Thorn silk gl

Wang Jinfa's house was deep in the shanty town, and the boy led them to turn left and right, and finally came to a small courtyard.

Compared with the rickety shacks we saw along the way, the Wang family's house is not bad. There are three wooden houses and a small courtyard with green vines crawling on the courtyard wall.

After knocking on the door, a middle-aged woman inside said wearily: "Who is it?"

The boy answered "It's me".The courtyard door opened, and a little girl jumped out: "Come on brother!"

The boy catches her.Only then did the girl notice that he was following an outsider, and shrank timidly: "You, who are you?"

Fu Wan smiled: "Is your mother in there?" After getting the girl's affirmative answer, she lifted her legs and walked into the yard.

The middle-aged woman who answered the door earlier was sitting in the yard peeling beans. When she looked up and saw someone, she was stunned, and then she showed a defensive look.

"Madam Wang, I'm sorry to bother you." Fu Wan bowed his hands politely.

Wang Jinfa's wife Xu pulled her daughter behind her and stood up vigilantly: "What are you doing!"

"To tell you the truth, I have a few questions I want to ask you." Fu Wan glanced at the dilapidated scene in the courtyard, "Of course it's not for nothing, please rest assured about the remuneration."

Xu pursed her lips and remained silent.

Fu Wan said: "I heard that your husband was taken away? Who are those people, can you see clearly?"

The corners of her lips twitched, and she said dumbly: "Why are you asking, isn't it one of yours?"

"Official errand?"

Mrs. Xu hesitated for a moment: "Yes. I heard Xiaoyu from the back of the house, and it seemed that he was doing something for Mr. Xu."

"Okay," Fu Wan said, "Then when did your husband fall ill? Do you still have any memory?"

Mrs. Xu wanted to speak and closed her mouth several times, and finally said in a hoarse voice: "If I tell you, can you... can you give him back to us?" She choked up a little in the middle of speaking, as if holding on for a long time, now Finally couldn't stand it anymore.

Fu Wan helped her to sit down in the room, and waited for her to calm down before listening to her speak slowly.

Wang Jin fell ill shortly before the new year.In order to celebrate the festival with his family, he specially asked for leave from the mine, but he fell ill as soon as he returned home.The disease was severe, he had a high fever and talked nonsense, and after asking many doctors, they said that he was suffering from a cold, but he was not cured after drinking medicine for a long time.

Mrs. Xu was so anxious that she found out after inquiring that several jade pickers who went home together had all suffered from this disease.

The women gathered together and suspected that their man had contracted some kind of disease in the mine, but who knows, this strange disease broke out in various places in Beijing, and many people who had nothing to do with the jade business were involved.

As a result, the only clue was broken.

Fu Wan said, "What happened later?"

Mrs. Xu raised her eyelids and glanced at her: "Later? Those officials came and carried away our head of the family and those from the neighbors. They said they were going to treat the illnesses together, but they refused to go anywhere. tell me."

"My heart, I carry it every day..." She couldn't hold back and wanted to cry again.

Xiaoyu stood on tiptoe and wiped her eyes.Mrs. Xu sniffed and silently hugged her daughter tightly.

Fu Wan sighed inwardly, and said with relief: "Don't worry too much, since you said it's a cure, you should be fine."

The two left some money for the Wang family and withdrew.

Bai Chan asked, "How is it now?"

"This matter is full of weirdness. I always feel that it has something to do with the jade mine, but before that..." Fu Wan glanced back at the white jade tower hidden in the darkness, and said, "I have to test the old fox city lord first." .”

It was completely dark when they walked out of the shed area, and they went back to the inn to rest for the night.

In the corridor, I just ran into the little girl wearing silver ornaments fetching water. The little girl saw Fu Wan from a distance, jumped up like a rabbit and ran away. house.

She looked away and noticed that the innkeeper came up to him with an apologetic smile.The boss didn't know who had beaten them, and he didn't even take the money from them, and asked them cautiously if they wanted to change to a bigger and more spacious upper room.

"No need," Bai Chan said meaningfully, "This bed is just the right size."

——Because of the narrow bed, Fuwan was afraid of falling down at night, so he buried his head in her arms.

Fu Wan glared at her.

The next day, Bai Die sent a post, inviting them to a banquet.

