Criminal investigation in ancient times

He Ming and Lin Xiaoze also encountered this heavy snow at this time, they were not as lucky as Zhang Rui, they didn't go to the village or back to the store, and they had to walk another day to pass a small town.Now that the wind and snow were too heavy, the carriage couldn't go, so the few people had to find a place sheltered from the wind and stop the carriage to have a rest, and make plans when the snow stopped.

Lin Xiaoze has been sluggish for the past few days, and his heart aches unbearably when he thinks of his dead grandmother.Seeing that he was getting thinner, He Ming was very worried. The weather was cold along the way, and if he got sick again, his body might not be able to bear it.

After getting off the carriage, he stood in the snow, huge snowflakes floated on his face, it was cold and melted when he touched it with his hands.

He Ming took out a cloak from the car and put it on him: "It's cold outside, go stay in the car."

Lin Xiaoze looked at the snow all over the ground and sighed: "I remember when I was a child, it was like today again. There was a heavy snowfall in Kyoto. At that time, I was young and playful, and wanted to build a snowman, but my mother wouldn't let me. I was caught in the wind and cold. My mother and I were angry and ran to my grandmother. My grandmother ordered the servant to build me a few snowmen and then dressed me up to play in the yard. Although it has snowed for many years in the past, I will think of this incident. ...Although my grandmother doesn't like my mother, she is sincere to me and my brother, and occasionally I spend my money at the school, and my grandmother will secretly subsidize me." She wiped the corners of her eyes, her throat was so choked that she couldn't speak Come.

He Ming stretched out his hand to hold him in his arms, rubbed his head and said, "Don't be sad, birth, old age, sickness and death are normal. If you get sick because of this, you won't feel at ease when your grandmother goes away."

Lin Xiaoze nodded and said: "I am the one who worries the most in the family. My elder brother has always been better than me since he was a child. It is understandable that my father values ​​my elder brother. My younger brother was originally cowardly, but since his aunt passed away, he has become more and more powerful. Now I am the only one who pays attention to him. He is so incompetent. He ran away from the examination room, made his father lose face, and came to Tongzhou to experience and practice so far without achieving anything..."

He Ming kissed him and said: "How can you be incompetent? There are so many people who can't do what you do. You have experienced so much with us, even the most terrible plague, and you have not been scared. Retreat, I don’t know how many times stronger than others.”

Lin Xiaoze lay on his shoulder and said silently for a while, "Doctor, I seem to like you a little bit."

He Ming was taken aback for a moment, and the hand that patted his back froze, feeling bitter and sweet in his heart, not knowing what to say.I just hugged him tightly and sighed, my hard work was not in vain, this silly child finally understood what I wanted for him.

After the snow stopped, everyone continued to move forward.The wheels creaked and creaked on the snow. They walked back the same way. Every time they passed through a town, Lin Xiaoze remembered the scene. Occasionally, when he saw a familiar scene, he would point and say, "Doctor, let's go Time passes by here!"

Seeing him walking out of the haze, He Ming was very happy and just looked at the capital in the distance... The two of them probably still have a long way to go.

***

In November, the north is already cold and cold, but the south is still green.Fengxuan was still wearing a light green singlet, and was walking along the official road with a burden on his back. He had been searching for half a year, but he still hadn't found out his whereabouts. Some time ago, he heard from the Jianghu that someone had seen him in the Jiangzhou area. , I don’t know if it’s true or not, no matter it’s true or not, you have to see it before giving up.

"Hey, people in front, get out of the way, get out of the way, I'm shocked!"

When Feng Xuan turned his head, a young man riding a horse rushed towards him recklessly.I saw the young man tightly holding the horse's neck with his hands, his legs clamping the horse's belly, his face was pale with fright, his body was tilted and he was about to fall... Feng Xuan's eyes darkened, and he waved a hidden weapon and hit the horse's neck On the ground, the horse neighed and fell to the ground with a "plop".

The man on horseback also fell hard, rubbed his buttocks that hurt from the fall, got up, and looked at the horse under him, his neck was cut open, and blood flowed all over the floor.I was so scared that I yelled "Ah!"Looking back, the person who saved him had already left.

