Han Du saw that the old man was full of confusion and had no intention of explaining to him, so he asked directly: "Old man, please tell me where Jiang Zhen is. I really have something important and I need to find him."
The old man raised his head, looking a little sad.
Han Du was shocked and suddenly felt bad.
Sure enough, the old man said sadly: "Jiang Shi, he is dead."
died? Han Du suddenly felt troubled and couldn't help but lower his face and asked: "What happened? How did he die?"
Seeing Han Du's expression change like this, the old man immediately believed that Han Du and others were indeed Jiang Shi's friends. If the relationship wasn't close enough, the expression wouldn't be the same as it is now.
"More than two months ago, I got drunk and drowned in a pond."
Han Du's face became more and more ugly. He originally thought that Jiang Shi would be his hope of opening a breakthrough, but he didn't expect that Jiang Shi would die two months ago.
The old man was still chattering, "We have watched Jiang Shi grow up. I originally thought that he would never come back when he went out to serve as a soldier, but I didn't expect that not only would he come back, but he would also come back with an appointment from the imperial court. .”
"What a dignified chief, what a great official. He is in charge of all these ten miles and eight villages. I thought that this kid was going to be successful and his family would be prosperous, but I didn't expect that he would be drunk to death after just one drink. , things are really unpredictable..."
When Han Du learned that Jiang Shi was dead, he was very upset. How could he want to listen to the nagging of a bad old man?
But at this time, the soldier stepped forward and said to Han Du: "Master Marquis, Jiang Shi has a good capacity for drinking, and he never gets drunk."
Han Du immediately turned his head to look into the soldier's eyes and said solemnly: "Continue talking."
The soldier quickly lowered his head and said: "We all came back from the grassland with the Marquis. We know that we must at least keep a clear mind to deal with emergencies. This has become our habit. Jiang Shi drinks, as long as he drinks It’s almost the same, he has the character to drink if he doesn’t want to drink. One time we joked with him, even if we put a knife to his neck, he didn’t drink an extra drop of wine.”
How could a person with three points of clarity end up drunk in a pond? Even if he slipped and fell, he would still wake up a little when the water stirred him up. He could get up from the pond without anyone's help.
It seems that there is something fishy about Jiang Shi's death.
Han Du thought of this, raised his head and asked the old man, "Is there anyone else in his family?"
The old man sighed and shook his head, saying: "After he left home, his younger brother died early, and his father later died of illness, leaving only his mother and younger sister to depend on each other. Later, his younger sister also married far away. , there is little news, and only my mother is left at home. This time when he comes back, the happiest person is the old girl. "
"Later, I arranged a marriage for him. However, after several years, I still haven't left a son and a half daughters. The most regrettable thing is that he has no queen. As for his old mother, after his death, she was also He was so angry that he became bedridden and left not long after.”
"What about his wife?" Li Jizu couldn't help but asked anxiously.
The old man shook his head and said: "After he died, the woman packed up her belongings and returned to her parents' home."
Not only was Jiang Shi dead, but his family was gone, his wife had also returned to her parents' home, and the only living relative was the girl who married far away. However, there has been little news about her marriage for so long, and it is still unknown whether she will live or die.
Han Du was filled with anger and said in a deep voice: "Excuse me, old man, please take us to his home to have a look."
The old man did not move, but shook his head towards Han Du and said, "What are you looking at? After there was no one in his house, a fire broke out one night for unknown reasons. By the time it was discovered, the fire could not be extinguished. It burned to the third At dawn the next day, it was now a charred ruin with nothing left.”
Um? It would be better if the old man didn't say that. His words fell into Han Du's ears, making Han Du deeply feel the smell of conspiracy.
Mr. Jiang Shi drowned in the pond, and then his wife returned to her parents' home. Then her mother died of illness, and even the house was burned down. If the house hadn't been burned down, Han Du wouldn't have suspected anything. Now Han Du became more suspicious. He suspected that someone was looking for something in Jiang Shi's house. When he couldn't find it, he simply set a fire and wanted to burn everything.
"Can the old man take us to his home?"
The old man glanced at Han Du in surprise. He clearly told this man that Jiang Shi's home had been burned to the ground, so what else could he go to see?
Suddenly, the old man took a deep look at Han Du, nodded, and said, "Follow me."
Han Du, Li Jizu and others followed the old man without saying a word and walked into the mountain village.
As soon as the old man returned to the village, he happened to meet a young man.
This person glanced at Han Du and others, with a wary look on his face, and asked: "Third uncle, who are they?"
Before Han Du could think of a reason to explain, the old man yelled, "Get out, the old man brought a few people into the village, do you still want to interrogate them?"
"Don't dare, don't be angry, third uncle. I just asked casually, it's my mouth that smells bad, it's my mouth that smells bad..." After saying that, the man gave himself a few gentle smiles. mouth, quickly turned around and ran away.
