Hezhou Prison.

In addition to the 17 outlaws who were about to be escorted to Beijing for trial, there are also three homeless ordinary criminals who are now being held in Hezhou Prison.

One of the main purposes of Long Shihuai's visit to Hezhou was to help Shangguan Lan escort this group of serious criminals to Beijing for trial. Don't underestimate this group of serious criminals, among them there are big salt lords, careless people who ignore human life, flower pickers, gamblers, all in all, they are all big traitors. But at the same time, some of these people had a group of loyal men, which meant that it was inevitable that someone would not rob them halfway on the way to the capital.

During the disaster relief period, in order to promote the national prestige and national law, Emperor Jing'an knew that Shangguan Lan had vigorously grasped and killed a group of people in Jiangzhou and Huzhou, offending many forces.

The snow is falling, the night is falling, the howling north wind sweeps the dead branches and sways wildly, and the wind makes a 'whining' sound when it encounters the high wall, which makes this boxy prison look eerie and terrifying, and the air is filled with a strange and tense atmosphere.

"It's fucking cold." A young man dressed in a cell boss costume locked the big iron door of the prison as he spoke, and then jumped up and down to dry his hands by the fire.

In addition, one of the four little prison guards who had been drinking around the fire for a long time smiled and said: "Boss Zhang, you said that there will be nothing and nothing will be fine, but you have a lot to do, and you want to go and see it, but what do you see?" ”

"It's a rule to inspect the room once in half an hour, and it's better to do things according to the rules."

"What are you afraid of, since Lord Shangguan came to Hezhou, we have peace in the world here. What could happen. ”

"It can't be said that the people who are locked up here are all serious criminals, and those seventeen people will soon be taken to the capital for trial. That's not a cowardice, maybe their little brother will send someone to rob the prison. ”

"It also depends on whether they have the ability to do it, on such a cold day, who dares to shrink and hide outside. That's not to freeze to death. ”

Outside the house, more than a dozen white figures fell from the sky, landing as light as snow on the courtyard of Hezhou Prison.

The masked white-clothed man in the lead waved his hand, and the rest of the masked white-clothed men nodded at the same time and jumped off the courtyard wall one after another. Then it disappeared in the snow as if out of thin air, and the person who had jumped into prison disappeared in the blink of an eye.

At the same time, the four little guards who were roasting by the stove suddenly noticed that the stove seemed to be strange, and how did they find that the fire was getting higher and higher, and higher and higher, and finally so high that it became a human figure.

At the moment when the pawns were shocked, the fiery figure suddenly pulled out a long knife burning from his waist.

Immediately, four of the five people around the fireplace who were warming themselves lost their heads, and they didn't snort. The only one who didn't lose his head was the boss of Zhang, because he came back late, the farthest from the stove.

When he found out that the corpse of his companion had been separated, he was so frightened that he immediately rolled on the spot and rolled to a door. At a glance, I saw that the burning man was still holding on to the knife and walking towards him step by step.

Zhang was so frightened that he didn't even have the strength to stand up and run. Fortunately, he was familiar with the terrain of this prison, so he rolled neatly again, rolled into another iron door, and shuddered, not forgetting to bolt the door with a trembling. Looking back, outside the three iron gates were large fenced cells where prisoners were kept.

The people in the cell saw that Zhang Cell, who was guarding them, rolled in like a wolf, and they didn't know what was going on, some of them scolded, 'Damn, don't send some water to drink, I'm dying of thirst', some shouted, 'This is not Zhang Cell, you don't want to walk in but you want to learn how to roll a donkey and roll in, it's the New Year's show for us', and there are people who shout, 'Zhang, I want to eat meat, if I don't give meat to eat, I'll eat him'.

The one who was going to eat people was a very fierce man with a scar on his face. He was pointing at a very thin man, in the same cell as him.

When the thin man heard that the man was going to eat him, he was so frightened that he knelt on the ground and said, "Master, ancestor, the little one doesn't have much meat on his body, and he is afraid of his teeth if he eats it." It's better to eat him. After speaking, he was referring to Zhang Zhang, who had staggered through the triple iron gate and locked the iron door and had run to their cell.

But seeing that Zhang Jiao was not as angry as before, but tremblingly opened the lock that locked the cell door with a key, and then threw the string of keys in the thin man's hand, and said, "Quick, do me a favor, let everyone out." ”

"Huh?"

