Chapter 44: Public hall

When Meng Zimo and Niu Zhi came to the gate of Junshoufu's government office, it was already black when the lights were blind. Fortunately, two lanterns were hanging under the porch, but they could see clearly.
Several officials have whispered whispers outside the county guard house, and Mencius at a glance saw that these people were all officials of Xingcao.
Both Zhenjun Liucao and Duwei Mansion are nominally under the jurisdiction of the Junshou Mansion, but everyone knows that the master of the Shoushou Mansion really does not have much power.
The reason for the establishment of the Junshou Mansion in Zhen Jun at that time was actually to make Zhen Jun at least nominally belong to the territory controlled by Datang, and half of the next six Cao were nominal.
Hu Cao is nominally responsible for taxation, but in fact, Zhen Jun’s taxes are collected by Zhen Hou’s government. He cannot pay even one or two dollars, but he often has to send someone to help Zhen Hou’s account calculation. , To Ruobing, Li, Gong, and Li Cao, it was nothing more.
Among the six Cao, the only one with real power is the criminal Cao.
However, as everyone knows, the criminal officer Cao Cao Lu Siyuan was directly recommended to the court by Zhen Hou Fu. This person was originally from the Xiling Gate Valve. Although Zhen Hou Fu’s posture did not directly use the Zhen family, the Lu family is also strong in Zhen Jun. The door of the family's family, directly attached to the foot of Zhenhou House, the criminal Cao controlled by Lv Siyuan is also equivalent to Zhenhou House's own territory.
Mencius saw a sneer on his lips when he saw the criminal Cao whispering in front of the county guard.
The criminal Cao people saw that Mencius had brought a few people, and they naturally recognized that they were people in Duwei Mansion, and they didn't have any good looks. If they were in earlier years, they might deliberately provoke a few words, but today's Han Yunong was in town in Du Wei Mansion, and Han Yu Nong was also famous in Zhen County. Zhen Hou Man should be a little scared. Naturally, the people of Xing Cao didn't dare to provoke Du Wei Man easily.
Mencius went up and saw that the gate of the county guard house was open, and four guards with swords lined up in front of the gate. They arched and said: "Meng Zimo of Duwei House, ordered to bring the jailer Niu Zhi back and forth."
The guards of the county guard house apparently received an order long ago, and when he heard Niu Zhi’s name, he immediately made a way. Mencius was about to step forward. A guard reached out and stopped:
Niu Zhi went in, you are waiting outside.

Mencius did not argue, turning around and nodding to Niu Zhi.
Niu Zhi was so embarrassed that he dared not look directly at the guards and entered the house. Someone led directly through the front yard to the main hall.
The lights in the main hall of the prefectural palace were brightly lit. Niu Zhi walked outside the door of the main hall. The man who led the way had already said: "Senior Master Qi, the jailer Niu Zhi is here!"
"Let him come in!" There was a voice in the hall.
Niu Zhijian led the man making a gesture to himself, he arched his hand quickly, half bowed into the hall, and saw the adult on the main seat leaning on the chair in the official mansion, knowing that he could sit in that position. It was Du Hongsheng, the county guard, who stepped a few steps forward and knelt down to the ground: "Villain Niu Zhi, meet the master of the county guard."
"Niu Zhi, I ask you, Qin Xiao left the job, what is the reason?" The voice did not come from the front, but from his left head, which made Niu Zhi turn his head to look over and saw only one official Zheng was staring at himself with a chill, and recognized that it was Lu Siyuan, the criminal officer.
Before Niu Zhi answered, he heard the voice of Han Yunong from the right first: "Lord Master Lu, Lord Junshou presided over the case here, please be restless."
Han Yunong has a high reputation in Duwei Mansion, and one of the reasons is his short-term protection.
Niu Zhi saw Han Yunong on the side and calmed down. He saw Lu Hong and Qin Xiao standing under Han Yunong. He thought every word he said here must be cautious.
The county guard Du Hongsheng coughed, and then asked: "Niu Zhi, the officer asked you, did Qin Xiao leave the Jiazi prison in the early morning yesterday?"
"Looking back to Master, this is indeed the case." Niu Zhi replied respectfully.
Du Hongsheng nodded: "Where did he go?"
"He went out to chase after Lu Lutou."
"Why should Lu Lutou be chased?"
Niu Zhidao said: "Lu Shaotou took away the prisoner Wen Jiao who was detained in the Jiazi prison yesterday. Although he signed, but when he left, he forgot to take the documents with him." He looked at Qin Xiao before continuing. Tao said: "Without mentioning the document, even if Lu Shaotou escorted the prisoner to Fenggan, he could not prove that the was Wen Budao, unable to hand over. Qin Xiao worried that Lu Shutou would run in vain, so he took the paperwork to catch up ."
"Really?" Du Hongsheng said in a deep voice.
Niu Zhi knocked his head on the ground: "The villain dare not lie."
Lv Siyuan sneered: "Adult, what this person said is not enough to believe. It must be that the people in Duwei House confessed to each other in private, so they made up lies."
"Master Lu, you are a torture officer, you should understand that there is no evidence, you can't spit on people." Han Yunong said lightly: "If you think Niu Zhi's statement is untrue, you have to come up with evidence."
Lü Siyuan was about to speak. Footsteps were heard from outside. Everyone looked at the sound and saw that Zhen Yujiang, the young son of the Zhen family, who was in Jinyi, strode into the hall with many people.
