Pu Mu visited the three of them and talked in detail about the harvest of the past few days and his plans in the Dragon Mother Temple.

Chen Renhai said: "Since the important members of the Five Lakes and Three Gangs are ready to be arrested, what should Governor Liu do in this prison? What he knows is the same as what we knew before, and it seems that there is no trace to be dug up. ”

"I've been thinking about it these days, what kind of contact do they rely on, the prince is far away in the capital, and I think there must be some means to contact them, will there be no horses left?"

Tang Tune Guan said: "The lower officials have searched the governor's residence, except for some forbidden goods and treasure silver tickets, there are no letters and notes, I think it has been destroyed a long time ago." ”

"Yes, even if he finds a letter and wants to check the handwriting, with the shrewdness of the prince, he will never write it himself, he can find someone to write it for him. And those who wrote the letter would not have survived even after writing it, if they were not his cronies. Chen Renhai said.

"Lord Tang, can there be carrier pigeons in the official residence and this mansion?" asked Pu Mu.

Tang Tune Guan said: "Xia Guan has checked two places, but he has never seen carrier pigeons, and there are no traces of even raising carrier pigeons. ”

"I've been thinking about it here for a long time without any results, so it's better to go directly to interrogate Governor Liu. Li Defei said.

Tang Tune Guan said: "Lord Li, the lower official has asked Governor Liu how to contact him before this, and he said that most of the letters were sent by several shopkeepers of the Five Lakes and Three Gangs Chamber of Commerce, and only a few sporadic letters were sent by the official post. And he himself was also looking for people from the Five Lakes and Three Gangs to contact his superiors. ”

Pu Mu asked, "Lord Tang, can you ask which official post it is?"

"This Dongting Mansion is unique, and the lower officials did not send anyone to investigate in order not to startle the snake, but only waited for a few adults to come and decide. Tang said to the official.

Pu Mu sent one of the partial generals he brought to come, and the partial general said, "What does Commander Pu command?"

Pu Mu said: "You send a few soldiers to send a letter, just say that the governor sent it to the same place, and then write down the name." ”

Chen Renhai continued: "This is the governor's private seal, take it together-"

The general replied to the order, and immediately went out of the court to do things according to Pu Mu's order.

"I'll write down where I'm sending it, and I'll know where to look. Pu Mu said.

Chen Renhai said: "At present, it is better to arrest the people of the Three Gangs of the Five Lakes first, judging from the confession words of Governor Liu, it seems that the Three Gangs have a closer connection with the prince, if they can be captured alive in the shopkeeper, I think there will be more clues in the future." ”

Tang Tune Officer wanted to speak and stopped, Pu Mu saw this, and said, "If Lord Tang has anything to say, you might as well say it directly." ”

"Ladies and gentlemen, the lower officials are thinking that the official money has been recovered, and the officials involved in the case have also been arrested...... According to the humble opinion of the lower officials, at present, they can only return to Beijing to resume their lives after the leaders of the Five Lakes and Three Gangs and the state and county officials involved in the case are arrested. The matter of the prince is still not thoroughly investigated......" Tang said the official.

Pu Mu said: "What does Lord Tang mean by this, you might as well elaborate." ”

"The matter of the prince is not sure of the matter, and it is too involved. I think Lord Chen also knows that the prince of Dingnan originally sent me and others to inquire about the palace guards, and the guards have confessed, and the emperor determined that the two people are the personal guards of the three princes after the secret interrogation, but the emperor did not pursue it, which shows the emperor's attitude towards this matter. A few adults want to finally ask for an explanation, but it's better to be confused. Tang said to the official.

Pu Mu said: "Lord Tang has been engaged in prison for many years, do you really believe that this matter was done by the third prince?"

Tang Tune Guan smiled: "The lower officials are confused, and I ask the adults for advice." ”

"No matter which prince it is, judging from his design to obstruct us from entering Beijing, his plan is meticulous, and if it weren't for our luck, I would have died in the middle of the road. And with such a meticulous mind and no exposure, everyone doesn't know which prince he is, and such a person would send his own personal guards to act?"

