Republic of China small businessman

Xie Jing felt familiar when she heard the name, thought for a moment, and suddenly realized: "What do you say her name is, Liu Ruyi?"

"It's our wife's name."

"Is she from out of town?"

The other party hesitated, but quickly shook his head, saying he didn't know.

I don't know here, obviously I don't want to say it, and if I ask further, I will only say that it is the mayor's man, and I can't ask a word about the rest.

People in Buffalo Town have very little contact with the outside world, and they are very afraid of outsiders. Even if Hu Da came to play tricks on him and lure him with money, he didn't ask anything. Instead, the guide turned pale with fright, and would rather go I hid under the eaves outside, and I didn't come in to take shelter with them from the rain.

Hu Da said in a low voice: "Little master, there are quite a lot of mountain people like this, they are different from outsiders, the older generation doesn't deal with outsiders much, I'm afraid it will be very strange."

Xie Jing looked at the villagers shivering under the eaves outside, and said, "I think he is very familiar with mountain roads."

Hu Da thought for a while, and said: "Perhaps he came up with Mr. Cao these two days? I don't think he is very willing to go this way, and he can't wait to turn around and go down the mountain immediately."

Xie Jing nodded, and said: "After going down the mountain, send two people to follow, pay more attention to this person."

Huda responded.

At noon, everyone lit a fire in the temple and roasted some dry food to eat. When the rain stopped, they went down the mountain.

The guide walked fast all the way, as if there was some beast on the mountain chasing him, and his face looked better when he went down the mountain, with beads of sweat hanging on his forehead, and his face turned pale.

After going down the mountain, Xie Jing didn't follow the direction pointed by the guide, and said to him: "Go back first, I'll look around, this place is close to the town, we'll go back by ourselves later."

The guide didn't want to have anything to do with them, as soon as he said to let go, the other party ran away immediately without looking back.

Xie Jing had a lot of people around him, so he didn't care about these things, so he went around first to see what was going on around the town.

Buffalo Town is similar to other places in Sichuan. There are many mountains around the town, and there are only a few scattered pieces of reclaimed land. Some villagers are working hard to take care of the barren mountain land.

Now is not the time for busy farming, and some vegetables and other crops are planted in the field, which is different from the north, even in late autumn, it is still green.

Xie Jing has been in the Northland for many years. It has already snowed in the Northland at this time, and the contrast with the Shuland is obvious. I can't help but look at the vegetable field more.

While Xie Jing was watching, he suddenly saw three or five strange-looking people not far away, wearing gray clothes, holding some pointed bamboo pole-like objects, talking with the local village in the field. What are people talking about.

Those people are short and big enough to hug their bodies, and they look thieves.

Xie Jing squinted her eyes and looked over, feeling that the leader looked familiar. After a while, she pointed to that person and whispered to Hu Da: "Bring that person here, and I'll ask him a few words."

Hu Da immediately brought a few Xichuan men over to arrest the leader.

The leader was still stubborn at first, kicking and kicking in Xichuan's hands, and couldn't stop shouting, but when he saw Xie Jing, he suddenly stopped moving and his eyes glowed.

Sitting on the horse, Xie Jing bent slightly, put his hand on the saddle and shook the whip in his hand, and suddenly asked with a smile: "It looked like just now, why are you here?"

The person in the gray leather clothes was Huang Renfeng, Xie Jing didn't reveal his identity in public, Huang Renfeng was like a fine man, looked up and down Xie Jing and the Xichuan men around him, and his face was even more joyful: "Thank you, Steward! "

Huang was born in Fengbei, knowing that the Bai family has hands and eyes, and only considers that the people around Xie Jing are also the guards of the Bai family, so when they called Xie Jing, they called him Guanshi Xie the same as before in Nanfang.

Xie Jing didn't stop him either, and nodded in agreement, asking Hu Da to let him go.

The few people who were with Huang Renfeng also rushed over, all wearing the same gray clothes, looking dirty with dust, with vigilant eyes.

Xie Jing wrapped the whip around his wrist twice, looked at him for a moment, and said, "This is not a place to talk, come with me."

The group didn't go far, there were a few old trees near the farmland, the thickness of the three of them hugging each other, and there were a few tree stumps there.Xie Jing found a cleaner place to sit down, surrounded by men from Xichuan, and only brought Huang Renfeng over to talk and reminisce.