Everyone was taken aback.
Lu Siyuan's face immediately showed a look of joy, and the first one greeted him with a hand: "Young Master!"
Du Hongsheng also got up and stepped down.
Zhen Yujiang has no official status, but his father is Chang Xinhou, who is the governor of Zhen Jun. As a matter of fact, Du Hongsheng, as the guard of Zhen Jun, does not have to salute Zhen Yujiang, but he is obviously very afraid of the Zhen family and dare not dare. Lost courtesy to Zhen Yujiang.
"Master Du continues to examine the case." Zhen Yujiang said with a smile: "I heard about this case, so I came over to see what is going on."
Han Yunong didn't pretend to Zhen Yujiang, but said: "Young Master, this case involves Duwei Mansion and Xing Cao, and has nothing to do with Zhen Hou Mansion, so...!"
"Han Duwei was wrong." The aide Lang Shenshui came out from behind Zhen Yujiang, took a copy of the deed from his arms, and raised it to shake: "This is the deed of the Golden Hook Casino. A few months ago, Qiao Leshan had already delivered the Golden Hook Casino to Hou Fu."
Everyone was surprised.
"Don't misunderstand, it's not that Houfu wants a gambling house." Lang Shenshui laughed: "In order to facilitate the circulation of silver and silver, Houfu opened a bank in the city many years ago. At that time, Qiao Leshan needed a piece of silver and used a gold hook. The gambling house is a mortgage, so the Golden Hook gambling house is now actually owned by Hou Fu." He glanced at Han Yunong before continuing: "I heard that the case involved Qiao Leshan, and Hou Ye was worried about the loan that Qiao Leshan borrowed. The money is not repayable, so come over and figure out what is going on."
Lu Hong couldn't help but say: "We just returned to the city, and just explained to the county guardian what happened last night. How did Hou Fu know that Qiao Leshan was involved so quickly?"
"Zhenhou Mansion was entrusted by the saints to guard the people of Zhenjun." Lang Shenshui sneered: "This morning, some people found many corpses near the post, and some people recognized that one of them was the golden hook. Qiao Leshan of the casino, these horrible murders, naturally someone immediately reported to Hou Fu."
Qin Xiao sneered under his heart, knowing that Lang Shenshui's pretext was nonsense.
Although Golden Hook Casino is famous in Guicheng, not many people really know Qiao Leshan.
A few corpses were near the post, and it was not surprising that they were seen, but someone could recognize Qiao Leshan, which is really incredible.
He knew about Qiao Leshan's actions last night. Zhenhou House must know very well in advance. However, Qiao Leshan did not come back to report the results. Zhenhou House would naturally send someone to investigate what was going on.
Although it takes a day to walk from Guicheng to the post, it is much faster if you ride on horseback.
When returning from the post, he and Lu Hong also returned on foot. If the other party sent someone to ride back and forth, it would naturally let Zhen Yujiang get the news in advance.
"Come here, show your seat to Young Master!" Du Hongsheng told Ya to send a big chair and invited Zhen Yujiang to sit down. Then he said: "Young Master, yesterday the Duwei Mansion sent someone to the prisoner Wen Wendao to Fenggan. However, in the middle of the road, they encountered a rogue and hijacked the prisoner."
"Captive prisoner?" Zhen Yujiang asked lightly: "Master Du, I don't understand."
Du Hongsheng said to Lu Hong: "Lu Hong, in the end, you should clearly explain to the young master."
Lu Hong arched his hands: "Young Master, we arrived at the post last night. We were drunk because we were on the road. After everyone fell asleep, I watched the prisoners alone. At midnight, Qiao Leshan suddenly led someone into the post."
"What did they break into the post?"
"Qiao Leshan wants to press Wen Budao about the whereabouts of a piece of silver." Lu Hong's face did not change color: "Wen Budao's mouth was hard and he did not give in."
"You are the who escorted the prisoner, let Qiao Leshan do something wrong?" Lang Shenshui said in a deep voice: "How can you prove that Qiao Leshan is trying to force Wen to do the wrong?"
"Because I am also a participant." Lu Hong calmly said: "Qiao Leshan found me in private a few days ago, and asked me to ask the whereabouts of the silver from Wen Budaokou together. Once successful, he will give I made a fortune, I was confused for a while, and promised him."
Han Yunong apparently just knew this and his face changed slightly.
Du Hongsheng was also surprised, Shen said: "You have an agreement with Qiao Leshan in private?"
"Exactly." Lu Hong said: "The salary of Du Wei Man is meager, and the hardship of my family, so when Qiao Leshan promised a lot of money, I was interested and promised to push Wen Wen with him. We planned in advance, No matter whether Wen Budao tells the whereabouts of the silver, we will kill people and exterminate us. Then I will make up an excuse to say that a thief attacked and killed Wen Budao, then this matter can be covered up."
Zhen Yujiang laughed in the corner of his mouth: "Then you now say that Wen Dao is hijacked by thieves, and naturally it is also fake."
"This is precisely what we didn't think of." Lu Hong sighed: "We have been asking for a long time, and Wen Budao has not explained, so Qiao Leshan started to kill. Also at that time, we heard the sound of the horseshoe, immediately I guessed it might be a thief infested, Qiao Leshan and I escaped the post with the help of Wen Budao."
"No." Lang Shenshui immediately said: "As far as I know, the chalet in the post was burnt, why?"
Qin Xiao took a step forward and raised his hand: "I burned it."