Wei Zhen took the yamen servants back to Shangjiabao in Donglu Mountain. What they saw was that Shang Wensheng, whose gray eyes were so wide that they almost burst open, had already died of anger.
The bed was soaked with blood, but no other obvious new wounds could be seen on the body of Shang Wensheng, who was determined to die. Wei Zhen guessed that his old wounds burst and bled to death.
At this time, Chen Xiang and other six people who were tied up by Wu Hua Da were also killed by cutting their throats with swords and other sharp blades. The bodies fell sideways on the open space in front of the bed, and the blood flowed all over the floor, and it had solidified into purple-black——
Wei Zhen walked in without paying attention, stepped over the threshold and stepped directly into a pool of solidified blood, and her feet got stuck.
Looking at the ferocious and twisted expressions on the faces of Chen Xiang and others, they seemed to be extremely surprised and shocked by their murder.
"No, no, when Su Lie and the others left, it was true that the master was so angry that he died. But Chen Xiang and the others were obviously still alive and well, so why were they killed at this time? Although I am young, but
Chen Xiang was still talking to me when his eyes were clear! They were fine, why are they dead?" An old man with a face as wrinkled as tree bark, wearing burlap clothes, fell into disgrace when he saw the miserable situation in the room.
Sitting on the ground, he said in despair.
"Did you have anything to deceive me?" Wei Zhen stared at the old man sternly and asked, "Are you sure that when you entered Shangjiabao, you saw Chen Xiang and the others still alive? If so, why didn't you loosen their bonds at that time?
After walking a few dozen miles, we should first return to Lishui City to report to my officer?"
Although the old man was in a panic, he still spoke clearly. He sat on the ground and cried:
"Master Wei, you also know the old slave. When did the old slave dare to lie to Master Wei? At dawn, Shang Biaozi took San Mazi and two people and ran into the city, saying that the master had sent an order to seize some women and children.
The primary school students were taken back to Shangjiabao first. I was wondering at that time, either none of them would be taken back, or they would all be taken back. How could there be any reason to pick up some people and leave some behind? Besides, a place as big as Shangjiabao is not enough space.
With so many people living there, it couldn't be that there wasn't enough food to eat. I was suspicious at that time, so I followed them quietly to Shangjiapu. I never thought that Shang Biaozi, Sanmazi and the others were taking the women and children to Shangjiapu.
I didn't go in. After meeting Su Lie and the others outside the fort, I walked directly south. I realized something was wrong. When I walked into the fort, I saw that the master had died. The coffins of the second son and his wife were still parked in the front yard.
, and Chen Xiang and the others were tied up in the master's room, but they were all alive and well. Chen Xiang said that it was Su Lie and the other slaves who blamed the second young master for killing the young lady, and also blamed the second young master for killing the refugee women and children, and the assassins
After breaking into the fort, they huddled in the west courtyard and did not come out to kill them. The master wanted to pursue them, so they rebelled and arrested them. Although the master was not killed by them, he was still angry to death by them.
.Chen Xiang also said that Su Lie might have colluded with the assassin. The assassin broke into the fort, probably to avenge the young lady. Seeing these situations, the old slave became panicked and couldn't tell whether what Chen Xiang said was true.
I am afraid that if I let them out, they will stab the old slave to death, so I can only run back to Lishui in a panic and ask you, Mr. Wei, to seek justice. Who knows who will break in and kill them later?"
Wei Zhen stared at the old man with a face full of suspicion, doubting what he said, but after careful consideration, there was no need for the old slave of the Shang family to deceive him on many details.
At this time, two government officials came in from the outside and reported: "Looking at the traces of carriages and horses, the escaped slaves of the Shang family fled to the south towards Yishan. They had more than 40 horses. Most of them had entered Yishan at this time."
, perhaps we can only send people to inform Xuanzhou and Shezhou to assist in the arrest..."
There are less than 200 sword archers in the county, which is still an over-staffing situation not long after the war ended.