There were not only three people present at this luncheon, but also many prominent officials and businessmen from Bai Yujing.

Because Mrs. Xu said that the person who took away Wang Jinfa was working for an adult surnamed "Xu", during the meeting Fuwan deliberately paid attention to it.

Soon, she noticed an old Mr. Xu.It is said that this Elder Xu controls several jade mines inside and outside the city, and is very powerful in Baiyujing, even Mrs. Baidie, who is the acting city lord, can't do anything to him.

Fu Wan stepped forward to chat with him.

Elder Xu squinted his eyes, stroked his beard and said, "Coincidentally, this old man also has a few ineffective nephews working in the capital, and I need to trouble Your Highness to give some more advice."

Since he has friendship with the capital, he must already know what kind of embarrassing identity Di Ji is, and there is a bit of neglect in his eyes.

Fu Wan smiled: "Your Excellency is humble, who are some young talents?"

"There is one in Dali Temple. I wonder if His Highness has seen it?"

In addition to one director in Dali Temple, there are two Shaoqing and Sizheng and others under him.The Minister of Dali Temple is mainly responsible for receiving the emperor's instructions. The actual management of Dali Temple is undertaken by the two young ministers. One of them has the surname Xu...

Fuwan thought for a while, then came to his senses, and said with a smile, "Xu Shaoqing? He occupies a high position at a young age, and his future is immeasurable!"

Mr. Xu immediately burst into laughter, and even said a few words of praise from His Highness.

At this moment, Mrs. Baidie suddenly cast a glance.Her eyes were so sharp that she almost cut a hole in Mr. Xu.

Mr. Xu didn't seem to realize it, and he talked and drank with a smile.

Fu Wan secretly looked at it, but saw that Mrs. Baidie quickly looked away and looked elsewhere coldly.

Between these two... is there a festival?

"What is the background of Mrs. Baidie?" After the banquet, she inquired with Bai Chan.

Bai Chan thought for a while: "In terms of seniority, she is my mother's younger sister. She has always acted in a public manner, and she had many lovers before she got married. Her eldest daughter... is my sister-in-law."

Fu Wan's eyelids twitched: "...Shi Zifei?"

Baichan nodded: "I don't know the details. It seems that when my mother took my brother back to her natal home to recuperate, the two met and fell in love." She paused, "Mrs. Baidie loves this daughter very much, and married her to the capital city I even had a big fight with my mother."

Fu Wan was silent.

——The concubine Shizi was involved in the tragedy of Marquis Dingyuan's extermination not long after she married in the capital, so it's no wonder that Mrs. Baidie's attitude was so cold when she mentioned the capital.

"But although she doesn't want to see me, she doesn't seem to hate me very much?"

On the surface, the downfall of the Dingyuanhou family is inseparable from the royal family.Mrs. Baidie loves her daughter very much, and she will definitely hate the Song royal family who caused all this.But looking at her appearance, it seems...

Fu Wan frowned: "Instead, she looked at Mr. Xu, did you notice?"

Bai Chan nodded.

The two walked while talking, and returned to the hotel not long after. In the quiet lobby, there was only one burning candle burning, and the young man dozed off on the counter.

Bai Chan went upstairs first, and Fuwan caught a glimpse of the fire in the stove in the backyard from the corner of his eye, and turned around in a sudden step.

It's so late, but there are still people in the kitchen?

Pushing open the door and entering, I saw a thin figure squatting by the kitchen stove.

The pot on the stove was steaming, and Fu Wan squinted to look away, but his sight was blocked by the mist, so he couldn't see what was in the pot.

Bang!The girl stood up in a panic and turned over the metal bucket.

Fu Wan: "What are you doing?"

The girl gestured and rowed, and finally said in the Central Plains dialect with a strong accent: "Boil the water... drink it."

Boil water?Fu Wan frowned, the water in the Baiyujing Well was so clear that ordinary people rarely drank cooked water.The girl seemed to be extra cautious. In order to prevent mixed use, there were even two buckets on the countertop, one for boiling water and the other for raw water.

Fu Wan took two steps forward, hooked the bucket and looked at it: "Is there any problem with the well water?"

The girl leaned against the wall, casting a fearful gaze.Fuwan felt strange, and looked down at his attire, but he didn't see anything wrong, but the girl was still staring at him... To be exact, it seemed to be staring at her neck?

