Border Cook

Chapter 646 Buried (4K large chapter)

Most of the cases that come to the government office are not trivial matters, but have a great influence and involve a wide range of issues.

With the help of Xu Chong, Xiao Luoan quickly found two related and very serious cases.

One was a bandit robbery case that occurred six years ago.

According to the records in this file, the government was unstable at that time and bandits were rampant. In order to expand and become stronger, a group of newly-formed bandits attacked two villages on a spring night and robbed food, property and people.

Among them, all the children and the elderly were slaughtered, and all the women and young people were abducted to the bandits' den. According to statistics, the number of people in the two villages reached more than one hundred.

The other one was the bandit suppression five years ago.

This same bandit den that once looted the villagers, when it was cleared out, ended up with only 23 corpses and three survivors.

As a result, there was a huge discrepancy between the number of people before and after.

But Xiao Luoan did not say anything. He just took out the two files, put them aside, and continued to check the others.

Next, there were a few case records that seemed inappropriate.

Also six years ago, in July, the river embankment was built.

Because of continuous rain for several days, the water level of Song River outside Ronghe Prefecture rose sharply. The government office rushed all the people who were doing labor to the river bank to reinforce the river bank in the rain, but the river bank still broke, and the river water gushed out, flooding fertile fields and villages.

Fortunately, the gap was repaired in time to avoid greater losses, but many laborers fell into the river or were washed away by the flood and their whereabouts became unknown. According to final statistics, the number of missing and dead laborers was more than eighty.

In the autumn six years ago, a fire broke out in the dungeon where prisoners were held in the government office. Unfortunately, 27 prisoners were burned to death in the dungeon. Their bodies were black and difficult to identify. In the end, they could only be cremated and turned into ashes, which were then handed over to the prisoners' families.

Five years ago in the spring, an epidemic broke out during the labor of building the city wall. In order to prevent the spread of the epidemic, all the prisoners who were doing the labor were imprisoned in an abandoned house in the suburbs. The epidemic was fierce, and five or six people died every day. Of the 136 people, only eight survived in the end...

These cases are all related to population.

And all of this happened five or six years ago, almost starting from the time when Ruan Zhiheng came to Ronghe Prefecture to serve as the prefect.

If it is said that these people were not dead at the time, but took advantage of the situation and were all secretly transferred to other places...

The first case involved ordinary villagers, but except for the people who were arrested, all other related people were slaughtered and no one was found.

As for other cases, most of them were criminals sentenced to hard labor. When these people were sentenced to hard labor, their family members were mentally prepared that they might not come back. Even if an accident occurred during the process, everyone was accustomed to it and would not get emotional or investigate the consequences.

Thoughtful indeed!
Xiao Luoan calmly put all the files together and memorized them firmly in his mind. Then he flipped out a few files that looked particularly conspicuous and had obvious controversy.

A fight broke out over a prostitute's lover, which resulted in one person's death, but the murderer was not punished.

Because of a dispute over property, the other party's entire family was killed, but in the end only the housekeeper was pushed out to take the blame...

Xiao Luoan pretended to be confused and angry, threw the files on the table, asked the clerk to explain the reasons, and even threatened to call Ruan Zhiheng over to ask him the reasons.

The clerk could not bear Xiao Luoan's rage and had to quickly tell someone to inform Ruan Zhiheng.

After hearing this, Ruan Zhiheng felt much more at ease.

Sure enough, this Xiao Luoan was just as he guessed, just wanting to vent his anger and save some face for himself.

He was destined to bear this obvious loss.

So, for two consecutive days, Ruan Zhiheng put on a smile every day and listened to Xiao Luoan's angry accusations and questions.

And these two days, it was also sunny and nice weather.

The little mud that originally remained on the road became extremely dry under the scorching sun day after day, making it convenient for vehicles and horses to travel.

But even in such good weather, Lu Qiyan's cold still didn't improve much.

The high fever subsided and recurred several times in a row, causing Lu Qiyan to become listless and lifeless, with a pale face that looked extremely sallow.

This made everyone very worried.

I was worried about Lu Qiyan's health and also about his trip to Beijing.

Seeing that Lu Qiyan's illness was very serious and it would be very difficult to recover, Xia Yunji, Li Juncheng and Lu Qiyan discussed it and decided that Xia Yunji would lead the soldiers to escort Li Juncheng and others all the way east to Beijing.

Xia Mingyue and her group will stay here for a few more days, and then set out to catch up after Lu Qiyan's condition improves.

