Records of the Cattle and Horses of Chang'an

Before Jiang Shangxian could even feel happy, he heard Shopkeeper Wang frown and turn around to scold, "What do you want here?"

Following his gaze, I saw the young man from yesterday standing at the door, twisting his fingers and his face as red as if he had run a 1500-meter race.

Seeing her turn her head to look at him, she lowered her head in embarrassment, then quickly raised it again, her face still red, but her eyes had a hint of determination: "Master Jiang, Master Jiang, I will be filial to you and study hard."

The apprentices who were as restless as chickens just now became lively and whispered to each other:

"Zhou Ying, this kid, still wants to learn cooking?"

"How shameless."

"I used to love hanging out in the kitchen, and even after being scolded so many times by the chefs, I still refused to give up!"

.........

They were obviously doing it on purpose. Although they pretended to be whispering, their voices were not low at all, and they kept glancing at Jiang Shangxian.

Jiang Shangxian was getting a little irritated by being looked at. How could he bully someone like that? This kid looked about the same age as him, so what was wrong with wanting to learn cooking? It was just cooking, wasn't it? What kind of workplace bullying was this?

Shopkeeper Wang was obviously very unhappy and scolded again: "Why don't you get back to the front? If you keep slacking off, you won't be able to do this job anymore!"

Zhou Ying's originally rosy face turned pale, her whole body was trembling slightly, her lips were trembling and bitten together, but one hand was grabbing the door frame, which showed that she didn't want to leave.

Jiang Shangxian suddenly smiled and said, "Okay, come over and kowtow."

The kitchen suddenly became quiet. The apprentices stared in disbelief. Even Shopkeeper Wang was startled and quickly tried to dissuade them, "Aunt Jiang, Zhou Ying was also an apprentice at first, but he couldn't even cut vegetables properly, so I made him a waiter."

Jiang Shangxian looked at Zhou Ying, his eyes red and wet, as if he was about to cry in the next second. He waved his hand nonchalantly: "Don't worry, he is my apprentice, I will train him myself. If there is anything wrong, it is because I, as the master, did not teach him well."

"Master, I will study hard!" Zhou Ying came running in, his eyes sparkling, and kowtowed three times. Then he stood up with tears on his face. Jiang Shangxian took a look and realized that his second disciple was a crybaby.

It is human instinct to pity the poor and the weak, and Zhou Ying was very polite to her yesterday. When the other guys laughed at her for overestimating her abilities, he was the only one who did not join in the laughter. Instead, he looked at her with concern.

This is a kind-hearted child, that's enough.

"this...."

Shopkeeper Wang wanted to say something more when Jiang Shangxian pointed at another person and asked, "Would you like to become my disciple?"

She was referring to the apprentice who had volunteered to help her light the fire yesterday. Just now, everyone was laughing at Zhou Ying, but he didn't say anything and was instead a little hesitant.

This person is very cautious. When he was called out for questioning, he was still a little hesitant. Jiang Shangxian felt a little headache. It was not a good deal to rush in.

After all, this was her unique skill, so there was no reason for her to be so humble. So she decided that if he was unwilling, then forget it and just accept two apprentices.

"It's your blessing that Aunt Jiang likes you! What are you still hesitating about? Come here and kowtow!" Shopkeeper Wang scolded angrily.

Jiang Shangxian quickly stopped him, his face showing no sign of displeasure: "If you don't want to, that's fine. Two disciples are enough."

How can two of them do that? Shopkeeper Wang twitched his beard and started to sneer at the apprentice again: "Li Meng! Don't be so ungrateful! If you miss this opportunity, you'll never get it back again!"

When Jiang Shangxian heard the name, he couldn't help but stare at him for a while. He really knew how to name people, and the name really suited the person.

Li Meng pursed his lips, and after a while, as if he had made up his mind, he stepped forward and kowtowed: "Disciple Li Meng, I pay my respects to the Master."

Jiang Shangxian nodded, but he was not very happy. The situation of accepting disciples today was not very optimistic. He appointed one himself, one came from a different major, and one was a relative of his leader.

Oh, I was a little too complacent, thinking that I could intimidate people by showing off my skills yesterday.

What dish should I prepare to impress people? Jiang Shangxian was a little confused.

*

Dali Temple

"Shaoqing Cui, out of the twenty-seven matchmakers, more than half of the books were lost, and most of them are unknown when they were lost."

