The inside of Cao Xianling's study was dim, with only a little starlight shining through the window and spilling onto the dark floor. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

"Since your Excellency is an official from the Eastern Capital, why don't you reveal your identity, and the lower officials will truthfully report the case from sixteen years ago." Cao Youdao expected that the person who came must be a person with an officialdom background, because the case was acted on the secret order of the superiors, and in the next 16 years, no one has ever brought up this matter again.

When the man heard this, he only coughed lightly and replied: "I was ordered to visit the old case here, and it is inconvenient to disclose my identity, so you can just tell the official what happened to the case." ”

When Cao Youdao heard this, although he was suspicious in his heart, he didn't dare to ask more, so he only nodded and said, "Oh, I see, Xia Guan understands." I was helpless for a while, and talked about the events of the year.

"If you want to talk about what happened sixteen years ago, Xia Guan only knows a little bit about it. Sixteen years ago, Pei Yunhua, the county commander of this county, received a secret order from Taishou, saying that a group of merchants from the north would pass through the county, although this group of merchants was dressed as businessmen, but their real identity was a key criminal of the imperial court, and they were about to flee to the south of the Yangtze River in disguise. The imperial court learned of the whereabouts of these important criminals, and sent Yang Huan, a concubine, to lead a team of flying dragon forbidden troops to arrest them.

Because there are some strong people hidden in this group of fugitives, if they are openly arrested in the county seat, they are afraid that the people in the city will be injured by mistake in the fight, so the county magistrate asked the lower officials to go outside the city to check this group of people, and then take the opportunity to prevent them from entering the city, and only lead them to the Poria Mountain trail in the west of the city, where there is an ambush by Yang Yuma's Feilong Forbidden Army, as long as this group of fugitives enters the mountain, they can be wiped out. ”

When the masked man heard this, his brows tightened, and he asked again: "What kind of people are those merchants, and how can you be sure that they are fugitives from the imperial court?" ”

"This ...... To tell the truth, when the officials interrogated them outside the north gate that day, they also carefully observed their appearance and behavior, and they were a group of nine people, seven men and two women, and three carriages, which contained several large boxes, and some clothes and soft ones. The men were well-dressed and wore swords at their waists, and among the women was a young woman with a baby in her arms.

When the lower officials interrogated them, they also felt that they did not look like criminals who had committed crimes, and they were afraid of making a mistake for a while, so they quickly reported to Pei County Order, who was watching at the city gate, and Pei County Commander was informed, and read the letter of the concubine master, and then said to the lower officials: "This gang of thieves is a wanted criminal by the imperial court, and they must not be allowed to enter the city!" When the lower officials were convinced, they blocked their way into the city, and only let them cross the border by taking a detour through Poria Mountain. ”

"And then?"

"Later... Later, Xia Guan did not participate in it. I just heard that the group entered the mountains and forests that day and fell into the ambush of the Flying Dragon Forbidden Army, and all nine people died at the bottom of the mountain. At dawn the next day, there were villagers under the mountain who came to report the case, and the county magistrate ordered the lower officials to go to check, and the lower officials saw that the forest was full of blood, and the corpses were distributed everywhere, so he took the messenger to find all nine corpses and buried them in the shrubs in the back mountain. ”

The masked man listened to Cao Youdao's recollections, and was silent for a while, only slowly retracting the dagger slightly, and the room was quiet for a while. But the silence didn't last long, and the man asked, "What about later?" ”

"Later? And later... It's nothing. The county magistrate was promoted to Yangzhou Taishou because of his meritorious service in suppressing thieves, and he was promoted to Yangzhou Taishou, and he was also ... He was promoted to the commander of Jiangdu County. ”

"I'm not asking you this, I'm asking you, do you know the identity of those fugitives, what crimes they have committed? Why is there not a single living mouth? The masked man asked.

"This ...... The lower officials don't know. is not only a prisoner of the imperial court, but also the forbidden army of the master of the horse came to chase and suppress, presumably they are also some people who do a lot of evil, and they can only act according to orders, how dare they ask more about other things. Cao Youdao pretended to be innocent, and the others didn't dare to say much.

"Huh?" As soon as the masked man saw that Cao Youdao had the intention of prevarication, he lit up the dagger again for a while, and threatened Cao Youdao sharply: "Hmph, you killed so many people, and you don't even know what crime they committed? If they all die unjustly, how can your conscience be at peace?! Tell me quickly, who are they, and why did Yang Horse kill them! Otherwise, I'll kill you!" ”

"Oh, adults are angry, adults are angry!" Cao Youdao saw that the sharp knife was in his neck, and hurriedly shrank his neck back. begging for mercy again and again. "It's not that the villain is hiding the adult, but the villain doesn't know about it! The lower officials were acting on orders at that time, and they also inquired about the identities of the dead from Pei County Order, who only said that they were important criminals of the imperial court, and refused to say anything else, nor did he let Xia Guan ask more, and said that if the villain wanted to live, it was best not to mention this matter to anyone. Since then, Xia Guan has been promoted to Jiangdu County Commander, and he has worked diligently for the people, and has not told anyone about the case of that year. What the lower officials said is true, and they dare not hide it! ”

Seeing that Cao Youdao was trembling all over his body and sweating on his forehead, the masked man did not dare to deceive himself, so he believed his words for a while, and then asked: "You just said that one of the fugitives had a woman holding a baby in her arms, and that the baby's body was buried together?" ”

"Baby? …… The baby...... That baby..."Cao Youdao suddenly became slumped. I just lowered my head and muttered, not daring to say anything more.

"Tell me, I'll ask you! Is the baby the child of a criminal? Did you also get killed by the people who were on the horse?! Say it quickly! The masked man was obviously a little anxious, only to see that his brows were tightly locked, his eyes were stagnant, and he kept asking about the whereabouts of the baby, and his tone trembled slightly, and his emotions were slightly excited.

"That'...... The baby's corpse, un... Not found! Cao Youdao saw that someone came to ask about the whereabouts of the baby, and his heart chuckled for a while. Indeed, when I searched the mountains for the body of the deceased woman and her scattered belongings, I did not find the baby in her arms, but I only felt that the baby was still in swaddling clothes, and must have died in the fight, and the body was left in the deserted grass, and it was reasonable that it could not be found for a while.

"Didn't find it? In this way, you didn't do it neatly back then. ”

"No, no, no, adults don't have to worry about it. The middle-aged men in that family of nine could not escape the sword of the forbidden army, let alone a baby in swaddling clothes? The mother of the baby has also been executed, and the baby must have died long ago, and the body has either been taken away by wild dogs, or left in the grass, in short, it must not have survived, so the adults can rest assured. ”

When the masked man was interrogating, he heard the door behind him "creak" open, and a little boy walked in with a lantern rubbing his hazy sleepy eyes, and called vaguely: "Master, I'm Wang'er, who are you talking to so late?" ”

As soon as Cao Youdao saw his family coming in, he hurriedly shouted to Wang'er: "Wang'er, go and call someone, there is a thorn ......."

Before the word "guest" could be spoken, Cao Youdao was hit in the back by a masked man and fainted instantly. As soon as the boy saw a man in black standing in the room, and his master was still tied to the Taishi's chair, he hurriedly abandoned the lantern and ran out of the door to call someone. said that it was too late, but it was fast, and the man in black took a brisk step, and actually grabbed the front of Wang'er, and slapped the back of his neck, putting him to the ground. Then he climbed up to a loquat tree in the courtyard, stepped on the branches of the tree, jumped over, and climbed over the wall.

"Wang! … Wow..."

A dog barked, breaking the silence of the night......