The prison door was opened, and Wang Xu stood in place, his mouth slightly open, and he looked at Gongsun Changmu with a stunned expression. I thought I was going to die, but I didn't want to be promoted again. It's inexplicable. At this moment, he really wanted to ask Ji Lan, what happened?

A group of officials rushed into the cell and invited him out. All kinds of congratulatory voices are endless.

"Congratulations to Suno Zai!"

"He was knighted at such a young age. The future of Suno Zai is immeasurable. ”

The doctor is a knighthood, divided into three classes: upper and lower. Corresponding to different titles, the monarch will give the population of the food to support the meritorious ministers.

Wang Xu was pushed out of the prison by everyone. The bright light was a little harsh, and he couldn't help but close his eyes. Take a deep breath in the cool scent of autumn.

After being locked up in a dark dungeon for many days, Wang Xu was used to the musty and disgusting smell. At this time, he regained his freedom, as if he had seen the world cold. I suddenly felt detached and sudden in my heart, and even the air I breathed felt fresh and hard-won.

At this moment, the drums sounded in his ears, and a servant read aloud the gift list given by the king.

"The king rewarded the doctor, one hundred stones, one hundred stones, twenty taels of gold, ten servants and maids, and one Meiji..."

Wang Xu looked at the people in the courtyard and the camphor wood boxes on the ground in disbelief, as if in a dream.

At the same time, another person had the same expression. However, instead of people and gifts, he saw corpses all over the ground. Just in the wasteland between Yunmeng and Chaoge, more than sixty naked male corpses were stacked together, shocking. These people have been dead for a while, although it is late autumn and the ground is freezing, but the frequent autumn rains have caused the corpses to slowly decompose.

After being stunned, Pang Zhong covered his mouth and nose with a sackcloth and walked quickly to the corpse pile. Waving his hand at his subordinates, he commanded:

"Autopsy!"

This time, he brought one or two servants from the Sikou Mansion to assist the royal city guards in investigating the case of Wei Chang's disappearance. At first, he was very puzzled why the king cared so much about this unknown family leader. Now in addition to admiration, it is shocking.

With the assistance of the soldiers, the bodies were lined up. The servants hurriedly began to examine the corpses. Pang Zhong walked around the corpse and recognized the housekeeper named Wei Chang at a glance.

Although the corpse's face showed some signs of decay, the pale face and the long hair on the cheeks were particularly striking. He endured the stench, walked to Wei Chang's body, and leaned over to take a closer look.

After a long time, he frowned. Continue to look at the corpse next to you. Suddenly, Pang Zhong straightened up suddenly, walked briskly to the side, and walked quickly along the corpses lined up, his eyes scanned rapidly, and the speed became faster and faster.

The brigade commander of the forbidden army saw that he was in such a hurry, so he followed.

"Uncle Zhong Yin has made a discovery?"

Pang Zhong nodded. Leaned over and lifted the body lying on its side to its feet. The corpse was a little limp but able to sit firmly on the ground.

"Hai Brigade Shuai! Don't you think it's strange that you've been in battle for a long time? ”

The other party walked into Pang Zhong, bent down, and lifted one of the corpse's legs. The man's body immediately toppled over. The officer looked at the heel of the corpse. Road:

"This man was stabbed to death in his sleep. He's struggled, and you see the heel is worn out. ”

The officer seemed to be very experienced.

"Hmmm! It looks like he's been dead for about seven days. Then look at the wound again. ”

Pang Zhong lifted the body up. The officer then drew his sword and pointed it at the neck of the corpse.

"Strange!"

Then, after the two compared more than a dozen corpses in this way, Pang Zhong spoke:

"This is a sword wound, but the blade is very thin, unlike the usual short caries, what kind of blade can cause such a slender incision?"

The officer's eyes tilted to the upper left. Suddenly:

"Yue Ren!"

Pang Zhong looked at the other party in confusion, and the officer explained:

"The sword of the Yue people is three feet long, and it can cause a ci incision."

At this moment, the chief officer ran over in a panic and hugged his fists at the two.

