Great Sui Guoshi

"good!"

After a while, the county magistrate turned his gaze to Lizheng and the men of Beicun: "Do you two have something to say?"

"No, no more..."

Originally, he came here for compensation, and since the other party agreed, naturally there was nothing to argue about, but the boy's words made the man quite complicated.

Soon after the decree came down, the matter in court was finalized. After everyone left, the county magistrate laughed and walked to the old man's side.

"This Lu Liangsheng has a good heart."

The old man got up and cupped his hands, and then summoned an officer to tell him: "You go and leave that young man waiting for me." Then he answered the county magistrate's words: "It's quick jade, good handwriting, and even more rare."

"Mr. Shu Hua, is this a love for talents?"

"It wasn't there before, but now it is, haha!"

The two looked at each other for a moment and laughed.

******

Outside the county government office, Lu Pan and the eight people followed the young man angrily.

"Liangsheng, we all have the upper hand, why are we pushing things out, uncle really can't figure it out."

"That's right, our cropland is also raised by a drop of water and sweat, and it is given to people for nothing, which really makes me feel aggrieved."

"...Why don't you go back and tell the magistrate what you just said doesn't count? Liangsheng, what do you think?!"

Back at the gate of the yamen, Lu Liangsheng laughed when he heard the uncles behind him chattering, and pulled them aside.

"Uncle Pan, Uncle Qing, all uncles, we have 500 taels, and we have been able to live a good life in the past two years. Although we have divided some of this year's harvest, have you not seen the joy on the faces of the county lord and the master? If the disputes between the two villages continue, and one of the villages is sad this winter, the county government will definitely spend money to save it, and now Liangsheng can cut off the worries of the two adults in the hall, that is a kindness."

Lu Pan and the others frowned and thought for a while...it seemed to be such a reason.

Before they could speak, Lu Liangsheng spoke again.

"...When Liangsheng went to the market before, he heard an old gentleman in the town who wrote letters for others say, 'If you don't have virtue and take huge profits, there will be great disasters; After receiving the food from our Lujia Village, if there are any disputes in the future, do they have the face to argue?"

Sure enough, the Beicun man who came out of the yamen's gate clasped his fists at Lu Liangsheng and even Lu Pan and others from a distance, obviously grateful.

Lu Pan stroked his beard, but felt a little embarrassed.

"Hey, I'm not used to being so polite to us."

Just as he was about to leave, Lu Liangsheng was stopped by the guard who came out, and when he heard that the chief secretary wanted to see him, he didn't dare to hold him back, and hurriedly followed him to the side courtyard.

"It's here, you go in by yourself." The guard stopped in front of a door, gave the young man a word, and left.

Lu Liangsheng also asked what was the matter on the way, but the other party didn't know, so he took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

The door creaked open, and the old man whom he met in the hall greeted him with a smile.

"You're welcome, just find a place to sit."

Although the county magistrate was not there, the old man in front of him was the biggest official, and he was an elder, so naturally he would not sit across from him, but stood beside the desk.

"Why is the master looking for Liangsheng?"

"Don't be so nervous, it's not official business to ask you." The old man moved the official account book in front of him, took a piece of paper, put it in front of him, and looked at the boy.

"You wrote this, didn't you?"

The handwriting and content on it were indeed written by Lu Liangsheng that night. He looked away and nodded: "It was indeed written by me, Master... Is there something wrong with it?"

The old man waved his hand, just smiled, and took three books.

"Take these three "Meng Yu", "Strategy", and "Ritual and Music" back and have a look."

Lu Liangsheng held the three books in confusion and looked at the old man.

"Mister, you are..."

"Of course it's for you." The old man looked at the bewildered boy, tapped his fingers on the book, and explained to him: "It's good to read more books and learn more things. In class, I hope you have quick wit, Have a benevolent heart, if it is wasted, it is a waste of the talent that God bestowed on you, since you can read and write, you should study hard and be a student in the next year."

Seeing that he still didn't understand, the old man said it more directly.

"If you have the student qualifications, you can take the children's examination, once a year, and after three years, you can pass the provincial examination, and you can become an official in the future."

"But I never thought about... being an official?"

