Chapter 23: Mutation (3)

It was midsummer, and even the air was still hot and hot at the fire scene that had been burning for a day and a night. The stench of animals and plants stolen from the nose was so hard to breathe. Wu Chonggui and others came on horseback and could only walk to the edge of the fire. There were charred branches and dead soil. In the meantime, some animals were burned into charcoal, and even cows could not be identified. For a moment, everyone was in a very heavy mood, and some officials' eyes were filled with tears. This Zheluoman Mountain is the most lush green mountain in Yizhou. How could it be a pity for this sudden disaster?

Wu Chonggui was in a bad mood to sigh. What he was worried about was whether he could find the traces of Han Hai Army stationed in Zheluoman Mountain. As he walked along the mountain road, his heart gradually sank to the bottom of the valley. Scorched earth, smoke, corpses... The horses were shaking violently, and it was already very difficult to walk. Wu Chonggui was so dizzy that he was suffocating and hot. All this was enough to make him retreat.

Finally everyone stopped, there was no road ahead. Wu Chonggui asked Kong Yupeng with a strong spirit: "Master Kong, have we arrived at the location where the Hanhai Army was stationed in the imperial edict?" Kong Yupeng seemed to be in a bad spirit in the competition between Wu Chonggui, and replied with a frustration: "Go back to the imperial envoy, the Hanhai Army stationed in the imperial edict is about five miles ahead along this mountain road." "Then..." Wu Chonggui looked at Kong Yupeng inquiringly, and the latter's voice was hoarse and hesitated almost indistinguishable: "I can't pass, and I can't get through, and the front is burning. Even if I force myself to check, I will definitely not be able to find any trace."

Wu Chonggui was stunned for a while, but he couldn't stand the smell and scene anymore, so he said, "Since you can't check it, go back. Otherwise, Lord Kong, you call that Changshi Du to the governor's mansion. He is the first to discover a wildfire, and maybe there are no clues to see. This imperial envoy will interrogate him in the governor's mansion tonight..."

Before he finished speaking, he saw Kong Yu Peng crying like rain. Wu Chonggui was very surprised and asked, "Sir Kong, why are you?" Kong Yu Peng choked and said, "Sir, Lord Du Hao was in danger in order to put out the mountain fire, and he had already died in the line of duty!" "What?!" Wu Chonggui was shocked.

While wiping his tears, Kong Yupeng described the past and the past. It turned out that after Du Hao discovered the wildfire in the early morning of the day before yesterday, he had only sent someone to send a letter to the governor's mansion to the fire. The wildfire was too fierce, and they were surrounded by the fire after entering the mountainous area. Kong Yupeng took some time to ask Wu Chonggui for instructions. When a large number of people arrived at the scene, Lord Du Hao and his subordinates had disappeared. Originally, everyone was expecting to find them during the firefighting process, but after the wildfire was extinguished, they found several charcoal-like corpses, and even their clothes, shoes and hats were burned to the point.

Wu Chonggui was speechless when he heard this, and then asked, "Then, how could you determine that those were Lord Du and his subordinates?" Kong Yupeng looked sad and couldn't speak. He just waved to the sidelines for an adjutant. The man held a black silk cloth with tears in his eyes, and several small objects were neatly placed on it, all burned to pieces. Wu Chonggui looked at it and couldn't help but sigh. It turned out that the small objects were all things that civil and military officials at that time must wear, including small knives, sharpening stones, calculation belts, etc., which are the so-called "seven things to do in the field". These little things were hard and not burned, but they also proved Du Hao's identity.

For a moment, the clouds were bleak and everyone was sad. The dusk was getting deeper. As the charred and burning scenery in front of him became darker and darker, the breath of death covered the sky and the sun, fear grabbed the heart, and the sadness retreated instead. Wu Chongji coughed a few times, Kong Yupeng understood and endured the sadness and ordered him to return to the city.

When they returned to the governor's mansion, it was already the lights. Sitting in the main hall as bright as daylight, Wu Chonggui and Kong Yupeng were in a mood as if they were dull and could not say a word for a long time. There was no need to discuss anything. They all understood the afternoon trip. The destruction of Zheluo Man Mountain was severely damaged and they must not find any clues related to the Hanhai Army. Wu Chonggui only cared about the headache of how to clarify the clues of the case, while Kong Yupeng had to face the aftermath of the Zheluo Man Mountain Fire and the loss of the second official in Yizhou, and he didn't care about anything else.

After sitting for a long time, someone came to report that Lord Du Hao's body had been transported to the governor's mansion and was still waiting for Lord Du to decide. Du Yupeng agreed miserably and asked Du Changshi's wife if she had invited him. As he was speaking, he reported that Du Changshi's wife had arrived. Du Yupeng looked at Wu Chonggui inquiring, wondering if the imperial envoy was tired and went to rest first, or was willing to meet with the widow of the chief. Wu Chonggui sighed, "Well, just comfort him."

