60. Tiger Cub
It was from Su Zheng's words last night that Yun Zhihe remembered Su Zheng's feelings for her.
After all, he wanted to marry her at that time, and last night he was whining and wanted to hug her and act coquettishly.
It was probably because her mother and sister had just been murdered, and she felt insecure, so she wanted to be with Yun Zhihe all the time.
After realizing this, Yun Zhihe repeatedly stated that she only treated him as a younger brother. Su Zheng nodded in surprise, and after a moment of silence, he reached out for her to hug him.
The murder of the Su family caused a big stir among officials. If the blame was placed on the murdered court officials, the magistrate of Mingcheng County would be in big trouble.
In order to avoid alerting the enemy, the matter was kept secret by the Mingcheng County Magistrate and no one among the common people knew about it.
Yun Zhihe carefully thought about the clues found by the people she sent.
Both sides suffered casualties. All the Su family guards were killed, and the Su family mother and daughter also fell off a cliff. The cliff was so high and dangerous that it was almost impossible for people to go down to search for the bodies.
The bodies of Su family guards and killers were scattered around the scene.
After examination, the body was found to have the mark of Heitu Village, confirming that it was a bandit. There were signs of fierce fighting at the scene, and all the money had disappeared.
Unfortunately, the body was taken away by the authorities, and it was impossible to verify whether the knife wound on the body matched the weapon.
I had no choice but to hand it over to the magistrate of Mingcheng County.
Although the Su family has been in decline recently, the guards of the Su family are all top-notch. How could they be killed by insignificant bandits?
The Black Earth Village was formed during the wars of the previous emperor. They had occupied the mountain for many years and had more than a few thousand people. After Xuanyuan Ying ascended the throne, the bandits became more restrained and rarely did things that harmed people's money.
As for why the bandits were not suppressed, one reason was that when Xuanyuan Ying ascended the throne, he did not have enough troops as all his forces were sent to resist the border wars; the other reason was that Heitu Village was law-abiding and only collected some tolls, so the court turned a blind eye.
Yun Zhihe paused and followed Mother Cheng into the county government office. The magistrate of Mingcheng County respectfully presented to Mother Cheng what he had found out in recent days.
Mother Cheng is the biological mother of the current emperor and holds a high position of power. Even the magistrate of Mingcheng County breathed lightly as she spoke.
"Sir, we have already found out that it was this bandit who did it."
"According to our informant, the body belongs to a bandit from Heitu Village. We recognize his face. We can almost confirm that it was a bandit from Heitu Village who kidnapped and murdered Lord Su and his family for money."
"Please rest assured, sir. I haven't revealed a single detail about the bandit suppression. The Black Earth Village is located in the east, and the soldiers are resting outside the city in the west. It's quite secretive."
"If we want to suppress bandits, we just need to wait for the order from the Lord."
Mother Cheng nodded, while Yun Zhihe frowned.
She asked, "Where's the body? Have you compared the blade and the weapon?"
The magistrate of Mingcheng County paused, "Sir, the body has been stinking for half a month, so it must have been buried..."
Mother Cheng glanced at Yun Zhihe and chuckled, "Why? Madam Yun doesn't believe it? Are you trying to protect that daring bandit?"
Yun Zhihe shook his head, his expression still calm. "Of course not. It's just that when investigating a case, one must conduct it thoroughly. The Magistrate of Mingcheng County buried the body without even examining the knife wound. This can be considered dereliction of duty."
The girl's beautiful smiling eyes looked at the Mingcheng County Magistrate, who was startled and quickly begged for mercy.
"My Lord... This was careless of me. I thought the bodies would rot and stink after half a month, and their souls would not be at peace, so I had them buried."
The magistrate of Mingcheng County spoke haltingly.
"Since you know that you want to let his soul rest in peace, do you understand the principle of fallen leaves returning to their roots? If his soul is to be rested in peace, it should be in the capital. How can you decide this on your own?!"
Yun Zhihe's voice was clear, but his eyes were scrutinizing as he looked at the magistrate of Mingcheng County.
The magistrate of Mingcheng County hurriedly knelt down and begged for mercy.
"Sir! Sir! Please forgive me!"
She looked at Cheng Guomu for help. Cheng Guomu looked unhappy and looked at Yun Zhihe.
“That’s enough!”
An angry shout.
"Why are you blaming and punishing the county magistrate again for suppressing the bandits? Where's Madam Yun's demeanor? She's acting just like that ordinary man, so short-sighted!"
"What? Madam Yun still wants to dig the person out to check the wound?!"
Facing the angry gaze of Mother Cheng, Yun Zhihe smiled calmly.
"Of course."
"you--!"
Mother Cheng was angered by her attitude, her face turned cold, and then she suddenly turned away, leaving behind a sentence.
"Let the army rest and then suppress the bandits in five days!"
She turned to look at Yun Zhihe and snorted coldly, "As for that corpse... Madam Yun, you can dig it up if you want, but don't worry about disturbing the peace and quiet and letting the ghosts come looking for revenge."
Yun Zhihe's expression changed in an instant, and his eyes became cold.
"Of course, but ghosts shouldn't seek revenge on me. They should seek revenge on the murderer."
She said the word "murderer" softly, and her expression was gloomy.
The magistrate of Mingcheng County was stunned by the tense situation. She spoke in a trembling voice only after Mother Cheng left.
"Master Yun, Queen Mother Cheng holds a high position of power. Your actions... aren't they a bit arrogant...?"
Yun Zhihe is just a frail young girl. How could she have the courage to challenge Mother Cheng?
She smiled, said nothing more, and turned away.
Lou Zhi, who was guarding the door, paused and followed her footsteps.
