Criminal investigation in ancient times

"Report! Report to the lord, the spies in front are here to report, have found a trace of a small group of bandits, do you want to send troops?"

Zhou Yin touched the wrench in his hand and said, "Don't worry, what did General Yang say?"

The official guard said: "General Yang said the same as what the prince said. If they don't find their troops, they will not be exposed for the time being."

Zhou Yin nodded: "Tell General Yang that you don't have to ask me about the use of troops, just make up your own mind." The guard knelt and kowtowed and retreated.

Yang Yuanzhong is quite reliable, and he is capable of leading troops, but Zhou Yin doesn't care about those bandits now, mainly because he is anxious to rush to Tongzhou City immediately!

"Zhanqing, how many days will it take to reach Tongzhou City?"

Zhan Qing said: "Report to the lord, if you are on a fast horse, you can reach Tongzhou in about three days."

The army will not enter the city, and will go back to Youzhou directly after suppressing the bandits, and the emperor did not set a limit on how many days Zhou Yin can go back.So it is better to temporarily hand over the matter of suppressing the bandits to Yang Yuanzhong, and take the first step by himself.

After the decision was made, Yang Yuanzhong greeted him, and the group separated from the army and hurried towards Tongzhou.

***

As usual, Zhang Rui came to the study early in the morning to sort out the cases reported from various places.Because the previous Liufangji of the state capital was ineffective except for the official house, the household house and the criminal house.The official of the government office also resigned and returned home. For a while, he didn't even have a person to handle the affairs, so he had to do all the chores by himself.

The manager of the household house submitted the tax report for Tongzhou last year. Zhang Rui took a look and shook his head and sighed, poor, too poor!For the entire state, the annual tax revenue is only [-] shi. Except for the border, compared with other state capitals, it is only as high as the tax revenue of a county. It is no wonder that the people are not full.

Picking up another business tax book, Zhang Rui almost fell to the ground and vomited blood after reading it, but there was only 20 taels of silver!Couldn't be any poorer!Compared with the Jiangzhou salt merchants, it is less than one-tenth of the people.

"Tongzhou is poor, Tongzhou is suffering, and Tongzhou changes magistrates every year..." Zhang Rui suddenly remembered this nursery rhyme. Now that he thinks about it, he can understand those officials who asked themselves to be demoted. It is too difficult for this place to make political achievements.If the problem of bandits is not solved, there is no need to talk about development!People outside can't get in, and people inside can't get out. How can we get rich? !

I was thinking that suddenly the yamen servant came to report that someone was reporting to the official at the door.Zhang Rui closed the booklet, pinched his nose and said, "Bring him to the hall." He got up and adjusted his official hat, and walked towards the hall.

I saw a man standing in the lobby with his back to him, beating his hands with a fan in his hand.

Zhang Rui said: "Who is in the hall, what's the matter..."

Zhou Yin turned his head, cupped his hands with a smile on his face and said, "Meet Mr. Zhang."

Zhang Rui felt that he was hallucinating, how could Zhou Yin suddenly appear in Tongzhou!He pinched his arm hard, and he trembled from the pain, "You... When did you come?"

The yamen servant under the hall looked at the two in surprise and didn't know what to do.

Zhou Yin stepped forward, looked him up and down and said softly, "You look very good in this official uniform."

Zhang Rui felt that his nose was sore and his eyes were dry, so he hurriedly got down from his position and knelt down to him, "See you, my lord."

Zhou Yin hastily helped him up and pretended to be angry: "Have you forgotten what I said after you haven't seen him for a few months?" As he spoke, he pulled him towards the back hall.

Zhang Rui was dragged by him to the rest room in the back hall in a daze, and said, "My lord, why are you here?"

Zhou Yin turned around and said, "I came here when I missed you." Zhang Rui's face suddenly flushed with blood.

