[mouse cat] special way

Zhan Zhao and the others stepped on their horses and went to the Xiangfu county government office at the time of day, and the county magistrate, Mr. Zhou, received the famous assassin and came out in person.

I saw four people in official uniforms handing over the horses to the servants in the mansion. The leader was dressed in a red official robe. He was dignified and gentle. Bar.Unexpectedly, he was so young and handsome...Master Zhou praised him secretly.Alas, at such a young age, he was already a fourth-rank imperial guard with a knife. He has been in the officialdom for many years, but he is still just a small county magistrate of the eighth rank.But what does it matter...

"Xiaguan Zhou Bizhi, the magistrate of Xiangfu County, has met Mr. Zhan." Mr. Zhou brought his master and the head catcher to salute.

"Your Majesty Zhou, you don't need to be too polite." Zhan Zhaoxu gave him a hand, cupped his hands and returned the gift, then took out the official document, and cut straight to the point, "I'm here for the murder case in Xiangfu County a few days ago, please tell me the ins and outs of the case in detail."

"In that case, Master Zhan, please follow me to the scene of the murder." Master Zhou smiled heartily, and then ordered Master to fetch the file.Unexpectedly, the master had expected this move a long time ago, and always carried the backup of the dossier with him.So Master Zhou waved his sleeve: "Master Zhan, please!" After saying that, he left without waiting for anyone to lift his feet, and the master quickly followed.

It was a little embarrassing for the head catcher to meet him. He smiled at Zhanzhao and the others in embarrassment: "Master Zhan, don't mind, this is what our lords look like when we mention the case. I Xing Wei, the county government office is very close to the murder scene. Master Zhan please follow me, we will be there soon."

The corners of Zhan Zhao's mouth twitched slightly, he nodded to express his understanding, and followed closely with Zhao Hu and the others.This Mr. Zhou is a bit interesting. In some respects, he is very similar to Mr. Bao. It is much easier to deal with people who are less polite and straightforward.

Along the way, they met a lot of people who greeted them. It seems that Mr. Zhou is very close to the people and has an excellent official voice.But Zhao Hu knew that half of these people came for their family, Mr. Zhan.

is not that right?The two aunts who passed by just now were talking in low voices.

"That adult in red is so handsome, I don't know if he is married..."

"Yeah, yeah, a few days ago, Yuanwai Liu asked me to help his young lady pay more attention..."

Zhao Hu rolled his eyes secretly, hum, just because you still want to match-maker Mr. Zhan, I don't know how many matchmakers died in the Kaifeng Mansion before.What's more, now... Well, forget it, anyway, they probably leave tomorrow, so let her do this.He looked at Mr. Zhan who was on his way in front of him. Zhao Hu was funny, and he heard it all. Mr. Zhan's ears may have been listening carefully, but he didn't respond, so he was so focused.

Xing Butou, who was at the front, had a headache, what's the matter...

"Master Zhan, we are here." Master Zhou stopped in front of a small courtyard.He waved his hand to let the yamen servants who were waiting at the door to leave, and Catcher Xing tore off the seal on the door.

This place is not so much a courtyard as a collection of multiple workshops. Unlike other houses, it looks extraordinarily quiet and desolate.Facing the gate is a lobby, which is probably the place where the owner discusses matters. There are many bookcases in the room, which are somewhat similar to Mr. Gongsun’s study room, except that the books and picture albums in it are now scattered everywhere. Zhongji's desk was also messy, as if it had been ransacked by someone.Zhao Hu pouted, if anyone dared to treat Mr. Gongsun's precious book like this, life would be worse than death waiting to be made medicine.

A row of low shacks to the east, facing these huge and heavy stones, and some unknown iron objects.To the west is a house where people live, but the inside is as messy as the lobby, with more blood stains.

Although the bloodstains in the house were messy, they were not as shocking as in the center of the yard—the place was almost soaked in blood, and the blackened bloodstains seeped into the gravel-paved atrium, and the surrounding gravels and fire trace.Zhao Hu and the others gasped. Those villains clearly drove the people who lived here to the center of the courtyard to kill them, and then set them on fire.

Such a vile murder happened at the feet of the emperor! ! !

"There are some old craftsmen living in this yard." Master Zhou said indifferently, "A total of 23 people including their apprentices and daily helpers. By the time we rushed over, it was already too late. After the fire was extinguished, we A total of 21 skeletons were collected, and two of them were still alive or dead. After the incident, I immediately asked someone to seal up the house, and except for the corpses, every plant and tree inside remained as it was that day."

"Craftsman..." Zhan Zhao repeated in a low voice, as if he understood something in his heart.

The master stepped forward and added: "We checked and found that these craftsmen usually bury their heads in their work and seldom argue with other people. I really can't think of who killed them. People here are dead, missing, and property is lost. And no one knows."

"Where are the corpses of those craftsmen?" Zhan Zhao asked while scanning the scene quickly.

"The corpses were burned so badly that they couldn't be separated at all. After counting the number of people, they would shatter when touched. Wu Zuo put them together and placed them in the Yizhuang." The master replied.

Zhan Zhao turned his head back and ordered the servants from the Kaifeng Mansion to fetch a portion of the stone and iron wares from the workshop, and said to Mr. Zhou, "I must have some ideas already, Mr. Zhan wants to hear Mr. Zhou's opinion." Mr. Zhou slightly With a smile, he walked slowly into the messy main room.

Zhan Zhao also walked in, picked up a fallen book page on the ground, there was a picture on the paper, and a few lines of lower script next to it were unclear, as if it was some kind of mechanism, he couldn't understand it for a while.It would be great if the white mouse was around. Even though he had also learned from his master, he was still not as proficient as Bai Yutang in such things as mechanism.

