treacherous world

When the old oily man sobered up, he cried to his father and mother to go home, saying, "If you don't live in the Yamen, you won't go to hell if you die."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were secretly curious, the reaction of this oily old man was a little unreasonable, if he had done gangster work before, why did he become so afraid of the Yamen today?

"Are you an oily old man?" Zhan Zhao asked.

"Who?"

"Old man! I used to be a clerk in the government office." Zhan Zhao thought he was deaf, so he purposely said something aloud for him.

"Ouch!" The old man shook his head in surprise, "Old oily man died long ago, I am his elder brother, Old Xiaotou."

Everyone was taken aback, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang all squinted at him - don't believe it!

"Really, my brother and I are two sticks, we look exactly the same." Old Xiao shook his head, "I'm just a wine maker. Oh...the yamen's gate is arresting innocent people indiscriminately. It's not easy to be a human being. Eighty will be imprisoned unjustly!"

When he shouted, his broken gong voice was very loud, and it was stifling to hear.Zhao Pu was a little annoyed, isn't this old man playing a rogue.

"Aren't you an oily old man?" Zhan Zhao asked again.

The old man shook his head, "Really not!"

"That's a pity." Zhan Zhao looked regretful, "They said that the former Wuzuo Laoyoutou loved wine very much. I brought a few jars of imperial wine from Kaifeng this time for everyone to drink, and there is a whole jar left that I want to give to him. I don't think so..."

"Yes!" The old oily man jumped up, "I am! Where's the wine?"

Everyone gave him a hard look, old man!

Bai Yutang winked at Zhan Zhao—this old man is holding back, and he will have to play a rascal for a while.

Seeing him winking at him, Zhan Zhao suddenly thought of what the fourth son said just now, couldn't help but want to laugh, gritted his teeth and twitched the corners of his mouth, the fourth son beside him covered his mouth and smiled smugly.

It made Bai Yutang extremely depressed - what happened? !

"You were the one who performed the autopsy on Mr. Xu's family back then?" Gongsun asked the old man.

The old man froze for a moment, then quickly shook his head like a rattle, "No, I'm Old Xiaotou, I'm not hungry for alcohol anymore, let's go. See you later!" After finishing speaking, he was about to slip away.

Zhan Zhao saw that he was old, and raised his eyebrows at Zhao Pu—show him off!

Zhao Pu wanted to laugh, so he put on a straight face, put on a marshal's prestige, and shouted, "Come here, arrest me, put him in chains, put him in a prison, torture him, and deny him three meals a day! He's so hungry! He said stop! "Yes! "Zhe Ying and Zi Ying also helped to scare people.

"Oh, no! Don't!" The old man hurriedly begged for mercy, "I say, I say, say everything, don't hit people."

"Tell me!" Zhan Zhao asked him, "Did you do the autopsy back then?"

The old oily man finally admitted it, and said, "Okay, I'm the one who did the autopsy. I'm an old oily man. It's just that this is not what it used to be, and I don't want to get involved in the matter. I'm just a little man."

"You did an autopsy and said there were knife wounds on the body? Have you recorded it in detail?"

The old man stopped talking, remained silent for a while, then shook his head, "No..."

"Nothing?" Zhan Zhao asked, "No stab wounds, or no records?"

"None...none of them!" The old man was sweating, "He was burned to death."

Zhan Zhao frowned, "I don't believe it!"

"I really know that much!" The old man yelled, "The official let me go."

At this time, a yamen servant outside said that the son of the old oily man had come.

"Son?" Everyone was taken aback, and the old man was embarrassed, "Oh, what is that silly boy doing here, let him go back!"

Zhao Pu waved his hand and told the yamen servant, "Tell him to come in."

"Oh, officer, you can't do this, don't hurt my son!" The old oily man was anxious.

Zhan Zhao felt that this thick-skinned old man was also very shrewd, he had expected that no one would really torture him or anything.After all, they are all from Kaifeng Mansion, Mr. Bao has a good reputation, how could he abuse an old man by lynching him.

