No, gentlemen also guard against

Chapter 853 Handmaiden
In a small dark room, on a hard wooden couch.

With the help of the faint sparks, Ouyang Rong looked at the blood letter carefully again.

According to Cui Hao's casual message, the owner of the tomb was named Lu Changgeng, a scholar who fled to the Southern Dynasty three hundred years ago. He had some connection with Cui Hao. Among the burial objects in the tomb were his handwritten letters, one of which still had a Kuixing talisman. It was made of silk and would never decay.

Ouyang Rong put down the blood letter and frowned in thought.

As for why Cui Hao, the Grand Tutor of the Northern Wei Dynasty and the leader of northern scholars, had such correspondence with a southern scholar during the period of hostility between the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Cui Hao did not mention a word.

"Lu Changgeng..."

The sky outside was getting dimly lit, and Ouyang Rong took the initiative to extinguish the fire. The darkness covered his face, making it a little blurry. He murmured something in a low voice.

The blood letter only said that this person’s tomb was in Yunmengze, but did not specify the specific location. How could people find it?

We can't ask Liu Lang to lead a carpet search.

Besides, at the moment, he couldn't leave Taoyuan Town too far, so he had to stay here and wait for a certain lady to show up at any time and take him into Yunmeng Sword Lake...

Although he was somewhat suspicious whether Miss Zhishuang had forgotten him.

If you think about it carefully, the scholars who were able to migrate south to the south in that era were not from poor families.

And you see, it was clearly a wave of refugees leaving their homes, but the escape of the scholars was called the Migration of the Elite to the South.

So elegant, so calm, so refined, so gentle, courteous, frugal and modest.

Those who don’t know might think it’s a spring outing, but in fact it’s just a runaway.

By the way, at that time, most of those who were able to migrate to the south were from the noble families of the north, and the family to which Lu Changgeng belonged should have been one of them.

Such scholars, who were buried in Yunmengze after their death, must not be left as lonely ghosts, but in an established family cemetery. Although Confucianism advocates rich living and simple burial, it also has the tradition of returning to one's roots, and the graves of scholars should be buried in the place where their family lives.

Based on this analysis, the family to which Lu Changgeng belonged must have settled in Yunmengze, so he was buried here after his death.

Since it is the family habitat, it must be located above the living area of ​​ordinary people, and the family cemetery must also be close. This was the case at least two or three hundred years ago when Lu Changgeng was buried.

Ouyang Rong turned his head and looked out the small window. The weather in the town was still foggy today.

Looking at the area within a radius of 100 miles, this Taoyuan Town seems to meet this requirement. Judging from the style of the ancient houses and gates in this town, it has the architectural style of the Southern Dynasties and should have been built a long time ago. It is also one of the mountain markets deepest in Yunmengze... It is not impossible that Lu Changgeng's family lives in this town?
Of course, Yunmengze is so large and borders many states and counties, so the probability that the Lu family is not here is very high. We can only take our chances.

But Ouyang Rong always felt that Cui Hao would not do anything without a purpose.

Before Cui Hao left, he praised him for his intelligence, but Cui Hao was also extremely smart.

Ouyang Rong decided to take some time during the day to investigate.

After thinking about it, Ouyang Rong turned over, covered himself with the quilt, carefully folded the blood letter, opened a corner of the scroll under the pillow, and stuffed it in.

Before the sound of a rooster climbing onto the roof was heard from the next yard, he reached into the scroll, trying to take something again.

At this moment, he paused in the darkness, as if he felt something, and with a "whoosh", his hand returned to his arms and pressed down a restless ink ingot.

It was wriggling like an earthworm, trying to break free from his arms and get some fresh air.

Ouyang Rong stuffed it back with a stern face, put it in place again, and pressed his palm on it through the clothes.

He ignored the "little ink stick"'s trembling and tantrum-like protests.

Ouyang Rong wore a bronze mask day and night to protect his fake body, just in case, even if it would slowly consume a certain amount of merit.

Similarly, we must now continue to guard against the little ink spirit from leaking its aura.

