After the hero goes crazy

Chapter 397 Chasing Clues

Yao Shouning thought of this, and Lu Zhi said:
"And this descendant of the Zhu family in Xishan Village is said to be the one who abolished the crown prince during Qingsuzong's time."

After Emperor Qingsu came to power, the Empress Dowager Zhao was ruthless, and the abolished crown prince was worried that he would be killed. After being exiled in Jinzhou, he searched for a place to live. Later generations withdrew their identities and hid in Li'an County.

"As for the mountain at the back, it is said that it is the holy place where their clansmen are buried. There are ancestral graves everywhere on the mountain, so outsiders are not allowed to step in. There are villagers guarding the mountain, and it is impossible for ordinary people to enter by mistake. In order to avoid disturbing the ancestors, the woman was not allowed. They went into the mountains to search."

Such an explanation is reasonable, and it also involves the blood and privacy of the royal family. At this time, people have the custom of setting up ancestral temples and shrines, and outsiders are generally not allowed to enter.

In many foreign places, the family regulations of ancestral halls and temples are even greater than the customs of the government. This is an unwritten rule.

The local villagers are tough and extremely united, and the government officials should not confront them head-on, so in the end they did not forcefully ask to go up the mountain to check.

However, it was related to his own future. The county government officer at that time did not expose the matter easily. Although he did not go up the mountain, he still negotiated with Zhu Lizheng and went to the village to check.

I saw that the farmhouses in the village are well-proportioned, the sound of chickens and dogs can be heard endlessly in the village, and most of the villagers are rich.

During the period, the yamen servants randomly questioned many villagers, and all of them were calm. Facing the officials, they showed no signs of guilt or fear, and there was nothing wrong with their speech.

After walking around the mountain again, I really didn't find any weird places. I visited the surrounding villages and neighbors, and they all said that Xi'an Village in Li'an County is very rich, and the villagers live and work in peace and contentment.

Asking about the shopkeeper, he showed the portrait to everyone, and everyone shook their heads.

In this way, there are witnesses and confessions, and the salesman can't see anyone alive or dead, so it becomes a headless public case.

Over time, the case was gradually shelved.

Although this case became a headless case, the disappearance case did not affect the official's promotion.

During the assessment two years later, the official was finally promoted because of his high rate of solving crimes and his ability to manage the county government.

But it is worth mentioning that the shopkeeper's wife did not give up because of the government's conclusion.

Since then, she led people to forcibly break into Xishan Village several times, claiming that her husband's bones were hidden there, causing a lot of trouble.

This case even alarmed the Li'an county government, and the county government sent someone to mediate.

The people in Xi'an Village hated her very much, but because the incident caused a lot of trouble, the woman became famous, and they were worried that everyone would talk about bullying the widow, so they never acted cruelly.

But since then, Xi'an Village has been very repulsive to outsiders from entering, and is particularly disgusted and vigilant about the visit of the chaiya.

"And the woman claimed that she often dreamed at night that her husband died in the back mountain of Xishan Village, and she claimed that there was an altar there, and there were many wronged souls buried under the tomb. Save her husband."

As soon as such a request was made, everyone scoffed, thinking that the woman was crazy.

Naturally, no one is willing to touch her case, and when Pi County gets a new official later, it is even more thought that this woman misses her husband eagerly and talks nonsense.

Three years later, she became more and more anxious. She only said that her husband warned her in a dream that if he didn't open the grave, something big might happen in the future and Daqing would be endangered.

"She thought about it, and finally went to Jinzhou, rushed into the state government office, beat drums and complained, and sued the villagers of Xishan Village for killing her husband."

When the prince said this, not only Yao Shouning became interested, but even Zheng Shi and others listened seriously.

In the carriage, Yao Wanning couldn't help leaning over and asked:
"I think there is indeed a problem in Xishan Village."

With her face next to Yao Shouning, Lu Zhi quickly showed respect.

