The first paparazzi in the Red Chamber

Song Xi narrowed his eyes and looked at Muriliao vigilantly, "Have you seen him?"

Murui Liao smiled, did not answer Song Xi, turned his head away, and walked away lightly.

Song Xi glanced coldly at his leaving back, then closed the door, turned around and walked into the inner room with a calm face.

After Muriliao came out from the back door of the Song Mansion, a carriage parked at the corner of the street drove up and stopped in front of Muruiliao. In the blink of an eye, both Muriliao and the carriage disappeared.But not long after, another dilapidated vegetable cart appeared at the back door of the Prime Minister's Mansion.

When the servant of the Prime Minister's Mansion saw a red ribbon tied on the front of the carriage, he hurriedly opened the door, stretched his neck cautiously to look around, and signaled the carriage driver to come in quickly.

The rear door was then closed and never opened again.

……

Four days later, when Jia Amnesty arrived in Liuzhou, he went straight to Liushan and inspected in disguise.

Jia Amnesty and several of his subordinates were dressed in ordinary linen clothes, and they took a residence in Liushanyi.The third ghost went first to investigate near the mine.At dusk, Gui San came to report back to Jia She by himself, telling him that there was no news in the mountain, but there were indeed mines that had been mined, and they also found some tools hidden in the grass.

"The pickaxe is polished, so it must have been used all the time." After staying with Jia She for a long time, Gui San became good at observing details.

Jia Amnesty agreed, "Zhu Mao just asked the nearby villagers, and they also said that there are often movements on the mountain recently."

Jia Amnesty asked Gui San to eat dinner first, and then the group of them went up the mountain in the dark with some dry food.

After the Mid-Autumn Festival, the weather turns cooler. At night, the wind blows in the forest, and the branches and leaves rustle.A group of people moved carefully and walked quietly, so it would not be easy to be spotted by those tinkering mining people.

When Jia Amnesty brought people close to the mining site, the guards who had ambushed here in advance came to inform Jia Amnesty and others that the mining personnel had just arrived and were about to start work.

Under the guidance of the guards, Jia Amnesty and the others crouched on a slope with a good view, just in time to see the people working with lanterns over there.

Jia She probably counted the heads, there were more than twenty people in total, talking and laughing while working, occasionally raised the pickaxe, ding ding bang twice, felt tired, sat down to rest, it seemed that there was something Leisurely.There are two wagons for transporting ore beside them. After they mined a part of the ore, they loaded the cart.

Gui San was a little ready to move, and asked Jia She if he wanted to do it now.

Jia Amnesty shook his head, lay down on the hillside and waited for a while, seeing that these people dropped their tools when the cart was half full, and took out four food boxes from the front of the cart. Personally, five or six people gathered in a circle, drinking the beef in the food box.While drinking, they chatted about which family's widow had a good figure, how much her buttocks were raised, and gradually began to make dirty jokes.

Gui San couldn't listen any longer, worried that his master's ears would be stained, so he looked at his master several times with a faint anger in his heart.Under the night, Ghost San couldn't see the master's face clearly, but could only vaguely distinguish his outline. The strong nose bridge and his thin lips outlined a perfect arc, and under the howling autumn wind, he looked even more lonely and cold .

"Come on! Drink up the last jar of wine, we still have to work!" The leader of the mine is called Che Shuangquan, who is just 35 years old and has a very strong body. When he shouts, his voice is loud and full of confidence.

As soon as Che Shuangquan yelled out his words, he was immediately echoed by the rest of the crowd.Everyone drank, and they were all in high spirits right now, their voices were so loud that they almost spread throughout the valley.

This is the first time Jia Amnesty has seen such a way of stealing things in the middle of the night.Generally, when a thief steals something, he must be very fast, with quick hands and feet, and he must do it secretly and in a quiet environment, for fear of making a little noise and being heard by others.But these people not only work in a hurry, but also like to make a lot of noise, and they are restless when they drink, making noise and shouting loudly, as if they are afraid that others will not find out what they are doing.

Ghost San was shocked by their shouts, and said to Jia She in a low voice: "Master, they must have been slow to move after drinking so much alcohol. It is an excellent opportunity to strike at this moment."

"There's no rush," Jia Amnesty answered shortly, his eyes fixed on the person over there.