Nowadays, people are needed everywhere in the county, and when they go into the mountains to hunt down more than ten escaped slaves who are well-trained and well-armed, even if these escaped slaves are dragged down by fifty or sixty women and children, the county sends thirty or forty sword archers.
It may not be enough, and unpredictable casualties may occur.
The best way is to notify Xuanzhou and Shezhou, and the two states will dispatch elites from the state camps into the mountains to pursue the escape, so that we can be more confident.
Wei Zhen was stunned for a while, as if her mind was not on chasing and escaping at all. Her eyes turned to a feminine look and glanced at the old slave of the Shang family who was still lying on the ground, and said to the two government officials behind her: "This old slave of the Shang family,
What he just replied to me is not entirely true. I suspect that he may be in collusion with assassins and escaped slaves. I’m afraid he won’t be able to tell the truth without being punished. Drag him down and hit him thirty times first. See if he can still tell the truth.
Tell the truth or not."
"Sir, he is..." The government official glanced at the old slave of the Shang family hesitantly, thinking that if his bones were knocked down by thirty big boards, he would still have half a breath left, so why not beat him to death on the spot?
"Why, you doubt my decision?" Wei Zhen stared at the two government officials sternly and said, "Don't ask him what he said first. We will see if he still tells the truth after being tortured, and whether he dares to deceive me?
"
"Yes." The government official understood what Wei Zhen meant and ignored the old slave's cries. He covered his mouth and dragged his skinny and weak body to the next room to be tortured directly.
After a while, the two government officials ran back and reported: "The old slave of the Shang family has not been able to survive the twenty-eighth board, so he will die."
"It's so hateful,"
Wei Zhen's old and skinny face was slightly ferocious at this moment and twisted. She stood among the corpses, considered it for a while, and said,
"When you drafted the document, you said that the county government picked up an old slave from the Shang family to report to the official before noon today, saying that it was Mr. Chen of the Jinyun Division. After Mr. Shen of the Criminal Department left, Shang Wensheng noticed that there was a slave in the mansion who was colluding with the assassin. However, he did not wait for Shang Wensheng to report to the official again.
, the slaves who colluded with the assassins were aware of it, and they counterattacked and killed Lord Shang first, and tied Chen Xiang and other six people who were unwilling to join the thieves with ropes in the room. After the old slave of the Shang family noticed this, he rushed to Lishui to report it.
Official, I led the government officials to Shangjiapu and found that Chen Xiang and other tribesmen were also killed. I disagreed with the old slave of the Shang family. I suspected that the old slave of the Shang family had colluded with the thieves and tortured him. The old slave of the Shang family could not resist.
After being tortured, he died of anger. After killing Shang Wensheng and the loyal servants of the Shang family, the thieves may have fled to Guangde Mansion or Xuanzhou. Make several copies of this document and immediately report it to Jingzhao Mansion, the Ministry of Punishment, Jinyun Division and Guangzhou
Defu, Xuanzhou, Shezhou and other government offices requested their assistance in hunting down the escaped slaves who killed their master..."
The two government officials didn't know what the old slave of the Shang family said to the Lord, and actually asked the Lord to kill him impatiently. However, they looked at each other and said nothing. They just drafted the public case documents according to Wei Zhen's wishes.
After verification, he copied several copies and sent them to various government offices.
After handling these matters, Wei Zhen thought of another thing and asked the government official: "There was a change in Shangjia Fort. The night before yesterday, I sent someone to Liyang to inform the eldest son of the Shang family. Why hasn't the eldest son of the Shang family returned yet?"
"Two people were sent to Liyang to report the news the day before yesterday. One of them came back early to report that Shang Mengtong was not in Liyang and took people to Dantu to meet the newly appointed governor of Runzhou. The other person continued to go to Dantu to report the news and might have been delayed on the way.
It took some time." The official said.
These days, the efficiency of circulating reports is very low. The county government officials are used to being cunning and sneaky during the two hundred miles journey, so it is normal to be delayed for a day or two on the way.