He sent people from Jinghai early in the morning to run all over the 108 districts of Chang'an, making all his men exhausted.

"Are the 36 missing women all on the lost list?" Cui Bianxu put down the letter in his hand, slowly folded it and stuffed it into the envelope, then lit it on the candle. When his fingertips felt the heat, he threw the last corner of the letter into the teacup.

There was still a little tea left in the teacup, making a sizzling sound.

Who was Cong Jinghai? Reading people's expressions was his survival instinct.

Although Cui Bianxu looked no different from usual, with the same snotty face and the same ice-cold temper, he could sense that he was not very happy at the moment.

"I've counted and found that seventeen of the thirty-six women on the missing list are on the list. The remaining names on the list have not been lost."

Cui Bianxu's mood became even worse, and his brows were furrowed. So, the missing woman had nothing to do with the lost list.

So, what exactly connects these thirty-six women together?

Cong Jinghai also thought of this and said uncertainly: "Shaoqing, the murderer might have arrested anyone at random?"

"There is absolutely no such possibility!" Cui Bian said firmly.

Cong Jinghai couldn't help but feel itchy, wanting to ask him where he got the confidence to be so sure? He did ask that.

In fact, the families of the 36 women have been consulted three times. The workload is already very large.

Unfortunately, apart from this, they have no connection with each other.

And we have to catch two people every day. It’s impossible for the murderer to target a specific person every day, right?

"Is there any movement at Shanghaofang?"

I sighed silently from the mirror sea, what does it mean when it rains and the roof leaks? It is nothing more than this.

"No."

Cui Bianxu stared at his teacup for a while, then suddenly stood up and walked out: "Follow me to the Yue Lao Temple!"

"Yue Lao Temple?!"

Cong Jinghai reacted quickly and hurried to catch up, with a hint of excitement on his face: "Shaoqing, are you planning to marry a woman?"

Big news! Mr. Cui's popularity in the marriage market is unmatched by anyone else. If this news gets out, it's worth at least ten thousand coins!

I’m going to get rich! I’m going to make a fortune!

Cui Bianxu's face darkened a little. He wanted to ignore him, but he was afraid of his loud voice. If he ignored him, everyone in the Dali Temple would think that he wanted to get married!

"Besides silk shops, silver shops, and cosmetics stores in the city, the favorite place for girls of this age is Yue Lao Temple!"

"Your Excellency, do you suspect that they have all gone to the Yue Lao Temple to burn incense?"

Cong Jinghai was disappointed at first, but then he slapped his thigh and flattered him as if he had suddenly realized something: "Shaoqing is really amazing. He can even think of this. Young ladies of this age love to go to the Yue Lao Temple to pray for marriage..."

Cui Bianxu said nothing. If he hadn't received a letter from his hometown in Qinghe saying that they wanted to see a fortune teller for him, he wouldn't have thought of this.

The main reason is that he really doesn't focus on love, and he doesn't believe in ghosts and gods. He doesn't believe that going to the Yue Lao Temple to worship can lead to a good marriage.

Cui Bianxu didn't want to hear his flattery, so he changed the subject: "Why hasn't the Zheng family been making any noise these past two days?"

That bastard Zheng Jing had previously acted as if he was going to smash the county government offices of the two counties. Even when he came to the Dali Temple, he was very rude and looked down on everyone.

Even someone as smooth-talking as Jinghai felt a pang of pain just mentioning him. "Shaoqing has only been in Chang'an for a short time, so you might not know. Zheng Jijiu is a very... polite person. Zheng Sanniang has been missing for a few days, and the rumors in the streets are not very good..."

Cui Bianxu snorted coldly and didn't ask any more questions.

To put it nicely, it's polite; to put it bluntly, it's pedantic!

I'm afraid Zheng Jing has already regretted reporting the case to the police. His daughter has been missing for so many days, and no matter whether she is innocent or not, she is no longer innocent.

The most important thing now is to find the person back, and in the eyes of others...

Cui Bianxu came from one of the five surnames and seven noble families, but he was not as harsh on women as these orthodox and pedantic literati.

A Confucian scholar like Zheng Jing values ​​reputation the most. He was very anxious when he lost his daughter at first, but now he probably just hopes that his daughter will die to preserve his reputation!