Once Cai Jiu was found, Sun Tu and the others immediately rushed forward like flying, and helped him untie the restraints on his body in a hurry, and said with full of self-blame: "Xiaguan rescues" My late arrival has caused the prefect to suffer, so please forgive me."
At this time, Taishou Cai could not see the slightest trace of his former elegance and handsomeness. Even the word "embarrassment" was not enough to describe his current state. The soldier's jacket that he had put on in a panic was half soaked in water and half stained by the mud on the riverside, turning it yellow and black. His head and body were even covered in mud, especially his face, which had black and yellow streaks. There were tears on his head, and even his crotch was wet. It was not river water, but the result of involuntary incontinence due to fear.
At this time, he was lifted up from the ground and patted and comforted for a while. Cai Jiu could not recover for a while. Zheng was still shivering unconsciously, and his eyes were full of panic. How could he, who had been well-fed and well-fed since birth, and had never suffered any grievance, withstand such a fright today? He had long since lost his soul, and most of his life had been frightened away.
Seeing his appearance, Sun Tu felt troubled. It was the midwinter season in the first month of the year, and it was extremely cold. You couldn't change his clothes in the wilderness, right? Also, how to bring the prefect back to the city is also a problem now. If we just go back like this, and the people see the prefect like this, there will be endless troubles.
After just thinking about it for a moment, he already had an idea: "Come here, go to the edge first to get some dry firewood to light the fire, and then go back and find some sedans from the city to take the prefect back to the city."
These subordinates were only stunned for a moment, and then immediately agreed to act on their own. Just as several of them were running back, they saw a group of people from behind escorting a carriage coming quickly. When they got closer, they recognized that they were Jiangzhou officers and soldiers. It was obvious that they were people from the government who knew that the prefect was there. After being robbed, he considered the return journey, so he sent a carriage over.
At that moment, Sun Tu did not hesitate, and hurriedly helped Cai Jiu, who was weak, with several other people, went forward, and put him into the car with force. Although the carriage looked like nothing on the outside, preparations had been made inside. It was not only covered with soft blankets and bedding, but also had several heaters, and there were even some decoctions to calm the fear and ward off the cold.
Seeing this, Sun Tu simply got into the carriage with Cai Jiu, and ordered his men to protect the carriage as it moved slowly. Then he personally took off the soaked clothes for him, and then put him into the simple cotton clothes prepared in the carriage. He took the decoction and carefully fed it to the other party to drink.
It wasn't until his body warmed up again, and the soup was in his mouth again, and he saw the trustworthy Sun Tu in front of him looking at him with concern, that Cai Jiu finally came back to life, exhaled a faint breath, and then his body began to shake violently like chaff. , the originally numb face was now full of panic, and the two rows of teeth in his mouth were constantly colliding, and he couldn't say a word for a long time.
Sun Tu was also frightened when he saw this, and quickly stepped forward to support him: "Don't be afraid, Governor, you are safe. Your subordinates are here, and there are dozens of elite guards outside in front of the car. No one can hurt you." is you… "
Little did he know that this was Cai Jiu feeling a wave of fear, because just before he was taken on board, there were several Lu
The reckless guy showed off his knife and killed him smoothly. At that time, the shiny sharp knives were only inches away from his throat. He also heard someone shouting: "This guy is nothing at first sight." A good official, brother, why don't you let me kill him, so that you can get rid of the harm to the people of Jiangzhou!"
Upon hearing this, he saw several rough men surrounding him with ill intentions. Cai Jiu was even more frightened. Just when he was about to ask for mercy, he was hit hard on the head, and then he completely lost consciousness.
When he woke up, he felt that his body was cold and his eyes were pitch black. He even thought that he had been killed by those thieves, and he was truly heartbroken. So even if he was later found and rescued by Sun Tu and the others, Cai Jiu had always been confused, and it was only then that he calmed down a little.
It wasn't until Sun Tu comforted him for a long time that Cai Jiu finally had some reaction and looked at him with a vague look: "Sun Tuanlian, it's all thanks to you that I'm here... Otherwise, I might have been frozen even if I wasn't killed by them. Died by the Xunyang River."
"Prefect, please don't say that. I'm ashamed of myself. I failed to capture the thieves, and I also made it difficult for you, Prefect, to be taken by the thieves. You suffered such humiliation and then escaped from them. You are really guilty." Sun Tu felt guilty after hearing this. He made a slight decision, but he still blamed himself.
