It was useless for Shi Quan to regret it, so he had to send more people to search in the mountains and spend a lot of money to post reward notices everywhere. When Qin Hui heard about it, he went to Yong'an County to find the local magistrate in person to put pressure. His eldest wife Zhang was even more furious and decided to He wanted to have Shi Quan arrested on the spot by an official, but because of his reputation, Qin Hui refused to be accused of arresting people without any evidence, and stopped his eldest wife's arrangement.
Feng Wan was really annoyed by the many unprovoked disasters. She couldn't help scolding Shi Quan behind his back. Although the Shi family had some money locally, they were really too weak in front of Zhongcheng, the imperial censor.
For things like this, Fang Jinshi has no other good solution. He can only ask people he knows well for help. People in Bianliang City can't help. After thinking about it, the people he knows in Yong'an County, except Shi Apart from these people in his hometown, Li Xiaozhong was the only one.
Li Xiaozhong's family lived near Heishiguan, which was still twenty or thirty miles away from Xingqing Pass where Shi's family lived, and further away from Peach Blossom Valley than Xingqing Pass. Fang Jinshi told Shi Quan that he wanted to find Li Xiaozhong. Wanting to see if he could help, Shi Quan knew it would be useless, but he didn't want to offend his good intentions. He also heard that he kept saying that Li Xiaozhong was a chivalrous man, but a fellow countryman didn't even know him, so Shi Quan asked. Determined to make some friends, the two rode horses and went to Heishiguan to seek help from Li Xiaozhong.
Fang Jinshi didn't know if Li Xiaozhong had returned home. He had not heard from Li Xiaozhong and the others since they left Jiangnan and returned to Bianliang City. The two arrived at Heishiguan and asked about the path of Li Xiaozhong's family. He was a famous person in the local area. Naturally, as soon as they asked, they found out that the two of them found Li Xiaozhong's house easily.
Li Xiaozhong was a down-and-out rough man who had lost his military position. His house was just an ordinary old short house, but there were two courtyards. In addition to his wife, he also had a son and a daughter at home. They asked about his family, and he He is not at home now, saying that he went to the village and commune to practice Xiangyong.
This Li Xiaozhong misses his military career all the time. Whenever he gets the chance, he wants to be an officer. But now that powerful men are in power, he really can't stand the corruption in the Northwest Army and the incompetence of those in high positions, so he returns to his hometown. .
When Fang Jinshi saw Li Xiaozhong, he had just dismissed the country warriors and went home. Although he was dressed in coarse cloth, no different from a country farmer, he was wearing a pair of military boots. As soon as he saw Fang Jinshi, he came over with a smile on his face. , Fang Jinshi said first: "Brother Li is so interested."
Li Xiaozhong said: "If you have nothing to do, let's train the village warriors together. They can patrol the countryside at ordinary times. If something happens to the court, they can also gather together immediately to deal with it.
Fang Jinshi said: "Brother Li really cares about the imperial court and has great foresight."
Li Xiaozhong smiled and replied: "What are you talking about? It's just a matter of idleness and worrying about the layout. By the way, you came from Bianliang. I heard that the Jin soldiers from Hebei Province were attacking, and I don't know how the war is going."
Fang Jinshi shook his head and said, "I don't know. Could it be that Brother Li feels that training Xiang Yong is not enough and wants to put on his armor again and fight in Hebei again?"
Li Xiaozhong said sternly: "If the imperial court calls you, you will go to war if called."
In one sentence, Fang Jinshi and Shi Quan were in awe, especially Shi Quan. They felt that they had come to the right place. It was a blessing to know this person.
Fang Jinshi greeted him with a few polite words and introduced Shi Quan to him. After hearing Shi Quan's name, Li Xiaozhong immediately said: "I've heard about Shi Erlang's name for a long time, but I just met him today. It's too late. Why don't we have a few drinks together?" cup."
Fang Jinshi said hurriedly: "You must drink wine. I came here today to ask Brother Li for a favor." After saying that, he explained the purpose of his visit. After hearing this, Li Xiaozhong frowned and said: "This is hard to find. Peach Blossom Valley is away from This place is far away, I¡¯m afraid there¡¯s not much hope.¡±
Shi Quandao: "I came here today just to get acquainted with Brother Li, so I might as well not mention this matter."
Li Xiaozhong said: "I summoned Xiangyong to ask, and asked them to talk to their relatives and friends. The more people there are, the greater the hope."
He immediately summoned Xiang Yong and his acquaintances to inform everyone about the situation. It was almost noon, and Li Xiaozhong offered to be the host and invite the two of them to the best restaurant in town for a drink.
The banquet was put on the table, but before the chopsticks were used, a farmer and a woman came in from outside. They came to the wine table and saluted Li Xiaozhong and said, "Mr. Li."
Li Xiaozhong looked at him curiously and said, "Sun Fucai, what's wrong?"
