There are more than 130 households in Zhishui Village.
Some houses are in disrepair and have long been dilapidated and uninhabited.
After the wall was broken, one or two naughty heads were exposed. Seeing that the person was wearing official uniform, they ran away quickly, shouting something.
The trees on both sides are dense and the road looks shady.
Behind the low fence are dilapidated thatched houses and not many adobe houses.
Several women doing needlework under the persimmon tree saw someone coming, and after seeing that it was an official official, they didn't even bother with the stools, ran back, and closed the doors of their rooms.
Yang Liang, the squad leader, frowned and said to Gu Zhengchen: "Your Excellency, the people here seem to be very afraid of official duties."
When Gu Zhengchen saw this scene, he looked at Sun Niang: "The county government official is not a tiger in the mountains. Why are the people afraid of this?"
Sun Niang looked at Gu Zhengchen, lowered her head and said, "The county magistrate is kind to the common people, and I dare not not return it. I just ask the county magistrate to forgive me."
"Tell me, I don't blame you."
Gu Zhengchen looked at a house. The door was ajar and one foot was exposed behind the door.
Sun Niang hesitated for a moment and said softly: "When official missions go to the countryside, they either arrest people or rush for food. The villagers don't want to see them..."
Gu Zhengchen thought for a while and nodded in agreement.
No matter what the reason is for officials to go to the countryside, it is definitely not a good thing if it falls on the common people.
"Go and bring the old man from Zhishui to Grandma Sun's home."
Gu Zhengchen ordered Yang Liang.
Yang Liang agreed and left first.
Sun Niang led the way and didn't go far before arriving at a dilapidated fence. The gate of the fence was half down. To the west of the yard was a pomegranate tree. The ground was covered with fallen and rotting pomegranates. To the north of the pomegranate tree was a low A thatched house without a door.
There is a stone mill in the yard, and there are three thatched houses in the north. There are chains on the doors and two seals.
"This is my home."
Sun Niang opened the fence door with sadness in her eyes.
Gu Zhengchen walked into the courtyard. At this time, the mayor and the elderly Sun Pin and Sun Cheng also arrived.
Sun Pin was in his prime, around forty, with a round face and a kind appearance. Sun Cheng is already sixty-five and sixty-six, considered to be a long-lived person. His body is slightly stooped and his face is full of frowns.
When the two heard the arrival of the magistrate, they quickly saluted.
Gu Zhengchen asked the two of them to get up and looked at Yang Liang: "Unlock the seal and open the door."
Yang Liang stepped forward, opened the lock, took out the chain, tore off the seal, opened the door, and felt a cold breath blowing in his face.
Yao Zhen walked in, looked at the situation first, and nodded slightly to Gu Zhengchen.
Gu Zhengchen walked into the room. A low table was tilted, the legs of the table were broken, and there was a broken tile on the ground, which seemed to be used to cushion the table legs. Opening the curtain on the left side, the room is still simple, with a bed covered with straw mats, a shabby thin quilt tucked into a corner, two wardrobe boxes, a rice vat, and nothing else.
"What about the three packets of Chinese medicine?"
Gu Zhengchen looked at Sun Niang at the door.
Sun Niang turned to look east. Gu Zhengchen walked over and opened the curtain on the east side. The furnishings inside were simpler, just a bed and a small table. There was a thick quilt on the bed, and three Chinese medicine bags on the table.
Gu Zhengchen picked up the Chinese medicine bags. Each bag was slightly larger than his fist and bulging.
When I stacked the Chinese medicine bags, I found that they were not stable at all. I stacked them against the wall. If I was not careful, they also fell down. I tried several times before stacking the Chinese medicine bags properly.
Gu Zhengchen looked at Sun Niang: "When you picked up the Chinese medicine packets on the bridge, were they stacked like this?"
Sun Niang looked at it, nodded and said, "Yes, that's true. When I picked up one, the other rolled down the steps, and I went to pick it up."
Gu Zhengchen mentioned the Chinese medicine, thought about it, and handed it to Yang Liang: "Take it with you, don't lose it."