After a while, Jia Amnesty's gaze rested on a thin young man.When this young man just had a drink, he had been taken care of by the leader who shouted. Because he couldn't drink, when others poured alcohol on him, the leader also blocked him.When working, I also let him do the simplest work of hugging gravel.Seeing the boy chatting and laughing with him, it shows that the relationship between the two is not just a simple relationship of taking care of and being taken care of, but they should be very good friends.There seems to be little difference between the former and the latter, but there is a very important point. The elders take care of the younger out of pity or responsibility, but friends are equal, and they can talk about everything.

Jia She felt that this young man should know something, and seeing his thin and weak appearance, he should be easy to follow and control.

Jia She hooked his fingers, motioned Gui San to look at the young man, and asked him in a low voice, "If he runs away in a while, can your subordinates keep up with this young man and guarantee that he won't get lost?"

Gui San immediately understood what Jia She meant.But today it is dark, with only some faint rays of light from Xia Xuanyue.If you meet someone with good physical strength and quick legs to escape, it must be difficult to follow.It's easier to find a weaker one.Gui San bowed to his master's thoughts, hurriedly said that he would go in person, and promised to follow him.After Ghost Three finished speaking, he went to instruct his four subordinates to lay an ambush in the middle of the valley according to the four possible escape directions in the valley, and make backup preparations in case they are lost.

After arranging these things, Gui San looked at Jia She, and nodded at him.

Jia She then instructed: "Three breads, except for the emaciated young man, you must let him go without making a sound, and everyone else must be arrested without leaving a mark. Don't leave a mark on anyone. , an opportunity to escape or communicate."

The guards agreed, and then quietly dispersed.

Jia Amnesty was still lying on the hillside, watching their actions.

After about half a cup of tea, I only heard a whistle from the sky, and there was a rushing sound as if the wind was blowing, and then I saw chaos at the mine pit, and someone shouted, "The government is here!" , Everyone dropped their tools one after another and scattered around.Some lanterns were trampled out, and the pit became much darker than before.

At this moment, the surrounding area suddenly became brighter. There were ten guards in total who lit lanterns and stood in four directions to illuminate the encirclement.

The guards quickly controlled all the diggers, except for the emaciated boy who escaped in the chaos.

Jia Amnesty had already got up, stood on the slope, watching everything coldly.The four masters that Song Xi gave to him before he left were called Lei, Ming, Shan, and Dian. Jia Amnesty just focused on observing these four people. Seeing that these four guards moved quickly, their hands and feet were nimble, and they did not procrastinate or attack too much. It's too heavy, so far I'm still satisfied.

When Jia She came down the slope, Lei's bodyguard dragged the cart over and ordered him to kneel in front of Jia She.Jia Amnesty glanced at Guard Lei, but was surprised by his quick response.

"What's your name?" Jia She asked.

Che Shuangquan glanced at Jia Amnesty, then turned his eyes to those who arrested him, raised his eyebrows and asked loudly, "Bah! Why did I tell you your names? Who are you? Why arrest me?"

"Che Shuangquan." Another guard had already asked his name from other people to be arrested.

"Just now your people were still shouting 'the government is here'." Jia She looked around Che Shuangquan and sneered, "It doesn't look very smart."

"Who is not smart? I am afraid of the government when I do things like stealing chickens and dogs. But you people are all wearing linen clothes, and you are not official officials at all. Naturally, I have to ask." Che Shuangquan poked his neck, with a stubborn look energy.

Jia Amnesty asked his subordinates to count the number of people.

"Master, there are 23 people in total."

Jia Amnesty looked at Che Shuangquan, who slightly lowered his eyes and stared at the ground expressionlessly, as if resigning himself to fate.

Before Jia Amnesty could speak again, Che Shuangquan spoke first, "Who are you guys, what are you going to do, and why did you take away my whole family!"

Che Shuangquan specifically emphasized a litter.

"What old man, cut your mouth off again. This is my lord, the Fuguo Duke who is now enshrined by the emperor." The guard Lei introduced.

When Che Shuangquan heard that it was Duke Fu who came to arrest him, he was immediately dumbfounded, then he looked at Jia Amnesty's clothes, frowned and shook his head in disbelief.How could Duke Fu, who is famous all over the world, wear such rags to personally arrest a country man like him.