Ouyang Rong pulled up the quilt and buried his face, making a slight sound through his teeth:

"Where can I find ink for you here? Last time I gave you a full meal before leaving Xunyang, you were picky. Stop making trouble and learn from Dabai..."

After saying this, Ouyang Rong closed his eyes and sensed the white sturgeon.

The little fellow was indeed well-behaved and honest. At this moment, he was wandering under the misty water three miles outside Taoyuan Town, wagging his tail.

On the dim bed, Ouyang Rong suddenly opened his eyes.

Almost at the same time, heavy footsteps were heard outside the bell tower.

"Brother Liang, Brother Liang, are you awake? It's time to ring the bell. I'm ready. I see the big rooster next door is about to jump onto the wall..."

The loud voice of Ergou, the new colleague of the inn, rang out at the right time.

Ouyang Rong, who was sleeping in a navy blue monk's robe, did not respond. He turned over and got off the bed, picked up the scroll under the pillow and stuffed it into his arms, then touched his chin out of habit. He picked up a felt hat and put it on his brow, lowered his head slightly, stood up, opened the wooden door of the bell tower, walked out, walked straight past Ergou, and went to the wooden ladder leading to the top floor.

The second dog followed happily.

The young man in monk's robes in front of me didn't even say hello, and said in a somewhat rude voice:
"Come up, watch me knock first, and you can do the rest in the second half."

Ergou was not annoyed, and looked curiously at the big clock on the roof:
"Oh, Brother Liang, do you have to knock it 108 times? Once in the morning and once in the evening, every day, it must be so tiring. Brother Liang, is there any particular rule for this..."

Ouyang Rong didn't answer.

Ergou didn't ask any more questions and just followed obediently, still looking around curiously along the way.

Ouyang Rong was in front, and Ergou was behind, climbing to the top floor together.

Halfway up the mountain, Ouyang Rong heard Ergou's trembling voice from behind:

"Liu, Aliang brother, why is it so high? I, I'm scared..."

Ouyang Rong took off his felt hat and threw it on his head casually and accurately:

"Don't look down."

"oh oh."

Sha Ergou's eyes were half covered by the felt hat, so he was not so scared. He groped his way like a blind man and followed Ouyang Rong to climb up to the top floor which was about 20 feet high.

When they arrived in front of the big clock, Ouyang Rong did not ask for his hat back.

He turned his head to look at the young man in front of him who was standing at attention with his chest puffed out, trembling as if facing a formidable enemy, and not daring to look at the scenery above.

The young man was about fifteen or sixteen years old, with short hair, dark skin, a big flat nose, and an ordinary, honest appearance, but with some messy tattoos on his body that showed from his neck.

They are dressed like the typical natives of Wu and Yue, with cut hair and tattoos, and are not yet civilized. If they were placed in Jiangzhou, Ouyang Rong, as the governor, would have to lead them to integrate into "My Holy Week" and not allow any of them to fall behind.

It is a pity that as we go south, especially in Lingnan Road, many prefectures and counties are still vassal states, where the barbarians are controlled by the barbarians and governed according to their customs, that is, the barbarian chieftains are self-governing.

The Yunmengze near them is also a lawless area, with people fleeing there from time to time. There are many uncivilized villages scattered around it, but it is rare to see a well-established Han town like Taoyuan Town.

We just met a few days ago, and Ergou told me that he was from one of those villages, which is quite far away from Taoyuan Town.

Ouyang Rong touched his chin and suddenly realized that his image was not much better.

Others have tattoos on their cut hair, but on his forehead, like Ah Qing, he has the word "Yue" tattooed on it. In the Great Zhou, this symbolizes the status of an official slave.

No wonder the two dogs were so close and proactive in talking to Ouyang Rong when they just met a few days ago. He probably thought that Ouyang Rong was a native of Wu Yue from the surrounding villages like him.

"Brother Liang, why are you looking at me like that?"

Ouyang Rong shook his head:

"It's okay, you...by the way, do you have a last name?"

The short-haired young man thought for a moment and said:

"Sha, right? Our village is called Shajialong, and my sister also says her last name is Sha when she goes out."

"Sha Ergou...Sha...gou..."

Ouyang Rong paused in the middle of his speech, somewhat speechless:

"I'll just call you Ergou from now on."

