The weather was suddenly cold in early October, and Lu Linghao had put on a fox fur coat before going out.

The handyman in the county office was also careful, and lit the stove in the order gallery early, so that as soon as the county order arrived, he could sencha and relieve hangover, because there was another banquet last night.

"There are only two months left for the New Year's Festival, and the festivals of the various mansions should not be neglected. Also, find me one of the most precious vessels, I am qualified to present .......

was dealing with affairs with his staff, Guo Jian hurried over and called, "Ming Mansion." ”

"It's here, it's colder than usual, let's have a bowl of hot tea first.

"Near the crossing of Yangcun Village on the Yiluo River, several fishermen picked up a corpse from the bottom of the river and sent it to the county office, and Xue Bai was interrogating...... It was Guo Ashun who died. ”

Guo Jian told the matter, picked up the tea soup on the case and took a sip unhurriedly, his eyes lit up, and he said with a smile: "The new tea in the Ming Mansion?

"Mrs. Li is guarding the tea given by someone in Jingling." Lu Linghao responded and asked, "On a cold day, why did the fisherman go to the ferry early in the morning to fish?" ”

"Someone must have bumped into it, let them fish up the corpse." Guo Jian said: "Xue Bai has found out, Guo Ashun died on the boat at the head of the canal. ”

"What? What unsightly things did they do, and as soon as Xue Bai investigated them, they immediately killed people and killed them?

"Not really, but that's all it can be."

Remember https://m in a second.

"It's getting worse and worse!" Lu Linghao said, "Kill people at every turn, and don't take me, the parent official, in his eyes." ”

"Looking at Xue Bai's posture, he should want to follow the vine.

Lu Linghao was finally annoyed, and said: "Let the Guo family come forward to bring the body back, the bitter master will not be investigated, there is no need to investigate this case....... by the way, Guo Erlang has gone to Luoyang, and he is looking for his family to take care of it." ”

"Ming Mansion look, Xue Bai will not give up."

"With his few people and doll leaders? Originally, he came to plate a layer of gold, but he wanted to be a mud bodhisattva...... It's just the same as Wang Yanxian. ”

Mortuary.

"A knife kills, ruthless and accurate."

Yin Liang opened the wound of the corpse, looked into the flesh for a while, and sighed: "It shouldn't be, almost all these things they did were put on the surface, and there was no need to extinguish them." ”

Xue Bai said: "Check, follow this matter to check the Guo family's goods." ”

"Tax." Yin Liang said: "Merchant ships are taxed when they come and go, and the county government must have a record, but it's just ...... Tocao didn't listen to Shaofu. ”

"Knock on the mountain and shake the tiger first."

Yin Liang stroked his beard and smiled, hesitated for a moment, and said in a low voice: "Shaofu still waits, wait for the back hand on the Luoyang side to arrive, so as not to jump the wall in a hurry." ”

Xue Bai nodded, feeling his own sense of proportion, and said, "We just came here before, and Song Mian from Shouyang Academy didn't believe me. Now that the trial has been going on for several days, he should know what my position is, and he can get in touch with it again. ”

"I'll go looking for him again today, and I'll wait for the two remaining cases to be opened."

"Well, let's have a meeting."

When he left the mortuary, he found that there was no errand officer in the court, and neither the bitter master nor the defendant came.

Jiang Hai said: "Ah Lang, I'll go find someone to ask." ”

"Let's go together."

Going around to the capture hall, Xue Xian was angry inside, grabbed Shiba Gou'er by the collar, pulled him down, and said:

"I let you bring the bitter Lord."

"Handsome, what can I do?

"Eat dog intestines, have you ever killed someone.....

"Ahh

Xue Bai beckoned and reminded: "Just this one person is willing to take care of you, it's useless to torture him, but it makes people think that you are in a hurry."

"Brother, I understand. But they don't listen to me, for fear of delaying your big business. ”

"Don't think about letting everyone listen to you, understand them one by one, and divide and pull them together."

Xue Bai was quite patient, taught Xue Xian how to do it, and let him try it himself.

Out of the capture hall, I happened to meet Guo Jian coming out of the order corridor.

