Chapter 50 Chapter 24

The yamen house was full of joyous laughter, and Tao Gan, Ma Rong, and Qiao Tai hugged each other again, jumping for joy. Duke Di stroked his beard and looked at their ecstasy, feeling very happy in his heart.Suddenly he thought of something, and his face seemed to be covered with a layer of frost.He said lightly: "Ma Rong, go quickly and change your hunting attire. After going to the stables, take two horses and accompany me to the Yaoshi Mountain to hunt wild roe deer. Qiao Tai, Tao Gan, you go to the city to post the official notice , asking the common people to settle down to their jobs, and not to stir up trouble."

In the front yard of the yamen hall, snow as heavy as goose feathers is flying, and a thick layer of pure white snow has accumulated on the ground. "Quick! Ma Rong!" Di Gong urged. "It's going to be dark soon!" Ma Rong pulled down the ear protectors of the leather hat, and got on the horse.Two riders put their bridles and jumped out of the gate of the state government office, bypassed the old school grounds, and galloped towards the north gate. As night fell, the snow gradually became smaller, but the wind was tighter and tighter. When he left the north gate, Ma Rong asked the defenders for a lantern.Di Gong raised his whip a few times and drove his horse westward to the cemetery.

"Didn't the master say to go to Yaoshi Mountain to hunt roe deer, why go to that desolate cemetery?" Ma Rong couldn't help asking. Di Gong didn't answer, and galloped into the cemetery on his own. On the cemetery, the poplars are rustling, the north wind is rustling, the will-o'-the-wisps are flickering, and the owls are howling, making people feel chilling and timid. Di Gong tied the reins on a bare tree trunk, and stepped into the pile of graves.He carefully examined the text on each tombstone.Ma Rong was full of doubts, and he couldn't ask any further questions, so he tied the reins on the bare tree and followed Di Gong into the cemetery.

Suddenly, Duke Di stopped, brushed the snow off a tombstone with his sleeve, read the black words on the tombstone carefully, and blurted out: "It's this one, it's this one." Turning around to greet Ma Rong: "Come, help me dig this grave! ——I have a pick and a shovel in my saddle bag, go and get them from me." It was completely dark, the wind was piercingly cold, and the moon was completely covered by dark clouds like splashed ink. Di Gong and Ma Rong pushed down the tombstone vigorously, one with a pickaxe and the other with a shovel, and began to dig the grave.

The door of the tomb was finally opened. Di Gong wiped the sweat from his forehead, dropped the pick, picked up the lantern, and stooped into the tomb, followed closely by Ma Rong. There are three coffins side by side in the middle of the tomb.Di Gong illuminated it with a lantern, and examined the inscriptions written in gold on the head of the coffin.He walked to the coffin on the right, nodded, and said, "Ma Rong, hold this lantern!" Ma Rong took the lantern, and Duke Di quickly took out a chisel from his sleeve and pried it into the coffin lid Then he used the shovel as a hammer and hammered it fiercely.The coffin lid rattled a few times and left the coffin.

"Pry your end!" Di Gong ordered. Ma Rong put the lantern on the ground, pushed the shovel into the gap under the coffin lid and pried it a few times, and it did go in.With a little more force, the lid of the coffin was also opened.Although Ma Rong is strong, he is timid after all. He knows that if the people of Beizhou find out that he and Di Gong secretly opened the tomb here, the consequences will be unimaginable.Thinking of this, I couldn't help trembling all over, but I didn't dare to ask Di Gongduan about it. The two then lifted the thin coffin lid and laid it down beside the coffin.Di Gong covered his mouth and nose with a handkerchief, and at the same time held the lantern high above the coffin.In the coffin lay a neat skeleton, covered here and there with pieces of decayed clothing.

Di Gong handed the lantern to Ma Rong and told him to move Gao Qingmo, while he leaned down and stroked the skeleton carefully.Ma Rong saw that the skeleton's empty eye sockets were staring at Di Gong closely.When Di Gong exerted a little force, the skeleton broke from the cervical spine with a "click".Duke Di took the skeleton out of the coffin, only to hear a "dang beep", and an iron nail fell from the skeleton into the coffin, landing on a rib.Di Gong hurriedly put the skeleton back, picked up the iron nail and held it in his hand to look at it for a while, then ordered: "Let's go back to the Yamen."

