Liu Xiangzheng panicked and blurted out: "No! My sister-in-law hanged herself, and the third Jin committed suicide by jumping from the cliff of the broken mouth into the river, which has nothing to do with me......"

"Broken Mouth Cliff? Luanhe? ”

Xiao Jiading knew that there is a river called the Yan River under this Huangyan Village, which is a tributary of the Jinjiang River in Yizhou, and the river has more than 30 miles from the village to the mouth of the river, and I heard Daisy say that the body of Jin Laosan was found in Jinjiang three days later. It's not in the river at all. No one should have seen him jump from there. Xiao Jiading immediately keenly felt that this place might be the place where Liu Xiang was killing people!

As soon as Liu Xiangzheng said this, he realized that something was wrong, and immediately changed his words: "I said it wrong, it was Jinjiang, he jumped into Jinjiang and died." ”

Xiao Jiading sneered: "What are you panicking about? I didn't say you were wrong. ”

Liu Xiangzheng was indeed a little panicked, after the fornication was caught red-handed, he was splashed with feces and urine on this street tour, which made him ashamed and embarrassed, and his whole head was like paste. In addition, the fact that he bribed and bribed officials to exonerate Zhao's crime was revealed, and he was even more flustered, and he suddenly leaked his mouth. lowered his head, no matter what Xiao Jiading asked, he didn't say a word.

Xiao Jiading ordered him to be taken down, called Luo Cunzheng in, and asked, "Is there a place called Broken Mouth Cliff in the Luan River outside our Huangyan Village?" ”

"Yes, it's just out of the village and along the Luan River in the direction of Yizhou, about five or six miles away."

"I want to go there and see it. Can you take the road with you? ”

"Good!" Luo Cunzheng didn't ask much about why he was going there so late.

Xiao Jiading took Dai Zhutou and a few soap subordinates, and followed Luo Cunzheng and them to the bottom of the village. There is a path that leads there. Because of the rugged terrain, there are basically no people living here. When I was about to arrive, I saw a slightly flat place, and a house was sitting alone on the side of the road. Walking past the house, further on, there were no people, all the rough paths, all the way to the river.

By the time they reached the river, they were already about two feet above the water. A cliff stretched forward, and at the end, it suddenly broke neatly. It was as if an eagle's beak suddenly broke off, so the cliff got its name Broken Beak Cliff.

The cliff had stretched close to the center of the river, and if you jumped from here, you would fall straight into the middle of the river. If you want to kill someone, this is a good place.

Xiao Jiading held the lantern and checked it on the top of the cliff, but found nothing unusual, and looked around, there was no one at home. He frowned and said, "Go back!" ”

Luo Cun and the others didn't know what he was doing when he came here in the middle of the night to go around and go back. But I didn't want to ask too much, so I had to follow back again.

When he arrived at the family's house on the side of the road, Xiao Jiading stood still and said to Luo Cunzheng: "I'm tired of walking, you go knock on the door, let's go in and sit and ask for a glass of water." Take a break. ”

Luo Cunzheng was about to say that he would rest at his house, but Xiao Jiading had already gone to the first one. hurriedly stepped forward, knocked on the door and shouted: "Wang Dalang!" Get up! Open the door, there is something! ”

This master is also called Da Lang? However, there is nothing strange about this, because in the Tang Dynasty, it was popular to call men as rank plus lang, and women as rank plus a certain mother, similar to the modern old three and four and the like.

The door opened quickly. A middle-aged man came out, glanced at them, recognized Luo Cunzheng, and hurriedly bowed down and said, "Luo Cunzheng, is there something wrong?" ”

"Of course there is something wrong with calling you, this is Xiao Zhiyi, who is next to the county magistrate, who came down to investigate the case. Didn't you hear the gongs and drums just now? ”

"No, I'm asleep, what's wrong?"

It was still some distance from the village, and it was normal for him not to hear. Luo Cun was looking at Xiao Jiading, not knowing whether he should say that thing.

Xiao Jiading said: "Liu Xiang is having an affair with the Zhao family in your village and was caught red-handed. ”

This kind of thing is most likely to arouse people's interest, especially in ancient times when entertainment items were extremely lacking, such peachy news naturally made people more excited, so Wang Dalang immediately became happy: "Yes? I don't think that Zhao is a good thing, his husband is at home, it's no wonder she can endure it! What do you think! ”

Xiao Jiading interrupted him: "We knocked on your door, not to tell you about it. We're passing by here, and we're tired of walking and want to rest at your place, begging for water, okay? ”

The people from the yamen, there are a few soap officers with waist knives behind them, did he Wang Dalang say nothing? hurriedly greeted them into the house, and at the same time beckoned his wife and children to get up to entertain the guests.

A few soaps helped to make a fire and boil water, Wang Dalang's wife and children came out, his daughter was about twelve or thirteen years old, and his son was seven or eight years old.

