Zhao Hong said that Ning Jiang caused him to lose his job as a head catcher, which is not wrong.

In the Great Zhou Dynasty, there were officials and officials, generally speaking, the status of officials was low, and there were households that took turns to be errands, or the son inherited his father's business and became an official for generations.

But Zhao Hong is actually not a bureaucrat, but more of a "staff".

Because of the regulations of the Great Zhou Dynasty for officials in different places, when all officials took office, in order to avoid being deceived by local officials, they would bring some people they trusted to serve as important positions such as masters or head catchers, and the salary was taken out of their own money, and the court would also take this part of the expenditure into account in the money given to the local officials.

These self-hired masters, headhunters, clerks, and guards who were hired to control or suppress the local officials were either the low-ranking talents or the warriors in the "White Dao", and the officials who worked for them followed them wherever they took office, and the officials who hired them were usually treated with courtesy.

Zhao Hong is such a nature.

Despite this, Ning Jiang never believed that Zhao Hong could come up with evidence that he killed Cao Qiding, the reason is very simple, people die for money, birds die for food, Cao Qiding will never tell Zhao Hong about the Little Sui Hou Palace, and that night, Cao Qiding, Zuo Liangpeng and other four people boarded the Little Parrot Island, and no one else can know.

In this case, no matter how much Zhao Hong doubted him, he couldn't come up with real clues, just because Cao Jiding, who had a ghost in his heart, it was impossible for him to leave clues.

The current Zhao Hong is just using words to force and tempt Ning Jiang to "buy" him, once Ning Jiang is tricked, the people hiding behind the wall will listen to all of Ning Jiang's words. And what is certain is that hiding behind the wall must be a person of noble status, who went to court, and his words alone can be used as evidence.

Ning Jiang said lightly: "Zhao Zhutou, you slander me like this, it seems that I have nothing to say to you, let's go to the court now, Lord Cao's disappearance has nothing to do with me, if you have any evidence, just take it out, and see if the government convicts me of murder or blackmail." ”

Turn around and leave.

Zhao Hong said angrily: "Ning Jiang, don't you don't know what to do, I'll give you this opportunity, you have to miss it yourself, don't blame me for breaking the net when the time comes." ”

Ning Jiang continued to sneer, and Zhao Hong's voice was fierce, which just proved that he had no evidence at all. Although to a certain extent, since Zhao Hong would suspect him, he must have caught some clues.

Zhao Hong snorted and said, "Ning Jiang, not only do I know that Lord Cao was killed by you, but I can also be sure that your maid Xiaokui was killed by your sister." ”

Ning Jiang said: "Really? ”

Zhao Hong said gloomily: "On that day, the reason why we didn't think of this was just because we didn't know that your sister had learned martial arts, so naturally we didn't think she could do it, but if she practiced internal strength......

Ning Jiang turned around and said mockingly: "Then how do you explain that so many people watched Ning Yicheng get up from Xiaokui's corpse?" ”

Zhao Hong stared at him: "Ning Yicheng did have bad intentions, but misdeeds and murder are two different things, Ning Yicheng didn't know that Xiaokui was dead at that time......

"Lying on a corpse and doing that kind of thing, not knowing that the person is dead?" Ning Jiang looked at Zhao Hong, shocked and suspicious, "Zhao Zhutou, you are so deliberate to excuse Ning Yicheng, are you ...... Could it be that he was bought by Ning Yicheng? ”

Zhao Hong said angrily: "What did you say? ”

Ning Jiang said in a low voice: "Lord Cao's disappearance has nothing to do with me, you obviously don't have any clues, but you are bent on planting the blame on me." Ning Yicheng killed people and humiliated corpses, I don't know how much human and material evidence there is, you in turn excuse him like this, saying that he is not guilty......"

Zhao Honghuo said: "I didn't say that he was innocent, just ......"

Ning Jiang laughed miserably: "Ning Ji's father and son polluted me and harmed me that day, you were the head catcher, I didn't see you come out to say half a word for my brother and sister, but helped them to deceive Lord Cao together, and now Lord Cao has disappeared for no reason, you have become a messenger of justice, no matter what, you want to splash sewage on me, to help Ning Yicheng wash away the 'grievances', that's it, that's it, don't you just want to blackmail me for money?" I'll give you that. ”

Zhao Hong was angry and angry, he originally wanted to use unexpected words to make Ning Jiang reveal his flaws, but he didn't expect Ning Jiang to say three or two sentences, but he deliberately planted it in order to help Ning Yicheng get rid of the crime. And although he knew that this guy was just pretending, he had nothing to do with him.

