Shang Yuchen keenly caught the abnormality between the three of them, but wisely did not break it, walked to the front and sat down, looked around at everyone, and said, "Okay, let's all sit down." ”

"His Royal Highness Prince Xie."

After everyone saluted, except for Master Sun, who was trembling and was left outside, they all sat down.

The two officers and soldiers lit the candles in the house and exited the door.

"Old man, can you tell me what happened?"

Shang Yuchen's voice has its own warmth, and those who hear it will always involuntarily take off their guards.

When the old woman faced the people in the official mansion, her eyes always couldn't help but show hatred, even at this moment, her complexion would turn dark.

"Old man, the color of your skin changes with your emotions?"

Not only Yang Huanzhi, who spoke out, discovered the clue, but the rest of the people also thought about it.

The old woman knelt on the ground again, and Shang Yuchen motioned for Yang Huanzhi to help her up, but she pulled his hand away.

"His Royal Highness the Prince, the old woman's name is Tao Yu, she lost her husband in her early years, and the only son in the family, Tao Qingran, was also burned to ashes by a fire in the government a few days ago."

As she spoke, her complexion turned ice-blue, and her trembling withered hands reached for the placket of her underwear.

Seeing this, Jin Lian immediately pressed his thumb against the hilt of the sword, but saw that the old woman named Tao Yu just took out a neat brown handkerchief with a square face. The middle is bulging, as if something is wrapped in it.

She spread the veil on the ground and slowly lifted it carefully, revealing some burned straw. The burnt straw was long gone, but the smell wafting from it was exactly the same as what they had smelled before they entered Liting Town.

Everyone thought of the deceased who was suffering from a strange disease, and after death, he would become a scarecrow. And Su Zhen said more than once that they did not die.

Yuzhu covered her mouth and nose and didn't overdo it.

Tao Yu's voice was full of tears, and then he said, "Your Royal Highness the Prince, the old woman is not crazy, on the night of my son's death, that is, seven days ago, the people of the government pulled his body to the back mountain and burned it. But the old woman has a son, and he is very obedient! Very filial! But he died of the plague, and according to the rules of the government, the corpse would be burned.

That night, the old woman wanted to go to the mountains to retrieve my son's ashes.

But...... But...... When I arrived at the mountain, I found that the dog official Tao County Order had burned a bunch of scarecrows!

Later, the villagers all went to the back mountain and found that the place where the corpses were originally stored was full of scarecrows, and our relatives... Our children...... The bodies of all those they claimed had died of the plague disappeared without a trace. Nothing was left but those ashes. ”

Then, Tao Yu cried silently.

Yang Huanzhi squatted down and took out his handkerchief to wipe her cheeks for her, "Mother-in-law, when you heard Brother Su say that people with strange diseases turned into scarecrows, they were not dead, and your face was not surprised except for hatred. You guys...... And how did they know that they were burned alive? ”

"I saw it with my own eyes! We saw it with our own eyes! My child was burned to death by the government! Tao Yu cried bitterly and knocked on the arm of Yang Huanzhi, who was squatting beside her.

Suddenly, with tears on her face, she suddenly stood up from the ground, she pointed at Su Zhen and said, "It's him!" It was he who infiltrated Nanzhuang Village two days ago! His Royal Highness the Prince, he forced the old woman to take him up the mountain! At that time, we saw with our own eyes that the scarecrows kept rolling as they were burned, as if they could not bear the pain of being burned by a blazing fire! ”

Everyone looked at Su Zhen in confusion, and the latter raised his head calmly, "Yes, I don't need to suppress mountain bandits and kill evil officials, I arrived two days earlier than you, and what she said is true." ”

"Zhen'er? Did you see the scarecrow move? Shang Yuchen asked.

"Well, I've checked, and all corpses turn into scarecrows within twelve hours of death."

"Are they under witchcraft?"

Su Hao ignored Chu Moxuan's fiery gaze, and the corners of her lips turned into a playful evil smile, and looked at Master Sun. "Actually, I'm also quite curious, there are only more than 30,000 people in Jiangdu, but in just a few days, it has spread to the entire Jiangdu, and nearly forty percent of the people have been infected. But with such a terrifying spread speed, it did not endanger the capital of the river...... Master Sun, Luo Qi's laws clearly state that it is a capital crime to report and conceal the disaster indiscriminately! ”

When Master Sun heard this, he quickly knelt down and said, "Su Shaoqing! Far from it! ”

"Oh? Isn't that so? So how? ”

"Our lord had reported this matter before, but later received an order from the prefect of Jiangdu, in order to strictly control the strange disease, when the imperial court sent people to rescue, this matter must be kept secret. At that time, the flood was at its worst, and I thought that if it spread, it would make people even more panicked. It's just that this strange disease didn't spread out of Jiangdu, so it was all hidden......"

The more Master Sun spoke, the lower his voice became, and he didn't even dare to raise his head to look at them.

Shang Yuchen scolded angrily, "Nonsense! It's nonsense! Have you still taken the lives of your people into account? Nor do they find out what disease they are suffering from, and whether there is still a chance of survival! How dare you rashly burn everyone! Are you trying to slaughter the entire river?! ”

Master Sun grabbed the ground with both hands and kept kowtowing, "His Royal Highness the Prince!" What Granny Tao said can't be believed! We've never seen a corpse move after being turned into a scarecrow! At the beginning, she went around publicizing this matter, presumably Su Shaoqing would find her when she heard about it!

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is discerning! Never before that time! It didn't happen since! Otherwise, wouldn't that be a matter of careless for human life? We are good officials, how could we let this happen! ”

Shang Yuchen had been listening to Master Sun chanting in his ear how good the Tao County Order was, and Tang Yinchen had been gushing back before, and their ears were almost calloused.

"Since you have already given birth to a clue, why did you continue to burn before you brought people to this palace?"

"Your Highness, corpses will turn into scarecrows! But the officials of the yamen were ordered by the lord to guard for three days, and they had never seen any scarecrows move! ”

The expression on Master Sun's face didn't look like a fake, as if they were also the second monk of Zhang, who was confused and confused.

"Brother Su, will you be dazzled? And how can you be sure that they are still alive? ”

Yang Huanzhi's questioning seemed very common to Su Hao, and if she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she wouldn't have believed it.

"Ordinary people judge whether a person is alive or not by testing their pulse, breath and heartbeat. But the so-called corpses that have become scarecrows are different, they just break away from their original form and survive in another form. If you burn them, their souls will become dead, and they will not be reborn if they cannot enter the Yellow Spring, and they will have to wander around......"

Jin Lian's scalp was numb when he heard this, and he said incredulously, "Su Shaoqing, are you crazy?" What nonsense are you talking about? ”