The county government office in Fengqiu is a bit dilapidated, with only three entrances to the courtyard and low walls, like a humble man hunched over and sighing.
A cloud covered the moon, and the night, which was not very bright, became darker.
Su Huan, the old magistrate of the county, personally lit a lantern and checked whether the courtyard door was closed. He didn't dare to be careless tonight. All the important officials of the imperial court lived in the county government office. If anything disturbed these important people, his safety would be at risk.
"Old ghost Liu, I will be on duty tonight and keep an eye on him."
Su Huan walked out of the second door and saw that the door was closed. He felt relieved. Just as he called out to the county magistrate, he suddenly smelled the smell of blood. Su Huan's expression changed and he did not go to the side room to check at all. He turned around and returned to the second door, but when he turned around, a sharp sword flashed across...
With blood gurgling from his throat, Su Huan lay down on his back. In his distracted eyes, he saw a group of men in black climbing over the wall.
Killer!
This group of people acted quickly and with ruthless tactics. After clearing out a few government officials outside, they quietly sneaked into the second door. The man in black did not stop to attack the officials in the left and right wings, but went straight to the backyard. Kill.
The man in black entered the backyard and found a room with great purpose. A man in black carefully inserted the knife into the crack of the door and gently removed the door latch. Seeing the door latch open, the man in black turned his head and looked at his partner. Grinning.
The partner held the long knife, and before he started to act, his eyes widened in horror, and then a hot liquid sprayed on his face. He couldn't help but reach out and touch it. With the moonlight that had just emerged from the dark clouds, he saw the fallen figure. A companion who died on earth.
Before the coldness after the shock spread throughout his body, a blade pierced the door panel and cut through the man's neck with a sharp stroke.
Xiong Wucheng kicked the door to pieces, looked at the men in black swarming around outside, and said coldly: "How brave, not only breaking into the county government office, but also daring to attack and kill court officials."
"They are all dog officials. Killing them is to eliminate harm for the people. Do it!"
A man shouted coldly.
Xiong Wucheng was so angry that he shouted loudly: "I want to be able to breathe!"
"As you command!"
People from the security bureau hiding in the dark jumped out one after another, shooting their crossbows directly at the legs of the men in black.
"Murder and arson!"
When the leading man saw this, he didn't panic and shouted sharply.
Xiong Wucheng waved his long sword in his hand and slashed it away with great force. His limbs were broken off and his arms flew across the spot. The other people from the security bureau were even more brave. After dropping their bows and crossbows, they formed a group of two. , coming in a rhythmic killing spree.
The fire started.
Yu Xin stood at the door, watching the fighting in the courtyard. He frowned and said to Jing Qing beside him: "Is this a member of the White Lotus Sect? Is he too weak?"
Jing Qing said with a smile: "Mr. Ge, if the White Lotus cultists were all brave people, they would have made trouble long ago. These people are the normal state of the White Lotus cultists. They are as vulnerable as they were in Dingyuan."
Yu Xin was a little confused and asked: "But they are here to kill us. They should know that the Security Bureau is here. Why are they only sending this few people? Are they dying in vain?"
When Jing Qing saw what Yu Xin said, he was a little surprised. There were nearly thirty men in black in the courtyard. This was not a small number, but if they wanted to kill the cabinet minister under the protection of the security bureau, this number of people was still far from enough.
The people of the White Lotus Sect are by no means fools. They think there are too many people, so they throw out dozens of them to fight a war of attrition.
Every time they take action, it means the danger of exposure. They will not take action easily until it is a last resort or critical moment.
"Unless they have other plans."
Yu Xin pondered.
Buzz!
An arrow shot through the night, its voice hidden in the shouts of killing, and it pierced Yu Xin.
Xiong Wucheng felt it, but the arrow came too suddenly and unexpectedly. Xiong Wucheng had no time to think about it, so he subconsciously took out the knife in his hand, and the two men in black in front of him seized this opportunity, and one of them slashed He hit Xiong Wucheng's chest, and one person stabbed Xiong Wucheng's abdomen with a sword.
Ding!
The long knife caught up with the tail of the arrow. The arrow suddenly turned in a direction and shot diagonally to the door and window on the side. The long knife also rubbed Jing Qing's ear and flew past, with a strand of hair falling down.
"The Romance of Fairy Wood"
"On the roof!"
Only then did other people in the security bureau discover that there was a powerful killer hidden among the men in black. Seeing that the killer missed a hit, Jing Qing had already covered Yu Xin, glared at Xiong Wucheng, and jumped off the roof to escape. go.
"kill!"
Xiong Wucheng's injury angered the people from the security bureau who originally refused to kill. The people who were originally merciful moved towards the opponent's vital points in an instant, and several heads rolled down.
"Go and protect Mr. Yu Ge!"
Xiong Wucheng shouted quickly regardless of his injuries.
It doesn't matter whether he lives or dies. If someone hurts a cabinet minister in front of the Security Bureau, the Security Bureau will really have no shame in surviving.
Fortunately, Yu Xin was fine, so Xiong Wucheng breathed a sigh of relief.
The fight ended quickly. Twenty people were captured alive and twelve were killed. After testing, they were all White Lotus followers.
"Have you found anyone?"
Xiong Wucheng gritted his teeth and endured the pain after alcohol disinfection, and asked Zhao Kai who came over.
Zhao Kai shook his head slightly and said: "The man was very fast. When he chased him to the river, he only found a shoe, but no one."
The accompanying doctor applied medicine to Xiong Wucheng, and after bandaging it with medical gauze, he said: "The abdominal injury is deep, but fortunately the vital part is not injured, but you need to lie still for a month, and it is not advisable to make any big movements. Once the wound is cracked, the consequences will be It’s unimaginable.”