"Hey! You... Do you think you beat my horse to death?" Feng Xuan turned his head and continued walking forward.

"Although you are trying to save me, this horse is also very pitiful, you actually beat him to death..."

Feng Xuan rolled his eyes and continued walking forward.

The boy rushed forward and grabbed Fengxuan's sleeve and said, "Thank you, young master!... I haven't asked your name yet... Eh?"

Feng Xuan took out an ingot of silver from his pocket and threw it to him, then continued to walk forward.

"What is this money for? Pay my horse? No, no, no, how much money is this horse worth. Hey, this is too much money, how about I give you some."

Fengxuan stopped, "..."

"Your Excellency, what is your name? Did you use a hidden weapon just now? It's so powerful! You can hit it in one hit."

Feng Xuan turned back sharply and said, "What do you want to do?"

"Uh..." The man scratched his head and said, "By the way, I haven't told you my name yet, ahem... I'm under Du Yuan, I don't know your Excellency..."

Feng Xuan raised his lips and said a word: "Get lost."

Du Yuan was stunned, and stared blankly at Feng Xuan walking away. "You haven't said your name yet..."

"Master, are you alright, master?" The two young servants rushed over and examined Du Yuan carefully, only to see that his hands were a little scratched and his clothes were dirty, but he was not injured.The two sighed with relief this time: "Hey, young master, you should be more careful! It almost frightened both of us. If something happens to you, the master will not take our skin off."

Du Yuan waved his hand to interrupt his rambling: "I know, I know, here is this ingot of silver for you two to calm the surprise." He threw the silver to the two of them casually.

The boy was startled when he took the silver, it was a full 20 taels, and his face burst into a smile.

"Wait a minute, return the silver to me first."

The young man paused the hand that put the money in his bosom, and said with a mournful face, "How can you bring it back after rewarding someone?"

Du Yuan reached out and took the ingot of silver and put it in his hand to play with: "I will reward you when I go back. This ingot of silver was given to me by my benefactor."

The boys looked at each other in blank dismay, benefactor what benefactor?Look at the horse on the ground and think about it, okay, the man beat the horse to death and rescued the young master, how can he return the money to the young master?How strange.

Du Yuan looked at Yinzi and remembered Feng Xuan's appearance just now when he turned his head back, his chest thumped wildly.This man looks so good-looking!

Feng Xuan walked to the front of the town, found an inn at random, ordered a few plates of appetizers, took out the flagon from his waist to pour wine, only to find out that the flagon was already empty.Hey... the wine in this inn is like horse urine, it's better not to drink it.

There were a lot of people in the inn, and it was getting dark when the food was served. While eating, a group of business travelers also rushed to the inn.

As soon as Du Yuan came in, he saw Feng Xuan rushing over from a long distance away and said, "Hero! Young Master, we are really destined to meet again, where is the world..."

Feng Xuan turned to look him up and down with the vegetables in his hands and asked, "Who are you?"

Du Yuan paused, looked at the blue robe on his body, and comforted himself that maybe he didn't notice him because he changed clothes.

"Hero, I'm the one just now, you saved that person on the way."

Feng Xuan let out an "oh" and continued to eat.

Du Yuan frowned and walked over lightly, "That... hero, I didn't thank you formally just now, but even took your money. The more I think about it, the more I don't want to give it up. I will return the money to you." Put the ingot of silver in his arms on the table.

After Fengxuan finished his meal, he wiped his mouth with a cloth towel, put away the money on the table, got up and went upstairs to the reserved room.

"Big... Hero..."

Little servant: "Master, come over for dinner."

"Oh..." Sitting where he was sitting just now, Du Yuan became dazed when he watched his back going upstairs. How could there be a man in the world who grows up like this...so people can't take their eyes off.

Feng Xuan went upstairs, looked at the money in his hand, chuckled and stuffed it into his bosom, don't want it for nothing.It's just that it's hard to live without wine.I don't know when I will find that bastard!