"My lord! There is a discovery! ”

Then, leading them to the other side, he walked quickly. Three horrific corpses were singled out and placed aside. The chief officer was busy reporting the results of the autopsy to Pang Zhong and the others.

"Look, my lord! The corpse had a sunken face and several fingerprints. The murderer's strength was so amazing that he crushed the man's cheekbones. ”

Pang Zhong's gaze stayed on the corpse's neck. The flesh was blurry there, and it looked like the dead had been hit more than once. So much so that his neck was about to break. He frowned and crouched down.

Imagine that the murderer kills someone, and in order to kill with one blow, it is understandable to choose the neck of the other party. But one blow missed, and he actually stabbed multiple swords in a row. This is completely illogical. The deceased was not a fool, he stood there like a stake, waiting for the other to stab. When a normal murder misses a blow, the murderer's reaction must be decisive to cut off the opponent's head with a sword. How could it be so cruel?

While Pang Zhong was pondering, the officer said:

"The murderer chose to stab the opponent in the throat head-on, presumably with extraordinary martial arts. Could it be that the Yue people died? ”

Pang Zhong's body froze.

The officer's is quite reasonable. In a fight to the death, unless you are absolutely sure, who will choose to start with a narrow throat? Unless the murderer's martial arts have been mastered to the point of completely ignoring the opponent. It was not evident from the other corpses that the men had been slashed by a sword in an unsuspecting state. And these three corpses clearly saw the appearance of the murderer before they died.

Immediately after, something disgusting happened. The officer and the chief officer almost retched. I saw Pang Zhong poke out two fingers, put them into the throat of the deceased, and groped back and forth in it. Then he touched the necks of the other two corpses.

Pang Zhong felt that this thing was too weird. If the murderer misses the blow, the deceased will surely cry out for help. There are only two explanations for the terrible wounds. One is that those people were killed first, and these three were the last to die. The second is that these three people were killed directly, and there was no room for crying for help. Otherwise, one of the rao faces will not leave fingerprints. Judging from the angle of the fingers, the murderer's palm was holding the deceased's chin and crushing the cheekbones of the other party with his index finger and ring finger. The murderer did this clearly to cover the deceased's mouth and prevent it from making a sound.

Pang Zhong stood up and looked back at the officer. Although the other party has experienced a battle formation and killed countless people, when he saw Pang Zhong doing such a disgusting thing, his hands were covered with sticky blood, it was already terrifying.

Pang Zhong stretched out his fingers that were glued together and said with a smile:

"They were wounded by arrows. The murderer is trying to hide people's eyes. ”

The officer hurriedly looked at him and exclaimed.

"Feather!"

Feathers as thin as hair stained Pang Zhong's fingers. It dawned on the officer. Road:

"I see. The murderer destroyed the neck of the corpse in order to remove the arrows. ”

Then he became confused again. Why bother so much just to take away the arrows? Can you break the arrow, pull the ends out, and still leave no clues? Besides, leaving a feather arrow didn't help the case in the slightest. What the hell are they hiding? Pang Zhong smiled and said:

"I'm afraid the murderer is careless. He was clever enough to push the arrow into the throat of the deceased, so that it could be quickly removed. Unexpectedly, this feather was left. ”

The officer's eyes lit up.

"Not bad!"

A moment frowned again.

"But why take the arrows?"

Pang Zhong continued:

"There's only one possibility. Arrows will reveal their identity. Didn't you see that this arrow had an arrow? ”

At this time, the arrows used in the army did not have arrowheads. Shooting arrows with bronze casting arrows is no different from shooting money. It is precisely because of this that the head of the arrow is too light, and it can only shoot a distance of 200 paces, and the effective killing distance is less than 80 meters. Feathered arrows with arrows were generally used by nobles for hunting, or were equipped with the lord's personal guards. Casting arrows in bronze was a luxury, and the entire patriotic army was not equipped with such arrows.

The officer was startled. Lost voice:

"Dead soldiers of the Yue Kingdom!"

Then, he clenched his fists, a little nervous.