With the announcement, a woman walked into the door of the main hall. She said a deep blessing in front of the two adults, saying, "I am Lu, I have met two adults." Wu Chonggui was uncomfortable and lowered his head to drink tea. The sound of blessing was slightly trembling into his ears, but it was very charming and tender. Wu Chonggui looked at it without hesitation. Under the reflection of the red candle of the hall, he stood sideways with a white woman, slightly lowered her head, and the tear marks on her face with thin powdered powder were shining. From time to time, he raised the silk in his hand to wipe it around his nose. But somehow, he couldn't see how sad he was. Tong had a different style. Wu Chonggui had always been lustful. At first sight, he saw this Western Regional cosmetics with unique interests, and the imperial envoy opened his mouth slightly and was a little stunned.

Kong Yupeng obviously knew this woman, and quietly covered up a trace of contempt. He stood up solemnly and said, "Madam, please sit down." Lu nodded, and just sat down, he held the veil and cried: "Madam, I just heard that my husband, he, he..." Wu Chonggui couldn't help but interfere: "Madam, please feel sorry for me. That Master Kong died in the line of duty to put out the wildfires, and the court will give him a lot of rewards!"

Lu wiped his tears again, glanced at Wu Chonggui under the silk handkerchief, and said in a soft voice: "This is..." Kong Yupeng said in a muffled voice: "Madam, this is Lord Wu, the imperial envoy sent by the imperial court, the prince of Gaoping County, Prince of the imperial envoy!" "Oh, it's Lord Wu, I'm offended!" Lu said in a sweet voice, stood up and bowed, Wu Chonggui almost came forward to support him. Kong Yupeng coughed beside him, and Wu Chonggui calmed his mind and said in a pretentious manner: "Ah, Madam, don't be too polite, don't be too polite." As he said, his eyes rolling around Lu's body, and Lu actually made his face flush.

Kong Yupeng saw this scene and felt indescribable in his heart, and then said, "Madam, Lord Du's body is now in the back hall. Should I identify it? Oh, in fact... I can't see anything anymore. I advised the lady not to look at it, so as not to be too sad." After hearing what he said, Lu simply raised his handkerchief to cover his face and cried. Wu Chonggui and Kong Yupeng looked at each other, and they were both not persuaded, so they had to sit there and watch her cry.

Finally, Mrs. Lu cried enough, and then gasped for a while before she said weakly: "Two lords, I am newly lost, and now I am in a state of lordship, and my heart is broken. Now I have received my husband's body. In the future, the two lords will take care of our orphans and widows. Woo..." Kong Yupeng said patiently: "Madam, please rest assured. Lord Du died for the official business. I will report to the court and ask the court for good care. Oh, the imperial envoy is also here. Master Wu is very clear about the whole story..." Before he finished speaking, Wu Chonggui robbed: "Yes, yes, madam, please rest assured. I will make the decision for you."

When Mrs. Lu heard this, she looked at Wu Chonggui shyly and timidly, stood up shakingly and said, "Then I will say goodbye, and I will go to take care of my husband's funeral..." Kong Yupeng said, "Okay, Madam, please take care of yourself and don't overwork. Oh, there are a few relics from Lord Du here. Alas, water and fire are ruthless, so I only snatched out such a few small things. Madam, please keep it." As he said, he ordered the officer next to him to hold the black silk bag in front of Mrs. Lu.

Lu Shi Yingying thanked him, took the silk bag and opened it, and looked over the small objects thoughtfully. Suddenly, her face changed drastically, her hands trembled violently, and the silk bag fell from her hands, and the "seven things to do in the wild" fell to her feet. Kong Yupeng and Wu Chonggui were very surprised, looked at each other, and then they looked at Lu Shi's face and were shaking. Kong Yupeng hurriedly called, "Hold on the wife!" A messenger reached out and was suddenly thrown away by Lu Shi. The woman suddenly looked up at Kong Yupeng, her eyes seemed to be about to burst into flames. Her charming face turned into a female yaksha. She only heard her ask word by word: "Where is my husband's body now?"

The monk Kong Yu Peng was confused and replied vaguely: "Well, it's in the back hall. I will now order someone to escort Master Kong's body with his wife back home." "No!" Lu's hissing, looking like a mad woman: "I, I'm going to see him now!" Kong Yu Peng was shocked: "Madam, this... the body is already in a charcoal shape, I'm afraid the lady will be frightened..." "Let me see!" Lu rushed over and grabbed Kong Yu Peng's sleeve. Kong Yu Peng jumped out of the chair in shock, quickly pulled her hand away, and said: "This, Madam must see, I will order someone to take her over."

