Placid Chang'an

Fire... There was fire everywhere, my throat was sore from the thick smoke, and my eyes were full of tears, but I could still see the only exit was firmly blocked by the collapsed bookshelf.

The outside is full of voices wailing at the top of their throats. At this time, everyone is involuntary, who can come to save him?

When his consciousness was blurred, he saw a hazy figure approaching from the fire. He was just about to call for help, but he suddenly raised his head but froze in place.

The man's face was pale, with white teeth and fangs, blood gushed out of his mouth immediately, and then blood and tears flowed from his eyes, he just stared at him, and said to him: "Father, I died so badly... "

Jia Wangchun took a deep breath, sat up in shock, and coughed desperately.

Su Cen motioned for Qu Ling'er to bring a cup of tea, and Jia Wangchun took it and took a few sips indiscriminately before recovering, and then he gathered his mind and looked around in a panic.

Finally, his gaze was fixed on Su Cen, and he narrowed his eyes slightly, "Who are you?"

Su Cen stood up and nodded, "Dali Temple is here with Su Cen, Mr. Jia is honored to meet you."

Jia Wangchun was taken aback for a moment, then lowered his head, put on a few clothes indiscriminately, and got up to go out, muttering to himself: "How is the Jia family? What about me?"

Just as Qu Ling'er was about to stop her, Su Cen raised her hand to stop her. Jia Wangchun staggered out of the room, and then sat on the ground paralyzed and unable to move.

The sky has just dawned, and you can still see green smoke curling up in the southeast direction. The fire has been burning all night, and at this time, I am afraid that everything will be burned.

Su Cen stood at the door and watched quietly, leaving time for Jia Wangchun to recover, and asked Qi Lin, "Have you seen Jia Zhen?"

Qi Lin shook his head: "At that time, the yard was full of people, and I couldn't tell who was who. I only found him in the bedroom. He was already unconscious, so I brought him back first."

Su Cen nodded. It was indeed difficult to find someone in that environment, and he was not good at forcing others to make things difficult for him.

Just thinking about the disappearance of the person who dragged him to the brothel to listen to the little song, after all, I felt a little sad.

Seeing that it was almost time, Su Cen turned to Jia Wangchun and said, "Do you know who did it?"

Jia Wangchun was slightly taken aback, then got up and was about to go out, "He Xiao, that bastard He Xiao!"

"You go out now to tell the world that you didn't die last night, and you want the person who killed you to come back and make up for it?"

Jia Wangchun was stunned for a moment, then looked back at the young man on the porch, raised his chin slightly, looked at him coldly, without saying a word, but already understood everything in his eyes.

Jia Wangchun avoided that gaze, "I'll report to the officials."

"Report to the official?" Su Cen smiled contemptuously and did not continue.

Jia Wangchun couldn't help being taken aback, that's right, he went to report to the official, what official did he report to?Not to mention that he has no evidence, even if there is, the collusion between the government and He Xiao will only expose him to He Xiao.Hanging his hands down, he asked, "What do you want?"

Su Cen looked down at the people in the corridor, "I can help you deal with He Xiao, but what I want - definitely not your life."

Jia Wangchun had no choice but to follow back into the room, only saying that he wanted to see Jia Zhen, he wanted to see people in life, and he wanted to see corpses in death, and he would not say anything until he saw people or corpses.

In fact, there is no need for Jia Wangchun to say that Su Cen will naturally go to look for him. If Jia Zhen dies, he will die. If he is still alive, He Xiao will definitely not let him go.Nian ran around in Qilin all night, so he asked people to go back to the room to rest, and Qu Linger went to find someone. Su Cen and Jia Wangchun were silent in the room. After a while, he started to lose his mind again.

Qu Ling'er lived up to expectations, and sneaked Jia Zhenti back before noon. When she found him, Jia Zhenshang was still sleeping with her butt out on the top bed in Chunxiang Building, never thinking that she might not be able to pull up her pants this time Money comes in.

Qu Ling'er didn't bother to explain, and directly carried him back to Su Cen's room. Jia Wangchun's eyes turned red when he saw Jia Zhen. Su Cen took time for the two of them to hug their heads and cry, and didn't come back with food until noon. .

Naturally, Su Lan couldn't hide such a big movement in the family. Su Cen could only tell the truth. He thought that the relationship between Su Lan and He Xiao would inevitably take a while to digest. Appearing in the courtyard, he just said that there is no need to avoid him, he must know.

After a stalemate for a while, Su Cen could only compromise.

Just when Qi Lin and Qu Ling'er came back from dinner, they entered the room together.

Jia Zhen ate a little for lunch, while Jia Wangchun kept sighing while holding up his chopsticks, and he didn't eat two bites in the end.

Su Cen knew that he couldn't force it, so he waved his hand and asked the servants to remove the food.

