More than a dozen people have died, and now I don't even know whether the murderer is a human or a ghost. The people felt that it was the punishment of the river god, and they were all afraid. Even the magistrate He was affected, but Tang Fan and others stood by to investigate From the angle of view, naturally I would not think about it from this angle, otherwise the case would not be able to be investigated, and it would be enough to report directly to the court that it was ghosts and gods.
Of course, don't even want the black gauze hats on their heads.
Tang Fan said: "Since there are robbers in the imperial mausoleum, it must be related to tomb robbers. Could it be that after so long, even a thief has not been caught?"
The county magistrate said: "After the incident with the old village chief, no one dared to pass by at night. The lower official also took people several times to visit the robbery cave of the emperor's mausoleum during the day, but they found nothing. No one dared to enter the robbery hole, so the officer had no choice but to pay a lot of money, and only two people were willing to go down, but they came out not long after, saying that the robbery hole was dug too deep, and it went all the way down, and the bottom was black. There were no lights, they couldn't see the direction, and they didn't know where to go, so they didn't dare to go far. Later, the bounty was mentioned one or two, but some people were willing to go down to find out, that is... "
He murmured twice, and finally whispered: "It's just that I haven't come up again."
The lively atmosphere on the table gradually cooled down, and everyone shuddered at the description of the county magistrate.
These details are not written in the sabbatical, but Tang Fan can also understand the magistrate He. After all, this matter is too strange, and the few words in writing are difficult to write clearly, and the succinct also requires the words to be concise and to the point. write in it.
But everyone came all the way from the capital to investigate the case, definitely to get to the bottom of the case. If according to what the magistrate said, the case is complicated and dangerous, I am afraid it is far beyond their original expectations.
Even Yin Yuanhua, who was intent on following over to grab credit, regretted that he had to come over.
He county magistrate looked at Tang Fan uneasily, for fear that he would blame him for not writing it clearly in the report.
The next moment, he heard Tang Fan say, "How far is this from Luohe Village?"
The county magistrate said: "It's not far, just a dozen miles from the county seat!"
Tang Fan said: "That's it, after we finish our meal, we'll go over and just rest in Luohe Village at night."
The county magistrate was stunned: "Ah?"
Tang Fan: "What?"
The magistrate He regained his senses and hurriedly said: "This, this is not good, the conditions in Luohe Village are poor, I'm afraid it does not meet the preferences of the adults, and besides, it's the middle of the night..."
Tang Fan intercepted his words: "It's just because it's nighttime, didn't you say that the crying sounded again recently, just go over there to see what it is, otherwise if you wait until the daytime, what else can you find out? ?"
He looked at Suizhou again: "Brother Guangchuan, what do you think?"
Sui Zhou nodded: "Master Tang said very much, and the brothers of Jin Yiwei have no opinion."
Of course, Jin Yiwei has no objection. This journey is not too hard. It is normal for Jin Yiwei to travel during the day and sleep at night. When Suizhou investigated Huang Jinglong's case before, it was more difficult than this, because he had to hide the other party's eyes and ears. , and have to go out day and night, and travel on the road at the same time.
It was just too much for the civil servants, especially Yin Yuanhua, who wanted to faint when he heard this, so he quickly said: "Sir, I just arrived today, please allow me to wait here to rest for a night, and I will talk about it tomorrow. Isn't it too late?"
Tang Fan is an understanding boss: "Since Brother Yin is too weak, he will rest in the county town. I and Zhenfu will send them over."
Yin Yuanhua came to Gongxian County from the capital after all the hard work, so that he could grab some credit and grab Tang Fan's handle by the way. If he is not allowed to participate in the investigation, what's the point of his desperate life
He felt that Tang Fan obviously didn't want him to follow, and he said sarcastic words, so he had to force a smile and said, "How can this be possible? There is no reason to let the adults take the lead in the duties of the lower officials, please allow me to follow!"
Tang Fan said kindly and kindly: "If your body doesn't allow it, don't force it, it's more important to recover from illness, and I'll be there for everything."
You are sick, your whole family is sick!
Yin Yuanhua almost clenched his teeth, and he had to show a moved expression: "Although I have the adult's shirt, how can a subordinate officer feel at ease to let the adult go to danger alone? You have to follow your left and right to feel relieved!"