Chen Renhai said: "What Brother Pu said is extremely true, the emperor does not speak, but the evidence is insufficient, and you can't easily doubt your own flesh and blood." ”

Tang Tune Guan sighed: "Hey, the adults have reasoned wisely, and when it comes to these, the lower officials are really not as good as a few adults." can talk about the way of being an official, and the lower officials are more familiar with the road than the adults, but after so many years, they are also walking on thin ice. Why has the most important official involved in the case investigated by the Criminal Department in recent years only been the governor? First, it is because the Shangshu, the waiter, and the rest of the important officials of the Sixth Department have indeed had no bad deeds, and second, many of the officials involved in the case have been involved in some matters in the palace behind the scenes. When the three adults came to the capital, they were all obstructed, and the lower officials remembered that the three adults recommended Dingnan Prince, Zuo Xiang, and Li Daxue respectively, so why did Zuo Xiang and Li Daxue not pursue it? Only Dingnan Wang Ye invited the emperor to come up for a secret interrogation, because after the incident was really discovered, if the prince retracted his confession, the prince of Dingnan could bear it for the royal family, and the other two adults were courtiers, and they were the ones who suffered. As far as the prison in which the subordinate is engaged, the subordinate wants to know who is behind the scenes, but as far as the subordinate himself is concerned, even if the subordinate knows about it, he will forget it. This is the words of the lower officials, and the words are contrary to the ears, my lords, this is all the officials can say. ”

"Advice is good for deeds...... Lord Tang, I don't think it's as good as this, you lead the arresters of the Dongting Mansion Patrol House to escort Guanyin back to Beijing by water, and inform the emperor that we are here to arrest the officials involved in the case and the leaders of the three gangs. Pu Mu said.

Tang transferred the official back to the order, and then got up and left the palace - Chen Renhai told him where the official money was.

Li Defei said: "After hearing these words, can the two of you waver?"

Chen Renhai said: "If I were also walking on thin ice, I am afraid I would understand, but I don't know how cold the water is under his feet?"

These words were not so much a good word of advice to us as a sign that he was bent on distancing himself from us. Pu Mu said.

Li Defei nodded and said, "No matter what the emperor decides in the end, will the two of you regret not listening to what Tang Tuan said today?" ”

The three of them did not reply, and they all looked at each other and smiled.

Speaking of the rivers, the setting sun shines on the water surface of the main river road outside Yueyang City in the Dongting waters. At this time, smoke had risen from the fishing villages scattered along the banks of the river outside the city, and the sailors of the rivers and rivers would get off the boat to search for each mountain, and the mountains beside a waterway had been searched, but there was no gain. Wang Yu stood on the bow of the boat, with a red dragon at his waist, and held a mixed iron chain in his hand, and searched for a day without results, so he had to return to Yueyang City to temporarily repair, and after nightfall, he searched along another waterway.

"Commander Wang, dinner has been sent out of the garrison of Yueyang City, and a stall for dinner has been set up outside the city. "You will report in the future.

Wang Yu said: "You wait to get off the boat first to eat, and go in batches in turns, someone must be stationed on the ship." I haven't inspected the fishing village outside the city yet, I'll go there first, you wait here, if there is anything I will signal to you. ”

The general replied to the order, and ordered all the sailors to disembark in batches and go to the outside of the city for dinner.

Wang Yu got off the boat and walked all the way from the river beach outside the city to the fishing village there. The fishing village is not far from the river beach directly outside the city, and in the corner of the river beach are a number of houses, and there are more than a dozen fishing boats, all of which are close to the shore. Wang Yu walked to the village, there are about twenty families in the village, all of them are cooking behind closed doors, Wang Yu turned around, and felt that there was nothing unusual, but it was very strange, the dozen or so fishing boats seemed to be very familiar, I don't know where I had seen them.

Wang Yu went to the water's edge and looked at those fishing boats carefully, and then it became clear: these fishing boats were exactly the same as the boats that were traveling when he secretly visited Jingxiang and Yueyang a few days ago. Wang Yu held the chain tightly at this time, looked back at the houses, and saw an old man walking out of the door, the old man saw Wang Yu at the water's edge and holding a weapon, a little panicked, quickly ran into the house, was caught by Wang Yu, the old man shouted, "A good man spares his life——"

This shout called out all the rest of the families, and when they saw Wang Yu, they all knelt down and said, "Please spare your life...... I haven't broken the contract—"

Wang Yu immediately picked up the old man and said, "You all get up—I don't know what you are talking about?" Everyone got up in doubt, and Wang Yu asked, "Who are the 'good men' in your mouth?"

One of the villagers said, "I don't even know who you are, so why should I tell you?"

"Yes, I don't know if you are good or bad? I can't afford to provoke poor fishermen like me, and the officials come to bully and the bandits. ”

Wang Yu said: "I am a person who can govern officials and bandits. ”

The villagers would not have believed him completely, but they looked at him before a voice came out of the crowd, "How can we believe what you say?"

Wang Yu took out the red dragon with one hand and threw it directly, and the strength created by the red dragon directly shook the two fishing boats docked on the river beach, and after a splash jumped, one of the fishing boats directly overturned.