"I heard that Fan Li was stabbed to death not long ago. Because of this, Song Hou investigated the matter and closed the country to arrest the murderer. Later, the gang was driven to Cao Di and fled north. It is very likely that it has already entered the territory of our country. ”

After the Song State destroyed Cao, it bordered the Wei State. If those dead soldiers of the Yue Kingdom go north, they will definitely enter the country. The two of them couldn't help but sweat at the same time.

They are all Goujian's people, and Nanwang Goujian is the overlord of the Spring and Autumn Period. Even if they committed murder in the defense of the country, they were helpless. In case of a crime due to a flaw, it will lead more people to cut down. Won't the defense of the country repeat the tragic incident of eight years ago?

Pang Zhong sighed and said:

"It's a big deal, so it's safer. It is foolish to think that you and I will each lead two soldiers and horses and track down the wilderness road. The commander of the brigade went south, and on the next road to the north. Leave a soldier here and search the vicinity, preferably to find the place where the accident occurred on the night of the crime. I don't know what the handsome man thinks? ”

The bodies were stripped naked, and it was clear that the killer was preparing to disguise himself as a cover-up. Pang Zhong knew earlier that Wei Chang was accompanied by six carriages and a large amount of goods. None of these things are there. He guessed that these gangsters would hide somewhere if they had food, and Zheng waited for the limelight to pass, and then sold the horses and goods. From the current situation, it is very likely that those people went north to Qicheng. Because that's the best place to sell stolen goods. After doing these things, he will be able to infiltrate the caravan to Yue as a guard, and he will be able to escape from the country without realizing it.

It's late autumn now, and if it's not bad, the murderer's whereabouts should be traced within a few days. Because caravans do not come and go in winter. The murderer wanted to escape by the last train, and there was only one chance.

Pang Zhong was confident in his judgment. He loved this country very much, and he would never allow those Vietnamese people to undermine the stability of the country. The reason why he supported the officer was that he saw that the other party had scruples and had no intention of fighting. And he, Pang Zhong, will not be merciful to those Yue people. He summoned the chief officer and instructed:

"You quickly go back to Si Kou's Mansion and send someone here to collect the corpse. An obituary was then issued informing the relatives of the deceased to claim the body. Remember! Transcription is recorded. Especially the three terrible deaths. If necessary, detention or torture may also be imposed. ”

Subsequently, the chief officer left the ranks, escorted by two non-commissioned officers. Pang Zhong led a group of horses and horses to chase quickly towards the north.

The picture returns to Yunmeng, just a quarter of an hour ago, the door of the lobby of the Nozai Mansion was gently closed by a woman with a beautiful figure. Gongsun Changmu and Wang Xu sat down in the main and guest seats, the hall was silent, and the atmosphere became strange. Gongsun Changmu branched out all his subordinates, but Wang Xu was left to accompany the beautiful Ji given by the marquis.

After the woman served two bowls of hot soup, Gongsun Changmu slowly opened his mouth.

"Doctor! Taste this incense. ”

Wang Xu picked up the tea bowl in confusion.

I saw that the soup in the bowl was yellow and bright, and the soaked leaves were flat and straight, the color was tender yellow, and the buds were exposed. Suddenly, it turned out to be tea. At this time, people used to call Xiangming as Xiangjing.

Wang Xu was overjoyed, it was the first time he tasted tea in this era. It's just that the porcelain bowl used to taste always feels weird. Then he took a sip and said in surprise:

"Blindfolded?"

Gongsun Changmu was very surprised and put down the tea bowl.

"Oh? Does Suno know this tea? ”

Because tea is extremely precious in spring and autumn. Only the nobles in the Bashu tea country will drink tea, and the people of the Central Plains, known as the state of etiquette, rarely have the opportunity to touch tea. Even if you get some tea occasionally, you only use it as an offering for sacrifice. That's why the priest was so surprised.

Wang Xu drank this green tea. However, he only knew that this tea was picked from Mengding Mountain. The rest is unknown. He shook his head and looked at the other. Only then did the old man restrain his surprised expression and explained with a smile:

"This tea originates from Bashu. According to legend, when Shennong tasted a hundred herbs, he accidentally found that after the martial king Keyin, he took the land of Bashu. This tea flowed into the Central Plains. ”

"Master Si Shi is erudite and humbly taught."

