Criminal investigation in ancient times

Huzi: "Uh... this... hero, I made a mistake, it's my 80-year-old grandma."

Duan Xiaobai got up and walked to Huzi's side, looked him up and down contemptuously, although he looked good, why is he so temperamental, full of lies, reached out and tapped him twice.

"Hi~~ It's much quieter. The wine in this restaurant is really bad. It's not as good as Mr. Feng's even pissing. After drinking a good wine, you'll be a mouthful." After saying that, he shook his head and fell down on the bed. Wake up.

The little bandit standing in the room wanted to cry but had no tears. If he had known earlier, he would not have messed with this man. He was even worse than a beast. Do you want him to stand all night?help...

Early the next morning, the county magistrate of Qiuhe County rushed to the inn to wait for Zhang Rui, but no one came out after waiting for a long time. When he asked the innkeeper, he left at dawn.

The county magistrate stamped his feet anxiously. He drank too much yesterday. He woke up in the middle of the night and heard the master tell what he had done. He almost collapsed on the ground. Speak out of those shameful things.This is probably the end of the day, the higher the rank of the official, the more the prefect of Tongzhou is his immediate boss, so he is ready to take off his official uniform and be dismissed at any time!

The carriage creaked, Lin Xiaoze and He Ming looked at the tiger lying on the carriage with stinking faces, grinding his teeth and snoring.

Duan Xiaobai was humming a song on the horse, looking in a good mood.

Zhang Rui lifted the curtain of the car and said, "You... tapped his acupuncture points overnight?"

Duan Xiaobai coughed lightly and said, "I also drank a little too much, and I only realized that I forgot to relieve his acupuncture points when I woke up in the morning."

Zhang Rui didn't know whether to laugh or cry, as expected, the gangster had martial arts, no one could stop him, thinking back then Duan Xiaobai was also a well-known gangster in Jianghu, these little gangsters couldn't get into his uncle's eyes at all, throwing the tiger to him to train him would be a way.

After leaving Qiuhe County, it took more than 300 miles to get to Tongzhou City. Today, even if you hurry up, you can't make it to the place, so you can only sleep halfway.

Sitting on the carriage, Zhang Rui's right eyelid kept twitching. He always felt that something bad was about to happen. Several guards also raised their spirits. The closer he was to Tongzhou, the closer he was to danger.

Mr. Zhang said that the emperor had sent troops to Tongzhou to suppress the bandits first, but so far no news had come out, which had to make Zhang Rui suspicious. Could it be that the people he sent had returned without success?Or all of them will be wiped out... Thinking about it this way makes my back chill, what should I do if the army sent by the emperor can't wipe out these bandits?

Hu Zi slept until noon before waking up from hunger. He got up from the carriage and clutched his croaking stomach. He remembered that he had acupuncture points last night. He could neither speak nor move. Yihong burst into tears.

He Ming was so shocked by the wolf's howl that his ears rang, he stretched out his hand to pat him and said, "If you are not afraid of being hit on the dumb acupoint again, then continue to howl."

Huzi paused, stopped abruptly, couldn't help but started to cry and hiccup, and couldn't stop after beating, Lin Xiaoze covered his ears and hid behind He Ming, saying: "Young master can't take it, I'm going to Ruier's place in a carriage."

He Ming put down the medical book in his hand and said to Hu Zi: "Don't cry anymore, Xiao Ze gave him some water to drink, and suppressed the hiccup after drinking the water."

Lin Xiaoze reluctantly poured him a glass of cold water.Huzi took a drink from the cup, wiped his mouth and said, "You didn't lie to me, did you, the young master in the car is really the magistrate of Tongzhou?"

He Ming said: "Naturally, what's the use of me lying to you as a little bandit?"

Huzi's eyes lit up and he said, "That's great! I didn't expect that I would be able to rise to the top this day. Hahahaha, the heavens will not disappoint me. From now on, I will definitely listen to my lord. If my lord tells me to go east, I will never go west! In the future, if I become an official and a part-time job, I will see who dares to underestimate me!"

He Ming smiled and said: "You should tell him yourself, maybe the adults will really use you."

Huzi nodded and said, "That's right, I'll tell him in a while."

Lin Xiaoze saw that He Ming was chatting happily with Hu Zi, somehow he felt a little shy, he rolled his eyes and turned his back to the two of them, took out some snacks from the bag and started to eat them by himself.

Seeing this, Huzi swallowed while clutching his stomach, but unfortunately he was too embarrassed to open his mouth to ask for it, so he could only stare blankly.