"Don't believe me?" Guard Lei took out the official seal from his pocket and showed it to Che Shuangquan, and also showed him the token bestowed by the Holy One.

Only now did Che Shuangquan believe it, and he trembled with fright, and those who were arrested with Che Shuangquan were also terrified, and all of them pouted their buttocks and kowtowed vigorously, begging Jia to forgive him.

Jia Amnesty didn't care what those people were like, and only observed Che Shuangquan so that he didn't have to kowtow and raised his head.

Che Shuang's whole body froze, and then slowly raised his head.He glanced at Jia She, then hurriedly lowered his eyes, his appearance seemed to be frightened, but Jia She could tell that there was only shock in his expression, not fear.

"Why do you come here to steal mines?" Jia She asked Che Shuangquan.

Che Shuangquan blinked, and said in a low voice: "The family is poor and lacks money, so I discussed this with my brothers. My lord, please forgive me, the grass people know their mistake!"

Jia Amnesty turned to ask other people, and found that these people were from poor families and had nowhere to go.Because Che Shuangquan offered a fast-paying job, they were all willing to work with him.

"Working with Boss Che not only has wine and meat to eat, but also makes money, and the work is not particularly tiring. Everyone is very willing and grateful to him."

As soon as this remark came out, the rest of the people echoed one after another, expressing that it was indeed the case.

Jia Amnesty asked these people about their backgrounds, but they all immediately revealed their identities, which nearby village and county they were from, how difficult their families were, and so on.When it comes to Che Shuangquan, it's straightforward, but the place he mentioned is not in Liuzhou, but far away in Shandong.

Jia She then asked him how long he had been in Liuzhou, Che Shuangquan hesitated a bit, and then told Jia She that he only came to Liuzhou at the beginning of spring this year.

"I originally went to my relatives, but I didn't expect them to be gone. I didn't have enough money, so I wandered around thinking about ways to make money. Later, I learned that Liuzhou is rich in iron ore, so I became delusional."

"Then where is your iron ore market?" Jia Amnesty asked again.

When Che Shuangquan heard this sentence, the original tension on his face subsided a little, as if he was relieved that he finally made it to this sentence.

Immediately, Che Shuangquan noticed that Jia She was staring at him, his expression became stiff again, he pursed his lips, and then kowtowed to Jia She, "I don't know who that person is, but I will be with him in the middle of every month." The delivery will be made in a forest ten miles west of Liuzhou City, where there is an ancient tree that has grown for a hundred years, and we will meet there."

"Ten miles west of the city." Jia Amnesty took a map to look at it, and drew a circle around the approximate location with a pencil.Turning to look at the place where the third prince guards the mausoleum, it is also in the west of the city, about forty or fifty li away from this place.

"Since you don't know who he is, how can you contact him who sells goods?"

"That was when I went to buy cakes. I heard the people drinking tea at the tea stand next door chatting, and I saw him whispering about it. The people with him were timid and didn't dare to do it, so I went bravely on my own. No Way, I only have ten cents left on me at that time, and if I don’t make a living, I can only beg.” Che Shuangquan paused for a while, and took a sneak peek at Jia She, seeing that Jia She seemed to have believed what he said. The tone of the next statement added a bit of sincerity, "Since we are doing this kind of sneaky business, the less we know about each other, the better. When people come up, they will throw me an ingot of gold generously. If I don't want it Ask more, I am naturally obedient, so I don’t ask any more questions, just obey his orders, and gather as many people as possible to come here to steal the mine.”

Jia Amnesty smiled lightly, "Just these twenty or so people?"

"Not only, more than 200! But because of the recent rumors, he didn't let me do it, so I took on a private job. These mines were obtained by Liu Mazi's blacksmith shop in Liuzhou City." After Che Shuangquan confessed all this, he said to Jia She bowed his head and kowtowed to admit his mistake, "The grass-roots have confessed everything they know, I just ask for your mercy, I can see that the grass-roots people will correct their mistakes and confess their guilt, and give the grass-roots people a light sentence."

"You know the current affairs." Jia She sneered, then walked behind Che Shuang's body, and glanced at his bun.

Che Shuangquan nodded hurriedly, kowtowed to Jia She again to beg for forgiveness, and also complimented Jia She tactfully, praising him for his insight.

