(Thank you to the 44th new leader, Brother Digital, for your generous support...)
Although the state and county squad leaders came to see them several times with disobedience, Deng Gui still did not dare to find a place to bury the bodies of Guo Caoling and three others. So far, they have still sealed them in coffins with lime and kept them at the place where they were assassinated.
In that small courtyard.
The eight ugly characters "Murderer Chushan Yaksha Fox" written in blood had now turned dark brown, and the room exuded a faint fishy smell.
Cheng Lunying walked into the room, frowned slightly, stared at the words on the wall, and said nothing.
"This word is really ugly. How dare you call yourself Yaksha Fox?" County Lieutenant Zhu Tong said with a playful smile.
Deng Gui stood behind Cheng Lunying and said nothing.
In the past ten days, Deng Gui has walked into this room countless times, and the bodies of Guo Caoling and three others have also been personally inspected many times.
Guo Caoling's right elbow and arm bone was cracked, and her left neck was punctured. The fatal injuries were that she was stabbed eleven times in the chest and her throat was crushed. The long knife sheathed also had a wound as big as a grain of rice. These were all
This shows that when Guo Caoling was attacked, he did not lose all vigilance, but after warning, he drew his sword and fought with the assassin.
Two of Guo Caoling's men also entered the room in time and were killed by the same assassin.
Deng Gui didn't even know if he could match the assassin's skill in his prime when he had just won the martial arts competition; maybe not.
Deng Gui knew very well that even if he claimed to be as skilled as Guo Caoling when he was young, he would never take the risk to do such a thing.
Who is this "Chushan Yaksha Fox"?
Apart from Xu Wujiang, a rough warrior who was bewitched by others and did not know the importance of the situation, who else was hiding behind the scenes to protect Wang Zhen?
These days, Deng Gui himself could not leave Huaiyuan, but he wrote countless letters to "please apologize". However, the inspection that took over caused Guo Caoling to die. At this time, no one was willing to occupy this shithole.
Unfortunately, Deng Gui's transfer order has not yet been officially issued.
According to Deng Gui's "crime", he should be reduced from his position to serve the people. Deng Gui himself was eager to reduce his position to serve the people. However, everyone from Lusi to the prefecture and county decided to give him a chance to atone for his crime and continued to imprison him in Huaihe River.
With the appointment of Yuan Inspector, what can he do?
Cheng Yi, as the Yi Cheng, should have been held accountable and taken away from his post, but Lu Si seemed to have forgotten that there was such a person as him in the prefectures and counties.
Now seeing that Cheng Lunying couldn't shirk away and went to Huaiyuan to investigate the assassination case in person, Deng Gui felt a little relieved.
Cheng Lunying had a higher official position than him and was a minister. In the end, someone would have to take the blame for this matter. At this time, Deng Gui did not think that he was more qualified than Cheng Lunying.
"There really was no such person named 'Chushan Yaksha Fox' in Tongbai Mountain before?" Cheng Lunying turned around and asked.
"Maybe, but my subordinates have been in Huaiyuan for more than two years, but they are ignorant and have never heard of this person?" Deng Gui said.
"If you haven't even heard of this person, where should you dig him out and give him an explanation to Lu Si and the Privy Council?" Cheng Lunying asked in a deep voice.
Deng Gui said humbly: "I am stupid and stupid. I ask Cheng Langjun to punish me."
"Commitment, condemnation! This matter was not handled well, Deng Gui, do you think you can get away with it?" Cheng Lunying heard Deng Gui speak in an official tone without any pain at this time, and he was so angry that he couldn't hold it back.
The irritation in my heart made me say in a rude and evil voice.
Deng Gui smiled bitterly, not bothered by Cheng Lunying's harsh tone.
Cai Qing was so powerful that he sent people to secretly control Hutou Village. In Lu Si, there were Chen Tong and others as internal agents, who vowed to take Wang Zhen's life. In the past, they did not want to be directly involved in this matter, mainly because they did not want to bear the bad reputation.
, I don’t want to end up being the scapegoat and being pushed out to take the blame.
But at this time, it is no longer a matter of taking the blame. If they dare to be an accomplice to help the tyrants, will this "Chushan Yaksha Fox" hide in secret and stare at their heads?