Through the car window, he could see Yao Wanning's towering belly, so he naturally knew what the child in Yao Wanning's womb would be like in the future.

If ranked according to status, even his old lady would have to respectfully call out 'Old Ancestor' when facing Yao Wanning.

But, but... She is Shouning's older sister.

Lu Zhi gritted his teeth, hesitated for a moment, and whispered to Ai Ai:
"elder sister……"

He dared to get closer, and felt a little embarrassed after shouting, but seeing Yao Wanning looking at him with a smile, he had no intention of objecting.

The love in Lu Zhi's heart disappeared immediately, and he thought complacently: Relatives should also talk about their own.In terms of blood relationship, I should call Yao Wanning "Old Ancestor", but if I get along with Shouning in the future...

'hey-hey. Thinking of the beauty in his heart, he laughed out loud: Then Zhu Shizhen is Yao Wanning's husband, if he is also lucky enough to be favored by Yao Shouning, then he and Zhu Shizhen are brothers-in-law on the same level.

"Hahaha——" He grinned and couldn't help snickering.

"My lord, why are you laughing all of a sudden?" Duan Changya asked wonderingly.

"..."

Yao Shouning's face was bluish and red, ashamed and angry, he glared at Shi Zi with hatred, and wanted to scold him, but he didn't know how to speak, so he could only bite his lower lip, pretending he didn't know anything.

Shizi realized that he had lost his composure, and quickly corrected his attitude.

Yao Wanning didn't know what was going on in his heart, he only acted restrained when facing him because the prince was interested in Yao Shouning, so she said with a smile:

"Your Majesty, don't blame me for interrupting suddenly. The main reason is that the story you told is really interesting."

"Yes yes yes." Shizi nodded like a chicken pecking at rice.

Seeing that he was well-behaved, Yao Wanning couldn't help laughing.

Strange to say, when she met Lu Zhi for the first time that day, he was clearly rebellious, with cold eyes, but she had fallen into the hands of her sister.

Yao Shouning usually seemed careless, but he didn't expect to be very skillful in training the son of heaven. He tamed this proud son of heaven so well, as if he had changed his temperament for Yao Shouning. The more she watched, the more she liked it and was more satisfied.

Yao Wanning put down the distracting thoughts in her heart and said:
"During Emperor Qingsu's reign, the abolition of the crown prince was indeed demoted, but where he was exiled is not recorded in official history."

She also read history books when she was sick, and she knows this story very well.

Moreover, Yao Wanning is smart and has her own views on these historical stories:

"The Empress Dowager Zhao has a decisive temperament, and she has the courage to cut grass and roots that are rare among women—" She has undergone major changes in her life, and her temperament is extraordinary, killing people is like killing chickens.

After gaining power in the later period, she killed many of the mother clan who had been sorry to her, which attracted criticism.

At that time, there were many memorials against her in the imperial court, but it was a pity that the emperor loved her and stopped them all.

There was a record in the unofficial history that she said with a smile before the emperor's death: belated affection is cheaper than a dog.

As soon as this remark came out, it was even more accusatory.

How could such a woman, who even killed members of her mother clan, easily let go of the deposed prince who might destabilize her son in the future.

"I think, is it possible that the deposed prince was not sent to Jinzhou at all, but was killed by the Queen Mother Zhao halfway?" Yao Wanning guessed.

She has already joined the conversation. Su Miaozhen, who was extremely embarrassed when facing the prince, was also attracted by this case. She couldn't help leaning over and asked:
"Cousin is right." Her father is very knowledgeable, and Su Miaozhen and her brother have followed their parents all over the world since they were young, so they are not ignorant people.

"Since ancient times, Jinzhou has not been a place where prisoners were exiled. Jinzhou is rich and well-known, and it is also the root of a famous family. Is it possible that the people in Xi'an Village used the vague records in "Daqing Shiji" and boasted based on unofficial history. An identity to cover up the secret behind the mountain?"