When the two sides saluted, a cordial smile appeared on Guo Lian's round old face, and he said with a smile: "By the way, there is something to say to Xue Lang, the Ming Mansion will be sitting in the court in the near future, and Xue Lang has worked hard for this time." ”

The rules he said were correct, the county lieutenant only needed to be responsible for catching thieves, and he was not qualified to try the case in court, which was the power of the county magistrate.

The problem is that Xue Bai invited Lu Linghao to sit in the hall at the beginning, and Lu Linghao wanted to see him laugh at that time, but he didn't come. Unexpectedly, the past few days have increased Xue Bai's prestige.

At this time, it seems that although Lu Linghao has withdrawn the right to sit in the court, it is difficult to say who won and who lost in the last round.

Xue Bai laughed and responded: "Being able to share the worries of the Ming Mansion is what I should do." ”

"Xue Lang has worked hard, the old cases have been swept away, and the New Year is coming soon, so you can take a break for a while."

"Guo Lushi too, don't work too hard." Xue Bai suddenly asked, "By the way, why haven't I seen Gao Xiancheng since I came to Yanshi?" ”

The county was worried about the people and inspected the fields outside the city. ”

"This is the middle of winter? Mo accidentally went far away? ”

It is a felony for an official to leave the country without permission, and the county Cheng Gao Chong will not commit it, Guo Jian said: "Don't worry, it's in the territory of Yanshi." ”

It has been said that the acres of land in the middle of winter are not very good-looking, and the only things worth seeing in Yanshi County are the Luo River and the Yi River.

The relationship between the county officials of Yanshi suddenly cooled, just like the weather in early October.

For a while, all the papers were no longer sent to Xue Bai, and all the officials and servants no longer dared to talk to Xue Bai.

Xue Bai and Yin Liang sat in the corridor for a while, and they both smiled bitterly.

"Presumably this is what County Lieutenant Wang tasted back then?" Yin Liang said, "Salute first and then soldier." ”

"You can see that we have stepped on their tails." Xue Bai said: "They are a net, each line is connected to each other, and as soon as the Guo family's line is pulled, it will naturally be tightened." ”

Yin nodded and said with some concern: "However, I saw that they isolated us, and no one came to help." ”

"Yes, it is impossible for Wang Yanxian not to have a good relationship in Yanshi, but they don't have confidence in us yet...... Patience and waiting"

"Since there is no case, I'll go to Shouyang Academy."

Yin Liang got up, and didn't forget to advise: "Shaofu is not in a hurry to check the tax documents, when it comes to this matter, they really dare to kill."

"Don't worry, I'll go to the county."

Xue Baizhen didn't go to Hucao, changed into an ordinary robe, left the county office, and went to Nanshi to shop.

He seemed to be aimless, but in fact, he went around in a circle, and the destination was the Guo family's slave tooth line.

Guo Ashun is just a domestic servant, in or not, the slave tooth shop can still operate in an orderly manner, this afternoon, there is a Kunlun slave standing outside the door of the store chopping wood, the action is a board and a glance, at a glance, it is a gentle personality, hard-working slave; Inside the store, a Persian Ji is dancing, revealing her snow-white slender belly, and her slender fingers are on her navel.

Xue Bai stopped, only looked at it for a moment, and a delicate and lovely Silla maid ran out and grabbed his sleeve.

"Lang Jun, can you help me?"

"Is it okay to buy me home? I can do anything....."

The girl speaks not fluently, with an exotic atmosphere. With a pleading expression, his eyes were full of anticipation, and he shook Xue Bai's sleeve. In this cold weather, she was dressed very thinly, the skin on her shoulders could be blown and broken, her figure was clearly petite and exquisite, but the colored silk was very full.

Jiang Hai didn't pity the jade, put his ugly face with a scar up, and scolded: "Don't let it go yet?!" ”

"Whew"

Silla was so frightened that tears flashed in her eyes, and she hid to the side pitifully, staring at Xue Bai all the time.

The kind-hearted Nuya Lang came out of the store and walked with a smile on his face.

In an instant, Xue Bai thought of a lot of things, if he asked the price, the money he brought would definitely not be enough, so he had to put on the style of a county lieutenant, and today he claimed to have saved people, but he was unconsciously bought by the other party.

Guo Wanjin, a huge rich, is very willing to spend money to buy the powerful.

Without waiting for the Nuya Lang to get closer, Xue Bai took Jiang Hai and walked away.

