Sheguo County was attacked by the Yellow Turban Army, although there were many soldiers and civilians killed and wounded, but at the same time, it also made everyone in the city understand a truth: if there is no enemy soldiers, once the Yellow Turban thieves attack, their own lives will not be guaranteed, and the thousands of family wealth saved will be cheaper for the thieves. It is based on this psychology that the donations of wealthy businessmen here are particularly enthusiastic.

After the banquet dispersed, while Hua Hu was counting the number of donations pledged by various wealthy merchants, Luo Bu walked to Han Zhan's side and asked in a low voice: "Envoy, I don't know when the thirty cavalry taken away by the county lieutenant will be able to return to the county office?" ”

Han Zhan shook his head and said, "County Lieutenant Zhao intends to organize the cavalry into a separate battalion, and now the number is still far behind, because those thirty cavalrymen are also included in it. Seeing Rob's look of annoyance, he asked curiously, "Team Luo, why did you suddenly remember to ask about this?" ”

Luo Bu didn't answer Han Zhan's question immediately, but asked rhetorically: "Envoy, since you can't transfer the cavalry taken away by County Lieutenant Zhao back to the county office, can you transfer back the Nashi cavalry stationed in the cottage?" ”

"Team Luo," Han Zhan saw that Luo Bu's expression was a little abnormal, so he turned his face and asked seriously: "You tell me honestly, what happened to make you so eager to transfer the cavalry back?" ”

"Replying to the envoy," Rob nodded in the direction of the backyard and whispered, "After you arrive in Sheguo County, you will place all the bandits you have caught in the backyard and do some stupid work. At the beginning, the little one and forty cavalrymen also lived in the backyard, and they did not dare to act rashly; Now that there are only ten of us left, some of us have become ill-willed. ”

"Bad intentions?" Hua Hu, who was sorting out the accounts, immediately stopped his pen after hearing what Luo Bu said, looked up at him and asked, "Luo team rate, tell me, what is going on?" ”

"Yesterday and last night, one of my men, while feeding the horses in the stable, heard someone whispering next to him." Luo Bu knew that Hua Hu was Han Zhan's trusted person, so he didn't hide it, but told the truth: "They said that the Yellow Turban Thief is powerful, and the city will definitely not be able to hold it, so it is better to tie up the envoy and sacrifice it to the Yellow Turban Thief." Not only will you be able to save your life, but you will also be rewarded. ”

"Bastard, what a bastard." Hearing this, Han Zhan hadn't reacted yet, Hua Hu had already raised his foot and brought out the few cases in front of him. He stood up, looked at Rob and asked angrily, "Luo Team, this kind of person who eats inside and out, why do you still keep them?" He turned his face sideways and said to Han Zhan, "Envoy, you should immediately arrest them and cut them down." ”

"Team Luo," Han Zhan couldn't help but blood gushing up on his head when he heard this, he couldn't imagine being magnanimous, treating those caught thieves with courtesy, and even arranging for them to work in the back house, who knew that these white-eyed wolves would take revenge and want to arrest themselves to the Yellow Turban Thieves to invite credit. He suppressed the anger in his heart, gritted his back molars and asked, "Do you know who is secretly conspiring?" ”

Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Rob actually shook his head and replied: "My subordinates immediately ran over to check, but who knew that the other party was very alert, and as soon as he heard the movement, he immediately fled." ”

"Envoy, you are the lord of a county, but you must not travel to the pool." Hua Hu said to Han Zhan emotionally: "I'll rush to the barracks, let County Lieutenant Zhao come back with his troops, and kill all these ungrateful bandits." After speaking, he bowed his hand to Han Zhan, turned around and walked out of the hall.