Otherwise, Deng Gui really couldn't imagine why the assassin would dip his blood into his blood and leave the name "The Murderer Chushan Yaksha Fox" after killing Guo Caoling?
Don't you want to make a name for yourself?
"Xiangong Wang was demoted to Tangzhou. He should have gone south from Xuchang, passing through Fangcheng to Biyang, but instead he went from Xuchang to Shangcai. After Shangcai, he went around to Xinyang, and finally walked into Tongbai Mountain..."
Deng Gui thought about it for a moment and whispered to Cheng Lunying.
When Wang Zhen left Beijing and was demoted to Tangzhou, his food and accommodation were provided by the inns along the way, so there is a clear trajectory for inquiry.
Wang Zhen was traveling from Bianjing to Tangzhou. If he crossed the Yingshui River from Xuchang and took the post road at the western foot of the Funiu Mountains, passing through Fangcheng to Biyang, the road would be smooth and would only last 3670 miles.
After Wang Zhen arrived in Xuchang, he went south along the Ying River, crossed the Huai River to Xinyang, and then passed through Tongbai Mountain from Xinyang to Biyang, which was almost 600 miles.
At the beginning, others may have thought that Wang Zhen was frustrated in his official career and was focusing on the mountains and rivers, and no one would bother him because he was delayed for a few more days on the road.
Deng Gui now believes that Wang Zhen changed his route from Xuchang not without reason.
Seeing that Cheng Lunying was silent, he whispered: "Xianggong Wang has been staying in the military camp for more than three months. Although he is only protected by Lu Xiong, his subordinates have never seen him worrying about banditry..."
"You want to say that this 'Chushan Yaksha Fox' is not actually a character in Tongbai Mountain, but like Lu Xiong, he actually followed Wang Xianggong all the way from Bianjing to Tongbai Mountain?" Cheng Lunying asked
.
"The official is just making random speculations. Cheng Langjun can just listen to it and don't take it seriously. The official is just thinking that Wang Xiang was a Jinshi during the Yuezheng period. He had a literary name before. He had been an official for more than thirty years and was upright. Although
He was not liked by his colleagues, but he was bewitched by people who knew nothing about life and death, including old officials and disciples. Perhaps it was not just Lu Xiong - if not, wouldn't the Prime Minister be jealous of someone?" Deng Gui said.
"Deng Langjun is saying that when great gods fight, us little shrimps will suffer?" Cheng Lunying asked with a stern face.
"The subordinates never dare to underestimate Cheng Langjun. They just think that this matter may need expert guidance to clear up the fog." Deng Gui said.
At that time, literature was valued and martial arts were respected, and culture was used to control military affairs. Above the court, civil servants with a scholarly background were absolutely dominant, and they formed factions.
Deng Gui had been moving around at the local grassroots level in recent years, and he was not very clear about the partisanship among the officials in the court. However, he also knew that Cheng Lunying was born as a official, and he probably helped Austria in the court.
Lu Si and the state government still want to stay out of this case. Deng Gui doesn't know how terrible the storm will be if it continues to be delayed, but he knows that it may be impossible to reverse the situation with his and Cheng Lunying's personal efforts alone.
"Really?" Cheng Lunying asked hesitantly.
"Ta-ta-ta!" There was the sound of horse hooves galloping from far to near.
Deng Gui frowned and looked towards the yard.
The fast horses gallop directly into the military stronghold, usually because urgent messages from Lu Si and Bianjing are passing by, or there is extremely urgent military information in the surrounding area.
Hearing the sound of horse hooves heading towards the inspection company, Deng Gui felt a layer of gloom in his heart.
Speeding up the official document meeting and changing horses and getting food from the post house has nothing to do with the inspection department. Now the fast horse is going directly to the inspection company's office. How can Deng Gui be happy?
"Cheng Langjun, please come this way." Deng Gui asked Cheng Lunying and others to go to the public house together.
They had just stepped into the post house, and the messenger had already come to look for them from the inspection company. When they saw Deng Gui, he reported: "There are about six or seven hundred people in Hutou Village inspecting people, and they are rushing to Mopanling."
Leaving Zhongjiazhuang..."
A chill shot up from his tailbone, and Deng Gui looked at Cheng Lunying at a loss.