"Do they recognize me, or do they see that I have money?"

Jiang Hai grinned and said, "Maybe it's because Ah Lang is handsome, and he looks amorous." ”

While talking, the two of them went out of Nanshi and walked east, following the city wall is a mixed dwelling.

"Ah Lang, are you gone?" Jiang Hai whispered: "Someone is following Ah Lang." ”

"Scared?"

If it was Lao Liang, he couldn't be provoked by such a simple situation, Jiang Hai was different, and he really followed Xue Bai into the narrow alley.

The road was getting narrower and narrower, and the path in the middle of the broken wall could only accommodate one person, and the ground was full of filth and smelly.

"Huh?"

Jiang Hai suddenly smiled, because he saw a small figure, it turned out that it was Ren Mulan who was following them.

"Are you still going to sue?" Xue Bai asked.

"No complaints."

Ren Mulan shook her head, not daring to get too close to them, like a vigilant wild cat.

Xue Bai patiently asked, "Do you have something to say to me?" ”

Ren Mulan nodded.

"Hungry?"

"Hungry."

Xue Bai didn't bring anyone home, found a small stall, and asked for a few Hu cakes and three bowls of mutton noodle soup.

Ren Mulan was like a tiger pounced on food, and her cheeks never stopped.

"Eat slowly."

Finally, she poured the last mouthful of mutton soup, swallowed the cake in her mouth, and wiped the crumbs on the table with her dirty hands and licked them.

"What's the matter, tell me."

Ren Mulan didn't say anything, just looked at the remaining Hu cakes on the table, and when Xue Bai said "yours", she stuffed it into her arms.

After taking the cake, she immediately got up and took a few steps back, keeping a distance from Jiang Hai, and was also a little wary of Xue Bai, as if she was not familiar with it.

That's how she was able to escape from Guo Ashun's hands.

was ready to run away at any time, and then she said: "County Lieutenant Wang didn't commit suicide, don't you care?" ”

"Tube." Xue Bai said: "In Luoyang, you handed over the note?"

Ren Mulan didn't care what he asked, she only said what she knew, and said: "It rained heavily that night, our roof was smashed, and we went out to hide from the rain, and found Brother A Yi by the canal, he was cut down and seriously injured. ”

"Wang Yi, the retinue of County Lieutenant Wang?"

Ren Mulan nodded and said, "Someone is chasing him, we hid him, found him medicine, he went to Chang'an to complain, did you find him?" ”

"Who's after him?"

"I don't know, I know this, did he find it?"

"Sort of, you say, 'who are you'?"

"We are who we are."

Ren Mulan said what she was going to say, and turned around to leave with the Hu Cake in her arms, but Xue Bai said to the stall owner behind her: "Twenty more Hu Cakes." ”

The cake is freshly baked, and the stall owner is an old man, kneading the dough and occasionally adding a little water.

Looking at the water in the black yellow wooden spoon, Xue Bai frowned, turned his back, and didn't see it.

Ren Mulan looked at it very seriously, staring at a ball of noodles being pinched out, kneaded round, flattened, sprinkled with sesame seeds, and "snapped" and pasted on the stove...... When she smelled the fragrance slightly, she was not so vigilant.

"My grandfather has studied, but he can't even pass the Xianggong exam, and it costs too much money to study, and one volume of notes is enough for the family to eat for two years. That year, Ruzhou was hit by a disaster, he took me to escape the famine, said that he was going north to join a rich friend of his, he starved to death in Songshan, I carried the last half of the cake, followed the villagers to Luoyang, to Yanshi I can't walk. ”

"At first, they didn't release grain, and those who had wives and children were sold, but later they heard that the Yellow River had sunk the boat, and the government hired foot force to transport grain to Chang'an by land, so they went. Many of the refugees came, died, sold, left, and were so old that they couldn't walk and lay at the base of the wall, and we, the orphans who were not sold, were adopted by Captain Wang to the nursing ......."

Xue Bai had heard of the Sick Workshop, the full name was "Sadness Sick Workshop", which was originally a temple to relieve the poor and sick, and set up a sick workshop in the temple. After the martial arts, officials were set up to manage, or fields were given to relieve the old, sick and orphans with the harvest, or the capital was given and the interest was given. In short, it is governmental, and the monks are in charge.

