When Liu Qi came to visit Ma Hong this time, Ma Hong could read his thoughts from his face, in fact, Ma Hong didn't look at Liu Qi's face, and he also knew that Liu Qi must be preoccupied, because he had really been in trouble recently, and it was not a lot of trouble.

Recently, Bo Cao was killed at home, and Liu Qi, as the governor of Jingzhou, was responsible for selecting talents, and Liu Qi needed to select new talents to fill the vacancy. But this is not something that makes Liu Qi sad, the thing that really makes Liu Qi sad is that Liu Biao gave Liu Qi a task, that is, to solve the case within ten days. In terms of responsibility, the killing of Shu Cao should be handed over to the Xiangyang County Lieutenant. But since Liu Biao arranged for Liu Qi to be in charge of this matter, on the one hand, he wanted to see if Liu Qi, as his successor, could really handle government affairs, and on the other hand, he also asked Liu Qi to cultivate his henchmen during this period. After Ma Hong heard Liu Qi say that Liu Biao asked him to temporarily take over from Cao Cao, he knew that Liu Qi could understand that Liu Biao was based on his ability, but he might not be able to understand that Liu Biao deliberately let him cultivate his henchmen.

Although Liu Qi is seven years older than Ma Hong, the relationship between the two is very good. After Liu Qi came to Jingzhou with Liu Biao, he first came to Yicheng, and then Liu Biao settled the whole family in the Ma family, and at that time Liu Qi established a deep relationship with the brothers of the Ma family. Ma Hong saw that Liu Qi was in trouble now and found himself, so he naturally wanted to lend a hand, so he smiled and said, "Brother, this is an opportunity, you should be happy, right?" ”

Liu Qi sighed and said: "I also know that this is the opportunity my father gave me, but it has been three days since I took this case, and there is still no progress, what do you say is good?" ”

Ma Hong smiled: "I think my brother misunderstood what I meant by the opportunity, this opportunity is not just to show your father well, but to take the opportunity to cultivate henchmen, in this way, brother, you should be more grateful to the murderer." ”

Liu Qi was stunned at first, and then his surprised expression turned into a smile, and he said with a smile: "It's indeed an opportunity, but it's not a good thing to be grateful to the murderer!" San'er, do you have a suitable candidate to recommend? "[Governing the Engagement: Competent for the selection of officials in the state and other matters.] Bookkeeper Cao is engaged in: in charge of money and grain account books. 】

Ma Hong smiled slightly and said: "Of course, I recommend two people to my brother, the first person is my senior brother Xiang Lang, the current county magistrate of Linfu, although the official position is small, but the senior brother is talented, I believe that he will be able to serve as the bookkeeper to engage in the position." The second person is my cousin Xi Zhen, who has just returned from Shuijing Villa, and I want my brother to arrange a position for him, which is not too high, but not too low, after all, the Xi family is a famous family in Xiangyang. ”

Liu Qi nodded with a smile and said: "This position Cao is engaged in is extremely important, Cai Mao recommended him to serve as his younger brother Cai He, and now I recommend Xiang Lang to my father, do you think my father will agree?" ”

Ma Hong smiled: "Cai He? The elder brother doesn't have to pay attention to it, the elder brother just recommends Xiang Lang. I think Senior Brother is very likely to be promoted, for three reasons, first, Senior Brother Xiang Lang has had a good political performance in Linfang in recent years; Second, Xiang Lang is a disciple of Mr. Shuijing, and was appointed by your father to be the magistrate of Linfu County; The third is that the elder brother and Xiang Lang do not have much communication, and recommending Xiang Lang can make others gossip less. ”

Liu Qi nodded and said, "Then I'll listen to San'er, how about I arrange for this Xi Zhen to be the lieutenant of Xiangyang County?" There were two county lieutenants, and one of them was removed from his post because he could not identify the culprit because he was killed, and there was a vacancy in the post of county lieutenant. ”

Xiangyang is the capital of Jingzhou, and he is 400 stone as a county magistrate in Xiangyang, and his status and salary are comparable to Xiang Lang, who is the county magistrate in Linfang, this is a good opportunity, and Ma Hong believes that Xi Zhen will not miss it. Ma Hong nodded and said, "I thanked my brother on behalf of my brother." ”

Liu Qi said: "It's just that I'm afraid that Xi Zhen won't accept it, if he can't solve the case on time, his county lieutenant won't be able to do it for a long time, and it will also have a big impact on his future career." ”

Ma Hong smiled and said, "Brother, don't worry, go see my cousin!" I'm here to help my brother in catching criminals. ”

Liu Qi nodded and walked into the courtyard where Xi Zhen lived. Half an hour later, Xi Zhen walked out with Liu Qi, and the girl who had been called grass by Ma Hong followed behind them. The girl lowered her head and walked slowly, and when she passed by Ma Hong, she raised her head and glanced at Ma Hong, the corners of her mouth squirmed slightly, as if she wanted to say something, but she didn't make a sound, but Ma Hong clearly saw the two words she wanted to say: flood.

