Chapter 28: The Cruelty of Black Arrow

  In the great hall of the central house, several elder relatives of the Zu family were still there, while the rest of the robust and young men either returned home to rest or helped in other parts of the estate. Hong Shu and others were also taken to the lower house to rest and recover from their injuries. The county officials who had been invited earlier arrived at this moment and were consulting with Zu Jie, Chun Yu Pei, and others about the case. This night was destined to be sleepless, as family members who lost loved ones wailed in sorrow; although only the Zu family's estate had lights on in the entire North Guo Li, there were still many people who couldn't fall asleep in the darkness.

  Zu Zhao finished his tasks and rushed back to the Zhongtang Hall to report to his grandfather and other elders.

  County Magistrate Chen, County Lieutenant Wen Tai, Yu Jiao Zu Fan, and Li Gan were all with stern expressions, talking to the elder members of the Zu family. When they saw Zu Zhao arrive, they exchanged simple greetings, which Zu Zhao responded to one by one. As soon as Zu Zhao arrived at the manor, someone had already reported the news to the main hall, so this time there was not much that needed to be explained, and he simply briefly introduced how these bodies were found in a few words.

  "The traces of the thief's escape are heading north? Further north and it will be barbarian territory, could it be that the barbarians are causing trouble again?" Li Gan, a minor official, spoke up at this moment, being seated below the main hall.

  "How can this be? The two counties of Xuwu and Lingzhi have the garrison of Lulong Pass, how dare the barbarians make trouble under the eyes of our great Han army? Do they really think that our great Han is powerless?" County Magistrate Wen Tai said coldly, his voice as chilly as his demeanor.

  "In any case, tomorrow at dawn, I will send someone to pursue northwards. This matter is of great importance, and I must report it to the county government as soon as possible, requesting that the county magistrate issue a warrant for the arrest of Wen, and order each county to strictly apprehend the culprits." County Magistrate Chen said in an official tone, putting on a serious and solemn expression.

  Everyone in the ancestral home knew that Chen Xianjun was best at talking nonsense, although what he said sounded powerful and convincing, but in reality it seemed to have little effect. Whenever a major murder case occurred in the county, it would always be reported to the prefecture immediately, and whether there would be any follow-up depended on whether the prefecture thought it was an important case. Now that the country is in turmoil, the people are suffering, theft and murder are rampant everywhere, even if there were officials who wanted to investigate cases with a sincere heart, they might not have been able to keep up with the workload.

  "It's a bother to trouble Lord Chen, but this case has resulted in the loss of seven lives, which is truly shocking. My family is deeply outraged and will not let it go easily." Zu Ji said with a measured tone, implying that his family would take private action outside of official channels, giving Chen County Magistrate an advance warning.

  "Official business, originally has a trace to follow. When there is new news, I will immediately report it to General Zu." Chen County Lord understood tacitly, although handling private matters was not within the scope of official duties, after all, the Zu family was a local prominent clan, not only were they wealthy and influential, but even in terms of efficiency in investigating this case, they would surpass the government office. Turning a blind eye to it would be the end of the matter.

  "There are still several suspicious points in this matter, if we want to catch these culprits as soon as possible, I'm afraid we have to start with these suspicious points." Zǔ Fán said resolutely. As a member of the Zǔ family, his family background was not bad within the Zǔ clan, and he was able to be appointed as the leader of the brave and upright team, largely due to the reputation of his family. Now that something has happened to his family, he must work even harder.

  Upon hearing this, everyone's eyes quickly fell on Zu Fan.

  "Hmm, let's not mention anything else. Just look at Xu Wu and Ling Zhi counties, they are so close to each other, and nearby there is a garrison of government troops, for over ten years there hasn't been any big cases, but today such a robbery and murder happened, this is already a huge suspicious point." Wen Tai, although being a rough person, had many years of experience as a county magistrate, immediately said.

  "It's not just that, if what Uncle Hong said is true, the bandits' actions were well-planned and they should have been prepared in advance to ambush here. This makes one wonder: Firstly, how did the bandits know about Uncle Hong's itinerary? Secondly, Uncle Hong's trip this time was just a routine visit to the horse market, and it wasn't certain that he would make a purchase - were the bandits secretly following him all along? Thirdly, even if Uncle Hong had bought horses, they were only seven or eight ordinary horses, and for such a small amount of money, was it worth taking such a great risk?" Zǔ Fán said with an expressionless tone.

  Zu Zhao glanced at his younger cousin subconsciously, admiring the other's meticulous mind, indeed a qualified tourist.

  Many seniors and Chun Yu Pei, etc., also agreed with Zu Fan's speculation, nodding in unison.

  Several uncles and aunts, based on Zu's speculation, whispered to each other for a while. Everyone strongly denied that there was an internal ghost in the Zu family, after all, selling Uncle Hong to let the thieves get away with several horses made no sense at all. Moreover, whether it was the direct or collateral line of the Zu family, whether they were rich and noble or poor and humble, everyone now had a stable livelihood, so there was no need for any great resentment. In this way, the only thing that could be confirmed was that when watching horses in Ling County, someone with ulterior motives had taken notice.

  At this time, Zu Zhao, who had not spoken much, calmly opened his mouth and said: "Since these thugs still cover their faces at night, it can be seen that they are afraid of being recognized by others. Based on this point alone, Hu Zei and Shan Zei should be ruled out. Obviously, they should be some poor and remote villagers. These people killed people and robbed goods tonight, but tomorrow they will still have to show their faces, so they cover their faces to prevent unexpected events."

