On the other hand, it was said that after Liu Ying received the decree, he took a boat and traveled under the stars and night, and arrived at Liujiagang, Taicang. Then he rode on horseback and galloped to Suzhou.
From leaving Nanjing to entering Suzhou, the whole journey only took two days and two nights.
"Get out of the way, get out of the way!" Amidst the rapid sound of horse hooves, the Suzhou people on Yaqian Street hurriedly ducked to the side of the road.
Then I saw a group of knights wearing cloud gauze crowns, green embroidered clothes, and long cowhide boots. They seemed to have extraordinary origins at first sight, running straight towards the Suzhou government office.
The gate in front of the government office was closed tightly, and the officers and soldiers guarding the gate were not sure what to do, when they heard the leading knight shout loudly:
"The captain of the pro-military palace is on official business! Open the middle gate quickly and order the Suzhou magistrate to come out to greet you!"
"Yes, yes." The gatekeepers quickly opened the gate and opened the middle door wide. The gatekeepers ran in at the same time and informed the prefect Li Heng.
The Suzhou magistrate who had the same name as the Tang Dynasty emperor, like Liu Lian, was promoted unexpectedly after the empty seal case. His original position was the commander of the Grinding and Surveying Department.
However, this commander did not lead troops. Instead, he "reported his merits and demerits to the emperor whenever there was an injustice in punishment, money or food, or concealment." Li Heng, because he was not afraid of power during his tenure in the Mokan Division, repeatedly exposed injustice and corruption.
, won the trust of Boss Zhu.
So Liu Ying came to him first.
"Oh, it's really uncle." Li Hengying came out and saw that it was indeed Liu Ying, and he quickly bowed. "I'm sorry to welcome you from afar, and I'm disrespectful. Please come in quickly."
In the first month of this year, Boss Zhu recognized Liu Ying for his meritorious service as a guard for many years, so he named him Uncle Zhongjin and gave him an iron certificate of alchemy. Therefore, Li Heng was given this title.
"Prefect Li, there is no need to be polite." Liu Ying still had the same glacier face for thousands of years, and said solemnly: "The emperor's mission is important, you take me to Lu Zhonghe's house first."
"There's no need to be in such a hurry, right? Let's take a rest first, have a meal, and then take the brothers there after leaving office. It won't be a waste of time." Li Heng advised.
Liu Ying glanced at Li Heng suspiciously and said, "Don't you understand what I'm saying?"
"Yes, the official is talking too much." Although Li Heng was the magistrate of Suzhou, he still didn't have enough eyes in front of Liu Ying, so he quickly ordered someone to prepare a car, and obediently led a group of people to Lu Yuan located on Guanqian Street.
~~
At the entrance of Luyuan, there were piles of wreaths, banners, paper figures and horses.
Almost all the reputable people in Jiangnan gave away gifts. They couldn't be placed at the door and took up a large section of Guanqian Street.
Horse hooves stepped on the paper money all over the ground and walked to the gate of Luyuan. Liu Ying's expression brightened slightly when she saw that a funeral was indeed being held here.
Li Heng quickly got out of the car and ordered someone to call the head of the house out.
After a while, the eldest son of the Lu family, Lu Wenbin and Lu Zhonghe's third brother, Lu Shuhe, came out to welcome him.
Li Heng briefly explained his purpose to the two of them, and then said in a deep voice: "Why don't you kneel down to greet the imperial envoy?"
"The common people... welcome the imperial envoy." The two of them knelt down to Liu Ying reluctantly, as if they didn't understand etiquette.
The family members and guests who came out after hearing the news all stared at Liu Ying and his party with unkind eyes, not hiding the hostility in their eyes.
Liu Ying was naturally not afraid of them. She snorted, got off her horse, and strode into Lu Yuan.
People with swords and swords followed closely behind him, guarding him on the left and right.
Family members and guests also followed.