"Have you received the letter I sent to you? The banditry in Tongzhou... huh"

Zhou Yin's eyes were dim, and he kissed the chattering lips, imitating Zhang Rui's method last time, carefully sketching, knocking his teeth, sliding his cool tongue into his mouth, and entangled with him...

Zhang Rui was dizzy from the kiss, and it took him a long time to react until he let go.Not to be outdone, she hooked his neck and kissed him back. The two seemed to be hugging each other tightly, listening to each other's flustered heartbeats, rapid breathing, and blood boiling.It took a long time before Zhou Yin let go of the person in his arms and gasped, "Well... I almost suffocated." Zhang Rui couldn't help laughing out loud, Zhou Yin glanced at him and stretched out his hand to scratch his nose, but he couldn't help himself.

Zhang Rui's legs became weak from the kiss, and a certain part of his lower body was about to move. He hurriedly sat on the stool with his legs crossed and said, "Cough...why did you come here suddenly. I was shocked."

Zhou Yin said with a smirk on his face: "I didn't expect the emperor to let me come, since he agreed, and I really want to come and see you...so I came."

Zhang Rui saw that his eyes were blue and he was getting thinner, so he knew that he must be in a hurry, and he felt sorry for him and said, "Did you drive to Tongzhou for a few days?"

Zhou Yin said: "In a few days, it's just that the road conditions in Tongzhou are too difficult to walk, and I encountered a few small thieves on the way, which delayed me for a while."

Zhang Rui stretched out his hand to hold his hand and said, "Are you okay? I see you have lost a lot of weight."

Zhou Yin: "It's okay, I brought Dr. He with me. This time, the emperor probably wanted me to come out to avoid the limelight. After all, I was too close to the second prince, so I came out just to avoid suspicion."

Zhang Rui nodded: "By the way, did you receive the letter I wrote to you? Has the Tongzhou case been reported to the emperor? What did he say?"

Zhou Yin put away his smile and said: "Although the emperor didn't show it on his face when he heard the news, he was obviously furious. He transferred [-] troops from Youzhou. This time, I'm afraid the banditry in Tongzhou will be severely punished."

Zhang Rui: "Didn't we only suppress the Huns?"

Zhou Yin said: "Who knows which are the Huns and which are ordinary people? The emperor's temperament is that he would rather kill ten thousand by mistake than let one go. Besides, the banditry in Tongzhou cannot be alleviated without severe punishment."

Zhang Rui: "Most of those bandits are poor people, and they fall into bandits because they can't survive."

Zhou Yin shook his head: "How can you and I change the emperor's order? It's only because they robbed and endangered passers-by halfway, and being implicated this time is also retribution. By the way, where is it all?"

Zhang Rui frowned: "Wu Guan... this person should have connections with the Huns. I have a letter written in Huns characters, which was stolen by Duan Xiaobai in his study, but none of us can recognize these characters. Dare to show off."

Zhou Yin: "Xiongnu characters? It happens that one of my secret guards has learned Xiongnu characters. Show it out and I will let the secret guards see what is written on this letter."

***

Outside the door, Zhan Qing led the carriage into the mansion, and the young man at the door hurriedly stopped him and said, "Who are you? Have you ever posted a post? You can't just enter the mansion of the magistrate."

Zhan swept him a glance, ignored him, and rushed in with the carriage.

It just so happened that Hu Zi came in from the door and saw this man rushing over and said: "Hey! The driver over there is talking about you! He dares to come in anywhere! Believe it or not, I ordered someone to arrest you!" To hit the board?!"

The corners of Zhan Qing's eyes twitched and he ignored him and continued walking in.

Hu Zi ran to the side of the car and kicked it, "I didn't hear you talking! Get out of the car now!"

The corners of Zhan Qing's eyes twitched, he jumped out of the car, walked up to Hu Zi and stared at him.

Hu Zi took a step back, swallowed and said, "You...what do you want... believe... believe it or not, I will kill you in the time it takes for my master to make a cup of tea..."

