The Beacon of Kyushu

Chapter 48

Dusk, setting sun, evening photo.

The four exchanged cups and cups in the back hall of the county yamen, and had a good talk.

Duan Siming held the jug, poured himself a glass of wine, and said to the young man with a smile: "Brother, what's your name?"

The young man said neither humble nor overbearing: "My surname is Kou, my name is Zhun, and my name is Pingzhong. I am currently the general judge of Yongzhou."

Duan Siming thought for a while, and then asked: "I heard that in the past, there was a No. [-] scholar named Kou Xiang in the Central Plains, and he was a famous scholar. He was not only knowledgeable in ancient times, but also learned the art of autopsy from Detective He Ning. Does Taiwan know this person?"

Kou Zhun sighed slightly, "Oh, to be honest with Prince Duan, Kou Xiang is my father. It's a pity that my father passed away when I was young, otherwise I will be introduced by the prince."

Duan Siming's eyes suddenly lit up when he heard the words, as if seeing a savior.He got up and bowed deeply to Kou Zhun, and said happily, "This king can finally prove his innocence. Once the case between old man Liu and Jiang Shan is settled, this king can go back to Dali!"

Both Murong Yunyao and Hou Renbao were confused, but Kou Zhun just smiled, got up and saluted without making a sound.

Murong Yunyao thought that Duan Siming was eager to leave Qingping County because she hated her, so she couldn't help but sneered, "I just want to go back to your dilapidated villa, what's there to be proud of!" Then she said: "That's right! If it's from Dali If all the beautiful girls are picked up by other men, then your dream of spring and autumn will not come true! If the prince really marries a hundred ugly girls as concubines, it will only be a nightmare!"

Duan Siming was so angry that he pointed at Murong Yunyao and said: "Bah, you crow's mouth! You...you dare to curse my lord, I am not afraid of the sky, I am not afraid of the earth, but I am afraid of marrying an ugly wife in this life! Your curse has come true, this prince will not spare you!"

When Murong Yunyao saw this, she smiled and said: "Why should the lord be angry! Why don't you go to Bianliang with this girl, and I will introduce you to the lord of Song Dynasty by the way. There are so many beauties in his house, the lord can choose whatever he wants, I don't know What do you think?"

Duan Siming said indignantly: "I heard that the Eighth King Zhao Defang was very romantic, but I didn't expect to be so licentious. I think I am a dignified prince of Dali, a pillar of the court, how can I do such immoral things! If the girls of Song Dynasty As annoying as you are, King Meiben is not interested even if he looks good, I wish I could go back to Dali now!"

Murong Yunyao smiled coldly, stretched out her hand to grab Duan Siming's ear, and said fiercely: "Who do you think hates it? Believe it or not, this girl twisted off your ear and turned you into a one-eared prince. Let's see which girl is willing to marry you !"

"No!" Duan Siming broke free from Murong Yunyao, hid behind Kou Zhun, and said in a panic: "Brother Kou, this stinky girl listens to you the most, you must save me! After I return to Dali , must let the officials write a letter of recommendation to Emperor Zhao Guangyi of the Great Song Dynasty, and I will definitely call you a great success!"

Seeing this, Murong Yunyao rushed towards Duan Siming quickly, and shouted: "Duan, the emperors of the two countries are here today, so don't let me let you go!"

Seeing this, Hou Renbao hurriedly changed the topic, and said with a smile: "Miss Murong, Prince Duan just said what happened to the case between old man Liu and Jiang Shan? If the girl knows, I hope you can enlighten me, and Benzhou will definitely investigate and find out."

Murong Yunyao immediately became serious when she heard the words, sat back on the chair again, and told the three of them all the strange things she had experienced in the past three months. Regarding the adventure in the cave, Murong Yunyao felt that it was the same as Qingping County. The case has nothing to do with it, so it is like a superficial touch on the water.She focused on the Chaos Sect, telling everything that happened and the doubts in her heart.

Hou Renbao and Kou Zhun were calm at first, but the more they heard it, the more frightened they became. After hearing it, the faces of both of them became extremely gloomy, like the dark clouds in the sky before the storm that were too thick to dissolve.

