Several people stopped.
After Mr. Tang entered the room, he held his legs with both hands and waited for a while before he recovered.
"Don't be in a hurry. Speak slowly." Xu Zan poured him a cup of warm tea.
Mr. Tang took it and slowly drank half the cup. After thanking him again, he said to Xie Xun: "Five days ago, an official ship departing from Yuhang County carrying 200,000 kilograms of grain and intending to transport it to Henan Prefecture just arrived. Not long after setting off, we were hijacked. The boatmen and the officers and soldiers escorting the cargo were all killed, and all 200,000 kilograms of food were missing."
After taking a few more breaths, Mr. Tang continued: "Yesterday, the patrol commander at Wujun Wharf discovered that the official ship needed for supplies was not arriving at the dock at noon, so he reported it to Captain Zhe Chong. After the captain reported it to the governor of Wu County, the governor of Wu County asked the captain Zhe Chong to send people to search along the way, and it was only in the early morning that he discovered that the official ship had been robbed."
"Five days ago..." Xie Xun's eyes turned cold. That was the day they set out from the capital to Guangling County.
"In the past, robbers would burn boats, but this time they didn't?" Chen Anning asked.
It is a very big ship that can carry 200,000 kilograms of grain. If the boat was burned, it could not have been discovered yesterday.
"No." Mr. Tang said with a serious face, "The robbers boarded the official ship for some unknown reason, killed people, and after passing the cargo, abandoned the ship on the shore, and then walked away."
The sentence that the robbers boarded the official ship somehow caught Chen Anning's attention. She asked: "The bodies of the boatmen and the officers and soldiers who escorted the cargo are still on the ship?"
Mr. Tang seemed to have just remembered, and quickly took out the letter from his sleeve and handed it to Xie Xun: "This is the letter that the prefect of Wu County ordered to hurry up and deliver it."
Xie Xun quickly unfolded it. After reading it quickly, he handed it to Chen Anning and said, "There is no useful information."
There really isn't any useful information.
He wrote about the official ship being robbed, the official rations missing, and the death of all the boatmen and escorting officers and soldiers.
It's a letter of notification.
Chen Anning frowned imperceptibly, waiting for Xie Xun's decision.
Xie Xun first told Xu Zan: "Go and prepare your horses quickly!"
Then he ordered Mr. Tang: "Immediately write back to the prefect of Wu County and ask him to protect the official ship. No tampering is allowed before I arrive! In addition, write to the prefect of Yuhang County to sort out all the information about the official ship." Well, it must be delivered to me before I arrive on the official ship!"
Mr. Tang quickly agreed: "Okay, I'll make arrangements right away!"
After Mr. Tang left.
Xie Xun and Chen Anning also set off immediately, together with Xu Zan and Wen Baolin, towards the river section of Yuhang County and Jiaxing County where the official ship was involved.
evening.
"Take a rest first and eat before leaving!"
After starting in the morning, the few people who had not had any water saw a small inn on the roadside. They stopped one after another, handed their horses to the waiter who came to greet them, and then sat down at the table.
"I wonder if the guests are drinking or drinking?" An elderly woman came up to meet them, looked at them, and asked diligently.
"I don't want to drink or drink," Xu Zan said weakly after pouring two bowls of tea, "I'll serve all the delicious food in your store. Hurry, we're on our way."
"Okay, the guests will wait a moment." Before leaving, the mother-in-law glanced at a few people again, and then returned to the kitchen.
Several people didn't pay attention to the mother-in-law's care.
This place is remote and only traders come and go.
Although they deliberately kept a low profile, their clothes were different from ordinary people. The mother-in-law was surprised and looked at them more, but in the eyes of others, it was normal.
until……
The mother-in-law brought up a large basin of bone soup, and after diligently serving a bowl to each person, she said: "This is the favorite dish of the guests who come to our inn. Please try it quickly. If you like it, you can do it later. Another pot."
Xu Zan and Wen Baolin were both very hungry, so they picked up their bowls and prepared to drink.
"Wait a minute." Chen Anning stopped the two of them.
They both looked at her.
Xie Xun, who was a step slower than the two of them but was also holding a bowl, also looked towards her.
Chen Anning didn't say anything. He stirred the bones in the basin twice with a spoon, then scooped up one piece and put it into the bowl.
The mother-in-law said enthusiastically: "Our sheep bones are the freshest. My old man killed them very early in the morning. Girls can eat them with confidence!"
Xu Zan saw her action of picking up bones and mistakenly thought she wanted to eat meat, so he lowered his head and prepared to drink soup.
Chen Anning said quietly: "If you don't want to die, just keep drinking!"
Xu Zan's mouth had already touched the bowl. Hearing her words, he quickly stopped and asked, "Is this soup poisonous?"
The vendors at the two tables next to him immediately stopped and looked over.
The mother-in-law immediately refused and shouted with a gloomy face: "Girl, please speak clearly. The old couple have been doing business here for more than ten years. They have received countless customers, but no one has ever said that the old woman did it." This soup is poisonous!"
"You just said that these sheep bones were killed by your old man early in the morning?" Chen Anning winked at Xie Xun and then stared at the old woman and asked.
The old woman took two steps back and still shouted loudly: "The old woman never tells lies! Customers who have eaten here many times can vouch for the old woman!"
The guest at the next table immediately said: "This woman is not telling lies. They do raise nearly a hundred sheep behind the inn. Girl, don't look at the bones. The soup is delicious."
As if to prove that what he said was true, he picked up the bowl and drank half of it in one sip.
After Chen Anning looked at him with pity, his eyes fell back on the woman who was screaming for an explanation, and said quietly: "You said these are sheep bones, why do they look so like human bones to me?"
The old woman's expression suddenly changed, and then she quickly turned around and walked towards the inn, saying as she walked: "That's nonsense, I'll call my old man over!"
Two secret guards stepped out of the way and blocked her way.
The mother-in-law screamed: "What do you want to do!"
Xie Xun looked at the bones in Chen Anning's bowl and said seriously: "Are you sure these are human bones?"
Chen Anning said: "I'm sure, this is a human tibia, which is a calf bone."
Xu Zan looked at the bones in her bowl, then at his own bowl, then quickly threw them away and wiped his mouth frantically.
Wen Baolin is similar.
"Girl, you said it was human bones, what evidence do you have!" the guest who spoke earlier asked, suppressing the surging gastric juices.
Obviously, he was still making his final struggle.
Xie Xun stood up, ordered the secret guards to quickly surround the inn, pulled off the token from his waist, and said coldly to the diners who came out after hearing the sound: "I am Xie Xun, the minister of Dali Temple. All diners immediately stand to the right and wait. Investigate! The secret guards obey the order and arrest everyone in the inn!"
As soon as the diners heard his words and saw the secret guards surrounding the inn like lightning, everyone who ordered bone soup leaned on the table and vomited.
As for the mother-in-law, she wanted to run away while taking advantage of this commotion. Chen Anning threw the chopsticks in his hand and tapped her acupuncture points: "Take good care of her and make sure there are no mistakes!"
There are not many people in the inn.
Apart from the old couple, there were only three waiters.
When the secret guards were arresting several people, Chen Anning noticed that in the face of the arrest, only the old couple were cursing. After the three waiters panicked for a moment, they seemed to be relieved and allowed the secret guards to take them into custody without any struggle.
After carefully observing the three waiters, Chen Anning discovered that they were all in their early twenties, and their temperament and facial features did not match this inn.
There's something going on here!
After the secret guards took complete control of the inn, and Xie Xun arranged for Xu Heng and Wen Baolin to inquire about the news from the diners, Chen Anning followed him into the door of the inn.