Now that I think about it, this young man's scheming is unfathomable, from the desperate situation when he faced the almost seizure of his family property last year, turning the tables step by step, to the inexplicable disappearance of Lord Cao, as if everything was under his control, but no one could find the slightest evidence. He quickly glanced at the old wall behind him, and if he continued like this, he was afraid that the adult behind the wall would no longer be able to believe him.

He swallowed this breath forcibly, shrank back, and said with a fist: "It turns out that Lord Cao's disappearance really has nothing to do with Childe, it seems that I made a mistake, sorry!" He bowed deeply.

Ning Jiang's heart moved quickly...... He threw in so quickly that he didn't continue arguing or getting angry...... This man will have a backhand.

On the surface, he breathed a sigh of relief and hugged his fists: "I know that Zhao Zhutou is impatient because of Lord Cao's disappearance, and he will never miss a clue, but it really has nothing to do with me at this time." With that, he turned and left.

Behind him, Zhao Hong slowly got out of the way, and at this moment, an amazing momentum rushed towards Ningjiang like a torrent, at this moment, it seemed that the sky was dark, the earth was dark, and the sun, moon, mountains and rivers changed color. In the affected Tang Yu Academy, everyone stopped making noise, and even the summer cicadas stopped chirping at this moment.

The astonishing momentum, like the star monarch in the sky descending to earth, thundered and shook the five mountains, directly hitting Ning Jiang's soul, and a voice sounded majestically: "Ning Jiang, Lord Cao is determined that Lord Cao is harmed by you?" ”

Such a powerful momentum, on the battlefield, can make thousands of troops and horses frightened, and at this moment, it is like sea water oppressing Ningjiang, under such a powerful power, for other people, frightened, I am afraid that everything has been said.

Ning Jiang slowly turned his head and said word by word: "No, yes!" ”

There was silence in the world, so quiet that you could hear a pin drop on the ground.

Ning Jiang arched his hand, just like this, and walked into the distance.

Behind the old walls, there was still silence. After a while, a voice remembered in a low and flat voice: "Guanyu, in your opinion, has this son lied?" ”

The one who spoke turned out to be Song Junzhe's father, the king of Hexiang County!!

At this moment, the king of Hexiang County was sitting on a high-backed chair behind the wall, with a brocade robe and a high crown, and there were two masters of the inner family standing behind him. In front of him, there was a man who was nearly thirty years old, but this person was the champion of the previous two sessions, surnamed Yan, named Guanyu, and had a great literary spirit.

In the Confucian world, a Jinshi can already be the enemy of ten thousand people, and the champion is the first of the top three and the pinnacle of the imperial examination. The previous champion Yan Guanyu and the previous champion Lei Jingming are all expected to preside over the "sacrificial saint" in the Taishan Fengzen in the following year.

Yan Guanyu arched his hand and said, "This son shouldn't be lying!" "He is from a champion background, and his literary spirit is far stronger than that of ordinary Jinshi, and Ning Jiang is just a small showman, and between him, there are two huge gaps between lifting people and paying tribute, even if Ning Jiang is prepared, under his strong momentum, he believes that Ning Jiang will not be able to hide under the pressure of his momentum.

Although at that moment, he also had some doubts in his heart, just because Ning Jiang just now, under the impact of his momentum, was not as panicked as he expected, and seemed to be quite calm.

But from another point of view, isn't this also a sign of guilt?

He didn't believe that this young man was just a showman, and he could lie under the impact of his full strength. On the other hand, for this trivial matter, he specially invited him to be the champion, and in his opinion, it was really a knife to kill chickens...... It's just a showman, and this thing also has to invite the champions to come out, which makes them one of the few champions, only more than 30 champions every hundred years, how can they be busy?

King Hexiang looked at Zhao Hong, who had already come in: "Zhao Zhutou, what do you think?" ”

Zhao Hong hurriedly said: "That kid in Ningjiang is lying, this kid is cunning......"