He Ming glanced at the angry Lin Xiaoze from the corner of his eye, the smile on his lips deepened, and he turned many pages without even reading what was written on the medical skills.

***

When it got dark, the convoy slowed down. Huzi sitting on the carriage stretched out his head to look, and suddenly jumped up and said, "This is the way to Tongzhou?!"

He Ming said: "Yeah, didn't I tell you?"

Huzi: "It's bad, it's bad, how can we go this way! Isn't it courting death!"

As soon as He Ming heard it, he knew that this kid must know something, he hurriedly called the guards to stop the car, and then dragged him to Zhang Rui's car.

Zhang Rui said with a dark face: "So, to go to Tongzhou City, there is still a detour?"

Huzi nodded: "You have to take the path, otherwise you, you carts and horses, will definitely be stopped by them!"

Zhang Rui saw that he spoke with confidence, not as if he was lying: "Why didn't you say it just now, and now it's getting dark before you think of telling us?"

Huzi scratched his head and said, "I just remembered. I have never been to Tongzhou. Someone from the Zhuangzi near us came to Tongzhou and was robbed. Later, the big guy opened up another path. If anyone goes to Tongzhou City on weekdays, they will take that road." It’s a small road, but you must never dare to take this pipeline!”

Several people looked at each other in blank dismay, what should they do now?It's already so late, can you find out if you can find a temporary change of road, if you encounter bandits again, you will have no choice but to run away.

Uncle Han: "Why don't we rest where we are and continue our journey tomorrow morning?"

Zhang Rui thought for a while and said, "That's all right, let's find a hidden place to rest first, and continue on our way tomorrow."

After receiving the order, the guards all got out of the carriage, parked the carriage in the bushes, untied the horses and tied them under the trees to feed them.The horse was so tired after walking for a whole day, he unloaded the car and lay down on the ground, not loving it anymore.

Everyone found a sheltered hillside, and Uncle Han took out the food and water from the car and shared them with everyone.The four guards still rest in shifts, patrolling in twos.

While eating, Zhang Rui suddenly smelled the smell of smoke, frowned and said, "Why is there a smell of smoke?"

Uncle Han looked around, and saw Lin Xiaoze squatting beside him lighting a fire...

Zhang Rui hurried over to stamp out the fire and said, "You don't want to live! How dare you light a fire?"

Lin Xiaoze was taken aback: "We... didn't we light fires to keep warm on the way here?"

Zhang Rui rubbed his forehead and said, "One moment at another, lighting a fire here will reveal our whereabouts, won't we let those vicious gangsters catch us?!"

Lin Xiaoze bowed his head and said nothing, he also felt that he was doing bad things with good intentions.

He Ming came over and patted him on the shoulder and said, "It's okay, luckily the fire didn't ignite, those people probably wouldn't have found this place."

Huzi curled his lips and said, "I don't have any common sense at all."

Hearing what he said, Lin Xiaoze was instantly furious: "Young Master, what if you don't have common sense?! You're also better than you bandits and robbers!"

Huzi also cheered up: "You guys caught me the first time I went down the mountain! Why do you call me a bandit?!"

Lin Xiaoze: "You hijacked passers-by with a murder weapon, but what is it?!"

Huzi trembled angrily: "I didn't snatch it! This is the first time!"

Looking at the two of them, Zhang Rui felt a pain in his head, and said loudly, "Stop arguing! I'm afraid you won't be able to attract bandits?!"

The two fell silent, and suddenly the horse neighed!Everyone hurriedly got up, the guards pulled out their weapons from their waists, and there was a strange silence for a while, when suddenly many people appeared from all around, Zhang Rui roughly counted them, and there were more than 20 people in black clothes and masked faces!

Zhang Rui was surrounded by the guards, his heart was pounding out of his throat, what did he say!He knelt down to his own crow's mouth.The two guards who went out on patrol haven't come back yet, their whereabouts are unknown, whether they are dead or alive, only these two guards and Duan Xiaobai can deal with them for a while, and I don't know if the hidden guards sent by Zhou Yin are there, if not Then this time I'm afraid it's doomed...

This gang of thieves is completely different from the group of people I met in Qiuhe County. They have very high professional quality. It's not like a simple robbery, but it looks like you want to kill someone? !

Zhang Rui only felt stiff all over. This life-threatening feeling was only encountered a few times in his previous life.Take a deep breath, try to relax yourself, don't panic, think about how to escape?Looking around, the terrain is relatively low, and it is impossible to go up. The front, left and right are already blocked by people. Is there no other way? !

