Hu Benmo died because his behavior threatened the foundation of the Bu family.
Two years ago, Gao Hui's son had not yet married Bu Shou's granddaughter, which meant that the Bu family had not done a good job of wooing the provincial government office, so they had no choice but to kill Hu Benmo to avoid future troubles.
Hu Benmo seemed to have anticipated the dangers of this trip and knew that something might happen, so he gave the original account books to his brother Huang He, the jailer Huang Ke, and took a copy of the account books with him.
The shipwreck was not committed by Wu Kang, Qin Xin, Tang Xian and others, but by the Bu family. According to Wu Kang's account, Tang Xian was more of helping the Bu family deal with the aftermath of Hu Benmo's death, ruling it an accident and blocking the public's mouth.
It was almost dusk when Gu Zhengchen returned to Jinjiang City from Xihou Village. He did not go back to the government office, but went directly to Bu's house.
A carriage stopped in an alley not far from Bu's house. Lin Baifan handed two wooden boxes to Zhang Pei. Zhang Pei took them and put them in the carriage. Zhang Jiujing opened the curtain and asked: "What is in this wooden box?" What is it?".??m
Lin Baifan grinned: "When Magistrate Gu comes to visit, he naturally needs to bring some souvenirs. As for what it is, you will know later."
Zhang Jiujing was puzzled. When he saw Gu Zhengchen coming, he got off the carriage.
Zhang Pei and others saluted.
Gu Zhengchen looked at Lin Baifan and asked with concern: "Are you injured?"
Lin Baifan patted his chest: "No, thanks to Xiao Qianhu's mercy."
Gu Zhengchen glanced at Xiao Cheng, who was expressionless, and said to Lin Baifan: "Commander Huang sent a letter to Tongzhi saying that you are a general, but unfortunately you lack knowledge and do not understand the world. I want you to stay with me for a while, are you willing?" "
Lin Baifan's eyes lit up, he became excited, clasped his fists and saluted: "General, I am willing to follow Magistrate Gu!"
Gu Zhengchen chuckled and held Lin Baifan's arm: "It's just for a period of time, it doesn't need to be like this. I need generals like you very much now. If you can be loyal to the court, be selfless, and dare to sacrifice your life, five Years from now, you will be named Lin Baifan in Ming Dynasty."
Lin Baifan looked deeply at Gu Zhengchen and saluted again: "The final general will always remember the kindness of Governor Gu!"
Gu Zhengchen nodded slightly and said in a deep voice: "The capable will go up, and the mediocre will go down. If you want to climb up, you first need to be capable, knowledgeable, and capable. Bring a gift and go to the banquet with me."
Lin Baifan was very excited.
Following Gu Zhengchen was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for him.
He was only in his early twenties and was already a fourth-grade magistrate, a man from Quanzhou County, and a person with a title. What's more, he also controls the Quanzhou Guards and is a truly powerful figure. If you stay with him, you will definitely have the opportunity to perform in the future.
Lin Baifan thought that he was not inferior to Zhou Yuan, Cai Ye and others, but they were lucky and had a prosperous official career.
I only have one chance left!
Now the opportunity has come, you must seize it!
Lin Baifan snatched the wooden box from Zhang Pei's hand and laughed.
Gu Zhengchen glanced at Zhang Pei: "Just wait outside."
Zhang Pei understood.
Gu Zhengchen brought Xiao Cheng, Zhang Jiujing and Lin Baifan to the door.
Bu Shou stood at the gate waiting for a long time. When he saw Gu Zhengchen coming, he was about to step forward when he saw Zhang Jiujing next to Gu Zhengchen, and his expression suddenly changed.
Bu Zhongsheng and Bu Suanzi also took a deep breath.
Didn't the Lu brothers say that Zhang Jiujing has been dealt with, so why is he still alive and well?
Bu Shou had seen strong winds and waves. He quickly calmed down and stepped forward to salute: "Bu Shou, a commoner, has met Magistrate Gu. It is really a great thing for Magistrate Gu to come to the door."
