"Go back to me, sir, Chen Ping has received the letter."
"Well, you go down."
"...It depends on whether you, Chen Ping and Chen Huiyuan, will stay in the capital and wait for the imperial examination, or go south to Lingzhou, haha."
......
In the damp and cold state prison in Lingzhou, a miserable-looking prisoner was holding on to the thick wooden fence and looking longingly at the jailer a few steps away.
"Masters, please do me a favor and give me something to eat. The little one is so hungry that he really can't sleep."
The prisoner kept swallowing, his eyes almost popped out, and he begged in a hoarse voice.
The two jailers in charge of the night watch ignored them. They had been in prison for a long time and were used to such prisoners.
"Shut up and scream again? Grandpa will stretch your skin for you!"
A scolding made the prisoner shut his mouth decisively, and the jailer turned his head and continued to fall asleep.
An hour or two passed in the blink of an eye. When the prisoner was awakened by hunger again, he seemed to hear some movement.
Unlike the snoring and panting of the inmates next to them, this movement actually came from outside, and it was getting closer and closer!
"Squeak——!"
The cell door was slowly pushed open, and the slight sound did not attract anyone's attention, except for one person.
Through the few rays of moonlight in the cell, the prisoner vaguely saw several figures in black coming in. Obviously, these people were definitely not the guards who came to change shifts.
When several men in black walked straight towards the prisoner, the prisoner's eyes lit up. He did not dare to make any sound until he saw the men in black coming to his cell.
"Boss Gong, is this Boss Gong?"
The prisoner was stunned for a moment, then subconsciously agreed because he didn't want to let go of this opportunity to escape from the prison.
"It's me, it's me! Come on, get me out!" the prisoner shouted while holding the cell door open.
"Get you out, hehe, don't worry, I'll come right now." The leader of the men in black laughed ferociously, passed through the cell doorpost and grabbed the prisoner's hand, then suddenly took out a dagger from his waist and stabbed the prisoner.
Go.
Almost at the same time, a steady and powerful voice suddenly sounded, breaking the peace in the prison.
"Catch me!!!"
The sudden change made the prisoner still in a daze, but several men in black were shocked and looked around hurriedly.
I saw two jailers who were sleeping suddenly suddenly burst out and rushed over with swords in hand. The doors of several cells nearby were suddenly opened, and a group of soldiers wearing hard-wearing armor rushed out in a swarm.
As for the leader, it is Lingzhou Zhizhou Tang Hao!
At this time, Tang Hao was wearing iron armor, carrying a bag on his head, and holding a short sword and small shield. He was already in the same posture as he was in the army.
"Don't let them escape!"
Tang Hao shouted angrily, and then suddenly jumped up to a man in black. He raised the knife and brought it down with such force that he didn't even pause. The man's body and head were separated on the spot, and blood gushed out.
Seeing that they were being tricked, the men in black did not flinch, they raised their weapons and began to resist desperately.
However, due to the disparity in numbers and martial arts, Tang Hao and his men were quickly annihilated, leaving only one person alive in the end.
"Shua!"
Putting away the dagger, Tang Hao ordered the man in black to be taken away for interrogation.
He expected that someone would come to kidnap or silence Gong Heng, so he hid Gong Heng elsewhere in advance and found a scapegoat to act as Gong Heng. Now it turned out to be what he thought!
"Smugglers hoarding 100,000 shi of grain is already a serious crime that can be decapitated. Now they dare to kill officers and soldiers. How is this different from rebellion?"
Tang Hao's eyes were cold, and he was wondering whether to report the latest situation in Lingzhou overnight or continue to wait, when a sergeant ran over quickly.
"Sir, there has been trouble where the brother named Gong is being placed. I'm afraid there are dozens of people coming over there with the intention of robbing us!"
The sergeant was out of breath, while Tang Hao's pupils shrank and his heart thumped.
Damn it, I fell into the trap of luring the tiger away from the mountain!
