Pregnant with His Highness' cub before becoming a monk

This thought suddenly appeared, causing Shi Fang to be at a loss for a moment.

He felt that his guess was a bit outrageous. If Li Yi recognized him, why didn't he recognize him, and even went to such lengths to pull Chen Xingwang into acting, what was he trying to do?

But when he thought about it carefully, he felt that this idea was not unfounded.

Not to mention the fact that Chen Xingwang didn't know Li Yi, this has fully explained the problem.For example, the fact that Li Yi would accompany County Magistrate Zhang and the others to eat at the same table is very weird now.With Li Yi's identity and personality, there is no need to deal with such a scene. Even in the capital, I have never heard of His Royal Highness having dinner with any court official, let alone in Dingfu County.

And Shifang remembered that during the dinner that day, Li Yi was obviously out of shape the whole time.

In other words, Li Yi didn't have to eat that meal.

So what made Li Yi reluctantly go to that dinner?

Taking a step back, even if Li Yi really wanted to have dinner with County Magistrate Zhang, there was no need to bring Chen Xingwang to accompany him, let alone Shifang and the others.After all, Li Yi had no interaction with these people at all.Even if he really found out about their innocent imprisonment, as long as he wanted to take care of it, it was just a matter of one sentence. It was impossible for Magistrate Zhang not to let them go, so there was no need to have another meal.

Now this matter seems weird everywhere, but if it was as Shifang expected and Li Yi knew Shifang's identity early on, then everything would make sense.Li Yi wanted to see him, but he didn't want to reveal his identity, so he arranged this trip.

As for why Li Yi didn't recognize him, Shifang couldn't guess it.

"Brother, are we going to ask him for help?" Shi Jiu also heard some problems from Chen Xingwang's words, but she didn't care about the twists and turns, what she cared about was the current affairs.

Shi Fang hesitated for a moment, and asked Chao Shijiu, "What do you think they came to Dingfu County for?"

"I can't guess that." Shi Jiu said, "Can brother guess it?"

Shi Fang thought for a while, and said, "I can't guess for sure, but if they have something to do, maybe it's just a coincidence that they passed by Dingfu County. If so, this incident might trip them up..."

It is said that strong dragons do not overwhelm local snakes. As Li Yi, it is not difficult to take care of this matter, but after all, this is the territory of Zhang County Magistrate, and Li Yi wants to find out the matter without cooperation. , it must take some setbacks and delays for a few days.

"Then what should we do?" Shi Jiu asked.

Shi Fang thought for a while, and said, "If we don't ask them for help, there are other ways to do this. If we are sure that things are not as Zhang County Magistrate said, we can collect some evidence. As long as the evidence is convincing, we can go directly to the Dingfu County. In the state capital, look for the Shangguan of Zhang County Magistrate."

Sixteen human lives are not a trivial matter, and the superiors of Zhang County Magistrate must not dare to neglect.

If the other party knew that this incident had alarmed the people in the Eastern Palace, they might be more concerned.

After all, Dingfu County is under the jurisdiction of the other party. If such a thing really happens, there is no way to say it. It will also affect his political achievements if it spreads to the capital.As long as County Magistrate Zhang wasn't instructed by the other party to close the case hastily, then the best place for this blame would be to throw it back at County Magistrate Zhang's head, which would be more cost-effective.

Chen Xingwang listened in a daze, and asked, "What evidence are you looking for?"

"Look for evidence that these people didn't die by accident." Shi Fang said: "Magistrate Zhang said that they took shelter from the rain here and suffered an accident. Now we can deduce that they didn't do it to hide from the rain, but stayed here temporarily. There must be a reason for so many people hiding in such shabby huts, and as long as we find out the reason, we will not be far from the truth."

Shi Jiu thought for a while, and said, "Then how do we find it?"

Shi Fang looked at the speechless person and said, "Maybe you can ask him."

Chen Xingwang had some hope at first, but when he heard Shifang said he wanted to ask that person, he immediately became discouraged: "He is dumb, what can he ask? If we could, we would have asked."