After this little episode and another cup of tea, the old man took Han Du to the place.
As soon as Han Du got closer, he saw the burnt blackened ruins. Thinking that this was Jiang Shi's former home, Han Du's face became gloomy.
I walked in and glanced inside. Perhaps too much time had passed, coupled with the sun exposure and rain erosion, the black dust on the ground had become hardened, and there was nothing visible at all.
Moreover, if Jiang Shi is really being plotted. Then even if there is something, it must have been taken away by someone, and it will not be left here at all.
Han Du let out a long sigh, feeling a little disappointed that there were no clues. After walking around the charred house, Han Du found nothing. Just when he came out and was about to leave, Handu's station should have been the main entrance of the house. Opposite the main entrance, Handu saw a symbol mark.
To ordinary people, this mark may just be a child's graffiti, but it is actually an important symbol used by Shanzi Yingye Bushou.
Han Du immediately and quietly winked at Li Jizu.
Li Jizu suddenly woke up and looked in the direction of Han Du's eyes. The moment he saw the symbol, Li Jizu was shocked. He forcibly suppressed his inner excitement and pretended to walk there inadvertently.
Han Du was about to turn around when he saw the old man, and quickly said to him: "Old man, can you tell us what happened after Jiang Shi came back?"
"Of course." Although the old man felt sorry for Jiang Shi, he still followed Han Du's words, "The distinguished guest didn't know that when Jiang Shi came back with the documents awarded to him by the yamen as the head of the li The young and old men in the village were all shocked. The distinguished guest had no idea how beautiful it was. The county magistrate personally sent someone to send him back and called all the prominent people from all over the country to come. Among them, Jiang Shi was announced as the head of the village... ....”
It only took a moment, and Li Jizu was done.
Seeing him come back with a smile on his face, Han Du knew that he must have gained something. He waved his hand directly, interrupted the old man's words, and greeted Li Jizu.
Li Jizu quickly whispered to Han Du: "Master Hou, Jiang Shi left a secret message, which means, at the entrance of the village, under the big locust tree."
good! ! !
Han Du almost shouted with joy. From the symbols and secret words left by Jiang Shi in the army, we can see that he must have felt something before leaving these preparations. That is to say, Jiang Shi probably did not die from falling into the water after drinking, but was murdered.
However, no matter how hard the thieves tried, they would never have thought that Shanziying had such things as symbols and secret languages. Moreover, Handu also developed an independent set of secret symbols specifically for Shanzi Camp, which is impossible for people who are not from Shanzi Camp to know.
"Okay, as long as you leave a clue. No matter who harmed you, I will definitely seek justice for you."
Han Du suppressed the anger in his heart, turned to the old man and asked with a smile: "May I ask, old man, if there is a big locust tree at the entrance of your village, and where is it?"
The old man was stunned when he heard this, and then said: "The tree behind the little old man is where the distinguished guest asked for directions."
Han Du was slightly surprised. How come this matter has returned to its original point?
However, Han Du did not delay and said goodbye directly to the old man, "We still have urgent matters and we are going to bother the old man, so we will say goodbye."
The old man nodded and said softly: "I won't give it away."
Han Du left directly with the people and rushed towards the entrance of the village.
The old man stood there and looked at Han Du and others who were leaving in a hurry, and couldn't help but murmur to himself: "I didn't expect that these noble people really came for Xiao Shidun. Xiao Shidun, if you really have a grievance, then... May these noble people be able to clear your case..."
Han Du came to the big locust tree without stopping. Li Jizu made a circle along the big tree, and soon found clues on an inconspicuous tree trunk. Following the instructions of the secret symbol, Li Jizu immediately pulled out the short knife from his waist and started digging on the ground.
After digging about two feet deep, the short knife seemed to have stuck into something and made a muffled sound.
Li Jizu quickly dug up all the soil and took out something wrapped in several layers of oil paper. Opening the oil paper, a wooden box appeared in his hand.
Han Du quickly reached out and grabbed the wooden box, opened it, and saw a stack of papers wrapped inside. When I opened it, the first page recorded some things about the county magistrate Li Ang and the government official Pan Fu. This was not the place to take a closer look, so Han Du quickly put away the wooden box. He signaled Li Jizu to restore the dug hole to its original state and return to the county seat immediately.
After Han Du and others left, the old man walked step by step to the big locust tree. Looking at the soil that was turned out, the old man sighed, "Are all young people today so impetuous?"
After saying that, he moved a stone and covered it with the pit. He sat on the stone and rested for a long time. In the evening, he also called all the heads of the village together.
After looking at everyone, the old man said solemnly: "I know that you all saw someone entering our village today, but what I want to say is that no one has come to our village today. Do you understand?"
"Understood~"
"I listen to my uncle~"
