Under the sky covered with thick clouds and falling snow, riots were taking place in Tokyo. Not only were people chasing and escaping in Songying Lane in the southwest of the city, but similar incidents also occurred in the northwest corner and due south. Many guys with guilty consciences were flying onto the street, then jumping into a ditch as high as a person and getting into it. Entrances to dark waterways.
As the saying goes, there are three cunning rabbit holes, and these evil-doing Wuyou Cave bandits are much more cunning than rabbits. Just as a hiding place, they have set up no fewer than four or five places throughout the capital. Among them, there are individual inconspicuous courtyards, and there are also those who simply acquired the entire alley and lived together.
Originally, they made these preparations so that they could take care of each other when something unexpected happened, and also to make it easier for them to do some shameful things. But now, when the three yamen of the Criminal Department, Kaifeng Mansion and Street Department jointly handled the case and arrested them, these people did not dare to resist fiercely and could only flee in a hurry.
In the final analysis, these people are just fearless bandits. Although they do a lot of evil on a daily basis, and many innocent people die in their hands, it is too much to ask them to confront the officers and soldiers with open swords and guns. , when faced with the roundup of a large number of officers and soldiers, their first reaction was to flee.
But this time their choice was quite correct, because this time the officers and soldiers were well prepared, and even prepared a large number of bows and arrows. Once there was a head-to-head battle, some of them would certainly be able to fight their way out. , but the casualties must be several times the current number, and it is impossible for more than half of the people to jump into the waterway.
When they fled underground, the pursuit of the officers and soldiers stopped, leaving only a few men to guard on the spot in case they came back. However, this commotion not only caused panic among the residents near these lairs, but also finally attracted the soldiers of the imperial army patrolling the capital to investigate and investigate.
Zhao Kangming faced the accusation at this moment: "We have never heard of any problems with the people here, and we have never heard from the street department that there will be an action to arrest the prisoners today! This is Bianjing City, under the emperor's feet, how can we allow you to wait? They're just messing around. Let me take them all down!"
As this official launched an attack with great momentum, the Forbidden Army soldiers behind him immediately pressed forward, with their weapons raised high, ready to attack at any time. This made the soldiers in the street department feel nervous. There were only about ten of them here, and the other brothers were searching the alley, so they couldn't handle it.
However, Zhao Kangming remained calm and immediately showed his token: "I, Street Department Chief Zhao Kangming, who of you dares to be presumptuous? When will our Street Department need the consent of your patrolling army to arrest bandits? And you keep asking us to release people, and what are your thoughts on taking us to task? Is it just to protect the prisoners here?"
The official on the opposite side suddenly felt weak, and his momentum was immediately suppressed. Zhao Kangming really got it right. He came to intervene just to disrupt the rhythm of taking people here. Why these thieves in Wuyou Cave can live here with peace of mind without being investigated by the government is because they have already got through to the security forces on the ground, either by buying them with money, or through
Without the intimidation of their backers, anyway, after this, the past few years have been peaceful and have never encountered any trouble.
However, this also made them gradually lose their vigilance. If they were doing those activities outside, they might still be cautious and not dare to reveal any flaws. But as soon as they returned to their residence after finishing their work, they almost all relaxed. After all, there had been nothing for many years, so who would be on useless precautions every day
But sometimes accidents happen when people are not alert. These people never dreamed that when they were kidnapping women and children and stealing property by various means in various places with large crowds of people, their whereabouts would be followed by Sun Tu's spy who had already spread out. Moreover, these people had no intention of taking people on the spot and everyone would get the stolen goods. Instead, they had patience and followed them through the streets and alleys, walking through half of Tokyo until they confirmed that they had settled anywhere in the city. A nest everywhere.
Because Sun Tu knew very well that if he wanted to catch all these ditch rats and cure them completely, he had to find their whereabouts, and then attack them everywhere at the same time to catch them off guard.
To this end, he made many arrangements and persuaded relevant people in the three yamen. Only then did today's joint operation take place, and all the lairs of Wuyoudong in the city were destroyed in one fell swoop. While a small number of people were being held captive, most of the people were driven into the underground sewers.
But the scene in front of him seemed to be a little beyond Sun Tu's expectation. He didn't expect that these guys' protective umbrellas would be so blatant and dare to come out and confuse right and wrong at this time. Zhao Kangming was also stunned for a moment, but at this moment he had calmed down and completely suppressed the opponent in terms of momentum.