"If you don't try, how do you know you won't be able to ask?" Shi Fang said, walked towards the man, bent down and picked up the muddy ball he pulled out from the soil, and said to the man, "Before I didn't ask you, where did you come from?"

Hearing this, the man stopped his movements, looked towards Shi Fang and gestured a few times.

Of course, Shifang, as always, couldn't understand what he was gesticulating.

The man babbled and babbled for a long while, then gestured for a long while, seeing Shi Fang's bewildered face, he waved his hand and gave up.It hasn't been a day or two since he's been dumb. He's gotten used to it after encountering countless obstacles when communicating with people over the years.

In fact, among the people he met, Shifang was already the one who could communicate with him better.

If it weren't for Shifang's patience that day, he might not be able to dig those corpses out of the soil at this moment.

"Did you live in Dingfu County before? Or somewhere else on the mountain?" Shi Fang asked.

Shifang realized that when communicating with this person, it is better not to ask complicated questions, but to give the other person a choice as an answer.

Just like now, the man thought about it after hearing the words, and pointed decisively in the direction of Fu County, which meant self-evidently, they used to live in the city.

Shi Fang thought for a while, and then asked: "Since you live in the city, there must be people who know you in the city, right? Whether it's old acquaintances or neighbors, as long as they are familiar with you and know something about you Just do it."

The man nodded hurriedly.

Shifang immediately breathed a sigh of relief. This person can't speak, and can't ask too detailed questions, but they can ask others.

Before leaving there, they went to burn incense sticks on the graves of the sixteen people.The officers and soldiers were ordered to bury the bodies of the 16 people nearby that night.

Sixteen people were buried in a new tomb, without even a monument.

Shifang originally wanted to come here today to chant sutras for them, but now that he has concluded that there is something hidden about this matter, he must wait for the truth to come to light.Otherwise, not to mention that the dead cannot feel at ease, even the living may not be able to let go.

"There are traces of offering sacrifices here." Shi Fang glanced at the unburned paper money in front of the new grave, and asked the speechless person, "Did you burn this?"

The man shook his head, blankly.

Shifang Xindao might have been some officer or nearby Orion, so he didn't take it to heart.

After everyone returned to Dingfu County, Shifang asked the aphasic person to take them to find their former acquaintances.

Shifang originally thought that the other party would take them to their original residence, but he didn't expect that he would cross half of Dingfu County and bring Shifang and them to a remote house.The house is far away from the busy city, and there are not even private houses around. Before everyone gets close, they can smell a strong sulfur smell from a distance, which is also mixed with other pungent smells.

"What's this place?" Shi Jiu frowned and asked.

The speechless man pointed to the house and knocked on the door.

After a while, someone came to open the door. The people inside were stunned when they saw him, and said, "Old Tian? Why are you back again?"

When Lao Tian saw the person who opened the door, he gestured towards him a few times. The person followed the direction of his fingers and saw Shifang and others.

"Are you... friends of Lao Tian?" The man poked his head out and asked.

Shifang came forward to greet him, saying: "We have some things to ask, but old Taguchi can't speak, and we can't understand his gestures, so I want to ask someone he knows."

Hearing this, the man looked at Shifang and the others warily, and said, "Wait a minute, I'll ask my boss."

After saying that, the man closed the door and went in, and a man in his 40s came out after a while, who should be the person in charge of the house.

After Shi Fang explained to him the purpose of coming, the man invited them into the courtyard.

Only then did everyone realize that this was a workshop for making firecrackers, no wonder the smell of sulfur could be smelled from afar.

"Old Tian is my buddy here. He has always done his duty. Although he can't speak, I have never treated him badly." The manager sighed and said, "But Mr. Zhang has made a rule that all If all the people in Dazhou are driven out, no matter how pity I am for him, I dare not go against Mr. Zhang."

Shi Fang was startled when he heard the words, and asked, "Is Lao Tian from Da Zhou?"

"That's right, don't you know?" The person in charge said, "But he has been working here for many years, and in my opinion, he is no different from a banquet man. We common people, how can we understand those important national affairs and people's hearts?" They are all fleshy, as long as you behave well after a long time, who will ask where you come from?"

