Looking at Dong E who was weeping and the pear blossoms were raining, Gu Shengchao felt soft at the moment.
He quickly helped her up and said softly: "The girl is serious. If we go further, we will reach the desert. We need to stay here for many days to replenish supplies. Please tell me the address and I will visit you tomorrow."
Dong E stopped her grief, lit a candle and borrowed pen and paper from Gu Shengchao. After thinking for a while, she sketched a map with thick and light pen and ink, and the location of Dongcun was carefully marked in Juanxiu's handwriting.
"Has the girl gone to school?" Gu Shengchao looked at the map and was very surprised.
Putting down the brush, Dong E replied softly: "My mother knew a lot. She sent me to school since I was a child, and I know a little bit about calligraphy and painting. My father used to smuggle and sell fur goods between Beihu and Dawu Dynasty, and he also knows a little bit about maps."
Someone came sneakingly outside the window.
After Gu Shengchao sensed this, he immediately turned sideways to block the light of the candle, lest his movements would be reflected on the window paper and be seen by people outside.
He pointed there and signaled to be silent. There was light in the room, but his entire back was visible on the window paper.
Dong E understood and took off all her clothes in an instant. She pushed Gu Shengchao away, and their figures were projected onto the window paper at the same time, and their curvy figures could be clearly seen outside the window.
The man outside put his ear to the window and listened.
Gu Shengchao secretly praised Dong E's seemingly wanton actions.
Everyone knows what he did in the dark just now, and now he is well-dressed, which is obviously a lie.
Dong E leaned on Gu Shengchao's arms and said reluctantly: "My lord has just asked for the slave family and is about to go out. Is this because you dislike the slave family for not caring enough?"
In order to let the person outside the window hear it more clearly, Gu Shengchao deliberately amplified his voice and said: "Here, you go and wash off the dirt on your body first. I have the habit of practicing in the middle of the night. You wait in bed and I will come back. "
After the man outside sneaked into the corner and hid, Gu Shengchao opened the door and walked out.
He stretched first and said to himself: "It feels good. I didn't expect that in this small county town, there is such a beauty that is not inferior to the capital city."
The corridor of the flower building is winding, with a pavilion in the middle where you can enjoy tea and admire the moon, and stairs at both ends.
Walking downstairs to the courtyard, Gu Shengchao casually practiced a set of Baguazhang. His movements were slow but vigorous.
Taking advantage of the opportunity to practice palming, he also looked at the flower building and became familiar with its layout.
His body was stiff after traveling for days, so he practiced some basic skills again. After his muscles and bones were stretched, he returned to the room upstairs.
The peeping person didn't dare to show up, because the highest floor was the third floor and there was no obstruction in the corridor. When Gu Shengchao entered the room, he quickly stood up and slipped out.
Early the next morning, everyone got up, washed and had dinner. The girls went downstairs together, and someone arranged for them to leave in a car.
Someone came to report to the envoy Lu Shouwen that the county magistrate had arranged a vehicle and asked the envoy to go with him to the coal mine for inspection.
Lu Shouwen was overjoyed and asked the county magistrate to wait while he arranged for his troops to go immediately.
Before leaving, Gu Shengchao pretended to have a stomachache.
He has strong internal energy and can easily break a sweat with hard work.
Lu Shouwen looked at him sweating profusely and was worried, so he asked him to meditate and cultivate, and then led his team and the county magistrate to the coal mine to find out.
Since he dared to blatantly ask senior officials from the capital to inspect the scene, the county magistrate must have done something behind his back, and his visit would be in vain. Instead of doing this, do something meaningful.
After everyone left, Gu Shengchao also rode a fast horse to Dongcun to inquire about the news.
The map markings were clear and accurate, and we arrived at the village where Dong E's family lived just before noon.
Looking from a distance, the village is surrounded by green trees, giving it a peaceful and pastoral scenery. When I got closer, I discovered that the village was in ruins, with ten rooms and nine empty, and it became deserted.
Hearing faint cries, Gu Shengchao dismounted his horse and looked for the sound on foot.
In a dilapidated courtyard, a simple memorial shed was set up. Five middle-aged women, wearing mourning clothes, knelt in front of some wooden boards and kowtowed.
The wooden board was extremely ordinary, as if the stool had been removed and stood there, with no writing on it.
Gu Shengchao just looked forward, and there was a "click" when he stepped on a dead branch, revealing his whereabouts.
"I'll fight you."
A woman saw Gu Shengchao's official uniform, grabbed a sharp knife from the ground, rushed over with a scream, and stabbed him in the abdomen.
Facing the weak woman, Gu Shengchao turned around and stepped aside, grabbing her hand accurately: "Aunt, wait a minute, I'm not a bad person."
The woman struggled to move and raised her foot to kick him.
In desperation, Gu Shengchao had no choice but to let go of his hand and step aside.
Due to the resistance, the disheveled woman looked ferocious, brandished a sharp knife and shouted: "It's you who captured my husband and children and buried them alive in the mine without being able to come out."
Another woman saw the ancient sage's elegant appearance, stopped in the middle and said: "What is your purpose here, sir?"
"I came here to look for an old friend."
The desolate and inhabited village and the worshiping women made people feel slightly chilly in it. The ancient sage was afraid that he would say the wrong thing and cause the other party to misunderstand.
