Drunk Bamboo

Two tall men rarely appeared on a country road near Loushan in Jiangbei County.

Both men were wearing ragged linen clothes, their faces were black and their hands were covered in dirt.

One of the men was wearing a conical hat, carrying a bag, and had a serious expression on his face. The other had a beard and a pair of bright black eyes.

Hua Qinfeng glanced at Zhang Xinghe, who was wearing a bamboo hat, with a look of disdain: "You asked Chaoyang to pretend to be me and go to Yu Town to pay respect to the prince, and you asked the guards to pretend that you were sick and lying in the room. Now you asked me to dress up as a farmer and come to the fields."

"Zhang Xinghe, what are you going to do?"

The men walking on the country road were Hua Qinfeng and Zhang Xinghe in disguise.

The two were sent here by His Majesty because of the silver robbery case by bandits in Loushan Mountain, to investigate the truth and recover 100,000 taels of silver.

Rao State had eleven circuits, one hundred and eighty prefectures, and eight hundred and fifty counties.

Loushan is located in Jiangbei County in the middle of the Yangtze River, and the official silver was to be transported to Yuzhen in Jiangbei County.

At Loushan, which was a must-pass route, he was kidnapped by bandits and disappeared.

Zhang Xinghe's face was covered with thick carbon ash, but his eyebrows and eyes were still clear.

"Although Loushan is not a steep mountain, the terrain is extremely complex, and there is only one path leading to the top of the mountain. We carefully checked from the foot of the mountain to the top for two days, and found nothing except the plants around the path that had been trampled."

"These traces disappeared when we reached the top of the mountain, and we could not find any other traces related to the bandits."

Zhang Xinghe couldn't help revealing a hint of deep meaning as he spoke.

Three days ago in the afternoon, they arrived in Jiangbei County and went straight to the county government office, where they met with the county magistrate Hu Guo to learn about the local situation.

Early the next morning, County Magistrate Wang Qingming led a group of yamen runners to Loushan to investigate the scene, but found nothing.

Hua Qinfeng was annoyed: "I have been in Loushan for three days, but I haven't found any trace of the bandit and the silver. Could it be that the bandits and the silver have grown wings?"

Zhang Xinghe asked back: "Does Your Majesty believe it?"

His eyes were sharp: "Of course I don't believe it."

How could someone in the world be looking for wings? But how could so many people and so many boxes of silver just disappear?

Hua Qinfeng returned to the previous question: "Zhang Xinghe, after talking for a long time, you still haven't explained clearly why you disguise yourself?"

The situation is urgent and finding money is important, so why are you in disguise?

Zhang Xinghe turned his head to glance at him, and was a little surprised that he was not bypassed.

Hua Qinfeng glared at him and motioned for him to speak.

Zhang Xinghe raised his head and looked at Lou Mountain. He said, "The mountain road is rugged, the terrain is complex, the forest is deep and dense, vines are everywhere, and there are few people. Even County Magistrate Hu has never climbed this mountain. The map given by County Magistrate Wang was drawn more than ten years ago. It is vague and can't explain anything at all. If we don't even know the terrain, how can we find the bandits and the silver?"

Hua Qinfeng gave Zhang Xinghe a blank look as he was confused by what he said.

"We should call more people to check the terrain. Even if we can climb walls and climb roofs, we can't see much in one day. The prince is still waiting for us to recover the official silver, and the people in the middle of the river can't wait."

"Exploring the terrain in person will be more conducive to our analysis."

Zhang Xinghe said this and continued to move forward with his head down.

Hua Qinfeng resisted the urge to swear and thought to himself.

After a while, he seemed to have figured it out, and said to Zhang Xinghe:

"Zhang Xinghe, are you worried about the county magistrate and the county chancellor, so you deliberately disguised yourself to avoid them?"

A flash of surprise crossed Zhang Xinghe's eyes.

Originally, he was worried that after Hua Qinfeng knew all this, he would act rashly and do something bad, which would make it difficult for Magistrate Hu and Magistrate Wang to investigate the case, so he did not tell the truth.