Zhan Qing narrowed his eyes and said, "Your master? Call me over and have a try."

Huzi was so frightened that he let out a wolf howl and said, "Master Duan, help me!"

On the carriage, Old Doctor He and Qing Luo climbed down from the carriage, their faces were pale and their legs were weak, and they trembled three times. They secretly scolded the prince for being too inhuman, and drove the carriage so fast in their own anxiety. Is it old or weak? !

Duan Xiaobai kicked open the door and said: "What are you screaming for! Hey? Zhanqing, why are you here!" He said with a look of surprise and ran out of the room copying Qinggong.

Huzi was taken aback, did these two know each other? !Scratching his head, he hurriedly ran away lightly.

Duan Xiaobai glanced at the boy from the corner of his eye and said with a smile: "Don't mind, this is a little bandit captured by the adults, and he stayed in the mansion as an errand."

Zhan Qing said with a smile: "My lord really dares to pick up anything."

Duan Xiaobai couldn't help laughing loudly: "Go into the house quickly, why did you suddenly come to Tongzhou...the prince is here too!"

Zhan Qing nodded and said, "This time I came here specially for the purpose of suppressing bandits in Tongzhou."

Duan Xiaobai said: "This journey is tiring, you guys go to rest first, we will talk after resting." He said and led the three of them to the guest room in the backyard.

***

Zhang Rui led Zhou Yin to the study room, took out the letter from the dark compartment behind the cabinet, and accidentally brought out another letter, Zhou Yin picked it up and saw that it was written to him by himself , the letter paper has been frayed due to repeated reading.

Zhang Rui said with embarrassment: "If you laugh, I will laugh. These days I live by this letter."

Zhou Yin warmed his heart and said: "To each other, I almost tore your letter from reading it."

Zhang Rui couldn't help laughing, and handed the letter with a corner burned to Zhou Yin.

Zhou Yin took out a whistle from his waist and blew it. After a while, three or four men in black came in from all over and knelt on the ground.

"Kang Qi, can you take a look at what is written in this letter?"

One of the men in black got up and took the letter from Zhou Yin and said: "This letter reads: The matter has been successfully completed, the Tongzhou military power has been taken back, and the money has been delivered. Don't touch the magistrate for now, and we will start on June [-]th." .”

Zhang Rui frowned, he could understand these few words, but he didn't quite understand them together, what was the last sentence that moved his fingers on June [-]th, did he kill himself?After careful calculation, isn't today the [-]th of June!

Zhou Yin's complexion turned black after hearing this, these people are really daring!They have already killed a magistrate and dare to attack them. Could it be that the imperial court would not dare to attack them? !If you happen to meet them for a while today, see if his Hun soldiers are stronger or his hidden guards are stronger!

Zhang Rui: "Tonight, we might as well catch a turtle in a urn!"

Zhou Yin smiled and said, "It's exactly what I want!"

In addition to the four hidden guards around Zhang Rui, Zhou Yin also brought four with him. These eight hidden guards are all good players, and they are all well-known masters in the world.If those people were the ones who assassinated Zhang Rui on the road last time, then they have little chance of winning.The only thing he is afraid of now is that there are spies in the mansion, poisoning the food.

Zhou Yin sent two secret guards to hide at the two wells in the mansion. If poisoning a large area, only poisoning in the well water would work.Sure enough, as the two of them expected, in the afternoon, a boy sneakily took a wooden bucket to scoop water. When he reached the well, he suddenly took out a paper bag from his arms, shook his hands and sprinkled a bag of powder into the well water. to go.The dark guard suddenly jumped out and grabbed him, and the boy was so frightened that he limp and peed on the floor.The dark guard conveniently clicked the acupuncture point, dragged him into the firewood room in the backyard, took out the kraft paper stained with powdered medicine from the boy's arms, and presented it to Zhou Yin.