This sentence also made Cai Jiu suddenly wake up. Yes, now the two key rebels of Song Jiang Dai Zong have been robbed by the Liangshan bandits. I am afraid that the matter has already spread throughout the city, even to people outside the city. Now that you know this, what should you do
Now that he is safe, he is naturally more concerned about the consequences of this incident. As long as he thinks about it carefully, Cai Jiu becomes more and more uneasy. Song Jiang, a traitor who wrote anti-poems in public, has escaped from his rule. It was a serious crime, and in addition, the Liangshan bandits were killing and disrupting the whole city in order to save him. Once this matter spreads, it will inevitably become an excuse for many people to criticize himself, and even his father Cai Jing. The situation is quite bad.
The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he felt in Cai Jiu's heart. Soon a dense layer of sweat formed on his forehead. He could only murmur in a low voice: "This... what should I do?" Then, He lowered his gaze on Sun Tu's face again, trying to get him to come up with a countermeasure.
Sun Tu's face was also full of confusion and confusion at this time: "This change was too sudden. In fact, it is reasonable for us to have no precautions. Moreover, the thieves were able to succeed this time because there were people who cooperated with them. If it weren't for Yuan Wang had colluded with them early on, so why did he end up like this..."
This sentence immediately woke up Cai Jiu, and he nodded quickly: "Yes, in the final analysis, the fault of today's chaos in Jiangzhou is all on Yuan Wang. If he hadn't colluded with the thieves, how could they have such a clear arrangement? Not only He set fires everywhere in the city to induce the officers and soldiers to disperse their forces, and he was so bold as to kidnap me... As well as Lin Henian, I suspected that he also had Yuan Wang's instructions to let the thieves escape easily, and almost killed me... "As he spoke, he felt more and more that the blame was only on these two people, and his tone was already full of resentment: "After I return to the city, I will order them to be taken down, and they will be convicted of serious crimes of colluding with thieves and having evil intentions. !”
"The governor cannot...
…" Upon seeing this, Sun Tu quickly spoke out to dissuade him.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Cai Jiu frowned upon hearing this. He finally found someone to take the blame, so why did Sun Tu want to speak for them
"Prefect, I believe that Yuan Wang must have colluded with the Liangshan bandits, so there is no doubt about his guilt, but Lin Dujian may not be his accomplice. After all, he did his best in today's battle, but the law at that time The situation on the field was changeable, so he could not catch the thief in time to protect the safety of the prefect." Sun Tu glanced at the other party as he spoke, and seeing Cai Jiu's disapproval, he could only tell the more important point: " Moreover, if we want to pin all the charges on Yuan Wang this time, he must be his witness, otherwise I am afraid that the testimony of just you and me will not be able to convince the court."
Cai Jiu was stunned again, and then he understood. Indeed, neither he nor Sun Tu had conflicts with Yuan Wang. At this time, it is not persuasive to put all the blame on him, especially when there are high-ranking officials from the DPRK and China like Liang Shicheng behind him. Things are even more difficult to handle. But once the governor Lin Henian, who was originally standing with Yuan Wang, testified, everything changed completely.
After pondering for a moment, he finally nodded: "Okay, then according to what you said, I will spare Lin Henian this time and only hold Yuan Wang responsible for his crimes."
"The prefect is wise. The subordinate thinks that since he has been accused of colluding with the water bandits before, it is reasonable for him to collude with the Liangshan bandits again this time. We have witnesses and physical evidence. As long as it is reported to the court, the emperor and Grand Master Cai and the others will definitely give justice to the officials and people of Jiangzhou!" Sun Tu was convinced and said with a smile.
At this point, Sun Tu and Cai Jiu have not yet returned to Jiangzhou. They have decided to throw out Yuan Wang, the official, as the scapegoat for the chaos in the city. And once these charges are confirmed, the fate that awaits him is not only dismissal from office, but also his life, and even the lives of his family, will be in danger. After all, colluding with thieves is considered a serious crime of treason.
At the same time, in the prison in Jiangzhou City, Yuan Wang had also heard people mention the various incidents that had happened in the city before, which made his face turn pale.
Because he has been in charge of the prefectural prison for many years, Yuan Wang still has a certain prestige among ordinary jailers even though he is behind bars now. They will report anything to him immediately if there is anything happening outside. At this time, several people were gloating about the robbery of the execution ground, the chaos in Jiangzhou, the capture of Cai Jiu, and the escape of the thieves. Finally, they said: "Tui Guan, now the prefect is in trouble, it is you. It's a good time to take the opportunity to get out of prison and regain power. I would like to congratulate you here first."
After being stunned for a long time, Yuan Wang suddenly laughed, with a look of madness on his face: "Haha... If this is really the case, I'm afraid my fate is about to come. No matter whether the prefect can come back safely this time, in order to find As a scapegoat, I, Yuan Wang, am the most suitable candidate... This time, no matter how I argue, they will never accept it. Maybe it won't be long before they let me die in this prison, and Give me a theory of committing suicide out of fear of crime. One wrong step and another wrong step. In the final analysis, it is because I underestimated Sun Tu’s scheming and ability... "