I want to embrace the moon for nine days

Chapter 62 Weighing the murderous intention

Su Hanshan walked to Shihao County with unkempt hair, tattered clothes and a branch as a crutch.

The land of one county divided by the Great Chu Dynasty, even if you don't count the more than [-]% uninhabited wilderness, the towns and villages, just the downtown area where the county government is located, there are still tens of thousands of households living there.

I saw endless streets, small bridges and flowing water, large markets, shops and inns, residences of common people, houses, homes of wealthy people, vast manors, farmland with fruit mulberries, and craftsmen's workshops, bustling with countless people.

People living in the east and west of the county may never meet each other once in their lifetime.

But before Su Hanchuan entered the downtown area, he randomly found an old man selling vegetables at a street stall and after asking a few questions, he heard the news about East Third Street.

The original name of Dongsan Street is Dongshan Street. It is located near a large cedar forest, hence its name.

Most of the families living there make a living by logging. Although they are not rich, as long as the family has strong laborers, they can still have some surplus on hand by participating in logging or learning some carpentry skills.

It's just that since the new county magistrate took office eight years ago, he signed several large deals with caravans from outside, and in two or three years, all the fir trees there were cut down.

If those lumberjacks want to find work in the future, they have to go over the mountains to find wood in farther places. Not only is it hard work, but it is also dangerous. When walking around the county, they often complain, which is known to many people. Dongshan Street gradually became known as East Third Street.

But it really made Dongsan Street so well-known that even the old vegetable seller in a remote place had heard of it.

It was because of the tragedy that occurred more than half a month ago when East Third Street was looted by a group of bandits.

At night, a fire broke out in Yangji Carpenter's Shop that had been robbed by bandits. I don't know whether it was due to strong winds or some other reason. In a matter of seconds, it burned down thirty or forty households.

After the bandits had withdrawn, the county government and nearby people worked together to put out the fire, but they were unable to save a few people. It is said that most of the residents on the street were burned to death.

Su Hanshan pretended to be escaping, and went to Dongsan Street to find relatives and seek refuge, and asked some more people one after another.

Those people all showed expressions of pity and sympathy, and their words were not much different from those of the old vegetable seller.

When he found East Third Street, he found a group of police officers walking among the charred ruins.

However, looking at them, they don't look like they are investigating the case and looking for clues. Rather, they look like they are supervising the work, directing a large number of people dressed as craftsmen and coolies to clean up the ruins and measure the land.

There were also several wealthy young men in brocade and silk robes, looking at the foreman's drawings, holding folding fans in their hands and pointing.

Su Hanshan didn't get too close and found a place to sit at the corner of an alley.

Half an hour later, Li Erhu and others, who were also pretending to be beggars, came here one after another, discovered Su Hanshan, approached him, and talked about the news they had learned.

The most famous Ouyang family in the county is the family of the last county magistrate, Mr. Ouyang. He stayed in the position of county magistrate for 12 years. After retiring and returning to his hometown, he did not return to his hometown. Instead, he quickly returned to his hometown. Moved to Shihao County.

This man's family doesn't have many real blood relatives, but this old man likes to have adopted sons, and those adopted sons also take in adopted sons. Many people see the opportunity and often come to give gifts without mentioning any business, just asking for a foster father. So a big family quickly formed.

When the current county magistrate took office, he was very close to the Ouyang family. He suppressed all the petty officials in the county government who were from other wealthy families, making the Ouyang family the only one.

"...the land on East Third Street has now been completely owned by the Ouyang family. It is rumored that the Ouyang family will open several brothels here, plus wine shops and restaurants, rouge and gouache, silk shops, and inns, which can make the entire street The streets are repopulated, attracting passing tourists and doing big business.”

Li Erhu whispered, "I heard that not all the residents on the street were burned to death. Even the families who were burned to death had several relatives who did not live in this street."

"But when the county government announced that it would sell this land to the Ouyang family, those who survived and their relatives either didn't say anything or simply disappeared."

When Su Hanshan heard this, he couldn't help but hum.

He has also been to the Ming Dynasty, and has taken many history classes in his past life, so he can be said to be well-informed.

