Wu Deyong then asked Zhang Hulan, "Have you asked the child if he noticed anything unusual?"
Zhang Hulan shook her head. "No, I just had a casual chat with the kid. I don't know how to solve cases, so I don't know what to ask."
Zhang Hulan then asked Wu Deyong, "Sir, if there is something fishy about the case of the prefect of Maozhou Prefecture, are you willing to help the child?"
Wu Deyong replied: "I can't answer you now, I need to find out more about the situation first.
Otherwise, I can't help much based on just some guesses.
Go back and ask the kid if he has any other clues, or bring him here so I can interrogate him in person."
Zhang Hulan thought that was the case, so she nodded and said, "Okay, I'll go back and ask him. If he's willing, I'll bring him here tomorrow and you can ask him in person."
After Zhang Hulan returned, he found Liu Cong and asked him if he was willing to go to the county government to question Wu Deyong.
Liu Cong agreed without hesitation and said that if Zhang Hulan found it credible, then he would believe it.
So the next day Zhang Hulan took Liu Cong to the county government office again.
Without saying any more useless words, Wu Deyong asked Liu Cong directly, "When you met your uncle that day, did he say anything else to you?"
Liu Cong shook his head, "No, my uncle told me to run away quickly and not to look for relatives or friends."
Wu Deyong pondered this information, and after a while he said, "From this point of view, your uncle should know something, but he didn't tell you.
If you are not allowed to find relatives and friends, it means that your relatives or friends have betrayed your father.
Or the murderer who assassinated your family will go looking for your relatives and friends.
I will ask you then if there are any other incidents in Maozhou after your case happened."
Wu Deyong then asked, "Before the incident in your family, did you notice anything unusual about your father or other family members?
Or has anything special happened recently?"
Liu Cong tried hard to recall what happened two years ago, and then said, "Sir, before the incident, my father was always worried and often stared at the map with my uncle."
"Map?" Wu Deyong asked quickly, "What map?"
Liu Cong replied, "It's the map of Maozhou."
"Then do you know where your father and uncle are looking at on the map?"
Wu Deyong felt that this might be a very important clue.
Liu Cong said: "Once I went into my father's study to ask him a question, and I saw him draw a few circles on the map, but I only remembered the approximate locations."
Wu Deyong hurriedly called out: "Tian Wu..."
Tian Wu came in from outside, and Wu Deyong immediately ordered, "Go find a map of Maozhou right away."
Tian Wu replied, “Master, I don’t think we can find a map of Maozhou here.”
"Go to Maozhou and buy them immediately. I need maps of Maozhou Prefecture and all the counties under its jurisdiction. Go immediately."
"Yes, sir."
Tian Wu responded and was about to leave when Wu Deyong called him back, "Forget it. You probably can't buy a detailed map outside."
Wu Deyong then asked Liu Cong, "Is there anything else you think is unusual?"
Liu Cong shook his head, "I don't know about the other villains."
Wu Deyong nodded, then said to Zhang Hulan: "You go back first. I will send someone to notify you to come back after I find the map."
"good."
Zhang Hulan took Liu Cong away, and Wu Deyong immediately wrote a letter to Tian Wu, "You must immediately send the letter back to the capital and give it to my father. You must hand it to him personally and don't let anyone else see it."
"Okay, sir." Tian Wu immediately set off back to the capital.
…
The journey would take seven days by carriage, but only three days by horse.
As soon as Wu Bangtai returned home from the Ministry of Revenue, Tian Wu handed him the letter.
When Wu Bangtai opened the letter, he saw that it was about the prefect of Maozhou who had exterminated his entire family.
When Wu Bangtai saw that the Maozhou prefect still had a son alive, and then saw the abnormalities before the Maozhou prefect's accident, he specifically mentioned the map matter.
Wu Bangtai suddenly thought of something and immediately turned around and walked out.
The Imperial Palace.
Emperor Yongxing was having dinner when a palace servant came to report, "Your Majesty, Wu Shang is outside the palace asking for an audience."
Emperor Yongxing asked in confusion, "Why are you here now? What happened?"
"Let him in."
When Wu Bangtai arrived at the Hall of Mental Cultivation from outside the palace, Emperor Yongxing had almost finished his meal.
However, Emperor Yongxing was still eating slowly. When Wu Bangtai arrived, Emperor Yongxing said, "Lord Wu, you haven't eaten yet, right? Sit down and eat with me."
Wu Bangtai hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, please enjoy your meal. I will go back and eat later."
Emperor Yongxing pointed to the stool next to him and said, "Let's eat together if we can catch up. There are still so many, and I can't finish them all."
The serving eunuchs had already added more bowls and chopsticks, so Wu Bangtai had no choice but to sit down and eat with Emperor Yongxing.
To be honest, although it is a great honor to have dinner with the emperor, but... the meal is not tasty. How can it be as comfortable as eating at home?
Emperor Yongxing put down his bowl and chopsticks without taking a few bites.
The palace maid rinsed her mouth with water and wiped it before asking, "Lord Wu, you came to see me now. Is there something important?"
Wu Bangtai thought: He knew there was something important going on, but he still let me eat?
When Emperor Yongxing put down his bowl and chopsticks, Wu Bangtai followed suit.
"Your Majesty, I have something to report to you, but I'm not sure if it's important or not."
"Oh? What's the matter?" Emperor Yongxing stood up and said, "Let's go to the imperial study and talk."
Wu Bangtai followed Emperor Yongxing into the imperial study, and then he presented the letter written by Wu Deyong to Emperor Yongxing, "Your Majesty, please read this, this is a letter written by my son."
Emperor Yongxing frowned and asked, "The prefect of Maozhou?"
Wu Bangtai said, "Your Majesty, there were many suspicious points in this matter two years ago, but no other clues could be found, so the Ministry of Justice could only close the case based on the information they found."
Wu Bangtai reminded: “Your Majesty, the orphan of the Maozhou prefect said that before the accident, the Maozhou prefect was very worried and often checked the map and made marks on the map.
I think the prefect of Maozhou knew something, so the whole family was exterminated."
Emperor Yongxing narrowed his eyes and said, "Lord Wu, what you mean is..."
Wu Bangtai said: "Your Majesty, Maozhou is mountainous, so this is not impossible..."
Emperor Yongxing immediately ordered the chief eunuch, "Go and get the map of Maozhou."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The eunuch immediately went to get the map and spread it out in front of Emperor Yongxing.
In addition to a detailed map of Maozhou City, the mountains and rivers around the city are also clearly marked on the map.
There were so many mountains on the map that Emperor Yongxing and Wu Bangtai could not see anything at all.
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