No wonder, Wu Song fled with his brother and Pan Jinlian all the way, but he never saw the news of the government chasing him. It turned out that it was Xu En who dealt with the aftermath in Qinghe County and completely exonerated Wu Song!

This also means several things: Zhao Er was indeed killed by Ma Kui in a battle with Ma Kui; Zhangjiabao has been completely destroyed; The magistrate Xu En forgave Wu Song and still appreciated him; Xu En has become the rare good official who was bent on implementing law reform and relieving the people to serve the court.

Xu En's turn of events seems sudden, but it is not difficult to understand.

On the same day, Xu En and Wu Song were trapped in Zhangjiabao together, Wu Song fainted, Xu En was alone, and was forced by Cai Jing's secret envoy Zhao Er and Zhang Dahu to join forces, and he was disheartened for a while, and agreed to all the conditions of Zhao Er and Zhang Dahu.

If Zhao Er and Zhang Dahu do not die, Xu En, like many people who served as magistrates in Qinghe County in the past, will always be high-spirited and want to make a difference, but later become a member of the local tyrants and become a walking corpse.

However, Xu En is a rare official with feelings and ambition after all.

Such an official may also bow to reality and choose to protect himself in the face of power; However, after all, they still have a conscience in their hearts, and if they have the opportunity, they still want to make a difference and do something practical for the country and the people.

On the one hand, he has a conscience, and on the other hand, he goes with the flow. In officialdom, this kind of "split personality" officials are abundant, and it is also a major officialdom feature in traditional authoritarian societies such as China.

In officialdom, even if you have a conscience, in the face of more powerful power and reality than you, you do not go along with the dirt, then you can only be completely cleansed.

Therefore, if you want to gain a foothold in officialdom, sometimes you have to wrap your conscience and mix it with the dirty reality.

Xu En's succumb to Zhao Er and Zhang Dahu in Zhangjiabao was motivated by this mentality. However, after Zhao Er and Zhang Dahu died, the situation was different. went to Zhang Dahu, the first tyrant of Qinghe, and the local heroes were strong for a while, and Xu En, the county lord, was the most powerful; As soon as Zhao Er died, how to report to Cai Jing, the initiative was completely in the hands of Xu En.

In this way, Xu En, who was originally defeated, instantly turned over and became the final victor of the political situation change in Qinghe County.

Under such circumstances, he will naturally have a relapse of conscience and will continue to promote his ideal of reform of the law. At the same time, he has always sincerely appreciated Wu Song, since Zhao Er is dead, and now that he Xu En is the largest in the county, of course he can clear Wu Song's guilt.

Talent is rare, Xu En actually still hopes that Wu Song will return to him and assist him in reforming the law.

However, Wu Song can understand Xu En, but he will never return to Qinghe County, let alone succumb to Xu En. After all, Xu En succumbed so quickly in Zhangjiabao and gave Pan Jinlian to Zhang Dahu, such a person is not worth Wu Song's hard work for him.

Brother Wu Dalang should not return to Qinghe County, because he still doesn't know the current situation in Qinghe County. Judging from the situation told by the beggars, it is very likely that Wu Dalang will go to Bianjing.

Why did Wu Song go to the beggars to help find out where Wu Dalang was?

I saw a lot of martial arts before crossing over, although I knew that the Northern Song Dynasty beggar gang written by Jin Yongli was powerful, with heroes such as the nine-fingered beggar Hong Qigong and the hero Qiao Feng, these may all be made up, but since I have crossed over, in a hurry, I might as well have the attitude of giving it a try to see if the beggar gang in this era is really so powerful.

In fact, beggars may not have actually formed gangs, let alone martial arts, but when it comes to finding people, finding beggars for help is a shortcut worth trying.

The reason is simple: beggars are all over the streets, usually doing nothing, sitting on the side of the street asking for money, only they have the leisure to pay attention to the people coming and going on the street. Therefore, where Wu Dalang got on the car and where he went, it is indeed most likely to be discovered by these beggars.

Facts also proved Wu Song's judgment.

Therefore, of course, Wu Song would not take Zhang San's carriage back to Qinghe County. He took Pan Jinlian and immediately set off in the direction of Bianjing to pursue his brother Wu Dalang.

Wu Song rode a horse, and Pan Jinlian sat in the carriage, leaving Shenzhou and setting off south in the direction of Bianjing.

While they were hurrying, they were inquiring about Wu Dalang's news along the way. This news is intermittent, and sometimes the people who ask are unaware; Sometimes when they ask the right people, someone will tell them that they do seem to have seen a short and ugly person who hitchhiked in the direction of Bianjing. In the eyes of Wu Song and Pan Jinlian, it should be Wu Dalang.

Therefore, they kept going non-stop and kept heading in the direction of Bianjing.

However, the next morning, the coachman hired by Wu Song fell ill and could no longer catch the car. They were settling down in a small town and couldn't hire a new carriage for a while.

In desperation, Wu Song had no choice but to let Pan Jinlian ride on the horse, and he led the horse and walked in the direction of Bianjing. This posture is quite a bit of the taste of Song Taizu sending Jingniang thousands of miles back then.

At this time, it was the Northern Song Dynasty, and the story of Zhao Kuangyin, the Taizu of the Song Dynasty, who sent Jingniang thousands of miles away, was circulated among the people. According to legend, Zhao Kuangyin, Taizu of the Song Dynasty, did not ascend the throne when he was young, and after Zhao Kuangyin was angry and punished, he disguised himself and left Chang'an in order to avoid disaster. One day, passing by Qingyouguan, I rescued Zhao Jingniang, a hard-working woman who was imprisoned in the dark room by robbers. In order to avoid Jingniang being in danger again, Kuang Yin and Jingniang became brother and sister, and escorted Jingniang home for thousands of miles. Jing Niang is willing to trust each other for life, but Zhao said: "This is a righteous spirit sent thousands of miles away, if you have a personal relationship with that ringing horse, what is the difference?" Besides, it is not a gentleman's work to repay kindness." Jing Niang said: "Brother Gao Jian, the concubine can't make up for the great virtue in this life, and she should die as a ring of grass." So Jing Niang committed suicide by throwing herself into the lake.

At this time, Pan Jinlian is indeed a bit like Jingniang back then. Seeing Wu Song leading the horse on foot, it was not only hard, but also not fast, which would inevitably delay the pursuit of Wu Dalang. Pan Jinlian said generously: "Brother Wu Song, it's better for you to get on the horse too!" ”

What he meant was that Wu Song could ride with her.

At this time, Wu Song naturally felt that Pan Jinlian had already secretly promised herself. However, because of this, he avoided taboos and did not dare to have too close contact with Pan Jinlian for a while.

However, after all, he is a modern time-traveling youth, and he does not have so many feudal rules and regulations in his heart. Pan Jinlian didn't mind anymore, why did he think too much?

A manly man, as long as he is open-minded, he can be upright in everything he does. What's more, at this time, it is important to find his brother Wu Dalang.

As soon as they jumped on the horse, Wu Song and Pan Jinlian rode together again, heading towards Bianjing, towards the endless green mountains and green fields, and rode forward.