sinking halberd

Yu Donghai guessed right, Mu Zhenliu did have other plans for coming to Pingbo City.

Ever since Fang Hengxie entered the Tianji Mansion at a young age, the officialdom of the Zhuang Dynasty broke through the seniority limit, and many young officials were promoted exceptionally.Although Mu Zhenliu is young and has inexperienced qualifications, but he has the banner of the master of the Lingxiao Pavilion proud of his disciples. Whether he stays in Beijing or is sent out, his official career is smooth.

What Susha said was right, Shen Zhenghe originally planned to try his best to protect Mu Zhenliu from becoming governor.One is that the rank of the governor of the Zhuang Dynasty is not very high, but the power is not small. It is very suitable for a young and capable official like Mu Zhenliu who lacks qualifications. The other is that the governor is a shortcut to promotion. .

But before Shen Zhenghe took action, he received a letter and changed his decision.

The letter tells a little story.When a married woman cooks every day, she uses miscellaneous grains and wild vegetables to make up for it, and saves rice to supplement her mother's family.If so, Shen Zhenghe would just laugh it off, but the inscription on the letter is intriguing - Pingcheng Qizao.

In the Dazhuang Dynasty, there were six cities named Ping: Yongping, Pingzhao, Pingyang, Kangping, Pingbo, and Pingzhou. Among them, only Pingbo City and Military Weapons Bureau could use the word "Qizao".

As for the rice in the Weapons Bureau, the first thing Shen Zhenghe and Mu Zhenliu thought of was iron.

Weapons have always been the top priority of the imperial court's control. The more turbulent the country is, the stricter the imperial court's control over weapons.One of the crimes that Shen Zhenghe was dismounted at the beginning was to allow his subordinates to store weapons privately.

If someone really steals the iron from the Weapons Bureau, then the intention is obvious without asking.

At that time, there were rumors that Fang Hengxie secretly supported King Xin's rebellion, and Shen Zhenghe had to re-examine this thoughtless letter.Just in case, Mu Zhenliu took over the command of the Pingbo City Military Bureau under Shen Zhenghe's repeated maneuvers.

Before he left, Shen Zhenghe analyzed with him, and they all believed that the letter came from within the Armaments Bureau, and the old chief who was about to end his term of office was naturally the No. 1 choice.

Therefore, although Mu Zhenliu paid close attention to the old master from the very beginning, it was unavoidable to arouse suspicion, to startle the snake, and to deliberately act neither hot nor far.Unexpectedly, the old boss still did not escape this disaster.

Sitting in the study, Mu Zhenliu quietly read the handwriting left by the old boss word by word.

It was getting dark quickly.

Seeing that he had no intention of leaving, the steward of the Liao Mansion specially held the lamp for him.

Not long after the lights came on, Yu Donghai came with a food box and wine.

Mu Zhenliu had no choice but to put down the book and chat with him casually.

Yu Donghai sneered sideways: "Everyone knows that Mr. Liao loves books like his life, and has hidden a lot of rare copies. I don't know which ones Brother Mu is looking for? Can you let me read it too?"

Mu Zhenliu said: "I'm looking at the notes left by Mr. Liao."

Yu Donghai's eyes brightened slightly: "Can you see what's going on?"

Mu Zhenliu said: "Lord Liao has great ambitions, high ambitions, but unfortunately..." Thinking of the ending of the old boss, he couldn't help sighing.

Yu Donghai wanted to find clues to bring down Fang Hengxie from the notes of the old boss, and he immediately said: "It's really a pity! I don't think people like the old boss would have done such things if they hadn't been seduced by others." , but I don’t know who persecuted him. Well, if that person can be found and brought to justice, it will be regarded as revenge for him.”

Mu Zhenliu remained silent.

After the two of them finished their meal, Yu Donghai offered to stay and help check it together.After watching for another half an hour, Mu Zhenliu was afraid of bringing rumors to the widow of the old bureau chief, so he said goodbye with Yu Donghai.

Yu Donghai still didn't give up, and when he went out, he patted his chest specially in case he took something out with him.

Mu Zhenliu also let him go.

They verbally said they wanted to form an alliance, but they all knew in their hearts that the alliance was like a paper drum, vulnerable to a blow, and they were still on guard against each other.

When Mu Zhenliu returned home, when he heard that Susha hadn't come back, he felt inexplicably tense, and secretly said: If we go to Baizhou, if we travel day and night, without sleep, we can go back and forth in a day and a half; if it is later, we will need two or three day.You don't have to worry too much.

Even though he thought so, he just came back from the Liao Mansion, and he couldn't help thinking about what happened to the old boss. He was still a little uneasy, and he couldn't sleep peacefully at night. Whenever there was any movement outside, he would wake up. Looking at the sky, whether it was bright or not, It was just before dawn.

The concierge knocked on the door hastily, with such vigor that he could only beat the gongs and drums.

Mu Zhenliu put on his clothes and got up, opened the door, and felt a little uneasy when he saw the anxious face of the doorman.The last time I saw him like this, it was just to report the news that the old boss had committed suicide.

Sure enough, this time it was another bad news.

The concierge said: "Master Yu is here, he said, he said Mr. Liao's house is in trouble."

Mu Zhenliu's head thumped, all kinds of thoughts slipped through his mind, and his heart became chaotic.He pushed away the hand that the porter extended to support him, put on his clothes in a hurry and walked out.

Yu Donghai was standing at the door, and the lamp in the yamen servant's hand illuminated his face from bottom to top, hiding the upper half of his face in the shadows and only showing the lower half of his face, making him look extraordinarily gloomy.

