The First Great Ancestor of the Five Dynasties

Chapter 54 He is a disaster
Bozhou, Yellow River Wharf.

The wide river flows through large ice floes, and there is no trace of any ship on the vast river.

On the shore, the river froze and connected with the land. Several ferries that had not yet had time to get ashore were stranded on the ice beach.

Chai Rong stood on the high ground on the river bank, wearing a black cloak, staring at Liu Ling floating slowly in the middle of the river.

Not far behind, eighteen personal guards lined up with horses, waiting quietly.

Zhang Yongde and Zhao Kuangyin came with an old man.

"Chai Shuai, he is a dock worker. He usually lives at the dock to guard the ships."

Zhang Yongde introduced.

"Little old man, come and see the high official!" The old man bowed down tremblingly.

"No need to be polite, please get up." Chai Rongxu raised his hand and said warmly.

The old man felt a little relieved when he saw the gentle attitude of this heroic young man.

"Tell my husband what you saw that night," Zhang Yongde reminded.

The old man hurriedly said: "Reporting to the official, on the night of the 25th of last month, three miles north of the pier, an evil incident occurred where bandits injured people and destroyed a ship!

The little old man lives in Hekou Village, just fifteen miles north.I remember that night, the little old man rushed back to the pier from home. When passing by the river bend, he saw the firelight on the shore in the distance and the faint sound of crying.

Ferries usually dock at that bend of the river, and during the day, businessmen often take boats from there to cross south.It's just that it's been very cold recently, the river banks are frozen, the river is full of ice floes, and no ship dares to go out.

It was dark and windy that night. At first, the little old man thought it was some wife on a boat who was causing trouble and didn't take it seriously. Later, she heard someone crying, "Murder!" "

The old man said, his wrinkled face showing a look of horror.

"The little old man was so scared that he didn't dare to get close. He planned to run back to the dock to call for help, but he never thought that after the gangsters killed people and burned the boat, they rode straight towards them! The little old man was really frightened at that time~~~"

The old man's legs were still shaking when he spoke, and he swallowed his saliva and said: "The night was too dark, and the little old man only saw four or five people, all riding big horses, with swords on their waists, bright white, and clanking sounds! Little old man. I was kneeling on the ground at that time. Unexpectedly, the bandits ignored me and ran past me on horseback."

Chai Rong listened patiently and asked, "Did the gangster say anything?"

The old man recalled it carefully, shook his head and said, "I never spoke!"

"Can you see his face clearly?" Zhao Kuangyin asked hurriedly.

The old man smiled wryly and said: "Later, I heard people say that those gangsters covered their faces, and no one saw their appearance. Even if they didn't cover their faces, they were pitch black, so they couldn't see clearly."

Zhang Yongde said: "But I still remember other unusual things."

The old man thought hard and said unconvincingly: "The gangsters have a strong smell of mutton, like barbarians from Heshuo."

Chai Rong frowned. What the old man said was too vague and had no direction.

Zhang Yongde said: "If you think about it carefully, are there any other omissions?" The old man patted his forehead and tried to remember, and shook his head with a wry smile: "Really there are none."

Zhao Kuangyin said: "What happened next?"

The old man said: "Later, I only heard that on a ferry that night, a young man from the north was killed by a group of bandits, and one of his followers was also killed together. The corpses on the boat were burnt to the ground, what a pity~~ In this world, the Khitan people don’t stop when they leave.”

Chai Rong said solemnly: "So, no one saw the body? No one saw anyone being killed?"

The old man was startled: "It is true that no one saw it with their own eyes."

Zhao Kuangyin asked suspiciously: "Then how can you be sure that someone was killed?"

The old man was aggrieved and said: "The boatmen on the nearby boats said so, and the pier also spread the word, how could it be fake! The next day, the little old man passed by there, and saw a big pool of blood on the shore!"

Chai Rong frowned and frowned, Zhao Kuangyin and Zhang Yongde looked at each other.

"Okay, you can go back." Zhang Yongde handed him a hundred coins, and the little old man left with great gratitude.

Chai Rong turned around and looked towards the south bank of the Yellow River in the distance, and remained silent for a long time.

"What do you think?" After a long time, Chai Rong said calmly.

Zhao Kuangyin said: "There are many strange things about this matter, everything is weird, don't believe it easily!"

Zhang Yongde said calmly: "I remembered what Zhu Xiu said."

Chai Rong and Zhao Kuangyin looked at him.

"Zhu Xiu said: Good people don't live long, and disasters last for thousands of years. I think this is reasonable."

Zhang Yongde looked at the two of them and said seriously: "So I think Zhu Xiu is definitely not a short-lived person."

Chai Rong was thoughtful and Zhao Kuangyin looked strange. The same thing was that no one had different opinions on this.

"Send someone to Suzhou to find Wuning Jiedushi and Murong Yanzhao and ask them if Zhu Xiu ever passed by Suzhou. Then send someone to Jingzhou to ask Shi Kuangwei what happened after he and Zhu Xiu parted ways in Mingzhou. Go through in detail."

Chai Rong ordered in a deep voice, and Zhang Yongde took the order.

Zhao Kuangyin reminded: "Chai Shuai, when I left Cangzhou, Mrs. Fu asked me to ask you to send someone to inform her immediately if you find out about Zhu Xiu."

Chai Rong nodded: "I wrote to her personally."

"Let's go, rush back to Yedu to meet Guo Shuai first!"

The group mounted their horses and galloped away.

(End of this chapter)