Soon, the horse came. Although Leng Yi has never ridden a horse, he is led by a soap, and this is a local horse in Bazhou, with good endurance but relatively short, and riding on it is not a big difference compared to riding a donkey.

Leng Yi took care of Zhuo Qiaoniang before he got on the horse. He deliberately pretended to be a little scared, and put up an official stand, so that the soap who led the horse should be careful not to throw them off the horse.

Horses in the Song Dynasty were in short supply, and there were only these two horses in their yamen, which were set for carriages, because they had to walk on mountain roads, so they were relieved and used.

Leng Yi sat on the horse, told the chief bookkeeper Qiu Hong a few words, and then set off with the master, the catcher and the soap li.

When he came back before, he was sitting in a carriage and the groom shouted to open the way, but this time he went out of the city, but he took the officials with him, and sounded the gong in front of him to open the way, and the passers-by avoided it one after another. Stand on the side of the road with your hands down.

Leng Yi sat on the horse, tilted his head, put on an official posture, looked at those solemn people, and thought to himself that this ancient official was called a parent official, and there was a kind of high shelf, and it was really majestic.

The two soldiers at the gate of the city heard the sound of the gong opening the way, and stood up early. Wait for Leng Yi and them to come over and salute.

After leaving the city, there are few pedestrians on the road, so there is no need to sound the gong, and the speed of walking is faster.

After walking a short distance, I got off the official road and began to climb.

The mountain road bends, and the higher and higher you go, you get into the clouds and mist, and the white clouds are all under your feet.

Zhuo Qiao Niangxing looked around excitedly, Leng Yi looked back at her, thinking that the way she did housework should also be from a poor family, how could she be so novel about the landscape like the eldest lady in the city.

Leng Yi smiled and said, "Is it fun?" ”

"It's so fun, I haven't been to the mountains in a long time!" Zhuo Qiaoniang said: "When I was a child, my brothers and sisters and I went up the mountain every day to collect firewood, at that time, I hated this mountain to death, I felt that it was so high, and it was so tiring to climb, and I really wanted to live in the plains." -- I heard that the capital is a large plain, as far as the eye can see, there is no small slope for a day on horseback, and the wood is cut on the flat ground, so there is no need to climb the slope, but it is comfortable. Later, he married an official, and he never went up the mountain again. Instead, I remembered the mountains. ”

Leng Yi smiled: "It's no wonder, you have lived in the mountains since you were a child, although it is hard, but you have become accustomed to it, and you have a kind of love for him and a deep feeling." In fact, people are like this, when they lose it, they will know its preciousness. ”

"Yes! It would be nice if I could come to the mountains more often in the future. ”

"Since you like it, I'll always take you to climb the mountain in the future."

"Really?"

"Of course it's true, you don't know, I also like the mountains."

"Of course you know, you are also a child from the mountains, so naturally you can't bear the mountains."

Leng Yi didn't know how much Zhuo Qiaoniang knew about the previous things in Nazhi County, so he didn't dare to take the initiative to say it, for fear of leaking the stuffing, but he was very happy in his heart, because since he liked the mountain, he would have an excuse to continue to engage in rock climbing on the mountain in the future, and he was really reluctant to give up this hobby. However, you can't be in a hurry, you have to wait until you have a firm foothold and change little by little, so that you will not be noticeable.

At noon, they finally arrived at Kuli Village.

A government official had already run into the village and told the lieutenant in advance, that is, Lai Yuanwai. Therefore, Lai Yuanwai and some villagers were already waiting at the entrance of the village.

Before the situation was unclear, Leng Yi would rather not speak. He sat on his horse with a shelf, and looked indifferently at the people who greeted him.

The first fat man, dressed in silk and satin, with a shiny face, nodded and said, "The villain sees the big man!" ”

Leng Yi nodded, stroked his sparse beard and said, "This county is here to investigate the case this time, do you know?" ”

"The villain knows, the eldest lord worked tirelessly, for the lawsuit of the tragic death of the villain's concubine, he came to our Kuli Village to investigate the case, and he really worked hard. The villain is very grateful, and has prepared a thin wine in the cold house to catch the wind and wash the dust for the eldest master. Please also appreciate it. ”

Leng Yi also knew that the person in front of him was Lai Yuanwai. said lightly: "It's okay, it's noon now, and I have to eat around the county, and the county is about to ask you a few questions." Lead the way. ”

A group of people followed Lai Yuan to his mansion. This house is very large. Climb the hillside one by one. Layered on top of each other, it's very majestic.