"Master Hua, you wait a minute," Han Zhan hurriedly stopped Hua Hu, walked up to him and said, "This matter is just the words of Team Luo's subordinates, we can't act hastily until we figure it out." ”

"Envoy, be careful to sail the ship of ten thousand years." Hua Hu said with a worried face: "I think it's better to believe in this matter than to be careful." ”

"Yes, Envoy." As soon as Hua Hu's words were finished, Luo Bu also persuaded him: "I think it is still according to what Master Hua said, let County Lieutenant Zhao lead people to arrest these thieves, otherwise it will always be a big trouble for them to stay here." ”

Seeing that Hua Hu and Luo Bu were both persuading themselves, Han Zhan also felt that he should take this opportunity to clean up the gangsters among the bandits, so he nodded and said, "Master Hua, according to what you said, let County Lieutenant Zhao lead troops to the county government to arrest people." ”

Huahu readily agreed, and then walked out of the hall quickly.

Han Zhan walked back and forth in the hall with his hands behind his back, thinking to himself that although Zhao Yun had interrogated them one by one when he caught these thirty-five thieves, there would definitely be traitors hiding among them. It would be impossible to kill so many people just because they suspected that someone was causing trouble, but what should you do to find out the bad guys hiding in them?

First of all, he wanted to recruit Lin San and ask him who had complaints about his current life, and maybe he could find some clues from it. But he quickly denied his idea, if he found Lin San now, it would be easy to startle the snake, and if he wanted to arrest someone, it would not be so easy.

At this time, the patch who was in charge of directing the subordinates to clean the hall walked in, and he couldn't help but be taken aback when he saw a few cases that fell to the ground. ”

Rob whispered what had happened and repeated it to the patch. After hearing this, Patch hurriedly stood up and said to Han Zhan: "Childe, since it is not safe in the county office, you should go to the barracks." Even if a thief wants to cause trouble, he won't hurt you in the slightest. ”

Han Zhan looked at the patches in front of him, and accidentally found that his hands were covered with ink, which he accidentally got on when he was cleaning up the debris on the ground. The moment he saw the ink, Han Zhan suddenly had a flash of inspiration in his mind, and he immediately thought of a way to find out the traitor.

He quickly leaned into Patch's ear and whispered a few words to him. Patch looked startled, then smiled. He nodded, "Don't worry, I'll take care of this." ”

……

……

Half an hour later, Zhao Yun and Xun Yu hurried from the barracks with two hundred foot soldiers and one hundred strong crossbowmen. He ordered his subordinates to block the front and back doors of the county government to prevent anyone from escaping. After the blockade was completed, Zhao Yun personally led people into the backyard, and next to each room in the backyard, he arrested all the thieves who lived here and brought them all to the lobby.

Kneeling in front of the bandits was Lin San, who was the first to take refuge in Han Zhan. He had already gone to bed, but he was picked up from the bed by the soldiers, and he thought that Han Zhan was going to settle accounts after the autumn and kill them all, but he couldn't help but be so frightened that his legs were weak, and in the end, two soldiers sent him into the lobby.

At this moment, seeing Han Zhan sitting behind the table, although his face was expressionless, there was no murderous aura, and his heart felt a little more steady. He boldly asked, "Lord Envoy, I don't know what happened when you arrested us here in the middle of the night?" ”

Han Zhan didn't speak, but was accosted by Hua Hu, who was standing next to him: "This official got a tip-off that someone tried to kidnap the envoy to ask the Yellow Turban thief for merit when the Yellow Turban was attacking the city. ”

Huahu's words were like sprinkling a handful of salt in a red-hot pot, and it immediately fried the pot. Lin San first said, "Who did this?" The envoy is as kind to us as a mountain, how can he do such a thing that is inferior to a beast? ”

"Yes, yes," as soon as Lin San's words fell, the thieves kneeling behind them said in a gossipy: "The envoy is so kind and righteous to us, how can we do something that is not conducive to the envoy!" ”

Han Zhan didn't speak, and when the thieves were almost finished, he slapped the startling wood he custom-made, and after covering up the voice in the hall, he said loudly: "Who was there in the stable yesterday to discuss the abduction of the envoy and the Yellow Turban Thief to ask for merit?" Come out quickly and confess your guilt, if not, the envoy will be severely punished. ”

"Envoy, wronged!" As soon as Han Zhan's words fell, there was a shout of injustice, "How could we do such an ungrateful thing!" ”

"It seems that you are not willing to confess truthfully." Han Zhan slapped the stunned wood again, and said to the thieves: "That envoy can only ask the gods for help and find him out. As he spoke, he yelled outside, "Bring things up." ”

With his shout, Patch and Rob came in carrying a wooden box that was more than two feet high. After the two of them passed through the kneeling bandits, they struggled to place the wooden box on the table in front of Han Zhan.

