Chapter 188 Appearance
The sun is about to set again.

In the reception pavilion outside Zou County, the eunuch stood there silently, looking at the post road leading to the distance.

Just then, there was a sound of horse hooves, and a group of more than twenty riders galloped towards the reception pavilion.

When the horse team arrived in front of the reception pavilion, they all pulled the reins and dismounted from their horses.

The leader was wearing the official uniform of a prefect, looking very majestic.

“Uncle of the Emperor!” The chief eunuch hurriedly came forward to greet him.

The visitor was none other than the Second Prince’s uncle, the prefect of Yanzhou Prefecture, Zhou Kui.

Zhou Kui also came forward with a big smile on his face, bowed with both hands and said, “Sir, I’m sorry to have kept you waiting for so long! I’m sorry!”

The chief eunuch said: “Your Majesty, your words are too kind.”

Zhou Kui smiled and nodded, then glanced behind the eunuch and was stunned.

The chief eunuch sighed and said, “The magistrate of Zou County can’t come.”

Zhou Kui’s face looked grim. He was the prefect of Yanzhou Prefecture and the superior of the magistrate of Zou County. It was his responsibility to come and greet him in person both for official and private reasons.

The chief eunuch said: “Last night, the county government office caught fire and the magistrate of Zou County died in the fire.”

Zhou Kui was a little confused: “Zou County. The county magistrate is dead.”

The chief eunuch: “Dead!”

Zhou Kui: “Fire?”

The chief eunuch: “It seems to be an accidental fire. The county magistrate said that the magistrate of Zou County died heroically while trying to save the official documents.”

Died heroically to save the official document? Zhou Kui’s eyes flashed with doubt. Is it possible? !

The chief eunuch: “No more talking. Where are your soldiers?”

Before he could finish his words, the sound of hurried horse hooves and running horses was heard.

At the other end of the post road, a large group of soldiers armed with guns and swords were running towards this side.

The eunuch nodded with satisfaction and said to Zhou Kui, “Let’s go to General Li’s camp.”

Zhou Kui hesitated for a moment and said, “I won’t go. I’ll just say I’m going to the county government office to handle it.”

The chief eunuch interrupted him directly: “General Li is on a mission ordered by the emperor. He is considered an imperial envoy. It would be wrong not to visit him. Besides, the masters of the Azure Dragon Hall and the White Tiger Hall were captured by General Li.”

Zhou Kui thought about it and said, “Okay.”

The chief eunuch then said to the eunuchs in the Imperial Household Department, “You lead the patrol battalion to the county town.” After saying that, he mounted his horse.

Zhou Kui and his guards followed suit and mounted their horses.

A group of people rode their horses towards the camp outside the city.
Li Hu was not in the camp at this time, but came to the city.

Zou County was a large county. Diagonally opposite the county government office was a street paved with bluestone slabs. The street was lined with shops, one next to the other. The death of the county magistrate did not cause panic among the people, and the street was still bustling.

Li Hu, dressed in plain clothes, walked slowly with his hands behind his back among the bustling crowd. Behind him followed Wang Daniu, dressed as an attendant, and two personal soldiers who were keeping an eye on all directions.

Li Hu stopped in front of a tavern.

There were a few small wooden tables on the corner of the street, with more than a dozen people sitting there, three or five of them gathered together. They were all dressed like hired workers, with a lot of black dust on their faces and bodies.

This is a good place. You can see the situation in front of the county government clearly.

Li Hu walked to the empty small table and sat down, then nodded to Wang Daniu and his two bodyguards.

Wang Daniu and his two bodyguards understood and sat down on the benches beside the small table.

The stall owner hesitated for a moment, but still came over with a smile on his face, bowing and apologizing: “Excuse me, sir, but would you like some wine?”

Wang Daniu said unhappily: “Are you here to drink tea?”

The stall owner was very smart. He had already sensed the power of Li Hu and knew that he was not an ordinary person. He did not get angry and said with a smile: “If the customer wants to drink tea, I can also go to the teahouse next door to buy it.”

Wang Daniu was stunned for a moment, speechless.

The two guards couldn’t help but look at each other and couldn’t help but smile.

Li Hu smiled and said to the stall owner, “Let’s have a bowl each first.”