"Quick." Zhang screamed angrily, and then began to grab another set of keys, and tremblingly opened the doors of the other cells.

The thin man didn't understand what was going on, but he was always clever. Thinking about whether Zhang Cell was bought, he was ready to release these felons.

has always been a little afraid that the world will not be chaotic, the thin man is both excited and looking forward to the follow-up hurriedly 'good', and after a quick 'good' sound, he opened the door of the cell with a fart.

For a while, the criminals in the cell shouted one by one, 'Shi Qian, damn, open Lao Tzu, open Lao Tzu first, or Lao Tzu will beat you to death'.

That thin man's name is Shi Qian, and he is the most eloquent, stealing chickens and touching dogs, and he takes the good man of Liangshan Shi Qian as an example, that is, the name is exactly the same. He is the one who comes in and out of this prison the most diligently. He wasn't a great traitor, he was one of the three ordinary criminals. In fact, this prison can't lock him up, the reason why he stays here with peace of mind is because he is homeless, it is better to hide here to keep warm, at least he will not freeze to death outside.

He had a very good relationship with everyone in this prison. From the cell boss to the criminal. It's just about to eat his big chunk, and occasionally this Shi Qian will sneak out to get a chicken leg to satisfy his hunger. Don't look at the big guy who says he wants to eat him, in fact, it's just to relieve boredom.

Soon, the seventeen felons and two other ordinary cases

The prisoner and two other ordinary offenders were released. They all looked at Zhang Cellhead in excitement and disbelief, which meant 'Whoever wants you to save us, give a word'.

Seeing that Zhang Jiaotou was just trembling and seemed to be unsteady when he walked, the big man who was about to eat Shi Qian spat disdainfully, and said, "Look at your virtue, either don't do it, and don't be so cowardly if you do it." ”

All the criminals are just like big men, and the trembling of the head of the prison is the fear after the robbery. Then, after someone shouted at the top of their voices, 'Don't hurry up yet', all the criminals flocked to the three iron gates where the head of the cell had just entered.

From the moment he saw the burning man, Zhang Jiaotou's every qiē was a subconscious reflection, not that he was so clever. Now seeing that a group of criminals were about to escape from the iron gate, thinking about the burning man who killed his four companions with a single knife outside the iron gate, Zhang Jiaotou was agitated and sober. He hurried to the cell door, stretched out his hand to block it, and pointed in the opposite direction: "Get out from there." ”

"Damn, you're bluffing us, where can we go there."

"Yes, whose money did you take, and who did you want to rescue?"

"Since you let it go, you will let it go, and if you escape, you will not be able to benefit from it."

Up to this time, everyone still thought that Zhang Prison had taken the money and let one of them out.

Thinking about the horror of the burning man just now, if it weren't for the fact that he didn't drink, Zhang Cellhead couldn't believe it. He just pointed to his back tremblingly and said, "Listen to me, hurry, or you will die." ”

The big guy who was going to eat Shi Qian impatiently pushed all the people standing in front of him away, rushed to Zhang Jiaotou, grabbed Zhang Jiaotou's collar, and said, "If you don't get out of the way, die." ”

As the word 'death' landed on the ground, there was movement at the first iron gate.

All the criminals looked at the iron gate in amazement. I saw that the iron gate was getting redder and redder, and then a human figure melted out of the red and fiery iron gate, and the human form that was shining with fire was like a demon from hell, holding a long knife of flame in his hand, pointing at all the people.

"Ahh Ghost! All the people screamed.

Zhang Celltou pushed the big guy who was dragging him to death, pointed to the rear and said, "Hurry up, don't run yet." ”

It was only at this time that the group of criminals seemed to know why Zhang was letting them out of the cell. For a while, all the criminals screamed 'ahh After everyone had run into the last room, Zhang Prison hurriedly fastened the iron door again.

"It's a human or a ghost, Zhang Cell, are you doing something to bluff us?"

"yes, it's going to be the New Year, and you can't joke about it."

Zhang Jiaotou turned his head and said: "I don't know if it's a human or a ghost, I only know that Li San and they are all dead, so whether we can escape today's catastrophe depends on the will of heaven." ”

"Li San is dead?" Shi Qian exclaimed, he just went out and drank a glass of wine from Li San's hand.