Inside Kaifeng City, Bai Yutang sneezed suddenly.Wang Chao, who followed behind him, said, "Master Bai caught a cold?"

"No, I'm in good health~ Let's continue patrolling the streets." Bai Yutang rubbed his nose and whispered, "Could it be that someone is thinking about Master Bai..." Could it be... a stinky cat?

"Master Zhan probably noticed it too..." Master Zhou also bent down and picked up a page, looked at it and threw it on the ground, "These craftsmen made hidden weapons of organs. The Sky Tower in Xiangyang City was made by them." hands."

Frowning slightly, Zhan Zhao clenched his fists and crushed the pages in his hands.The ferocity of the Sky Tower almost cost him his life, this is the eternal nightmare for him and Bai Yutang.

"This one is the file of this case, and the other is my thoughts on this case, please help me to deliver it to Mr. Bao." Mr. Zhou

He took out two scrolls from his arms and handed them to him. Seeing the doubtful eyes of the young man, "I didn't send this through official documents, because it's not very safe. Mr. Zhan, with all due respect, you are still too young." Because you are young and full Good skills, so fearless.Da Song needs people like you, and people like me are destined to be separated from you in two worlds.

Zhan Zhao nodded, and carefully put the two scrolls into his pocket.

"The reason why I reported this matter to the Kaifeng Mansion is not only because of the large number of deaths and the seriousness of the case. It is also because he may involve some things that I cannot and should not touch... All these, please leave it to Mr. Bao." Mr. Zhou laughed Laughing, looking at the deep sunset outside the window, "Lord Zhan has worked hard all the way, and I should have prepared a little wine to wash away the dust. However, it may be a long night and dreamy, so please spare no effort to return to Kaifeng Mansion as soon as possible, Master Zhan."

"Okay." Zhan Zhao's face became serious. It seems that the murder case in Xiangfu County is not simple, otherwise why would he let himself be a "messenger".He turned around and left, and when he reached the door, he still turned around and said, "Lord Zhou, take care."

Zhou Bi, who was still looking around in the room, was taken aback for a moment, then laughed: "It's Mr. Zhan, you don't have to worry about me."

Zhao Hu and others surrounded Zhan Zhao who was going out, and the master and Xing Tutou who assisted in handling the case also joined together.Zhao Hu said: "My lord, we have already collected the required physical evidence."

"When the student came out, he had already ordered his servants to clean up the house," said the master, "I have seen the scene, please go to the inn with Mr. Zhan to rest."

Zhan Zhao smiled and said, "Thank you for your kindness, but there are too many things in Kaifeng Mansion, and Mr. Bao is also anxious to know the details of the case. I'd better go back earlier."

"If you're in such a hurry, don't you really need to take a break?" Catcher Xing also spoke. He seriously suspected that the matchmakers in Xiangfu County were too lethal and scared away the good-tempered Mr. Zhan. It seems that he needs to rectify in the future .

"It's really unnecessary, thank you Brother Xing." Zhao Hu patted him on the shoulder, Master Zhan said that he must have his reasons for not staying.

"Shixuan, since Mr. Zhan and the others have something to do, don't force it." Mr. Zhou came out to make a rescue at this time, and cupped his hands at Zhan Zhao, "I'm sorry, the hospitality is not good." Zhan Zhao also clasped his fists in return.

The master had no choice but to take out the copy in his arms and hand it to Zhan Zhao, and everyone went out of the small courtyard, watching the accompanying yamen servants re-stick the seal.At this time, the county government servant also brought the horses for Zhan Zhao and the others.

The four got on their horses, said goodbye to everyone in Xiangfu County, and left quickly.

Under the bright moonlight, the four of them hurried on their way, and did not slow down until the county town was more than 20 miles away.Zhan Zhao reined in his horse and walked forward slowly, thinking carefully about what he had seen and heard along the way.

"Master Zhan," Zhao Hu also felt that this trip was a bit strange, he rode his horse and rode alongside Zhan Zhao, "During the investigation just now, Catcher Xing told me something about it."

"Oh?"

"He said that some people of unknown origin came to the county before the murder." Zhao Hu recalled carefully, "Xiangfu County is not small, but it is not big. As a head catcher, he usually handles trivial things. Quite a few, and most of the people in the city recognize them. But those people are not from Xiangfu County, and they don’t even look like people from the Central Plains in terms of their living habits..."

"Later, that small courtyard caught fire, and those people disappeared." Zhao Hu continued, not noticing that Zhan Zhao's face became more solemn, "Those craftsmen seldom communicate with other neighbors..."

"Brother Huzi," Zhan Zhao suddenly stopped and turned his horse's head, "Let's go back quickly!"

"What's wrong? Did I say something wrong?" Zhao Hu looked at Zhan Zhaoyuan's back and asked the two people beside him.Seeing the two people shaking their heads, they knew that it was useless to ask, so they whipped the horse under their crotch and chased after Zhan Zhao.

However, when they arrived at the county government office, they were greeted by Xing Butou with red eyes, and the crying people outside the county government office.

"My lord stumbled and fell into the river when he came back, and unfortunately drowned." The master wiped the corners of his eyes with the lapel of his clothes, and looked at the people who had gone and returned, "The student is planning to draft an official document and report it..."

……

Thousands of miles away, a person took the bamboo tube from the carrier pigeon's leg and presented the received message to the person taking a nap in the dark room.The man took the letter and glanced at it, then sighed softly: "That's it..."