Rui Hegui

At Xu time, this not very lively inn was completely quiet.

Suddenly, the door was carefully pushed open, the wind blew in, and the lights in the room were crackling.

The two little boys who had just delivered the food came in, tiptoedly checked the empty jug, and then went to the bedside, looking at the two people who were asleep, whispering.

"It seems that I drank a lot, so I can feel at ease."

"These two lambs waiting to be slaughtered look quite handsome, especially the fifth young master. You can see that his face looks better than that of the girl's family. When it's time to sell it to the Xiangyuan City Waiter's Court, it's uncertain how much it will be. Master covets."

"It's coming soon, the boss has checked, these two are the sons of merchants from the capital, and they have nowhere to go to our land, where have they been through the rivers and lakes for a few days? It's very deceiving."

"Then when the fat sheep enters the mouth, I will give these five sons to those masters, and I will definitely not be able to get a reward."

"Okay, I'm just thinking about you. Don't forget that there are still a few rooms to check. If you neglect later, the boss will reward you with a whip."

The two children babbled for a while, and the content of the conversation was vaguely heard.

When the two children went out and walked away, the two on the bed lost their eyes.

Bandit Chu propped himself up and sat up, and said with a smile, "Xi Lin, they said they would sell you to the brothel."

Zhao Liangyue gave Chu Bandit a look and wanted to get up, but his limbs were weak and he failed.

Bandit Chu asked, "What's the matter?"

Zhao Liangyue simply gave up, sighed softly, and said, "We each drank a little wine just now in order to pretend, the effects should not be over yet."

But obviously Chu Shangshu was strong and strong, so he was not affected much, he even got up and got out of bed, and quickly swayed twice in front of Zhao Liangyue, showing off his graceful figure.

Zhao Liangyue: "..."

About an hour later, two faint bells rang outside.

The bell seemed to be embroidered, and the sound it made was dull, as if it was covered by something, or something was dragged on the ground, and it rang in the silent corridor, which was really weird.

Afterwards, a masked man in a long gown appeared and ordered more than ten rooms, and the boy went to invite the guests who lived in these rooms.

When more than ten visitors came out one after another, the masked man clasped his fists in respect and saluted, and then led them to the west.

Different from the usual inn structure, the west first floor of this inn has no door, or there is one, it is just hidden.

The masked man bowed and walked in front, leading him directly to the second floor.

The west, east and north corridors on the second floor are separated and not connected. It should be the place where the innkeeper lives and works.

After a brief movement, the inn quickly became quiet again, only Xiaoer and the handyman occasionally delivered things from the backyard.

After an unknown amount of time, Zhao Liangyue's strength finally recovered, so he got up and sat down at the table, and poured himself two glasses of water to drink.

Bandit Chu asked, "You're so thirsty, why didn't you let me pour it for you?"

Zhao Liangyue's throat slipped, he drank the last sip of water, and said, "I don't want to trouble senior brother."

Bandit Chu clicked his tongue and said, "When did you and I become so polite?"

Of course, Zhao Liangyue couldn't say it directly, because he felt that lying on the bed and asking Chu Bandit to feed him water was too intimate.

Although the two of them used to share the same horse and share the same water bladder in the Ningzhou entourage, but now it is different, and his feelings for him are different, so we must know how to avoid suspicion and do not go further.

Bandit Chu wanted to ask more questions, when suddenly a shadow passed by in front of the door, and it was Yan Chang, who was acting as a handyman, passing by.

Then, on the ground inside the door, there was a note slipped in. Chu Bandit went over to pick it up, sat down at the table, and unfolded it for Zhao Liangyue to read.

Chu Bandit said: "They entered the first room on the west side of the second floor. The guards at the door were very strict, and Yan Chang couldn't get in. But when the guards were inspecting the thirteen businessmen, Jing Mo took the opportunity to write down their appearance, and waited for things to happen inside." Bi, wait for them to return to their rooms, and then determine their approximate identities."

Zhao Liangyue read the name or surname on the note twice, frowned slightly and said: "There are salt merchants from Jiangnan, this hand is too long."

"The black market that Yeyuan participated in personally, and the two successive emperors didn't do anything, naturally penetrated widely." Bandit Chu drank his saliva and asked, "Can Xilin see which companies are most suspected?"

Zhao Liangyue raised his head and was about to say something, when he found that the cup that Chu Bandit drank from was the one he had used just now, and his thin lips were sticking to the rim of the cup, already moistened by water.

Zhao Liangyue's mind went blank immediately, his mouth opened, but he didn't utter a single word.

"Xi Lin?" Bandit Chu waved his hand in front of Zhao Liangyue, and said, "Seeing that your complexion is not very good, could it be that the effect of the wine hasn't passed?"

Only then did Zhao Liangyue come back to his senses, rearranged his thoughts, and said, "It's nothing, I'm just thinking about my brother's problem."

Chu Bie watched Zhao Liangyue's dodge in eyes suspiciously, and deliberately moved closer, and then Zhao Liangyue instinctively leaned back a little.

Chu Bandit had an intuition that something was wrong, but seeing Zhao Liangyue's obviously tense state, he could only lean back and ask, "What is the result of Xi Lin's thinking?"

Zhao Liangyue heaved a sigh of relief, and continued: "Among the 13 people, half of them are actually shadow-like existences, that is to say, they are people from Yeyuan, and their role is to attract others and serve as wiring connections, or Oversight is to facilitate the transaction, not the parties to the transaction.”

Zhao Liangyue crossed out half of the name while picking up a pen, leaving the name of 'Shadow'.

"The Tang family in Hezhou in the south of the Yangtze River, the Li Tieguai and Huang families in Ningzhou, the two leopards in Xiangyuan City, and the rich ghost in Huandu." Bandit Chu paused, and said, "Most of them are names that have appeared in the files of the Ministry of Criminal Justice. The black market is really deep."