Lu Wenbin and Uncle Lu didn't wait for the imperial envoy to call, they got up on their own and hurriedly chased after them.
~~
From the outside, there is nothing special about Lu Yuan, except that the walls are higher and the courtyard is larger.
But when I come in and take a look, my dear, there are mountains and rivers, flowers and trees, pavilions and pavilions, all set among them, just like paintings by famous artists, there is no imperfection or perfection.
It looks much more luxurious than Boss Zhu's palace.
However, Liu Ying had no time to take a closer look and followed the sound of blowing and beating and went straight to the mourning hall.
The sound of playing and playing was the sound of more than thirty monks from Hanshan Temple doing a water and land dojo for Mr. Lu. The cymbals, bells and drums were ringing together, and the "Purana Sutra" was recited over and over again.
I don't know if it was because of his arrival, but the family members in the mourning hall cried extra hard, and only the suona could barely suppress them.
Liu Ying looked at the huge mourning hall. The white curtains were drooping, and a big black word "Die" hung on the curtains.
There are several rows of altars placed horizontally under the word "Dian", which are filled with three animals, fruits, incense burners, candlesticks and the like.
Liu Ying twisted a stick of incense, lit it on the candlestick, bowed three times, inserted it into the incense burner, and said lightly: "I'm sorry."
After saying that, he crossed the altar table and opened the curtain, revealing a huge golden nanmu coffin.
"What are you going to do?!" the Lu family members screamed.
"Stop!" The guests also tried to dissuade them: "The deceased is the most important person, so don't be disrespectful!"
Liu Ying turned around and glanced around coldly, and said in a deep voice: "Stop them!"
"Yes!" The men with swords quickly lined up and stood behind the captain.
"We are from the pro-military Duwei Mansion, and we are on the imperial mission!" Qianhu, the leader, scolded sternly: "If you want to rebel, just come forward!"
"Kill without mercy!" All the men with swords drew out their sabers in unison, the cold light shining intimidatingly.
Liu Ying walked to the coffin by herself, slowly pushed open the coffin board that had no nails on it, and the body of an elderly man wearing a shroud appeared in front of him.
He waved to Li Heng to come over. "Is it him?"
Li Heng carefully identified him and nodded: "Yes, I have seen him several times. If you want to gain a foothold in Suzhou, you must pay homage to the dock of Pingjiang Gong. Unexpectedly, he will be gone if you say no."
Then under Li Heng's shocked eyes, Liu Ying actually reached into the coffin to talk about Lu Zhonghe's breathing.
This seriously offensive move naturally aroused the anger of the Lu family, and even all the guests, who cursed loudly. The children and grandchildren of the Lu family even tried to break through the cordon of people who were armed with knives...
Those who were armed with knives were not polite to them. He cut down two of them one by one, and the Lu family immediately became honest.
After a long time, Liu Yingcai took back his hand and sighed: "I am indeed dead."
"Yes." Li Heng nodded, thinking how fresh it was. Who is lying in the coffin if he is not dead?
"But the strange thing is that he just died a few days ago." Liu Ying said lightly, and then asked in a cold voice: "Hasn't the person been dead for a long time? How come he is still so lifelike?"
"My father committed suicide before, but we saved him at the last moment. We invited famous doctors to try to bring him back from the dead. But it only made Xiankao suffer for half a month longer, and he still passed away the day before yesterday." Lu Wenbin said with a livid expression.
Face said:
"Does the imperial envoy think that the Han family would joke about something like this?"
"Are you questioning me?" Liu Ying put her hand on her waist knife and said with an unkind expression.
"I don't dare." Lu Wenbin swallowed his anger.
"Take a confession for them and everyone must sign it." Liu Ying ordered.
His men, armed with knives, began to follow suit.
Li Heng shook his head secretly. Based on his experience, if Liu Ying behaves like this, something will definitely happen.
Those big businessmen in Suzhou are unreasonable and want to make a fuss, let alone stand up now...
