On the fifth day of the fifth month, it is advisable to drink realgar wine and soak mugwort in water to cleanse your hands and faces, and avoid the five poisons.

The rooster had just cried, and Wang Jiucheng got up and pushed his son to sleep soundly. He wrapped the five-color silk thread on the wrist of the latter. The father and son carried willow baskets and headed straight for Zeshui River in front of the village.

On the banks of Zeshui River, mugwort is everywhere. However, only mugwort collected from the early morning of the fifth day of the fifth month and with morning dew is the best choice for washing your face on the Dragon Boat Festival. The reason is that mugwort will emit a clear and elegant fragrance when it is newly picked from the ground. After a long time of leaving the soil, the smell will change from a faint fragrance to a strong wormwood smell. If you keep it at home for three consecutive days, you don’t have to soak this thing in water to wash your face. It is the right way to dry the smoked mosquitoes.

As a farmer, Wang Jiucheng was not so particular at first. When he went to the field to collect crops on the morning of the fifth day of the fifth month, he grabbed a handful of mugwort from the ridge of the field and rubbed it on his face, and then passed the Dragon Boat Festival. However, three years ago, he accidentally discovered a big secret. That is, the gate of Zezhou City, even on the Dragon Boat Festival, will only be opened at three o'clock.

In other words, the master and the ladies living in the city must not have time to go out of the city to pick dew-filled mugwort. No matter how many slaves there are, they will not be able to do so unless they are willing to risk being troubled by the government and send slaves to slide over the city wall in the middle of the night!

According to Wang Jiucheng's calculations, the richer the family is, the more particular their life is. If they have fresh mugwort with dew, they will definitely not use the wilted goods left in the evening of the previous day. So, starting four years ago, Wang Jiucheng got up on the morning of the fifth day of the fifth month, when the sky was just bright, he went to the riverside to pick mugwort.

When he filled the big wicker basket on his back, the sky would be completely bright. When he carried the mugwort to the gate of Zezhou City, the gate just opened. Then, he could go around the streets and alleys, sell the mugwort that had been stumbled but no one looked at, and sell it at a high price of two cents for a "small handful" and make a fortune.

A basket of mugwort can be caught about 300 pieces, and one trip will cost 600 people. If you are lucky, you can pick up a nest of wild duck eggs or catch a few frogs when picking mugwort, you will earn more.

Unlike large places such as Chang'an and Taiyuan, everything is expensive. Zezhou is a small town, with only 5 cents of grain per dou and 600 cents of income, and it can already buy twelve stones of millet, which is equivalent to the yield of three acres of good land. Therefore, since the discovery of the "wealth path" of selling mugwort to the people in the city, the Wang family has been living a prosperous life for three consecutive years.

Although since last year, many people have begun to follow him and pick mugwort on the fifth day of the fifth month to sell it. However, with the reputation accumulated in the past, Wang Jiuzheng's income is still considerable. In addition, the mugwort he sells is indeed of better quality than other people's mugwort. Not only are the leaves fuller and greener, but the taste is also fresher.

There must be a secret, and Wang Jiucheng will never tell anyone except his own son. Today, he will take his son to witness the existence of the secret.

Although the father and son got up very early, they could still meet early pedestrians on the road. In order to avoid the spying of their neighbors, Wang Jiu quickly accelerated his pace. Although his son was only twelve years old, he was quite sensible. He didn't ask why his father was so anxious, carrying a willow basket and trotted closely all the way.

The father and son pretended to go to the riverside, then continued to go east along the riverside, and then turned around again. The people who got up early to pick mugwort, break willow branches, dig wild vegetables, and go down the net to catch loaches were all gone, and then they finally slowed down with breathing.

"Give it!" Turning his head and looking at his son Runshui, who had a tall shoulder, Wang Jiucheng handed over an egg, "Put it first, then go quickly. We have to walk for another quarter of an hour when we are going to."

"Yes!" Wang Runshui was the age of half a child who had eaten me to death. He couldn't hear what his father said. He took the egg, turned his mouth horizontally and vertically, and swallowed it clean.

"Be careful to choke!" Wang Jiucheng was startled and quickly untied the water hyacinth on his waist and handed it over. Then, he raised his hand and looked at the back of his son's head. "Little bastard, why are you anxious? No one robbed you!"

"Uh, uh!" The egg yolk was indeed very choking. Wang Runshui jumped a few times before he breathed again. While drinking water, he looked around with a red face.

"What do you think? It's natural for me to hit you. Are you afraid of people laughing?" Wang Jiucheng slapped him again and shouted. Then, he was worried that his son would be choked by water. He quickly walked around behind the other party and patted his son's back with his hands. "I know I'm afraid of people laughing, so I don't know how to eat slowly? Oh, just your eating behavior, don't even think about getting married when you grow up!"