Now that he has seen through it, there is nothing to hide.

"County Magistrate Hu seemed respectful and cooperative, but he was only good at saying nice things. We met on the first day, and the one who handed over to us afterwards was County Magistrate Wang. I think he was a person who didn't care about things on weekdays. County Magistrate Wang looked young, but the constables and runners all listened to his arrangements. Once asked about important points, he always managed to cleverly avoid the important points and didn't provide any useful information at all."

When they met on the first day, Zhang Xinghe felt that the two adults were a little strange. After interacting with them for the past few days, his thoughts were further confirmed.

There must be something wrong with one of the two, or there must be something wrong with both of them.

When you cannot gain trust, no one can be trusted. Everything depends on the people you bring with you.

Her eyes flashed with coldness: "A timid and inactive county magistrate, and a seemingly cooperative county magistrate with ulterior motives. The silver robbery case in Loushan is definitely not simple."

Hua Qinfeng said angrily, "What a bunch of bastards! What's the point of being an official? Officials have been killed and government silver has been robbed for six days. Such shocking events have not happened in more than ten years. Look at this bastard county magistrate and county deputy. They can't even find a usable map. They don't know anything when asked. When I go back, I will report to my father and have them dismissed from their posts!"

Zhang Xinghe hurriedly stopped him: "Your Majesty, calm down. This is not the time to be angry."

Hua Qinfeng said, "Don't worry, I won't be angry. Yuzhu told me before I left that I would not rush around or argue with you. No matter what grudge we have, I will settle it with you after we have defeated these bandits and found the official silver."

Zhang Xinghe was stunned.

A hint of doubt appeared between his eyebrows.

Hua Qinfeng's anger disappeared completely, his face was calm, and he suggested: "Officials are useless, why not ask the local people? It will be faster than us finding a place on foot, right?"

Zhang Xinghe retracted his gaze, and the corners of his mouth slightly raised: "Your Highness is right, there is a small village at the foot of Loushan Mountain, and we are heading to Loushan Village."

Over the years, the prince has become much more stable.

Can marriage really change a person so much?

Such a thought flashed through Zhang Xinghe’s mind.

The surprise did not end there, the following words were even more astonishing.

Hua Qinfeng continued, "Zhang Xinghe, since you already had this idea, why didn't you say it earlier? Do you not trust me, or do you think I will only act rashly and on impulse without even consulting me?"

Zhang Xinghe raised his head again: "I was too cautious. There won't be a next time."

Hua Qinfeng said calmly, "It's not wrong to be cautious, but don't hide anything from me and Chaoyang. We are here to help you solve the case, not to make trouble. Your Majesty has ordered you to be the presiding judge of this case, and I will assist you. I also know that you have solved countless cases in the Ministry of Justice in the past few years and have rich experience. Just tell me what you want me to do."

I paused. This tone of trust was familiar yet strange.

It seemed as if it was vividly in my mind: on the battlefield, in front of the enemy, with golden swords and iron horses, silver clothes and long spears. A loud shout: "Listen to the military advisor, charge forward!"

Zhang Xinghe collected his thoughts and said softly, "The prince has changed a lot."

Zhang Xinghe's gentle attitude made Hua Qinfeng at a loss as to what tone to use.

Turning his head away, he said, "As long as we can find the bandits and the official silver as soon as possible, I won't care what you say."

Zhang Xinghe chuckled: "Your Majesty is so generous and reasonable, I can't get used to it for a while."

Hua Qinfeng yelled, "Zhang Xinghe! Are you going to argue with me?"

He saluted solemnly: "No, no, I will obey your orders in everything."

"Hmph——" He quickened his pace and stopped walking with Zhang Xinghe.

At this time, an old man leading a cow came not far away. Zhang Xinghe immediately caught up with Hua Qinfeng and said quickly in his ear: "Someone is coming! The villagers asked us, we are brothers, we came from the north, came to the south to find a livelihood, and passed by here."