After entering the room and looking around, it was fairly clean. There was a teapot on the table filled with brewed tea.Feng Xuan poured a cup and sat down at the table to drink it.

In fact, he recognized the young man when he came in just now, but he didn't want to talk to him.When he saw this man, he thought of his disciple Qing Luo, who might have the same temperament as him when he grows up.Feng Xuan smiled and shook his head, not knowing where Zhou Yin and the others had gone. A few days ago, a secret guard sent a letter telling him that Zhou Yin and Zhang Rui would come to Jiangzhou in a few days.

Zhang Rui should be Zhou Yin's little lover, and the two of them wandered around and stayed in the past again. It seems that Zhou Yin has really moved.He remembered the expression on his face when he teased that kid when he peed his pants in the restaurant.Feng Xuan couldn't help laughing out loud.After laughing, there is only silence in the empty room...

***

Zhang Rui and his group walked towards Jiangzhou for half a month, and the weather became more and more humid and cold.It's raining today, damn it, what kind of rain is it in the winter? !The rainwater really dripped on my body like being touched by an ice pick, and it was completely cool from the inside to the outside.Zhou Yin was afraid that Zhan Qing and Duan Xiaobai would catch a cold, so he had to find a place to shelter from the rain and wait for the rain to stop before walking.

The two got into the carriage and warmed up the fire on the baking cart, which made them feel much better.

Zhan Qing sneezed, wiped his nose and said, "We'll be in Duanzhou in two days."

Zhang Rui: "I'm going to Duanzhou to rest for two days and I'm making plans." The journey is too fast these days, and I can't eat or sleep well. Everyone can't hold on anymore.

Dr. He boiled ginger soup in the car, and drank a bowl of it alone, which made his body warmer.

The light rain fell for a whole day, and it gradually stopped at dusk. Everyone took advantage of the rain and continued on their way. Zhan Qing looked at the road map and said: "There is no town near here, I am afraid I will sleep in the wild today .”

When it was completely dark, they found a shelter from the wind, tied the horse to a tree, and everyone ate something in the carriage. Zhan Qing and Duan Xiaobai stood outside the carriage.

Zhan Qing touched him with his arm and said, "Is there any more wine from Mr. Feng?"

Duan Xiaobai said: "I have some more, do you want to drink?" Zhan Qing nodded, rubbed his hands together and said, "The weather in this place is not as good as Tongzhou, Tongzhou is dry and cold, and the weather is damp and cold, and the cool air goes straight to the bones.

Duan Xiaobai nodded, untied the jug from his waist, took a sip and handed it to Zhan Qing.Zhan Qing was not too polite, took a sip from the jug, "Hiss~~ha, I haven't had Mr. Feng's wine for a long time!"

Duan Xiao smiled and said: "When I came here, I specially prepared a few pots, now only half of the pots are left, and there is still half of the pots hidden in the capital."

Zhan Qing clapped his hands and said: "Why didn't I think of it, there are so many hidden in the palace, and every time I go with the prince, he has to bring back a few jars. If I had known, I would have taken two jars when I left!"

Duan Xiaobai recalled the incident of the 1000 taels of silver per pot, couldn't help laughing and said: "I don't know if Mr. Feng found that person and asked for the wine money back."

Zhan Qing paused and said, "Speaking of which, Brother Duan probably knows the person he went to Jiangzhou to find."

Duan Xiaobai: "Oh? I recognize it. Could it be someone from the Jianghu?"

Zhan Qing nodded: "More than ten years ago, he was well-known in Jiangzhou and Yangzhou, because his sword danced like rain in his hand, and he had nowhere to hide. Some people in Jianghu nicknamed him Yan Luojian .”

Duan Xiaobai was surprised and said: "You are talking about the Great Xia Qi?! He was not..."

Zhan Qing smiled: "It is true that some people say that he died a long time ago, and some people say that he is still alive. No one knows whether he is dead or alive. But Mr. Feng probably thinks that he is still alive. The prince once sent someone to find Qi. Ming, I also heard some rumors, but in the end they all died without a problem."

Duan Xiaobai: "Hero Qi and Young Master Feng are not just about drinking money, otherwise, why would anyone go around looking for him for so many years?"