"Send another person on a fast horse to chase Dan Tu to report the message to Shang Meng," Wei Zhen said. "I have to go back to the Yamen Office to deal with other matters first. If it is Mr. Shang or Jinyun Division, the Ministry of Punishment will send someone directly over.
You are responsible for taking care of things first..."
…………
…………
From Shangjiabao to Zhidantu City in Runzhou Prefecture, the fastest way is to take the Chi Road on the east side of Maoshan Mountain and then to the Yanling Port crossing.
The fields and houses on both sides of the Chi Road are largely deserted, making it difficult to imagine that this is a prosperous place in Gyeonggi Province. After summer, weeds grow wildly and almost submerge the Chi Road.
A fast horse gallops on the galloping road from south to north.
The messenger messenger on horseback did not notice the tripping rope hidden among the weeds. The horse stumbled and he was thrown away. He fell into the mud and could not get up for a long time. He heard a small crunching sound.
, he wanted to pull out the saber from his waist, only to realize that the leather belt around his waist was broken, and the saber was lost somewhere.
A masked man approached and put a cold blade across his neck. The officer was so frightened that his hair stood on end and he did not dare to move at all, allowing another masked man to reach out and snatch the letter away from his arms.
.
The two of them searched for the letter and the saber that had fallen nearby, put away the snagging rope, left the yamen servant, and walked into the woods far away from the Chi Road.
The officer reluctantly raised his head and saw two horses galloping out from behind the woods and galloping away towards the south.
After a while, after leaving the Yamen's sight, the two of them rode away from the Chi Road and galloped towards the Leichui Peak of Maoshan Mountain in the west.
Han Donghu and Su Lie were waiting in the dense forest at the east foot of Lei Chui Peak with their horses. They saw the two galloping towards them and then came out to meet them.
"Master Hu's guess is correct. Wei Zhen indeed sent someone to deliver a message to the eldest son again. The letter is here." At this time, the two masked men took off the black cloth covering their faces and revealed their true colors. They were following
Su Lie rebelled against two escaped slaves from the Shang family. They handed the letters they found to Su Lie, "We are illiterate. Mr. Su and Mr. Hu, do you see what is written in it?"
These days, even among the direct descendants of the Shang family, not many are literate.
Before Su Lie sold himself to the Shang family, he was forced by his mother to attend a private school for three years. He opened the letter, glanced at it, but his expression changed, and he said in shock: "When we left Fashion Wensheng, the wound collapsed.
Seeing that it was impossible to save them, Chen Xiang and the others were fine, who killed them?"
Han Donghu took the letter, read it through, and said: "Whoever killed Chen Xiang and others to silence him, probably like Wei Zhen who killed Old Man Shang with torture, only after all the witnesses were dead can they easily stir up the water."
Even muddier..."
"Shang Hu, can you ask people from Xuzhou to help us leave Jinling?" Su Lie frowned and looked at Han Donghu and asked.
He doesn't care what Wei Zhen and the people behind the murder of Chen Xiang and others want to do. That is not something he can control at this time. What he is more concerned about at this time is how they can escape from the dragnet!
It would not be difficult for just seventeen or eight of them to bypass the government checkpoints and escape invisibly.
However, the total number of their family members is less than 30 adults, and there are nearly 60 old, weak, women and children who are unarmed and have no strength to tie a chicken. There are so many people that it is more difficult to escape from the government's pursuit than to climb to the sky.
.
They came here to intercept the messenger sent by Wei Zhen, and also wanted to find out the government's movements so that they could more easily evade pursuit.
"As far as I know, there is no one in Xuzhou lurking in Jinling; what I don't know, I can't contact..." Han Donghu guessed that the purpose of the people behind the scenes to muddy the waters may be to target Xuzhou and Qianyang Hou Han Qian, but he
He didn't have time to care too much. At this time, he felt more ashamed and responsible for Su Lie and others who were involved in him and the fate of their family's little unknown...