After Su Miaozhen finished speaking, she recalled the past "grievances" with the prince, she quickly retracted her head in embarrassment, and hid behind Yao Shouning and Yao Wanning, not daring to show her head.

Seeing that everyone was aroused by Lu Zhi's words, Yao Shouning hurriedly urged in a low voice:
"Don't be tricky, just tell me."

"Okay." The prince agreed.

He went on.

The shopkeeper's wife sued the state government office. The case was bizarre and well-known. At an official banquet, someone made jokes about the case, which caught Gu Zhizhou's attention.

After hearing this, he frowned immediately.

Gu Zhizhou has a rigorous personality, and he has the persistence and determination to break through the casserole and get to the bottom of the case.

He was greatly favored by the Eldest Princess back then, and vowed to look after the land of Jin for the Eldest Princess. After hearing about this case, he did not take it lightly.

"He asked people to fetch the file, and then summoned the shopkeeper's wife to ask detailed questions."

During the process of questioning, he found that the shopkeeper's wife had clear eyes and spoke in a very orderly manner. Although she mentioned her husband's 'death' was very sad, she was not as crazy as the rumors said, losing her sanity.

In her words, she said that her husband Tuomeng mentioned that there was a great secret hidden in the back mountain of Xishan Village, where an altar was used to suppress many homeless souls.

But most people like Gu Zhizhou have a keen and unusual awareness.

The word 'homeless' in the woman's words suddenly touched his nerves. He remembered the shocking case in his hand and couldn't help comparing the two cases.

In this comparison, I found clues.

He couldn't help but rummage through the case files of Li'an County for the past ten years, and found that the magistrate of Li'an County has managed well in recent years.

But nine years ago, there were several unsolved cases——

When the son said this, his voice paused, and the three sisters Yao Shouning spoke in unison:

"Disappearance case?"

"Correct!"

The prince nodded, with a look of anger on his face:
"Nine years ago, there were cases of missing children in Li'an County. The local county magistrate sent people to look for them everywhere. In the end, no one was alive or dead. These children were young when they disappeared, and they may have been raped."

In this world, there is a certain kind of person who is particularly hated by others, and they are kidnappers. They have no conscience and take away other people's children.

The children who were taken away had a bleak end and rarely had good results.

The case was not solved in the end, but was shelved as a rare unsolved case in Li'an County.

After discovering this situation, Gu Zhizhou immediately juxtaposed these disappearance cases with the Jindi disappearance case.

If these cases were committed by the same mastermind behind the scenes, then these people are far more ruthless than ordinary people imagine, and their power is so deep that they have become a reality, and their time of harming people is much earlier than everyone imagined.

According to the case, Gu Zhizhou went to Li'an County to visit the families whose children disappeared.

These families lost their children and were in great pain, but they did not dare to criticize the government. When they learned that Gu Zhizhou wanted to investigate the case, they all knelt down and cried for the Lord Qingtian, saying that they knew everything and said everything.

"In a village under Li'an County, a woman's words caught Gu Zhizhou's attention."

This woman is a widow. Unfortunately, her husband fell and died when he was working for others, leaving a young son to live with her. Seeing that she was lonely and helpless, the people of her husband's family took her land. She was very sad and thought about Her husband died, her son disappeared, and now she can't hold on to her family property, so she thinks about life and death.

But when she was about to hang herself one day, the hemp rope broke suddenly, and she fell down and fainted to the ground.

In the coma, I heard the voice of the youngest son who seemed to be calling her 'mother'.

She searched for the reputation and saw that the youngest son was covered in blood and lost his eyes. She said that he was in an altar where many ghosts were suppressed. He had been tortured for a long time and wanted to ask his mother to help him escape.

After waking up from this dream, the woman's desire to die suddenly disappeared. She remembered the entrustment of her son in the dream, and immediately dealt with her husband's family brazenly. She was forced to adopt a child in the family and kept her own land. I am also spending money to find Taoist priests to practice, and I want to save my son.