Yang Liang was puzzled. If you study Chinese medicine, you should at least open it and take a look. Why don't you even look at it and just fiddle with it twice?
After walking out of the house, Gu Zhengchen looked at Sun Pin and Sun Cheng: "The case of Sun Niang digging the grave was caused by Sun Yiyi dreaming about Sun Niang asking him to move the grave. Sun Niang believed the dream to be true and dug up the grave late at night, which led to the disaster. I am here today to investigate the root cause. You two, select ten young men from the village and follow me to Hezhuang to move the grave!"
Sun Pin and Sun Cheng did not dare to object, so they found Qing Zhuang and followed Gu Zhengchen to Hezhuang.
Crossing the stone bridge and heading northwest, there is only one main road here, and the fragrance of rice wafts from the fields on both sides.
Gu Zhengchen looked at Sun Cheng: "Old man Sun, how many days will it take to harvest this rice?"
"My lord, it will be a little later this year when we return to the county. It will take more than ten days."
Sun Cheng replied respectfully.
Gu Zhengchen calculated his days, and when the construction of the prisoner's residence was completed, he should be able to catch the autumn harvest.
After traveling five miles, we arrived at Hezhuang.
Hezhuang is located in the south of Wucheng Mountain. The mountain is not high, only more than thirty feet, and there are ravines at the foot of the mountain.
Because the people of Hezhuang cut off the water source, there was no water in the ravine, but an official road was built on the side.
Sun's stone tomb is located in a ravine beside the official road. The stones are piled into a hill.
Gu Zhengchen looked at Sun Yiyi's grave and looked up at the mountains above the ravine. As Sun Shiba said, there were no traces of landslides and rolling stones on the mountains above the tomb. Although Sun Yiyi had died here for more than two years, once the mountain was Landslides may cause no strong trees to grow within two years.
"Where are the ancestral graves of the Guo Liang family?"
Gu Zhengchen asked without rushing to dig the grave.
Sun Niang pointed to the west side of the mountain: "Two miles west, there is also a stone tomb in the ravine."
Gu Zhengchen looked at Sun Pin and Sun Cheng: "Guo Liang, how are you doing in Hezhuang? You should have heard about it, right?"
Sun Pin hesitated and hesitated to speak.
Gu Zhengchen looked at Sun Cheng.
Sun Cheng sighed and said in a low voice: "My lord, there are three evil spirits in Hezhuang, the earth evil Guo Liang, the human evil Guo Jie, and the heaven evil Guo Liuye. This Guo Liang is different from ordinary people. Their ancestral graves are on the second floor to the west." It's true, but it happens to be the entrance to Wucheng Mountain."
Gu Zhengchen's lips twitched: "The ancestral tomb is buried at the entrance of the mountain? This is strange. His ancestors picked the land?"
Sun Cheng looked around and saw no one else, and continued: "The county magistrate does not know something. We have heard that the Liang family's ancestral tomb is just a fake tomb, just using the name of the tomb to seal the entrance to Wucheng Mountain. The Guo family still has He said that Wucheng Mountain is the mountain protector of their ancestral tombs. The county government also nodded and did not allow people to go into the mountain to cut firewood, which would disrupt the Liang family's feng shui."
"The county government office nodded, how could I not know this?"
Gu Zhengchen looked coldly.
Sun Cheng quickly said: "This happened at the beginning of the fourth year of Hongwu. How could the county magistrate know about it just after he took office?"
Gu Zhengchen thought for a moment, nodded slightly, and turned his gaze to Sun Niang: "Then why did you go to the Liang family's ancestral grave again?"
Sun Niang shook her head: "Maybe it was dark and we walked a little longer."
Gu Zhengchen looked at Sun Yiyi's stone grave and said in a deep voice: "Mother Sun, tell the truth about Sun Yiyi's death."
Sun Niang was filled with grief and told: "In early July of the fourth year of Hongwu, my husband Sun heard that the Guoliang family in Hezhuang hired craftsmen to build a house and paid them 20 cents a day. So her husband went to the same village with Sun Wuliang, Sun Hao and others. Go work and support your family.”