When he asked him this question, the other party panicked again, and could only say in a stern tone: "That's nonsense. How could I, a high-ranking imperial official, do such illegal things? I'm just trying to prevent anyone from disturbing the capital." It’s just about public security. Besides, you said there are prisoners here, but do you have any proof?"
"Of course there will be evidence. My men are searching it. If you have any doubts, you can come with me and have a closer look." Zhao Kangming replied immediately. And just when he finished speaking, he saw a subordinate rushing over in a hurry. The visitor's expression was extremely ugly, as if he had discovered something terrible inside. He ignored even the Forbidden Army troops around him. As soon as he saw Zhao Kangming, he reported anxiously: "Sicheng, We found a lot of bodies in one of the yards..."
"What?" Zhao Kangming and the Forbidden Army official both changed their colors at the same time and exclaimed. Neither of them expected such a discovery. The subordinate swallowed his saliva and then said with difficulty: "The corpses were all dug out from the ground. They looked dead not long ago, and..." When he said this, his expression changed again, and he felt very embarrassed to speak.
However, Zhao Kangming no longer cared about listening to his report. He waved his hand to a few soldiers to guard the entrance to the waterway, and then hurried into the alley. The forbidden troops hesitated for a moment, and were led by the official into the alley, but their expressions became a little weird.
A few people soon arrived in front of a house in the back section of the alley. The door here
Several street soldiers were guarding outside the inner door. All of them had solemn expressions on their faces, and several of them were trembling slightly. It was obvious that they had been mentally shocked.
The subordinate who came to report the news whispered: "This courtyard was the last one we entered. At that time, we felt strange. People had already run out of other courtyards, but there was no one here, so we were on guard. A few more brothers climbed over the wall and knocked on the door. But it turned out that the place was empty, not a single person was around. After searching around, they discovered that there was something strange about the mud in the backyard. It looked like it had just been disturbed. It looked like it was going on. So some brothers tried to dig in the soil to check, and the result was... "
There is no need to say the next words, because they have arrived at the backyard, and the dug pit has been fully displayed in front of everyone.
Even though Zhao Kangming thought he had some knowledge and had handled some murder cases in the capital, he was still shocked when he suddenly saw the scene in the pit. I saw six corpses lying scattered in the pit. Because they had been dead for a while and were buried in the soil, they had begun to decay, and maggots continued to appear on the corpses.
Of course, this was not unacceptable to him. What really made him feel chilled and angry was that these corpses were all children! Although they have begun to corrupt and their appearance cannot be clearly seen, one can infer from their stature that they are only six or seven years old, which is about the same age as Zhao Kangming's second son!
This made it impossible for anyone to deal with it calmly. The innocent deceased, or the most innocent child, was killed and buried hastily in this yard. Those bandits in Wuyou Cave were more inhumane and more dangerous than he thought. Damn it!
After a moment of silence, Zhao Kangming's face turned ashen like the others, and then he looked at the leader of the Forbidden Army beside him who also changed color: "I wonder if you still think they are innocent now?"
"I..." This person opened his mouth in confusion, but nothing could be said. How could this happen? Who are the people living in this alley, and why do they dare to be so lawless in Tokyo
Zhao Kangming paid no attention to what he meant, and immediately turned around and ordered: "I'll kill all the people, but anyone who dares to resist and run away will be killed! Everything in this alley must be carefully searched, even if you can It’s all good to save an innocent person!”
"Here!" All the soldiers responded solemnly, and then started working again.
If placed in a border area, such a miserable scene would not arouse much emotion. After all, people die there all the time, and their lives are so fragile that it is difficult for adults to protect themselves, let alone children. But this is Bianjing, the capital of the Song Dynasty. The severity of such a tragedy happening here is beyond the scope of any conscientious person.
If Zhao Kangming did all this before, he had a larger conspiracy and wanted to use it to deal with certain people. After seeing this tragic situation, he had forgotten all these things and only wanted to bring a group of inhumane criminals to justice. No matter what power backers they had, he would eradicate them completely. !
As for the soldiers of the Forbidden Army, they all stood there in a daze at this moment, not knowing what to do or what to say.