Records of the Cattle and Horses of Chang'an

In the West Market, the young man Jiang Wangri was sweating profusely and never stopped. His brain was working very fast. He had to count money, cut meat, pretend to be an adult, chat with people, and maintain customer relationships. He was really busy like a top.

When Jiang Shangxian arrived, there were several people gathered in front of the braised mutton stall, all waiting. His figure was blocked, but she did not go forward immediately. Instead, she watched from the side for a while. She would be going to Lexianlou starting tomorrow. She could help him temporarily, not forever. This kid still had to stand on his own feet.

Fortunately, although he was young, he worked efficiently and calculated quickly. After checking for a while to make sure there were no mistakes, Jiang Shangxian walked over.

As soon as he saw her, Jiang Wangri's little face fell. He stopped calling her "sister" and stopped talking to her. He snorted proudly, like a screaming chicken.

Jiang Shangxian ignored him and just stood by. After a group of people left, he smacked him on the forehead with a chestnut: "You have no manners. You didn't even call for help when you saw your sister? Are you mute?"

"Hmph!" Young Master Jiang Wangri turned his head away, refusing to look at her. His skinny little chest heaved with anger. After not hearing Jiang Shangxian's attempts to coax him for a while, he turned around with red eyes.

She started out like a puffed-up toad: "Who asked you to help me? I'll give you all the money we earn when you get married. I don't want it!"

Jiang Shangxian's heart softened, and he gently bumped into him: "Are you angry?"

"Humph!"

Tsk tsk tsk, I’m almost mad as hell.

"Why didn't you tell me you were going out to find work? I'm a man, I don't need you to find a job!"

Jiang Shangxian put a finger to his forehead and said, "With your small stature, how much money can you possibly make out there? If you were to work as an apprentice, you'd have to pay for it first. Our braised mutton business is booming, and with my wages included, we can live a much more comfortable life and even save some money. What's not to like about that?"

"Have you found a job?" Jiang Wangri was very smart and understood the meaning of her words.

"Of course, I'm at Lexianlou, working as a chef. Am I amazing?" Jiang Shangxian teased him, shaking his head. "When Shopkeeper Wang tasted the dishes I cooked, he was immediately amazed and hired me on the spot!"

"Lexianlou? Isn't that place bustling at night? How are you going to get home?"

The ten-year-old Jiang Wangri was not moved by money and immediately thought of the key point. Although he was only ten years old, he was not a farmer who knew nothing. The name of Lexianlou was heard of by everyone in Chang'an City who was not deaf.

"Yes, I have an agreement with the shopkeeper that I will leave work and go home at 3:00 PM every day."

At this time, a hardworking worker in the Tang Dynasty did not know the common point from ancient times to the present - capitalists have no heart!

*

Dali Temple Morgue

"Mr. Cui, all 36 households that reported the case have identified the body, but the family of this body has not been found."

"No?" Cui Bianxu spoke in a low voice, his jaw tense. After a while, he sneered, "Do you know that today is May 18th?"

There was silence in the morgue. Both the coroner Ma Ning, who had examined the female corpse countless times and found nothing to prove, and the officials from the Dali Temple kept silent.

The Dali Temple's Chief Justice looked at his colleagues from the mirror sea and said resignedly, "Since the first day of May, eighteen people have gone missing in each of the two counties. All of them are young ladies under the age of fifteen, but this body has remained unclaimed..."

"You mean, this female corpse has nothing to do with the missing case?" Cui Bianxu asked back. His eyes were always on the female corpse, and no one knew what he was thinking.

"Master Cui, the murderer kidnaps two people every day. A total of thirty-six young ladies have disappeared in the two counties. Their families have already come to identify the bodies." Cong Jinghai still insisted on his opinion and repeated:

"Two people a day, that's exactly thirty-six people on the 37th. If you count this, there's an extra th person."

Cui Bianxu did not respond. He had thought about what Jinghai said, but for some reason, he always felt that the female corpse was related to the missing case.

The thirty-six women had one thing in common: they were all unmarried.

Suddenly, he shifted his gaze to Wang Mingqian, the Lieutenant General of the Jinwu Guard, and the sarcasm in his words was unmistakable: "Lieutenant General, do the Jinwu Guards take walks around Chang'an every night to digest their food?"

"What do you mean!" Before Wang Mingqian could say anything, his men became anxious. They stepped forward, put their right hands on the hilt of the knife, and looked unfriendly.