"The death of the son mentioned in the woman's dream reminded Gu Zhizhou of the dream of the shopkeeper's wife."

Both women had the same dream, and both dreamed that the person they cared about most was covered in blood and lost their eyes, and most importantly, both mentioned the 'altar to suppress ghosts'.

Yao Wanning heard this and asked again:

"Could it be a coincidence?" she said:

"After all, it is in Li'an County. The eldest son also said before that the shopkeeper's wife sued people in Xishan Village to make a fuss. The woman's words may or may not have been influenced by her."

"No." Shizi shook his head:
"Her child disappeared nine years ago, and this dream also predates the salesman's wife." He went on to say:

"And after Gu Zhizhou personally entered Li'an County, he discovered a very coincidental thing—" He paused, and then said:

"That is, the families of these missing persons passed through Xishan Village or the vicinity before the children disappeared, and they all took something from others."

"What did you receive?" Yao Shouning asked curiously.

"Pull the drum." Lu Zhi said.

Two women, with different relatives missing at different times, had similar dreams, which can no longer be argued with common sense.

Seeing the surprised expressions on everyone's faces, Lu Zhi continued:

"What's even more bizarre is that the relatives of these children said that a few days before the children disappeared, they didn't sleep well at night. They said that they were first awakened by the sound of rattle drums, and then heard someone calling them."

When Gu Zhizhou heard the news, he immediately rushed back to Jindi, and summoned the relatives of the missing child five years ago. After interrogating them one by one, he found that these family members also said that the child seemed to be restless before the disappearance, and that someone was calling them. name.

This discovery made Gu Zhizhou immediately confirm that the disappearance case can be merged.

And judging from the timeline, the incident first occurred in Li'an County, and the suspect is most likely hiding in Li'an County, not the slapstick that the officials originally thought.

He spent half a year visiting Li'an County, drawing a map around the families of the missing children, and found that the families of these missing people were all located around Xishan Village, and the furthest distance was no more than ten miles!

Combined with this discovery and the report of the shopkeeper's wife, Gu Zhizhou made a decisive decision and decided to send people deep into Xi'an Village to investigate the details.

It should be known that the ancestral hall is very powerful at this time, and Li Zheng of Xishan Village said that the mountain is full of ancestral graves of the Zhu clan.

He made such a request, which is tantamount to digging up someone's ancestral grave and risking the dissatisfaction of the local people.

The matter of digging people's ancestral graves is of great importance. Although Gu Zhizhou realized that there was a problem in Xishan Village by virtue of his keen handling of cases.

But many people can't understand why they made such a decision just based on a rumored madman's wife and the nightmare of a widow who lost her son.

At this time, the people were not civilized, and most of them were impulsive. If things went wrong, it might cause civil uprisings.

"Because I was in Jinzhou at this time, Gu Zhizhou came forward to ask me for help."

When Lu Zhi said this, he let out a long sigh.

Gu Zhizhou was under a lot of pressure, and many people even scolded him for acting aggressively, just trying to please the eldest princess, for the sake of his own rich future.

In Jindi, the Eldest Princess has a high prestige and is guarded by troops. When the Eldest Princess is not in Jindi, the eldest son is her sole heir, so it would be best to come forward to resolve this matter.

At that time, when Gu Zhizhou asked the eldest son to come forward, he issued a military order and took responsibility for the matter.

Statement: He must go to the back mountain of Xishan Village for an inspection. If the information is wrong, the matter was not done by the people of Xishan Village.

When things got to this point, Gu Zhizhou had no way out.

"What happens after that?"

Yao Shouning had already guessed the result, but when he heard this, he still couldn't help asking.

"After that..." Lu Zhi's eyes gradually became sharper, his tone was elongated, and there was lingering fear in his words.

On that day, Lu Zhi brought a black armor to raid Gu Zhizhou, and surrounded Xishan Village tightly. The surrounding villagers rioted, and the whole village used farm tools at home as weapons, intending to attack the army.

