In the morning light, the boat set off north again.

This time, Hua Qiao bought a lot of delicious snacks on the street, and stuffed them into Lao Qin's hands, and Lao Qin's face smiled: "Ouch, these are all things to coax dolls to eat!" ”

Huai'an to Xuzhou is the original swimming water transport road, and then it is captured by the Yellow River, so it is called Hecao. This section is also the most difficult part of dredging the Caohe River, often the silt has just been cleared away, and the sediment brought by the river has just filled the river again.

"One digs and the other fills, just like people and rivers competing for time." Hu Yanjin shook his head and said: "If you don't treat it from the source, the imperial court spends a lot of manpower and material resources on dredging every year. ”

"My lord, you only know the court, and the people are not having a good time. Anyone who had a male laborer in the family would be assigned to forced labor, not to mention free work, and some would be beaten to death by the foreman. ”

As soon as Lao Qin finished saying the word "death", he heard someone on the shore shouting: "There are dead bodies!" There are dead bodies in the river! ”

"Phew!" Lao Qin spat in the river: "Look at my old fool, what do you say about death in the blue sky and day!" ”

"Old Qin, the corpse is there!" Hua Qiao pointed to the water not far away.

Sure enough, a corpse was floating face down on the water, rising and falling slightly with the river, as if it was still moving.

Hu Yanjin said: "Fish her onto the boat." ”

"No, no, my lord, this is unacceptable!" Lao Qin refused repeatedly: "The boatman is the most taboo to catch the ghost who fell into the water, this is to capsize the boat." My lord, it's not that I'm ruthless, it's that the rules don't allow it. ”

As soon as Xiao Gao heard this, he began to take off his shoes, and he was about to jump into the river to catch people. Hu Yanjin stopped him, pointed to the two spare pennies on Lao Qin's boat and said, "Lao Qin, I'll buy one with you, and when you get ashore, you can buy another one." ”

Lao Qin looked at the silver ticket and reluctantly agreed.

Xiao Gao used the penny to stop the corpse that was still drifting downstream, and the corpse slowly followed the boat to the shore, and waited until someone on the shore helped pull the body to the shore, and as soon as Xiao Gao let go, he let the penny float away along the water.

Lao Qin stopped the boat and let them go ashore.

Hua Qiao walked to the corpse, and the people on the shore had already turned her over, the deceased was a woman, her whole body was not swollen, and her face was still lifelike, except for a large lump of mushroom-like foam under her nostrils.

Hua Qiao looked down and said, "Death is no more than two hours, and he drowned in the water before his death." Age...... Not more than twenty-one years of age. ”

A person next to him who was snorting melon seeds said, "This girl is so familiar!" It seems to be a ...... married in our county."

"Yes, as soon as you say it, I also remember, she is Miss Li, the daughter of Li Shoubei!"

"This family...... Iniquity......"

Everyone was poking and pointing, and several officials pushed through the crowd and walked over.

Hu Yanjin and Hua Qiao glanced at each other, silently left the crowd, and returned to the boat.

"You're so well-behaved today, don't meddle with anything?" Hu Yanjin saw that the buckwheat was depressed, so he teased her with words.

Hua Qiao pouted and said: "It's not a suspicious case, ordinary tricks can also be tested, as for the cause of drowning, whether he killed or committed suicide, that's not something that can be concluded." ”

"That's it, when you're out of the house, it's better to have more than one thing, you listen to Lao Qin's advice, don't say anything else, it's how many people drown in this Cao River all year round, can you manage it?"

"I left because someone just said that it was the daughter of the garrison, and since it is the daughter of the official family, there will be no reason to hang the case. We're an eyesore to stay. Hua Qiao said with a smile.

Hu Yanjin thought for a while and frowned and said, "No, this is Qinghe County, and I've been here before." The Qinghe garrison is not surnamed Li, so where is the garrison? Why did this girl commit suicide by jumping into the river? ”

No one could answer this question, and after being silent for a long time, Xiao Gao suddenly asked: "Girl, how did you see that she drowned and not entered the water after death?" ”

"yes, you didn't even move your hands today, and you don't have to look at the mud and sand in her body." Hu Yanjin was also a little curious.

Hua Qiao asked them seriously, "What did you see on the face of that female corpse just now?" ”

"There's something like foam...... At the mouth and nose. Hu Yanjin recalled.

Hua Qiao smiled and nodded: "The son can be taught, it's that thing."

Do you think it looks like a mushroom that grows in a damp place? This mushroom-like foam is formed by river water irritating the respiratory tract and mixing it with mucus and air from the respiratory tract. Generally, the time of death is not long, and the body will appear when it is turned over. This kind of bubble, which resembles a crab's spit, is formed when a living person breathes when entering the water. ”

"Amitabha, Amitabha! Since you are pretending to be a master, I don't call you a girl, but since you are a girl, you are not afraid of talking about this, which is really strange......" Lao Qin said while shaking the oar.

"Hey! Boatman! Wait a minute! ”

Xiao Gao, who was sitting at the stern of the boat, said, "Young master, there is someone on the shore who seems to be calling us?" ”

"Could it be just now?"

"Probably not...... I'm a little old, I carry a package, and I run quite fast. ”

Lao Qin smiled: "Don't pay attention to him, you should want to hitchhike." I took down the flag on the bow of the ship, and he didn't know that there was an officer sitting on the ship. Our boat is spacious, and there is no need to take more people. ”

"Boatman! I'm Xiucai! This year's new list of talents! Wait! ”

Hua Qiao suddenly remembered Xu Zhijin, in case Third Brother Xu was chasing others so desperately, but they ignored him, wouldn't it be very pitiful?

She said to Hu Yanjin: "Since there is a place, let's take him a ride, he is a scholar, so he chases us on the street without face, and he must have his difficulties." ”

Hu Yanjin nodded.

Lao Qin slowly brought the boat ashore.

"Are you calling us?" Lao Qin asked.

"It's not for you to call anyone!" Na Xiucai panted and propped his hands on his knees: "I've finished all my steps for a year!" ...... Boatman, where are you going? ”

"Go to the capital."

"That's just right, I'm going to the capital to catch the exam, you bring me, I can save you money."

"What money to save?" Hu Yanjin gave Xiao Gao a look, and Xiao Gao asked.

That Xiucai moved his gaze to Xiao Gao at the stern of the boat.

"You little brother doesn't inquire when he goes out, there are two kinds of people who don't charge money when they go to Caohe, one is the official master above the fourth grade, and the other is a talent like me! The emperor is sympathetic to the scholars, and the emperor's grace is mighty. ”

Xiao Gao was a little skeptical that if he kept saying "ahh

"Let him get on board." Hu Yanjin said with a smile.

When Na Xiucai got on the boat, he saw that there were two more people in the cabin, and hurriedly greeted him with a smile:

"This is the master's house, right? I'm a talent on the new list, and that's proof. I will take your boat to Shuntianfu to catch the exam, I will sleep on the boat, and you will not lose two meals for me. ”

"Oh? How can you not lose money, you will calculate it for me. Hu Yanjin asked unhurriedly.

Lao Qin shook his head with a smile and raised the sail.