Mou Rongtian and Shi Yi worked non-stop and finally arrived at Yishan Village, Fuliang County, Taiyuan Prefecture on the morning of the third day. This is a small village with more than a dozen families scattered around. It is surrounded by mountains and is very remote.
They parked their horses outside the village, put on civilian clothes, wrapped their weapons in long packages, carried them on their backs, and quietly arrived at the first house in the east.
This is a small courtyard with only one main room and an earthen wall as high as one person. Mou Rongtian thought to himself: "Could this be the lair of the three Taihang owls?"
There was an elephant trunk lock on the courtyard door. The two of them flew up the wall and jumped into the courtyard. When they saw that the door was also hung with an elephant trunk lock, Mou Rongtian felt sad and thought to himself: "Oops, Ding can't be here."
They came to the window. Mou Rongtian scratched the window lattice paper with his nails, closed his eyes and looked into the room, only to see that there was no one in the room.
Mou Rongtian came to the door, opened the door with the master key, and walked in with Shi Yi one after another. The furnishings in the room were very simple, with only a fire bed, an Eight Immortals table and a few benches. There were more than a dozen piles piled against the south wall.
There were several empty wine jars scattered on the ground.
There were two unsealed wine jars on the table. Mou Rongtian stepped forward to see that the jars were also empty. He saw that the table was covered with dust, and he scratched an inconspicuous place on the edge of the table with his fingernails. From the time when the dust formed
Judging, this house must have been unoccupied for more than a month.
Mou Rongtian and Shi Yi came out of the house. They wanted to find a house to investigate whether the three Taihang Owls lived here. Mou Rongtian saw that there was another house about a hundred meters to the west, so he walked over.
The courtyard door was open, and two children were playing in the courtyard. Mou Rongtian said: "Child, are your adults here?"
Children in the mountains recognize their children. When they see a stranger coming, they quickly run into the house and call their grandma. Not long ago, a wrinkled old woman in her fifties came out and asked: "Who are you looking for?"
?”
Mou Rongtian stepped forward and said, "Old lady, is the first family in Dongtou named Ding?"
The old woman said: "It turned out that the family's surname was Wang, and the house was sold later. We don't know the surname of the new one. Why are you asking about this?"
Mou Rongtian said: "Let's find a friend." He took out Ding Wenfa's portrait from his arms and asked: "Old man, does this person live in that house?"
The old woman's eyes were dazzled, she leaned back, and then she saw clearly and said: "Well, this person lives in that house."
Mou Rongtian said, "Sorry to bother you." He turned and left.
That small courtyard is the home of the three Taihang Xiaos. In order to avoid being noticed by others and not attract other people's attention, they bought this shabby and humble courtyard in this remote mountain village. They do not live there permanently and only come back when the wind blows.
Avoid.
Mou Rongtian asked Shi Yi to mobilize the local Jinyi Guards of Taiyuan Prefecture. In the afternoon, the commander of the Taiyuan Prefecture Jinyi Guards arrived with his troops. Mou Rongtian asked them to ambush secretly and monitor the movement secretly. He and Shi Yi rushed back to Kaifeng Prefecture.
After this trip, four days have passed, and the thirty-day deadline has expired. Mou Rongtian and Shi Yi basically spent the past few days on horseback, exhausted, and fell down as soon as they returned to Kaifeng Fuyamen's death row cave.
Then sleep.
Wu Qi went to deliver food again. When Zhang Meng saw the jailer leaving, he lowered his voice and asked nervously: "Xiao Qi, have you seen Boss Ding?"
Wu Qidao: "Uncle Ding is not here."
Zhang Meng said: "You are not looking for the wrong place, right?"
Wu Qidao: "It can't be wrong, isn't it? Isn't it the first one in the east of Yishan Village, Fuliang County, Taiyuan Prefecture? It can't be wrong."
Zhang Meng asked: "What does the house look like?"
Wu Qidao: "It's a small courtyard with just one main room. It's a brick building that looks quite old. It's been many years. The courtyard door was locked, so I climbed in through the wall. The house door was also locked, so I scratched the window lattice paper.
Looking inside, there is a kang bed, an Eight Immortals table, several benches, and two wine jars on the table. There are also wine jars on the floor."
Zhang Meng thought to himself: "Yes, this is the nest. It would be fatal if Boss Ding didn't come back." He said, "Did you leave him a letter when you left?"
Wu Qidao: "Keep it, put it at the door of the house, and press it with stones."
Zhang Meng said: "Just leave a message. If Zhang Meng's life is not cut off, Boss Ding will be able to read the letter."
In fact, Wu Qi's rhetoric was taught by Mou Rongtian.
Yu Bozhong said: "Third brother, is there no other place where we can find Brother Ding?"
Zhang Meng shook his head helplessly and said: "No, that's our old nest. Boss Ding has always been a loner. I don't know his other places."
Yu Bozhong was dubious about Zhang Meng's words and continued to stay in prison and act.