Fortunately, Shizi brought more than [-] people, all of whom were elites, and completely suppressed the people in Xishan Village.

But the power of these people has mutated, and they become as fierce as evil spirits. If the son hadn't been prepared in advance and brought enough people, Gu Zhizhou's actions alone might not make it out of Xishan Village alive.

"...Gu Zhizhou did dig a tomb in the mountain. The tomb was empty, but it was connected to a tunnel, and an altar was found. The bones in the altar were piled up like a mountain."

The moment the mountain gate was dug open, the stench rose to the sky, the sky was covered with resentment, and the day suddenly turned dark.

Countless ghosts and wild ghosts wailed loudly, but this was not the most important thing—"The most important thing is that a demon was raised inside."

It was a strange monster, half-human, half-tiger, with blood-red eyes. The moment it appeared, all the people in Xishan Village suddenly mutated, as if instantly turned into ghosts and lost their minds.

The situation at that time was extremely dangerous, and all the villagers watching the excitement and the officials led by Gu Zhizhou to investigate the case were all terrified.

Yao Shouning could imagine the scene at that time with only a few words from his son.

She has also read and heard many stories from story books and storytellers, with twists and turns, bizarre, or thrilling stories. She has also experienced danger and wind and rain with her son. When the prince confronted the monster, he still broke into a cold sweat for him.

At that time, the son had to protect himself and protect others from escape. If he hadn't had his destiny in his hands, and he was in the land of Jin, he was what the people wanted and had the upper hand. I'm afraid he would have been suppressed by the evil spirits at that time.

"Luckily my mother arrived later."

The eldest princess happened to be ordered to go to Jin to prepare food, and when she rushed back to the fief, she heard that Gu Zhizhou was going to handle a major case, so she borrowed her son to dispatch troops.

She has no doubts about employing people and supports her son, so she leads the army to come just in time for a major event.

……

There is a shocking mystery hidden behind the disappearances for many years. In a small village, there are actually a lot of people in the village who sacrificed their lives to feed demons and ghosts.

Yao Shouning's heart skipped a beat, and he suddenly remembered something:

"Is what the people in Xishan Village said true or false?"

Lu Zhi didn't know how to answer her question.

Bewitched by the evil spirit, the people in Xishan Village have become ghosts of monsters and are controlled by the monsters. For this reason, they did not hesitate to kill thousands of lives for more than ten years to support the monsters.

In Lu Zhi's opinion, what they said was all nonsense and unbelievable.

However, Yao Shouning vaguely felt that there were still some things that hadn't been truly revealed. She couldn't get an answer from Shi Zi, but she thought of something in her heart.

She has awakened the power of the Bianji clan and can contact the elders of the Bianji clan.

In the past, she was used to solving her own affairs by herself, and she would do it herself if she had any energy, but she forgot that the Bianji clan was not just her and Mr. Kongshan, but a huge group.

Thinking of this, she quickly mobilized her consciousness and asked:

"Seniors, does anyone know about the 170th year of Daqing, the period of Emperor Qingsu?"

Her thoughts sounded, and her mind was quiet for a moment.

Yao Shouning was a little disappointed that he didn't get a response, but on second thought, other people might have their own things to do, so they might not be able to receive her 'message' in time.

Anyway, the question has already been sent out, and I haven't received any reply today, so I will go to the 'bookstore' later and ask Master for help.

As soon as she thought about it, suddenly there was an echo in the sea of ​​consciousness, and a somewhat familiar and slightly cold male voice sounded:
"Emperor Qingsu?" He seemed to be quite unfamiliar with this name, but he continued:

"Daqing is about 170 years old, isn't that the era of Hejia?"

Before Yao Shouning had time to think about who 'He Jia' was, he couldn't help being a little happy when he heard this person's words:
"Mr. Xu!"

This 'Mr. Xu' is an acquaintance. That day she used Chen Taiwei's divine sense to break into the 'conversation meeting' of the Bianji family by mistake. There was this 'Mr. Xu' at that time.

