In the winter morning, the sky is always late in the morning, and the time has come, and the sky is only exposed to the white of the fish's belly. It is said that Lord Cao, the governor of Yangzhou, fell asleep at half of the night last night, but he only slept for more than 2 hours, and he was still warm with the soft body of the concubine in the bed, and the people outside came to report, "Master, Lord Hu Su of Yangzi is visiting." ”

The concubine's lazy voice came from the room, "Did Hu Su say that he came to visit, and he didn't let the old man sleep peacefully this early in the morning?" The subordinate hurriedly replied, "Back to my aunt, Master Hu said that there was an urgent matter that needed to be reported to the master, and the little one had the courage to go back and forth to the master." ”

The little concubine was about to say something more, Cao Mu pinched her in the quilt, and the little concubine twisted the waist of the water snake and laughed a few times. Cao Mufang let go of Lushan's claws, touched her buttocks again, and snorted, "Little goblin, don't delay your master and my business, and I'll clean you up when I come back at night." ”

Then he instructed the subordinates waiting outside the room, "Let Master Hu go to the inner hall of the mansion to sit down for a while, entertain well, and serve tea and snacks, and I will go to see him after washing." ”

At this time, there was a man in his thirties, of medium height, with a clear face and bloodshot eyes, as if he had not slept all night, but he was still very energetic. He was followed by two county officials dressed as officials, all standing silently behind him.

There was a sound of footsteps, but seeing Cao Mu walking in with a smile, the man stood up and greeted him, "Lord Cao, Xiaguan is bothering you early in the morning, but please bear with me." ”

Lord Cao hurriedly waved his hand, "It's okay, it's okay, why don't you need to be polite." As he spoke, he sat down across from the man. He asked kindly, "Wu Ping, I came to the government early this morning, but what is the important matter?" ”

This man called Wuping is Yangziwei Hu Su, it is said that this Hu Su's official position is a few levels smaller than that of Yangzhou Zhizhou, and Yangziwei is under the management of Yangzhou Zhizhou, so why does Cao Mu need to be so polite to this little Yangziwei?

Outsiders don't know that although this Cao Mu is mediocre in talent and not outstanding in ability, he has a ability, that is, he can observe words and feelings, and is used to seeing the wind and rudder, and there is a distant uncle Cao who uses the position of privy envoy in the court, so that he can get the fat difference of Yangzhou Zhizhou.

This Hu Su is a Tiansheng four years of Jinshi origin, outstanding talent, to Yangziwei has served for two years, but the political achievements are obvious, especially last year Yangzi County sent a big flood, once led the public to save countless people with his own body, won unanimous praise inside and outside the court, the future is limitless, seeing that this term of office is over, Hu Su will be reused.

It was Cao Mu who was so polite and attached importance to this little Yangtze Lieutenant, and he never slackened off half a point, he felt that he was not the one who was short-sighted.

Hu Su looked at Cao Mu and said, "Lord Cao, there was an incident at the Guazhou ferry under the jurisdiction of the lower officials last night, I heard that it was taken over by the adults, and it will be tried this morning, I don't know if there is such a thing?" ”

Cao Mu's face turned straight, "There is this matter, this matter involves the abduction and trafficking of women, burning boats and hurting people, and the nature is very serious. Now the family of the victim has come to the Yamen to complain about the matter. ”

Hu Su hurriedly asked, "My lord, has this matter been thoroughly investigated?" Is there any evidence of who did it? ”

Cao Mu pretended to be cautious and nodded, "Witnesses, there are all the evidence, and the evidence shows that it was the painting boat "Yi Jiangnan" that passed by here did it. ”

Hu Su said in surprise after hearing this, "My lord, the lower official received this report last night, and checked it overnight, but the conclusion reached seems to be different from the adult's. ”

Cao Mu smiled meaningfully, then shook his head, and his eyes glanced at the two servants behind Hu Su. Hu Su was immediately stunned for a moment, and then he understood, "My lord, please talk about it, it's okay, these two are my confidants." ”

After hearing this, Cao Mu took a sip of tea and cleared his throat, "Wu Ping, you and I don't need to make any extraneous branches in this matter, just follow the above meaning." After speaking, he pointed upward.

"What do you mean by Lord Cao's words, the lower officials don't know very well."

Cao Mu leaned closer in the direction of Hu Su, and said in a low voice, "Last night, the queen mother's secret guard came to the mansion, brought witnesses and evidence here, and asked for strict punishment of the "Yi Jiangnan" cadres, etc., and now the secret guard is still resting in the backyard of the mansion, what can you and I do at this moment?" It's just a matter of doing what you're told. ”

After Hu Su heard this, his expression was upright, and he hugged his fist at Cao Mu, "Lord Cao, for the way of officials, loyalty, integrity, honesty, and diligence; For the affairs of the ministers, it is necessary to eat the king's fortune and bear the king's worries. If justice is not the first priority in everything, how can we be good parents? ”。

After a pause, he said, "What's more, how did the Queen Mother know the reason for this?" I'm afraid that there is some reason, adults still need to think twice, otherwise one wrong step will be worrying. ”

After Cao Mu heard this, his heart moved, but his face was extremely embarrassed, "Lord Hu is really worried about the country and the people, but the merits of this matter will be known after my trial, Lord Hu wants to go to the court to hear the trial?" ”

Hu Su heard Cao Mu change his name, and knew that he didn't like it in his heart, but he only wanted to have a clear conscience, so why bother to flatter. sighed in his heart, "Lord Cao's words are serious, I don't dare to listen to the trial, just go to the officials to observe, maybe I can make a contribution to the adult." ”

Before the time came, the officials in the hall had already stood up, the main bookkeeper, the master and others were waiting for a promotion to the hall, Cao Mu sat down behind the case, and Yangziwei Hu Su also set up a seat on the side.

