When Heifu and the others arrived at the village stable, they found that it had become a scorching fire.

The soap-clad stableman didn't even have time to put on the crown, and with his hair scattered, he led the crowd to fight the fire, and subdued the cattle and horses that were on fire and neighing in all directions......

Wei Shi Anpu and Ling Yile looked at the scene in front of them and were stunned for a while, while Heifu saw a familiar figure carrying a bucket and went over to help.

"Komasa! Are you okay? ”

The foal was the little man who worked in the stable, otherwise he would not have been able to raise such a good horse for Hefu.

Hefu took the bucket and poured it into the stables surrounded by flames, and found that it was a drop in the bucket and of no avail.

At this moment a gust of wind blew, and the fire became more and more violent, and Hefu hurriedly pulled the horse to the side, and asked him what was the matter?

The horse's face was full of ashes: "Before the morning meal, a few people came to the stable, claiming to be a service guard, and they were ordered by the villagers to repair the fence for the stable. The stables wanted to check their passes, but they were restrained by the thin man who took the lead with a short knife, and the other seven people also rushed up and knocked the herdsman who fed the cattle and horses to the ground! ”

"They tied us up to the well, and brought a dozen or so horses out of the stables, and then set the stables on fire with a fire...... Fortunately, a few of the shepherd boys hid in the house and did not make a sound, and when the thieves were gone, they ran out to help us untie the ropes. ”

The more Heifu listened, the heavier his face became.

After all, the ancestors of the Qin State started from animal husbandry, so they attached great importance to cattle and horses, and set up "stables" in each county to manage them, which was equivalent to the county transportation bureau. Each township has also set up a stable, which is equivalent to a state-run pasture, which is managed by the stable, and almost all the horses used by the township government are domesticated here, and you have to write an application if you need to call it.

There is no doubt that those eight people are the vanished cultivators, they are not satisfied with the days they have stayed in the Qin State, and they have been planning to escape back to the Chu State for a long time, and today they are finally in trouble!

However, Ao led those people to attack and burn down the stables, just to rob the horses and make it easier to escape?

Also, those Chu people really know how to ride horses? Heifu, who took a month to learn to ride a horse from scratch, didn't believe that the quality of the fugitives from Chu State would be so high.

Heifu immediately asked, "What is the loss of the stable, and how many cattle and horses have been rescued?" ”

Ju said: "Our stable is not big, and we have more than 30 horses and more than 20 ploughing cattle. The leading thief opened the bullpen, tied up all the horses, and when a fire came down, the oxen ran out of their own accord, but almost all the horses that were not taken away were burned to death. Those who are not dead are also frightened and burned, and I am afraid that they will no longer be useful......"

"Sure enough!"

Heifu couldn't help but curse in his heart: "Ao, it's really a deep scheming, you deliberately burned those horses for riding the public opinion, so that there are not enough horses in the countryside to pursue!" ”

But why did he deliberately let the cattle go? Afraid that the farmers of Qin State will not be able to plant land in the coming year? Moreover, no one was killed.

was ruthless when he killed the prison and his mistress, but he burst into kindness at a critical moment; Meticulous and easy to use, but it leaves unnecessary flaws in many places.

Contradiction, too contradictory, the more Heifu thinks about it, the more confused he becomes, this Ao, it's really not simple.

The colt looked at the stables where the fire was getting bigger and bigger, and the carcasses of the livestock that were burned in the fire, and sighed: "The stables love horses the most, and they have repeatedly instructed us on weekdays, saying that the law has words, and if you don't control it properly, and you hurt the horse, you will be fined one shield if the horse's skin is broken by an inch; two inches, fined two guilders; If it exceeds two inches, it will be fined one class. Therefore, the people in the entire stable are reluctant to fight the horses, and now more than a dozen horses have died at once, which is really ......."

In other words, because of this fire, Anlu County is equivalent to losing 100,000 yuan.

According to the principle of Qin law, if the horses and cattle that are domesticated in the stable are lost or die for any reason, the responsibility of the herd and the herd must first be investigated, and the stable will also be punished.