Cui Bianxu didn't even glance at him, only staring at Wang Mingqian with a forced smile: "The Wang family of Taiyuan is nothing special."

"Cui Yi, instead of getting angry here, why don't you think about how to solve the case? This case has been reported to the emperor. If you can't solve it, the reputation of your Qinghe Cui family will be trampled underfoot."

Wang Mingqian stretched out his hand to stop his men, took a step forward, and looked at Cui Bianxu.

Although Cui Bianxu was the Shaoqing of the Dali Temple, he was as tall as a bamboo pole and was half a head taller than Wang Mingqian, the Zhonglang Jiang of the Jinwu Guard.

Both of them had practiced martial arts since childhood, with broad shoulders and narrow waists. In addition, they were both from the Five Surnames and Seven Famous Family names, and their proud temperaments were comparable.

Cong Jinghai raised his head, his eyes sweeping from Wang Mingqian's face to Cui Bianxu's chin. Seeing that his eyes were about to spark, he quickly stepped in between them to act as a peacemaker: "Shaoqing Cui, General Zhonglang, solving the case is the most urgent task right now. Please calm down for now!"

"Hmph!" said the arrogant Cui Bianxu.

"Hmph!" Wang Mingqian was angry.

Two snorts were heard, and Zong Jinghai breathed a sigh of relief. A layer of cold sweat broke out on his back. He couldn't help but curse in his heart that there was too much ice in the morgue.

They are really a pair of enemies, and you can't afford to offend either of them!

"General of the Central Army, patrols within the city, I hope the brothers of the Jinwu Guard will be more vigilant. The murderer was able to abduct so many women right under the Jinwu Guard's noses. If the higher-ups investigate, the Dali Temple will be implicated, and the Jinwu Guard will also be in trouble. What do you think?"

The veteran in the workplace, Cong Jinghai, decisively turned the conversation to Wang Mingqian.

Wang Mingqian knew very well that he was right.

The duties of the Jinwu Guard are equivalent to a combination of the public security and urban management. It would have been fine if the two counties had not reported the case originally, but now those two losers can no longer bear the call for help. If more women continue to go missing, they, the Jinwu Guard, will definitely be the first to be criticized.

"General Zhonglang, take care."

He watched their backs disappear from the mirror sea, then turned around and began to coax his colleague and superior: "Master Cui, thirty-six women are missing, and the people in the city are in a panic. There are already rumors that May has always been an unlucky month, and that ghosts and evil spirits have descended and harmed those women. If we can't solve the case, I'm afraid we won't be able to explain it to our superiors."

Cui Bianxu had a handsome face full of heroic spirit. After these days of studying the case day and night, his eyes had already darkened. But at this moment, he still carefully pulled out a small booklet from his pocket and wrote something on it with a pen: "Have you checked the official media in Chang'an and Wannian counties?"

The murderer has already got the two people he wanted today.

The coroner's several autopsy reports did not find any clues. Apart from knowing that the woman died on the morning of the tenth day of May, was about 15 to 17 years old, was married, and came from an average family, no other findings were made.

The woman had signs of being tied up, but the murderer was very cunning. The rope used to tie her up was the shawl she was wearing. There were no signs of being violated before her death. The cause of death was that her neck was directly twisted apart with great force.

The only difference between this woman and the other 36 women is that she is no longer a virgin.

Women in the Tang Dynasty got married before the age of twenty at the latest. They were all only about fourteen years old, so there was no time to rush.

According to the 36 families of the missing daughters, they only went to the official media to make a record for future reference.

"Reporting to the Shaoqing, there are 108 wards in Chang'an County and two counties, with a total of 27 official matchmakers. Each of them holds the rosters of men and women from four wards. With so many people, the rosters have accumulated over time. Generally, only those who are about to reach the age of old and whose families go to the official matchmakers to register will the rosters be found."

Cui Bianxu closed the booklet and thought about Jinghai's previous speculation that there was a flower thief in the city, but he didn't think so.

What kind of flower thief is so awesome that he can steal two of them in one day. Isn’t he afraid that his legs will become weak and he can’t walk?

"Is the roster lost?"

Cong Jinghai was stunned. He watched as his young master put the booklet into his arms and took out a handkerchief from his sleeve. He wiped his hands carefully and shook his head hesitantly. "Probably not. I haven't heard them mention it."

Tsk, worthy of being from the Qinghe Cui family, so sophisticated!