Waiting for the closing

As far as the eye could see was a big pit. The mountain they had been climbing seemed to come to an abrupt end here and suddenly became concave, so that they could overlook the entire scene below.

There is a round "black hole" in the middle of the pit, and there is no light from a distance.

There were many small houses of varying sizes surrounding this circular black hole, with tiny lights on in the pitch-black night, but no one was seen.

Outside of that were layers of forests, spreading from the bottom of the pit to the top of the mountain where they were.

Because the terrain here was too strange and the vision was limited at night, Lu Yu decided to retreat first. He ordered his men to surround this strange pit and wait until tomorrow to make another move.

The next morning, Bai Miaoke followed Lu Yu back up the mountain, and this time they finally saw the entire pit.

The round black hole in the middle is actually a house, but it has turned gray after being exposed to wind and sun in the mountains for a long time.

There are small houses of different sizes scattered around, but they are just built with stones, and some of them look shaky.

As they looked down, several people in the pit looked up at them.

There were several men in ragged clothes, two of them even just covered their bodies with some yellow and dry leaves.

Looking at these people who were staring up blankly, Bai Miaoke felt indescribable weirdness. She exchanged a glance with Lu Yu, and the two decided to go down and take a look.

The slope was very steep. Bai Miaoke and Lu Yu held on to each other and almost supported each other as they moved down.

When the men saw them coming down, they raised the sticks in their hands vigilantly in a defensive posture.

"Who are you? Why are you here?" Lu Yu asked.

The people looked at each other and no one answered.

"Tell me the truth, or I'll kill you!" Bai Miaoke's bright face showed a vicious expression, which was breathtakingly beautiful in Lu Yu's eyes.

Seeing that they were still indifferent and just trembling with their sticks in hand, Bai Miaoke simply drew the sword of a guard beside her and cut the stick in half with one stroke.

Perhaps frightened by her, one of the middle-aged men, whose clothes were not too torn, wiped his tears, made a "aba aba" sound, opened his mouth and pointed at his tongue with his finger.

Bai Miaoke was surprised to find that these men had their tongues cut off. She couldn't help but frown, feeling ashamed of her attitude just now.

Lu Yu still had that indifferent expression. He asked Fugui to fetch pen and ink, and asked them to write down what happened one question at a time.

It turned out that they were villagers who lived in Lijia Village at the foot of the mountain. They were requisitioned by the government office to deliver goods into the mountain. They were told that they could get five taels of silver for each trip, so these young and strong laborers signed up one after another.

Little did they know that the goods they delivered were swords, guns and armor. Privately storing weapons was a serious crime, let alone so many of them, so they had their tongues cut off and were left here to fend for themselves.

It's not that no one tried to escape, but they were killed by the government soldiers before they could get down the mountain, so they gave up the idea and built stone houses one after another on the mountain. And as more and more things were sent up the mountain, more and more people were left here, and the unlucky ones were eaten by the wild beasts on the mountain. They were the only ones who survived by chance.

After reading their written experiences, everyone present was silent.

It was the first time that Bai Miaoke realized that it was not only wars that killed people in this world, but also the various preparations for wars could cost the lives of ordinary people.

Opening the circular house in the middle, it was filled with rows of weapons and armor. Lu Yu picked up one and weighed it. It was even more sophisticated than those used by the imperial army now.

Lu Yu ordered his men to guard the place well. Now that all the evidence and witnesses were available, all that was left was to close the case.

The most important thing now is to send the evidence back to the capital as soon as possible. They have discovered that the news here will soon be exposed, and their situation will become more and more dangerous day by day.

Lu Yu immediately wrote a memorial to the emperor about the incident and sent it back to the capital. At this point, there was no need to hide his identity. Although he returned the prefect's youngest son, he confiscated his property and put him in jail the next second.

He took control of the government office the next day, recruited all the soldiers, and handed over the disobedient troublemakers to the Embroidered Uniform Guard for handling. The situation in Gusu soon changed.

After this series of operations, it's not that no one doubted his position as prime minister, but he had the support of Prince Xiang and Lord Xu behind him, plus his thundering means of suppression.

Soon news came out: the prime minister personally brought a large army to Jiangnan to take charge, and the State of Yan would never dare to commit crimes again.

Of course, this news was false information deliberately released by Lu Yu. On the one hand, it was to deceive the Grand Tutor Ma Hongzhe to see if he had any backup plan. On the other hand, it was to intimidate the Yan people stationed outside, telling them not to act rashly and buy time for the court.

As for heavy troops, there were naturally none. It was just that Rong Qing led a hundred or so borrowed people to train day and night every morning and evening, which seemed quite powerful.

Bai Miaoke also followed Lu Yu into the government office.

The front yard of the government office is the court. If the people have any conflicts, they will be tried here. In addition to the prison cells, there is also a small courtyard in the backyard, which is specially prepared for the prefect.

They lived here, keeping an eye on the latest developments and waiting for news from the court.

Xiao Heng left early, saying that he had something to deal with in Yueying Pavilion, and left without even saying goodbye.

Chun Xing still takes care of Bai Miaoke's daily life, and they live peacefully in the hidden undercurrent.

Lu Yu was busy collecting evidence and cleaning up Ma Hongzhe's spies in Suzhou City every day, while Bai Miaoke watched Rong Qing and his men training and strolling on the streets.

As the weather gets colder day by day, fewer and fewer people go out on the streets, and everyone prefers to stay at home.