The person in charge sighed as he spoke, as if he couldn't bear the fact that Lao Tian was driven away.

Shifang calmed down for a moment, and asked, "Dingfu County, is there a lot of people in Dazhou?"

"There are dozens of people, right?" The person in charge said, "I heard that life is not easy on the New Year's Day. There are many merchants who pass by us these years and stay here. Lao Tian also stayed with the caravan back then. down."

Shifang used to be in the capital, and the information about the Dazhou people he came into contact with was basically negative.He knew that people in Dazhou like to do detailed work, and they have loved doing it many years ago, and they still do it now.Moreover, the court of the Great Zhou Dynasty has always been unruly in doing things, which has caused the relationship between the two countries to be very tense.

It is precisely because of this that Shifang has been full of contradictions about his life experience since he was a child.

He thought about it more than once, why was he so unlucky to get involved with people from Dazhou?It would be great if he was just a big banquet man!

Today was the first time he heard about the Dazhou people from the mouths of people outside the capital.

The people here are far away from the capital, and they don't know so many things about the capital, and they don't even have a deep understanding of Da Zhou.All they know is that Da Zhou fought against Da Yan more than ten years ago, and these years have been peaceful, the caravans of the two countries will come and go, and the people will also come and go.

So in their eyes, Great Zhou is not an enemy country, but a neighboring country.

It is very common for people from neighboring countries to live in Dingfu County.

"I don't know much about people from Dazhou, and the only ones who come and go are Lao Tian and the others." The manager said: "If you are interested, go back and ask Lao Liu, he has a lot of contacts with people from Dazhou. , I am also familiar with Lao Tian."

Shi Fang was taken aback, and asked, "Is the sixth child from Da Zhou?"

"He's not, but his wife is." The person in charge said, "However, Lao Liu went on a long trip a few days ago, and his wife and two children were driven out of the city by officers and soldiers. Lao Liu went out of the city after returning yesterday. I looked for it, but I don’t know if I found it.”

Shi Fang's heart sank when he heard the words, and he asked, "How old are the two children of Lao Liu...?"

"One is seven or eight years old, and the other is in his teens, right?" The steward smiled and said with emotion: "In a few years, they will be half-grown children, and they grow up really fast."

Hearing the words, Shifang suddenly thought of the bodies of the two children that had been dug out of the ruins that day for some reason, and they looked like they were seven or eight years old and ten or so years old.If it's such a coincidence, isn't the sixth child... Shi Fang couldn't bear to think about it any longer, only felt a sense of desolation in his heart.

"What about others? Haven't come back?" Shi Fang asked.

Hearing the words, the steward asked the clerk a few words, and said, "It seems that I came back last night, but I guess no one was found, and I seem to be quite disappointed."

Shifang: ...

He suddenly thought of the paper money in front of the grave, and had a bad premonition in his heart.

Although the matter of the corpses outside the city was suppressed by the county magistrate Zhang, it has not been spread for a while, but all the officers and soldiers and the few people present knew the whole story.There is no impenetrable wall in the world. If Lao Liuwan learned the truth of the matter from someone, he couldn't stand the blow, and he didn't know if he would commit suicide.

"Do you know where Lao Liu lives? Let's go to his house." Shi Fang said to Lao Tian.

Lao Tian nodded, gestured to the person in charge, and then left with Shi Fang.

After Shi Fang walked a few steps, he suddenly remembered something, turned his head and asked the person in charge, "What does the sixth child look like?"

"He's tall and has a beard. He was wounded by a firecracker on his forehead before. There is a scar, which is quite obvious." The manager said.

Shi Fang nodded when he heard the words, thanked the person in charge, and then left.

Lao Liu's home is not too far from the workshop. Presumably he has been working in the workshop all these years, so he placed the house not far away to make it easier for him to come and go.

When everyone arrived at the door and saw that the door was not locked, Lao Tian stepped forward and patted it a few times, then pushed the door open and went in.

The house wasn't too big, but it was tidied up very well. It can be seen that the sixth wife's wife should be a very good housekeeper.

"No one." Shi Jiu went in to look around, and said in Shifang.

