Bang!
The older soldier tapped the younger soldier's shoulder with his scabbard and reminded in a deep voice: "Don't gossip behind your back. Be careful that the magistrate hears and transfers you from the city gate to the mass grave to guard the grave."
"Hehe, Magistrate An is ranked at the bottom of the performance evaluation every year. As expected, he will be transferred from Jiangnan Road next year to become a county magistrate in another remote place. We are a position inherited from our ancestors, so we are afraid of what he will do."
That's what he said, but the young soldier still didn't discuss the topic again.
The older soldier looked through the crack in the door at the increasingly brighter and brighter mass graves, and thought to himself: No matter whether Magistrate An wanted to vent his anger or collect the corpses, his trip would be in vain.
The mass grave in Lai'an County is just three miles north of Guandao.
It is said that at the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the rebel army killed thousands of officers and soldiers here, forming a thousand-man pit. Ghosts cried and wolves howled every night, and no one within a radius of ten miles dared to live here.
Later, the world was peaceful, but there were also many refugees. In order to avoid being buried in the wilderness, they asked their companions to bury them here. Gradually, a group of people who did not know their identity and did not receive incense gathered here. Mass graves.
Later, the unclaimed corpses disposed of by the government would also be dumped here. No one would bury the dead prisoners on the spot. Wild dogs and jackals that smelled the fishy smell would gather here and come to look for them every night. Eat meat.
Gradually, as soon as night falls in the mass graves and nearby areas, no one dares to approach the mass graves and the surrounding areas, except for the heavily guarded bodyguards or caravans passing by on their way through the night.
When Jiachu arrived on horseback, he was still half a mile away from the corpses in the mass grave. The old horse he dismounted, no matter how hard he drove it, stopped moving forward. It kept spinning in circles, and was finally driven away. He was so anxious that he even wanted to throw Jia Chu off.
"Useless trash."
Jiachu charged up his palm and struck a heavy palm towards the horse's head.
The old horse immediately rolled his eyes and bent his limbs forward. When Jia Chu jumped off the horse, he suddenly fell to the ground.
Magistrate An, who was following unhurriedly, was startled when he saw this. Only then did he realize that the people in Prince Jin's Mansion, whether they were Marquis An or a guard, had no rules and all depended on their mood.
Seeing the old horse lying on the ground vomiting blood, Magistrate An couldn't help but feel his heart pounding. He quickly dismounted and trotted forward, asking proactively: "Guard A, what are we going to do?"
As soon as Magistrate An opened his mouth, a fishy smell filled his mouth and nose.
But he didn't dare to cover his mouth and nose, so he could only hold his breath and wait for Jiachu's instructions.
Jiachu didn't answer, but instead looked around at the government officials who were following him.
"Have all the county government officials gathered?"
Magistrate An looked at Zhao Moguan.
Officer Zhaomo, who hurried over with the second group of people, quickly replied: "Except for those who are not on duty, the rest are all here."
"The day before yesterday, whoever paraded the corpse of the mastermind behind a robbery outside the city through the streets, please come forward."
When Jiachu mentioned the words "the mastermind behind the scenes", he could not help but emphasize his tone.
He just thought about the true identity of the mastermind behind the scenes, and he felt very heavy when he thought about the punishment he would face if he failed in his mission.
But the county magistrate and the people in the county government misunderstood what he meant.
"Does Guard A want to find the body of the mastermind behind the scenes, pull it out and whip it to vent his grievances?"
Magistrate An was smart and thought that Prince Jin must have heard about this matter because of his sharp ears and eyes, and wanted to use this to express his position and show that Prince Jin was interested in the great prosperity.
Although it was a bit troublesome to come to the mass grave at night just to show off, but if doing this could bring benefits to Prince Jin, he could be considered useful.
"..."
Jiachu didn't want to speak.
He was worried that when he opened his mouth, he would not be able to help scolding this stupid and pig-like Magistrate An to death.