Gradually, Bai Miaoke didn't like to go out anymore. In her free time, she would sit by the window and stare at the bare tree trunks in the yard, becoming increasingly silent.

Lu Yu soon noticed her abnormality and thought she was bored, so he found some storybooks for her to relieve her boredom. Bai Miaoke said that she liked them very much, but he found that she just changed from staring at the dead tree outside the window to staring at the storybooks.

Lu Yu also suggested that he accompany her to the mountains to hunt and take a look at the autumn and winter scenery in the south of the Yangtze River.

Bai Miaoke finally showed some interest, and Lu Yu breathed a sigh of relief.

On the day of hunting, Bai Miaoke put on the riding and shooting clothes that Chun Xing had prepared in advance. She was dressed in red with her long hair tied up high, and even her bright face looked more heroic.

Lu Yu also changed into a navy blue military uniform and tied up his long hair. Under Bai Miaoke's supervision, he gained some weight in the past few days and looked very heroic sitting on a tall horse.

When they reached the mountain, Lu Yu asked Rong Qing and the others to go hunting separately, while he stayed beside Bai Miaoke and talked to her.

"Have you been worried about anything in recent days?" Lu Yu asked.

"A little bit." Bai Miaoke answered vaguely.

"Can you tell me about it?" Lu Yu asked softly.

Bai Miaoke did not answer. Instead, she picked up an arrow, drew the bow and aimed it at the bushes in the distance. She narrowed her eyes slightly, and let go after a moment. The arrow hit a white-haired fox.

Bai Miaoke rode forward, picked up the dead fox, and tied it to the horse's back.

Then he met Lu Yu's gaze and slowly answered his question: "Prime Minister, I want to ask you, has the news been sent back to the capital? The evidence is irrefutable, why doesn't Your Majesty clarify the truth and execute Ma Hongzhe?"

"Ke'er, this matter also involves King Kang and many of Ma Hongzhe's courtiers, and there are also complicated aristocratic families behind it. It will take time to eradicate the roots, but we will never tolerate it."

Lu Yu's tone didn't sound fake, Bai Miaoke's expression eased a little, and she said, "Then when will we return to Beijing?"

Hearing her say "we", Lu Yu breathed a sigh of relief, feeling fortunate that even though she was angry and disappointed, she did not abandon him and leave alone.

After a brief thought, Lu Yu gave a definite answer: "We will set off back to Beijing in three days, okay?"

Bai Miaoke smiled with satisfaction and nodded proudly. When she returned to Beijing, even if the court could not punish Ma Hongzhe, she would kill him personally!

Now that the problem that had been bothering her for days had been solved, Bai Miaoke was not the type of person to be depressed, and she quickly turned her attention back to hunting.

She pulled the reins and rushed out, listening to the whistling of the wind in her ears. She shot an arrow on the galloping horse and hit a fat pheasant that was fleeing.

"Good aim!" Lu Yu rode behind her on horseback, helped her pick up the pheasant, weighed it in his hand, and said with a smile, "We can have a snack tonight."

The next second, a falcon with shiny fur swooped down and bit the neck of the pheasant in Lu Yu's hand with its mouth. The poor pheasant flapped its wings twice and stopped moving.

"How dare you steal my prey!" Seeing that the huge falcon was trying to drag the pheasant away, Bai Miaoke was about to draw her bow, but was stopped in time by Lu Yu.

"Ke'er, don't! This is my Saker Falcon." Lu Yu's voice was urgent, fearing that if he spoke a second later, the stupid eagle would lose its life.

Upon hearing this, Bai Miaoke put away her bow and arrow, urged her horse to move closer, and looked with curiosity at the huge falcon that was trying hard to pull the pheasant out of Lu Yu's hand.

"Is this the Saker Falcon that loves to eat chicken that you mentioned before?" she asked curiously.

Lu Yu nodded awkwardly and pulled the Saker Falcon's wings to try to get it to let go.

Bai Miaoke smiled and said, "Just give it to him. If it's not enough, I'll get him another one."

Lu Yu let go, and the successful Saker Falcon immediately flew to a large rock nearby with the pheasant in its mouth. Before eating, it called out twice towards this side, as if to say hello.

"He's quite human. I like that." Bai Miaoke watched with relish as the Saker Falcon used its sharp beak to peck the pheasant into pieces and swallowed it into its stomach.

It wasn't the first time that Lu Yu had seen this scene, so he didn't understand what was so good about it, but he still nodded in agreement and watched with her.

Soon, the whole chicken was in the Saker Falcon's stomach. It shook its wings, as if it could sense Bai Miaoke's appreciation, and flew around her happily.

"Be careful, don't get scratched by him." Lu Yu reminded.

"I know." Bai Miaoke responded, but stretched out her arms. The Saker Falcon landed steadily on her arms, staring at her with its big eyes. Its furry head tilted from side to side, which was very cute. It didn't look like a bird of prey at all.

Bai Miaoke couldn't help laughing and gently touched the feathers on its head with her other hand.

The Saker Falcon fluttered its wings at Bai Miaoke as if encouraged, spreading them out and folding them, with its head swaying rhythmically. Its adorable appearance made Bai Miaoke laugh.

Lu Yu on the side frowned, because he knew very well that this was the courtship dance of the Saker Falcon!

It has been a while since I saw Bai Miaoke so happy. Lu Yu didn't want to disturb her interest, so he could only stare at the stinky bird sinisterly from where Bai Miaoke couldn't see. It would have no chance of eating chicken tonight!