She was about to ask a question, but was interrupted by a female voice.

"It's because I'm sick and want something hot. My sister came to boil water so late, and I'm sorry to disturb you."

Her voice was very gentle and appropriate, Fu Wan turned around and saw a woman in a foreign costume talking to her while holding the door frame.The woman was wearing a blue cloth skirt, with a lot of silver ornaments hanging densely on her neck and wrists. The exposed wrists were fragmented and thin, as if she had rarely seen the light, showing an unhealthy paleness.

Fu Wan hurriedly shook her head: "No, I just want to say I'm sorry. In fact, I just want to say a few words to her, there is no malice..."

The woman greeted her with words she didn't understand.The little girl immediately ran behind her and hid, only her head was exposed, looking at Fu Wan vigilantly.

Fu Wan: "..." This is really impossible to wash away by jumping into the Yellow River.

The woman explained with a smile: "She seldom goes out since she was a child, and she doesn't know how to speak official language, so she is very afraid of strangers." She nodded to Fu Wan, "Excuse me." After speaking, the two of them picked up the kettle and walked out.

"Wait!" Fu Wan subconsciously shouted.She felt that something was wrong, but she couldn't say it anyway. After a long while, she murmured, "I... I heard that a strange disease is prevalent in the city. The girl is in poor health. Why don't you consider going out of the city to recuperate."

The woman hooked her lips: "Thank you."

The doubts in Fu Wan's heart grew, but he didn't know how to speak, so he had to watch the two of them walk into the court.

Suddenly the woman stopped and said quietly: "Have you heard of 'Seven Nights Jade'?"

"what?"

"A rare flower in southern Xinjiang, it only blooms once in a lifetime, and it only blooms for seven days." She tilted her head slightly, "The girl's flower seems to have bloomed."

Fu Wan was taken aback, and wanted to ask, but the two of them had already walked away supporting each other.

She didn't mention this little episode to Bai Chan, and the two of them went out of the city to the mining area early the next morning.

The nearest mining area is not far from the city. It is located halfway up a mountain, covered by lush trees. Wang Jinfa suffered from a strange illness when he returned home from working here.

Fu Wan observed the surrounding scenery along the way, but didn't notice anything special.About half a mile away from the mine, they were stopped.

The person blocking the way was a small team leader, who said arrogantly: "Can't you see the mining ahead? Let's go, let's go somewhere else!"

Fu Wan secretly pulled Bai Chan, and said with a smile: "Is there no way ahead? My sister and I are in a hurry to go down the mountain."

"Going down the mountain?" The man looked at the two of them suspiciously, "You should go north to go down the mountain! Don't you know this?"

Fuwan: "I made you laugh. The first time we came back to Baiyujing, we were so dazzled by picking jade stones that we really didn't remember the way."

The man's expression softened a bit: "Buy jade?"

"Yeah, it's a pity that I didn't see any good jade along the way, and I don't know how to go back to do business."

"That's natural, who told you..." The man murmured halfway, staring at the two of them and said, "Actually, if you want to buy jade, I can show you a way."

"How to say?"

He lowered his voice: "You should know about rough stones, right? Jade mines mine rough stones, and rough stones are processed into beautiful jade. You collect the rough stones from me and take them to the city to unlock them. It's the same as buying jade."

He said it lightly, how could the actual operation be so simple?Regardless of the fact that there are only a few pieces in a cart of ore that can unlock good treasures, the act of "gambling on stones" itself is strictly prohibited in Bai Yujing, and getting caught is a felony.

Fu Wan sneered in his heart, but his expression showed hesitation: "But this stone has not been untied, how do I know if there is any jade in it?"

The team leader was overjoyed when he saw this, and consciously caught a fat sheep with a lot of money and stupid people, and immediately flattered him: "How can we let you take risks for nothing? The masters in the mine have the best eyesight, and they will definitely be able to pick you a green sheep." Good stuff!"

Fu Wan still didn't believe it: "If you really have such good eyesight, why don't you buy it yourself and sell it?"

The man coughed softly: "You don't know, the jade pickers are all enslaved, even if we produce good jade, it belongs to the owner's family, and I can't make any money, so I can only sell some rough stones to subsidize home use."

Fu Wan looked at him for a while, then said, "Take me to have a look first."