Seeing his insistence, Tang Fan also nodded: "It's up to you, pay attention to yourself, and tell me if it doesn't work."
He county magistrate didn't know the quarrel between the two people, and he was still thinking that it was an imperial envoy from the capital. This Lord Yin really worked hard.
Yin Yuanhua insisted on following him. Cheng Wen and Tian Xuan had no reason not to follow. When the group was full, they headed to Luohe Village under the guidance of the county magistrate.
The county magistrate and the others took the lead to arrange accommodation for the adults. After all, Luohe Village is no different than the county seat. So many people rushed over suddenly, and they didn't even know if the place to live could be vacated.
The distance from the county seat to Luohe Village is not far, so everyone does not ride horses, but sits in sedan chairs. Jinyiwei's horses are deposited at the post station.
The feeling of sitting in a sedan chair is different from riding a horse. Sitting on a seat with thick cushions and swaying under him, Tang Fan was so comfortable that he almost fell asleep.
He did fall asleep too... until someone patted him awake.
"It's here." Sui Zhou leaned into the sedan chair and said to him.
After all, they are in a big crowd, and there are Yin Yuanhua and others. They can't make their personal relationships too obvious, and even their names are quite satisfactory.
Tang Fan smiled at him, stretched his waist, and felt better in spirit, but his physical fatigue was more obvious, and he wanted to fall asleep. Chin sent.
This errand was not only an important turning point in his personal career, but also related to other people's road to promotion and fortune. Even though Tang Fan was an imperial envoy, he should always consider the people under him, and should not be too arbitrary.
Like tonight, aside from people like Yin Yuanhua who were pitted by motion sickness, Jin Yiwei, including Pang Qi and others, are eager to make contributions. We must also think more for him from Suizhou's standpoint, and we must not make it difficult for him.
At this time, the night had just fallen, and the sky was not yet completely dark. With the gray-blue sky, everyone could finally see the scene of Luoshui Village.
This village is not big, but it is not small. Because it is close to Gongxian County and on the edge of the Luo River, many residents in the county town have their hometowns here. They come and go, and the roads are smooth, so it is relatively prosperous.
However, the village is a village after all, and it is impossible to have a gorgeous official post like the county seat, so the county magistrate came to report with a look of embarrassment: "Everyone is poor, the village is simple, not as good as the county seat, and it is difficult to find more houses. , I can only reluctantly gather a few to give the clerks a temporary rest, but this way, I'm afraid that a few clerks will be wronged to live together, do you think...?"
These houses were temporarily vacated by the county magistrate who asked some villagers to live with their neighbors or relatives.
Tang Fan naturally had no opinion: "How many rooms are there in total?"
The county magistrate hurriedly said: "There are nine rooms in total, and the lower official specially arranged them, and they are all connected together!"
Tang Fan applauded: "If you bother, that's all."
The county magistrate was still worried about being scolded, but who knew that he would still be praised, and he was simply overjoyed.
Tang Fan said: "Then I will share with Guangchuan, Brother Yin will share with Cheng Wentian Xuan, and the rest will be arranged by you, Guangchuan."
Suizhou took Pang Qi and others to allocate the remaining seven rooms. Some of these rooms are bigger and some are smaller. Tang Fan and Suizhou do not separate each other. The rooms are small and they sleep on the same bed. It's nothing, everyone didn't come to enjoy it anyway, just squeezed and passed.
Yin Yuanhua and the two commanders had three people, so they were divided into a larger room, with two rooms inside and outside. Yin Yuanhua slept in the inner room, and Cheng Wentian Xuan slept in the outer room.
The other Jinyiwei are better arranged. They are all big men. They can sleep with just a space and a quilt.
When the house was allocated, Tang Fan said to the county magistrate, "If the magistrate He is not busy going back, just take us to see the old village chief first."
Seeing the county magistrate hesitating to speak, he asked, "Is there any difficulty?"
The county magistrate smiled bitterly: "My lord, it's not that the subordinate officials deliberately prevaricate. After the last shock, the old village chief seemed to be fine on weekdays, but as long as he mentioned the events of that night, he would only talk about it over and over again. In other words, you can't ask anything. What's more... "
Tang Fan: "What's more?"