Gu Zhengchen cupped his hands and said with a smile: "Pengpi refers to the door made of thorngrass and wattle bamboo, but I think the Bu family's door is thick and wide, and it doesn't look like Pengpi's house at all. I heard that Bu's family is in Quanzhou. Mr. Changyuan, I have taken the liberty to come here today. If there is any disturbance, Mr. Changyuan should not be offended."
Bu Shou turned sideways and stretched out his hand: "How dare you, please ask the magistrate."
Gu Zhengchen asked, "You are the master of the Bu family. You go first."
After some hesitation, the two finally entered the door side by side.
Gu Zhengchen entered the atrium and saw that there were not many decorations in the courtyard. There were not a single precious flower, plant or tree, but only residual marks on the ground, which seemed to indicate that someone had moved many large and small flower pots, urns, etc. here not long ago. .
In the main hall, dishes have begun to be laid on the table.
Bu Shou did not dare to take the host position, so Gu Zhengchen gave in once and sat down with peace of mind. Zhang Jiujing stood beside him, acting as the person pouring the wine, while Xiao Cheng and Lin Baifan stood not far behind.
Full of drinks.
Bu Shou raised his wine glass, stood up and saluted: "Prefect Gu, this glass of wine is for you, Bu Shou."
Gu Zhengchen watched Bu Shou finish the drink in one gulp. He touched the wine glass with his finger but did not pick it up. He said, "I am from Shandong. I like to speak directly. If there is any offense, I will forgive it."
Bu Shou stared slightly: "It's refreshing to speak openly. Magistrate Gu, please speak."
Gu Zhengchen raised his hand and snapped his fingers: "I heard that the Bu family has been looking for two people in recent days, so I bribed the Quanzhou Guards sergeant with money more than once. In line with the good character of helping others, I will They brought it.”
Lin Baifan stepped forward and handed the two wooden boxes to Bu Shou.
Bu Shou's face instantly turned pale.
Bu Zhongsheng and Bu Suanzi also felt creepy when they looked at the wooden box.
When Lin Baifan saw that Bu Shou didn't answer, he simply opened the wooden box and poured the head into the vegetable soup bowl on the table, causing a piece of vegetable soup to spill out.
Bu Shou suddenly stood up, trembling all over.
The head was extremely white, as if it had been treated with lime, but even so, there was still some rotten flesh on the face, and the eyes were gone and turned into two holes.
Even so, Bu Shou still recognized it by the pockmark on the corner of his eyebrows. This was Zhou Yuan!
Lin Baifan directly grabbed Cai Ye's head, placed it on the table and chopsticks, and then stepped back.
Zhang Jiujing felt like his stomach was churning. He couldn't help but ran sideways for a few steps and vomited it out in big mouthfuls. Damn it, didn't you say that when you come to Bu's house for dinner, you have no wine to drink, and you don't even move your chopsticks, you will be embarrassed?
How can anyone else eat this meal? It’s such a waste.
Although Zhang Jiujing didn't see his face, he could guess from Gu Zhengchen's words that the Bu family had been looking for Zhou Yuan and Cai Ye, but there was still no news. Gu Zhengchen did a good deed and brought these two people here.
Damn, you can only take part of the people, you are the prefect, a polite civil servant!
The people in Yuan Ting are not so barbaric.
Bu Suanzi looked at Gu Zhengchen and took a deep breath.
Facing such a terrifying scene, Gu Zhengchen didn't feel any discomfort at all. Instead, he was calm and composed, with a faint smile on his lips. What kind of strong character does this have to behave so naturally in the face of human heads, which look like mountains of corpses and seas of blood? They have long been used to it!
Bu Zhongsheng's legs were a little weak, his hands were shaking slightly, and he didn't know how to deal with it.