Mou Rongtian slept soundly. He slept for three days and three nights in a row. At noon on the fourth day, the jailer woke him up and told him that the messenger from the palace had arrived and asked him to receive the order.
Mou Rongtian put on Feiyu clothes and came to the living room. The official who delivered the order said: "Mou Rongtian listens to the order."
Mou Rongtian knelt on his knees.
The messenger unfolded the edict and read out: "Zhao said that Qianhu Mou Rongtian, a detective from Fusi in Jinyiweibei Town, was negligent and neglectful in investigating the assassination of Li Jianyuan, the envoy of Taiyuan Hospital. He deeply failed me. Mou Rongtian was demoted to three levels and fined for three years.
I am relieved of my duties and remain in office, I appreciate this."
Mou Rongtian said: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your kindness."
Removal from office and retention in office was one of the methods used by the imperial court to punish officials, that is, they were removed from their official posts but still retained in their original posts to handle affairs.
Emperor Wanli was angry with Mou Rongtian and found a reason to punish him, but he also knew that he was talented, so he also let him serve in the post of investigating Qianhu. However, Mou Rongtian was not a Qianhu now. After being demoted three levels, he became
Try hundreds of households.
Dong Fuyu's dream came true. He originally wanted to take over Mou Rongtian's job, but unexpectedly Wanli dismissed him and kept him in office. He was very annoyed about this.
Mou Rongtian spent several days in the bridal chamber of the Kaifeng government office, but Ding Wenfa still did not show up.
On this day, the jailer informed Mou Rongtian that the letter from the flying pigeon of the General Administration of Clothing and Health had arrived. Mou Rongtian came to the office and took off the secret letter from the pigeon's leg and opened it to read. The letter wrote in code: "Ding Fengfa is dead, and the murderer is unknown.
, come back quickly!”
Mou Rongtian was surprised and frustrated. He originally wanted to catch Ding Feng with his own hands and atone for his sins, but he no longer had this chance.
He came to the death row and shouted: "Get out of here, get out!"
Dong Fuyu came out of the cave room and asked: "Rongtian, what's going on? Ding can't stop arresting him?"
Mou Rongtian said: "What a fool, news came from the General Administration that Ding Fengfeng is dead."
Thinking that Yu Bozhong was still in the cell, Mou Rongtian personally went to Xiangfu County and asked the jailer to release Yu Bozhong on the grounds that his case was dismissed.
The jailer came to the cave room where Yu Bozhong and Ding Wenfa were imprisoned, and while taking the key to unlock the door, he smiled and said: "Master Yu, congratulations, your case is cleared, you can leave this hellish place."
Yu Bozhong thought to himself: "Maybe Ding can't be arrested." Before leaving, he said to Zhang Meng: "Third brother, after I go out, let someone bring you food every day. In addition, I will handle that matter for you, so you can rest assured.
Bar."
Zhang Meng knew that what Yu Bozhong was talking about was reporting a message to Ding Feng, asking him to rob the prison and rescue him.
Zhang Meng felt warm in his heart, feeling that Yu Bozhong was a good friend and interesting enough, and it was too late to get to know him. Seeing that Yu Bozhong was about to leave, he felt sour in his heart, and said: "Brother, take care, I think of you well."
Yu Bozhong said: "Third brother, take care too. If that day comes, I will definitely go and give you a strong support. But I hope it is best not to have that day."
The day Yu Bozhong refers to is when Zhang Meng was about to cut him, Zhang Meng said: "If that day comes, I will bring you a bottle of good wine, and I will have three drinks with you before we go on the road."
Yu Bozhong walked out of the prison gate and saw Mou Rongtian waiting outside. He smiled and said: "Master Qianhu, why did you come in person? Has Ding Fengfa been arrested?"
Mou Rongtian said: "There is news from the capital that Ding Fengfa is dead. In addition, I am no longer a Qianhu, but now a trial of a hundred households, so I don't need to call you Master Qianhu anymore, so as not to be criticized by others."
Yu Bozhong said: "How could this happen? Ding Fengwei is already dead, why is your Excellency still being demoted?"
Mou Rongtian said: "The Holy Spirit gave me one month to solve the case, but I failed to do it. I failed Long En and was demoted."
Yu Bozhong said: "It doesn't have to be so serious that it's downgraded to level three, right?"
Mou Rongtian said: "If you don't talk about this, let's go."
Yu Bozhong said: "Let's not be busy for now. I want to go in and tell Zhang Meng. After all, he and Ding Fengwei were brothers, so he should know. In addition, how did Ding Fengwei die? Was he killed by your Jin Yiwei?"
Mou Rongtian said: "It's not us. The news coming from the capital is that the murderer is ominous."
Yu Bozhong said: "So he was already killed when you Jin Yiwei found him, and you don't know who the murderer is, so the murderer is ominous."
Mou Rongtian said: "That should be the case."
Yu Bozhong said: "Then I'll go in and talk to Zhang Meng."
[Author's digression]: Dear readers, if you have not voted for your recommendation today,
If you still keep it in your bag, please vote for "Iron-blooded Guards". Zhainan would like to thank everyone here.