Sha Ergou grinned, showing his big white teeth:
"It's all right."

He asked curiously:

"What about Aliang brother? What's his last name?"

Ouyang Rong quieted down, turned around and hugged the wood. In silence, the first bell of this morning suddenly rang.

"Liu." Sha Ergou saw the young man who was ringing the bell, his monk's robe fluttering in the cold morning breeze, saying this without turning his head.

"clang--!"

The loud bell sound awakened the white ancient town.

……

Sha Ergou had just arrived at the Hongchen Inn the day before yesterday. Like Ouyang Rong, he worked as a hired help, helping the innkeeper with some manual labor.

The reason why he came to watch the bell ringing this morning was because Ouyang Rong asked him yesterday if he wanted to learn, and the two of them divided the work together.

When he first came here, Sha Ergou also wanted to earn more money, so he immediately agreed and said he would give it a try.

Ouyang Rong found someone to share the job of ringing the bell with. In addition to freeing up his hands to do other things, it also made him appear "more normal"... Who wouldn't get tired of ringing the bell so many times every day, rain or shine?

After getting down from the bell tower, Ouyang Rong threw a sweat towel to Sha Ergou.

There were one hundred and eight bells, he rang the first half and left the second half to Sha Ergou.

Ouyang Rong locked the door of the bell tower, took the lead and walked towards the Red Dust Inn, and asked casually:
"So, what else?"

Sha Ergou looked back at the bell tower timidly. Noticing Aliang looking back, he gritted his teeth and nodded firmly:
"Dry!"

Without pointing out the short-haired young man's fear of heights, Ouyang Rong nodded gently:
"Okay, let's start from today. I have something to do this afternoon, so you can help me ring the bell. The evening bell will also be yours. We'll split the wages in half, and the village chief will pay you every ten days..."

Sha Ergou listened attentively. It could be seen that this was probably the first time for him to leave his poor hometown. He was honest and simple in character. For him, coming to Taoyuan Town was like going to the city to see the world, so he studied very seriously.

Ouyang Rong said without turning his head: "Here's the hat for you. I'll ring the bell in the morning. You don't have to get up so early like today..."

"Okay, okay..."

Sha Ergou nodded frequently, and he couldn't help but glance at the back of the dull brother in front of him.

He felt that this brother Aliang seemed to be surprisingly methodical in his words and deeds. He could explain even the most complicated matters in detail. He had a temperament that could calm people down.

This was something Sha Ergou had never seen before. At first, because of Ouyang Rong's appearance, Sha Ergou thought they were of the same native origin. And since they were in a strange environment, he naturally felt closer to him.

But now it seems that this Aliang brother is definitely different from him. Maybe they have similar backgrounds and have cut their hair and got tattoos, but no one knows what Aliang brother has been through in the past few years. He is so different...

Sha Ergou suddenly said:

"Is Aliang good at swimming?"

Ouyang Rong's back did not pause, and he asked calmly:
"How did you tell?"

Sha Ergou scratched his head:

"Brother Liang, you have a slender figure and long arms. You are a good swimmer. You have the same figure as the paddler in our village. You can tell at a glance that you love swimming all year round..."

He smiled and pointed at himself again:
"And I'm the same, Brother Liang. Although I'm afraid of heights, if I'm in the water, fish are not as fast as me. But I probably can't compare to Brother Liang. Let's go to the big lake to play in the water some other day..."

Ouyang Rong was a little silent.

The person Sha Ergou was talking about was actually Ashan.

The reason why Ashan and him first met was when he bravely saved him from drowning in the turbulent water.

Ouyang Rong interrupted in a low voice:
"That was in the past. I got hurt a bit back there, so I have to try to avoid touching water."

Sha Ergou was stunned, and seemed to want to ask in detail, but he held it back:
"oh oh."

Ouyang Rong lowered his eyes slightly.

Speaking of which, this is also the shortcoming of the bronze mask. If it falls into the water, its phantom body will be destroyed.

After waiting for a while, Sha Ergou didn't speak again, as if he was blaming himself for saying the wrong thing.

