The two cups were covered with blue wax paper, so the blue lanterns were hung in front of the ancestral hall.

The damaged threshold was discarded under the corridor, and the huge incense burner was overturned next to it, and the area on it was covered with dust.

The plaque is still there, and the handwriting is vaguely visible. The vermilion painted on the walls and pillars has faded. The yard is full of weeds, and some have grown into the gaps between the eaves tiles. The copper bells hanging on the corners of the eaves are hanging alone, and the wind does not sound.

The night owl made a shrill cry in the shadows, and as soon as the person arrived, he flew away with his wings.

Mo Li looked around, and several thick men holding sticks lay down on the ground.

Just when they entered the door, these people thought Mo Li was here to grab the territory, so they rushed up angrily and burst into pieces. As a result, they looked like this when they saw each other. In addition, they were so painful that their butts were so painful that they looked around in horror.

"Who?"

"Is it Chen Mazi sent to make trouble?"

The questioning came to an abrupt end because they saw the crooked leader who was pushed in by Lu Min.

Their leaders' face was blue and their expression was frightened.

Others dressed as zombies were also chased over one after another, some were covered in mud, some were trembling, and they all shrank their necks like quails.

No need to ask now, I definitely hit a hard point.

Everyone was silent, and their expressions were not so panic as it was the confusion that a stone finally fell.

——Scam around Taijing, have they thought that something happened one day?

Theft is different from murder. Killing may be a temporary emotional state, but people have more or less thought about the worst possible behavior.

Seeing that Mo Li and others were killed before they came up, a tiny hope rose in their hearts.

"this……"

The leader of the crooked mouth didn't know what to call these evil stars. He begged for mercy with a sad face and said, "We were blind and provoked you all, but my brothers really had no money and couldn't even find a few copper coins on their bodies."

"Why should I stay here if I can't cheat money?" Mo Li suddenly asked.

The leader looked embarrassed and then argued: "When I go back, I can only cultivate the fields and get exploited, and I can't make a lot of money all year round. If the weather is good, I can barely fill my stomach. Don't think about wine and meat. Although I'm hungry and full here, I can really eat enough when I'm full, and I can take enough wine. Isn't this all there is no way? Do I live the life of boiling coptis juice year after year, or do I want to endure some hardship and exchange for a few days of thirst? Let's choose the latter one."

Lu Min was stunned. What are the lives of the people now so difficult?

"Nonsense!" Meng Qi said with a cold face, "You are corpse-drivers in Xiangxi, not farmers at all. Where did you come from to farm? Put other people's difficulties on yourself, thinking that you can get rid of it?"

Everyone was shocked, and the leader of the crooked mouth hurriedly said, "No, there are only four or five real corpse-drivers, and the others are... I taught that if I hadn't driven the corpse, I just scared the passing people."

He looked at Meng Qi Moli's face and said embarrassedly, "The people in the world know what kind of business is to drive corpses. Our brothers have no tiles on the ground and no place to stand. Follow me back to my hometown to work on my old business again. Aren't it all lie? It's better to cheat living people than cheat dead people's money..."

Lu Min was stunned. He didn't know what it was to drive the corpse in Xiangxi, let alone know the tricks.

Mo Li casually used a message to tell him: "The so-called driving corpses is to divide the corpses into several pieces to help people take them back, pretending to be corpses at night and rest during the day. When they arrive at someone's house, there are no people allowed to piece together the corpses, revealing their hands and feet, filling their clothes with straw, and other places are covered with talismans, claiming that no strangers are allowed to touch them, otherwise they will be deceived. After seeing them, the coffin will be sealed immediately and buried in the day. Some driving corpses only brought their heads and limbs back, and their torso were burned or buried by them."

Lu Min's eyes were wide open, unbelievable.

People at that time attached great importance to the integrity of the body. Hanging was lighter than beheading in criminal law. This is the reason. Even if they committed suicide, people would choose to throw water and eat gold, and fewer people would use knives.

Lu Min shouted angrily and was about to pull up and beat him.