The old man smiled and nodded: "As an official, your parents and relatives will be proud of you in the future. Even if you can't do it, I, Nanchen, will have an extra scholar who is well-read in poetry and books."

"For an official..."

Lu Liangsheng walked out with three books in his arms, looking back at the yamen.

"This old gentleman...... Didn't he let me call him a teacher?"

Meeting with Lu Pan and others who were waiting outside, when eight people asked him what was going on, a group of arresters came from far away, and the one who rode first was Zuo catcher, passing by Lu Liangsheng, he couldn't help but Look at them more.

Afterwards, he dismounted and entered the county government office, and reported the findings of the Chen family to the county magistrate.

Chapter 24 Nie Honglian

"Zuo Butou, are you back so soon?!"

"Zuo Butou, how did the investigation of Yuan Wai's family go? Is there really a ghost?"

Zuo Zhengyang returned to the county government non-stop, and the officials and officials he met on the way stepped forward to inquire, but he declined all of them. After asking where the county magistrate was, he went straight to the back hall.

The door of the back hall opened to the west, and Min Changwen, who was dressed in an official robe, looked at a page of paper in his hand, and the tea was steaming. When the sound of footsteps came in, he turned his head and looked at it, and put down the article with a smile.

"Zhengyang is back."

Stepping over the threshold, the figure arched his hands together: "Zuo Zhengyang has seen the county magistrate."

"Sit down and talk." Min Changwen stretched out his hand for him to sit down, called the servants in the back hall, and served another cup of tea. The two exchanged a few words, and then they got down to business.

"In the Chen residence, did you find anything?"

Zuo Zhengyang unloaded the two long knives behind his back, sat down, took a sip of tea, "Some!" As he spoke, the policeman waiting outside the door presented a bloody knife and folded sheets to the hall. middle.

He got up and pointed to the sharp weapon in the tray.

"Your Majesty, please take a look. This thing is the murder weapon that ripped open Chen Yaoke's belly. The few people who died before all had ruptured liver and gallbladder, withered flesh and blood. The methods of death between the two are quite different."

Min Changwen put down the teacup, got up and walked over, but also carefully looked at the knife.

"The meaning of Zuo Butou, Chen Yaoke, was not killed by a female ghost, but was cut open by someone with this sharp weapon?"

"exactly!"

Zuo Zhengyang nodded, and then pointed to the stacked gray sheets in another tray.

"It was haunted that day, and there was a strange man with a gray cloak confronting the ghost among the crowd, and this bed sheet was found by a certain Zuo in the corner of Chen's house. It is a gift from that strange man to ward off evil spirits!"

Min Changwen pursed his lips tightly, walked a few steps while twisting the tip of his beard, thought for a moment, stopped at the threshold, and looked back at Zuo Butou.

"...But what if that ghost hates that strange man for protecting Chen Yaoke, and instead uses what he gave to kill the person who protects him?"

"What the county lord said is not unreasonable." Zuo Baotou lowered his face, arched his hands and said, "This case, Zuo will continue to investigate, but right now, I dare say that Chen Yaoke's death was definitely not caused by ghosts." for."

"But this county wants to close the case as soon as possible."

"County Honor, human life is at stake!"

"No, if you are a damned person, it has nothing to do with God!"

.......

At this time, with the looming group of people in this incident, they went to various shops in Fushui County to buy two donkey carts, which were full of food, cloth, and even bought a few piglets and lambs. , behind the frame.

Lu Liangsheng changed into a new outfit, clear clothes and shoes, combed his hair neatly and tied it with a rayon towel, and bought a Langhao pen, inkstone, and a few blank books. At first glance, he really had The temperament of a young scholar.

However, after a few rounds, a few taels of money went out, so frightened that Lu Pan and the others quickly stopped and did not dare to buy any more. After all, the 500 taels were earned by Lu Liangsheng.

Walking through the bustling long street, when I left the city, I picked up the old donkey, and it was almost dark.

In order to avoid being seen by others, they led pigs and sheep and drove donkey carts on the way back overnight. They had seen ghosts and ghosts, and Lu Pan and the others felt that walking at night was no big deal.