"These bandits are so bold. They have been peaceful for several years and are ready to take action. It is really hateful. Mr. Deng Lang, please go to Zhongjiazhuang to see the situation. If the bandits are ferocious, don't rush to argue with them for a while. But I will go back to the county for more information."
Come over and give them another lesson!" Cheng Lunying said angrily.
Deng Gui looked at Cheng Lunying in surprise. He didn't expect that when he heard something was going on in Hutou Village, he didn't even want to stay in Huaiyuan for a moment longer and was about to flee back to the county.
However, Cheng Lunying came to Huaiyuan this time, accompanied by county captain Zhu Tong and others, and brought more than a hundred sword archers. At this time, he insisted on leaving, and Deng Gui had no reason to persuade him.
In Jinlongquan, Tang Tiande still didn't know the inside story. At this time, he didn't forget to show his loyalty to Cheng Lunying who couldn't wait to get on his horse and leave. He said: "The thieves in Hutou Village are becoming more and more rampant. Today they even disturbed the county magistrate. I will definitely take care of them."
.”
"It's easy to say that the soldiers of various surnames have always been the mainstay of the imperial court. But if they are captured, I will write to the imperial court to ask for credit for their strength." Cheng Lunying said some decent words and urged Zhu Tong to take the sword archers and the Yamen soldiers to leave quickly.
Deng Gui resented Cheng Lunying's escape, but he also led people to escort them out of the Xizhai Gate before returning to the Gongshe and starting to arrange the internal defense of the military camp.
"Why don't you gather troops and rush to Zhongjiazhuang?" Tang Tiande was slightly startled and asked.
Less than half a month ago, Deng Gui gathered his local soldiers to defeat the Xiema Mountain bandits in the north of Yuhuang Ridge, which made Tang Tiande and others feel more confident.
Although Guo Caoling was assassinated after this, which made everyone unhappy, Lu Si had no intention of directly pursuing responsibility.
At this time, the bandit soldiers in Hutou Village started to move. Tang Tiande thought that no matter what, they should check the troops and rush to Zhongjiazhuang, so that they could earn more military merits and redeem their merits!
Although there are no people from the Zhong family serving in the Inspection Department, and although the clan members are not as good as the Xu family and the Tang family, at the foot of Mopan Ridge, during the Zhuangzi period, there were usually more than a hundred armed villagers to prevent bandits, and they formed a clan military stronghold.
In terms of bravery, the strength is stronger than that of the Xu family and the Tang family.
In the view of Tang Tiande, Jin Longquan and others, the bandits from Hutou Village going to Zhongjiazhuang at this time are undoubtedly the same as the bandits from Xiema Mountain who harassed Lutai Village and were defeated half a month ago. They are seeking their own destruction.
How could Tang Tiande, Jin Longquan and the others not want to get the credit for suppressing bandits that was easily available?
Although it is difficult for them to directly join the rank of military ministers no matter how great their achievements are, the last time they defeated the Xiema Mountain bandits, as the leaders of the army, they collected rewards from the capital, prefectures and counties, as well as the local clans with the Xu family as the mainstay.
Each person's income was a small amount of two hundred yuan, which was considered a windfall.
This time they led their troops to Zhongjiazhuang. Could the Zhongjia be less expressive?
Tang Tiande and Jin Longquan did not expect that Deng Gui was not only unmoved, but also ordered all the men patrolling outside to withdraw to the military camp.
Deng Gui didn't know how to explain to Tang Tiande and Jin Longquan. Could it be that he had known that the thieves in Hutou Village had been secretly controlled by assassins sent by Privy Councilor Cai Qing?
Could it be that Guo Caoling was assassinated before taking over? He had already guessed that these people would not give up and would definitely cause big things. It was because of this that he specially sent people to keep an eye on the copycat forces in Tongbai Mountain.
Troubles in Hutou Village?
Can he say that?
Does he dare to reveal everything to the public?
Not to mention that people like Zheng Hui and Chen Tong have done their best, but he has conclusive evidence in his hand. The matter involves Shengen Zhenglong's Privy Councilor Cai Qing. The Lord sitting on the Dragon Throne will believe the most favored minister.
Would you do such evil things?
When the time comes, Cai Zheng will push everything to the party struggle. What a tragic end he will have if he is accused of falsely accusing a minister. How could Deng Gui, who has been rotating at the grassroots level for more than ten years, not imagine it?
