Emperor Yongxing said, "Didn't the letter say that the son of the prefect of Maozhou saw the prefect of Maozhou marking on the map? Give him a map and ask him to mark it."

Wu Bangtai nodded and said, "My son also meant the same thing, so he wrote to me and asked me to find him a map of Maozhou.

I also want to find out if there have been any further incidents with their relatives since the Maozhou prefect’s family was murdered.”

Emperor Yongxing waved his hand and said, "There is no rush for this matter. Let's get the map sorted out first."

"Go and call Wang Changming."

"Yes, Your Majesty." The eunuch immediately arranged for someone to pass on the message, and soon after, Wang Changming hurried over.

Emperor Yongxing handed the map to Wang Changming and instructed him, "Marquis Jing'an is in Mingzhou Prefecture right now. You should go find Marquis Jing'an immediately, and then go with him to find Wu Deyong.

Give the map to Wu Deyong, he will tell you what happened, and the three of you should work together to find out the truth."

Wang Changming didn't know what had happened, but he didn't dare to delay for a moment and immediately went to Mingzhou Prefecture.

…

Marquis Jing'an has already arranged all the people to go down, and they all deliver the goods every day with the people from Wang Xingren's braised meat workshop.

Whenever Marquis Jing'an arrived at a provincial capital, he would stay there for a while.

It was easy for Wang Changming to find Marquis Jing'an. He just had to stay in a braised meat shop when he arrived in Mingzhou Prefecture.

After finding Jing'an Hou, Wang Changming told him what Emperor Yongxing had said. Jing'an Hou had some guesses in his mind, and the two of them did not delay and immediately set off for Changning County.

Wang Xingren also followed him back to Changning County. He hadn’t seen his wife for a while, so he had to go back and see her…

When Marquis Jing'an and Wang Changming arrived in Changning County, more than ten days had passed since Wu Deyong sent the letter to the capital.

As soon as they arrived in Changning County, Wang Xingren parted ways with his father, "Dad, you guys go find my uncle, I won't go with you."

Marquis Jing'an glanced at Wang Xingren and waved his hand to tell him to go away.

Wu Deyong was a little surprised to see Marquis Jing'an and Wang Changming coming together, "My Lord, Lord Wang, why are you here?"

Wang Changming smiled bitterly, "We don't know what happened yet..."

Wang Changming handed the map to Wu Deyong and said, "The emperor asked me to bring it to you. The emperor said you will tell us what happened."

Wu Deyong was stunned for a moment, but when he saw it was a map of Maozhou, he understood.

He first recounted the case of the Maozhou prefect's family being exterminated, and then asked in confusion: "Why does the emperor attach so much importance to this matter? Is it related to what the Marquis is investigating now?"

After listening to Wu Deyong's story, Marquis Jing'an and Wang Changming both thought about this.

Marquis Jing'an said, "Let's bring the people here to look at the map first."

Wu Deyong nodded and said, "Then I will send someone to call him over right away."

Not long after Wang Xingren arrived in Daping Village and was being teased by Zhang Hulan, the yamen runners arrived.

"Madam Zhang, the master asked you to go to the county government office immediately. Don't forget to bring someone with you."

Zhang Hulan understood who she was asked to take with her, so she immediately went to find Liu Cong and then rushed to the county government office.

Zhang Hulan was a little surprised to see Marquis Jing'an. Wu Deyong introduced them to Liu Cong, "This is Marquis Jing'an, and this is Lord Wang, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice. They were sent by the Emperor to investigate your family's case.

You should think carefully again and see if there are any other clues."

When Liu Cong heard that the emperor had personally appointed a marquis and a vice minister of the Ministry of Justice to investigate his family's case, Liu Cong burst into tears. He felt that his father and his family had not died in vain.

Liu Cong knelt down and kowtowed, saying, "Thank you, Your Majesty, and thank you, Lord Marquis, Lord Wang, and Lord Wu, for redressing the injustice for my family..."

Jing'an Hou said, "Get up and point out the marks on the map first. Then tell us everything you know in detail. Don't miss anything."

"Yes, sir."

Wu Deyong pointed to the map and said, "Please point to the places your father marked at that time."

Liu Cong looked at the map carefully, then circled three locations on the map with a pen.

"I only saw three at the time. I don't know whether my father marked other places later."

Marquis Jing'an, Wang Changming and Wu Deyong looked at the three circles drawn by Liu Cong, all of which were names of mountains.

One is called "Miyun Mountain", one is "Tieshuling", and the other is "Dayan Mountain".

Jing'an Hou and Wang Changming's eyes flashed, and then Jing'an Hou asked Liu Cong: "Do you know these places?"

Liu Cong replied: "I haven't been there, but I've heard of it."

Jing'an Hou then asked: "Have you heard what is special about these three places? Are there any bandits?"

Liu Cong shook his head, "No, these three places are all mountains.

These three places are not just a single mountain, but a group of mountains. It’s just that those three mountains are the highest.

There were rumors that tigers roamed these places and injured people. Generally, no one goes to these places, not even those who collect herbs or cut wood. "

Marquis Jing'an nodded, and then asked Liu Cong to tell them some information he knew.

Liu Cong recounted all the circumstances that had occurred before the incident in his family.

These days he has also been thinking about whether he has missed anything.

In addition to what he talked about last time, Liu Cong really remembered one thing.

"There is one more thing. About ten days before the incident in my family, my father submitted a report."

"Report?" Marquis Jing'an and Wang Changming stared at Liu Cong. "Do you know the content of the report and where it was delivered?"

"I don't know about that." Liu Cong shook his head and said, "At that time, I just saw my father's entourage coming out of the study with a report."

Marquis Jing'an and the others thought it was true. It was impossible for a child to know the contents of the report.

They all knew that the content of the report was the key, but this clue was useless and there was no way they could find the report.

"Are there any other clues?" Wang Changming asked.

Liu Cong shook his head. "That's all. I've thought of everything I can think of."

After asking all the necessary questions, Wu Deyong asked Zhang Hulan and Liu Cong to go back and call them if there was anything else.

Just as Zhang Hulan and Liu Cong were about to leave, a yamen runner rushed in and said, "Sir, this is bad. Is there a plague in our county?"

"What?"

Everyone in the room stood up in shock.

Wu Deyong asked hurriedly: "What exactly happened?"

The yamen runner replied, "Just now, the teacher of Weixin Academy came to the yamen to report that more than 30 students in the academy have contracted madness."

"Has it been confirmed?"

"The teacher at the academy said that he had consulted a doctor and it has been confirmed.

All the students had large lumps on their faces and behind their ears, which were very painful. Some of the more serious cases even developed fever.

Wu Deyong was very anxious, and Zhang Hulan was also very anxious.

She had never heard of madness and didn't know what kind of plague it was.

Zhang Xiaojun, Zhang Xiaobing and Shan Zike are all in the academy. I don’t know if they have been infected.