  The murmurs of discussion quickly died down, and everyone suddenly turned their eyes to Zu Zhao. Some people had never considered this detail before, or perhaps they were careless, thinking that most bandits would wear masks to prevent the government from issuing arrest warrants. Now hearing Zu Zhao say this, it really made people feel a sense of sudden realization.

  County Lieutenant Wen Tai nodded slowly, agreeing: "It's not entirely impossible. I've heard that there have been cases of unruly commoners causing trouble in many places within the prefecture. It's said that in places like Zhuo County and Ji Province, there's even a 'Taiping Dao' movement among the people, where believers are fanatically devoted to their masters who wield the nine-section staff. Hmph, it's simply heresy deceiving the masses, bewitching their minds."

  As soon as the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was mentioned, the people present showed varying degrees of change in color. The people present were all from noble families and had always been cautious about the massive gathering of ordinary people at the bottom. It can be said that their class must be opposed to the peasant class, like water and fire. Throughout history, local landlords and nobles have been on the forefront of peasant uprisings, with eight or nine out of ten being targeted.

  Sun Yu let out a sigh and said, "In our Xuan Tu County, there are also people spreading the teachings of the Taiping Dao. The governor of Gong Sun is quite worried about this. However, these people have not committed any crimes, they just sell some talismans and water, the county government has no way to deal with them, so they can only let it be."

  The humble Li Gan, with a worried look on his face, said: "I also advised the county magistrate to tell them not to cause trouble, but those followers may not listen. Alas, if things continue like this, I'm afraid it will lead to big chaos."

  Chen Xianjun followed the crowd's discussion and said: "Could it be that this robbery case was done by those Taiping Dao followers?"

  Everyone was silent and did not speak, as if tacitly acknowledging this point.

  The county lieutenant said with a stern expression: "It's not necessarily true or false, we must investigate first to be certain."

  Zu Zhao's view was consistent with Wen Tai's. After a brief moment of contemplation, he continued: "Moreover, just now when I examined the corpses, I found that three people were killed by a single arrow. This may not be strange, but what I want to say is that the arrows that killed them were all pitch black, and even the arrow feathers had been dyed black."

  He nodded to Zu Cheng, who was standing near the threshold of the gate. Zu Cheng immediately stepped forward. The arrow taken from the corpse had been wrapped in a piece of cloth, which he now unwrapped and displayed before everyone.

  Everyone carefully passed it around, most of them looked puzzled, but when it reached Wen Xianwei's hands, he subconsciously stopped to take a closer look.

  Zu Fan couldn't help but ask, "Lord Wen, is there any clue?"

  Wen Tai hesitated for a moment without speaking in haste, and suddenly turned his gaze towards Zu Jue on the first seat.

  The people present involuntarily followed Wen Tai's gaze and looked over, only to see Zu Ju as if he had encountered a thunderstorm on a sunny day, his expression slightly stiff, with a few hints of surprise and uncertainty in his old eyes. Anyone who saw this knew that Zu Ju obviously knew some clues about the Black Arrow.

  Wen Tai waited for a while, seeing that Zu Jie was not speaking, and could not help but open his mouth: "General, when I was in office in Shangyong County, I heard that there was a fierce bandit outside the pass who used black arrows, and within fifty steps, one arrow would kill. At that time, the Qiang people were invading the border, and General Diao appointed Colonel Yin Duan to lead three thousand soldiers to suppress them in Shangyong County. The black arrow bandit was among the Qiang people, and in this battle, he killed nineteen of our Han military officers."

  Everyone present was greatly astonished by these words, and they did not expect that there would still be such a legendary story of past events.

  Even Zu Chao himself was deeply surprised, it seems that Wen Tai had known his grandfather for many years, and the Black Arrow bandit case was apparently closely related to his grandfather.

  At this time, Chen Xianjun hastily turned to Zu Ju and asked: "General Zu, is there really such a thing?"

  Zu Jiu let out a long sigh, his expression solemn, and said: "I remember that year was the first year of Xi Ping, when Shangguo Taishou sought help, General Zhang dispatched Yinsi Ma's troops to rush to their aid. The Qiang bandits were fierce, but how could they be a match for the great Han heavenly army? In three battles, Yinsi Ma defeated the Qiang bandits and made them flee in disarray. And it was after the second battle that General Zhang sent me to Yinsi Ma's camp to deliver an order of commendation, which was also the first time I met Wenxian Wei."

  Wen Tai took over the conversation and further explained: "At that time, Yin Sima's unit was combined with the local military and civilians of Shanggu County, so they happened to be in the same camp, hence they were fortunate enough to get acquainted with General Zu." When he said this, he still showed a few points of respect for Zu.

  Yin Duan was originally a marshal under the famous Eastern Han general Zhang Huan, who served as the Protector of the Xiongnu. He fought against the Xianbei, Wuhuan, and Qiang peoples with great success. In the first year (167 AD), Yin Duan, along with Zhang Huan and Dong Zhuo, defeated the rebels in Liangzhou and broke through the enemy lines, earning him a promotion to Governor of Kuaiji. During his tenure, he recommended his chief clerk Zhu Jun for the title of Filial and Incorrupt. In the first year of Xiping (172 AD), the people of Kuaiji, led by Xu Shao and his son, rebelled against the government. Yin Duan was impeached by the governor for "failing to quell the rebels" and sentenced to death. However, he was saved from execution due to Zhu Jun's bribery of officials and was instead demoted to serve as a left attendant.