"On the night of July 14th, Sun Wuliang, Sun Hao, their husband and others were left to drink. Later, they became very drunk. When they came back, they accidentally fell into a ravine. As a result, they encountered a landslide and were buried here, not far away. We found a bloody short coat, which was indeed taken by her husband when he went out. Sun Wuliang said that in the hot summer, the husband put the short coat on his shoulders and threw it when he fell."
Gu Zhengchen stared at the stone tomb, frowned and asked, "Where is the bloody jacket?"
Sun Niang choked: "It's buried inside."
Gu Zhengchen asked again: "During my interrogation, you said that your husband was buried, and many people saw it with their own eyes, including Guo Jie, right?"
"That's right."
Sun Niang nodded.
Gu Zhengchen looked around and looked at Sun Pin and Sun Cheng: "How far is it from Guo Jie and Guo Liang's house?"
Sun Cheng replied: "More than two miles."
Gu Zhengchen sneered: "It's more than two miles away! Why did Guo Jie and others come to such a wilderness at night? They couldn't just give one to give away their grandchildren, right? Mother Sun, what are you talking about? 2. Sun Hao, is he also the witness that Sun Yiyi was buried?"
"yes."
Sun Niang nodded and then said: "Sun Wuliang and Sun Hao said that when their husband Sun fell into the ravine, they wanted to rescue him, but a sudden landslide crushed her husband under the rocks, and they could not move the rocks. , so I went to Guo Jie and others for help."
Gu Zhengchen nodded and looked at Sun Pin: "Please, the mayor has sent someone to bring Sun Wuliang and Sun Hao here. I have something to ask."
Sun Pin agreed and arranged for the two of them to go back.
Gu Zhengchen looked at Yang Liang and Yao Zhen: "Since Guo Jie and Guo Liang are both in the county government office, we may not be able to invite them for a while. Hezhuang has three village chiefs, Guo Liu, He Feng, and Zhou Xin. Go and get them These three people are invited to come here, no one can be left out in this serious case of human life.”
The two agreed and walked towards Hezhuang.
Gu Zhengchen glanced at Sun Niang who was crying, and asked again: "Think carefully, have you never seen Sun Yiyi's body from the beginning to the end? You are only convinced that Sun Yiyi is buried here based on the bloody clothes and the testimonies of several people. .”
Sun Niang wiped away her tears, and tears welled up again: "Yes."
"The reason why the tomb was not moved at that time was just because it was difficult to move the stone?"
Gu Zhengchen's eyes were sharp.
Sun Niang nodded slightly, then thought of something, and said: "The stone is heavy and difficult to move away. In addition, the husband was hit by the rocks of the landslide. He must have been completely changed. The common people are afraid of bad luck. A Taoist said that life and death are determined by fate, and the husband To be buried here was not chosen by man, but by God, and it is not suitable to move.”
Gu Zhengchen frowned: "Taoist, what Taoist?"
Sun Niang shook her head: "I only know that he is wearing a Taoist robe and carrying a peach wood sword. I have not asked about the specific Taoist number."
When Gu Zhengchen saw that Sun Pin and Sun Cheng were unaware, he looked at Wucheng Mountain and asked, "The Guoliang family used their ancestral graves to seal the entrance to the mountain, but no one went in to see what's inside."
Sun Pin shook his head: "Your Majesty, there is nothing wrong with this Wucheng Mountain. On weekdays, the people of Hezhuang just collect firewood. The Guo family has closed the mountain, so the people can just move to another place to chop firewood. No one dares to trouble the Guo family."
"No one dares to trouble the Guo family, haha, don't be so absolute in everything." Gu Zhengchen put his hands behind his back, looked up at the green trees on Wucheng Mountain, and said slowly: "There is scenery outside the mountains, and there is wind in the mountains. Today’s harvest should be quite a lot.”
A dark cloud floated over, slowly blocking the sun, and the light receded quickly like a ray of tide.