Jia Amnesty didn't speak, but sneered in his heart and sighed that Che Shuangquan was really in a mood.He turned and paced down the hill.Guard Lei and others tied these people up one by one with ropes, and took them all down the mountain.

When a group of people arrived in the village, some villagers heard the noise and came to look around. When they saw Jia She brought so many people down, they immediately shouted.Every household lit their lamps and came out to join in the fun.The village head was also aroused, and hurried to ask Jia Amnesty what he meant.

The subordinates hurriedly revealed Jia Amnesty's identity to the village head, and the village head suddenly sighed, "So it's Mr. Jia Guogong. The grassroots really don't know Mount Tai. They really thought you were a passing caravan."

After all, the village head will bring a group of people to kneel down to Jia Amnesty.

Jia She smiled and excused the village chief's gift, and told everyone to disperse, and specially warned the villagers to keep tonight's affairs a secret for the time being, and not to spread it to the outside world for the time being.

The guards escorted Che Shuangquan and his party to the Earth Temple at the entrance of the village, where they were detained and guarded.Jia She asked Zhu Mao to interrogate the other people one by one. Compared with Che Shuangquan's confession, there was no mistake in time. These villagers did not get to know Che Shuangquan until after this spring. Everyone, there are several buyers, completely unaware.They should just follow him to work stupidly, eat meat and drink, and be content with the wages.

Jia Amnesty took the rest of the people back to the previous residence to rest.When it was just dawn, Ghost Three sent someone back and forth, saying that the emaciated boy fled all the way to Liuzhou City, and after he ran into a house, he never went out again.

Just as Jia Amnesty was about to take people to Liuzhou, he heard gongs and drums beating in the direction of the village entrance, and the sound of firecrackers.Immediately afterwards, some of his subordinates came to report to him in advance, saying that Ma Tianmo, the magistrate of Liuzhou, brought all his subordinates to meet and greet him.

When Zhu Mao heard this, he was not happy, "What's going on, last night the master specially asked everyone not to disclose the news, how did he know that you are here, my lord?"

"With so many people in the village, it's hard to guarantee that someone wants to spread the news and seek some benefits. It's not surprising."

Jia Amnesty was quite happy to see this.This shows that someone in the village can directly convey the news to Ma Tianmo's ears, but Ma Tianmo turned a deaf ear to the matter of the mine for several months and fooled the matter.

Zhu Mao tilted his head in confusion to see the happy smiles on the two masters, his brows furrowed deeper and deeper, and he couldn't figure out why his master was so happy.Those people were disobedient and violated his orders, shouldn't they be angry?

Jia She simply sat on the simple stool in the room.After a while, Ma Tianmo came with a dozen of his subordinates respectfully to meet Jia She.

A group of people were all wearing official robes, with smiles and compliments on their faces.

After Ma Tianmo was dismissed, he looked up and saw Jia She was still wearing coarse clothes, he felt a little embarrassed, and apologized again and again.

"The lower officials are confused. I heard from the villagers that the adults are here. I was busy for a while and didn't think much about it. I really deserve a slap!" After Ma Tianmo said, he just slapped himself, but the slap was very light, meaning , put on a show.

Jia She chuckled lightly: "You don't have to be like this, Mr. Ma. I'm too happy to pick you up in time. I can't blame you. But after that, the firecrackers and drums will be skipped. When you go back, you don't have to be so extravagant and let everyone in the city know about it." .I came here this time just to investigate the case, not to investigate the people's sentiments and opinions, and I don't want too many people to know."

Ma Tianmo hurriedly agreed and said yes, and immediately asked Jia Amnesty if he was about to set off. He had already prepared a comfortable carriage.

Thank you Jia Amnesty, and then get on the bus.A group of people went to Liuzhou mightily.

Because the meeting just now was just a few pleasantries, Jia Amnesty didn't take the initiative to mention the case, and Ma Tianmo didn't open his mouth to ask more because he had something on his mind.He looked calm on the surface, but Ma Tianmo was in a state of turmoil and trembling incessantly.He heard from the villagers who sent the message that Jia Amnesty had caught the mine thief this time, and it was something that had been raging in the village a few days ago.Ma Tianmo never expected that the imperial court would send such a noble Duke to such a remote village to investigate such a big case.

