The next morning, the sky was still just dawning, and last night's torrential rain had turned into a light drizzle. The corpses on the ship had been cleaned up, the blood had been washed away by the heavy rain, and only a few flies were still lying in the gaps in the wooden planks of the cabin. Thinking that the ship would leave in more than half an hour, Xu Anping relaxed his tense spirit for a while.

A servant knocked on the old man's room, "Sir, let's have some breakfast." ”

"Well, let it go." The old man picked up a bowl of millet porridge and drank it slowly, and after wiping his lips after drinking, he ordered: "Go and let the boatman leave the boat early, so as not to have more trouble." ”

"Yes, sir. The villain will arrange it. The servant exited the door, and after a while he turned back again. Master, something is not right, there are a lot of servants on the shore. ”

"yes, I see. Tell others to be on guard and don't act rashly. You go and inquire about the situation first. The old man frowned and thought for a moment, and after a while his brows relaxed, and an inexplicable smile appeared on his face.

The servant walked to the bow of the boat and saw that a catcher had already landed on the boat with a servant and a gentle envoy, so he took the initiative to meet him and asked with a smile: "Ladies and gentlemen, what happened to such a big battle?" ”

Catching the head, the fat head and the big face, full of rudeness, stared at the copper bell and shouted angrily: "What are you, dare to come and ask about the master?" I really ate the heart of a bear and a leopard gall! I think you're a thief. Someone comes, take it down for me first, and wait for it to fall. ”

Jian Servant has followed his master for many years, and he has seen a lot of dignitaries and nobles, but he has never dealt with such head-catchers, but he didn't expect them to be so arrogant and unreasonable. Thinking of the master's advice, he still swallowed his anger, handed over ten taels of silver, and bowed his waist and said softly: "Poor master, misunderstanding!" A big misunderstanding. The villain is a serious businessman, and this time he went to the capital to do some small business, where did he dare to do any illegal things. Bear with me for the offense just now! ”

The head catcher accepted the silver, waved his hand at the few officials who rushed over, held the waist knife and said with his chest held high: "Well, you are quite knowledgeable." I think you don't have the courage to be a thief even if you have a thief's heart, so forget it this time. I'm not afraid to tell you that someone came to report that the owner of the ship had been killed last night, what did you hear, or what suspicious people did you see? If you hide something, you should be guilty of the same crime, and the king of heaven and Lao Tzu can't save you. ”

The servant was shocked, no wonder he hadn't seen the owner of the ship from last night to this morning, but he still pretended to be shocked on his face, and then said with a smirk: "What did the poor master say?" Last night it was thundering and raining, and the villain hid in the house and didn't even dare to go out of the door, where would he see anyone. However, the villain went to the capital this time to buy goods, and he couldn't afford to pay for the delay, so you can see if you can ...... Haha, the villain must be rewarded. ”

The head catcher turned his face directly and said coldly: "Until the case is clear, no one on the ship can leave." If anyone disembarks without permission, they are all considered to be complicit thieves. After saying that, he waved his hand, and the officials rushed up like tigers and wolves, directly blocking the exits of the cabin, and then began to search, causing the passengers to cry and scream, and they did not know how much money and jewelry were looted.

The servant knew that there was no hope of leaving for a while, and he didn't bother anymore, so he nodded and said, "Yes, yes, the villain won't bother the errand master, so he will retreat." He hurried back to the cabin and reported, "Master, things are more troublesome. The owner of the ship was killed last night, and now the Yangzhou government officials have surrounded the ship and no one is allowed to leave. The villain guessed that last night's assassin must have made two preparations, and killed the ship's owner if he didn't succeed. ”

The old man was holding a copy of "Lu's Spring and Autumn" and reading it intently, and after listening to it, he said slowly: "Oh, it seems that the mastermind behind the scenes has used a lot of energy!" ”

The servant was confused, but he didn't ask much, just lowered his head and said, "Master, then what should we do next?" If this case is left uninvestigated, you may be implicated. ”

The old man remained silent and said casually, "Wait." Then he focused on the books.

"Yes." The servant stepped back lightly, ordered the rest of the men to put away their weapons, and then continued to get close to the hood to see if they could get some useful news.

Xu Anping's heart suddenly tightened when he saw the officials surrounding the passenger ship, but on the surface, he still calmed Yi Lian'er and Deng Xiaoke casually, while Huan'er was eating all kinds of pastries he bought yesterday and didn't look worried at all.

After the head catcher took a few officials to check the situation of the ship's owner's killing, he asked the passenger ship to be closely guarded, and then returned to the shore to wait. After an hour and a half, an official sedan chair came over in a hurry. The sedan chair hadn't stopped, and the head catcher had already fallen to the ground, calling out to the prefect. It turned out that Liu Mingcheng, the prefect of Yangzhou, had arrived.

When the servant saw the style of the official sedan chair, he knew that the prefect of Yangzhou had arrived, and hurriedly reported to his master. "Master, the villain saw that the prefect of Yangzhou had arrived, and he was asking questions on the shore."

The old man put down the books, rubbed his somewhat sour eyes and said, "Alas, I'm getting older, and my eyes are a little difficult to see, but it's a pity that these books are gone." Then a somewhat unpredictable smile appeared on his face, and he said softly: "The prefect of Yangzhou should be Liu Mingcheng, right?" An ordinary homicide case is also worth running over in person, he is really an official! You stabbed me to see him, and said that the old man had something important to do, and now he needed to leave for the capital. ”

Liu Mingcheng got out of the sedan chair, and he didn't look at the head catcher kneeling on the ground, his eyes staring at the passenger ship with a somewhat complicated expression. After a while, he coughed and asked angrily, "Xiong Zhutou, this official heard that there was a murder on this passenger ship." Did you find any clues after you looked at it? ”

Xiong Zhutou knelt on the ground and didn't dare to raise his head, and replied respectfully: "Back to the prefect, after the villain checked, he found that the owner of the ship was killed by someone with a dagger around last night, and then asked the guests on the ship. Because of the rain and wind last night, no witnesses were found, so the villain temporarily detained the passengers. ”

Liu Mingcheng stroked his beard, and after a deep sigh, he said, "Well, you can handle it properly." But if you can't solve the case within five days, you won't be able to hide from the stick. You should step back first, and report anything to the official in time, and there must be no slightest neglect. ”

"Yes, the villain is retiring."

At this time, the vigilant official suddenly heard a shouting voice, and from time to time he pushed a person. Liu Mingcheng turned his face to look at it, and then said, "Let him in." ”

When the head catcher saw that it was a businessman who had bribed him just now, he thought that he had come to the prefect to complain, and he secretly wanted to suffer.

The Jian servant walked not far from Liu Mingcheng, the prefect of Yangzhou, with the famous thorn in his hand, and handed over the master's name thorn and said respectfully: "Lord Liu, I don't know if I can take a step to speak?" My lord has two words that he wants the villain to tell. ”

Liu Mingcheng, who was still calm just now, didn't accept the assassination, and suddenly became furious, and shouted: "What is your intention, you servant? This is a case of human life, how can it be taught privately! This official sees that Zai Er is a first-time offender, and he will be spared for the time being. If he recidives, he will be put in prison. After speaking, he threw off his sleeves, went directly into the sedan chair, and went home.