Until Murong Yunyao finished speaking, both of them remained silent, and the atmosphere was so solemn that it was suffocating.After a while Hou Renbao said: "This matter seems to be no small matter, if it is not for the private visit of Benzhou, it will almost miss the big deal!"

Kou Zhun nodded and said, "Lord Hou, it's not too late. I'm going to examine the corpses of Old Man Liu's family right now, and try to find some clues on them."

Hou Renbao said without hesitation: "Brother Kou's autopsy method is no less than that of He Ning in the past. If you go there in person, I believe you will find something."

Duan Siming is used to being pampered and pampered, so he has never experienced such a thing. Sitting at the side, his mind is full of a group of flies buzzing around a few decayed and smelly corpses, and some of them have even settled in the mouths and noses of the dead. At this moment, he hated his extraordinary imagination so much that he couldn't help retching.

Just as Kou Zhun was about to get up, seeing Duan Siming retching suddenly, he couldn't help but stop, "Master Duan, are you feeling unwell?"

Before Duan Siming could answer, Murong Yunyao laughed first and said: "Brother Ping Zhong, this person's mind is not normal, you don't need to worry about him. You go and come back quickly, remember to wash your hands a few times before you come back, otherwise I will throw up too! Kou Zhun nodded with a smile, and then slowly walked out of the back hall.

It took several hours for Kou Zhun to leave, and it was not until the second watch that he dragged his tired figure back to the back hall, still holding a thin booklet in his hand.When he left, his expression was very dignified, and now it became a little bit more dignified, as if he had an answer in his heart that he couldn't calmly deal with.

Seeing that Kou Zhun had returned, Duan Siming instinctively vomited again. Before he could vomit, he was slapped back by Murong Yunyao.But Hou Renbao got up to meet him, helped Kou Zhun to sit on the chair, and waited for his physical strength to recover, Hou Renbao asked solemnly: "Brother Kou Xian, what's the result?"

Kou Zhun handed the booklet in his hand to Hou Renbao, and said, "I have examined those corpses. As Miss Murong said, the dead are all blind, and they are most likely followers of the Chaos Sect. The Chaos Sect intends to set up this suspicious array to frame the royal family of Dali." , undoubtedly want to stir up disputes between the two countries. Once the two countries are at war, they will wait for the opportunity to go south and devote all their efforts to preaching in Dali. Even if the plan fails, they are not afraid to accept the attack of the two countries at the same time. Therefore, the officials believe that the chaos religion can With such powerful strength, the people behind the scenes must be quite powerful. If we really want to crack this case and apprehend the mastermind behind the scenes, we may not be able to do it with the strength of our Yongzhou alone!"

Hou Renbao was stunned and said, "Could it be that there is a third country behind the Chaos Cult? Brother Kou Xian, do you mean that the real mastermind behind the scenes may be Qu Yue? If Qu Yue really wants to take advantage of this chaos to invade the Song Dynasty, Brother Yu will We must write a letter to Dasheng, so that the officials can take precautions early and send us more elite soldiers."

Kou Zhun shook his head and sighed, "Lord Hou, now that the Holy Majesty is personally conquering the Northern Han Dynasty, he has put all his manpower and material resources in the north. It is impossible to divide the troops to the southwest to resist Qu Yue. We can only face everything by ourselves."

Hou Renbao thought for a while, and said helplessly: "Yes, the current situation is chaotic. Li Jiqian has dominated the Northwest during the war between the Song and Han Dynasties. The officials are still unable to divide their troops to resist, so how can they use force against Qu Yue who is peaceful on the surface? If everything is as it should be, Kou Xiandi expected that the Great Song Dynasty has reached a crisis of life and death!"

Duan Siming smiled and said: "Hey, do you really think that this king is air! Have you forgotten that this king is the royal family of Dali? You actually leaked the secrets of the Song Kingdom in front of me, so you are not afraid that I will go back and tell the officials, taking advantage of the emptiness behind the Song Kingdom Sending troops to attack you at this time? When the time comes, several parties will join forces, and your country of Song will really be doomed!"

"How dare you!" Murong Yunyao flexed her wrist, while squinting fiercely at Duan Siming, and said word by word: "My father was a soldier all his life, and only then helped Taizu lay down the splendid country of the Song Dynasty, if you dare to fight against Duan Siming?" Da Song thinks wrongly, this girl wants your head now!"