Besides, there are master apprentices like the eldest nephew by his side, and even the master of the yamen... appreciates everything.

Soon, the brightly lit county town was left far behind by them, and disappeared at the end of the curve of the mountain road. It was not until the middle of the night that everyone passed the excitement of getting 500 taels of silver for nothing, and Lu Liangsheng also felt tired.

"Uncle Pan, let's rest nearby."

"it is good!"

Lu Pan handed over a bag of water, and told the others to bring the donkey cart closer, and bring the pigs and sheep over. Everyone was eager to rest, and finished everything quickly, set up a bonfire, and cooked meals.

The earthen pot boiled, Lu Qing scooped up a bowl of porridge made from dry food, looked at his nephew holding it in his hand, and laughed.

"Liangsheng, eat it while it's hot, the meat is added in, it's delicious and exciting."

"Uncle Qing, let's eat and rest quickly."

The young man sent Lu Qing away, while flipping through the book given by the old man in the county yamen by the firelight, while drinking meat porridge. Although he could read the characters, the content inside was dry and hard to understand. big.

When the eight big men over there finished eating and fell asleep around the fire, Lu Liangsheng quietly took the package and opened the gap.

"Master?"

Zixing Taoist opened the mouth of the bag, got out, and let out a long breath.

"It's only now that I know that my teacher is still there? I almost suffocated to death."

With a sigh of relief, he staggered towards the earthen bowl on the ground with his bi-fins on his back, and peeked in with his probe.

"There's still meat..."

"Specially reserved for Master."

Lu Liangsheng sat down beside him, and raised the "Ritual and Music" in his hand.

"Master, can you pass on everything in this book to me?"

Toad, who was sitting on the stone with the pottery bowl in his arms, turned his head to glance at the title of the book, then turned back, trying to chew the pieces of fat.

"If the old man knows how to do it, I'll leave you here to eat leftovers... If you don't cultivate your way, what kind of official will you be?"

The surroundings became quiet, insects chirped in the weeds, and in the light of the bonfire, Lu Liangsheng put down his book, looked at the eight big men sleeping soundly over there, and spoke softly.

"Master, do you think what I did that night was right?"

Taoist Toad seemed to be full, pushed away the pottery bowl, and lay down on a small stone as his pillow, with his frog web resting on the other short bent leg.

"Bad guy."

Next to him, the young man also lay down with his head on his head, staring at the half moon in the night sky without blinking.

"...My parents and younger brother are dead, and she still lives so strong by herself, but suffers such a crime. I can't stand it...I always feel that God shouldn't treat her like that."

Taoist Toad did not speak. In his vague memory, there seemed to be such a girl who lived a strong life, but was finally sunk in the river. After so many years, I almost forgot what she looked like.

His thoughts wandered for a while, he shook his head, and repeated the sentence just now.

"Bad guy!"

Lu Liangsheng looked at the moon and laughed, got up suddenly, ran to the donkey cart, rummaged through a blank scroll, and Toad sat up, watching him set up the easel by the fire.

"What are you doing?"

"painting……"

The scroll was spread out on it, and Lu Liangsheng sharpened the ink he had used before, picked up the brush, looked at the blank scroll, and recalled in his mind the woman in the white dress that night in the mist.

The tip of the pen lightly tapped on it....

Taoist Toad yawned, looked at the young man with focused eyes, flicked his pen and ink with a smile at the corner of his mouth from time to time, shook his head, and lay down again.

The howling wolves sounded from the distant foothills.

The flames gradually dimmed, and it took a while for the figure painting over there to stop. In the faint light of the fire, the blank picture scroll was filled with beauties dancing in tulle, which seemed lifelike.

Finally, put the word "Hong Lian" in the lower left corner.

Lu Liangsheng had just finished writing, and he was quite satisfied with the painting. After looking at it for a while, he felt tired, and lay down next to Taoist Ha, and fell into a deep sleep.

The half moon in the night sky was gradually covered by clouds.

The wind blew through the forest, and there was a soft rustling sound, and the flames of the burnt dead branches, glowing with light blue color, fell down with a whistling, and the surrounding area gradually became misty.

A figure floated from the mist.