clerk. "If it was swapped out, it could only have happened..."
As he spoke, the clerk looked towards Vice Magistrate Yu, the implication clear as day.
By now, Vice Magistrate Yu was dumbfounded.
After stealthily taking the seal back, he had confirmed it was genuine. Just now he had definitely put the stolen seal into the box, so why had it become fake?
"Vice Magistrate Yu," County Magistrate Song asked solemnly, "what explanation do you have?"
"County Magistrate, I don't know!" Vice Magistrate Yu knelt on the ground with a thud. "However the seal looked when you gave it to me, that's how I returned it to you..."
"So you're saying I faked the county seal?"
"No, no..."
"Audacious Yu Yi!" County Magistrate Song angrily roared, "I trusted you so much, entrusting you to protect the county seal in a crisis, yet you took the chance to forge a counterfeit. You are truly shameless! What malicious intent do you harbor?"
"Your Honor, I'm wrongly accused, I didn't..."
"No more useless words. County Captain Zhang!"
"Here sir!"
"Hurry and gather men to search Vice Magistrate Yu's residence with me. We must find the real county seal!"
"Yes sir!"