Wang Runshui didn't quite understand the meaning of marrying a wife to life, but just smiled silly. When Wang Jiu saw this, he couldn't help but kick his son in the butt and shouted loudly: "Smile, be careful to choke on the water! Take a few sips and continue on the road. After selling the mugwort, let's go to eat soup cakes! Today, let's open your stomach and eat enough!"

The son was scolded in this room, but in that room, he made a "gurgle" sound. Suddenly, he did not dare to delay any more, turned around and continued to move forward with great strides.

As a son, he realized that his father gave him the only egg, and he felt a little guilty. He quickly carried a willow basket and chased after him. Soon, he ran away and sweated.

This time, even if he felt sorry for his son, Wang Jiucheng did not stop. He walked a long way along the riverside in one breath and then turned to a tributary, and then rushed up the tributary. He slowed down until a large Buddhist temple appeared in front of him: "See, Baima Temple, the tens of thousands of acres of land around him are all from monks in the temple. We want to pick mugwort, right opposite the stream from the back door of Baima Temple. The feng shui there is better than other places. Mugwort is listened to Buddhist scriptures every day and looks much more beautiful than other places."

Wang Runshui was skeptical about his father's words, but he only had the strength to nod. He followed Wang Jiucheng and walked around the Buddhist temple and came to the bank of the stream opposite the back door.

It was indeed a Feng Shui treasure land. Not only did mugwort grow into a large area, wormwood and vinegar grass, but it also grew much more lush than the main trunk of Zeshui. Wang Jiuzhen forgot about hunger and fatigue, and pierced his head, pulled out his waist and pulled out a sickle to start harvesting. It was not until he put the willow basket on his back for half that he straightened his body again. While pounding his fists were hitting his waist, he taught his son face-to-face advice, "You see clearly, don't pick it randomly like pig grass. Each mugwort plant only takes the tip half-foot long part. If it is low, it cannot be taken, it tastes too heavy. If it is too short, it cannot be taken. It has not grown, and it looks bad..."

Mei Fei Sewu introduced a lot of experiences, but received no response. Wang Jiucheng was stunned and frowned and glanced around, "Runshui, Xiao Shuizi, where have you been?! The sun was about to rise, we both have no time to delay..."

Still no response, his son's willow basket was lying in the grass not far away, and was slowly rolling by the morning breeze. Now, Wang Jiucheng was really anxious and didn't bother to pick mugwort. He rushed to his son's willow basket in three steps and two steps, shouting loudly, "Xiao Shuizi, Xiao Shuizi, where have you gone? Xiao Shuizi, you..."

"Grandma, I'm here!" An extremely low voice suddenly came from the river channel of the Zeshui tributary. There was a hint of trembling, "Grandma, don't shout so loudly. Come here quickly, there is money in the river, a lot of money, and, grandma, there seems to be Yintuo..."

"What did you say?" Wang Jiucheng was so scared that he shivered, holding the sickle and heading straight to the direction of the sound. "Say it again? Who are you? Don't harm my son! Otherwise, I will fight you for the best!"

There has always been a legend in the countryside that if a mountain spirit ghost wants to harm people, it will use various methods to confuse people's eyes. It will trick people into jumping into the water and drowning, or go into the deep mountains and be eaten by beasts. If a child's yang energy is not strong enough, it is most likely to become the target of a mountain spirit ghost...

Holding the idea of ​​fighting with the mountain spirit and water ghosts to the death, Wang Jiucheng went crazy and rushed to his son. However, he did not find any evil spirits, only his son, who was wearing a lot of yellow and white things in his clothes, and giggled at him.

"Boy, go up first and go ashore." Wang Jiucheng used a sickle to slash in the air several times to confirm that there was no mountain essence ghost invisible beside his son. Then, he rubbed his left eye hard with his hands covered with mugwort juice.

The left eye was stimulated and tears immediately flowed out. Close the right eye and through the green tears, he tried to look into his son's arms. There were still a lot of golden and white Liangliang, like a fake one. He looked down at the river water under his feet, but found that the river water was only high in his calf. It was difficult to drown a mouse, let alone a twelve-year-old half-year-old boy!

Without mountain essence and water ghosts, copper coins and silver ingots are real, right in the river! The strong sense of happiness made Wang Jiucheng dizzy. He didn't bother to take care of his son who had already walked to the shore. He rushed back to his big willow basket like a whirlwind, emptyed the mugwort inside, and then rushed back to the river like a whirlwind, bent down to pick up the money quickly.

