The return of the son-in-law

Fuquan said as he walked, "According to your lord's instructions, we searched for places where no one walked by, and we found traces of carriages. However, few people have walked through those places for more than ten years, and they are all half-human tall. Weeds are very strenuous to walk. But thanks to these weeds, we found that many places had been cut down, so we walked up those traces. After walking for more than half an hour, we found a place The latest turned over mound. We dug up the mound and found the body of an old lady inside."

Guo Zhan'an's heart tightened. He had already planned for the worst, but he was still angry when he heard the news of the death—no matter who the murderer was, killing a woman who had no strength to restrain a chicken was really hard. It's disgusting.

The corpse was buried in the mountain, and there was no complete road on the past road, and many places still needed to use hands and feet to climb up—this is why Guo Zhanan and Fuquan left their horses by the roadside—maybe the murderer just took a fancy to it That's why the body was buried there.

The two walked all the way, because without Guo Zhan'an's order, the body was still in the soil, with their eyes wide open, as if they couldn't believe that they just died like this.Corpse spots had already appeared on the body of the corpse, and there were even a few unnamed bugs crawling on the corpse, which was really scary.

Guo Zhan'an resisted the stench, took out a sweat towel and grabbed the corpse's arm and looked carefully for a while, but found no wound.He is not a professional assistant, so he ordered: "Have someone send a carriage, send the body back, and find the assistant for an injury examination. Also, go back and tell Jiang Yannian to keep Xu Laowu steady. You can't tell Xu about this right away." Old Fifth, lest he be too sad."

Fuquan took the order and went back to Xuzhou at full speed. He first reported the matter to Jiang Yannian, and then drove back in his own carriage.

It took half a day to go back and forth, and when the corpse was transported back to Xuzhou, the sun was about to set.

Without further ado, Guo Zhanan didn't have time to go home, so he sent the body directly to Wu Zuo. After thinking about it, he asked Fuquan to go to the yamen and asked Hao Yun to come over.

Xu Zhou's assistant quickly found out the cause of death of the corpse - a sword pierced the chest, bleeding to death.But before Xu Laowu's wife died, all ten fingers were broken, and there were still many marks of being kicked and beaten on her body. It was obvious that she had suffered inhuman torture before she died.

"Honestly speaking, I have been working as a maid for more than 20 years, and I have never seen such a madman who can do such a murderous thing to a woman. What else can the murderer not do?"

Guo Zhan'an nodded and said: "This murderer is too vicious. Thinking that this murderer is still at large makes people shudder and makes people feel uncomfortable. The murderer must be found immediately, so that more innocent people will not be killed by him."

Wu Zuo took out a white cloth, covered the dead face of the dead body, sighed, and said: "If it is useful to get me, my lord can tell you."

Guo Zhanan responded, "Naturally."

At this time, Hao Yun had arrived.He heard that it was Guo Zhanan who called him, so Fu Quanyong showed Guo Zhanan's token and trotted over.

Guo Zhan'an didn't let Hao Yun see the body, but went outside to see Hao Yun, and said, "Immediately send someone to invite all the soldiers who guarded the city last night to the yamen, and then find out all the lawsuit files of Xuzhou's murders over the years. Also, go and tell Master Shi that a big case happened in Xuzhou, and I will rush back to the Yamen as soon as possible to explain it clearly, and please Master Shi not to leave the Yamen. Before that time, you must not let them meet. If they meet, your good luck will come to an end."

As soon as Hao Yun heard it, he knew that something serious had happened, and it was very likely that someone had died.It's just that Shi Guogan never regarded him as his confidant, so naturally he would not tell him the truth of the matter.All he can do now is to follow Guo Zhan'an's instructions and get everything done.

After Hao Yun left, Guo Zhanan went inside again, and said to Wu Zuo, "I will trouble you to write down the situation of the corpse, I will use it in the future."

Wu Zuo nodded and said: "This is natural, please rest assured, my lord."

Guo Zhan'an asked Fuquan to stay and send it to the government office after the work was finished.As for himself, he returned to the Guo Mansion, had a secret talk with Jiang Yannian, and then went to the government office.

In the government office, Shi Guogan obviously didn't know that Guo Zhanan found the body of Xu Laowu's wife in just one day.Therefore, although he didn't understand why Guo Zhan'an sent Hao Yun to spread such words, he was also dissatisfied with Guo Zhan'an's behavior of restraining him in the government office in a disguised form—after all, he had to go and finish the matter himself today, and those gangsters had already dissatisfied - but still stay in his room.