"Not only Li San, but Zhao Si, who was on duty with me today, is also dead, and it was the burning man who killed them."

"Ahh For a while, these murderers who didn't blink an eye actually trembled at the same time.

Looking at the big guy who threatened to eat Shi Qian, Zhang Jiaotou pointed to a wall and said, "Quick, you have a lot of strength." Open the gap here. ”

"Why?"

"Ten years ago, there was a small earthquake in Hezhou. There was a hole in the place, and we rebuilt it. This new masonry is not as strong as the original, so it is the weakest here. As long as you get through here, you can get to the courtyard, and then whether you can escape and ascend to heaven depends on your luck. ”

"You're going to let us go." The crowd didn't believe it.

"You are Lord Shangguan, and you must be sent to the capital with thousands of instructions. Even death cannot be at the hands of a burning man who is not a man or a ghost. If you are released, Lord Shangguan will still arrest you. ”

Whatever, it's a matter of the future to be arrested, and death is imminent now. No more talking, and everyone hurriedly urged the big man to quickly pound the wall open.

The big man was also supernatural, and with just a few iron fists, the wall was shaken with a 'boom' sound, and the dust kept falling. After a dozen punches, his hands were bleeding, and the wall was loosened.

Another man stepped forward, and after saying 'Lao Tzu is coming', he kicked it away, and he kicked out a big hole in the loose wall.

Then the crowd scrambled to get into the little hole. The scene is chaotic. But the more chaotic it is, the more no one can get out. At this moment, the iron door of the room became fiery red again.

Knowing that the burning man had broken through the three iron gates outside and came to the last door, Zhang Celltou hurriedly pushed the group away and shouted angrily: "Come one by one." I'm last. ”

Turning his head, he saw that the door was getting redder and redder, and everyone knew that they were afraid that they would not be able to run if they continued to fight, so they hurriedly stopped fighting, but drilled into the hole one by one.

Seeing that the door was about to melt down again, he was afraid that he would not survive the chance to drill the hole, and the head of the cell saw the cabinet on the side smartly, so he hid behind the cabinet with a commitment.

Sure enough, the moment Zhang Cellhead hid behind the cabinet, the burning man melted into the door. He looked around, and then walked step by step to the open hole in the wall, and the big knife in his hand slashed unscrupulously at the person who had not yet climbed out of the hole. With a knife, at least two people's heads hit the ground.

Zhang closed his eyes, not daring to breathe.

At this time, Zhang Cellhead seemed to hear screams and helpers outside the courtyard.

Could it be that there are also fire people out there? Zhang Jiaotou became more and more afraid to move, but only squinted slightly to look at the scene in the room. The burning man could be clearly seen looking around through the cracks in his eyes, and then a commitment slipped through the hole in the wall.

For a long, long time, there was no sound outside, Zhang Jiaotou was still not at ease, and hid for a while, convinced that there was only the sound of wind outside, so he carefully climbed from behind the cabinet

Climbed out behind the cabinet.

Turning over several dead bodies, Zhang Cellhead quietly crawled out of the hole in the wall, and in an instant, Zhang Cellhead was stunned by the scene in front of him.

On the reckless snow, there were many corpses lying on the ground, some of them were criminals and some of the soldiers who were guarding the prison.

Zhang Cellhead was so frightened that he fell to the ground, and then he got up in a panic and walked towards the courtyard with difficulty.

Snow and blood, I can't tell the difference.

Zhang Jiaotou held his head, and screamed with a "ahhhh

Shangguan Lan and Long Shihuai, who originally planned to return to Beijing for the New Year, had to stay in Hezhou because of the 'Hezhou Prison Tragedy'.

It took two days and two nights to clean up the bloodstains and corpses in Hezhou Prison. Shangguan Lan rubbed his forehead lightly, it can be said that this is the most tragic case in the five years since he took office, and the horror of these dead is even more tragic than the refugees who died in the disaster of the Jiangzhou embankment in previous years.

All the people in the prefect's yamen came to the scene, the servants were still conducting autopsies, and Zhang Xingshu in the torture room was still making notes on Zhang Jiaotou.

Although Zhang Xingshu was so frightened that the three souls went to Qilu, and he couldn't speak, but fortunately, Zhang Xingshu was Zhang Xingshu's cousin, and under Zhang Xingshu's comfort, in the past two days, Zhang Jiaotou also told the general story of the matter neatly.