Ouyang Rong suddenly asked:

"Ergou, why did you want to come to Taoyuan County?"

Sha Ergou lowered his head:
"I was brought here by someone, and they asked me to stay in the inn first."

Ouyang Rong paused slightly:
"Who? Who brought you here?"

Sha Ergou didn't notice anything unusual and said bluntly:
"Mrs. Yu, she was the one who took my sister away to Taoyuan Town..."

As he spoke, his voice became softer.

Ouyang Rong turned around and looked carefully at Sha Ergou's expression. Seeing that he did not seem to be lying, he thought that Xue Zhongzhu had not brought him here.

Ouyang Rong didn't ask any more questions.

There was no conversation along the way, and the two arrived at the Hongchen Inn.

The inn was already open to welcome guests. Ouyang Rong and Sha Ergou arrived early and were asked by the proprietress Yu to go to work.

There were not only Ouyang Rong and Sha Ergou, but also six or seven other servants in the inn.

Hongchen Inn is the largest restaurant in the north of Taoyuan Town. It is right next to the town entrance. Most of the new travelers from the north stop here to rest and stay, so there are naturally many people doing odd jobs.

After being busy until noon, Ouyang Rong got a portion of dry food and met Sha Ergou, preparing to find a place to rest in the backyard. They passed by the lobby counter.

I happened to see two young girls at the counter, surrounded by five male servants who were taking a break, and they were chatting and laughing.

Ouyang Rong was still thinking about a certain tomb and was a little distracted. When he passed the counter, he felt his sleeve being pulled.

When he turned around, he saw Sha Ergou pulling his sleeve.

Ouyang Rong frowned and followed Sha Ergou's frowning gaze to the two girls behind the counter.

There was a person Ouyang Rong knew, she was the youngest daughter of Boss Yu. She had a green, round face with some freckles. Her figure was like her mother's, with a thick waist. But it might be because of the pretty girl standing next to her that made her look more attractive.

Ouyang Rong's gaze moved slightly and fell on the pretty girl. She was about fifteen or sixteen years old, tall and thin, with a face only the size of a palm, pretty and pretty. Her waist looked thin against her freckles, and her legs covered by her skirt were probably also very beautiful. The most important thing was that in addition to her straight hair, her skin was very fair, and she didn't look like the petite and delicate girl from the south of the Yangtze River.

At this moment, the two girls were counting money with an abacus in front of the counter. The five servants took advantage of their free time to joke around and say some dirty words, and of course their attention was all on the prettiest one.

But apart from Miss Yu blushing secretly, the tall girl's lowered face was a little indifferent, and she slowly fiddled with the abacus, as if she didn't hear anything.

It also made the surrounding servants and guests look at her with suspicion and itch.

"This Miss Song is a new maid. I heard from Brother Guang and the others that she is from Jiannan Road. She was abducted by human traffickers when she was fleeing. The boss lady bought her from the traffickers out of kindness. She works at the counter. I heard that she can read..."

Sha Ergou said quietly with a pout.

Ouyang Rong withdrew his gaze. He indeed had not paid much attention to it in the past two days.

"Oh."

Ouyang Rong took a bite of his dry food, turned around and continued walking.

Sha Ergou was stunned for a moment, and had to leave reluctantly. He originally wanted to go over and talk to him.

Arriving at the backyard, Sha Ergou followed Ouyang Rong and asked curiously:

"Brother Liang, which town is Jiannan Road? Are all the girls there so white and thin?"

Ouyang Rong glanced at him:
"You can't control that woman over there."

Sha Ergou was confused: "Why?"

Ouyang Rong shook his head without saying anything, then sat down and started to eat some dry food.

About half an hour later, Ouyang Rong opened his eyes after his lunch break, gave Sha Ergou a few words, and went to the counter in the lobby.

Only Miss Yu was at the counter, and the new maid named Song was nowhere to be seen.

Ouyang Rong didn't care and directly stated his purpose.

The freckled girl lowered her head to flip through the account book:
"Oh, Liu Aliang, you're taking a break, right? Wait a minute, I'll pay you your wages..."

……

(PS: The update failed during the day, nailed to the pillar of shame or2)

(End of this chapter)