Xiao Jiading beckoned them to sit down. Wang Dalang had already told his wife and children about Zhao's affair with Liu Xiangzheng and he was caught red-handed. His wife and children also came to their senses immediately, and kept asking Luo Cunzheng for details. Luo Cunzheng saw that Xiao Jiading didn't speak, and he didn't dare to say more, only said to boil water quickly.

They couldn't inquire about the details, and their hearts were itching, so they began to imagine that this kind of thing is also the easiest to make people open the conversation, and they immediately began to talk about the past of this adulterer and adulteress, and when they heard Xiao Jiading listen with interest, they became more energetic and talked more happily. Speaking of Naluo Village, there is a very powerful caretaker home, called Hongshan, which can kill a cow with one punch. usually wants to beat people, it is this Hongshan who makes a move. was beaten by him, and he couldn't get out of bed for ten days and half a month.

When Xiao Jiading heard this, he remembered that day when he was eating wine at Luo Cunzheng's house, this Liu Xiangzheng came uninvited, followed by a burly man, it is estimated that this is called Hongshan.

The so-called wall fell down and everyone pushed it, and when they heard that Liu Xiangzheng was arrested, these villagers naturally did not have any scruples, and vented their previous dissatisfaction with him. said a lot of bad things that Liu Xiang was doing with the thug Hong Shan.

The water had already been boiled, and Xiao Jiading asked while drinking water from an earthen bowl, "How is this year?" ”

Wang Dalang smiled bitterly and pointed to the simple house: "What else?" Those who farm can't eat a meal of meat during the New Year. ”

"Aren't you near the river? How not to fish? ”

"Fishing?" Wang Dalang glanced at Luo Cunzheng next to him, "I can't afford to pay the fish tax......

"There's a tax on this, too?" Xiao Jiading also glanced at Luo Cunzheng, but he didn't continue the topic, he didn't come this time to observe the people's feelings. Asked: "You just said that Liu Xiang is bullying people everywhere, has he bullied you?" ”

"No, my poor family only has a few dry fields, and the Hun family has no appearance, so there is nothing for him to look at."

His wife slapped him and said, "I don't, our daughter is getting older, I saw him staring at our daughter several times, and they passed by our door that day, weren't you scared half to death?" ”

When Xiao Jiading heard this, he hurriedly asked, "What day?" ”

"It was just one night after the New Year, I was scared to death, I thought he was going to beat our daughter's idea!"

"How do you know it's them?"

"The broken gong of the Hongshan will be known as soon as you hear it." Wang Dalang's wife said, "We had fallen asleep that day, and we heard a few people coming from afar, and then we heard Hongshan's broken gong voice saying, 'Hurry up'!" I was terrified, because there was no one else around our house, and there was a cliff in front of us, and there was no way forward, so almost everyone who came here came to my house. We hurriedly got up, and for a moment we didn't know what to do. Thankfully, they didn't stop and just passed. ”

After receiving this important news, Xiao Jiading was overjoyed and asked, "In addition to this Hongshan, do you see anyone else?" ”

"See? Where do we dare to see it? I was scared to death. Thankfully, it didn't come to our house. ”

Wang Dalang also smiled and said: "Yes, we didn't go out to see, and after hearing them pass, we can rest assured that they didn't come to our house." ”

"Did he come back and pass through here?"

"Yes, there is only one way, and it must be passed."

"How long will it take to get back?"

"Soon! There shouldn't be a single meal. ”

From here to Broken Mouth Cliff, it was only a meal, and it seemed that they did not stay long in Broken Mouth Cliff. Xiao Jiading asked: "What are they going to do, do you know the way?" ”

Wang Dalang shook his head: "As long as he doesn't come to our house, I'll be thankful, I don't care what he does." ”

"How many footsteps do you hear?"

Wang Dalang recalled with his wife and said, "There are not many people, it is estimated that there are only three or four." ”

"Are you sure?"

"That's right, because our house is on the side of the road, and someone is passing by, and you can hear it very clearly."

"What day is it, can you remember?"

Wang Dalang hesitated for a moment and said, "It's the eighteenth day of the first month!" ”

"Why are you so sure?"

"Because on the twenty-first day of the first lunar month, Jin Laosan's body was found in Jinjiang. And a few days ago, I heard that Jin Laosan had an affair with Liu Xiangzheng's sister-in-law and was caught. Liu Xiangzheng was very angry and arrested them to parade through the streets. Later, I don't know how Lu Dao let people go again. A few days later, Jin Laosan died. It was said that Liu Xiangzheng was killing him. Jin Laosan's family also went to the yamen to file a complaint, but to no avail. Because the two things are next to each other, it is more accurate to remember. ”

Xiao Jiading drank a bowl of water, thanked him, said goodbye, and walked back with everyone. Luo Cunzheng and the others didn't dare to ask more when they saw him bowing his head and walking forward.

When I returned to the main door of Luo Village, I saw many people kneeling and crying at the door. I don't know who Lu Dao is, Xiao Jiading looked at Luo Cunzheng.

Luo Cunzheng hurriedly went up, took a look, and said, "What are you doing kneeling here?" ”