The leader of the crooked mouth saw that the situation was not good, so he hurriedly dodged.

"I have seen a few people who are doing corpse driving." Meng Qi slowed down his tone, and there was a biting chill in his voice. He stared at the leader of the crooked mouth, who felt as if a knife had been cut from his face.

"At the earliest, the corpse-driver transported the whole body, but it changed later..."

"Why did it change?" Mo Li couldn't help but ask. Mr. Qin told him the statement about driving the corpse, and he didn't know what he said about this business.

"Those who return to their hometowns will be rolled by people, while those who drive out corpses are afraid. The place where they live is a special house divided by villages along the way. Even the foot shops where they can rest is unhappy. The relatives of the deceased respectfully gave thank-you gifts and food, and had to visit them during the holidays, thanking for three years, until they were mourned. The various benefits here make them choose to be a corpse driver who pretends to be a ghost, not a corpse transporter."

Meng Qi looked at the people who were tilting around and sneered, "Some people don't believe they are driving the corpse and follow them quietly, wanting to see if they have brought the corpse on the road. In order to cover up, they simply abandoned the corpse. They created an accident and lied that the person who was disturbing the corpse would be in trouble and would definitely be killed within half a year. It is not an exaggeration to say that it was a murder for money."

"No, the young man has never done this." The leader of the crooked mouth denied it and tried his best to defend himself, "That's all the old calendar. Forty years ago, the government arrested many people in Xiangxi, and they were all imprisoned on crimes and even flattened the burial houses where the corpse-drivers lived in Xiangxi... They would have no food to eat, otherwise how could they have been wandering here to cheat?"

Mo Li thought to herself that this was an order issued by the Chu Dynasty government.

Most of them were aware of the crimes of the corpse-driven drivers, so they used thunder to suppress and suppress.

However, the corpse-driver is deeply rooted in the western Hunan area, and there are always fish that escape the disaster. The crooked-mouthed leader must be one of them.

"Even if you are asked to go back to drive the corpse, you will not be willing." Meng Qi directly exposed the thoughts of the group and said with a smile, "As you said just now, how can you live a hard life with great difficulty than lying here? Staying near Zhuhou Temple is scary, so you don't have to cross mountains and ridges, or you don't have to deal with the corpse."

The crooked-mouthed leader is speechless.

Yes, it’s so good that life is so scary when you go out and get money immediately after you get money. Only fools can return to their old careers! Besides, the Chu government exposed their tricks back then, and there are more people who hate them there. Isn’t it that I’m asking for death when I go back?

Mo Li looked over one by one and found that everyone subconsciously dodged his gaze, and then he realized something in his heart.

Meng Qi threw the man in the corner of the courtyard and went straight into the ancestral hall.

Mo Li was originally going to go in, but Mr. Jinshui and the carriage were still outside the ancestral hall. He was worried that Lu Min was no match for these people, so he stood in the yard without moving.

The Zhuhou Temple was not seriously damaged, and the building was generally kept intact. The biggest problem was that it was disrepair.

Mo Li walked to the incense burner and reached out to touch the dust on it.

The crooked leader had been observing their actions carefully. At this time, he suddenly had an idea and thought, could these two people come to pay homage to Zhuhou Temple?

This is very common. Every year, many scholars come here to see each other, and then they become fat sheep in the eyes of the crooked leader and others.

The crooked leader lamented in his heart. Originally, he only felt that he was unlucky. The "fat sheep" in front of him was snatched from another group of people. There were so many liars and robbers near Zhuhou Temple, and even if he didn't do anything, there would be someone else's. It was probably because he lacked some luck.

If these two people came to Zhuhou Temple, then there would be no luck and they were destined to fall today.

In this wilderness, Zhuhou Temple is the best place to live. If he hadn't had a few skills and had his brothers, he might not have been able to occupy it. Now that this advantage has become a life-seeking talisman, how could this leader of the corpse-driver not be upset?

"I have incense here, do you want to use it?"