Yan Guanyu sneered, "Is Zhao Zhutou doubting my ability?" ”

Zhao Hong hesitated for a moment, bowed, and said "don't dare". You must know that every champion is an elite who directly enters the Hanlin Academy and can always contact the Son of Heaven.

For this matter, the king of Hexiang County actually invited a champion to come over to help, which was already a big surprise to him, but he didn't dare to question such a champion in any way.

King Hexiang got up and said lightly: "Zhao Zhutou, there is no evidence for what you have complained, and at this moment, Yan Zhuangyuan has proved that Ning Jiang is not lying." That Ningjiang is a person with a meritorious name, you have no basis to falsely accuse him, I read that your heart hangs on the whereabouts of your family and county, and I am unwilling to let go of any clues, which is also considered loyal, and I will not pursue it for the time being, and I will not take it as an example. ”

Zhao Hong hurriedly bowed down: "The little people know their mistakes, please forgive the prince." "I know in my heart that the king of Hexiang County will no longer care about this matter, after all, Cao Qiding is just a small county from a person's background, for the king of Hexiang County, I am afraid that it is a waste of time to do this step, if it is not for him to have an old relationship with a guard in the county king's mansion, ask him to take the lead on his behalf, with his identity, it is difficult to even see the face of the county king.

The King of Hexiang didn't speak again, just like this, together with Yan Guanyu, he led the two guards masters away from here......

***

Ning Jiang walked on the road, bowing his head and pondering.

The momentum of the literary atmosphere just now is amazing, even ordinary Jinshi such as Dian Hong and Bao Lao can't be compared, at least he is a Tanhua, and he may even be a champion.

He didn't expect that in order to track down Cao Qiding's whereabouts, Zhao Hong would be able to invite an elite at the level of Tanhua, Bangyan, and Champion "Sanding Jia" to help him in order to track down Cao Qiding's whereabouts, and in the absence of enough clues, Zhao Hong would have been able to help him.

No, with Zhao Hong's status, it is impossible to invite an elite at the level of "Sandingjia", so the point is who the other "adult" behind the wall is.

However, no matter who it is, Ning Jiang doesn't think that person will continue to pursue this matter, in the final analysis, Cao Qiding is just a lifter, a magistrate, and there is no evidence to prove that he was really killed, just "missing".

However, Zhao Hong was originally a person in the rivers and lakes, and if he was bloody, he might do something like a fish to death. Although after Ning Jiang's analysis, he felt that the possibility was not very large, but he still had to be more precautionary.

After the big office, the weather became hotter, and then, slowly, it entered July.

On the day of Qixi Festival, Ning Jiang took his sister to go outside for a whole day, and at night, the brother and sister looked at the Cowherd Star and Vega Star in the sky.

By mid-July, Mars was moving westward, but the weather was still in the midst of a heat wave, with no signs of cooling.

The riots around Longyan Lake in the southwest have been subsided by forcible suppression, but the drought that has already occurred has made life difficult for the people. The imperial court dispatched rice and grain from all over the country to provide disaster relief, and then, several rice warehouses caught fire overnight.

The days went by like this, day by day, and before I knew it, I had entered August.

At this moment, Xiaomeng, in the "Xuanji Sword Dance", has practiced "Qin Fanglan Withered Xiyang" and "Qin Qingliu Chu Jixian Shang", and is practicing its third style "Qin Wang's Old Township".

The maple leaves on Kongshan Mountain began to slowly turn red, and from a distance, it looked like a new fire. The number of tourists has increased a lot, but the number of students going up the mountain is becoming more and more scarce, just because the autumn in September is imminent, and everyone is redoubling their efforts.

After all, for many people, the state exam is a hurdle, as long as they pass this hurdle, even if they can't get into the jinshi in the future, they can make up for a local official if they have a little relationship or wait a few years.

Of course, for students who really have big ambitions, the state exam is just a step, a step to the real dragon gate.

Bai Zijin's life is still very difficult, whether it is in the academy or in the Zheng Mansion.

Despite this, he clearly did not give up in any way. In the cold eyes of everyone, he chased after others step by step with extraordinary perseverance, and his knowledge became more and more sophisticated.