But Zhan Zhao carefully observed the old oily man's expression. When he heard his son coming just now, a trace of panic and worry flashed in his eyes... Sure enough, everyone in the world has the heart to protect the calf.

Soon, a young man in his 20s ran in quickly and shouted, "Father!"

"Ming'er, dad is fine, the officials are asking questions." The old oily man drove the child out, "Go back quickly, don't offend the officials!"

"No, just wait a while, it will be ready soon." Gongsun stood at the door, but stopped him.He carefully looked at Ming'er's facial features and expression.

The old oily man is a short and thin old man, but his son is tall and straight. In addition, the old oily man is unkempt and has an unremarkable facial features. Standing with this handsome son, it really doesn't look like a family.

Gongsun took Zhao Pu out, and said to Ming'er, "What's your name, Young Master?"

"Oh...my name is Xiao Ming." The young man looked educated, and replied modestly and politely, "I heard that my father was taken away by the government, so I came to see it. Although my father is old and greedy, But he is an honest person, and he will not commit crimes, officials must believe it."

"It's okay, the official of Kaifeng Mansion is asking your father something, it'll be over in a while, let's sit next door, you can have a cup of tea later." Gongsun politely asked him to go aside.Xiao Ming was a little flattered. He had heard that there were many upright officials in Kaifeng Mansion. How could he be so polite when asking about the case and still have tea to drink? !

After they left, Zhan Zhao asked the fourth son to close the door, sat down with Bai Yutang, and continued to ask the old oily man.

The old oily man's expression was different at this time. He was an old bone, and he didn't care whether he lived or died, but if something happened to his son, he would not be able to live.

"Old man." Bai Yutang picked up his teacup and looked at the old man, "Let's stop beating around the bush, we won't believe you when you're full of lies, tell me, what happened back then."

The old man smiled wryly, "My lords, what exactly do you want to ask, don't listen to rumors from outside, I really don't know anything."

Zhan Zhao pointed at the old man's vital point, "You also heard from your son—he heard that you were arrested by the government, that's why he came... Do you think others don't know?"

The old man was taken aback.

"To tell you the truth, we want to investigate the old case back then, and the old man is the only insider in the whole case. If I am a bad person, I will kill you and your son first."

"This..." The old man scratched his head anxiously. "

"It's easy to think about nothing." Compared with the ignorant and childlike temperament of the fourth son, Xiao Liang is already very adult. He helped Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang to ask questions, "Grandpa, if you know something Come on, we are catching bad people, you also want to redress the grievances for the Xu family who died unjustly and tragically."

The old man looked at the crowd and sighed, "We can't let them hurt Ming'er!"

"Is he your son?" Bai Yutang asked.

The old man didn't speak, thought for a while, and said, "I can tell you what happened back then, but... you must ensure the safety of tomorrow!"

Zhan Zhao agreed, "No problem."

So, the old oily man told Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang about the results of his autopsy.

That case happened more than 20 years ago, and it shocked the entire county at that time. It should have shocked the entire Jiangnan and even the entire Song Dynasty, but the county magistrate at that time suppressed the matter.In addition, no one from the Xu family survived, so it was nothing, and no one knew the follow-up.

Back then, Lao Youtou was a gangster. Although he liked to drink on weekdays, his brain was still easy to use. It was just because he couldn't get used to the inaction of the county magistrate, so he pretended to be muddleheaded all day long, so as to protect himself.

On the day of the accident, it was still raining, and the old oil man knew that if there was no kerosene to support the combustion, the fire would not be able to burn that big that day.There are hundreds of people in the whole house. If it is just like the legendary kitchen, then the house will be burned down once at most. It is impossible to burn down the whole house, so someone must have deliberately set the fire on fire.