Her back was firm and calm, and Lou Zhi, who was following behind her, had a sword in his arms and a cold expression on his face.
Now her confidence comes from Lou Zhi.
It represents the emperor's favor and...absolute safety.
Let me ask you, in ancient and modern times, how could a person be so honored as to be able to be promoted from a first-rank general to a small personal bodyguard?
Yunzhihe is capable.
No, it should be said that Xuanyuan should be able to do it.
Bringing Lou Zhi along with the two of them to Mingcheng was just to tell Queen Mother Cheng that Yun Zhihe should not be touched.
Therefore, Mother Cheng has been enduring these days.
If she took any action, she would break off relations with Xuanyuan Ying. Xuanyuan Ying and the Xuanyuan family share the same glory, and all the glory now was brought by her son who is the emperor.
In order to break off relations with Xuanyuan, Queen Mother Cheng also had to weigh the pros and cons.
Yun Zhihe closed her eyes. Her words about digging out the corpse were meant to test Mother Cheng's attitude.
The attitude of the Queen Mother just now showed that there were no clues in the body and she was not afraid of her investigation.
With Azhi's report, the matter was confirmed.
"Miss, the body was so decomposed that it was beyond recognition. The knife wounds were unrecognizable."
Yun Zhihe nodded, understanding.
He stroked the paper on the table again, pursed his lips, and looked up at Azhi.
"Azhi, prepare the horses. I want to go to Heitu Village and investigate myself."
“Ah…ah?”
Azhi was stunned.
"Miss, those bandits are vicious and cruel. They killed the Su family mother and daughter. And... you don't have any martial arts skills. How can you get into that bandit's lair?"
Yun Zhihe paused, "This is strange... There haven't been any rumors of murders in Heitu Village for several years, and they have interactions with the locals. The locals say that most of the bandits are simple and honest..."
"This matter is too strange. What if it was a mistaken killing?"
She took a deep breath, "And... no matter what, I have to investigate a little bit myself."
Lou Zhi nodded.
"Well, I'll take you there."
As he said that, he was about to pull Yun Zhihe out. Azhi shouted to Lou Zhi anxiously.
"General Lou, you can't let the young lady do whatever she wants. That bandit is so vicious, what will happen if something happens to him?!"
There was a slight ripple on Lou Zhi's expression, then he turned his head and spoke without hesitation in a cold voice.
"It's okay, I'll protect her."
He spoke seriously, enunciating each word, which was particularly pleasant to the ear.
Yun Zhihe chuckled helplessly, said goodbye to Azhi and the other two, and rode on.
Within half a day, they arrived at the road under the jurisdiction of Heitu Village. Yun Zhihe let out a sigh, dismounted, and thought carefully about how to sneak in.
It was also a negligence that she had not sent anyone to scout the terrain first. Now she and Lou Zhi were not familiar with the roads in the village. Even if Lou Zhi had great martial arts skills, he could not take care of everything.
Before she could figure out the result, she heard a scolding voice.
"Hey! You guys!"
Yun Zhihe paused and looked up.
"Idiot! Don't you know there's a way—"
"have……"
The boy's voice suddenly froze.
She raised her head in the wind, her hair dancing in the wind, her beautiful face seemed to emit tiny rays of light in the sun, and the corners of her eyes turned slightly red under the stimulation of the sun.
Yun Zhihe saw the stunned young man in the distance.
The young man was wearing straightforward and simple riding clothes, with a bow and arrow tied on his back and a few knives on his waist. His skin was glowing honey-colored, and his hair was simply tied up. A few strands of hair were tied into a pigtail in a playful way, hanging on the side of his face, revealing his little canine teeth, which flashed a beautiful light.
There were several tall women following behind him.
He looked dazed, paused for a long time, and suddenly spoke, giving instructions to the women behind him.
"Go! Tie her up and bring her back to me!"
Lou Zhi paused, and just as he was about to unsheathe his sword, he was stopped by Yun Zhihe's gaze.
Just when I was worried that I couldn't sneak in...the opportunity came.
Just like that, the two men gave up resistance and were put into sacks.
Yun Zhihe was placed on the young man's horse, and her waist was particularly painful from the horse's back. The young man seemed to be a little considerate of her and did not ride the horse too recklessly, but she still felt very uncomfortable.
Even though she couldn't see, she still listened carefully with her ears.
This seems to be the entrance to the village.
Yun Zhihe heard a noisy sound, men and women seemed to be talking and joking, having a good time, and it seemed that he saw a young boy speaking.
"Young Master! What did you bring with you?"
"Hello, Young Master! Did you hunt a tiger this time?"
"Hey, Young Master..."
…
The young boy responded one by one.
"I brought back a... well... I won't tell you!"
"I didn't see the tiger blocking the road this time. If I had seen it, I would have hunted it down and made some wine for my mother!"
…
After listening carefully to their conversation, Yun Zhihe realized that there was a tiger lurking on the road she and Lou Zhi were walking on, and the two roars from the young man were also a warning.
As for why they kidnapped Yun Zhihe and brought him into the village…was it for money? Yun Zhihe still didn't understand.
She was still in the sack and felt another wave of movement, as if it was a steep road. The noise behind her faded away, and she was plunged into a new noise.
The young man's horse suddenly ran faster, as if a little excited. Yun Zhihe let out a "hmm" and felt pain in his waist and abdomen from being hit by the horse's back.
The young boy's excited voice was heard again, shouting into the distance.
"Mom! Look what I brought back?!"
The woman's voice was teasing, as if she was doting on him and going along with his words.
"Huh? What did my tiger cub bring back?"
The boy's voice became more excited.
"I brought you a daughter-in-law—!"
It was silent.
Yun Zhihe paused suddenly.
It turned out that the bandit was not after money, but her sex.
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