"There are traces of stepping on the yard after the heavy rain. It should be stepped on when he came back yesterday." Shi Fang said, "I didn't lock the door when I left. Is it because I forgot in a hurry, or is it because of other reasons?"

Chen Xingwang asked puzzledly, "What other reason?"

Shifang frowned and said, "I don't plan to come back..."

"No way?" Chen Xingwang said.

But when he thought about it, it wasn't impossible.

Both the wife and the child are in trouble suddenly, and it is difficult for anyone to accept it for a while.

Shi Fang looked around, couldn't help sniffling, and asked, "Do you smell sulfur?"

"Did it get stained in that workshop just now?" Chen Xingwang raised his foot and glanced at the soles of his feet.

When Shi Jiu heard this, he looked around and said, "I smell it too."

After all, Lao Tian had stayed in that workshop, and he was more familiar with the smell. He heard it and smelled it around, and finally went to the main room and found an upside-down dustpan.Everyone looked carefully, the dustpan was covered with sulfur powder, and there were other powders scattered around the dustpan, which looked like saltpeter.

"You used to work in the workshop, would you bring this kind of thing home?" Shi Fang asked.

Lao Tian hurriedly shook his head when he heard the words. To put it bluntly, this kind of thing is quite dangerous, and most people would not take it home.

Shi Fang didn't know what he thought of, and he and Shi Jiu looked at each other.

Shi Jiu was born as an assassin, so he was sensitive to such things, and said, "This thing can not only be used as firecrackers, but also as earthen gunpowder."

"What does he do with gunpowder?" Chen Xingwang asked.

"What else can I do?" Shi Jiu said: "Imagine, a person travels far away, and when he comes back, he finds that his wife and children have been driven out of the city. I am afraid that no one can let it go, and must vent their anger."

Chen Xingwang was puzzled and said, "Could it be that he wants to blow up mountains with gunpowder?"

"Although this was caused by landslides, the person who drove them out of the city was County Magistrate Zhang," Shi Fang said.

"He wants to blow up County Magistrate Zhang?" Chen Xingwang asked in surprise.

"I don't know if it is, but there is always a possibility." Shi Fang said.

Now that the matter was over, they didn't dare to stay any longer, and hurried to the county government office.

Regardless of the county magistrate Zhang, if the sixth child really did this, he would definitely die.At that time, if the dosage is not controlled and innocent people are injured, it will be really difficult to end.

Everyone hurried to the county yamen, but was told that magistrate Zhang was not in the yamen.

Shifang breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the words, but a word from the officer guarding the gate immediately lifted his heart again.

Then he heard him say to Chen Xingwang: "Several distinguished guests from the East Palace said they were going to leave today, and Mr. Zhang went to see them off. Isn't Mr. Chen going to see them off?"

Chen Xingwang was startled, and took a look at Shifang.

Shifang's expression changed, and he asked, "Master Zhang went to the inn?"

"Yes, I just left for a while." The officer said.

Shi Fang couldn't help but suffocate when he heard the words, asked the direction of the inn, and ran towards the inn.

Although knowing that all of this is just speculation, Lao Liu may not be as decisive as he expected.Even if Lao Liu really has this plan, he may not choose this timing...

But even if there was only a slight possibility, Shifang couldn't help but worry as long as he thought that Li Yi might be affected.

On the way to the inn, Shi Fang had already thought of countless possibilities in his mind.

Li Yi is very skilled, and with Huo Yansheng by his side, even if he really meets the sixth child to do something, he will definitely be able to avoid disaster.

But the power of things like gunpowder is far beyond what people can imagine, and Lao Liu has been working in that workshop all year round, so he must know a lot, and the dangers of the things he makes can be imagined.

While Shi Fang comforted himself, he couldn't help feeling anxious.

Fortunately, the yamen was not far from the inn. They turned a street and saw the inn.

Just in case, Shi Fang ordered Shi Jiu and the others to look around, and if there was anything unusual, it was better to take precautions, maybe they could stop it.He himself went straight to the inn. He had to confirm that Li Yi was safe and sound, otherwise he would not feel at ease.