After the matter was settled, Xia Yunji and others did not stay any longer. After settling the remaining soldiers and guards, they set off with Li Juncheng and his party.

Doctor Liu came here twice more. Seeing that Lu Qiyan had recurring high fever, he was extremely worried. He adjusted the prescription and even, at Xia Mingyue's request, temporarily lived in the villa of the Cao family mansion so that he could see Lu Qiyan at any time.

Also because Lu Qiyan had been suffering from a cold for a long time and could not be cured, Xia Mingyue did not allow anyone to disturb him. The courtyard where she and Lu Qiyan lived was guarded by soldiers, and her permission was required for anyone to enter or leave.

Ruan Zhiheng heard every word of these things.

He didn't care about this matter. Firstly, he thought it was ordinary and there was nothing he needed to pay extra attention to. Secondly, he was already busy and overwhelmed.

Xiao Luoan was like a madman, checking various files all day long, questioning and scolding constantly, not leaving him even a moment of free time.

Ruan Zhiheng was really depressed, so he simply pretended to be sick and planned to avoid Xiao Luoan for the time being.

As for Xiao Luoan, he probably thought that it was time to stop and there was no need to take things too far, so he kept quiet for two days.

This made Ruan Zhiheng feel a little relieved.

However, before he could fully exhale, Yin Zhizhou hurried to the backyard of the government office and found Ruan Zhiheng.

Yin Zhizhou was running all the way and was out of breath. When he saw Ruan Zhiheng, he didn't even bother to wipe the sweat off his forehead, let alone take a breath. He just said, "My lord, it's not good!"

"What's wrong again?" Ruan Zhiheng was very impatient.

"The people of Jinwei State have kidnapped the Third Prince!"

what?
Ruan Zhiheng, who was lying on the bed, almost jumped up, "How could such a thing happen?"

"I don't know either." Yin Zhizhou swallowed his saliva to moisten his dry and painful throat and said, "I only know that it seems to be the soldiers of the Jinwei Kingdom who attacked the peace delegation earlier!"

"Perhaps because the attack on the peace delegation failed and his master Tao Kanglai is already dead, they are furious and want to cause trouble in the Great Zhou Kingdom!" Upon hearing this, Ruan Zhiheng immediately became like an ant on the hot pan. He didn't even bother to put on his shoes and just paced back and forth barefoot on the ground.

This is a huge event that could make the sky fall!

Jin Weiguo's soldiers sneaked into Ronghe Prefecture, and he, as the prefect, was completely unaware of this. This is dereliction of duty!
The soldiers of Jin Wei State kidnapped the third prince. It would be fine if the third prince could return safely. If not, the emperor would be furious that such a thing happened to a prince in his territory!
By then, the Second Prince will surely hold on to this matter, and the Cui family will take the opportunity to take a bite. Even with the Wen family behind him, I'm afraid they won't be able to protect him.

Maybe, in order to appease the emperor's anger and resist the revenge of the Cui family, he will have to be pushed out!

Ruan Zhiheng didn't dare to think about his own end. He just felt cold sweat all over his body and his knees felt a little weak.

"Where are these soldiers from the Jinwei Kingdom now!" Ruan Zhiheng shouted.

"I was just about to tell you about this." Yin Zhizhou wiped the sweat off his forehead again and again, "Those desperate criminals seem to be determined to die and want to drag the third prince to be buried with them. Now a group of people have taken the third prince hostage and entered Meiling!"

"Moreover, those desperate criminals from the Jinwei Kingdom made a threatening statement, saying that they carried a lot of explosives and would immediately ignite and detonate anyone who dared to enter Meiling, and let the Third Prince be buried with them."

Meiling, explosives, burial...

These words are all very common words, why do they become so scary when put together?
Ruan Zhiheng's legs softened again.

Yin Zhizhou said again, "Regarding the matter of Jin Weiguo holding the Third Prince hostage, Lord Wei Ruiliang of the Lingdong Road General Affairs and Pacification Office has led his men to Meiling and surrounded the Meiling mountain area where Jin Weiguo's fugitives are..."

Lingdong Road General Affairs and Pacification Office?

Surround Meiling?
Ruan Zhiheng's face was visibly pale.

The prefecture city belongs to the road, and Ronghe Prefecture is under the jurisdiction of Lingdong Road. The Jinglüe Anfu Division is the commander's division, responsible for all the prefecture cities and existing military security matters in Lingdong Road. Although the soldiers under Wei Ruiliang cannot compare with the army fighting at the border, they are also very fierce.