After the old oily man knew it well, he conducted a careful autopsy, and sure enough—there was no smoke in the mouth or lungs of the corpse!There were knife wounds on his body and blood on the ground, which showed that he had been hacked to death before he died.After he discovered it at the time, he also carefully studied the knife wound.There were several knife wounds, and the shapes of the knife edges were all different. It can be seen that the assailant was not one person, but more than three people.Besides, there were hundreds of people, even if it was hundreds of chickens, it would take some effort to kill them all. He wanted to report to the county magistrate at the time, but the county magistrate said they were burned to death when he entered the door, as if there was no doubt about it.The old oily man knew the county magistrate well, and there were several clerks in the yamen, and he, the most unreliable clerk, was chosen for the autopsy on such a big case.Is there even a need to ask?People have spotted him being greedy and foolish.After assessing the situation, the old oily man decided to pretend to be drunk against his conscience, saying that he was indeed burned to death...so the matter was suppressed.

Not long after, the old man got old and went back to the old house to get drunk and drink all day long, ignoring world affairs, and wholeheartedly raised his son.

After hearing this, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang found out that the old case was true, so they asked, "Where's the corpse at that time?"

"It's all burned! Those people are so impeccable in their work, how could they leave clues for others to find?!"

"Who are those people?" Zhan Zhao asked, "Are there any suspects?"

"When a few of our friends chatted in private, most of them were suspicious of those squires who got rich overnight." The old man smiled. If you have done evil, it is useless to do good deeds when you are old!"

"What about the original county magistrate?"

"Oh, he was exposed by others for being corrupt and broke the law, and he was sent to the border. It is said that he died on the way." The old man replied, which attracted Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang's meaningful glances—didn't he say that he was drunk all day long without asking about the world? But everything is clear!

The old man was embarrassed, and said in his heart that the younger generation would be scary, and the people from Kaifeng Mansion were incredible.

……

In the next room, Gongsun sat down and entertained Xiao Ming to drink tea. This young man was well educated and reasonable, so Gongsun asked carefully.The old oily man doted on him very much, hired a good teacher to teach him, and chose good food and clothing. Xiao Ming heard that his studies were very good, and he was going to Beijing for the exam after a while.

Zhao Pu winked at Gongsun—what does the old man look like, such a tender son?Is the grandson about the same?

Gongsun is also very curious, this is Xiao Ming, the old man thinks the son is too big and the grandson is too young... Weird!

Xiao Ming also saw that the two were together, so he laughed, "My lord, I was not born by my father, I was picked up by my father."

"Oh..." Gongsun nodded, but he looked at the old man differently, he loved him so much.

At this time, the old man next door came to Xiao Ming and said that he wanted to live with him in the government office for a while.Zhe Ying took the two of them to the guest room.

Gongsun asked Zhan Zhao, "How is it?"

Zhan Zhao told everything that was asked, Gongsun and Zhao Pu both sneered - indeed there is a problem!

"What should we do next?" Zhan Zhao asked, "All the insiders of the old case are dead, why don't we start with those squires?"

"How to pry their mouths open?" Zhao Pu shook his head, "Now these people should be startled."

"Use the method of the little bun?"

Sitting at the table and eating grapes, Xiao Si said, "Every time Xiao Baozi encounters such a thing, he makes Bai Bai pretend to be a ghost to scare people."

Everyone was taken aback... They all looked at Bai Yutang.

Bai Yutang was helpless.Bao Zheng likes to blackmail people the most. In his words, whoever does something wrong must be most afraid of ghosts knocking on the door!It just so happened that Bai Yutang had special lightness skills and liked to wear all white. He always frightened the servant girls when he went in and out of Kaifeng Mansion at night on weekdays, so pretending to be a ghost was the most suitable.He helped him a few times with the case before, and the fourth son seems to have remembered it—but let alone, the so-called suspicion breeds dark ghosts, and those who have done bad things will definitely be tricked!

"Maybe it's true!" Zhan Zhao nodded, "This time the ghost is better at pretending, or why don't we just play bigger?"