"Wei Xu! Your Excellency treats you so well. Do you know what that means? ”

The old man suddenly called him by his name, obviously not treating him as an outsider.

"Please make it clear."

didn't dare to refute the other party's kindness, Wang Xu hurriedly called out to the adult.

"Hahaha."

The old man laughed a few times and dipped his finger in the tea bowl. Then on the bronze case, the dragon flew and the phoenix danced and wrote four big characters. Immediately afterwards, he shook the sleeves of his robe and got up and walked towards Wang Xu.

Wang Xu hurriedly got up and made a gesture, and the old man patted him on the shoulder a few times. Channel:

"This woman's name is Zijing, don't live up to the king's good intentions."

"Don't dare!"

The other party turned to Wang Xu and waved his hand, signaling him not to follow. Then there was another burst of laughter, and the old man pushed the door open. Wang Xu hurriedly walked to the side of the bronze case. I saw that on the smooth desktop, there were four big words written "the monarchy is the most important". His eyes suddenly froze and he shuddered.

At this time, the woman named Zijing walked quickly to Wang Xu's side, knelt down on her knees, folded her hands on the ground, and gently bowed her head. His forehead rested on the back of his hand, motionless.

The woman is very good-looking, wearing a pink dress. When bowing, the skirt is spread flat on the ground and spreads out in all directions, like a bright peony.

Wang Xu knew that this matter was a big problem. It is understandable that he was appreciated by the monarch and bestowed wealth on his subordinates. However, the nature of both sending people and beauties is obviously not appreciation but co-optation, and perhaps there is also a sense of surveillance. He wondered very much, Ji Lan's rebellion was extremely secret, why was it discovered by the king? Master Sishi mentioned it so clearly, if he could see what Wei Hou meant, he would basically live to the end. Wang Xu is a concubine, and he just wants to live a peaceful and stable life, and he doesn't want to be heard by the princes. But they don't want to be involved in this and wrong, and it is difficult to predict whether it will be a blessing or a curse.

He sighed lightly, looked at the woman who bowed respectfully, and after a long time, he said slowly:

"Get up! What is your name? ”

"! Qiu Youshi, Zijing. ”

Subsequently, Qiu Youzijing revealed his origin to Wang Xu. The woman was fifteen years old, was captured by the war, and was later placed in the female lu of Chaoge. Because of her delicate face, at the age of ten, she was selected by a female official to become a dancing girl, learn song and dance etiquette, and listen to it in the priest's mansion.

At this time, the dancing girl was assigned by the government to participate in various social activities among nobles. They were given as gifts, either by the royal family to meritorious ministers or by foreign magnates to strengthen diplomatic relations. If you are lucky, you are favored by the lord's family, and being accepted as a concubine is to fly on the branch and become a phoenix. And if they are unlucky, they will be given to and from the master's family, and when they are old and decrepit, they will be reduced to slaves and maids engaged in heavy labor. However, this kind of fate is also something that many people can't ask for. At least to survive. To the extent that Israel serves people and has no worries about food and clothing. And those women who are in the women's lure have no hope for their entire lives.

"Hey! It's all poor people. From now on, you will follow Madame. ”

Qiu Youzi was crying.

"Do you dislike your servant?"

Wang Xu shook his head.

"The servant is a gift from the king, please take the servant as a concubine. To thank Jun'en. ”

Wang Xu rolled his eyes and thought.

"Uh... It doesn't have to be so obvious to send someone to monitor, right? Ay! ”

Then he helped the woman to her feet and scratched her head. A little embarrassed:

"I... Henpecked. ”

Qiu Youzi Jing raised his eyebrows, blinked his eyes, and asked:

"Doesn't the eldest mother allow adults to take concubines?"

"Po" is generally referred to as a woman. "Eldest mother" refers to the grandmother. The woman thinks that this "wife" is once, and it should be understood in this way.

Wang Xu coughed dryly.

"Ahem... Cough... Fear of guilt. ”