Suddenly there were sounds from all around, "Zheng~~~" There was a sound of swords being unsheathed, and the people in black made a commotion.One of them made a sound similar to birdsong, and the others swung their knives at Zhang Rui and the others to attack!Immediately, the soldiers clashed, and the ear-piercing sound of metal colliding made one's teeth ache!

Uncle Han tightly protected Zhang Rui behind him, and picked up a wooden stick from the ground to block in front of him. Lin Xiaoze was so frightened that his legs went limp, and He Ming backed him while supporting him. The tiger simply took advantage of the chaos and lay on the ground Playing dead, except for being stepped on a few times, there was no injury at all.

Four hidden guards jumped out from the woods to join the battle, and the situation changed immediately. Although the group of black-clothed men had some skills, they were still good enough to deal with ordinary people. It was basically nothing if they met a master like the dark guards. Shi Chen ended the battle, except for the two survivors who were left alive, all of them were killed with one blow.

Duan Xiaobai stared dumbfounded at the corpses all over the floor and said: "My lord, this prince is too generous! He actually sent such a powerful expert to protect you!"

The acupuncture points of the two survivors were also tapped, Zhang Rui stepped forward and tore off the black cloth from their faces!He frowned and said, "Who sent you to kill me!"

The two were startled, looked at each other and nodded lightly, only to see blood oozing from their mouths, fell to the ground stiffly, and even committed suicide by taking poison!

Zhang Rui hurriedly asked He Ming to take a look. He Ming opened the eyes of the two and said, "It can't be done, this is the poison of the Marquis of Blood Seal."

Duan Xiaobai hugged his shoulders and said: "This group of people should not be grassroots bandits, but rather trained dead soldiers."

He Mingdao: "That's right, if the robbers would at least beg for mercy, but the two of them directly committed suicide by taking poison, I'm afraid they dare not confess to the person behind the scenes."

Zhang Rui squatted down and looked up and down. There was nothing on these two people that could prove their identities. It seemed that these people were indeed here to assassinate him, but who exactly wanted to murder him?He touched his earlobe and fell into thought.

The two guards went out to search for a long time, and finally found two knocked unconscious guards in the grass.Except for a guard who was cut in the shoulder, the others were fortunately uninjured.

Huzi got up from the pile of dead people, seeing that these people were all right, he quietly relieved himself.Eh?Why should he worry about them? This group of people took him captive to encounter such a thing!I almost confessed my life here, I am really unlucky!

Lin Xiaoze was terrified, looking at the corpses all over the floor, touching the blood splattered on his face, the successive encounters finally made this inexperienced young master burst into tears, crying like rain stand up.

Zhang Rui stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder: "Now you know that Tongzhou is not as good as you imagined, right?"

Lin Xiaoze cried and nodded, "Cousin, I want to go back, let me go back!"

Zhang Ruidao: "I told you earlier that if you want to go back, I will send someone to take you off. Even if you want to go in Tongzhou, I will not let you go. Now that you have arrived in Tongzhou, if you want to go, go back by yourself." , see if you can reach Kyoto safely!"

Lin Xiaoze squatted on the ground sobbing and did not speak.

He Ming walked to his side and said softly: "You also said that you came to Tongzhou to hone your skills and go back to impress your father. Now that you have just come out, you have to go back. Didn't you make others look down on you? What do your classmates think? you."

Lin Xiaoze wiped away tears and nodded, "I know, I won't say anything back in the future."

It's not an option to continue to stay here, who knows if there will be a second wave or a third wave?He hurriedly packed his things and got into the carriage and drove towards Tongzhou in the dark.

After traveling for two hundred miles overnight, Yinshi finally arrived outside Tongzhou City!A lot of farmers gathered outside the city to sell things in the city, but only their two carriages were very eye-catching.

Zhang Rui got off the carriage, stood outside the city and looked at the two huge Tongzhou characters on the city tower, tears filled his eyes, and wanted to shout: Lao Tzu is finally here!Goblins and monsters, go ahead and make moves!However, in just over half a month, there were so many disasters and disasters, and he would not give in to Tang Seng Xitian!

At three o'clock in the morning, the heavy gate of Tongzhou City was slowly opened with the sound of "squeak", and this century-old city ushered in her new owner...

***

The carriages lined up and followed the crowd towards the city. Two guards at the gate yawned and checked the things people were carrying. Unlike the capital, Zhoucheng did not need to look at the road guides.Just check to see if there's any contraband like swords or something...