Everyone was curious, "How to play?"

Bai Yutang suddenly realized——Zhan Zhao is happy!It's really not an illusion, the Zhan Zhao in front of him has turned into the cheerful Zhan Zhao who is always in a good mood.

Zhan Zhao pulled Xiao Liang over, "Xiao Liangzi can pretend to be a headless adult with a pair of thick-soled shoes."

Everyone was stunned.

"Then, Zhao Pu is tall and tall, with a basket on his back, sits on the little four, and flaps his wings to pretend to be a hidden mountain monster." Zhan Zhao smiled, "Find a group of people to smear and turn them into charred corpses to retrieve Life!"

Both Gongsun and Zhao Pu shouted, "Wonderful! This is definitely a good idea!"

Bai Yutang also nodded, "It's a good idea."

Zhan Zhao smiled at him, never thinking of being so awkward before, Bai Yutang saw the warmest and favorite smile of Zhan Zhao.

Ever since he told Zhan Zhao the joke about his sweetheart last time, Bai Yutang has always regretted it, because Zhan Zhao has been unhappy since then, but this matter is too embarrassing and hard to explain, I don’t know why he suddenly recovered, Could it be...

Thinking of this, Bai Yutang glanced suspiciously at the fourth son, and saw him winking at him with a smile.

After everything was arranged, Zhe Ying and the others went to prepare clothes, and everyone decided to try on those squires tonight...Of course, it must be done step by step, otherwise it will not scare people to death.

Later, Zhan Zhao came over and asked Bai Yutang, "Let's go out for a stroll and have a meal by the way."

"Cat..." Bai Yutang was about to speak, when Zhan Zhao patted him on the shoulder understandingly, nodded earnestly, "I understand!" After speaking, he picked up his fourth son and walked out, looking very unpredictable.

"Little four, what do you want to eat?"

"I want to eat... fish skin dumplings."

"Yeah, fish skin dumplings! How about some egg skin soup?"

"it is good!"

……

Xiao Liang wanted to follow out, but Bai Yutang grabbed his collar.

"Brother Bai..." Xiao Liang raised his head tremblingly.

Bai Yutang knelt down to look at him.

Gongsun and Zhao Pu also pretended to be okay and left, but they hid by the bed and listened when they went out.

Xiao Liang scratched his head, and before Bai Yutang could ask, he shook his head violently, "I'm sorry, Brother Bai, Jin'er forbids me to say that, I will not betray Jin'er!"

Bai Yutang didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "Do you know what I'm asking you?"

Xiao Liang shook his head, "Anyway, I can't betray Jin'er."

"Who made you betray the fourth son?" Bai Yutang asked, "I want to know, what did the fourth son tell Zhan Zhao?"

Xiao Liang blinked, embarrassed.

Bai Yutang looked at him and said, "Here, how about we make a deal?"

"What deal?" Xiao Liang asked.

"Would you like to follow my shadow like a shadow?"

"Think!" Xiao Liang yelled hurriedly, and then thought about it, "But I...can't betray Jin'er."

On the roof, several shadow guards helped Xiao Liang worry, this honest boy.

"That's it." Bai Yutang discussed with Xiao Liang, "Tell me, what the fourth son told Zhan Zhao, I will never let the fourth son know, let's keep it a secret, how about?"

Xiao Liang hesitated.

"Teach you another set of knife skills?"

Xiao Liang's eyes flickered and flickered, but he still hesitated.

"Add another hidden weapon."

"Deal!" Xiao Liang hurriedly clapped his hands, hooked Bai Yutang, and praised, "Ah! Jin'er is so smart, he said that Big Brother Bai must ask me, let me not promise you, you will teach me kung fu!"

With a "boom", the shadow guards on the roof rolled down.

Zhao Pu shook his head, and smiled dryly at the stunned Gongsun, "Bai Yutang's big boat won't turn over in Taihu Lake. I didn't expect it to turn over in the little washbasin of the fourth son..."