Seeing that his cousin's spirit was poor again, and he was almost about to enter the state of the demonic barrier, Zhang Xingshu didn't ask any more questions, but ordered someone to help his cousin go down to rest. He presented all the transcripts to Shangguan Lan.

Shangguan Lan took the transcript and looked at it carefully.

"Alan."

Hearing the sound, Shangguan Lan turned around and saw a long man walking not far away. The tall and burly figure, the physique of the tiger's back and the waist of the bear, a pair of cold eyes, two curved eyebrows like ink, plus his cold and cold general armor, even lined his chest and majesty.

Five years have passed in a flash, and the former teenagers have grown into brave young men. Shangguan Lan said: "Fang Ping." ”

The person who came was Xi Fangping, the new chief soldier of Hezhou. He stepped forward a few steps quickly and walked in front of Shangguan Lan, "Ah Lan." ”

"Don't you have a few more days?"

"Hurry, and here we are. Luckily, it's here. Speaking of this, Xi Fangping looked around, then looked at Shangguan Lan, and said, "I heard that you haven't closed your eyes for two days and two nights, go back and rest and rest, leave it to me here." Rest assured, I will appease the families of all my fallen brothers and will not let their blood be shed in vain. ”

The Xi family has lived in Hezhou for generations, and Xi Fangping can say this, but it is not a big deal.

If one side wants to be prosperous, the military, government, and civil affairs should trust and cooperate with each other. I believe in Xi Fangping very much, and I also want to give Xi Fangping, who has just come to Hezhou, a chance to show it, Shangguan Lan didn't say much, just nodded. Then he handed a transcript in his hand to Xi Fangping and said, "Take a look, it may be useful." ”

"Okay."

After Xi Fangping took over the affairs arranged by Guan Lan in Hezhou Prison, Shangguan Lan, who was indeed a little tired, returned to the Yamen of the Hezhou Prefect surrounded by Tianmeng and others.

In the past two days, no one in the prefect's yamen has rested, and they are all fully armed and ready to be deployed. Seeing that Shangguan Lan had returned, one by one, Xu officials, scribes, clerks and others hurriedly stepped forward to greet them, asking if there were any new discoveries.

Shangguan Lan just asked, "Is there any news from the city defense?" ”

"Nope."

Shangguan Lan's eyes showed a look of disappointment.

"Don't worry, my lord, in the past two days, only in and out, even a mouse can't get out."

There are four gates in Hezhou City: east, south, west and north. Since the tragedy of the night in Hezhou Prison, the four doors have been closed to prevent everyone from going out, and at the same time, the city of Hezhou has also begun to search from house to house.

Nodding his head, Shangguan Lan waved his hand and said, "I'm going to rest and rest, General Soldier Xi has taken over this matter, if there is anything, you can discuss it directly with General Soldier Xi." ”

As soon as Xi Fangping arrived in Hezhou, he came to the prefect's yamen first, and only went to Hezhou Prison after learning about the whole thing. Fortunately, he brought some more soldiers, and these soldiers were well distributed at the four city gates, and the strength of the city defense was invisibly strengthened. At the same time, Xi Fangping also sent some troops to search all farmlands, forests and other remote places in Hezhou.

Because of the tragedy, the people in the government who had been in a trance were also a lot more settled because of Xi Fangping's arrival and his decision to kill.

Seeing that Shangguan Lan was indeed tired, they hurriedly waved their hands and said 'yes' and stepped back.

The prefect's yamen is very large, with high walls and deep courtyards, which are mainly divided into two parts, the front part is mainly used for the office of the palace, the officer's room, the household room, the ceremonial room, the soldier's room, the torture room, and the workshop. The latter part has eight courtyards, each with more than a dozen houses, which are intended for the families of officials whose families are not in Hezhou. However, most of the official families who started a family bought houses in Hezhou City and went out to live, because these eight courtyards have not been filled so far.

Shangguan Lan has a separate courtyard in this yamen, and he usually rests here when there are many things, and only when he is resting or has an emergency, he returns to Yinfeng Villa.

Back in his courtyard, Shangguan Lan fell asleep. Tianmeng and the others knew that the master was tired, so they hurriedly closed the door and stood quietly outside.