The farmer named Sun Fucai said: "I just heard from Mr. Li that I was looking for a noble young master from Bianliang. I remembered that my wife told me two days ago that she had seen a young man covered in blood on Beishan Mountain and asked her, "How can I meet Li Guanren?" The person you are looking for is somewhat similar.¡±
Li Xiaozhong was overjoyed and asked the woman, "What's going on? Where have you seen that young master?"
The woman lowered her head and said: "Thank you, Mr. Li, I went to Beishan to collect firewood a few days ago. When I reached the tomb slope, I suddenly??A young man covered in blood jumped out of the tree and stopped in front of me to ask for directions. I was scared to death. "
Li Xiaozhong asked: "What happened next?"
The woman said: "Then I ran away and didn't dare to go up Beishan again in the past few days."
Li Xiaozhong said: "You woman are so unreasonable. Someone asked you for directions and you were injured. It's okay if you don't help yourself. Why don't you come back and ask your neighbors to help."
Shi Quan said on the side: "This sister-in-law may be really scared. I wonder what this young man looks like and what kind of clothes he is wearing?"
The woman gestured to several people to describe the appearance and clothing of the young master she met. Shi Quan slapped the table and stood up and said, "The man she mentioned is really Mr. Qin." He then said to Fang Jinshi: " That¡¯s what he was wearing that day, right?¡±
Fang Jinshi nodded, and Li Xiaozhong immediately said to the woman: "Please take us quickly to the place where we met the young master that day."
The few people didn¡¯t even want to drink anymore, so they immediately left the restaurant, led by Sun Fucai¡¯s wife, and headed towards Beishan.
Jinshi said on the way: "It's been a few days. I wish I had come to Brother Li for help earlier."
Shi Quan and Li Xiaozhong all agreed with what he said. It has been so long. No one can say where Qin Fu will go, but some news is always better than no news.
This Beishan Mountain is densely forested and the mountains are very steep. There are no roads at all in many places. I don¡¯t know how the fun-loving Mr. Qin Qin Fu came to this Beishan Mountain from the Peach Blossom Valley far away. Several people followed Sister-in-law Sun. , I was sweating all over the mountain climbing, and finally arrived at the place called Tomb Slope that Sister-in-law Sun mentioned.
Several people discussed it and went to look for it separately. Not long after searching, Sun Fucai hurriedly shouted: "Come on, come on."
Fang Jinshi and others hurriedly ran to him. Sun Fucai pointed forward and said, "Look where you are."
He pointed with his finger and saw a little bit of human legs and feet exposed under a bunch of dense bushes. Li Xiaozhong used a branch to push away the weeds piled on the bushes, and saw a boy-like face lying on the ground, lying on the bushes. , his ribs were a mess of flesh and blood, and the pool of blood flowing under his body had already turned black and dried, indicating that the person had been dead for a long time.
Shi Quan did not give up. He stepped forward and took the corpse's arm, turned him over, and shouted twice: "Master Qin, Master Qin." Of course, what he shouted was useless. The dead man was indeed Qin Fu, but he Of course, he couldn't respond to Shi Quan's shouts.
Li Xiaozhong asked the eldest sister-in-law of the Sun family: "Is it him you saw that day?"
The eldest sister-in-law of the Sun family had already turned pale with fear. She nodded with difficulty and said, "Yesit's him."
Li Xiaozhong said bitterly: "What a mistake this woman made. If you had helped him or spoken to someone, he might not have died."
Shi Quan sighed and let go of Qin Fu's arm. It was hard for Shi Quan to take the blame for Qin Fu's death. Even though Mr. Qin was a living man and wanted to run up the mountain, Shi Quan couldn't do anything. Not to mention that Shi Quan had no responsibility or obligation to look after him.
Fang Jinshi asked: "Who piled all these weeds on him?" Qin Fu died in a bush. It was not easy to be found. What's more, there were a lot of weeds piled on him. That means someone deliberately And because of this, Sister-in-law Sun was even more frightened and waved her hands repeatedly: "I don't know, it's not me, it's not me."
Everyone knew it couldn't be her. Qin Fu had multiple injuries on his ribs. It looked like he was not injured by a fall, but by being pierced by a sharp blade. Moreover, the scene of the murder must be nearby. Didn't he have two other injuries? All the strong followers were missing.
Even though no one wanted to do something like this, they still had to report it to the government. Li Xiaozhong watched here and asked Sun Fucai and his wife to go to the county government to report the matter. When they heard that the son of the Prime Minister of Taichung, the imperial envoy, had been killed, He died on the mountain. The Yong'an County Yamen did not dare to neglect and immediately sent a large number of officials to the mountain to report the death to Qin Hui.