Zhan Qing took a sip of the wine and handed the jug to Duan Xiaobai: "The two used to be close friends, and they once wandered through the rivers and lakes together. After so many years, Mr. Feng is still worried. It may be the reason why he didn't see the corpse at the beginning."

Duan Xiaobai picked up the jug and took a sip of wine... Eh?How did it bottom out? !

In the early morning of the next day, everyone packed up and continued on their way. We will soon arrive at Duanzhou. After Duanzhou, we will be in Xuzhou!Zhang Rui was faintly excited.A nostalgia for my hometown arises spontaneously.

Since waking up from a coma in the dungeon last time, the original memory of this body has become clearer and clearer. On the contrary, the modern memory has gradually blurred.Zhang Rui wondered if one day he would completely forget that he was actually a lonely ghost from another time and space.

"Hey, what are you thinking, so preoccupied?"

Zhang Rui stared blankly at Zhou Yin and smiled: "It's okay, suddenly thinking about going back to my hometown is a bit timid."

Zhou Yin patted him on the shoulder and said, "I just want to see where you grew up, what kind of place is it that raises such a smart person as you."

Zhang Rui nodded indiscriminately, but his face was not very good-looking. How could he confess to Zhou Yin that he was actually not the original Zhang Rui, but came from another place...

Zhou Yin stretched out his hand to probe his forehead: "Well, it's not hot, why do you look so ugly? Are you sick? Why don't I ask Dr. He to show you."

Zhang Rui hurriedly pulled him back and said, "No, I'm fine, maybe I'm tired, just rest for a while." Leaning his head on Zhou Yin's shoulder, closing his eyes, the childhood memories of this body kept flashing in his head .

"Rui'er, how many times has mother told you not to get ink with your hands, look at your clothes are all splashed with ink."

A young child bows his head, hands behind his back.The two small black hands writhed restlessly.

The woman did not reprimand and reprimand him, but took out a clean white handkerchief from her bosom, knelt down and pulled his little hand to wipe it clean, the handkerchief was stained black.

"Mother... Rui'er will not mess with ink in the future, mother, don't be angry..."

The woman reached out to hug him, patted his back and smiled, "Rui'er is so good."

……

"Rui'er, go! Follow Uncle Han!" The woman pulled out a jade hairpin from her head and stuffed it into his hand. "Take this and go to the capital to find your uncle..."

"Mother! Mother! Come with me..."

"Wake up, Rui'er wake up."

Zhang Rui woke up suddenly, gasped and looked around, it turned out that he had just fallen asleep in the carriage, reached out his hand, touched his face and sighed, "What time is it?"

Zhou Yin reached out to wipe away the tears from his eyes and said, "It's almost You hour, do you think of your mother?"

Zhang Rui covered his dull chest and nodded, "Back then, I went to the temple to offer incense with my mother, Uncle Han, and a few servants. Because I will go to school in a year, and my mother wanted to seek a future for me. But I didn't expect to meet a group of thieves on the way back... Those people stopped us, and my mother asked Uncle Han to take me to escape at a critical moment, but she..."

Zhou Yin: "Did you report to the government later?"

Zhang Rui nodded: "Report, the government said that group of people were rogues, and they ran away after finishing the case. There was nowhere to look for them. In the end, I had to bury my mother. Taking care of me when I was young took over my family property. Uncle Han couldn't bear to let me fall into their hands, so he took me to his uncle's house in Kyoto alone, and then met you. Actually, thinking about it, it would be considered a trick of luck. If it wasn't for you The family has occupied the ancestral property of the family, and Uncle Han and I will not go to the capital, let alone meet you, we are separated by thousands of rivers and mountains, and we may never see each other for the rest of our lives."

Zhou Yin raised his eyebrows: "Maybe this king will meet you when he goes out for a walk among the people."

Zhang Rui sighed: "Although this is the case, I still want to thank God for allowing me to meet you, these friends, and my mentor. I don't know what is going on in Kyoto now. Are Xiaoze and the others safe on the road?"