When Guo Zhanan came to the government office, he first found Shi Guogan, and concealed the identity of the deceased and what happened during the process, only saying that someone had found a corpse, which had been inspected by the foreman, and it was man-made.

Shi Guogan was startled at first, thinking that his plan had failed.But he thought about it again, he had already ordered the group of people to take them to a hidden place and kill them, and bury them deeper, it was impossible for people to discover them in just one day.

So, he calmed down immediately, and made a look filled with righteous indignation: "It's unreasonable! Such a thing happened! Mr. Guo, you are Xuzhou's general judge, and you should be responsible for this matter. If you need my help somewhere, just ask. The murderer must be caught as soon as possible, and you will have to work hard during this time. You must use the state's rights to arrest the murderer. I still have an appointment, so I won't disturb you to solve the case."

Guo Zhan'an smiled, blocked Shi Guogan's way, and said, "I need your help right now, what promise does your lord have, is it more important than the lives of the people in Xuzhou?"

Naturally, Shi Guogan would not tell Guo Zhanan that he had made an appointment with some of his gangsters, and he wanted to educate those guys who only had flesh but no brains.But Guo Zhanan's question came suddenly, and Shi Guogan couldn't think of a legitimate excuse for a while, so he lost the opportunity.

Guo Zhan'an took the opportunity to say: "My lord, the murderer might still be in Xuzhou. The body was examined by the police and was abused before death. I have sent someone to investigate the identity of the deceased before his death, and only had a quarrel with a few people." , but not to the point of torturing the murderer. I implore you to think more about the people of Xuzhou and yourself, and end this matter as soon as possible and bring the murderer to justice."

Shi Guogan only felt that there was something in Guo Zhanan's words, and asked, "Is this related to me?"

Guo Zhanan nodded and said, "Your Excellency is solely responsible for the deployment of Xuzhou's city guards and patrols. Someone saw a carriage leaving Xuzhou after the city gate was closed last night. Isn't this matter related to your Excellency? I Doubt, this incident is inseparable from this massacre."

Shi Guogan only felt his eyes go dark, he had already guessed the identity of the deceased.Looking at Guo Zhanan's sincere face now, Shi Guogan only felt that the other party's face was full of pleasure.

This judgment that is not right with him is clearly pretending to be a pig and eating a tiger, digging a hole for him to jump, but he still has to jump!

However, although Guo Zhanan took the opportunity, he still had a chance. He cleared his throat and said, "Forget it, this matter is no small matter, I will go with you. It's just that I have an appointment with someone first, and I want to send Wang Jiusan made a trip to bring the message for me."

Guo Zhanan understood very well, nodded and said: "Of course, I will wait for the adults outside the house."

When Guo Zhanan left, Shi Guogan asked Wang Jiusan to come forward, the two whispered for a while, and Wang Jiusan took the order and left.

However, he didn't know that although Guo Zhan'an didn't have many people available in Xuzhou City right now, Jiang Yannian was in Xuzhou at this time!Jiang Yannian's people were watching all the doors of the yamen, no matter which door Wang Jiusan went out from, he would be watched.

In the hall of the yamen, the soldiers were waiting anxiously, and there were two rows of yamen servants standing upright beside them.

When Shi Guogan saw the group of soldiers who had been invited by Hao Yun and didn't know the reason, he said first: "You people are getting more and more courageous, and you dare to let people out even after the city gate is closed! I usually see that you are all dedicated to your duties, so I feel relieved to entrust you with the burden of guarding the city gate at night, is this how you repay me?"

Several young soldiers have not yet reacted, and one of the oldest ones already knew that Shi Guogan made it clear that he would not admit that it was his order. Although he didn't know why he called them here, the elder Most of the soldiers had already guessed it, and immediately knelt down and admitted their mistake: "My lord, forgive me, my lord, forgive me!"

Shi Guo dared to see that this man was so upright, he felt a little more at ease, and said: "Why are you so confused? Who are you last night? gone?"

The soldier had heard the reminder in Shi Guogan's words, so he took advantage of the opportunity and said: "To tell you the truth, that man is my relative, and his mother is about to die. He wants to rush back to see his mother for the last time, so that the old man won't die I felt uneasy about leaving. I saw that he was really pitiful, so I was delusional and let him go. Please forgive me, my lord!"

Shi Guo dared to look at the group of soldiers kneeling on the ground with hatred, and said: "You are all carefully selected by me, and you have always been good, really! Oh, that's all, luckily nothing major happened this time, I will spare you this time. But, this kind of thing is not allowed to happen again in the future, understand?"

The soldiers knew that they had escaped a catastrophe, and hurriedly said: "Understood, I understand, thank you sir. Don't worry, sir, we will never make such a mistake again."

