If you want to disguise yourself, just disguise yourself. Magistrate Tang followed Manbao and the others and stayed in Guanshang until Xushi, watching a group of teenagers carrying two bamboo rats happily running down from the mountain.
A group of people called Manbao and Baishan and found a mountain col to roast bamboo rats.
Although Magistrate Tang had had picnics with his friends and grilled things when he went out with his father, this was the first time he had seen roasted bamboo rats.
Seeing that the young men were deft and Man Bao picked up firewood and lit the fire with familiarity, he squatted aside and asked, "Do you often do this?"
"No," Man Bao shook his head, "I only do it once a year. There are more of them."
Bai Erlang passed by and said, "That's because you are lazy. Every year during the Double Ninth Festival, I ask you to come together, but you don't do it."
Magistrate Tang smiled and watched their fuss, and then he was given a small piece of bamboo rat meat. After eating the meat, he walked down the mountain road to see the excitement, and then everyone went home.
Magistrate Tang smiled and said, "Then I won't give you more gifts."
Bai Erlang asked curiously, "Don't you go back to the county seat, sir?"
"The government office will be open these two days. I have an agreement with Taoist Master Shouqing, so I will stay here for two days. If you come here to play, you can come and talk to me."
He said it as if he would actually live here.
Bai Erlang didn't know, so he said sheepishly: "I can't come tomorrow. Sir, just have fun here. Master Shouqing is a very nice person."
Magistrate Tang smiled and nodded.
Bai Erlang walked here with the boys in the village, so he naturally wanted to walk back. Everyone held torches in their hands, and it was fun to walk together.
Everyone invited Man Bao and Bai Shan to come together, and they readily agreed and went together.
After leaving Dali Village, there were still people singing. Bai Erlang ran around to join in the fun. Occasionally, he turned around and realized something was wrong. He quickly ran back to look for Bai Shan, "Where are Daji and the carriage?"
Bai Shan glanced back and said nonchalantly: "You're lagging behind, let's go first. Can we still lose Daji?"
Bai Erlang thought the same thing, didn't take it to heart, and ran away with everyone.
When they were about to return to Qili Village, Daji drove the carriage and followed him leisurely. They had already reached this point. Naturally, it was impossible for everyone to take the carriage again, so they continued to walk on their own.
Daji drove the empty carriage back home and drove the carriage directly to the yard.
Man Bao found San Tou who was playing crazy from the crowd, "Go back and tell your family that I went to Bai Shan's house."
"Sister-in-law, it's past midnight, why don't you go home and sleep?"
Man Bao said: "There's no rush, I'm not sleepy."
Santou was very envious, "I'm not sleepy either, but I have to go back to sleep. Sister, I went back and told my family, can you tell your mother that I will go to Bai Shan's house to accompany you?"
Man Bao refused: "No, you are still young, you know you can grow taller only if you sleep well?"
Santou: "...Sister-in-law, I'm two months older than you."
Man Bao had already turned around and left with Bai Shan.
Santou looked at her back and sighed. My sister-in-law was becoming more and more heartless.
When Man Bao followed Bai Shan and ran back to Bai's house, Magistrate Tang was already standing in the main room talking to Mrs. Liu, and the two of them immediately trotted in.
Mrs. Liu looked at them angrily and said, "Why are you running away? How rude are you in front of distinguished guests?"
Magistrate Tang smiled and said: "The old lady is too polite. I think it's fine for them to be like this. They don't need to be too restrained."
The two of them smiled sheepishly, and then looked at Mrs. Liu eagerly.
Mrs. Liu thought about it all afternoon, and she really thought it over clearly. She turned around and asked Magistrate Tang to go to her study room in the yard. She took out a box herself and opened it. There were three letters and four confessions inside.
She pushed the box towards Magistrate Tang.
Magistrate Tang reached out and picked up the letter and read it over.
The letters were all sent home by Magistrate Bai. The paper had turned yellow, but it was in good condition. It was just that it might have been opened and read often, so some of the folds were almost rotten.
Magistrate Tang read it carefully and then went to read the confessions.
There were four confessions in total. What surprised Magistrate Tang County was that in addition to Erji's confession and the confession of the three people four years ago, there were actually two very old confessions.
Mrs. Liu said: "These two people went to my village twelve years ago to inquire about the situation. They were caught by the villagers and took it as thieves."
Magistrate Tang asked: "Where are the people?"
Mrs. Liu lowered her eyes and said, "Because of the serious injuries, he died at that time. We reported it to the local government, but because he was a thief, no one came to claim the body."
Magistrate Tang frowned slightly, but he didn't ask for much in this kind of fight that was either your death or mine.
After reading all the confessions, Magistrate Tang asked, "What else does the old lady have in her hand?"
Mrs. Liu shook her head.
Magistrate Tang was not very satisfied and said, "Since the old lady wants me to investigate this case, I should be honest."
Mrs. Liu said: "It's really gone."
County Magistrate Tang said: "I want to see Erji."
"Erji has difficulty moving and can only lie on the bed..."
"Mrs. Liu, Erji is the only survivor. I must see him, not now, but one day in the future. If you hide him for a lifetime, then this case will also be hidden for a lifetime."
Mrs. Liu opened her mouth, and Bai Shan stepped forward and pulled her sleeves, whispering: "Grandma..."
Mrs. Liu was discouraged and took a step back and said, "Okay, I will send him to a place when the time comes, and you can go there to meet him."
"Your family has a shop or village in Yizhou City, right? Just send it there."
Mrs. Liu: "How can that be done?"
Magistrate Tang said: "The most dangerous place is the safest place. Besides, the magistrate of Huayang County is still the county. Old lady, just don't worry. The person you send in will be the same as when I send him out."
Son."
Magistrate Tang said: "This county cannot leave Huayang County for too long. You obviously can't send people here within these two days. Besides, the case was reported in Yizhou City back then, so it would be best to investigate it in Yizhou City."
."
Bai Shan and Man Bao also nodded together, "Yes, yes, and we are also in Yizhou City."
Bai Shandao: "It's very difficult to ask for leave from the government school."
Man Bao: "It's not my fault that I always don't go to the pharmacy."
Mrs. Liu secretly said: I just don’t want you to get involved.
But when she saw Magistrate Tang's smiling eyes, Mrs. Liu could only sigh and agreed.
Mr. Wei agreed to help her investigate this case, but he was busy with many things and obviously could not focus too much on this case. Moreover, he had many officials and many people were watching him. Every move he made was watched.
As for four years later, there is still not much progress.
As Bai Shan gets older day by day, so does Mrs. Liu's age, and she doesn't want to keep putting things off any longer.
So when Yang Heshu and Tang He investigated, she did nothing and let them follow Man Bao to Zhou Yin, and then pulled out the entire case.