Lai Yuanwai led Leng Yi and them to the lobby, where a large round table was set up, full of all kinds of delicacies from the mountains and seas.

Leng Yi introduced Zhuo Qiaoniang, and Lai Yuanwai seemed to know that he had sent several of his wives and concubines to wait, just to take care of Zhuo Qiaoniang. At that moment, Zhuo Qiaoniang was welcomed to the inner house, and then the guests and hosts were seated.

Leng Yi said: "This county can talk ugly things ahead, -- eating is food, and collecting taxes is collecting taxes. If you want to have a dinner with a guest, you want to forgive the huge debt you owe. That's wrong, we won't eat it. ”

Lai Yuanwai nodded hurriedly and said: "That's nature, the bridge returns to the bridge, the road returns to the road, naturally I won't use this to please people." ”

So, Leng Yi picked up the dishes and chopsticks and began to eat.

After Lai Yuanwai and a few squires waited for Leng Yi to eat some food, they began to persuade him to drink.

Leng Yi poured the wine in the wine glass, turned the cup upside down, and said: "When this county handles a case, I never drink alcohol!" ”

Master Dong and the head catcher had already picked up their glasses, but when they saw Leng Yi like this, they hurriedly put down their wine glasses.

Lai Yuanwai and a few squires looked at each other, and persuaded them a few more times, but Leng Yi didn't pay attention to them at all, just ate the meal, stood up, clapped his hands, and said, "The county has finished eating, you eat slowly!" With that, he walked to the right of the two chairs in the middle of the lobby and sat down.

The people in the audience were very embarrassed, the magistrate didn't eat it, how could they be embarrassed to continue, they all said that they had eaten well, got up and sat on the chairs on both sides.

Lai Yuan hurriedly ordered tea, sat down next to him with a smiling face, and apologized vigorously that the wine was not in line with the taste of the old man, and asked for forgiveness.

Leng Yi waved his hand and said, "This county has started to investigate the case, please retreat outside the house and unrelated people, and call the maid named Xinghua who followed the victim's grandmother to the county government at the time of the crime." The county still has some questions for her! ”

Lai Yuan hurriedly agreed, gave a few squires color, and all withdrew. In a moment, Lai Yuanwai came in with a maid. He smiled and said, "Master, the apricot blossom is here." ”

The maid stepped forward and knelt down and kowtowed: "The slave knocks to see the master!" ”

Leng Yi took the tea cup, glanced at her, and said, "Raise your head!" ”

Xinghua slowly raised her head and threw a wink at Leng Yi. Leng Yi didn't seem to see it at all, and after Lai Yuan went out, he looked at Xinghua and asked without the slightest emotion: "This county wants to re-investigate the case of your grandmother's murder in the county office, and you will retell the whole story." Be detailed! ”

"The slave knows," Xinghuajiao said: "The night before, the master told our grandmother, saying that this year's annual success is not good, but the tax still has to be paid so much, it is really impossible to pay, let our grandmother go to the county government to find the eldest lord to intercede, to see if we can reduce some of it." That morning, the slave and maid accompanied the grandmother, escorted by the two families, went down the mountain to the county seat, the two families waited outside the yamen, and the slave and the grandmother went to see the eldest master. ――Do we want to tell us about our request to see the eldest master? ”

"No, I'll talk about it later."

"Oh!" Xinghua looked left and right with a pair of charming eyes, and saw that the heads of the soaps were crispy, which retracted her gaze proudly, and then said: "When we came out of the big man's room, my grandmother cried, and walked out while crying. As I walked, I said that my stomach hurts, and my grandmother has a bad stomach these days, and she often has a stomach. She said that she would go to the hut and let me accompany her. I accompanied my grandmother to the toilet in the yamen. It was already noon, and many of the errands had already left, so there was no one in the toilet yard. ”

"There was no one in the toilet yard at the time?"

"Yes."

"You go on."

The slave and maid were waiting at the gate of the courtyard. After waiting for a while, a big yellow dog suddenly ran out and dragged a chain......"

"You saw a big yellow dog running out with a chain?"

"Yes, it came out of the yard around the corner of the house and scared me a lot."

"Well, you go on."