Zhou Yin: "There is news from the dark guards that the capital seems to be calm now, but in fact it has reached a critical moment. The emperor's health is getting worse and worse. A while ago, he suddenly fainted when he was in court, and the ministers in the court were frightened. Zhezi asked the emperor to appoint a prince."

"What does the emperor mean?"

Zhou Yin: "The emperor wants to make the second prince the crown prince, but Prime Minister You obstructs him in every possible way and finds all kinds of excuses to prevent the emperor from making the second prince the crown prince. I'm afraid the chances of the eldest prince taking the throne will be greater this time."

"If the eldest prince succeeds to the throne, you princes and princes who are not on his side will become thorns in his flesh. Wait for him to ascend the throne and pull it out quickly?!"

Zhou Yin sneered: "So what, we have never said that we can interfere with the affairs of the superiors."

Zhang Rui: "Yes, even if Prime Minister You is here to pave the way for the first prince, if the emperor really wants to have a second prince, then no one can stop him."

Zhou Yin nodded: "Although we are far away from the capital to avoid the vortex, there are also disadvantages. Once something happens in the capital, we will be caught off guard."

After traveling for two days, the carriage arrived in Duanzhou City.

Zhan Qing: "My lord, we are going to Duanzhou soon, shall we go anonymously?"

Zhang Rui nodded: "Don't make a fuss, just keep going."

Duanzhou is a relatively small state capital, with only three counties under it, but its geographical location is superior, and it is surrounded by several state capitals, which is considered an important economic hub.There are more people coming and going, which drives the economic development of this place, making Duanzhou particularly rich.The prefect of Duanzhou is very good. The prefect's surname is Xu, and his name is Xu Chang.This man is very good at being an official, and he has managed Duanzhou very well. After the three-year evaluation, he will definitely be promoted.

The carriage entered the city, it would be noon, the streets were full of people, many vendors set up stalls at the city gate, if not for the different dialects, everyone thought they were back in Kyoto!No wonder Duanzhou is known as Little Kyoto.

Because the weather was fine, Qing Luo and Hu Zi got out of the carriage and looked around on the street.The others also got out of the carriage one after another, stretching their muscles and bones. They were exhausted from riding in the carriage for the past few days, and planned to rest in Duanzhou for two days before walking.

Seeing people coming and going on the street, Hu Zi hurriedly said: "Everyone, keep your money well. There are many people and there are many thieves, so don't let people steal your money."

Lao Han nodded and said, "Hu Zi is right."

It happened that a middle-aged man came next to him. This man was not a local. His accent sounded like someone from Youzhou. He said: "Brother, there is no need to be like this. I have been in business for many years, and I have never been stolen when passing through this Duanzhou." This Duanzhou has outstanding people and rich people, very few people will do that kind of stealing. Besides, once they are caught, the end will be miserable."

Zhang Rui said with interest: "I wonder what will happen to the thief that brother said?"

The man said: "Those who are light will be tattooed and exiled at the border, and those who are serious will be beheaded!"

Zhang Rui: "Stealing will also behead?!"

The man nodded and said, "That's right, it's because of this that Duanzhou has always been so stable."

Zhang Rui: "This...if someone falsely accused him of stealing, would he be beheaded too?"

The middle-aged man shook his head: "I don't know about this, there is still someone waiting for me ahead, so I leave." After saying that, he cupped his hands and left.

Zhou Yin said with a smile: "This magistrate is really cruel and merciless, and he will be beheaded for mere theft."

Zhang Ruidao: "Although this can reduce theft, many innocent people have lost their lives because of it... This action violates the laws of the Great Zhou, it is not feasible, and it is not advisable."

There was a noodle seller in front, Qing Luo and Huzi ran over, and they bought one each.

Zhou Yin led him and said, "Looking at your appearance, you look like a teenager."

Zhang Rui said with a smile: "I am not very old."

Zhou Yin: "Sometimes, I feel that you are more mature than me, more like my brother..." After speaking, she shook her head with a smile.

Zhang Rui said from the bottom of his heart: Big brother is indeed older than you, not even a little bit older, and calling him uncle will not wrong you.