Ma Rong suddenly realized that he saw Di Gong's pale face and haggard eyes, as if he had solved the strange case of Lu Chen's iron nails, which added a layer of deeper worries and hidden pains to him. When they climbed out of the tomb gate, there was a bright moon flying thousands of miles in the sky, the bright moon was shining on the snow, the sky was bright and clear, and a cemetery suddenly seemed like the coldness of Qionggong. Di Gong blew out the lantern, and the two of them closed the tomb door forcefully again, erected the tombstone in its original place, packed up the shovel and pick into the saddle bag, flew on the horse, and galloped out of the desolate cemetery.

Ma Rong finally couldn't bear it anymore and asked, "Master, whose tomb is this?" "You will know when the Yamen is promoted to the hall tomorrow morning." It's not good for Ma Rong to ask again. Di Gongdao: "Ma Rong, you go back to Yamen first, I also want to take advantage of this beautiful moonlight to walk the horse alone." Ma Rong agreed, put on the bridle and went back to the north gate awkwardly, while Di Gong whipped the bridle and let the horse go east. Duke Di rode his horse to the foot of Yaoshi mountain and stopped. He tied his horse under an old pine tree and climbed the mountain on foot. Before he reached a dozen or so steps, he suddenly found footprints on the mountain path, and he couldn't help feeling very suspicious.Looking down at the footprints again, I couldn't help but feel slightly dizzy.

A woman in a scarlet cloak stood gracefully beside the cliff stone railing in front of the Tianshi Temple.She is silently looking at the vast plains at the bottom of her feet, like a statue carved from jade. When she heard the sound of heavy riding boots, she turned her head and smiled slightly, and said calmly, "Master Di, I guessed that you would come here." Duke Di nodded, and looked back at the budding red plum tree on the edge of the cliff, feeling dazed. "Master Di, your leather robe is covered with Fa dust, and your boots are splashed with so much mud, where did it come from?"

"Madam Guo, just to prove an old case five years ago..." "Stop talking! I understand everything!" Mrs. Guo wrapped her cloak and quickly regained her composure. "Master Di, I knew there would be such an ending, and I knew even more that Master Di would come to this step, come here, and come to me. But I still want to tell the secret. ——This is not just to save You, Master Di, even saved my own soul in order to save myself." She lowered her head and sobbed softly. Di Gong felt in a trance, out of his mind, as if something was biting his heart, causing him pain. "Ms. Guo, the law is the most sacred. We must maintain the dignity of the law no matter what, even if we destroy ourselves. I know that you rescued me from the fire in my most critical moment. You are my benefactor. I am worried that there is no way to repay my kindness, but in a blink of an eye I turn my face to arrest you. This is undoubtedly painful, but I can't bend the law because of personal grievances. ——God played tricks on us and made me Di Renjie do it I am a gracious and treacherous person. I do not expect your forgiveness, and I will not forgive myself. I just want to pray for you... for the peace of my conscience." Mrs. Guo said calmly: "Why do you say that? Master Di, I told you that secret, and I fixed my return date. I never ask you to forget the laws of the country because of me. I won't tell you!" As he spoke, he couldn't help crying like rain. Di Gong felt sad for a while, choked up his words, and felt tears welling up in his eyes. Mrs. Guo suddenly raised her head and smiled slightly: "Listen! Do you still remember the poem "Five People Ode to Plum Blossoms"? 'There is a sound of falling, and the eyebrows are hard to complete'. Listen to the snowflakes and plum blossoms in the night sky. Flying down, how bright and beautiful it is against the moonlight. This reminds me of my own life, my own soul..." Di Gong turned his head and looked at the red plum tree like clouds and rosy clouds, feeling overwhelmed. The deep red and light red petals were shining like rubies against the qiongzhi jade leaves. This scenery was just like Penglai. Fairy Mountain is average.A gust of wind blows, blowing petals and flakes of snow, slowly drifting away to the abyss under the cliff. Suddenly there was a sound of a branch snapping, and Duke Di turned his head in shock, and rushed to the edge of the stone railing.Unfortunately, it was already a step too late. Under the silvery moonlight, the scarlet cloak was falling into the bottomless abyss together with plum blossoms and flying snow.