Generally speaking, a nursing workshop gives five to ten hectares of land, which can already provide relief to the ordinary orphaned and elderly.

"You're still in the susurium?

"No, after County Lieutenant Wang got sick, Guo Ashun came to rob people, and we ran out, and it didn't take long for County Lieutenant Wang to die."

"Was he sick before he died?"

"Brother Ayi said that they originally wanted him to die of illness slowly, but something happened to Chang'an and hacked him to death."

Ren Mulan was quite hard-hearted, and when she said who died, her expression didn't change.

Seeing her like this, Jiang Hai couldn't help asking, "What about your aunt?" ”

"It's long gone."

At this time, the fragrant Hu cake came out of the oven, and the reed leaves could not wrap more than twenty cakes, and the stall owner reluctantly took a piece of burlap to wrap it.

Ren Mulan got an extra piece of cloth, and couldn't help but be overjoyed, so she ran away with her baggage.

On the way, a piece of cake fell out of the tear in her clothes in her arms, and she quickly turned around and picked it up, patted it, and held it in her mouth.

Xue Bai still followed Jiang Hai and took a look.

It was a place in the southeast of the city that was not a house, the original two families were fugitives, the house was bought by a small merchant, for the boatman to live, between the earthen walls of the two houses was originally a pigsty, built a shed, and lived seven children, large and small.

"Qu Shuai is back."

"Look what I've brought back."

The so-called "Qu Shuai" is probably the name of the rogue hero for the leader, and some thieves call the leader like this, and there are even 36 Qu Shuai of the Yellow Turban, in short, they are gangsters.

How did these children survive, Xue Bai knew at a glance that including Ren Mulan, were all pickpockets who stole things on the dock.

According to his duty as a county lieutenant, they should all be arrested and brought to justice.

Jiang Hai sneered and scolded: "Eat dog intestines, I went to the government to report the case a few days ago, it turned out to be a petty thief." ”

"Let's go."

Xue Bai looked at the sky and took Jiang Hai back to the official office.

At this time, many officials had already gone to the office, and there were only sparse officials in the Liucao public house, and the county order, record, and master book were not there.

Liu Yan is an old man in Hucao, and he was holding the key to lock the account room, when one hand suddenly reached over and grabbed the key.

"Ah, county lieutenant?"

"Look at the tax book."

Liu Yan was also straightforward, and said with a long sigh: "What can be placed in this Cao household is not very important." It really matters, and the county lieutenant can't see it. What's the meaning of embarrassing a little old man? ”

Xue Bai laughed when he heard this, and said, "Don't embarrass you." ”

Jiang Hai immediately "snapped" and slammed the table and scolded: "Eat dog intestines!" Can't the county lieutenant even read the booklet? ”

Liu Yan was startled, and the key in his hand fell to the ground.

Xue Bai leaned over and picked it up and said, "Go ahead, I was robbed by the county lieutenant." ”

"It's really ..... alas, take your leave.

Liu Yan was very unlucky, and secretly scolded the county lieutenant for doing things like this, who can be convinced.

So far, although Xue Bai has analyzed a lot and even thinks that many facts are clear, there is no conclusive evidence.

The evidence should be on the ledger.

He opened the lattice door and took a look, and there really wasn't any important booklet on Tocao's side.

Tax Book, Colour Service Book, Seedling Book, and Harvest Book...... There are none, but there are income and expenditure books of the county office within half a year, and the deed of private sales and acres of land is kept in the file, etc.

Xue Bai also unexpectedly found an account book that recorded the income and expenditure of foot money, he flipped through it for a while, suddenly realized that something was wrong, and turned it back again.

Because he found that two pages had been torn out of it.

Looking at other account books, after searching for a long time, he found a missing page.

It shouldn't be done by the county officials, rather than tearing it up like this, it's better to make fake accounts directly.

That's ...... Wang Yanxian tore it away? He found out that something was wrong, no wonder they were going to burn all the paperwork in his study.

In this way, the evidence that has been sorted out should be gone.

But not necessarily.

Xue Bai suddenly thought that if the person who handed the note in Luoyang was Wang Yanxian, the servant Wang Yi who escaped and hidden, he was so cautious, could it be that he was hiding key evidence?