It was only after the meal that we got to the point. Jia Wangchun took the tea handed over by Su Cen and sighed heavily, "I know that He Xiao has killed someone before. He killed the one back then..."

"That oiran back then, isn't it?" Su Cen took over and asked.

"You, do you know?" Jia Wangchun couldn't help raising his head, his eyes flashed with doubts, "I only found out that they were having an affair when I happened to meet them in a private meeting, how did you know?"

"I also know that the oiran is from the same town as He Xiao. She sold the house in her hometown for He Xiao in exchange for the travel expenses for the exam. She probably really admired He Xiao, so she didn't go to Suzhou where He Xiao was. Afraid of dragging him down, she drifted to Yangzhou and was tricked into getting on a flower boat and became an oiran. But she never expected that He Xiao, who was originally in Suzhou, would be brought to Yangzhou by my elder brother because he saved my elder brother, let alone She would think that in order to get into the Wang family, He Xiao would beat her hard."

"He lied to me again." Su Lan's voice was extremely low, but the line of her lips was tightly pressed, every word seemed to be squeezed out of her heart, "He said that he has no family, and he only admires Miss Wang's family. At that time, he didn't have the reputation he has now. He took a few copper coins from selling calligraphy and paintings to please Miss Wang. He stood on the outer wall of Wang's house for a whole night, and I believed that he was sincere. I never thought that he would..."

Su Lan clenched her hands tightly, until her knuckles turned blue and white.

Suddenly his hand warmed up, Su Lan looked over, and saw Su Cen patted his hand lightly, and said softly: "Brother, I don't blame you, I can only say that He Xiao's mansion is too deep, and the disguise is too good gone."

"That's enough," Jia Wangchun took it over and said, "I can testify that He Xiao killed someone, and He Xiao will be brought to justice when the time comes, and justice will be given to that oiran and our Jia family."

"Of course it's not enough," Su Cen shook his head, "You just ran into two people having a private meeting, and you didn't bump into He Xiao killing people, not to mention that he has been dead for so many years, and the evidence on him has long since disappeared, how can you He Xiao killed the man?"

"He Xiao, he has a motive. He must be afraid that the oiran will reveal their relationship, and then he will not be able to marry Miss Wang, so he killed her. What I can think of, will the government not think of it? ?”

"Motives can't be used as evidence, what is important in filing a case is factual evidence," Su Cen said, "If He Xiao can be brought down with just one word, I don't have to come here."

"Then what should we do? Can we just watch him continue to get away with it?" Jia Wangchun picked his fingers, and when he looked up to meet Su Cen's cold gaze, he felt a chill for no reason.

Su Cen looked straight at Jia Wangchun and said, "You are still hiding the matter until now, do you want to keep it in the coffin and tell the king of hell?"

"I don't know anymore," Jia Wangchun avoided Su Cen's scrutinizing gaze, "He Xiao always avoids me when he does things, it's impossible for me to know what he did, and I really don't know anything else."

Su Cen lowered his head and took a sip of tea, "Then do you know how Young Master Ling died?"

"What?" Jia Wangchun was stunned.

Jia Zhen and Su Lan raised their heads together.

Su Cen sighed. He didn't want to count He Xiao's crimes in front of Su Lan. He Xiao had to rely on his elder brother's help today, and according to his elder brother's personality, he would definitely blame himself for the mistakes He Xiao committed. , increasing troubles in vain.

But until now, this person still has reservations, so he can only take out his trump card and signal to Qi Lin, after a while, Qi Lin brought someone in from the outside, knelt on the ground and curled up into a ball.

Jia Wangchun was shocked: "It's you?"

This person was originally a servant in his family. Two years ago, he said that his father died in the family, and he returned home after paying his wages. I don't know why he appeared here now.

Su Cen raised his chin at others, "Did you say it yourself, or will you say it in court?"

The kneeling man gave Su Cen a timid look, and then he stammered, "I...I'm from the same town as He Xiao. He came to me two years ago and asked me to add some... to the young master's medicine. Stuff. Me, me, I was also forced. If I didn’t do it, he would tell me about my kickbacks from the kitchen comprador. He, he also said that he would give me a sum of money to go back to my hometown afterwards, and this poison is It can’t be found out, and it can’t involve me.”

"You...you!" Jia Wangchun was so angry that he couldn't catch his breath, and coughed violently.

Jia Zhen hurriedly stepped forward to help the person back, and it took Jia Wangchun a while to recover.

Su Cen took a small medicine bottle from Qu Linger's hand, and asked the person kneeling on the ground, "Is it this kind of medicine?"

The man took a few glances and nodded.

Su Cen said to Jia Wangchun: "This kind of poison is called Thousand Days Drunk. It is a secret drug that cannot be bought in the market. People who are poisoned are like drunk. No matter how you seek medical advice Can't test it out."