The county magistrate murmured, "It's already nighttime, why don't we wait until we see you tomorrow?"
When he said this, Tang Fan noticed that not only the magistrate He, but the county magistrate and others also had a look of fear on their faces.
The magistrate He had sworn that only the common people believed that ghosts and gods were at work, but now he hesitated, obviously he was also afraid.
Not far away, the sound of the Luo River rushes past, and it is pouring into the Yellow River toward the northeast. Although it is not as turbulent as the Yellow River, it is also turbulent. The river is wide enough for boats to ride on it. , In the daytime, it must be a good view of green trees, broad water and low clouds, but it is just as late as today, it is pitch black, the night wind is blowing, it is much cooler than in the daytime, and I wear less clothes. If you click, you will shiver involuntarily.
The river in front of him doesn't look like it has swallowed so many people, but it may be infected by the emotions of He County Magistrate and others. When Tang Fan looked at the past from a distance, he only felt that there was a deep depth under the surging river. There are many hidden dangers that are not well known.
Seeing that the county magistrate and others were so afraid, Tang Fan didn't force it: "Forget it, you can specify the residence of the old village chief, and leave two people who are familiar with the terrain here to take care of it, so you can go back first."
The county magistrate was indeed a little scared, so he looked at the county magistrate, but the latter wanted to curry favor with the imperial envoy, so he took the initiative to ask Ying: "Xiaguan is willing to stay and guide the way."
Seeing that the county magistrate was willing to stay, the magistrate He was eager to stay, so he left two more yamen as servants, then pleaded guilty to Tang Fan and the others, got into the sedan chair and hurried away.
Like the magistrate He, he is indecisive and indecisive. If he is an ordinary person, it is fine, but as an official of the imperial court, he should be responsible. , but Tang Fan didn't scold him. After all, the most important thing in front of him is to find out the case. The magistrate He has little to do with this case, and it won't work if he stays.
On the contrary, Zhao Xiancheng was more enthusiastic. Only after his introduction did Tang Fan and the others know that the current head of Luohe Village is the son of the old village head, because the old village head is prestige and willing to stand up for the villagers. Encountered such an accident, everyone elected the eldest son of the old village chief to become the new village chief, and the old village chief now lives with the eldest son.
Under the leadership of Zhao Xiancheng, Tang Fan and the others came to the old village chief's house.
The other party had previously heard that there was a big person in the county, but there was no order from the county magistrate, so he didn't dare to come out to disturb him. The army was in chaos, and the small house could not squeeze too many people, so Tang Fan asked Pang Qi to lead people to guard outside, while he entered with Suizhou, Yin Yuanhua and others.
The eldest son of the village chief is now over forty years old. His surname is Liu. He is a simple and honest man. He heard about Tang Fan's intentions, so he went in and invited the old village chief out, and he bowed to Tang Fan and the others to apologize: "My father is talking now. It's a bit messy, and sometimes you can't hear it clearly, please don't blame me, sirs!"
Tang Fan said warmly, "You don't need to panic, we'll just ask a few questions and leave, but I'm afraid we're going to be bothering you here these days."
The village chief Liu had some knowledge to think about it. Although he was frightened and fearful, he was not rude when he spoke. He smiled naively: "It is an honor for the village to come here, so how can we talk about harassment? It's gone!"
When they were talking, the old village chief was listening beside him, his expression was serene and calm, his hands were clasped together, rubbing slowly, and he looked like an ordinary person.
But when Tang Fan mentioned what happened that night, the old village chief's expression suddenly became a little uneasy, his body trembled slightly, his lips opened and closed, as if he wanted to say something.
The village chief Liu said to him: "Father, this is a high-ranking official sent by the imperial court. In order to investigate the case, please tell a few masters what happened that night?"
The old village chief shook his head and said again and again: "Can't say, can't say, there will be divine condemnation!"