Han Zhan stood up, walked around the table, and saluted the wooden box, still muttering something in his mouth. Seeing him do this, Zhao Yun couldn't help but cast an inquiring glance at Xun Yu, who knew that the other party also looked dazed. Looking at Hua Hu again, the other party happened to be looking at him, and when the two looked at each other, Hua Hu shook his head with a bitter face, indicating that he didn't know what kind of medicine was sold in Han Zhan's gourd.

After Han Zhan finished saluting, he turned to face the thief who was kneeling on the ground and said, "This is a bronze bell given to this envoy by an immortal in the past, which can be used to test whether people are lying. Well, one by one, you come down and put your hands into the box from here, and touch the brass bell that is placed inside. Han Zhan pointed to the two holes in the wooden box and motioned for the thieves to put their hands in from here, "If you don't lie, this bell won't move; If you lie, this bell will ring! Which of you will come first? ”

Lin San, who was eager to prove his innocence, hurriedly raised his hand and said loudly: "Envoy, let the little one come first." Seeing Han Zhan nodding in permission, he got up and stepped forward, tremblingly stretched his hands out of the hole into the wooden box, and touched the bronze bell placed inside. He held his breath and listened for a moment, and when he saw that no sound was coming from inside, he breathed a sigh of relief and withdrew his hand.

Han Zhan waved his hand at him and said lightly, "You stand aside." ”

Then a second and a third ...... took turns to go up and touch the bronze bell that was placed in the box. Xun Yu, Zhao Yun, Hua Hu and the others all stared intently at the thieves who stepped forward to touch the bronze bell, and thought in unison: "Could it be that this bronze bell is really given to the envoy by the immortals?" When the speaker touches the bell, will the bell really ring? ”

Soon, the thirty-five bandits all touched the bronze bell in turn, but for some reason, the bronze bell placed in the box never thought about it. Just when Zhao Yun was confused, he heard Han Zhan call himself: "Zilong, you go and check their hands." ”

Although Zhao Yun didn't know why Han Zhan gave such an order, he still agreed, walked in front of the bandits, and checked their hands next to them. After a while, he turned around and reported to Han Zhan, "Envoy Qi, there are thirty-three people with black ink on their hands, while the other two's hands are clean. ”

After listening to Zhao Yun's confession, a smile appeared on Han Zhan's face, and he ordered: "Come on, take down these two who have no ink on their hands, and torture them strictly to see if they have colluded with the Yellow Turban Thief." ”

Immediately, a servant stepped forward and dragged the two out of the crowd. Just as they were about to take it out, the two shouted in unison: "Envoy, wish!" Didn't you say that when a liar touches a brass bell, it will ring? We touched the bell, but it didn't ring. ”

I saw everyone staring at me, hoping to get the right answer from me. Han Zhan sneered, and then said: "Actually, what is placed in the box is an ordinary bell, which will not ring if anyone touches it, I just said that, I lied to you." I ordered someone to put ink on the bell, and all those who touched the bell would have ink on their hands, and only those who were thieves would not dare to touch the bell, and their hands would be clean. ”

After listening to Han Zhan's explanation, the bandits, who originally wanted to defend themselves, hung their heads helplessly, they knew that they had fallen for this county order, but they inadvertently showed their feet.

"Keep them locked up and kept under strict guard." Hua Hu waved his hand at the official and commanded loudly: "Wait until tomorrow and tomorrow, and the envoy will personally interrogate them." ”