The four guards were stopped, and the two guards pinched their waists and said: "You guys, come here, take the sword from your waist, or you will not be allowed to enter the city."

One of them stepped forward to argue with him, but one of the guards stopped him and said to the guard, "Bold! Do you know who is in this car?"

The two guards looked at each other and thought in their hearts. This car doesn't look very luxurious. Could it be that the person sitting in the car is from that rich family in the city?It is definitely not an easy person to get to Tongzhou safely. After discussing, the two hurriedly bowed to each other and said, "I don't know who is the adult in the car?"

The guard snorted coldly and said, "Informing you of Tongzhou Dutong, just say Master Zhang is here."

The two guards hadn't understood what was going on, and Ying Ying, who was late coming off work standing in the distance, was startled when he heard it, and hurried over and cupped his hands and said, "The person in the car is the new prefect Zhang from Kyoto. grown ups?"

Guard: "Exactly!"

The three plopped and knelt on the ground and kowtowed: "I don't know if the adults are coming, but I will notify Dutong." Tongzhou Dutong is a military officer in charge of Tongzhou's military power.

The carriage is released, and after get off work, you should just bow and walk in front of the carriage, leading the people towards Tongzhou Mansion.

It took less than a stick of incense to arrive at the Tongzhou Mansion.Zhang Rui got out of the car and looked at the mansion in front of him with a frown. This ruined building is Tongzhou Mansion? !Are you kidding me? !Even the good-tempered Captain Zhang almost swears.

After getting off work, I should only see Zhang Rui's face was ugly, and hesitated for a long time before saying: "Master Xu... the previous magistrate who was exterminated, even the mansion was burned when he was killed..."

Zhang Rui's complexion was like the bottom of a pot. He stepped forward and kicked open the half-closed door of the mansion. The half door fell to the ground with a bang, causing a cloud of dust, and several wild cats came out screaming. Uncle Han hurriedly stretched out his hand to drag Zhang Rui back.

Duan Xiaobai walked in with a sword in his hand, and everyone followed behind him.

Lin Xiaoze glanced inside and flinched, "Rui'er, I heard that the magistrate's family has been wiped out, do we really want to live here?"

Zhang Rui said with a dark face: "Let's go in and have a look."

After get off work, I should just wipe off the cold sweat on my brow: "Master Xu's body has been restrained, except that the house in the backyard was burned down and no one can live there, the main hall is not bad."

Zhang Rui glanced at him and nodded.The more dilapidated it gets as you walk in, the ground is covered with burnt residues, and even the old pagoda tree in the yard was half burnt, which shows how big a fire broke out here.

Duan Xiaobai was afraid that the beams in the house would be burnt weakly, so he didn't let them in, so he went into the house by himself to check, and led out two beggars who sneaked in. Wearing ragged clothes, holding a large celadon bowl with a gap in his hand, he knelt on the ground and begged for mercy.

Seeing this, the off-duty worker was so frightened that his head was sweating, and he hurriedly dragged the two of them to throw them out.

Zhang Rui frowned and said: "Wait a minute, let's leave these two here for now. When will the Tongzhou Governor come? Could it be that I don't care about peeing because of my age?!"

After get off work, I hurriedly said: "The little one will ask right away, the state capital is ruined, the adults should go to the inn with the young one to rest first."

Zhang Rui: "Go and call him, I'll wait for him here!"

"My lord Zhang, forgive me, I'm late." An eight-foot-tall man was standing at the door. He was wearing a military officer's fish suit, with a white face and long beard. Although he said apologies, he did not care. tone.

Zhang Ruidao: "Are you the governor of Tongzhou?"

The man cupped his hands and said: "The lower official Wu Guan is the capital of Tongzhou."

Zhang Rui said angrily: "Did you not receive the report from the palace, or did you not pay attention to me, the magistrate?!"

Wu Guan was taken aback and said, "Why did your lord say that?"

Zhang Rui pointed to the dilapidated state capital and said, "My letter of appointment has long been sent to Tongzhou. Could it be that Mr. Wu let me live here? Oh! I really want to report to the emperor on the paper, this Tongzhou has already become a middle school. In this country, the officials are like kings, and they are very dissatisfied with my emperor's arrangement!"

All of them turned pale when they all heard the body, this disrespectful hat was buckled off for him, forgive him for not daring to wear it no matter how courageous he is!I knew that Zhang Rui was angry.Earlier when he heard that the emperor had sent a doll, he was thinking of using this mansion to show him off, but now he has slapped himself in the face. He really underestimated this child, and he just tore his face, without mercy!