Village Chief Liu persuaded: "Father, don't be afraid, these high-ranking officials and masters are all stars in the sky, and ghosts and gods don't dare to get close to them. Didn't you say you've seen the river god last time? What's going on? "
The old village chief sighed: "Several noble gentlemen, it's not that the little old man refuses to say it, but I really don't want to watch you go to death. I could see clearly that night, the river god came out of the river and immediately took Several people who came to dig graves were dragged down, and not even a single bone was left!"
This inside story was not mentioned by the magistrate He, so Tang Fan asked, "Have you met those people before?"
The old village chief nodded: "yes, they went to dig graves with shovels, and we bumped into them. They wanted to run, so we chased them all the way to the river, and as a result..."
He remembered the situation that night, and seemed to fall into fear, and suddenly became incoherent: "As a result, I ran into a ghost! There are ghosts, many ghosts..."
Look, it was said to be a river god just now, but now it is said to be a ghost!
Tang Fan, Sui Zhou and others looked at each other.
"Father, what nonsense are you talking about!" Village Chief Liu couldn't help but say.
The old village chief shuddered, his face twisted, as if he had seen something extremely terrifying, he shook his head and shrank into the corner, tears rolling down his cloudy eyes: "Liu Jiaxiao Liu has half his body covered with It was bitten off, the upper body was still on the river bank, his nails were lying on the bank, and he kept crying and shouting, let's go and save him, Zhou Chau ran over, grabbed his hand, and tried to pull him up, but the result was If I didn't catch him, he would be torn down too. At that time, we all saw that there was something in the river..."
Tang Fan asked, "What?"
The old village chief: "River God! It's the River God!"
Tang Fan: "..."
He felt that he really shouldn't be serious with such an old man. As the county magistrate said, all the things that came out of his mouth were upside down. Maybe the first half was quite organized, but the second half began to be incoherent, which made people very uncomfortable. It's hard to tell the truth from the fake.
Seeing that he could no longer ask anything, Tang Fan turned to Suizhou: "Brother Guangchuan, is there anything else you want to ask?"
Suizhou shook his head slightly.
Yin Yuanhua wanted to ask something different, so he said, "Have you seen what the river god looks like?"
The old village chief first paused for a moment, then his teeth chattered up and down.
Village Chief Liu quickly stepped forward to support him and said anxiously, "Father, what's the matter with you!"
Unexpectedly, the old village chief trembled even more, and suddenly pushed away the hand of Liu village chief, and his body shrank straight to the corner on the kang.
Village Chief Liu had no choice but to beg Tang Fan and the others: "Sir, my father is so speechless, can you ask me next time?"
Yin Yuanhua felt a great loss of face and couldn't help but glared at the old man.
But seeing the old village chief also just raised his head, the fear and despair in his eyes reached the extreme, and the pleading eyes made Yin Yuanhua's whole body cold, so he didn't dare to look at him, and quickly looked away.
Tang Fan got up, asked Village Chief Liu to take care of his father, and left with everyone.
Behind him, the old village chief muttered to himself: "Don't go, don't go, there are ghosts, there are ghosts, there are many ghosts, there are ghosts everywhere..."
Tang Fan couldn't help but glance back, but the old village chief had lowered his head, leaning his head against the wall, without even looking at them.
After leaving Liu's house, it was almost time, so Tang Fan asked everyone to go back to the house that the county magistrate had vacated for them temporarily, ready to rest.
Speaking of which, the county magistrate Zhao was indeed much more thoughtful than the magistrate He. He even prepared hot water and a face mask. He was afraid that he would not be thoughtful. When Tang Fan and the others went to Liu's house for questioning, they sent them back to the county seat. I bought some snacks and came here. Now the pot of tea on the table is still hot. Although the tea set is simple, Tang Fan can smell the aroma as soon as he smells it. It is authentic good tea.
"He county magistrate was afraid of death and had to go back first, but Zhao county magistrate took the initiative to stay, and he was so considerate and thoughtful. It was a world of difference!" Tang Fan shook his head and poured a cup of tea for Sui Zhou and himself.
"He just wants you to go back and say two good things to him. When people go to high places, I'm afraid no one wants to be a county magistrate all their lives." Sui Zhou spread out the clean gauze he brought from Pang Qi. Come, put on the ointment you brought with you.
"come over."
Tang Fan couldn't help laughing when he saw the thing in his hand: "Look, I've been bandaging for so many days, it should be almost better, so I don't need to wrap it anymore, it's so uncomfortable!"