Zhan Qing and Duan Xiaobai searched for several inns before finding one that could accommodate these people. Most of the inns were filled with business travelers, perhaps this one was not full due to its remote location.

When I walked in, I saw a few people sitting in the inn. The waiter of the inn stood in a daze at the door. He was thin and short, with dry and yellow hair, messy, triangular eyes, and yellow teeth exposed when he spoke, like chronic malnutrition. look like.The boss was very kind. Seeing them coming, he hurriedly greeted them and said, "You guys are staying in the shop, let's go to the top."

Uncle Han looked at the two of them and said: "Staying in the store is also a top..." Turning around, he said to Zhang Rui, "Master, why do I feel that the shopkeeper is like a second child?"

Zhang Rui saw that the two were silent.The shopkeeper hurriedly said to the waiter next to him: "You slacker, hurry up and take a few guest officials upstairs to put the salute in place."

Xiao Er hurriedly bent down and said: "Guest officer, come with me." He bowed and led several people upstairs.

This inn may have been old for a long time, and the stairs made a "creaking" sound when stepped on, making one afraid that if one stepped on it too hard, it would break.A window at the end of the corridor was broken, and a gust of cold wind blew over as soon as it went up, making people feel chilly all over.Walking upstairs, two men happened to be walking towards me, presumably these two were also staying at the hotel.

One of the men said: "Xiaoer! What's the matter with your inn?! Why can you hear crying in the middle of the night! Could it be something unclean...? I haven't slept well for two nights in a row Already!"

When Xiaoer heard this, he swallowed and said, "Master, this little one really doesn't know..."

The man said: "It's bad luck! Check out and check out, I can't stand it anymore." After speaking, the two hurried downstairs.

Xiao Er looked at the people behind him with a weeping face and said, "Master, do you still want this guest room?"

Uncle Han hesitated to speak but stopped looking at Zhang Rui, Zhang Rui smiled and said, "Yes, please open the door."

Xiao Er hastily opened the doors of several rooms and said, "These are four connected rooms."

Zhang Rui looked at it, but it was still clean, so he asked the little girl to leave, and everyone went to the guest room to tidy up and went downstairs for dinner.

Downstairs, the two people who said they wanted to check out hadn't left yet, and were asking for money from the shopkeeper.

"We said we'll stay for three days, but who knows what's not clean in your store, people who make trouble at night can't sleep at all, you have to give me back all the money!"

The shopkeeper wiped the sweat from his forehead, looked at the new guests, turned his head and said, "Master, keep your voice down, keep your voice down, if you spread the word like this, my shop won't be able to open."

The man snorted coldly and said, "If you want to open a shop, then return the money to me."

The shopkeeper said: "The two masters have stayed here for two days. I really can't refund all the money for the younger one. How about refunding you one more day's money in addition to the remaining day's money?"

The two looked at each other and nodded.The shopkeeper hurriedly took out the silver from the drawer and handed it to the two, and hurried away with the silver in two days.

Zhang Rui looked at the backs of the two of them.Zhou Yin patted him and said, "What's wrong?"

"Ah? It's okay. I always feel that these two people are a little weird."

Zhou Yin whispered in his ear: "If you are afraid of ghosts at night, I can sleep with my arms around you."

Zhang Rui's ears turned red and he turned his head and said, "Eat."

Because listening to those two people's words, everyone basically didn't fall asleep at night, and waited and waited until it was almost late at night, and they still haven't heard the "cries of ghosts and howls of wolves" that they said.

Zhou Yin said: "Could it be a mistake? Those two people said that because they wanted to extort money?"

Zhang Rui shook his head and said, "Probably not. Look at the faces of Xiaoer and the shopkeeper after those two people said this, which means that what these two people said should be true."

Zhou Yin: "Since it is true, why is there no sound tonight?"

Zhang Rui also asked strangely: "Maybe that ghost is tired and fell asleep?"

Zhou Yin chuckled, stretched out his hand to hold his waist and said, "Then let's not wait for him to sleep."

As soon as the two of them closed their eyes, they heard a scream of "Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo"!