Magistrate An didn't notice this, but instead anxiously urged the officer next to him to come over.
"Zhu Zhaomo, tell me quickly, where is the body of the mastermind behind this?"
He didn't stay at the county government office, but Zhao Moguan was in charge of the county government officials' dispatch, so he naturally knew everything about the case.
Zhu Zhaomo, who was named, heard this question and took a look at the mass graves in front of him which were still dark even though there were torches lighting up the surroundings. Thinking of the fate of the mastermind behind the scenes, he felt a little unlucky and simply pointed at the person he pulled the day before. Those men whose bodies were paraded through the streets.
"You guys should talk to Guard A."
Zhu Zhaomo was not like Magistrate An, who came to look for corpses at random burials when he had nothing to do. He was the lackey of King Jin, so he naturally refused to coddle Jiachu.
The three government officials who were pointed out took a step forward, and the eldest of the three was the first to speak out: "After the parade that day, in the evening, Magistrate Jiang said that he would personally watch and dispose of the corpse of the mastermind and expose the corpse. In the wilderness, where wild dogs and wolves roam, we serve as a warning so that no more robbers will happen in Lai'an County."
"He dares!"
Jiachu suddenly shouted loudly, startling everyone.
The old yamen servant who spoke was even more silent. He quickly stopped talking, but he was muttering in his heart. He didn't know which sentence offended Jiachu.
"Guard A, are you scolding the mastermind?"
Magistrate An laughed and pointed at the mass grave.
"Everyone else is dead, calm down."
It’s because people are dead that they are angry!
Before Jiachu found the body, he couldn't figure out the identity of the mastermind behind the scenes, not to mention that at this time, he still had a trace of luck in his heart.
What if the mastermind behind the scenes is not the young Marquis, but the bodyguard stand-in.
The young Marquis is not stupid either. How could he personally go into battle to kill people? At best, he is planning behind the scenes.
As soon as he thought about this, he raised his head towards the old government officer: "Continue, where did Magistrate Jiang throw the body?"
It had just darkened, and the wild dogs and wolves hadn't all gathered around yet. As a newbie, Jia Chu couldn't really tell where the most dangerous place was.
When the old government officer heard this question, his expression became subtle.
"Well... Magistrate Jiang really planned to throw the body into the wilderness, and let it be picked up by wild dogs and wolves. But when Magistrate Jiang brought the body to this mass grave, there were already indignant people. , doused the body with fuel again, and burned it again.”
What? !
This time not only Jiachu was shocked, but even the magistrate of An County was also taken aback.
After reacting, Magistrate An cursed bitterly: "Since the prisoner's body is in your charge, you have to take good care of it. What's the point of letting the common people burn it again?"
"Sir, you didn't participate in putting out the fire that night. You don't know. Those robbers destroyed hundreds of acres of rice fields in the east of the city. The rice grains were so burnt that they couldn't even be fed to the chickens. Thanks to Jiang Zhifu Renyi, he said this loss The county government is responsible for taxation, and farmers' compensation comes from Jinling Prefecture. Otherwise, the people not only want to burn the corpses, but also want to burn the Anfu house. They say it is because of your absence, the county magistrate, which caused the fire to be put out for a long time. It caused them serious losses.”
Magistrate An was silenced by this secret accusation.
really.
If he was in the county town to put out the fire, he would definitely do his part. Anyway, he was not the one who rushed to the fire scene to put out the fire, but as long as he was there afterwards, the good reputation would belong to him.
But who told Anhou that no matter what happened in Lai'an County, he would avoid it.
Thinking of this, Magistrate An couldn't help but ask again, where is An Hou and why he is allowed to do these things.
But Jiachu gritted his teeth and asked, "What then? Where is the body that was burned again?"
"It's raised."
What? !
Jiachu was stunned.
Magistrate An was also stunned.
What does raised mean?
Is that what they meant?
