When the police and the white servant arrived at the scene of the incident, they found only a dead horse and an empty carriage.
"Sir, there is someone there." A sharp-eyed white servant pointed in the direction of the ditch not far away and shouted.
"You guys, come over and take a look." Zhang Qing pointed towards the ditch with his hand.
A policeman and a dozen white servants carefully approached the ditch in front.
Soon, these people caught a middle-aged man wearing a bunt from the ditch.
The detective who went to arrest the person came to Zhang Qing and said with a flattering look on his face: "Sir, we have captured a bandit. This guy looks like a spy left by the bandit."
"Sir, please spare my life. The younger one is just a driver, not a bandit."
The middle-aged man in shorts looked panicked and knelt on the ground to kowtow to Zhang Qing.
Zhang Qing frowned slightly.
He recognized the middle-aged man who was captured as the driver who had pulled the cart for them before.
"You are so brave. You dare to deceive the adults when you are about to die. You are really tired of living." The policeman next to him kicked the middle-aged man kneeling on the ground and cursed, "Quickly tell me, which mountain bandit are you? Who is the boss? Where are the accomplices hiding?"
"Sir, you know that I am really just a coachman." The middle-aged man knelt on the ground again and kept kowtowing to Zhang Qing.
"It seems that if I don't give you some clues, you won't tell the truth."
The policeman rolled up his sleeves, grabbed a water and fire stick from the hand of the white servant on the side, and started to hit the middle-aged man kneeling on the ground.
At this moment, Zhang Qing was heard scolding: "Okay, he is not a bandit."
"Sir, don't be deceived by him. This kind of person is the best at pretending. As long as he is punished severely, I guarantee that everything will be brought out honestly." The policeman said to Zhang Qing in a flattering manner.
Zhang Qing's face sank and he said: "He is the coachman hired by me. He came here with me all the way. Could it be that I am also a bandit?"
When he heard that the man in front of him was the coachman who came here with the adult next to him, the policeman stepped aside in a sullen voice.
Zhang Qing looked at the driver in front of him and said, "I want to ask you, where did those bandits go?"
The driver carefully raised his head, raised his hand and pointed in the opposite direction, and said, "I saw the bandits coming in two big cars, and moved the wooden boxes to their own car, and then went in that direction."
Zhang Qing turned his head and looked in the direction of the coachman's finger, and said to the policeman beside him: "Take your people and follow my officer to pursue him."
With that said, he was the first to ride and chase in the direction pointed by the coachman.
"Quick, follow me and go with the adults to arrest the bandits." The policeman shouted to the white servants.
After saying that, he hurriedly chased after Zhang Qing's horse.
More than a hundred police officers and Bai Yi followed Zhang Qing and chased him along the official road.
After walking for a while, the police officer came to Zhang Qing and said, "Sir, there are traces of ruts here, which are still very clear. There should be a carriage that passed by not long ago."
Zhang Qing jumped off the horse and followed the policeman to the place where he found the rut.
The rut is not on the official road, but on a small road extending from the official road.
Zhang Qing looked at the ruts on the ground, then looked up at the direction in which the road ahead extended, and asked, "Where does this road lead?"
The detective bowed and said, "I don't know very well, but I have a white servant who works for me. His family used to live nearby, so he should know."
"Then what are you doing here? Why don't you go find someone quickly?" Zhang Qing said coldly.
The policeman turned around, looked at the crowd of white servants, and shouted: "Gou San, Gou San, come here quickly, I want to ask you a question."
As soon as he called out twice, he heard someone from among the white servants respond.
"I'm coming."
A skinny man squeezed out from the crowd of white servants.
The detective turned around and said flatteringly: "Sir, his family used to live here, so he should know this area best."
Zhang Qing ignored the policeman and directly asked the white servant named Gou San, "Where does this road lead? Are there any hills ahead where bandits are infested?"
Gou San stretched his neck and looked forward, and then said: "I have never heard of bandits here, and if you walk along this road, you will see a river not far away."
"Besides the river, is there any way to other places?" Zhang Qing asked again.
Gou Sanyi shook his head and said: "This road is a dead end and it is impossible to walk at all. However, there is a road on the other side of the river, but there is no bridge. If you want to cross the river, you can only go around it from other places, and you have to walk more than ten miles."
The policeman on the side said: "Sir, it seems that this group of bandits are not bandits from the nearby hills, otherwise they would not have chosen a dead end road that leads nowhere."
Zhang Qing nodded slightly and said immediately: "I will chase them all. As long as the bandits are caught and the stolen boxes are recovered, each person will be rewarded one or two."
After that, he said to the white servant named Gou San: "You go ahead and lead the way. If you catch the bandits, I will reward you five taels."
"Thank you, sir." Gou San bowed to Zhang Qing repeatedly.
The white servants are different from the catchers. Although they work for the yamen, the yamen will not pay the white servants. They usually only work with the official catchers, and they can get a little profit. In a month, they only have a few cents of money, and they can barely survive starvation. .
An opportunity like this to get several taels of silver at once may not come around once a year.
When they heard that there was money to be taken, no matter they were the police officers or the white servants, they all looked excited and wished they could catch up now, arrest all the bandits and get rewards from Lord Jinyiwei.
Zhang Qing mounted his horse and said to Gou San: "Go ahead and lead the way."
Gou San walked at the front of the crowd, followed by many police officers and white servants. Zhang Qing and another Jin Yiwei followed among them.
The dirt road underfoot is not very long, and rarely used by people. The ruts on the road are very clear, and there is no damage at all.
The group of people had walked for more than two miles when a policeman suddenly said: "Look, sir, there seems to be a carriage in front of us."
"Quick, come over and take a look." Zhang Qing urged the detectives and white servants to hurry over.
As soon as the detectives and white servants saw the carriage, they all showed excitement on their faces. Needless to say, they all quickened their pace.
Soon, everyone came to the two carriages.
Zhang Qing looked at the carriage in front of him with a dark expression on his face.
Because he found that there were only two empty carriages abandoned here, and there was no one around, not even the animals pulling the carriages were left.
"Sir, are those bandits hiding nearby? Why don't you let me lead a search?" A police officer said to Zhang Qing.
Zhang Qing looked around and finally nodded.
However, before the detectives could lead people to search around, they heard Gou San shouting: "Sir, there are a lot of footprints here. The bandits should have escaped from here."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Qing hurried over.
When he arrived, his face darkened when he saw the footprints left on the river bank.
The possibility immediately came to mind that the bandits would have crossed the river by boat, otherwise they would not have left two carriages and left so many footprints on the shore.