"He Xiao, this beast!" Jia Wangchun hammered the table, and the tea was spilled all over the floor, and he sighed with tears: "Why did he kill me, Xuan'er? What kind of hatred does Xuan'er have against him? He wants to put me in Xuan'er's place." Death!"

Su Cen looked down at the person in front of him, and asked, "Who else have you told about He Xiao and that oiran?"

Jia Wangchun stopped crying, "You mean..."

"Did you tell Jia Xuan the matter? At that time, He Xiao had already married the daughter of the Wang family and wanted to contact the Jia family to crack down on illegal salt. Jia Xuan should have objected, right? He Xiao should have talked to Jia Xuan in private, but Jia Xuan, a son of an aristocratic family, naturally looks down on people like He Xiao, and doesn't bother to cooperate with him at all. There should have been some quarrel during the meeting, but Jia Xuan slipped up and said it. Although there is no evidence for the matter, it is related Considering He Xiao's position in Wang's family, He Xiao didn't know that you saw and told Jia Xuan about this, so he killed Jia Xuan to silence him, and solved two big | troubles in one fell swoop."

"..." The corner of Jia Wangchun's mouth twitched, and he was already speechless.

Unexpectedly, he was the one who killed his son in the end.

It took a long time for Jia Wangchun to breathe a sigh of relief, his voice was already hoarse, and he said in a low voice: "Since you have found out everything, what do you want me to help you with? These are enough to send He Xiao to prison, right?"

Su Cen shook his head lightly, "What I want is not He Xiao, but a questioning order."

"You..." Jia Wangchun raised his head again, but his eyes had dimmed, and he was aging at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Su Cen continued: "If the matter ends here, only He Xiao will be convicted. The salt merchants will continue to run rampant, the government will continue to protect them, and the people will still have no salt to eat. I arrested one He Xiao, but there are thousands of others. He Xiao can’t solve the fundamental problem.”

"Aren't you still thinking about taking He Xiao to justice and continuing to be your salt merchant? You think that the salt decree is still in your hands anyway, and you can just take the salt from the court and continue selling it, right? Let me tell you the truth, the salt questioning order must be abolished. Now I just need to find a reason. If you start this problem, I can help you intercede. You don’t have to pursue the matter of using private salt as official salt before, Jia The home is gone, think about Jia Zhen, do you really want to drag him all the way to Hei with you?"

Jia Wangchun lowered his head dejectedly: "I..."

"Listen to him." Jia Zhen said.

Jia Wangchun raised his head abruptly, looked at Jia Zhen who had been silent all this time, and sighed, "What do you know?"

"It's because I've been useless, and I've made you worry about it." Jia Zhen knelt down beside Jia Wangchun, looked directly at the human, and said, "I know you want to leave me a little bit of wealth, but it's already been exhausted." Brother, I have exhausted the entire Jia family. I am useless. Even if you leave it to me, I am afraid that I will lose to you. I just want to give my brother justice. We will find a quiet place in the future and I will serve you Forever, let's not worry about these things anymore, okay?"

Jia Wangchun pursed his lips tightly, and finally heaved a long sigh. He reached into his pocket and took out a notebook, and handed it tremblingly to Su Cen: "I have been in business all my life, and I know how to keep accounts. He Xiao cooperates, I keep an eye out, this is the account book of He Xiao and I bribed Xue Zhi and the others, I remember every sum, the money is paid from the shop, you take this account book with the salt shop I know it once. I carry this account book next to me every day, and He Xiao doesn’t know about it.” He sighed again, “Is this enough? Everything else was burned with Jia’s house, the only thing I still have All that’s left is this ledger.”

With the evidence of He Xiao's collusion with the government, he can take the opportunity to investigate the Yangzhou officialdom and the salt merchants together. The Jia family is over, and if the Wang family is used as an example, the remaining salt merchants will naturally understand that the court wants to abolish it. With the intention of discussing the salt order, the two pillars fell, and the rest will not be able to achieve anything.

Su Cen took it with both hands solemnly: "Thank you very much."

As soon as he turned his head, Su Cen handed over the account book to Qi Lin, "Lao Qi's guards have worked hard, and must escort the account book and Mr. Jia to the hands of the prince."

Qi Lin put the account book into his arms and asked, "Aren't you going with us?"

Su Cen shook his head: "It's easy to startle the snake when so many people leave. He Xiao has left eyeliner by my side, and I can confuse him just by staying. But you still have to be careful. After today, He Xiao will definitely not be able to find Master Jia's body." I understand, beware of the killers who set up secret doors along the way."

Qi Lin frowned, "What about you?"

"And I," Su Lan stood up, "as long as I'm still in Yangzhou City, no one will be able to take someone from my Su family's house."

Qi Lin hesitated for a while, finally nodded, and said to Qu Ling'er, "You stay and protect him."

Qu Linger nodded in agreement.

Su Cen said: "When it's night, you go away, and tomorrow, I'm afraid you won't be able to get out of Yangzhou City."