When Qin Liang and others drove into Lu'an City, it was already ten days later.
It is raining heavily, and the raindrops are thin and dense. From a distance, the scenery in the city looks like it is shrouded in heavy fog. When the wind blows, the vast rain curtain floats in the air, like bursts of white smoke.
Similar.
Queen Mother Guo and the other two did not enter the county mansion immediately. It was not dark yet, so Qin Liang temporarily settled them in a small courtyard in the northwest of the county mansion.
The county government has four turrets, but there is almost no floating population in Lu'an City, and the personnel are relatively simple. In the past, Qin Liang did not place sentries on the two turrets in the north. However, he requisitioned all the houses behind the county government for official use.
, actually all empty.
The house where Queen Mother Guo was staying was located behind the county mansion. Across a street, the turret of the county mansion looked a little blurry in the dense rain, and the image seemed to have changed into a different style.
After Qin Liang changed into his official uniform, he said goodbye to the two of them temporarily and planned to return to the county government to make some preparations.
He drove to the vicinity of Silk Barn and walked to find Yinci to drive. Otherwise, it would be a bit strange for the county governor to drive in himself.
After seeing each other, Yinci said: "I have something important to do. I was just about to see the king. Wang Wuji (Wang Kang) said that the king was out of the city. Is there anything I can discuss with him? I thought about it. I'd better wait for two days before the king returns to the city.
.”
Qin Liang said: "Go to Di Ge to talk."
So Yinci drove the carriage into the county mansion, and the two got off the car and entered the front hall courtyard, walked along the corridor, and climbed onto the high platform. Qin Liang did not go to the front hall.
The official nodded in response and took Yinci to the administrative room on one side.
Qin Liang has been the prefect of Lujiang County for a year or two. This is often the case. He usually doesn't see anyone, and is mostly out patrolling and arranging specific affairs. When he comes back very late, the carriage goes directly to the inner house. Sometimes he lasts for a day or two.
For months, everyone has become accustomed to not meeting with officials in the front hall to discuss matters.
Yinci then reached into his arms and took out a thin bamboo tube, then pulled out a roll of paper and handed it over with both hands.
Qin Liang unfolded it, looked at it, raised his head and asked, "A letter from Zhu Deng, the School Affairs Office?"
Yinci nodded and said: "I can't often go to Luoyang to meet him, so I tell him that if anything happens in Luoyang, I will write a letter and send it over."
Qin Liang asked: "Who sent the letter?"
Yinci said: "Huang Yuan."
Qin Liang didn't remember who Huang Yuan was for a while, but he remembered it after a moment. Fortunately, Huang Yuan's name was given by Qin Liang, so he had an impression.
Huang Yuan was the banker in charge of the manor on the south bank of the Luo River. He was an illiterate strong man. After Qin Liang remembered it, he also remembered that the strong man said that others called him Ah Huang, Gouzi, and that he could only read two words of Douda.
Luokang. That’s why Qin Liang chose the name.
Yinci's voice said: "This man seems to be quite loyal. One time when I returned to Luoyang, I went to Fujun's yard in Lejin. Unexpectedly, someone opened the door and came in. I didn't know who the person was, so I hid behind the cabinet first.
.
The people who came were none other than Huang Yuan and his wife. He asked the woman to clean the house, and he went to check whether the tile roof was leaking. He also said a lot to the woman, probably because the prince was kind to his family and was grateful.
They also said that Wang Kang Raochong was also a banker, but he became an official. He only had to do what he could do first, and he would be able to serve the emperor in the future.
There was no one living in the yard at that time, and Huang Yuan was hiding. Most of what he said to his wife was the truth. He didn't look like a treacherous person, so the servant thought that this man should be reliable, so he gave it to him.
We have arranged an errand. If Zhu Deng delivers a letter to the manor, he will ask Huang Yuan to deliver it to Lu'an."