Hearing the sound of Mu Zhenliu's footsteps, he turned his head, his whole face was sunk in shadow, it was as black as ink dripping drop by drop.

"Something happened to the Liao Mansion." Every word came out from between the teeth.

Mu Zhenliu said, "When did it happen?"

"An hour ago." Yu Donghai's Adam's apple twitched, his eyes fixed on him, and he did not hide his doubts.

Mu Zhenliu frowned, seeing that Yu Donghai's face was stained with black ash, he frowned and said, "Madam Liao and the others..."

"All burned to death."

Mu Zhenliu's heart skipped a beat, as if he saw charred corpses lying on the ruins, he couldn't tell the suffocation and sadness, and after a while he said: "The Liao Mansion is so big, how could it be..."

Yu Donghai saw that he was shocked and did not seem to be fake, and his face turned slightly: "You are right. Such a huge Liao Mansion! Such a huge Pingbo City! So many people, so many eyes! Someone can kill and set fire, silently, It's just...it's lawless!" He was angry, anxious and frightened, and his body trembled slightly.

At this time, Mu Zhenliu calmed down instead: "Whoever discovered it first, can catch the arsonist?" A fire that burned dozens of people in Liao's family could not be an accident.

Affected by his emotions, Yu Donghai also slowly calmed down. After a while, he gritted his teeth: "Although no one was caught, the person behind the scenes is not difficult to guess."

Mu Zhenliu frowned.

"In Pingbo City, there is only one person with such ability!"

Mu Zhenliu didn't ask who that person was, because when Yu Donghai spoke, he also thought of it.

Mrs. Liao, eight concubines, twelve housekeepers, three daughters, sixteen house servants, including the housekeeper who held the lamp for Mu Zhenliu, all perished in the fire.According to the autopsy, only five people were burned alive—three daughters, two Tongfang, and the others died before the fire started.

Yu Donghai became ruthless, and brought all the people living nearby back to the Yamen, as if he would never stop until he found out!

Mu Zhenliu came forward to take care of the funeral for the Liao family.

This incident slightly calmed the resentment of everyone in the Weapons Bureau.Although most of them belonged to the Department of Bureau Chiefs, the Military Weapons Bureau had experienced several storms and was already riddled with holes. Discord among factions within the bureau became a trivial matter, and they naturally united to defend against foreign enemies.

Of course, where there are many people, there will always be disagreements.

Some united, while others retreated.

Accidents happened again and again in the Weapons Bureau, which attracted all kinds of gossip.Some people say that the old boss was murdered by his family, and now he is dying.He was at odds with Ju Cheng and others during his lifetime, so he entrusted the magistrate Yu with a dream to expose Ju Cheng's crimes; some people said that the Weapons Bureau was originally an immortal dojo.After the immortal ascended, seeing that this place was occupied by mortals, he felt dissatisfied and ruined the feng shui here. Some people also said that the new master is the lone star of Tiansha, and wherever he goes, he will harm wherever he goes.

Some people in the Ordnance Bureau believed the rumors and quit their jobs impatiently.

Mu Zhenliu didn't want to keep them, and let them go.At this moment, what he was really worried about was that Su Sha was not bad.

It's been five days, but Su Sha is good and there is still no news.

What happened to the Liao Mansion happened after he visited, even if he didn't want to think about it, he had to think about it, the black hand hidden in the dark had already set his sights on him.For this reason, Yu Donghai specially sent several yamen servants to protect him.

Since he was being targeted, Su Sha, who had been around him a while ago, was naturally not immune.

Mu Zhenliu doesn't know how good Susha's martial arts are, he only knows that no matter how good a person's martial arts is, he is only one person.He began to regret letting Susha go on the road alone.

On the seventh day, he couldn't hold back anymore and asked Yu Donghai for help, asking him to send someone to Baizhou to find out the news.

Yu Donghai was worrying about the case of the Liao Mansion, and he was worried that the black hands hidden in the dark would strike again, so he was naturally unwilling to give up his hands, and comforted him: "Don't worry. Since you said he is from the Jianghu, he will naturally have the freedom of the Jianghu people." Bao Zhidao, there is no need for you and me to worry. The yamen servants in the yamen are ordinary people, and in front of real masters, they are like masters. If Mr. Susha is really in danger, they will be a hindrance."

Mu Zhenliu said: "I just want to inquire about his whereabouts and see if he has been delayed."

Yu Donghai thought for a while and said: "It's easy, just ask the post envoy to inquire about it."

Mu Zhenliu thanked him, and took out a letter from his bosom: "If I don't return in three days, you can send the letter to the capital and give it to your benefactor."

Yu Donghai heard his tone as if he was explaining the funeral, his expression changed: "Where are you going?"

Mu Zhenliu: "General Military Mansion."

Yu Donghai's expression changed.

Mu Zhenliu said: "If he wants to kill me, he will kill me whether I go or not. Rather than sit and wait for death, it is better to explore the truth in a fair and honest manner."

Yu Donghai said: "Confused! Tang Chizhou holds a heavy soldier in his hand, covering the sky with one hand in Pingbo City..."

Tang Chizhou is Fang Hengxie's confidant, and he is in the same line as the Military Weapons Bureau. He had previously moved the bureau's prime minister, which was blatantly difficult to get along with him.Thinking of this, he broke out in a cold sweat!It's just that Tang Chizhou was too low-key, never made friends with officials in Pingbo City, and didn't show any respect for the Military Bureau.The only time he went to war was to rescue Mu Zhenliu.

If it wasn't for the fact that Liao's house was so angry this time, and the suspicion fell on him, I would have almost forgotten that there was a fierce tiger lying beside me!