Shi Guogan seemed to have just remembered that there was Guo Zhanan next to him, and said, "Just telling me is not enough, Mr. Guo wants you to speak in person. Only when Mr. Guo forgives you, this matter will be closed."

The soldiers turned around and knelt down to Guo Zhan'an to beg for mercy, shouting such words as "I will never do it again" and "Please forgive me".

Guo Zhan'an has been watching with cold eyes, watching Shi Guogan sing along with this group of people. At this time, the initiative has returned to his hands, so naturally it is not so easy to let this group of people go.

"I still have a few things that I don't understand, and I hope you can clarify them for me." Guo Zhan settled down and saw that several of the soldiers on the ground had their heads on the ground.

Guo Zhan'an continued: "You all get up, I'm just dealing with it impartially, and I only ask you to answer truthfully."

After several soldiers stood firm, Guo Zhanan asked, "First, after the curfew yesterday, how many waves left the city?"

Several young soldiers didn't dare to answer, they all looked at their leader, and the older soldier replied: "Go back to your lord, it's just my relative who went out of the city overnight, please forgive me."

Guo Zhan'an comforted him and said, "Don't worry, I won't pursue your relative. I just want you to answer my question. Since there is only one wave, how many of your relatives left the city together?"

"One, my lord, my relative's hometown was hit by a disaster, so he wanted to join me. It's just that I didn't expect that such a thing would happen after only a few days in Xuzhou."

He didn't dare to say that that "relative" had stayed in Xuzhou for a long time, because as long as he came here not long ago, even if Guo Zhan'an went to visit his neighborhood, he would only join forces if others said he hadn't seen him.

Guo Zhanan asked again: "Oh? Then how many days did you come to Xuzhou? One day is also a few days, and nine days is also a few days. Since it is a person, why did someone see another person next to the carriage last night?"

The soldier hurriedly said: "Two days, he has only been in Xuzhou for two days. My lord, it's like this. He has to go through our inspection when he leaves the city. My relative may have just got out of the car to be inspected, and he just happened to be seen."

Guo Zhanan nodded, and said, "Where is your relative's house?"

The soldier said: "In a small fishing village in the south, I heard him say it, but I don't remember it. It's just a poor and run-down place. I haven't heard of it at all."

That "relative"'s hometown is thousands of miles away from Xuzhou, and he said that he couldn't remember the name, so he didn't believe that Guo Zhan'an could still send someone to that "relative's" hometown!

Guo Zhanan asked again: "Is it really in the south? The south is thousands of miles away from Xuzhou."

Seeing that Guo Zhan was convinced, the soldier nodded quickly and said, "Exactly."

Guo Zhanan suddenly turned cold, and shouted: "There are many lies! Your relative has only been in Xuzhou for two days, and then he received a letter from home saying that his mother was seriously ill. Could it be that his mother was well before he left, and it only took two or three days?" , have you suddenly contracted a serious illness?"

The soldier trembled all over, and said: "My lord, forgive me! As the saying goes, illness comes like a mountain, and no one can tell about the bones of the body! Besides, isn't there a flying pigeon to pass on the letter!"

Guo Zhanan sneered: "Oh? Flying pigeons to pass on letters? Your relative's family is so poor, and they still have money to buy carrier pigeons? Do you know how much it costs to raise a carrier pigeon? You know a carrier pigeon that can fly from the south to the northwest How much does it cost? It is true that things about the body and bones are sometimes unpredictable. But if you suddenly get sick and send someone to deliver a letter, will that person come to Xuzhou directly like your relatives? How many letters are there on the messenger? How many places do you pass along the way? Oh, you may say that their family sent someone to deliver the letter, but you are still a petty official. Don’t you know the system of the post station in this dynasty? Ordinary people can leave their hometown for no reason , all the way to the northwest?"

Guo Zhanan gave all the excuses the soldier could think of in this series of questioning, and he could not refute at all, so he simply knelt down and said in a trembling voice: "My lord, forgive me, my lord, forgive me!"

Guo Zhanan laughed back angrily: "Begging for mercy now? It's too late! Come on, this man has neglected his duty, fabricated testimony, and failed to report what he knew. He will be more guilty! Put on torture tools!"

The soldier felt cold and shouted: "My lord, spare my life! My lord, spare my life! I say it! I say it!"

Guo Zhan'an refused to give him this chance: "I asked you to tell the truth before, but you didn't tell the truth, and now you want to say it? It's too late!"

Shi Guogan stood aside, unable to persuade or speak, he could only watch the soldier give him a look, and then said: "It's all Master Shi's account!"