Duan Siming said dissatisfied: "This king is just joking, look at your fierce appearance, you still want to scare this king to death, then the officials will really send troops to avenge this king!"

Murong Yunyao snorted coldly and ignored Duan Siming.She looked at Kou Zhun and said, "Brother Pingzhong, I don't understand the current situation and major events in the world you are talking about. I just hope you can explain clearly what I have experienced."

Kou Zhun thought for a while, and said leisurely: "Miss Murong, the name Four Wuguai has never appeared in Jianghu before. I know little about him, so I should not speculate. But I have already seen the intention of Chaos Sect." It’s basically clear. At first, you only angered the Chaos Cult because you agreed to help Anian find her sister, and they just wanted to kill you. But after the battle at Tong Lingxia, you were completely used by the Chaos Cult.”

Murong Yunyao said in surprise: "What! I was used by the cult?"

Kou Zhun nodded slightly, "Yes. There is only a village in Qingping County near Tongling Gorge. You must be thirsty and hungry all the way. They have calculated in advance that you will come here to rest. You can help Ah Nian who has never met If you save your sister, then you will definitely not bother the poor farmers, and the rich family in Qingping County who is the closest to Tongling Gorge is very likely to be your foothold. So they forged this so-called incident before you arrived. The Miemen massacre is just waiting for you to witness all this with your own eyes, so that you can use your hands to kill Prince Duan and stir up trouble!"

Murong Yunyao nodded repeatedly, and said: "Brother Ping Zhong, what you said is reasonable, but how did they expect that I would definitely go to Jiang Shan's house?"

Kou Zhun said without hesitation: "Because you are a woman, women are inevitably curious, so they expected you to go to the neighbor's house to find out what happened. You really went to the neighbor's house as they expected, so it was logical to see the woman who was already there. Jiang Shan was waiting for you there, and I heard the story he made up to murder you."

Murong Yunyao was a little puzzled and said: "Brother Pingzhong, I believe everything you said, but I can't figure out why there are so many masters in the world, why did they choose me?"

Kou Zhun seemed to have expected her to ask this question, and explained: "You can pursue the murderer for A Nian who met by chance, which shows that you are chivalrous and dare to fight against injustice. They mistakenly thought that you washed Tongling Gorge with blood, not only It proves that your strength is astonishing, and martial arts moves are ever-changing, so it is extremely difficult to find out the master of the school. If Prince Duan dies at your hands, then Dali will send troops to attack all schools at the same time, and they can take advantage of the chaos. Therefore, in their hearts, you He became the best candidate to kill Duan Siming and steal the Five Treasures Golden Dragon."

Murong Yunyao seemed shocked by Kou Zhun's series of inferences, and Duan Siming also slapped the table angrily: "If their plan is really realized, then Dali will lose the possibility of negotiating with the Chaos Sect in the short term, and the Chaos Sect will be able to negotiate." Enter Dali to preach without hindrance, and even eventually overthrow Dali and take the power into his own hands! I never thought that Duowen would be so despicable and vicious, and I will not be a human being unless I kill him!"

Kou Zhun hastily persuaded him: "My lord, calm down, if you act recklessly, you will fall into their hands."

Duan Siming said in surprise: "Brother Kou didn't mean to say that this matter has nothing to do with Duowen, did he? But apart from Duowen, the only person in Chaos Cult who can have such resourcefulness and courage is Sima Wuming, the leader of Chaos Cult! "

Kou Zhun thought for a while, then nodded and said: "I heard that Sima Wuming and Duowen Dajijiu have been at odds for a long time, but he is concerned about the power of Duowen Dalijiu in the religion, so he dare not directly object to his proposal not to go to Dali to preach. , so he had no choice but to borrow Miss Murong's knife to achieve his ulterior purpose."

After listening to Kou Zhun's words, Murong Yunyao understood the conspiracy of the Chaos Cult, and said to Duan Siming with a smile: "My surname is Duan, it seems that I really wronged you! After Bianliang, the eight kings, Qiansui must choose a stunning beauty in the mansion to send you as a concubine, so it can be regarded as compensation for you!"

Duan Siming hurriedly said: "Let's forget it, the beauty you sent me is not blessed to accept it! Maybe it's a tigress who loves to play tricks!"