Stealing mines is a small matter, and it is also a big deal.But what happened to him now will definitely not be a trivial matter.Originally, thieves stole things, but the government didn't know about it, and it was nothing if they failed to prevent them in time.But the government didn't know, but let the superiors who are thousands of miles away know, and personally visited to catch the thief, then he must be suspected of neglecting supervision and dereliction of duty.

Ma Tianmo was very anxious along the way, cold sweat kept breaking out on his head, he wiped it all the way, when he came to a place, he touched his forehead again, it was still wet.

Ma Tianmo threw away the wet handkerchief in his hand, and simply wiped his forehead with his sleeve before getting out of the car.After he got out of the car, he saw that Jia She had already come down and was about to enter the magistrate's mansion. He was afraid that he would be negligent, so he hurriedly chased after him, led the way for Jia She with a smile on his face, and ordered his subordinates to prepare tea and wine Greet the Duke.

"Tea is enough, my adults don't like to drink." Zhu Mao reminded Ma Tianmo in a moderate voice.

Ma Tianmo hurriedly agreed, and ordered to go on.

In the main hall, Jia She took his seat, Ma Tianmo stood in front of Jia She cautiously, and a group of officials who came with him bowed their heads and stood waiting for orders.

Jia Amnesty sent back all the officials who joined in the fun and let them go to their respective duties.As for Ma Tianmo, Jia Amnesty naturally wanted to question Ma Tianmo.

When Ma Tianmo heard that Jia She finally talked about the mine, cold sweat came down his face again. He wiped his forehead in embarrassment while explaining to Jia She, "The lower officials, the lower officials are incompetent. I really, really don't know."

"Master Ma, you're already revealing your guilty conscience by talking so fast, you're not willing to confess until I frighten you a little bit?" Jia Shen's voice was clear, and Ma Tianmo's ears were filled with cold ice. The cold made Ma Tianmo's whole body tremble.

Ma Tianmo knelt down with a thud, and immediately began to cry with Jia She, admitting that he had indeed received the report, but he was perfunctory and did not handle it seriously.

"Why? It's not difficult for you to catch a few mine thieves from poor backgrounds, but if you open your mouth to order, you will have your own subordinates to help you. What's more, if you do a good job, you can use it as a means of promotion. Credentials."

"I know I'm wrong. Actually, I know all these reasons. I have...a last resort." Ma Tianmo spoke intermittently, hesitating, and it was very difficult. He raised his sleeve to wipe the cold sweat on his forehead from time to time.

Jia Amnesty remained silent, staring at Ma Tianmo quietly, restrained by silence.

Ma Tianmo wiped his sweat again and again, finally couldn't stand Jia She's gaze, and admitted: "Yes, the third palace ordered the subordinates not to meddle in the affairs of Liushan area."

"Oh? The third prince is still meddling in local government affairs? Did the third prince tell you?" Jia Amnesty asked for confirmation.

Ma Tianmo was stunned for a moment and shook his head, "I didn't say it personally. In fact, I have never met His Highness the Third Highness. The words were passed on by His Highness's attendant, Eunuch Li. Then Eunuch Li only said that he wanted to get some iron ore." Let’s make some armor and use it on the clay figurines in the mausoleum to protect the peace and tranquility of the tomb of the late emperor from being disturbed.”

"A few pairs of armor can be made directly by a craftsman. Is it worth his trouble to ask someone to dig the iron ore himself?"

Ma Tianmo bowed, "The lower official also has this doubt, but this is the third prince's order, so there is no reason for the lower official not to obey."

Jia She sneered, knowing that Ma Tianmo was pretending to be confused and didn't want to cause trouble, so there was no need to argue with him any more.Jia Amnesty turned his head and thought carefully about the Eunuch Li that Ma Tianmo had mentioned. The Third Prince indeed had an accompanying eunuch surnamed Li.To be cautious, Jia Amnesty asked Ma Tianmo to describe Eunuch Li's appearance, which was indeed consistent with the Eunuch Li whom Jia Amnesty had seen.

Jia Amnesty asked again when the message was delivered, and learned that it happened last month.However, it was three months ago that the villagers first discovered the abnormal noise in Liushan.

Jia Amnesty immediately asked the servant beside him to change the clothes of the Liuzhou government office, and ordered him to go to the mausoleum to inform, "Just say that I am here, and see what that Eunuch Li will explain. A few more people, you Come back, and the rest will stay under surveillance."