Seeing this, all the villagers knelt down and said, "If the hero can save us from fire and water, we will definitely mold the golden body of the hero, build a temple, and praise merit......

Wang Yu said: "Why do you only kneel? Get up - tell me quickly, what is all this?"

The old man stepped forward and said: "The hero doesn't know, I and other people in the fishing village have always taken the Dongting waters of Yueyang City as a fisherman, and there are good fishermen among us, all of whom are experts who are familiar with water, and then there are dignitaries from the Five Lakes and Three Gangs, saying that they are doing shipping with them, which is the way to make money." In addition, they gave us a silver ticket to sell us all the woodland and fishing boats in the mountains. In this way, I did get some money at that time, and some young men went with them to go on a boat, but then they were all gone, and I went to inquire with the Chamber of Commerce, and the Chamber of Commerce said that they had gone to the sea. But after a long time, I didn't come back, and I waited for the villagers to wonder if something happened to them, and then a chamber of commerce came to tell me that the people in our fishing village were all lost in the shipwreck. As a result, there are only a few old and weak women and children and a few young people left in our fishing villages, and there is no labor and no fishing, and second, there are no mountains and forests, and there is no land. Later, the village sensibly went to reason with the Chamber of Commerce, and wanted to ask the Chamber of Commerce to return the land, although the three gangs said that we and the name of the village could make up the money for funeral expenses, but the money was not allocated, and we sent people to the Chamber of Commerce to ask for it, but they sued the Yueyang Mansion Yazhong, saying that we gathered people to make trouble, and the prefect actually sentenced us to make trouble and fined us and others. In this way, the days are worse and worse day by day, and even my old bones have to go to the river to catch fish......"

Speaking of this, the old man was already in tears, and several old women beside him also cried. Wang Yu immediately stopped and said, "What about after that?"

"After that, life was tight, but now three gangs of people have come to make trouble. Just a few days ago, some people claiming to be members of the Yellow Lion Society came and invaded our houses, drove them to the mountains to live, and if they didn't obey, they were killed and thrown into the river. Someone came up to reason with them, and they threw them into the river and drowned. I didn't dare to resist, so they drove me into the mountains. The old man continued.

Although Wang Yu thought that the people of the three gangs would hide in the shadows by themselves so that they could not track them down, he never imagined that these people would dare to coerce the unarmed and honest fishermen in front of them, and they were still fishermen who had been trapped by them. Sure enough, those who are used to being oppressed by them, they feel that they should not resist. Wang Yu sighed, but he also had doubts about the words of the old man, if they were driven to the mountain, then why were they cooking here now?

Wang Yu asked, "Uncle, you just said that they drove you to the mountain, why are you at the bottom of the mountain at the moment?"

The old man continued: "Strange to say, they let us go to the mountains during the day, and when it was time for supper they told me to come back and cook food, and then give it to them so that we could stay in the village, and they told me to wait and set up their fishing boats here, and if anyone came to inspect them, they said that it was our own. I also ask the hero not to talk about it with anyone else, because that day I waited for someone to escape into the city to report the crime, but they were sent back by them. They also said that if anyone dared to enter the city or leak the news with the officials, they would slaughter our entire village—"

Although Wang Yu nodded, he was still thinking about it, could the three gangs still dare to kill in the city, and there must be a hiding place for them in the city. If you can catch a group of people in the mountains now, you will definitely know where a group of people in the city are. Wang Yu said: "Don't be afraid, uncle, I won't leave today, stay in the village, and wait until tomorrow to make plans with you, by the way, when will they come to drive you up the mountain? and on which mountain?"

The old man said, "Around dawn on the second day, let me wait all to go up the mountain." This is the mountain on which our fishing village rests, and I hide in the mountains during the day. ”

"Okay, today I will stay at the old uncle's house, and tomorrow you will just go up the mountain. I have some business to do, come back later. Wang Yu said.

The old man said, "Thank you so much to the heroes, but the heroes need to remember not to talk to anyone——"

Wang Yu nodded, said goodbye to the villagers, and left the village.

Since this village is located at a corner of the river beach, the whole river beach is still some way from the city gate, and the river beach facing the city gate also needs to walk for a while to reach the city gate. Therefore, the fishermen of the fishing village did not see the fishermen of the fishing village when the sailor docked in front of the river beach, but because of the coming from the waterway and the rising smoke of the cooking, Wang Yu saw this inconspicuous village. But Wang Yu turned to thought, how did the people in these three groups find these fishermen in the city, could they still monitor their every move in the mountains? Wang Yu had already reached the shore where the sailor docked.