Murong Yunyao cast a sideways glance at Duan Siming, "My surname is Duan, if this girl is really a tiger, you can still live till now!" She opened her mouth and was about to pounce on Duan Siming, but Duan Siming quickly ran to hide behind Kou Zhun.

Hou Renbao looked at the two of them and smiled, pointed at the sky and said: "Qingping County has neither a post nor a decent inn, so I have to feel wronged that Prince Duan and Ms. Murong will stay in the county government for one night. Qingping County will be extremely tense in the next few months." It's not peaceful, in order to prevent you from getting involved in unnecessary disputes, I will personally send the two of you out of Yongzhou tomorrow morning."

When Murong Yunyao and Duan Siming heard the words, their faces were slightly solemn, and they nodded in unison.Murong Yunyao looked at Kou Zhun worriedly, and said: "Brother Pingzhong, you must take care of yourself. It is good to destroy Chaos Sect and defend Yongzhou, but you must protect yourself!"

Kou Zhun resolutely said: "As the official of the Great Song Dynasty, Kou has no regrets in dying for thousands of people!" After he finished speaking, he turned to smile and said, "But Miss Murong, don't worry, Master Hou and I want to resist Chaos Cult. It's not difficult, and we'll be all right."

Hou Renbao nodded slightly, and then shouted loudly outside: "Tao Rong, prepare a guest room for the two honored guests, if you dare to neglect to raise your head and come to see me!" Following his words, Tao Rong walked into the back hall with a painful expression on his face. Murong Yunyao and Duan Siming walked slowly outside the hall, and the figures of the three quickly disappeared at the end of the corridor.

When Kou Zhun and Hou Renbao saw them leaving, their expressions became a little gloomy.Their eyes met each other, and they didn't say a word for a long time, their eyes were full of melancholy before the rain was about to come.

The next day, early morning.

Murong Yunyao woke up slowly, she looked at the sky outside the window, then got dressed and walked out of the back hall.She knew that there would be no peace in Yongzhou for months or even years, and that the last peace before the storm should not be disturbed by her departure, so she quietly left the county government office alone without saying goodbye to Hou and Kou.

She just walked out of the gate of the county government office, and bumped into Duan Siming head-on.Duan Siming was looking at the sky alone at the moment, his eyes were full of reluctance and helplessness, and a crystal tear flowed down from the corner of his eyes unconsciously.

Murong Yunyao had known him for several days, and had never seen his expression before, so she was stunned for a moment.After a long time, she came back to her senses and said, "Hey, Duan, who bullied you? Tell this girl, and I will help you deal with him!"

Hearing her voice, Duan Siming hurriedly wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes, and said with a smile: "Are you kidding me? In this world, besides you, who else dares to bully this king? Are you tired of working?"

Murong Yunyao pointed to his hand and said: "Since no one bullied you, why did you cry just now? Could it be that you are reluctant to let this girl go back to Bianliang?"

Duan Siming said nonchalantly: "I don't want you to leave? You have a good idea. I wish you could leave as soon as possible. The farther you go, the better! If you leave, the world will be clean, and no one will be able to bully me again." Already!"

Murong Yunyao waved to him when she heard the words, and said with a coquettish smile: "Since you hate me so much, then the girl is really leaving!" After she finished speaking, she walked towards the end of the street without looking back. He was hesitant to speak when he left, but he finally suppressed his inner emotions and silently watched her back as she walked further and further away.

Duan Siming originally thought that she would disappear from his sight forever, but Murong Yunyao suddenly turned around and said loudly: "Your surname is Duan, although you hate me, but I have a lot of young ladies, you are welcome to visit Bianliang at any time !"

"Huh, don't go!" Duan Siming pretended to be indifferent and said: "This king is a relative of the emperor. After going to Bianliang, what if Zhao Guangyi takes you as a hostage? Besides, this king hates you so much. It would be nice not to see you!"

The corners of Murong Yunyao's mouth curled up slightly, she waved at him again, and headed straight to the northeast.Duan Siming also turned around pretending to be free and easy, and walked towards Dali calmly and gracefully.The long street became deserted again, except for a few early warblers singing softly and lowly.

(End of this chapter)