Bu Shou pulled up the chair, sat down, raised his hand to pick up Cai Ye's head, looked at it carefully and said to Gu Zhengchen, "Prefect Gu, I don't like this gift very much."
Gu Zhengchen's eyes became solemn: "I'm not good at giving gifts. Once in a while, I didn't pick out what you wanted. I'm really sorry. Next time, next time I come, I'll choose some gifts carefully."
Bu Shou threw his head aside, and then threw Zhou Yuan's head in the soup on the ground. He picked up his chopsticks, picked up a piece of vegetables, chewed and said: "Gu Zhifu, if you have a good table of dishes, you must not mess it up, for fear of hurting you." It whetted a lot of people’s appetites.”
Gu Zhengchen leaned back on the chair and said with a smile: "If you lose your appetite, you can still eat a few mouthfuls. But if you lose your life, you won't be able to eat even if you want to, like Qin Xin, like Wu Kang."
Bu Shou frowned slightly: "Prefect Gu seems to have something in his words."
Gu Zhengchen took out a recruitment form from his sleeve and shook it: "Wu Kang and Qin Xin confessed a lot of things before going to the execution ground, which reminded me of a foreign language - Abdullah."
Bu Shou's hand trembled suddenly.
Gu Zhengchen continued: "During the Tang and Song Dynasties, a group of cannibals entered China. In order to integrate into the Han family, they used the Pu sound from Abdullah's pronunciation and changed it into the surname Pu. As for the following matters, I don't need this official. Let’s elaborate.”
Bu Shou knew about it, and Gu Zhengchen knew about Pu Shougeng and the origin of the Bu family.
Gu Zhengchen stood up, picked up the wine pot, and walked towards Bu Shou: "The people and things in the past are a long time ago, so it is inconvenient for me to ask questions. But there are some current matters that I need to explain."
"What's the matter?"
Bu Shou became nervous.
Gu Zhengchen said bluntly: "Before I came here, Quanzhou Prefecture levied two taxes, and some of the counties were selling colored silk. Do you know this?"
Bu Shou nodded slightly: "I've heard of it."
Gu Zhengchen picked up Bu Shou's wine glass and poured the wine slowly: "But the silk collected from the county was delivered to the mansion, and then it disappeared. Do you know about this?"
Bu Shou narrowed his eyes: "I don't know."
Gu Zhengchen put down the wine bottle and glanced at Xiao Cheng. Xiao Cheng took out an account book from his arms and handed it to Bu Shou.
Bu Shou took it and opened it, looking a little panicked.
Gu Zhengchen smiled calmly: "I accidentally obtained this account book, which recorded many shocking things. If this account book is handed over to the court, I don't know how many people will die."
Bu Shou did not expect that the account books that had been destroyed for several years would reappear in the world again!
Gu Zhengchen took back the account book and said in a deep voice: "Hand over Bu Xiu and I will leave."
Bu Shou looked at Gu Zhengchen with a deep look and said slowly: "This account book may not be true. If you can convict someone by writing a few random strokes, this government official will not be safe, right?"
Gu Zhengchen smiled and said: "That's natural, so I need him to assist in the investigation to ensure the innocence of the witnesses and to determine the authenticity of the account books."
Bu Shou gritted his teeth: "In that case, Magistrate Gu sent the greeting card to arrest people. If that's the case, wouldn't it be better to just send the Yamen here? Why bother?"
Gu Zhengchen took out a handkerchief and wiped the wine on his hand: "Now is not the time for the government office and the Bu family to quarrel. Naturally, I will not send the government officials here until I have more evidence. However, if I The official has enough evidence, and by then, Gao Shenzheng will be here personally, but he will not be able to save the Bu family."
Bu Shou looked at Gu Zhengchen walking towards the door and couldn't say a word.
Gu Zhengchen suddenly stopped and turned around and said: "In addition, the name Bu Shou is good, but the title of Old Man Chang Yuan is not auspicious. Yuan has been defeated and fled outside the customs. It is not easy to become prosperous..."