Some of the generals were rushing to the boat after dinner, and a group of soldiers came down from the ship and were rushing to the city gate for dinner, so that a few more groups of people would have eaten up the supper of the thousand sailors. When the general saw Wang Yu, he said: "Commander Wang, your meal has been prepared in the cabin, and you can use dinner directly into the cabin." ”

Wang Yu nodded and said, "Immediately send an order to go down, leave half of the brothers into the city, and half of the brothers patrol along the other side of the fishing village, but they can't go back to the city and stop." The brothers who were in the city were to leave the city at the first moment, and within half an hour they all had to rush to the fishing village. ”

The general replied to the order and immediately ordered to go down.

Night falls again on the waters of Dongting, the water in the rivers and lakes are now blessed by the moon, the first quarter has passed, the moon begins to march towards fullness, and it is almost the time of the moon. In winter, there is little rain, and there are no clouds to cover the bright moon in these days.

The lights in the fishing village were gradually extinguished, and they all had to leave before dawn, and many people in the mountains and forests were not used to staying there for such a long time, and they had to take time to rest.

Wang Yu speculated about how these people knew the traces of the people in the fishing village - the fishing village with its back to the mountain happened to be observed by the people in the mountain to observe a road in the village, and that road could go directly to the city, and Wang Yu roughly estimated the perspective of the mountain, I am afraid that I can only see a section of the road in the village, and when I reach the river beach, I am afraid that I will not be able to see it in the mountain. Due to the limited height of the mountain, it is not possible to observe all the beaches, but they can also see the boats in the river from the other direction, but fortunately, the time when they docked the boat should be close to the time when the group went up the mountain, so it is difficult for the group to see the sailors patrolling the river. And listen to what the old man said, they probably didn't leave anyone in the mountains, and it was in line with their style - if one person was found in the mountains, all their deeds would probably be exposed, and with their shrewdness, they would all advance and retreat at this time.

At night, it must be the time when these people are concentrated, how should Wang Yu enter the village, and he can't enter the village now. In this way, he can only wait on the river beach, and before and after dawn, his light skills should be able to be handled on time.

At this time, the wait was very long, and he could only meditate on the river beach for a short rest, and if he kept his eyes open and did not rest, he would not be able to defeat the enemy if he was not in good spirits for a while.

He opened his eyes, and the hour was near, and he saw him use his light skills to rush straight to the fishing village.

It was almost at the gate of the fishing village, and sure enough, there was a sound, but the soldiers in the city had not yet arrived. The people in the village were indeed driven out by a group of people, the leader of this group was Fan Yun, the head of the Yellow Lion Society, and the rest were three of the Seven Lions and some of the gang's subordinates. The villagers on the road waited all night, and before they came, he saw that many people sighed, some still with their heads down, for them, it was not time to despair again.

I saw Fan Yundao: "Why are you sighing today?"

The villagers did not reply, Fan Yun instructed the three lions to leave these villagers behind, Fan Yun said: "Every day, none of you sigh, what's wrong today?"

No one replied, Fan Yun said: "Everyone, I know that Jean Er and others have wronged you when they go to the mountains, so be it." Fan Yun picked up the old man and said, "Uncle, give you these silver coins, and I will give you more after a while, but don't tell anyone else." Especially the one at the entrance of the village—" and then he locked the old man's throat. The old man was caught by him, and the silver in his hand fell to the ground, and the villagers panicked and knelt down to beg for mercy. "Don't hide the people at the entrance of the village, come out-"

At this time, Wang Yu's light skills appeared in front of everyone. Fan Yun said: "Commander Wang is really silent, if I hadn't noticed it just now, I would have been ambushed by you." ”

"You lost the bet, and chose this mountain as your hiding place, and you bet that we won't care about this fishing village. Wang Yu said.

Fan Yundao: "Dodging is originally a gamble, but at this time, it is not known who wins and who loses. ”

As he spoke, all the soldiers had arrived at the entrance of the village and were all standing behind Wang Yu. Wang Yu said: "Your plan is very secret, and you dare to say that I don't know the outcome at this time?"

Fan Yun signaled that his men's knives were already on the necks of the villagers. Fan Yun put the old man down, and one of the three lions grabbed the old man and pulled him to Wang Yu and the others.

The man said, "Commander Wang, I don't think you want him to die in front of you." ”

Wang Yu's eyes widened at this moment and said, "If you dare to hurt any of the villagers, I will let you and others die here-"

Fan Yun said, "You threaten me—" After the eye signal, there was a scream, and the old man fell in a pool of blood.

"If you threaten again, it's next-"