Zhao Liangyue said: "There are also records in the files of the Ministry of Household Affairs, but it seems that the two leopards and the Huang family have never been heard of before."

Chu Bandit tapped his finger on the table and said, "It may also appear all the time, but the name is different every time."

Zhao Liangyue nodded, and said again: "But among these people, anyone is possible, and we have to wait for new news."

"Wait until tomorrow." Chu bandit said, "If Eunuch Cao left anything behind, Jing Mo will find it tomorrow. If he can't find it, I have sent Hei Qilin to contact the people who stayed outside Zi Town. I have gone overnight to sort out the recent whereabouts of the main officials, merchants and their families in the nearby cities."

Zhao Liangyue nodded slightly: "I can only wait first."

At Chenshi the next day, the two boys came to deliver food again.

The little boy who delivered the wine yesterday smiled very lovably, and carefully introduced several famous frontier dishes on the table to Zhao Liangyue, as if this inn was the most hospitable place in Daxu, rather than discussing in advance to sell himself yesterday The black shop of the waiting house.

Zhao Liangyue has always liked children, but for the two children in front of him, apart from feeling a little bit sad for them growing up here, he didn't have much sympathy—they either understood or didn't understand, their hands were already stained with innocent blood, To forgive sins is to betray the innocent.

Zhao Liangyue didn't talk much to Xiaotong, he looked still confused.

Chu Bandit, on the other hand, remembered what the two of them had planned for Zhao Liangyue last night, so he took the opportunity to lose his temper as a young man in Beijing should have, forcing the two boys to apologize repeatedly.

The little boy cast a pitiful look at Zhao Liangyue, hoping that Zhao Liangyue would help him for his sake, but Zhao Liangyue lowered his head and ate slowly, choosing to be a quiet blind man.

In the end, it was the shopkeeper who caught up with him himself.

Different from the five big and three rough warriors at the entrance of the inn, the shopkeeper, like the little boy, is very stocky and has a smiling face.

"Oh, why is this young master so angry?" The shopkeeper walked into the room in twos and twos, bowing his body and smiling, but his tone was neither humble nor overbearing.

The hard-to-serve old man named He Yu snorted, pointed to the food on the table, and said, "Your chef's cooking is so unpalatable that I can't swallow a single bite, so it's just me, a concubine." My younger brother was born in a humble family, and he can still eat a few mouthfuls."

"The concubine's younger brother" was not angry when he heard the words, he just got up and went to the shopkeeper, and apologized in a low voice: "I know the rules here, but my brother has a bad temper and often gets angry and throws things at home. I will try to persuade him. But don't drive us away."

Uncle He's ears seemed to be very sharp. He heard the words and shouted at He Wu: "What are you talking about? He Wu, I just came to see them. Their rules are their rules, and I have my rules!"

The shopkeeper looked up and down He Yu, who was wearing a golden crown in front of him, and said with a smile: "If you don't follow the rules, just ask for a fine and leave."

Uncle He snorted, and said, "Okay, let's go, I'm so aggrieved in your poor place!" He lifted his foot and was about to go out.

"Brother must not!"

The few people in the room saw that He Wu quickly stopped his elder brother, his face was anxious, he hesitated for a while, and whispered to Uncle He: "Brother, don't be impulsive, we have already lost in Gyeonggi, this may be the last way out .”

He Wu's voice was very low, but the shopkeeper was also an expert who knew how to hide his aura of martial arts. The content of the words was clearly transmitted to his ears without saying a word, and the corners of his lips were slightly raised.

Sure enough, after a while, Uncle He calmed down, and reluctantly bowed to the shopkeeper. He Wu smiled and came over and stuffed something for the shopkeeper—it was a priceless night pearl, and the two children could see it with their eyes. straight up.

He Wu said sincerely: "We were introduced by Shuiyan, and we sincerely want to make a big deal."

Shuiyan is one of the aliases Yan Chang uses to walk the black market, and now he can be regarded as a person with a little face in this black market.

Seeing that the shopkeeper didn't respond, He Wu hurriedly said, "We have so many things in stock."

He Wu said and counted, and the shopkeeper smiled lightly, and said: "The rules still have to be followed. Of course, the business with the two young masters must also be done."

He Wu smiled when he heard the words, and sent the shopkeeper away in person.

When the person left, the two returned to normal.

Chu Bie smiled: "Xi Lin's performance is really smooth and flowing. When I return to Beijing, I can go directly to Xuefangyuan to sing a few paragraphs."

Zhao Liangyue automatically ignored Chu Bandit's teasing, and turned to the business: "It's the end of the day, hasn't Jingmo come back yet?"

"No, I'm not with Xi Lin all the time, and I won't see him alone." Chu Bandit rolled his eyes and said, "I found that Xi Lin has been completely different recently, and his skin seems to be getting thinner and thinner. gone."

Zhao Liangyue coughed lightly, lowered his head to drink the porridge at the bottom of the bowl, but Chu Bandit raised his hand to stop him.

"It's too cold, don't drink it."

As he spoke, Chu Bandit took out an oiled paper bag from the sleeve of his robe and opened it, in which lay an attractive plum blossom cake.

Zhao Liangyue asked: "When did you buy it?"

Chu Bandit couldn't help laughing, and said: "Passing by Ningzhou City, I bought a bag and took it with me when I saw something fresh."

Zhao Liangyue was indeed not full, so he nodded and stretched out his hand to eat a piece.

Two quarters of an hour later, Jing Mo came back, but found nothing, that is to say, there was no physical trace left.

In the afternoon, when Hei Qilin came back with news, things finally turned around.