Sui Zhou said with a cold face: "If you want to come over, come here, okay, don't you know?"
Of course it's not good yet.
Master Tang had to face down and walked over slowly.
Suizhou: "Lie down, take off your pants, and lift up your clothes."
Tang Fan: "..."
How ambiguous this conversation sounds, if someone passes by from outside at this moment, 80% of them will be misunderstood.
But actually it's not like that at all.
Tang Fan's physical fitness is no better than that of Yin Yuanhua and others. When he has been riding a horse for so many days, he can't stand it, but riding in a carriage is even more uncomfortable. You can tell by looking at Yin Yuanhua's vomit. By contrast, riding a horse only hurts the buttocks and the sides of the thighs, not the whole body, whichever is more important. Master Tang is the biggest boss in this trip. .
This is called death to save face and live to suffer.
The butt was just fine, it was bumping up and down. The meat in that place was thicker, so it didn't get in the way. The main reason was that the inner thighs kept rubbing and bumping during the contact with the horse, causing blisters, and then the skin was broken and bleeding.
If he is injured, he must be treated with medicine. At first, Tang Fan was too embarrassed to speak, until Suizhou forced him down and put the medicine on him.
At present, changing the medicine every night has become the last thing Tang is unwilling to do.
If he could choose, he would rather go to the Luohe River to have a friendly face-to-face with the river god, rather than lie on his back on the bed like he is now, with his legs apart, take off his pants, lift up his clothes, and let Suizhou put the newly changed gauze Wrap around his sore spot.
Although everyone is a man, they have everything they should have, and they don't have anything that they don't have, but Tang Fan just felt uncomfortable, staring at the beam above his head, acting like he was wandering, but it was actually to hide his shyness.
Sui Zhou also seemed to be able to see his inner thoughts, and he felt amused, but his face was still expressionless, he only wrapped gauze in circles, and then pretended to casually glanced at the other's crotch, and said lightly: "The shape is still there. good."
Don't look at Tang Fan pretending to be dead, his attention is still there. As soon as the other party's words entered his ears, he couldn't help blushing, and said angrily: "How bold, how dare you to criticize the imperial envoy, you don't want to die?"
Sui Zhou snorted: "I am also an imperial envoy."
Tang Fan: "You're the deputy, I'm the righteous, don't talk nonsense, you also take off and let this official judge!"
Suizhou: "Are you sure you want to see it?"
Tang Fan: "Of course!"
He thought that Suizhou would find an excuse to refuse, but who knew that the other party didn't say a word, but Shi Shiran got up and stretched out his hand to untie his trouser belt.
Tang Fan hurriedly said, "Forget it, I know you are younger than me. It will be bad if your self-esteem suffers later. Men want to save face, so I will let you go."
Suizhou: "It's fine, I don't mind."
Tang Fan: "..."
In fact, Sui Zhou just wanted to tease Tang Fan, he was really no different to that level.
Seeing that Master Tang had a tendency to fry his hair, he also stopped, took the dessert plate on the table, picked up a piece of dessert, and handed it to Master Tang himself.
Under the dim candlelight, Tang Fan couldn't see the appearance of the sour jujube cake, but the taste in the mouth was excellent, sweet and sour, a familiar taste made by the cook at home when he was a child.
He couldn't help rolling his tongue and rolled the rest into his mouth, but accidentally swiped Sui Zhou's finger, the other party paused, and quickly retracted it.
Tang Fan didn't care, narrowed his eyes to feel the touch from his taste buds, nodded, and praised again: "This dim sum chosen by Chancellor Zhao Xian is really good! It's a pity that this place is too wicked, so good dim sum is blinded. No, we really have to run around in the second half of the night!"
Suizhou asked him to put on his trousers and stand up, while he bent down to make the bed and bedding, and asked, "Do you see something wrong?"
Tang Fan picked up another piece of sour jujube cake and put it in his mouth, and asked without answering, "Did you see it too?"
"Don't eat too much, you won't be able to fall asleep later." Sui Zhou frowned and said something to him before saying, "That old man seems to have a problem."