At that time, he was also instructed to wake up the son.

Afterwards, they met again. To Yao Shouning, he was an acquaintance.

"Well, Shouning." Mr. Xu replied, and called Yao Shouning's name again.

Yao Shouning was surprised:
"Does Mr. Xu know me?"

He smiled and replied:
"I know, not only you, but also your sister."

He was born 700 years ago. At this time, he did not mention himself, but also specifically mentioned his sister. Combined with his surname, his identity is naturally ready to be revealed. One of the four former friends of the Taizu, Xu Zhao, Mr. Xu.

"He Jia, Shouning has something to look for you."

Perhaps because he knew that Yao Shouning was a newcomer, he helped him out by saying hello.

As soon as the words fell, a lazy female voice sounded:

"coming."

Hearing the low voice, it looked like a graceful woman. After finishing speaking, He Jia asked:

"What does Shouning want to ask?"

Mr. Kong Shan also appeared and said:
"Mr. He Jia was born in the sixth year of Chengzhi." After finishing speaking, he explained one more sentence:
"Emperor Chengzhi is the father of Emperor Qingsu, and he married the Empress Dowager Zhao, and He Jia was once a guest of the Empress Dowager Zhao."

When Yao Shouning mentioned the Empress Dowager Zhao earlier, he still wanted to get acquainted with this strange person, but after a while, he realized that she had also been with a member of the Bianji clan by his side. Zhong himself also has a subtle and mysterious connection with the legendary Empress Dowager Zhao.

She endured the little joy in her heart, and took this opportunity to ask questions quickly:

"Sister Hejia, I want to ask, is it true that the prince was exiled after Emperor Cheng Zhi abolished it?"

When she asked this question, Na Hejia's tone suddenly became more serious:

"Could it be that something happened after 500 years, related to the deposed prince?"

After asking, without waiting for Yao Shouning to answer, he took the lead in answering Yao Shouning's question:
"It's true that the deposed prince was exiled! When Empress Xiao Zhao was deposed, she hanged herself in the cold palace, and her son was exiled to Jinzhou."

"The rumors turned out to be true!" Yao Shouning sighed, and then talked about a disappearance case in Jinzhou in the 700th year of Daqing. Finally, the local governor found Xishan Village, "The local people claimed that the buried prince in the back mountain was Chengzhi's deposed prince. The remains, and finally dug the grave and opened the mountain, and found the evil spirit."

"Evil?"

This sentence immediately blew up the rest of the Bianji tribe who were listening quietly, and everyone began to discuss with each other.

"It looks like the world is going to be chaotic."

"Shouning's blood has just awakened not long ago, and he is still young when he hears the voice, so be careful."

"The evil spirits were suppressed back then, and the fox king's body was smashed into pieces. Mr. Xu, Zhu Shizhen used the fox king's body as a seal to guard the border gate, right?"

Someone asked.

The information revealed in this sentence verified what Su Miaozhen said. Yao Shouning's heart beat extremely fast, but he firmly remembered the news in his heart.

"En." Mr. Xu responded, and his next words contained a lot of information:
"He smashed the fox king's body, and with the help of Zhu's blood, he used the power of "Purple Sun Secret Technique" to restrain evil spirits, and firmly sealed the border gate."

When Yao Shouning heard this, he felt that the vague clue in his mind gradually became clear.

"In the 16th year of Daqing, there was an accident at the gate of the border." Someone broke the news again.

Xu responded:

"It's really not stable. The monster clan's remnants don't give up and always want to break through the boundary and return, but we are already formulating a strategy to make this seal as stable as possible. Now we have explored a feasible method."

When he said this, Yao Shouning's mind suddenly remembered that when the evil spirit appeared in the world a few days ago, he had only one skin and one soul left, and finally turned into a god of war, and suppressed Gu Jing at the border gate again.

　A total of [-] words have been updated today. The starting point does not allow me to upload one chapter, so it is divided into two chapters and sent~~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)