The crooked leader tried his best to wink his subordinates, and Mo Li turned his head to look at him unexpectedly.

The leader tried hard to squeeze out his smile, and his subordinates moved quickly, and actually found a box of fragrance from the corner.

This is a relatively inferior sandalwood, mixed with a pungent smell.

Mo Li took the box with her eyes down and asked in surprise: "What are you doing with this kind of thing?"

The leader's heart skipped a beat, but he had no other choice, so he could only gamble.

"This... it is said that Zhu Hou has the ability to control gods and ghosts. Although I can't read a few words, he has to protect him. There is a place to shelter from the wind and rain, and occasionally burn incense."

"Yeah?"

Mo Li put the box containing sandalwood next to her.

At this time, Meng Qi also came out. Although his expression was unpredictable, he had no murderous aura.

The leader of the crooked mouth said in secret that if it weren't for the people's spread of Zhu Yan, it would be taboo to replace him with another old minister of the Chu Dynasty, they would have made the place unrecognizable.

"What should these people?" Mo Li asked Meng Qi secretly with a message.

It is obviously not possible to stay here, not for Zhuhou Temple, but for not harming passers-by.

The problem is that the group of corpse-drivers were captured and other scammers - even if all the bandits nearby were captured, as long as there were one or two fish that had missed the net, within a year, the bandits gathered here again.

Nothing else, money comes too quickly.

The yamen runners who once colluded with bandits and the people of the town who set up tricks together have become accustomed to "good days", so how can they be willing to cut off their wealth?

These people will not be killed until they are killed. They will not be killed, and they will not be killed.

Meng Qi may not pay attention to the grief after his friend's death. Because he was prepared, he would not be too sad to see the destruction of Zhuhou Temple. However, Zhuhou Temple became the nest of a bandit, so he could not bear it.

"This is very difficult. Isn't there anyone ready?" Meng Qi signaled Mo Li to see Lu Min.

"You mean?"

"Crown Prince... No, Emperor Yongchen only asked us to take his brother out of Taijing and agreed to hand it over to the Jinyiwei to receive it in one place. Eighty-most of the people in charge of this matter are Gong Jun, who is an acquaintance, so it is better to do things."

“…”

Mo Li looked at the smile on the corner of Meng Qi's mouth and thought to herself that the fat mouse was going to disturb the matter again.

Sure enough, I heard Meng Qi continue to say, "I think I can contact Gong Jun's people. I think Lu Min is very enterprising and doesn't want to be too far from the capital. The nearby town is a good choice."

"Can you also keep Mr. Jinshui and thoroughly investigate the fraud case?" Mo Li held his forehead.

"That's right." Meng Qi said in a deep voice, "The reason why this wealth path is good is because the government is unwilling to be involved with Zhu Hou Temple, and always avoids this place and is worried about not being favored by the emperor. Only these scammers can hide here safely. As long as you come to take off the firewood from the bottom of the pot, things will become much easier."

The reputation of the Jinyiwei was not given in vain.

No matter how good the wealth is, people will immediately shrink back whenever they hear the word Jinyiwei.

Mo Li was silent for a long time before sighing: "Why is this!"

Why did the world become like this? The king's preferences can dominate the life and death of millions of people. A concern that causes trouble can make county officials ignore the bandits. Now even the Jinyiwei can become a good strategy for governing the country. Isn't that ridiculous?

The sky covered by dark clouds finally rained.

Mo Li used his internal force to drain the rain, and the ground he stood on was dry.

The leader of the crooked mouth was stunned, because he could not hear the two of them talking and became more and more frightened.

Meng Qi frowned and looked at him, then sealed everyone's acupoints in a blink of an eye, and then brought Mo Li into the ancestral hall.

There were messy bedding, pots, pans, and spoons scattered inside, but the main hall was still clean.

Mo Li walked to the tablet and the altar table. The statue worshipped could only show a person wearing an official robe and holding a jade scepter. His eyebrows, eyes and faces were all extremely standard carving methods, which means that he could not tell at all that he was different from others.
To be continued...