Ma Hong raised his head and looked at the sky, the sky was very blue, and the white clouds formed a face in the blue sky, and the face smiled and cried.

After Xi Zhen sent Liu Qi out, he walked towards Ma Hong, and when Xi Zhen approached, Ma Hong saw the smile on his face. Xi Zhen smiled and said: "Cousin, I didn't expect the eldest son to like young girls, it's really tasteful!" ”

Ma Hong also smiled and said: "Man! It's understandable, I heard that Cao Cao is a good wife, isn't it? ”

Xi Zhen stretched out his hand and patted Ma Hong's shoulder and said with a smile: "Cousin, I have written down this favor, thank you." ”

Ma Hong smiled slightly and said softly, "Cousin is polite." ”

Xi Zhen hesitated for a moment, but still opened his mouth and asked, "Cousin, in this vast sea of people, is my cousin sure that he will find out the criminal within ten days?" ”

Ma Hong said with a smile: "In five days at the latest, he will definitely be able to be pulled out." ”

Xi Zhen asked, "Cousin, what is your strategy?" Let's hear it. ”

Ma Hong smiled slightly, stretched out his hand and said, "You might as well walk around the streets and collect some information." ”

Xi Zhen secretly said in his heart: Ma Hong doesn't have any information in his hands, so he dares to deal with this matter for me? He was really confident, and he really wanted to see how he investigated the case.

When Xi Zhen and Ma Hong just walked out of Xi's mansion, they met Ma San, who came back, Ma San was the family member of Ma Mansion, and after Ma Hong was injured this time, he was sent to Xiangyang by Ma Hong's father to deliver medicine. When Ma Hong saw Ma San, he asked, "Ma San, how is the investigation?" ”

Ma San opened his mouth and said: "Childe, it's windy outside, Childe should go back to the courtyard and say!" ”

"Where is the wind?" After Ma Hong finished speaking, he walked slowly towards the street.

Ma San sighed, followed Ma Hong's footsteps, and said, "I have collected some information, I wonder if it is valuable?" I'll speak slowly for Childe. ”

Half an hour later, Ma Hong asked Xi Zhen: "Cousin, which piece of information do you think is reliable?" Why don't you analyze it first? ”

Xi Zhen got so much information from Ma Hong's hands for free, if he still waited for Ma Hong to analyze him, it would naturally be inappropriate, so he analyzed it in his heart for a while before he said: "The dead bookkeeper is named Zhang Jin, this person is a man of wine and meat, an excellent woman, and the number of concubines alone is thirteen. One of the pieces of news that Ma San collected was that Zhang Jin had an affair with the wife of the owner of the West Street restaurant, and I knew the owner of the restaurant, and I thought that Zhang Jin's murder had nothing to do with him. ”

Ma Hong smiled and said, "Why? Could it be that the owner of the restaurant deliberately let his wife marry Zhang Jin? ”

Xi Zhen said: "This businessman wants to gain a foothold, and it is normal to collude with some officials, and it is not a strange thing to send some money and beauty." The owner of this restaurant has a beautiful wife, who used to do some things for my uncle, and once asked his wife to come to my uncle in the middle of the night. ”

Ma Hong nodded and said with a smile: "Zhang Jin's favorite concubine has an affair with the family, will that family member murder Li Li?" ”

Xi Zhen hesitated for a moment, and said slowly: "Cousin, don't you know, this Jin's private life is extremely chaotic, there are rumors in the market that he has a habit of dragon yang, and the family members in the house are all young men with good looks, and this Zhang Jin prefers to let the family members and their wives and concubines have fun together." ”

Ma Hong sincerely appreciated: "This person is really romantic!" And very generous! After Ma Hong praised Zhang Jin, he turned back to Ma San and said, "If your master wants you to sleep, what will you do?" ”

After Ma San heard what Ma Hong said, he shivered all over, his legs tightened, his back waist was cold, and he said incoherently: "Childe, you... Can't..."

Ma Hong smiled slightly: "To be honest. ”

Ma San lowered his head and didn't dare to look at Ma Hong's eyes, and said in a low voice, "I will run away." ”

Ma Hong smiled at Xi Zhen and said, "If the family members don't want to sleep, if Zhang Jin forces them, do you think they will kill Zhang Jin?" ”

Xi Zhen lowered his head and thought seriously for a moment and said, "There are some possibilities. ”

Ma Hong nodded and said, "It may be necessary to seriously check the family members and Zhang Jin's wives and concubines." Tomorrow, after my cousin takes office, I will go to Zhang's Mansion and interrogate my family and his wife and concubine, maybe there will be an unexpected gain? ”

Xi Zhen nodded and said, "Cousin, the fish in the West Street Restaurant is good, how about you try it?" ”

Ma Hong smiled and said, "It would be better if I could see the wife of the restaurant owner." ”