Qin Liang thought about it for a while. The details of Huang Yuan's family were very clear. They had been farmers since the previous generation, so there was no problem. Moreover, Qin Liang had served as a school official, so it was nothing to ask the school official to find out some public information about Luoyang.
Unforgivable things.
He nodded in approval.
Yinci couldn't wait and said in a deep voice: "Her Royal Highness the Queen Mother has been kidnapped!"
Qin Liang could only pretend to be a little surprised and couldn't help but glance at Yin Ci.
Huang Yuan, who delivered the news, mostly came on horseback, and actually arrived in Lu'an before Qin Liang and others.
Yinci added: "I still don't know whether it was the General's Mansion or the Taifu's Mansion that did this."
Qin Liang read the letter in silence first. The news that His Highness was kidnapped was of little use to him, because he was the one who did it.
But the letter still contained a valuable piece of news. After the general's performance, the Tingwei was replaced. Gao Rou was promoted to Sikong, and Chen Ben was promoted to Tingwei.
Seeing this, Qin Liang breathed a sigh of relief.
Regarding Your Highness's case, if Gao Rou was in charge of the investigation, he might have a better hope. Gao Rou's trial methods may not be as good as Man Chong's, but he has worked in Tingwei for more than 20 years, and at least he has rich experience.
A person who can do practical things.
As for Chen Ben, Qin Liang also knew a little about it. When Qin Liang was doing the school affairs, he had read almost all the documents related to these officials who came from the noble families. Chen Ben had a good relationship with Xia Houxuan, but he didn't understand criminal law at all.
, has no experience at all, and is a person who doesn’t care about specific affairs at all.
If such a person comes to investigate such a case, Chen Benneng will find something wrong. Taking into account Xia Houxuan's relationship, Chen Benn was temporarily appointed as Tingwei, which is obviously the result of Zhengzhi's position.
No matter what, this time Cao Shuang helped Qin Liang inexplicably! Of course, the Queen Mother's affairs are actually beneficial to Cao Shuang's house.
Qin Liang nodded and said, "You did a great job."
Yinci then bowed his head and said, "I'll take my leave first."
Qin Liang did not go out immediately, but stayed at the banquet in the office for a while.
He was still on tenterhooks. He had an uneasy feeling that he had committed a murder, as if he had become a fugitive, and he felt like he couldn't even sleep well.
At this time, he was a county guard. In fact, killing someone was not a big deal, but kidnapping the Queen Mother was much more serious than killing someone. It can be seen that what people feared was mostly not human life, but the sanction of the law.
Only by relying on reason can one barely restrain such feelings.
Qin Liang recalled what he had done again, very cautiously. It had been too long, and there were no people coming and going around the yard. There were no pedestrians in the narrow alley in front of the yard; not to mention that Qin Liang was always wearing a raincoat.
, smothered in a bamboo hat. The case was not a homicide. There were no murder weapons or any other corpses at the scene, and there were very few traces. At this time, there were no fingerprint identification, genetic testing, cameras and other technical means. It was really not easy to find him.
Moreover, the person in charge was replaced by Chen Ben, so it was almost impossible to find any clues about this matter!
Of course, the most hidden reason is that no one would suspect Qin Liang. He has no motive and has almost no social relationship with the Zhen family. The relationship with the Queen Mother Guo does not count, otherwise the civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty would be related to each other.
In addition, in Luoyang now, the two men's eyes are on each other, and they will not think of Qin Liang, an "irrelevant" person.
Therefore, it is unlikely that he will be exposed, and worry is just an instinctive reaction.
Besides, even if they suspect him, no one dares to check casually. The eight mixed brigades in Qin Liang's hands, plus the seal and ribbon of Her Royal Highness the Queen Mother, are not for good looks. If you want to deal with Qin Liang now, there are fewer people from Luoyang, so directly
Give away people's heads; if there are too many people coming, it is not investigating the case, but suppressing the rebellion.
Qin Liang puffed out his cheeks and let out a breath, thinking: The matter has come to this, what else can be done?