"What's his name?"
"A woman named Dong E."
"well!"
The woman next to her sighed: "You go, her family is all dead and there is no one left."
Gu Shengchao was shocked: "No way, I heard that she still has parents and brothers."
With a wry smile, the woman next to him looked him up and down, shook her head and said, "You must be a foreigner. I advise you to leave here quickly, otherwise you will be caught in the coal mine and you will see the King of Hell sooner or later."
"Auntie, can you give me a detailed explanation?" Gu Shengchao took out a few taels of silver and handed it to the woman.
In this small border town, it seemed that the county magistrate was not an ordinary shady person. He had been engaging in corruption and bending the law a lot. He wanted to know more about it.
Looking at the white money, the woman gave it back to Gu Shengchao: "We no longer need this thing, you can keep it."
"Why?" He looked confused.
The woman holding the sharp knife threw away the sharp weapon in her hand, panting and sitting next to Gu Shengchao: "Is there anything to eat? We haven't eaten for two days and are about to starve to death."
"have."
He had brought dry food on his horse, and Gu Shengchao ran back and brought all the bread, wine, meat, and water bags, and placed them on the ground for them to choose as they pleased.
The five people were also unceremonious and sat around eating and drinking. Those who didn't know it thought they were having a picnic because they were tired from playing.
Gu Shengchao sat next to them and asked carefully: "Aunts, can you tell me about the situation of Dong E's family now?"
"able."
One person drank and said: "Our village originally made a living by growing grain and smuggling Beihu's fur goods. Now that the county magistrate has come, a coal mine has been opened, but there are landslides from time to time, and the people who work in it have a narrow escape. There is a lot of money, and basically no one goes there to work hard."
"One year there was a severe drought and no harvest, so the county magistrate lent us money to temporarily escape the famine. Unexpectedly, we fell into his trap. Without paying back the money, we forcibly took all the men to work in the coal mines, and the young and beautiful girls Send him to Cuihonglou in the city to do the leather and meat business."
"How can the old, weak, sick and disabled still cultivate the land? We have no choice but to run away to death. In the end, only a few of us sisters are left to barely survive. We hope that the famine will be over soon and that the men will come back and the family can be reunited."
"There has been no news from them for a long time. Dong E's mother and I begged all the way to the coal mine to find out the news. Unexpectedly, the coal mine collapsed and they had died six months ago. All the men in the village had not escaped and were all buried inside."
"Dong E's mother hanged herself on the way back. I rushed back to inform the remaining old sisters."
Another person tore off chunks of meat and said with a smile: "We are all illiterate and couldn't set up tombstones for the people in the village, so we just found wooden boards instead."
"I thought I was going to die tonight, but you just brought me wine and meat, so it's worth it."
The remaining people laughed and laughed, and then they all started crying.
They ignored it and swallowed it with tears.
The sad atmosphere was so miserable that Gu Shengchao couldn't help but shed tears. He couldn't bear it anymore, so he ran out and rode away.
On the way back, he was at a loss.
He couldn't bear to watch the once lively village turn into a barren wasteland, but what could he do?
This place is far away from the Four Kings Valley and there is no way to send them there.
All of them are women who have experienced the loss of their families. How can they survive in this cannibalistic environment?
Gu Shengchao couldn't figure it out even if he tried hard, so he returned to the county town in a daze and came to the flower building where he stayed.
Lu Shouwen and the others came back earlier. When they saw Gu Shengchao, they asked strangely: "Aren't you upset? The people in Hualou said you went out early in the morning, why did you come back now?"
"I can't sit still, so I walked around the city instead of just sitting around. I'm much better now." Gu Shengchao patted his lower abdomen and said that there was no problem.
"Come to my place." Lu Shouwen waved to his room.
Seeing his mysterious eyes, Gu Shengchao was puzzled. The two of them entered the room, and Lu Shouwen closed the door.
"Did you discover the situation?" Gu Shengchao asked quietly. He thought they had discovered some clues during their trip.
Shaking his head slightly, Lu Shouwen sighed: "This county magistrate is unusual. When we arrived today, the coal mine was far from what we saw that day. It looked desolate and dilapidated, as if it had been abandoned for a long time."
Such a result was expected by Gu Shengchao. He consoled him: "The focus of our trip is Beihu. We will collect evidence when we get back. It is not difficult to punish a small county magistrate."
"Maybe not necessarily." Lu Shouwen's expression was heavy.
"Why?" Gu Shengchao knew that he was cautious and would not judge others easily.
Pointing to the table, Lu Shouwen frowned and said, "You'll know just by looking at that thing."
There was only an ordinary cowhide bag on the table, which was tightly sealed with a red rope.
Gu Shengchao opened the bag, revealing a golden light, filled with golden beans of perfect color.
When I picked it up and weighed it, it was no less than a hundred taels.
Lu Shouwen snorted coldly and said: "A hundred thousand coins can give a person the ability to reach the gods, and a hundred thousand copper coins can give a person the means to reach the heavens. Today's move is just a hundred taels of gold. How many high-ranking officials have fallen, who want to capture this person?" , it’s not that simple.”
Officials protect each other. In the end, what they protect is relationships and interests. This county magistrate is generous and the officials he bribes must be considerable. If you want to capture him, you really need to use some means.