Wu Guan hurriedly knelt down and said: "It's the lower official's dereliction of duty, please move to the Dutong mansion, and the lower official will order someone to repair it on a certain day."

Zhang Rui snorted coldly and said, "I don't dare to go to Mr. Wu's house. Come on, it's you. Didn't you just take us to the inn? Let's go!"

After get off work, you should just wipe the sweat off your brow: "This..."

Wu Guan lamented that he was too careless, could the emperor send a simple person? !If he really went to sue himself, it wouldn't be unbearable.Hastily knelt down again, "My lord, it's a dereliction of duty, my lord, please punish me!"

Zhang Rui glanced at him and said: "You are limited to repair the magistrate's mansion within ten days, otherwise I will make a note and report it to the emperor." After speaking, he flicked his sleeves and left.

After everyone had left, Wu Guan stood up from the ground, patted the ashes on the hem of his clothes, and said to himself, "You're just a brat, with such a great official authority, I'll let you continue for a few more days!"With a cold snort, he turned and left.

Since Tongzhou was flooded with bandits a few years ago, no caravan dared to take this road, which in turn affected the economy of the entire Tongzhou, and even the inns were closed.Zhang Rui and his team searched for a long time before finding an inn they liked. Before the mansion was repaired, they wanted to live there for a long time. After discussing with the shopkeeper, they packed up the four connected rooms in the backyard for them to live in.

The person in charge didn't know that he was the new magistrate, so he was very surprised that they came to Tongzhou safely from other places, and said enthusiastically and frighteningly: "My son is really lucky, he didn't meet any bandits, and none of the businessmen who came and went who were robbed dared to come." Tongzhou, tsk tsk, there are very few outsiders in the inn except for the traveling merchants nearby, and you are also the first batch of foreigners to live in this year."

Zhang Rui frowned. He didn't expect the banditry in Tongzhou to be so severe!

Zhang Rui, "Shopkeeper, doesn't the state government organize bandit suppression? I heard that the emperor sent people to suppress bandits a while ago, but it didn't work?"

The shopkeeper sighed and said: "You don't know, banditry has existed in Tongzhou since ancient times. Many of them are ordinary people in the village. They farm at home during the busy season. After the autumn harvest, they go to the mountains to become bandits. This poor mountain in Tongzhou has poor harvests and has paid taxes. The rest is not enough for myself to eat, that's all I can do. Is it possible to wipe out the people? Let alone the army sent by the emperor to suppress the bandits, they were transferred to the frontier before they left Yizhou. I heard that the Xiongnu in the north are uneasy again, ah, this Tongzhou has been plagued by bandits for many years, and it’s not bad for this year or two.”

Hearing this, Zhang Rui laughed angrily, thinking that the old emperor lied to himself, no army was sent to Tongzhou at all to open the way, no wonder the road was full of disasters and disasters.

After dinner, Zhang Rui called Huzi over and said, "Go out and find out some news for me."

Huzi pointed at himself in surprise: "You let me go?!"

Duan Xiaobai said: "My lord, think twice, let the boy go by himself, so he must run away?"

Zhang Rui smiled and said: "If you are willing to run away, I can't keep you. Just help me find out the information about Wu Guan and the dead Xu Chao. If you find out the news about Zhongyong, I will give you a reward." Two denarii."

When Huzi heard Yinzi's eyes straightened, he hurriedly said, "Then you must not go back on your word!"

Zhang Rui: "One word from a gentleman."

Huzi said: "Okay! That's the deal!" After speaking, he ran out quickly.

Uncle Han hurriedly said: "Master, he won't just run away like this?"

Zhang Ruidao: "I'm not a god, how would I know."

Lin Xiaoze curled his lips: "Why did Ruier ask him to inquire about the news?"

Zhang Rui: "First of all, he is not a good person. He values ​​profit over righteousness, and bullies the weak and fears the hard. But such a person also has the same advantages. He can be bought with money, and he will not lose a sharp sword if he uses it well. He, this sword may also be a double-edged sword."

He Mingdao: "I understand. First of all, this kid has a local accent in Tongzhou, and he was born as a gangster. He is the best at inquiring about information in low-class places. If one of us goes to inquire, it is easy to show his feet, and he will be ruled by the capital." alert."

Zhang Rui nodded appreciatively and said, "That's right, that's why I insisted on bringing him to Tongzhou."