Before he had time to think about it, he immediately led his troops and headed straight to where Gong Heng was.
However, when Tang Hao and a group of soldiers arrived panting, they only saw blood spots splattered all over the ground and the bodies of more than a dozen sergeants.
And there are only five corpses of the men in black!
"Sir, Gong Heng is dead."
Joining the army walked out of the room, shaking his head with a gloomy expression.
Tang Hao's breath did not change, he just walked to the dead sergeant. If only one Gong Heng died, he would still be able to accept it, but now?
I didn’t bring many brothers from Qianzhou, but I lost more than a dozen tonight!
"Take care of the brothers who died in the battle."
After Tang Hao ordered him to go down, he looked up at the night sky.
The opponent's troops are divided into two groups. The one in the prison is just a feint attack, and those here are the main force. If there is no one behind this, Tang Hao will not believe it even if he kills him!
"There are too many offal in Lingzhou!"
Early the next morning, the people in Lingzhou City suddenly discovered that there were more officers and soldiers patrolling the streets.
There are even rumors that a group of bad guys came to the city last night and killed many officers and soldiers. For a while, the people in the city became uneasy.
In the yamen, this uneasiness became more and more intense.
There are many petty officials in the two yamen of Zhifu and Zhizhou who communicate with each other. At this time, these petty officials are all cautious, whispering and secretly communicating with each other from time to time.
"Brother Yang, what do you think about what happened last night?"
In the magistrate's yamen, Lingzhou magistrate Tang Hao and Lingzhou magistrate Yang Anguo sat across the table.
Since the two of them reached a consensus to advance and retreat together, they have now become brothers. After all, this is a major matter that affects their wealth and life.
Tang Hao's eyes were bloodshot when he spoke, and his voice was slightly hoarse, as if he had been up all night.
"Brother Tang, I will tell you the truth as a brother. Don't think that you and I are in charge of the military and political power of Lingzhou. In fact, we have to govern this huge Lingzhou. How can we do it without relying on the subordinate officials below?"
"Lingzhou alone cannot store 100,000 shi of grain. Those people can transport 100,000 shi of grain to Lingzhou without anyone noticing. Do you think a merchant like him has this ability? Even even
I know a thing or two about it, how can those subordinate officials and local gentry not know about it?"
Yang Anguo exhaled and sighed: "Now that the clues are gone, the most we can do is punish Gong Heng and the Bai family, unless..."
"Unless what?" Tang Hao asked.
"Unless there is an order from the capital, I think we should stop here."
The corner of Tang Hao's mouth twitched a few times. The order from the capital may not be issued. The imperial examination has been postponed and the emperor will not go to court. All the princes in the court are waiting for the change of the situation.
His superior only said that he could contact Chen Ping and did not mention other matters.
But just forget it?
"There will be no investigation without an order from the capital?" Tang Hao asked rhetorically.
Yang Anguo was also extremely helpless: "It's not that we won't investigate anymore, it's because we really can't do anything about it."
"It's not for anything else. Even if we find out, if we pull out the carrot and bring out the mud, we will offend the entire people of Lingzhou. What do you think will happen to us two brothers?"
Yang Anguo advised: "Listen to my advice and stop!"
Stop? It’s absolutely impossible, but you definitely can’t tell Yang Anguoming about your situation and the things arranged by your superiors.
Tang Hao was silent and did not answer. At this moment, a voice suddenly sounded outside the door.
"Master Tang, there is a letter from the capital!"
Yang Anguo, who was still frowning at first, was afraid that he would be tormented by Tang Hao, a stupid young man. He suddenly regained his energy and tentatively asked Tang Hao.
"Brother Tang, is this...?"
Tang Hao ignored him and walked quickly to the door. After opening the door and taking the letter, he glanced at it and knew who sent it.
"Brother Yang, you said just now that you couldn't investigate, haha, now you can!"
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