Moreover, this Wei Ruiliang seemed to have connections with the He family. Considering that the He family did not participate in any fights among the princes, the purpose of his coming here must be to rescue the third prince, without considering anything else.

In this way, Meiling...

Ruan Zhiheng walked out in a panic, "Quick, gather all the yamen runners and city defenses. Except for those on duty, everyone else follow me to Meiling..."

"Save the Third Prince!"

Ruan Zhiheng almost squeezed these four words out from between his teeth.

In terms of his true feelings, he now hoped that this troublemaker Xiao Luoan would die on the spot without any possibility of survival. However, judging from the current situation, rescuing Xiao Luoan might be the best way to save Meiling.

Seeing Ruan Zhiheng rushing out, Yin Zhizhou hurriedly chased after him.

"Sir, clothes, clothes..."

"My Lord, you haven't put on your shoes yet!"

"grown ups……"

It didn't take too much time to summon the yamen runners and the city defense, but it took nearly two hours to rush from the Fusion City to Meiling, traveling all the way at night.

By the time Ruan Zhiheng and Yin Zhizhou arrived at the entrance to Meiling Mountain, Wei Ruiliang had already led the troops personally to guard all the possible paths in and out of Meiling Mountain.

Ruan Zhiheng's heart sank, and he didn't tell anyone else to do it. He just rode his horse around and made a round of inspection himself. When he found that even the official road that passed through the mountains was filled with soldiers brought by Wei Ruiliang, his heart was in his throat.

Seeing that Wei Ruiliang was about to send scouts into Meiling, Ruan Zhiheng hurriedly said, "Sir Wei, there are people in the government office who are familiar with the terrain of Meiling. Why not let them lead the way?"

This would also be a good opportunity to send a message to those who are currently in Meiling, so that they can be prepared to avoid being discovered.

Wei Ruiliang narrowed his eyes and said, "No need. I have just sent people to find hunters who often go hunting in the mountains and are very familiar with the terrain. Let them lead the way."

"As for the people in the government office, they will stay here to help guard the place, in case the soldiers I brought with me are unable to completely resist the attacks of the Jinwei country's villains."

After saying that, Wei Ruiliang raised his hand, and a team of scouts, who were already fully dressed, with daggers and broadswords hanging around their waists and quivers on their backs, began to move.

Following them were dozens of ferocious-looking hounds wearing muzzles.

The scouts, hunters and hunting dogs went into the mountains one after another.

Then, the sounds of various birds chirping could be heard from inside.

Seeing this, Ruan Zhiheng hurriedly said, "Lord Wei, the scouts went into the mountains and scared so many birds. I'm afraid those villains from Jin Wei will be agitated because of this. I heard that these villains from Jin Wei brought a lot of explosives and wanted the Third Prince to be buried with them. If those villains are scared, the Third Prince..."

Since he couldn't send anyone in to deliver the message, all he could do now was to delay time.

The delay lasts until the people in Meiling can sense something is wrong outside, and they will seize the opportunity to evacuate and destroy all traces.

"What you don't know, Governor Ruan, is that the sounds of these birds are not real birds, but a way for scouts to communicate with each other and send signals..."

Before Wei Ruiliang finished speaking, he suddenly raised his hand, signaling Ruan Zhiheng not to speak anymore, and then said to the person beside him, "Lead a hundred people to follow in batches, be careful, and don't get discovered."

"Yes!" Someone below responded, and immediately pulled out the flag from his waist and waved the flag while standing on a high place.

A leader responded immediately and led a hundred people into the mountains quickly.

The chirping of birds continued, and the sound changed slightly.

Wei Ruiliang listened to the sounds of birds, sometimes frowning, sometimes squinting, and from time to time he gestured to the flag bearer next to him.

And with this series of actions, groups of people continued to enter Meiling.

The sun gradually rose higher, and when it reached its highest point, it gradually sank to the west.

People continued to enter Meiling Mountain, and the number of people guarding outside was visibly reduced by more than half.

However, the sweat on the faces of Ruan Zhiheng and Yin Zhizhou was getting more and more, and it even dripped down their cheeks and soaked their robes.

"Prefect Ruan, Prefect Yin, you two don't have to worry so much." Wei Ruiliang said loudly, "With me here, I will definitely ensure the safety of the Third Prince..."

Before he finished speaking, there was a loud "boom" and the ground beneath his feet seemed to shake for a long time. Then a thick smoke rose above Meiling Mountain.

Wei Ruiliang, who was originally sitting, stood up suddenly, staring at Meiling with a serious expression.