At this time, the yacha brought Zhao Qiong up, Zhao Qiong looked at the Zhizhou who was seated, and only bowed to Cao Mu sideways. Cao Mu looked at the woman in the hall, twenty-five or sixteen years old, neither humble nor arrogant, her clothes were not dirty and messy because of a night in prison, but she looked comfortable and generous.

Cao Mu was shocked, "Who is standing in the hall, why don't you kneel when you see this official?" But to despise the officials of the imperial court? ”

Zhao Qiong smiled faintly, "My lord is serious, but this case has not yet been tried, and the slave family has already been convicted?" ”

"The woman in the hall, Hugh is so quick to speak, if you don't kneel, stand first, and the official will let you kneel and convince you. You report your name first. "This Cao Mu didn't want to do too much in front of Hu Su.

"The slave family is Zhao Qiong, the head of the Jiangnan Painting Boat, and I dare to ask Lord Cao, why did I bring the slave family to the Yangzhou Mansion and detain him overnight before asking for the crime, is it true that the adults try the case like this?"

Between this question and answer, the primary and secondary relationship between the two seemed to be reversed, Cao Mu seemed to feel that he was being forced to ask by a woman and was extremely passive, and did not answer Zhao Qiong's words, but only patted the wood, "Bring the plaintiff up." ”

The plaintiff is a middle-aged man, after coming up, he knelt down and kowtowed, and then cried and shouted, "My lord, you want to be the master of Xiaomin, the beautiful girl in Xiaomin's family suddenly disappeared last night, and I couldn't find it all over, and then I realized that I was abducted by someone's teeth, but fortunately, the adults caught the criminal, so as to avoid the separation of the grass people's family, and asked the adults to return the Xiaomin's daughter to the family, and bring the hateful human teeth to justice, and make the decisions for the grass people's family!" ”

Cao Mu said, "The plaintiff in the hall reported his name, and when he came up, he shouted, what kind of system did it become?" ”

The middle-aged man hurriedly said, "Xiaomin is called Kong San, a native of Yangzhou." Adults, please understand the anxious little girl's feelings. ”

Cao Mu asked again, "Kong San, this official asked you, do you know who abducted your daughter?" ”

Kong San looked around, and saw Zhao Qiong standing on the side, and hurriedly pointed, "Isn't it the people who remember the Jiangnan Painting Boat, they just came to the Guazhou ferry at noon yesterday, and the little girl was taken away at night, who else will there be if this is not them?" ”

Cao Mu said, "Hugh has to guess, Kong San, let me ask you, do you see the appearance of this captive?" Why do you guess that this is what "Remembering Jiangnan" did? ”

When Kong San heard this question, he said in a snort, "This...... The little people didn't see it. ”

Cao Mu waved his hand impatiently, "You can step aside." Then he said in a loud voice, "Bring the witnesses and the evidence." ”

Next, a dark and thin middle-aged man was brought up, and as soon as he came up, he was pressed by the yacha and knelt on the ground, and the man kowtowed and did not dare to speak.

Cao Mu looked down and asked, "Who is kneeling in the hall?" What do you do for a living? ”

The middle-aged man hurriedly replied: "Xiaomin has a lot of money, and he is from Hangzhou, and he is the boatman of the boat that caught fire at the Guazhou ferry last night, and the boat is what Xiaomin usually uses to help people run goods." ”

"Qian Da, the officer asks you, since your ship is used for running goods, why is there a captive woman on board? And how did the ship catch fire? Quickly recruit from the real thing. ”

Qian Da looked apprehensive, "My lord, six days ago, in Hangzhou, a man came to rent Xiaomin's boat, saying that he wanted to load the goods to Bianjing, and the price given at that time was good.

Who knew that after arriving in Suzhou, I saw that they secretly abducted the woman and put her on the boat, only to know that Lu Dao was a group of people, but they were outnumbered, and they also threatened the small people, and for the sake of their lives, the small people did not dare to come to report to the official.

As for how the fire started, the small people really don't know, only that last night when they slept until the third watch, the boat suddenly caught fire, the fire was very big, it could not be extinguished, and it was too late to save people, so they jumped into the river in a hurry to protect themselves, and asked the adults to spare the small people. ”

Cao Mu asked again, "Then do you know who kidnapped these women, and how many of them were at that time?" ”

Qian Da replied, "At that time, there were 10 men, all of them powerful, and they didn't tell the little one who their boss was. It's just that the little one overheard them mention the "Yi Jiangnan" painting boat, and also talked about the boss and the like, along the way, they asked to keep up with the painting boat, and they also stopped at the side of the painting boat at the Guazhou ferry, which was a small speculation, and Yi Jiangnan was their behind-the-scenes boss. And the small one also brought a piece of evidence, I wonder if it can be used? After speaking, he pointed to the things that the yacha held in his hand.

The yacha hurriedly presented the things in his hand to Cao Mu, and when Cao Mu saw it, it was a big gray cloth bag, which was a little charred black, and some of the pockets were wet.

Cao Mu pointed to the evidence and asked, "What is this?" ”