In the past few days, the weather has gotten warmer and many herbs have grown on the mountain. He Ming took Lin Xiaoze to the mountain to collect herbs with rattan baskets on his back.Although Tongzhou is not suitable for growing crops, it is very suitable for the growth of herbs. There are many precious herbs on the mountain.

It was only when the two of them came back at noon that they realized that the prince had come, and that his father had also followed.He Ming hurriedly put down the rattan basket and ran to the guest room in the backyard, and knocked on the door uncontrollably with the excitement in his heart.

Zhengxiang, who was lying on the bed and snoring, was suddenly awakened by the knock on the door and got up from the bed and said, "My lord is sick again? The old man is here, the old man is here..." As he opened the door, the father and son met Immediately froze.He Xiangru's lips trembled for a long while before he said, "Ah...Ming?"

Seeing his old man's gray temples and haggard expression, He Ming's eyes turned red, and he knelt down and said, "Unfilial son...he came to see his father."

He Xiangru hurriedly helped him up, stretched out his arms to hug He Ming and patted him on the back, and said, "My son, I'm sorry for you!" As he spoke, his eyes turned red, and he burst into tears.

The two entered the house together, and He Xiangru told about his own murder and the matter of the prince saving him, and then sighed: "My old life was saved by the prince, and it will be the prince's in the future. I know something I shouldn't know, if I leave the palace, I'm afraid I won't be able to live for a few more days."

He Mingdao: "Son understands father's situation, sister, is she okay in the palace?"

He Xiangru nodded: "Min'er has been gifted since she was a child, and now I have taught her all the acupuncture techniques. How well she can learn depends on his own luck."

He Ming said: "Father, is the poison of the lord... half-moon grass?"

He Xiangru said, "Did you see it?"

He Ming nodded: "You said in your letter that the onset was like a nagging illness, so I suspected it was half moon grass, but this poison seems to be curable?"

He Xiangru reassured: "That's right, the poison of the half-moon grass can indeed be detoxified, but what if the half-moon grass is added with a taste of Millipeda vine?"

He Ming was stunned: "Spathiphyllum... do you want sea keel?!"

He Xiangru praised: "Ming'er's medical skills will improve, it's true that there is a sea keel bone missing, which is also the reason why the prince has not detoxified so far. If there is a chance to find this sea keel bone and try, maybe there will be a glimmer of life." Father and son two After talking about the past for a while, Zhang Rui sent someone to call him to the study.

When he arrived at the study room, He Ming hurriedly knelt down to salute Zhou Yin. Since he learned of what happened to his father, he respected Zhou Yin more and more.

Zhou Yin avoided his courtesy and said: "You father and son, let's see what kind of medicine this is?" He said and handed the two of them a piece of paper from the secret guard.

He Xiangru took it and flicked the residue on it with his fingers, and said, "This is Mixin powder. After eating it, the limbs become weak and make people fall into a coma."

Zhou Yin and Zhang Rui looked at each other and nodded, "Since it's not poison, then there's no need to tell them."

The He family father and son didn't know what was going on, Zhang Rui told the two that the well water had been drugged, and both of them sighed, how could this group of people be so bold.

Zhou Yin said: "You two, don't tell everyone about this. If you don't want to be stunned, you'd better pretend to be fainted. If you guess right, someone will attack the magistrate's mansion at night." The two nodded hurriedly with serious eyes.

At night, the Tongzhou mansion was pitch black.

Zhou Yin and Zhang Rui sat in the room without lighting a candle. In the dark, they held hands tightly, and both trembled slightly with excitement.Zhang Rui turned his head and looked at the corners of the mouth of the people around him by the moonlight outside the window, thinking in his heart: Looking at beauties under the moon, why are they so beautiful!The old virgins for so many years are worth it!

Suddenly there was a sound of footsteps in the yard, Zhou Yin stretched out his hand and squeezed him, Zhang Rui recovered and stared out the window.