Most of them were Tongbao, with only a few silver ingots. However, Wang Jiucheng was not picky. Whether it was yellow or white, as long as the naked eye could see it, he would put it in the basket. In a blink of an eye, the copper coins and silver ingots around him were picked up completely. He stared at his red eyes and panted and glanced upstream. Then, he found more copper coins and silver ingots.

"Put the copper coins and silver you are in your pocket first into the basket, and then come down to help!" He turned his head and let out a strange roar at his son. He walked towards the copper coins and silver ingots, his breathing as heavy as a cow.

However, Wang Runshui once again violated his father's order. He pointed to the river channel upstream, and his body shook like a sieve. "Grandma, there are some people, there are people over there. Yes, it's a dead person, a dead monk."

"What?" Wang Jiucheng was frightened, and all the copper coins he had just taken out fell back into the water. He straightened his waist and quickly looked in the direction of his son's finger. A monk's body quickly entered his sight!

"Puu!" He threw the willow basket containing copper coins and silver ingots into the water, tremblingly spread his legs, and stumbled towards the upstream corpse. Then, more were discovered.

There are corpses all over the water on the shore. From the middle of the river to the back door of the temple, they are all bald, carrying large bags and small wraps on their backs. The copper coins and silver ingots that fell in the stream were only a small part of them. In the pool of blood near the temple, there are more.

The pools of blood were already black, and crows and flies were crowded around them. Hearing Wang Jiucheng's footsteps approaching, with a "boom", the crows and flies soared into the air, and in an instant, the sky was dim and dark!

……………………

"The governor, the White Horse Temple in the East Suburbs was slaughtered last night, and all the monks in the temple were killed cleanly." About half an hour later, a thunderous news came to Zezhou.

"The news is true? You, you are not wrong. This is the Dragon Boat Festival, don't listen to the wind and rain!" Zezhou Governor Wu Liang, who was the governor of Zezhou, held the table with his hands, and was about to cry without tears.

It was so unlucky, it was so bad that he had been in eight lifetimes! He spent more than 4,000 yuan to buy the position of governor, and then spent three times the price to operate. It was not until March this year that he finally made up for the governor of Zhongzhou. Before he could start recycling the money, a shocking case occurred under his rule!

"Yes, Governor!" Jiang Nan, the deputy general of the recorder, shook his head with a sad face, "The horses of the state yamen have almost verified it. From the White Horse Temple in the East Suburbs, all of them were killed. In the entire temple, there were only two young novice monks who had just entered the temple less than half a year and were kept by the murderer."

"Then, what are you waiting for? Catch the little novice monk and question it! If the murderer didn't know them, why would he face them?!" Wu Liangmou stomped his feet suddenly and ordered in a furious manner. "It must be that the little novice monk colluded with the robbers. If they couldn't do it well, the two little novice monks were deliberately sent to the undercover agent of the White Horse Temple, and then secretly opened the mountain door for the robbers while other monks were asleep! Yes, it must be like this. No one knows better than me, catch them quickly, and catch them quickly, pry their mouths open, and do anything!"

"The governor is wise!" Sima Xiayan, the director of Xiao Jian, Hu Lie, and the seven Caos, all bowed to praise him. However, no one took the initiative to come forward to receive the order.

Unlike the governor Wu Liangmou, their official positions were either obtained through real talent and knowledge, or they were achieved step by step from the bottom of the country through solid political achievements. Therefore, everyone did not need to think with their brains, and they could know that what the governor had issued was a life-threatening situation.

The little novice monk had already been scared and didn't have to be arrested at all. If the yamen could provide them with a place to stay temporarily, even in prison, they would be grateful. As for the situation asked by the little novice monk, it must have been clues deliberately left by the robbers. If they were to investigate the clues according to those clues, the final result would be futile.

"Then go!" Wu Liangmou stomped his feet hard and urged repeatedly, "Catch the little novice monk, ask who the robber is, where he lives, and immediately ask the Governor's Office to send troops to wipe out! The Emperor Shengming is in power, and the sea is clear and the river is peaceful. How can he tolerate bandits destroying the whole family indiscriminately?"

"Reported to the governor, the little novice has already proved the murderer. The bandit came from Baiwangzhai, led by Qi Mo, the fourth leader, and said that he wanted to avenge their boss, the second leader and the third leader!" Jiang Nan, the deputy general, was kind-hearted and could not bear to watch Wu Liangmao make a fool of himself, and continued to report with a sad face.