Hearing this, Ma Tianmo was so frightened that he tried to persuade Jia Amnesty: "I will allow you to be offended and talk too much. Although your lord is a noble and highly favored prince, the third highness is the prince after all. You are so deceitful and spy on the prince without authorization. I'm afraid that the behavior is inappropriate and a little out of line. If I am accused by someone who is young and goes to the capital, the lower officials are very worried that the adults will be caught by others and lose the favor. Well worth it."

Jia Amnesty smiled, "I didn't expect you to worry about me."

Ma Tianmo didn't seem to understand Jia She's words, and continued to talk to Jia She: "We should avoid messing with Wei Wei about the matter of the royal family, pretend not to see it if we can, who can say what will happen in the future! "

The implication of Ma Tianmo's words is that no one is easy to offend.Once the offended person is the future emperor, they will all be out of luck.

From the moment Jia Amnesty met Ma Tianmo, he saw that he was timid, fearful of trouble, and wise in protecting himself, which did not match his previous reputation outside.However, it is not uncommon for this reputation to be inconsistent with my own, and it is not unusual.Jia Amnesty didn't go into it for the time being, but just took out the secret decree and told Ma Tianmo to keep his mouth shut.

When Ma Tianmo saw the Holy Majesty's secret decree, he knelt down and kowtowed, repeatedly apologizing to Jia Amnesty, and hurriedly expressed that he would fully cooperate with Jia Amnesty's investigation.

"In the past year, Liuzhou has been flooded with private salt, and it has been banned repeatedly. The government has sent people to arrest the behind-the-scenes supplier many times, but every time they are in vain, so the officials suspect that there is their eyeliner in this government office!" Ma Tianmo said at the end When he said a sentence, his appearance was very mysterious and his voice was very low.

Jia She squinted at him.

Ma Tianmo hesitated a little, and then mustered up his courage to tell Jia She that he had always suspected that the third prince might be engaged in salt and iron.

Jia Amnesty glanced at Ma Tianmo again, and felt that Ma Tianmo's IQ seemed to be intermittent.Before, he was confused like something, afraid of this and that, but after reading the secret decree just now, his mind suddenly brightened, and he began to accuse and doubt the third prince in various ways.Now, isn't he afraid that the third prince will become emperor in the future and harm him?

Ma Tianmo coughed, and continued: "As your lord said, the matter of digging iron mines is very suspicious, and the matter of private salt may have something to do with the third prince."

"You mean, the third prince conspired against him?" Jia Shedao asked.

Ma Tianmo met Jia Amnesty's eyes and politely shook his head to express his daring.

Jia Amnesty smiled, "Interesting."

"What's interesting?" Ma Tian asked indifferently.

"Liuzhou is an interesting place, and so are the people." Jia She patted Ma Tianmo on the shoulder, and asked him to stay in the mansion honestly, not to run around, and not to pass any news to anyone in private.

Ma Tianmo was stunned, and asked Jia Amnesty if he suspected himself and was spying on him.

"Of course not, but if I withdraw people and the news leaks out, I will punish you for leaking secrets and plotting against you. Don't complain."

"No, no, my lord's previous arrangement was very good. I also like to be protected by the guards, and my own safety is guaranteed." Ma Tianmo said with a sneer.

Jia Amnesty glanced at Ma Tianmo, then walked away, and turned to the government prison to continue interrogating Che Shuangquan.But this time he didn't ask, and he didn't listen to what Che Shuangquan said.It's daylight now, so I can see clearly.Jia Amnesty only asked Che Shuangquan's bun to be loosened. He wanted to see if there was a short strand of hair behind Che Shuangquan's bun without a Shandong accent.

After Zhu Mao came out of the Liuzhou government office, he went straight to the largest wine shop in Liuzhou, and then entered the Tianzi No. [-] private room.

Dou Cong was sitting at the table and turning the tea cover boredly, when he saw the pig hair coming, he complained about being bored.

"Don't talk nonsense, my lord asked you, did you find anything?"

"What's the rush? You people are so strange. If you don't want to go together, you must let me lag behind and follow that dirty young lady." Dou Cong fanned the wind vigorously with a white jade fan, "I'm still here now. I feel like I have a foul smell on me."