Lu followed the officer to hurry, leaving Kong Yupeng and Wu Chonggui dazed in the hall. Both of them were a little confused about the sudden change of Lu's situation, and they couldn't figure out what was wrong. Kong Yupeng thought about it, but he walked over and picked up the "seven things to do" that had been scattered all over the ground, wrapped it in black silk cloth, and put it in his arms. Wu Chonggui was originally quite interested in Lu's family, but after the trouble just now, he completely lost his mood and yawned and prepared to take his leave first.

Before Wu Chonggui could speak, he heard a heart-wrenching scream from a woman outside, which was shocked by Kong and Wu, and they both jumped up. The sound was from Lu's. Then there was a noise in the back hall, mixed with Lu's shrill crying, as if the sky had fallen. The two of them rushed to the door in two steps in three steps. A servant ran in panic and shouted loudly, "Grand, sir! Then Mrs. Lu, she is crazy!"

"What?!" Kong Yupeng was speechless, and Wu Chonggui also shouted: "This, it was fine just now, why did you go crazy?" The servant spread his hands: "We don't know what's wrong. When he saw Lord Du's body in the back hall, Mrs. Lu shouted wildly and even pulled the black charcoal-like body, which scared us... Oh, sir, go and have a look!"

Wu Chonggui looked at Du Yupeng and said, "Is it because he was in a hurry and was crazy?" Du Yupeng frowned and said, "It shouldn't be that. She had already received news of Lord Du's death before. She was very calm in the hall just now, and she didn't know how sad it was. How could she lose her mind when she saw Lord Du's body?" The two of them said as they walked towards the back hall. After walking a few steps, many people ran into the corridor ahead. The leader was the Lü family, followed by several servants from the governor's mansion.

In just a short while, the woman had completely changed her appearance. Under the pale moonlight, she disheveled her hair and ran forward stumbled forward. The white gauze on her body fell to her waist, her breasts were exposed, and the embroidered shoes on one of her feet disappeared. She ran and shouted, "Honey, husband, save me! Save me! Someone wants to kill me! Kill me!"

Kong Yupeng wanted to break free, but unexpectedly, the woman was so crazy that she was so brutally powerful that Kong Yupeng tried his best to throw her away. The officers next to him took action together to hold her down. Kong Yupeng also made her clothes messy and ordered in a mess: "Hurry, send your wife back to the Changshi's Mansion." "No! I won't go back! I want to be with my husband!" Lu shouted loudly at the top of his lungs. While several officers were unprepared, she suddenly escaped and ran out to the tree next to her and hit her. Although she was caught immediately, she still rubbed her pretty face with a large blood mark.

At this time, Kong Yupeng felt sad. Overnight, Zheluo Manshan was destroyed, and the Changshi and his wife died, and it was so crazy that it was really a disaster. Thinking of this, he sighed and shook his head and ordered: "Let's settle Mrs. Lu in the governor's mansion first. Send someone to the Changshi's mansion to pick up a few maids and servants to take care of him. In addition, go and invite a doctor to see the wife."

It was strange. When Mrs. Lu heard that she was going to keep her in the governor's mansion, she immediately calmed down. She prepared her clothes and got up and left. She passed by Kong and Wu, and smiled at them, setting off her scattered hair and purple face. It was so weird and weird. Wu Chonggui was frightened to see it. Just as he was about to turn his head, he heard Mrs. Lu call him crying and complaining, "Husband, Husband!" Wu Chonggui and Kong Yupeng looked at each other and smiled bitterly. It was a strange thing that the woman had just died of a husband and recognized her husband everywhere.

The officer came to La Lu, and she still smiled and glared at Wu Chonggui affectionately, while humming: "Husband, you said you want to take me back to your parents' home in Tingzhou. You should take me here..." Wu Chonggui's hair stood up all over his body, and he took me back two steps back, and then the officer was so helping him away.

Everyone dispersed, Kong Yupeng bowed to Wu Chonggui with a bitter face and said, "Sir, I am frightened." Wu Chonggui looked at the far away figure of the Lu family thoughtfully and murmured, "Tingzhou, Tingzhou..." Suddenly, he looked at Kong Yupeng and said, "Now that Zheluo Manshan is burned, and officials from Yizhou cannot find a result. This imperial envoy is going to Tingzhou to investigate the case of Han Haijun!"

Kong Yupeng was slightly stunned, and then said calmly: "The imperial envoy is so decisive, and the subordinates obey the order. I wonder when the imperial envoy is going to leave?" "How long will it take to go from Yizhou to Tingzhou?" "If you go day and night, two days and one night will be enough." Wu Chonggui nodded: "Very good, this imperial envoy will leave tomorrow. In addition to the imperial envoy guards I brought, you can send another 500 Yiwu troops to escort them." "Abide by the order!"
Chapter completed!