Such a large number of casualties is enough for the stable to lose his official position, cut his title, and go bankrupt with his money, no wonder he is so desperate and depressed.

At this time, the townsfolk and You Shuwu also arrived, and the stable, who was already slumped on the ground, immediately jumped up, grabbed Shuwu's clothes and scolded: "Shuwu, what about the five township pavilion guards stationed next to the stable on weekdays!" Why is there only one old pavilion father left, after we get out of trouble, beat the drum and ask for help, why is the township slow to send troops! Are you deaf or blind! Yes! ”

Anlu County has not had such a rampant thief for many years, this pot Uncle Wu didn't dare to take it, he hurriedly pushed the stable away, and argued:

"In the past few days, the county has let Wei Shi, the officials, and this Heifu Pavilion Chief come to the township to handle cases and arrest murderers, and the Pavilion Chief and Pavilion Guards have all been recruited by them to go to various places to search, how can there be any left? Early this morning, Wei Shi asked me for the last ten people and sent them to a certain mile in the east of the township, saying that they were going to hunt down a few mediocre cultivators suspected of murder, and I was just acting on orders, you have to ask for the guilt and find them! ”

Wei Shi Anpu didn't expect Shu Wu to dare to push the pot to himself, he was shocked, and hurriedly said: "You, assist us in handling the case and protecting the township and stables, this is your duty, you don't make your own improper scheduling, don't blame us!" ”

"Yes! This has nothing to do with us! ”

The responsibilities and interests of the crime-solving team are the same, and Ling Yile hurriedly agreed, but since it was the people they pursued and the criminals committed one after another, the three of them may not be able to escape the blame.

Seeing that the Qin officials present fell for Ao's plan to divert the tiger from the mountain, they began to shirk each other and quarrel, so Heifu stepped forward to stop them.

"Gentlemen, please listen to me!"

The five of them, including the Xiangfu, You, the stable, the Wei Shi, and the Ling Shi, all turned around and looked at the little pavilion chief with the smallest official position and the lowest rank present.

"The stable has been destroyed, the horses are dead, this is irretrievable, this matter will definitely shock the county court, according to the accountability system of Qin law, even if the monarchs shirk it here, they will inevitably be punished at that time......"

Heifu is reasonable, and everyone understands that no matter how they shirk it, there is still one counted, and none of them can escape.

"If you don't do anything, you can only sit back and wait for punishment. For the sake of today's plan, if you want to keep your official position and title, you have to find a way to arrest those thieves who killed people and stole horses! ”

"Not bad!"

Shi Le's eyes lit up: "The head of the Heifu Pavilion is reasonable, more than five people are group thieves, and those thieves, there is no doubt that they are already group thieves!" If we can capture or kill the bandits, the reward will be doubled, and if we can arrest those eight people, we will not only redeem our merits, but we may also be rewarded! ”

The Qin officials, who were trembling by the accident in front of them, found a glimmer of hope, put aside their personal grievances, and actively discussed.

If you want to catch up with the people who ride horses, you naturally have to rely on riding horses, but now the public horses used by the government have been burned to death, and those inferior horses that pull heavy objects are not able to ride, so they can only fight the idea of private horses.

The red horse named "Red Gall" by Hefu was ridden by him, and it was counted as one. The Qin officials present, Wei Shi Anpu and You Shuwu also came on horseback, and the townsman even contributed the two horses he pulled the cart.

Everyone hurriedly gathered five horses, Heifu, Anpu, Shuwu is a martial artist, so naturally he was going to go, plus the head of the township pavilion and a pavilion guard, there were just five people.

However, the stableman, who was in his forties and had a hair full of hair, pulled the pavilion guard down, turned on the horse's back with a grunt, and said through gritted teeth:

"I think I also worked as a martial knight in the county back then, and I am familiar with horse nature, so I got this position, who would have thought that after several years of hard work, it would be ruined! Now, although there is raw meat between the hips, I can still ride a horse and gallop, and I will go with me to capture the thief's head and wash away the shame! ”

Heifu didn't say anything, and said, "Without further ado, the later you chase, the slimmer the hope of capturing the thief." The subordinates dared to ask the townsmen to continue to requisition private horses in the township, so that the pavilion guards who could ride horses could support us, so that Shi Ke could go to the county to report the matter, what is it? ”

Although Heifu's official title is the smallest, but vaguely, it seems that he is giving orders, everyone nodded in agreement, and even Shuwu, who looked at him unpleasantly, was sullen and did not speak, it seems that this guy has finally learned to be smart.