Wang Daniu glared at the two smiling guards, then took out a small ingot of silver from his pocket and placed it on the wooden table: “Don’t add water!”

“I dare not, I dare not,” the stall owner quickly shook his hand and said to Li Hu, “Eat first, and if you can still eat, you can pay later.”

Li Hu smiled and said, “Go ahead.”

Four wine bowls were brought up, and the stall owner himself came with a jar of wine.

Wang Daniu took the jar of wine, opened the lid, poured a bowl of wine, and then handed it to the stall owner: “It’s your treat.” The stall owner was stunned for a moment, then looked at Wang Daniu and then at Li Hu, as if he understood something. He quickly took the bowl of wine, put it to his mouth, and drank it down in a few gulps.

Wang Daniu poured him another bowl of wine.

The stall owner smiled bitterly and shook his head: “You can’t drink anymore, I still have business to do.”

Wang Daniu’s eyes narrowed, and he was so scared that he put the wine to his mouth and drank it in a few gulps.

Wang Daniu praised loudly, “Good man!” and then poured a bowl of wine for Li Hu.

At this time, a personal soldier brought another wine bowl, and the hired workers nearby also left.

The stall owner said: “I won’t bother you any more customers.”

“Wait.” Li Hu stopped him, “Let’s talk.”

The stall owner was in a dilemma: “This”

Wang Daniu took out another ingot of silver and slapped it on the table: “Talk to our Second Master, and these two ingots of silver will be yours.”

The stall owner asked tentatively: “The master is also a government official.”

Li Hu’s eyes flashed: “You said it was also from the government, what do you mean?”

The stall owner smiled and said, “To be honest, sir, a few officials from the government came to ask about the county government just now.”

Li Hu looked at him and asked, “Do you know?”

Stall owner: “It depends on what you are asking.”

Li Hu: “Tell me what you know. Sit down and talk.”

A personal soldier made room for him. The stall owner pushed for it a few times before sitting down, whispering, “There’s nothing much to say, actually. The fire was strange, and the death was even stranger, but there’s no evidence. I heard that the county magistrate’s body was all burnt.” He shook his head.

Li Hu: “How did you know?”

“Master, do you remember those hired workers? They were the ones who cleaned up the ruins.”

Li Hu nodded.

The stall owner suddenly remembered: “Oh, someone seemed to hear a loud cry last night, and then he caught fire.”

Li Hu picked up the wine bowl and took a sip. The Imperial Household Department sent him the case file, which did not mention this key information. Did the county magistrate not know about it, or did he deliberately conceal it?

Li Hu looked at the stall owner and asked, “Have you also told those officials about this?”

The stall owner shook his head: “I just heard about it too.”

Li Hu: “Listen to my advice, don’t keep this to yourself, or you’ll end up in danger of getting killed.”

The stall owner shuddered when he heard this: “Master, Master!”

Li Hu tilted his head back and drank the bowl of wine: “It’s getting late, let’s go back.” After saying that, he glanced at the county government office again, stood up and left.

Wang Daniu and two of his bodyguards quickly followed.

The stall owner was the only one left standing there in a daze.

Suddenly, he felt someone behind him and turned around quickly.

At some point, a man had stood behind him. Upon closer inspection, he found that it was one of the officials who had asked him for information.

The stall owner stood up quickly, bowed and said, “Master.”

The man asked: “What did those people do just now?”

The stall owner did not dare to hide anything and told the general story. However, thinking about what Li Hu said, he did not dare to say that out loud.

The man looked at him, took out a silver ingot from his pocket and threw it at the stall owner: “Watch your mouth.” Then he turned and walked towards the teahouse opposite.

The stall owner was so happy that he stuffed the three silver bars into his arms, closed his stall and went home!

The man went up to the second floor, pushed open a box facing the street, and walked in.

Several men sat around the wooden table, all looking at him.

The man said: “We are from the government, here to investigate the cause of death of the Zou County Magistrate.”

A man shouted, “This matter must be reported to the Second Master immediately!”

Another man spoke up: “As for those few people, we also need to find out their identities.”

The man said: “Leave two people here to keep an eye on it, one person will go back to report the news, and the others will go find those people separately.”

(End of this chapter)