But it may be because of the existence of Cangshui County Magistrate Gao Wenzhong that he subconsciously overestimated the county government of Dachu.

Gao Wenzhong also took office alone, but he was able to quickly establish a foothold in a complex place like Cangshui County. So far, Lei and Huang have not been able to truly steal the power of the county government.

On the contrary, the number of Lei family members among the police officers and the Huang family among the scribes was relatively reduced, so that the battles between the five major martial arts schools never had a significant impact on the people of the county.

It can be seen that Magistrate Gao may not be a good person, nor a staunch ally with whom to talk about friendship, but at least he should be considered a good official.

In contrast, the magistrate of Shihao County is not only confused, but is also suspected of being complicit.Su Hanshan said: "Have you found out where the Ouyang family lives, the number of slaves, and the quality of the nursing home?"

Li Erhu nodded, spoke carefully, and added at the end of his words: "This kind of scum, when we inquired about it, we heard a lot of things that made people feel itchy. Do we want to attack their family personally?"

"Not urgent."

Su Hanshan asked, "What's going on with Shang Liangfang?"

Li Wuniu said: "The former county magistrate lives there. It is said that he is a master of Qi Sea Dacheng, and he has a strong bodyguard who is also a Qi Sea Dacheng."

"This boss has a good reputation. After he retired, he called on merchants to stabilize prices several times when the prices of certain types of goods in the market skyrocketed for no apparent reason. Many of the merchants and stores that supported him are also in Shangliangfang."

"Needless to say, these people must have enmity with the Ouyang family, so the Ouyang family wants to use the help of bandits to get rid of the boss and the others."

Li Erhu shook his head: "I don't think they want to get rid of the old man. They probably want to take the old man and his bodyguard away so that the bandits can take action."

"As long as those merchants are dead, or at least they have suffered heavy losses, even if the boss is still alive, he will not have much prestige."

Li Wuniu guessed Su Hanshan's thoughts and said proactively: "Then should we give the boss a warning?"

Su Hanshan thought for a moment and chuckled: "No need for the moment, they want to put on a good show tomorrow night, we have to let them get off to a safe start, and then give them some extra ingredients!"

"Where are the bandits?"

Su Hanshan changed the topic, "How are you getting the relevant information about the bandits who burned down East Third Street?"

Several people nearby talked about the news they had found out.

To sum up, the total number of bandits in that group was about 50, and the leader at that time, holding a bright golden sword in his hand, should be the "Bronze Sword Crazy Lion" Tan Ying himself.

Since even the big leader was dispatched, even if they had others staying in their den at that time, there wouldn't be too many of them.

In fact, considering that they wanted to plunder the entire street's food and property, it was very likely that they came out in full force that day.

Su Hanshan thought of the few descriptions of Tan Ying's skills in the booklet and felt confident.

"Hey!"

There was a sudden shout from the other side of the ruins, and several strong men strode over with wooden sticks in their hands.

"What about you? Where did you come from, beggars? Today is an auspicious day for Mr. Li to start construction, and it will be an auspicious time soon. You unlucky people, where did you come from? Get out of here."

Ouyang Li opened his folding fan, fanned himself, and looked towards the beggar with a very unhappy look on his face.

It was obviously winter, but because he was wearing high-quality materials, he didn't feel cold at all. There were still a few beads of sweat on his forehead, and it didn't look out of place when he held the folding fan in his hand.

Seeing the group of beggars fleeing in a hurry, several foster brothers nearby were asking him if he wanted to send more people to break the legs of the group of beggars.

He then put away the folding fan and slapped it into his palm.

"Today is an auspicious day after all. Let them be spared, otherwise... hmph, they are an eyesore!"

This group of people didn't really take the beggars seriously. Naturally, they didn't know that some of the beggars had walked away, so they stared at them carefully.

Li Wuniu turned around and said bitterly: "The person being held up by these idiots should be the only son of the Ouyang family, Ouyang Li!"

"Don't worry."

Su Hanshan held on to the branches, walked unsteadily, and said in a deep voice, "The bandits are more unpredictable. Let's kill Tan Ying and his gang first."

"Go back down the mountain tomorrow night."

(End of this chapter)