Only Le said with a bitter face that Heifu had handed over the errand of being scolded to him, but he still gave his hand to the crowd, wishing them a speedy return from catching the thief.

"Our official titles are all thanks to the second and third sons! Come on! ”

The fire in the stable was almost burning, and the five of them ran in the bright sun and headed east along the road......

……

Among the five riders, it was actually the stable warden who claimed to have been a martial knight in the county who rode the fastest, and of course, it could also be that he was eager for revenge, and he was like a gallop.

Then there was You Shuwu and the head of the Township Pavilion, who also rode steadily in front, and Heifu and Wei Shi Anpu fell last.

While speeding up with the horse's belly between them, Anpu turned back to the most skilled Heifu and shouted: "Since the thief has robbed the horse to walk, he can only take the avenue, not the forest." From the village to the east, there are three pavilions in total......"

Heifu opened his mouth to answer, but the gale and dust immediately came in, he could only close his mouth, and thought to himself: "I expect that among those Chu people, at most half of them can ride horses, maybe two people ride the same horse, the speed is definitely not fast, if they are lucky, they will be stopped by the pavilion guards with weapons at the pavilion!" ”

But it's really hard to say, it depends on whether those pavilions are as dedicated as Huyang Pavilion, and people watch the movement of the road every moment, and the sentry can't doze off......

Heifu's conjecture soon came to an end, and after galloping for half an hour, they arrived at the first pavilion.

Sure enough, the pavilion guard here just said that half an hour ago, he heard the sound of horses galloping by, and when he ran out, he only saw smoke and dust in the distance......

Anpu and the stables scolded the people of the pavilion, and Heifu squatted on the ground, looking thoughtfully at the dense horseshoe prints.

To the east of Anlu County, there are the remnants of Dabie Mountain and Tongbai Mountain, the terrain is getting higher and higher, the population is gathering less and less, and the two sides of Tu Road are more and more dense forests. It is impossible for a thief to leave the road unless he is on horseback.

As long as they're still on the road, there's a chance to catch up!

"Keep chasing!"

The five of them continued to mount their horses and gallop, and the second pavilion was far away, and it took more than half an hour to reach the pavilion barrier between the two mounds.

This is a large pavilion with a strong military nature, five or six pavilion guards with weapons, are surrounding several horse corpses, and a human corpse, anxiously looking at the road, seeing the black man and them galloping, two bows and arrows, a crossbow machine immediately aimed at them!

"Wei Shi, wandering and chasing thieves here!"

The stable shouted loudly, and after reining in the horses, he immediately went to check the corpses of the horses, and saw that the two horses, which were fed fat and healthy, had been hit by several arrows in their bodies, and the other was wound by arrows in the legs, lying on the side in pain.

The stable stroked the only surviving horse in distress, and scolded: "You are so bold that you dare to kill the horse I raised!" ”

The pavilion guard, the local pavilion chief recognized You Shuwu, and hurriedly arched his hand: "Dare to speak to the officer, two moments ago, there were two thieves riding horses, waving bamboo whips in their hands, driving seven or eight horses to break over, we couldn't stop it, we could only catch up with the arrows to shoot ......"

Wei Shi Anpu also dismounted, was shocked when he heard this, and pulled the pavilion chief and asked, "You repeat, how many people are there?" ”

"Two men, this is one of them, were shot down by random arrows, and one of them, who was a skilled horseman, dodged the side of the horse's belly."

The corpse was about the same height as Heifu, not quite like "Ao", who was only seven feet tall in Shikou.

"There are eight of them, but only two of them have come here on horseback, so what's going on? Where did the others go? "Uncle You Wuye and the head of the Township Pavilion looked at each other.

Only Heifu reacted immediately and scolded: "We have been tricked again!" ”