After a while, Shangguan Lan's voice came, "Tianmeng." ”

"Yes."

"Is there any news from Ye Ge?" For the first time, Shangguan Lan's heart was a little irritable.

"Nope."

"It's all guarded."

"Rest assured, not only the city gates, but also all the city walls, our people are in the dark with three steps and one post, five steps and one sentry. Anyone who moves, we will catch him. ”

After not seeing the master for a long time, Tianmeng said carefully: "Master, rest for a while, maybe there will be news when you wake up from sleep." ”

"Alas, I'm so tired that I want to sleep but I can't."

As Shangguan Lan's words fell, the courtyard gate was pushed open, and Wu Nianting stood at the courtyard gate. Tianmeng said: "Princess." ”

"Where's the master?" ”

"I'm getting ready to rest."

Hearing the voice outside, Shangguan Lan said, "Dzi, you come in." ”

Tianmeng respectfully invited Wu Nianting to enter.

After Wu Nianting entered the room, he found Shangguan Lan lying on the bed, and saw that his face was slightly pale, knowing that it was the reason why he hadn't slept or eaten for a few days and nights. She went to bed quietly, leaned to his side, and said, "Brother the prince has secretly visited." Fang Ping also came. With the two of them, master, you can rest in peace. ”

"Okay." Turning over, Shangguan Lan hugged Wu Nianting, closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Maybe it was because the little apprentice was by his side, this sleep, Shangguan Lan slept very soundly, and he didn't wake up until the middle of the moon. Wu Nianting woke up, got up quietly, and estimated that Shangguan Lan must be extremely hungry when he woke up, so he went out lightly. At this time, the guard at the door has been replaced by a bodyguard scale.

"Princess."

"I'll go cook a bowl of noodles for the master."

"Yes, princess."

But whenever he came to the prefect's yamen, Wu Nianting Pavilion was bound with white silk to erase the plum blossom mole on his forehead. In the eyes of everyone, she is only the most powerful and favored 'girl' beside Shangguan Lan. Besides, each courtyard in this backyard is self-contained, and Shangguan Lan's bodyguards are heavily guarded, so Wu Nianting will untie the white silk tied to this courtyard to facilitate action.

Fortunately, there is a separate kitchen in each courtyard, and fresh fruits and vegetables are also prepared in the kitchen every day.

Since the little apprentice woke up and left, Shangguan Lan woke up, and even he himself wondered why the little apprentice slept quite peacefully by his side, and as soon as the little apprentice left, he would wake up vigilantly. Knowing that the little apprentice was going to get him food, he got up and freshened up, and summoned the balance to discuss the case.

was discussing, and when she saw Wu Nianting come in with something to eat, Shangguan Lan looked at her with a smile and beckoned to her. The scales went out in amusement.

"Master, let's use some noodles first."

Shangguan Lan loves the little apprentice's cooking skills very much, and sometimes he prefers the little apprentice's craftsmanship, and the others are a little unpalatable. In the past few years, it can be said that the little apprentice has raised his mouth more tricky.

In fact, this bowl of noodles is not simple at all, Shangguan Lan only ate one bite and tasted all kinds of mountain delicacies and seafood in it.

It turned out that Wu Nianting was really worried that Shangguan Lan would hurt his body by worrying too much, and thinking that he would not eat or drink for a few days, and if he made up for it, he would lose his taste, so he thought of a new trick, she chopped the whitebait, and then mixed some shark fin into it, and finally kneaded the dough, rolled the dough, cut the strips, and then put it in the bird's nest soup, which was both nourishing and light.

Shangguan Lan, who had no taste, also cheered up. Until he ate a bowl of noodles, Shangguan Lan still said: "Can you still have a bowl?" ”

"You haven't eaten for two days and two nights, and you can't eat too much when you eat suddenly."

"And next time?"

"Okay."

"Again."

"Okay."

I like the atmosphere at this time very much, and the anxiety of the past two days has been swept away by the arrival of the little apprentice. Shangguan Lan pulled the little apprentice to sit beside him, and then looked through the file.

Wu Nianting quietly snuggled in Shangguan Lan's arms, accompanying her master to take a closer look. From time to time, the plum blossoms on a few plum trees outside the courtyard are fragrant due to the wind, and they are refreshing for a while.