"Baiwangzhai? Where is Baiwangzhai? Why does this name sound so familiar?" Wu Liangmou was stunned and frowned. Then he suddenly slapped the table hard, "Oh, I, I remembered it. Baiwangzhai, wasn't it the rumors that the secretary and young supervisor Zhang Qian was intercepted and killed a few days ago, but unfortunately kicked the group of bandits who were in the big iron plate? Didn't the three robber leaders in the team die at the hands of Shuofang Army? Why did they fall on the head of the White Horse Temple again?!"

No one answered his words, and even the most kind-hearted recorder Jiang Nan retreated helplessly, lowered his head and pretended to be mute.

Not to mention the case of bandits intercepting and killing the secretary, Zhang Qian, the young supervisor, is just a "rumor" and has not been confirmed by the official residence report. Even if the rumors are true, it is not a smart choice to force the case of Dongshan Baima Temple to this case.

A family-killing case occurred in the jurisdiction area. Even if the murderer cannot be found, the worst result will only make the performance of the governor and county magistrate ugly, spend more money to handle it, and after the three-year term expires, there will be no delay in transfer or promotion. The family-killing case will be mixed with the case of intercepting the incumbent officials, and the final result will be completely out of control and expectations of the parties involved.

Since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, how many cases have robbers intercepted and killed in-service officials? Which time did not involve factional struggles behind it. The vortex of factional struggle has always been different from right or wrong, only asking about winning or losing. If an originally irrelevant person plunged in, he would be lucky, but he might be promoted to three levels in a row. If he had bad luck and mistaken positioning, the consequence might be that his family would be confiscated and his family would be exterminated!

"Why, I, did you say it wrong?" After not getting anyone's response, Wu Liangmou finally realized that he might have spoken out of the way, frowned and asked in a low voice. "If I am wrong, I will just say it bluntly. I will not hold grudges, so there is no need to pretend to be deaf and dumb. I asked myself that when I take any of my own, I have never missed any money. I have not violated all the rules in the yamen. You must use snacks to help me, otherwise I will be the governor. I may not have a better life than now!"

Although this was a little rough, it was very real. Immediately, the officials present began to communicate quickly with their eyes. After a while, Sima Xiayan sighed, slowly stepped forward, and bowed to Wu Liangmou, "Governor, you should admit your bad luck in this matter! It is better to not solve the case!"

"Ask you for being unlucky? What does it mean? I am already unlucky enough, how can I recognize you?" Wu Liangmou was confused and asked with his "innocent" eyes widened.

"I can't make random guesses, I can only assume it. It may not be true. Just think we are gossiping." Sima Xiayan hesitated for a moment, and his voice suddenly became extremely low. "Suppose, suppose, suppose, suppose, someone bribed the bandits to intercept you on your way to the post. Although you were unscathed, will you swallow this later?"

"How is that possible? I must find the person who buys the evil spirit and skin him and get cramps!" Wu Liangmou slapped the table hard again, gritting his teeth, "Otherwise, who can guarantee that he will not have the next time?"

"That's the reason. It's rumored that there was a monk who died with the bandits. The name of the Dharma is painful." Xia Yan grinned with a wry smile and slowly added. "And the abbot of the White Horse Temple in Dongshan is difficult to get the name of the Dharma is difficult!"

"You mean, you mean, Zhang Shaojian, Zhang Shaojian pretended to be a robber to take revenge!" Although Wu Liangmou bought his official position, his IQ was not low. He immediately widened his eyes and sucked in a cold air. "God, he is so brave. He, he is right. The court has not given him an explanation until now. If I change him, I have to ask for an explanation myself!"

"The governor is wise!" Xia Yan had fulfilled his responsibilities and bowed his hands.

"There is nothing to do with wise men. No one can afford to offend anyone!" Wu Liangmou raised his hand and slapped himself, and fell back into the chair. "Forget it, you are right, I admit that I am unlucky! Come on, block the White Horse Temple, and then report the case as a headless case. I have no ability to investigate the murderer..."

Halfway through his words, he suddenly stood up again, staring at the officials under his command like a knife, "How is the protection of the scene of the murder? Has anyone destroyed it?"

"Report to the governor, the monks have a lot of money. After the murder spread, the people around them entered the temple and rummaged in the cabinets. The scene was already in chaos!" Zhang Baosheng, the judicial officer, gritted his teeth and responded loudly.

"Damn it!" Wu Liangmou pretended to be upset, then quickly asked, "Where are those two little novice monks, do they know who the murderer is?"

"The little novice monk was scared crazy, his preface was inconsistent, and his confession was insufficient as evidence!" Xiao Jian understood the recording and responded loudly from the other side.

"Then report it, I can't do anything!" Chief Wu Liang breathed out and sat back on the chair again.

"The governor is wise!" The officials praised in unison, with solemn faces all over their faces, like statues of gods in temples.
Chapter completed!