Tang Fan nodded and wanted to speak, but because the jujube cake slid down his throat, he almost choked to death, so he couldn't help but caress his throat and rolled his eyes.
Suizhou was helpless, walked over and patted his back, and handed him the teacup: "How did you survive the past twenty years?"
After drinking the tea, he took the jujube cake with him. Tang Fan finally breathed a sigh of relief and said, "This scourge of this official will naturally be left behind for thousands of years. I also think there is something wrong with that old man, although he speaks out of order. , but he looks more like a fake."
Sui Zhou hummed and waited for him to speak.
Tang Fan said: "There are several possibilities. First, those people were killed by the old village chief, but this possibility is not very high, and I can't think of why he would kill these people for no reason, besides, he is an old and weak man. Old man, unless there is some help, it is impossible to kill so many people, it is impossible to do so, so this possibility is put aside for the time being."
"Second, that old man, or even this whole village, has colluded with those tomb robbers, so he tried every means to mislead us and let us think in the direction of ghosts and gods. Maybe after those thieves robbed the emperor's tomb, they promised to share it with the villagers. What is the benefit, let them help keep the secret, those who were killed all discovered the secret and wanted to report them."
Tang Fan analyzed slowly, and then shook his head again in a moment: "But it doesn't make sense. We have too few clues now, and it's hard to guess the truth all at once."
"There is another possibility." Suizhou said.
Tang Fan looked at him.
Suizhou: "What the old man said is true."
Tang Fan raised his eyebrows: "You also believe in ghosts?"
Sui Zhou shook his head: "It's not necessarily a ghost, but it could be something else. No matter if the old village chief is crazy or not, he must have something to hide from us, and he didn't say it."
Tang Fan said with a smile: "First the salutes and then the soldiers, it seems that Jinyiwei still has to come out."
When it comes to extorting confessions by torture, there is really nothing in the world better than Jin Yiwei.
When many people hear forced confessions, they will think of all kinds of cruel methods, but in fact, there are many methods in this world that can make them tell the truth obediently without using punishment. This is the secret that Jinyiwei does not pass on on the officials who use torture, and there is no semicolon.
Now using it against an old man in a backcountry, it can be regarded as a bull's knife.
Suizhou said: "Let's rest first, and talk about it tomorrow."
Yes, it's already time for a break, so naturally it's time to rest.
It was quiet outside, not even the sound of chickens and dogs, and everything fell asleep.
But it is not right to say that it is silent. At least the Luo River not far away is rushing day and night, and the river is rushing forward, so that their ears are always filled with the sound of running water, but they are used to hearing this sound and feel nothing, on the contrary It's like washing away all the turbulent years in my heart.
The place on the kang is not narrow, it is more than enough for two people to lie down, Tang Fan sleeps inside, Sui Zhou sleeps outside.
Although the two have been under the same roof for a long time, they have never slept side by side like today.
They are actually very tired, but they are so tired that sometimes they can't sleep.
Suizhou heard Tang Fan's turning over and said, "Turn around."
Tang Fan didn't ask why, Yiyan turned his back to the other side, and felt that his chin was supported by the other side's warm palm, and the other hand was slowly pressing a few acupoints on the back of his head.
The tense feeling in his head slowly stretched out in an instant, Tang Fan groaned comfortably, and as the man behind him exerted just the right amount of strength, he also felt tired and sleepy, and soon fell asleep.
In the second half of the night, he had a strange dream.
In the dream, he was walking by the dark river, and there were many graves standing high and low on the open field in the distance. The wind whistled, accompanied by the cry that drifted in the distance. Contains endless sorrow and resentment, lingering in the wilderness, and piercing into Tang Fan's ears, making him shudder.
The cry was getting closer and closer, and suddenly, there seemed to be something behind him!
That feeling was inexplicable, he just felt that his heart had never been so frightened at this moment.
He turned his head slowly...
Tang Fan was shocked, and suddenly opened his eyes!
"Don't move." Sui Zhou whispered in his ear, his arm was lying across Tang Fan's waist.
Hearing his voice, Tang Fan's heart beating wildly because of the nightmare gradually calmed down.
But he soon realized that the cry that made him feel uncomfortable was not in a dream, but was coming from outside!