Qianru helped Shangguan Yuan and followed closely behind Lu Fang.
The merchant's surname was Zhou Mingji, who was born in Yun County, Luo County. He made a living by selling precious supplements such as bird's nest and ginseng.
He recognized several of the men as robbers from Luo County, Lin County, from the corpse identification notice posted at the town entrance.
On the other side of Jifeng Mountain southwest of Mengqiaoyi is Luo County.
Zhou Jidao said that he had been robbed by this group of bandits several times. Last year, he passed by Tongchi Mountain, his lair, with great fear, but nothing happened.
I thought it was the "mountain king" inside who was showing mercy and providing convenience, but it turned out that they all died here.
Zhou Ji also described the physical characteristics of several of the bandits who robbed him, including those with broken fingers and missing front teeth, which were exactly the same as those recorded in the official records.
Various signs indicate that it was this group of bandits from Tongchi Mountain in Luo County who attacked Shangguan Yuan and An Tai at the inn last year.
There is a shortcut from Tongchi Mountain to Mengqiaoyi, which is to pass through Yun County, which is adjacent to Luo County and Gui County, and then climb over Jifeng Mountain. It only takes one day to climb the mountain by horseback.
Zhou Ji said that when he was a child, he followed his father through this road, but later because Jifeng Mountain was occupied by others, he had to take a detour to Gui County.
Zhou Ji said that Jifeng Mountain was occupied, but no one had ever heard of bandits nearby.
"Those are not bandits, they are a group of defeated soldiers from the previous dynasty who have hidden deep in the mountains and have not surrendered yet. After they occupied the mountain, they blocked the mountain roads and lived on the cliffs, and the court could do nothing."
If Lu Fang realized something, "The leader of that group of remnants, is his surname Liu?"
"The banner with the character 'Liu' is hanging on their mountain stronghold."
Lu Fang then asked for a replica of the dagger from Shangguan Yuan and showed it to Zhou Ji, "Have you seen similar weapons?"
"This is almost universally known in Yun County. The weapons of Liu's army are all engraved with the word 'Liu'. I heard that they also have an unwritten rule. Whoever receives a favor will leave a dagger.
As a token, if you need to repay your kindness in the future, you can use this to go up the mountain to get it back."
After Lu Fang asked, he ordered Zhou Ji to make a detailed record, and invited Shangguan Yuan and Qianru to go back to the inn together.
"Lu Sizhi, did you already know who the word 'Liu' refers to?"
Lu Fang said confidently: "To be fair to the general, Lu always likes to hear some anecdotes, and he happens to know that the Liu family's army on Jifeng Mountain this time is said to be related to you!"
"Are you related to me? Never heard of it."
"Oh?" Lu Fang was a little surprised, but after a moment he expressed understanding, "Although you are blood relatives, you are each your own master. It is natural that the general has never heard of it."
Shangguan Yuan really had never heard of it, and it was not a joke that Lu Fang thought he was making.
Only today did he know that his grandfather, uncle and aunt were hiding on Jifeng Mountain, and these people were all loyal ministers of the previous dynasty.
Lu Fang said that in addition to occupying the mountains, the "Liu" family's army was very friendly to the people and often did things to punish rape and eliminate evil. They were quite famous in the Yun County area and were different from the evil bandits.
This is also the fundamental reason why the imperial court failed several encirclement and suppression campaigns and showed extrajudicial mercy.
Hearing this, Qianru suddenly realized, "It turns out that Mr. Lu did not bring us here to identify the body, but wanted us to go to Ji Fengshan to find out the truth for you."
"Madam is indeed a famous and talented woman, I admire you so much!"
Seeing that Shangguan Yuan had no objection, Qianru took over the matter.
Lu Fang also wrote down the purpose of their trip and gave it to the couple.