Xiong Wucheng shook his head and said: "How can I lie down in such chaos now? Get out of the way, Zhao Kai, and take people to look for him again. We must find this person. I have a hunch that he will kill Wang Han." That killer!"
Zhao Kai nodded solemnly and led people to investigate again.
Yu Xin walked up to Xiong Wucheng, his face uncertain, and finally sighed and said: "I took the risk, thank you for your help."
Xiong Wucheng chuckled and said, "This is the responsibility of the Security Bureau."
Yu Xin shook his head and said, "I caused you to get hurt. It's my fault this time."
According to the agreement, in the event of an attack or other accident, Yu Xin should stay in the room and not go out to avoid danger. But literati always have the pride of guiding the country. Faced with such a scene, they want to show their face and show their fearlessness and character.
Unexpectedly, there is a price to pay for pretending to be romantic.
Xiong Wucheng stood up, beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, and said with force: "The presence of the White Lotus cultists here shows that our investigation is in the right direction, and they have sensed the danger."
Yu Xin nodded solemnly and said: "Yes, it was just the madness before death. What is certain now is that there is more than one force hidden behind the Yellow River's seizure of the Huaihe River in the 24th year of Hongwu."
"No matter what, King Zhou can't escape his involvement."
Xiong Wucheng said seriously.
Yu Xin did not deny it, but just arranged for the doctor to say: "Take good care of him, let him lie down peacefully, and don't have any accidents."
"No, I have to follow!"
Xiong Wucheng is anxious
stand up.
Yu Xin did not give in and said: "Let's wait until you have recovered. Zhao Kai, call Xue Xia back. His mission outside has ended."
Xiong Wucheng's objections were ineffective and he was forcibly taken away by a group of people.
Yu Xin's eyes were filled with a cold aura, and he ordered the others: "Lock everyone up separately and interrogate them all night. I want to know how many people there are in the White Lotus Sect in Fengqiu, where they come from, and who sent them." It’s coming!”
"As you command!"
The people from the Security Bureau agreed.
Jing Qing came over and whispered to Yu Xin: "The county magistrate was killed, and some government officials also died."
Yu Xin said expressionlessly: "He was sentenced to many injustices. He should have died under the laws of the imperial court, but now he died at the hands of the White Lotus cultists. It was an advantage for him! Those government officials... must have been generous."
Jing Qing sighed and said sadly: "There is a big problem with the bureaucracy in Kaifeng Prefecture. From the prefect to the county magistrate, there are very few people who are not greedy or shady."
"The upper beam is not straight and the lower beam is crooked. There are so many problems in Kaifeng Mansion. You'd better think about how to keep your official position!"
Yu Xin warned.
The responsibilities of the Metropolitan Procuratorate are: "to impeach hundreds of officials, to clarify the grievances, to supervise the various departments, and to be the emperor's eyes, ears, and officials."
But as the Zuo Du Yushi of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, he did not discover so many problems in Kaifeng Mansion. He will definitely take responsibility and his demotion is foreseeable.
Jingqing was also aggrieved. In the 30th year of Hongwu, he only entered the Ducha Yuan as the censor of Qiandu. After Taizu left, Zhu Yunwen ascended the throne, and was promoted to the censor of Zuodu. The time was too short, and he did not have time to rectify the imperial censorship. , Jianwen's New Deal began, and he was busy dealing with the emperor, so he had no time to check the place.
The censors of Henan and Kaifeng Prefecture have not reported these issues. How could Jing Qing, who has been staying in the capital, know the true situation of the lower class.
Although the grievance is a grievance, the responsibility cannot be escaped.
Jing Qing did not intend to shirk the blame, and said bluntly: "Even if you are not in the Metropolitan Procuratorate, when the time comes to ask for an order to leave the capital, you can go to Kaifeng Prefecture and become a county magistrate, right?"
Yu Xin shook his head helplessly, while Jing Qing also had a strong stubbornness and said, "You still remember Hu Jun, the supervisor of the Imperial College, right?"
Jing Qing said depressedly: "That Hu Jun who made us copy the memorial dozens of times?"
"That's right, I can still recite "Plea for Life for the People of Jiangsu and Zhejiang" written by him."
Yu Xin sighed.
Jing Qing asked with some confusion: "Why did you mention him suddenly?"
Yu Xin pointed to the dilapidated county government in Fengqiu and said: "Hu Jun is a good talent. He is famous in the government and the public because of a memorial. Not only is he talented, but he is also courageous. He asked to stay in Changxing and became a county magistrate. , I heard that the current climate of Changxing has been greatly changed, and the people are in great peace."
Jing Qing squinted his eyes and thought, "What does Mr. Ge mean by saying that recruiting new talents to the local area is the way to govern the local area?"
Yu Xin put his hands behind his back, looked up at the gloomy night sky, and said: "New talents need new education. Now, although the Imperial College has implemented reforms, it has become an alien in the eyes of the imperial officials. You should have heard about it, right? The emperor just ordered the Ministry of Rites to inform the local government that in the spring of next year, there will be a hundred arts and learnings, not only the classics and meanings, but also not limited to eight-part essays, which caused a big commotion in the court."
"Although Hu Jun is not a New Education talent, his behavior and background are in the style of New Education. He is especially good at learning and absorbing. His success has reminded me that if Kaifeng Mansion wants to change and Ming Dynasty wants to change, it cannot Too rigid.”
Jing Qing looked at Yu Xin depressedly, and after going around in a big circle, he still didn't forget to blame himself, he was too rigid...