Fang Jin, Shi Shiquan and others had been busy all day and didn't even eat lunch. In the evening, Li Xiaozhong said: "When something like this happens, no one can do anything. You can't go without food. There's no point in hurrying. It's better to go back to eat and rest first." one time."
Shi Quan had no choice but to listen to what he said. The three of them returned to town together. They had just had a bite of food when they heard footsteps rushing at the door. The three of them looked back and saw dozens of Yazao guards holding iron rulers and sharp knives. The restaurant was surrounded by people, and a police officer came to the three-person wine table and said, "Who is Li Xiaozhong?"
Li Xiaozhong replied: "I am."
The catcher was even more effortless. He swung the chain forward and put it around Li Xiaozhong's neck. Li Xiaozhong turned slightly, reached out and grabbed one end of the chain in his hand, and said to the catcher: "What are you going to do? I I have broken any royal laws and you are going to take me down."??
The catcher didn't reply, and pulled back the iron chain. The other catcher beside him, holding an iron ruler, hit Li Xiaozhong on the head and face. Li Xiaozhong grabbed the iron chain with one hand, leaned away, and avoided the iron ruler with the other hand. He caught the head catcher's wrist as soon as he reached it. He exerted a little force, and the head catcher's arm hurt. He could no longer hold the iron ruler and fell to the ground.
The catcher was clever and immediately shouted: "Let go, let go, do you want to go against the law of the court?"
People like Li Xiaozhong went into battle to kill the enemy and marched forward bravely, but they were always in awe of the laws of the imperial court and these people who were eating from the public servants. He was not afraid of these captives, but he was afraid of the national laws and regulations behind them. As soon as he let go, he let the catcher take back the chain, then let go of the other catcher, and said to the two of them: "I don't know what crime Li committed, and it took so many princes to mobilize their troops."
Seeing how powerful he was, the arresters said politely: "Don't be surprised, sir. We are also acting under orders. Such a big thing happened. Before the case is investigated, everyone is a suspicious person, and several of them are suspicious." When a person sees Mr. Qin, according to the rules, the county magistrate invites several people to go to the Yamen to ask for a written confession."
This arrest was reasonable and reasonable, and Li Xiaozhong could not say anything. He just said: "Do you have to wear shackles even if you ask for a confession?"
The head catcher said with a smile: "It doesn't have to be locked. If you think it doesn't look good, then don't lock it. How about you go ahead?"
Fang Jinshi and others knew that there would be no good results when they arrived at the county government office, but they had no other choice but to go to Yong'an County government office under the strict supervision of these guards.
As soon as they arrived at the county government office, the three of them were separated for questioning. After all, Fang Jinshi had stayed in the Kaifeng government office and knew the rules, so he explained the whole process in detail and made a confession. Monogram painted.
The catcher kept him waiting for a long time, and finally came over and said to him: "Master Fang, you can go."
Fang Jinshi asked: "Where are my two brothers?"
The arrester said: "They can't leave yet. Before the case is investigated clearly, they are all suspected."
Fang Jinshi said angrily: "Am I no longer suspicious?"
The catcher said: "Young Master Fang has no power to tie a chicken, how can you deal with the three Young Masters of Qin? Besides, Young Master Fang has just come back from Huaidong and has nothing to do with Young Master Qin. Besides, you have a military position, and you have nothing to do with them." Two different things.¡±
Fang Jinshi had no choice but to ask Li Shi to meet him. The captor said, "Master Fang, please don't embarrass me."
Fang Jinshi knew what was going on in the yamen very well, and knew that talking was useless. Thinking that wasting time here would have no effect, he might as well think of a way to find reinforcements. This matter related to the dignified censor Zhongcheng Qin Hui, who was the son of Qin Zhongcheng. Dare he The only ones who could speak were the important ministers in the court. Fang Jinshi's first thought was to ask Zhao Sange, Zhao Kai, for help.
He didn't dare to hesitate, and immediately rushed towards Bianliang. In his heart, he could never let Shi Quan get into trouble again. When he returned to Bianliang City, he didn't even return home, and went directly to Zhao Kai's mansion. Come.
It was not yet fully dark at this time, and Zhao Kai hadn't gotten up yet, so Fang Jinshi couldn't care less. He wanted to see Zhao Kai as soon as he got up, even if he had to wait a while.
Unexpectedly, he came into the house and told the housekeeper that he wanted to see Zhao Kai. The housekeeper said, "The prince has been up all night and is discussing matters in the court with several people."
Fang Jinshi was surprised and asked hurriedly: "But what happened?"
The steward said: "I heard that the Jin soldiers started to cross the Yellow River. I think they will arrive at Bianliang City soon."
Fang Jinshi was stunned for a moment. He never thought that during the days he was in Yong'an County, dealing with Qin Fu's affairs with Shi Quan, the Jin soldiers would cross Hebei and reach the Yellow River so quickly. No wonder the people on the west side were so busy along the way. That's a lot.