Shi Fang entered the gate of the inn, just in time to see Li Yi and others coming out of the inner hall.

County Magistrate Zhang accompanied him with a flattering face, saying flattering words in his mouth.

Li Yi didn't look at the other party at all, and when he raised his eyes inadvertently, his eyes fell on Shi Fang, and he couldn't help being startled.

At that moment, Li Yi's eyes lit up obviously. He obviously didn't expect Shifang to come to him.

When he said those words to Huo Yansheng yesterday, he secretly hoped that Shi Fang would come. He hoped that his guess was wrong, and he hoped that Shi Fang would come to recognize him after he knew where he was.

He thought he had lost, but now it seems that he is not.

Shifang is really here...·

Li Yi stood a few steps away and looked at him, his eyes slowly stained with a smile.

Shi Fang didn't know what was going on outside, he was afraid that the sixth child would wait outside the inn and wait for County Magistrate Zhang to go out, so he wanted to keep Li Yi steady and let him go out after he was sure it was safe.With this in mind, he walked quickly towards Li Yi, but when he passed a certain table in the lobby, he suddenly smelled the familiar smell of sulfur.

Shi Fang subconsciously turned his head to look at the person sitting at the table. The other person had his back to the door, so Shi Fang didn't see his appearance clearly. Now that Shi Fang walked to his side, he found that the person's face He has a beard and a prominent scar on his forehead.

At that moment, Shifang suddenly remembered what the workshop manager said.

With a beard and a scar on his forehead...

Shifang:! ! !

This person is the sixth child!

Almost at the same time, Shifang heard the sound of a fuze burning.

The voice wasn't loud, and if he was a few steps away, he wouldn't be able to hear it, but Shi Fang was too close, and he had anticipated this, so he could easily distinguish the source of the voice.If it was another person, even standing in front of him would not be able to figure out where the voice came from.

Shi Fang frowned, secretly thinking that the distance was too close, Li Yi and Zhang County Magistrate were at the forefront, and although Huo Yansheng and Yan Changsheng were closely behind Li Yi, no matter how fast they reacted, they didn't know in advance. It was too late to stop, or even protect Li Yi under the circumstances of the situation.

Seeing that Li Yi and County Magistrate Zhang were about to walk over, Shi Fang didn't have time to think about it. He reminded everyone to be careful, and then he threw himself in front of Li Yi and used his body to block between Li Yi and Lao Liu.

Li Yi didn't expect Shi Fang to do this, he was obviously taken aback for a moment, and subconsciously raised his hand to wrap around Shi Fang's waist.

But when Shifang rushed towards him, it was obvious that he had used his strength, and Li Yi fell backwards being pushed by him.

Almost at the same time, the gunpowder fuze tied to Lao Liu's body burned out.

Just before the moment when the gunpowder exploded, Li Yi was keenly aware of something.Almost instinctively, he quickly turned around with his arms around Shifang, and then firmly protected him under his body.

With a loud bang, Shifang temporarily lost his hearing.

He was protected by Li Yi, and he was hardly affected at all, but the noise and huge impact made him realize that the power of the gunpowder was not small.

"Yi'er..." The voice called tremblingly, but there was no response.

Li Yi lay on top of him, his head resting weakly on Shifang's shoulder, apparently unconscious.

Shi Fang felt his mind was blank. He stretched out his hand and carefully touched Li Yi's back, but did not touch the wound.He let go of half of his heart slightly, comforting himself, the other party should just be stunned by the impact...

But then he felt a drop of warm liquid slipping across his neck.

Shi Fang slowly stretched out his hand and wiped it there, then raised his hand to see that it was blood.

作者有话要说：感谢在2021-07-11很02:10:16~2021-07-12很02:37:26期间为我投出霸王票或灌溉营养液的小天使哦~

Thanks to the little angel who threw the landmine: Erdong 57 is 2; 37008567 is 1;

感谢灌溉营养液的小天使：52326425很30瓶；36530555、山南执很10瓶；Echo.、tyl很5瓶；2019AiGou很2瓶；洛城很1瓶；

Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!