Huang Renfeng whispered about his experience during this period of time. He was tricked by Xie Jing to come to Sichuan to hunt for treasures. I found several ancient tombs around and unearthed some treasures.This person had some luck, because these treasures were mistakenly caught in the barracks, but he was quickly appointed by the barracks chief to a small position, and some people were assigned to him, specializing in exchanging antique treasures for money and salary.

Xie Jing took a look outside the crowd, the men in gray leather clothes were huddling under a tree not far away and peeking here, Xie Jing asked: "Are those two people also from the barracks?"

"No, it's my fault that I gathered so many helpers. It's our bad luck. Two days ago, Jiangkou really dug out the treasure, but it was not our turn. Others took all the credit..." Huang Renfeng was still complaining, sighing .

Xie Jing asked: "Have you dug Chen Yin?"

Huang Renfeng shook his head, but quickly said: "Actually, we have dug some, and there are already signs of it. The day before yesterday, we dug up three baskets of copper coins by the riverside!"

Xie Jing thought for a while and asked, "Where did you dig, and how many people came here?"

Huang Renfeng said honestly: "They are all at the mouth of the river, less than a hundred miles away from here. The carriage here is not easy to pass, and the water on the river is also turbulent. We will not go here." Show Xie Jing a piece of parchment, "Look, Steward Xie, this is a treasure map presented by someone, and it was dug according to this, and a stone tiger was also dug up!"

Xie Jing's eyelids twitched: "Shihu?"

Huang Renfeng: "That's right, it's also polished by black stone. I just saw the stone tiger, but I couldn't see the stone dragon. I must have dug it soon." He rubbed his hands, "I made this parchment while those people weren't paying attention. I copied a copy, and it is said that it was sent by a stonemason. According to the ancestors of the family, half of the treasures that King Xi plundered in Shu land were buried in the water, and the other half were transported to the mountains, and they were also intended to be used as military pay. Wang wanted to make a comeback, but the people who went into Zangyin didn’t come out, and the descendants didn’t hear about it, only such a blurry picture was passed down, saying that there are treasures in the small town and mountains.”

Xie Jing took a look, and found that the painting was rough, and the stone tiger and stone dragon on it were also two blurred patterns, only a rough shape.

Huang Renfeng said in a low voice: "Thank you, steward, look here, does it look like the stone tiger you showed me back then? It's just that the original picture of the stone dragon doesn't quite look like it. Water can barely draw a shape."

Xie Jing could see it.

Huang Renfeng looked at the picture upside down, and the stone dragon should have its head facing down, in the shape of drawing water.

It was exactly the same as the black stone dragon he kept.

Huang Renfeng wanted to curry favor with Xie Jing, so he came forward to offer the picture, and Xie Jing accepted it.He originally wanted Huang Renfeng to help him find his family in Xichuan, and drew a big cake. Now he has returned to Xichuan Xie's house, but Huang Renfeng is still immersed in the dream of finding Xiwang's million taels of silver, but he gave it away for nothing. Take the treasure map that comes to you as soon as you need it.

He asked Huang Renfeng about the people he had seen in the past two days, but Huang Renfeng and others did not come out during the day and only explored the terrain at night, so they did not see the missing person.

Xie Jing said: "You look at it for me, if you see it, contact me immediately."

Huang Renfeng agreed repeatedly.

Xie Jing took out a silver bill from his sleeve and handed it to him. Huang Renfeng's eyes lit up, and when he reached out to take it, he heard Xie Jing remind him in a low voice: "Be careful when walking at night, this town is weird. .”

Huang Renfeng grinned and said, "Don't worry, a villain who does this knows the rules, and besides, the chief of staff from Jiangkou is here."

Xie Jing nodded and said nothing more.

Hu Da and the others left, moved closer and whispered: "Little master, this person is related to the people in the barracks. I don't know what kind of tricks he is playing. You should be more careful."

Xie Jing nodded: "I know." Huang Renfeng's mind was nothing more than wanting to share a piece of the pie, to do what he liked, and to find a way out for himself.

On the way back, Xie Jing didn't meet anyone again, he rode all the way while observing the town.

When he got back to the government office, he got off his horse and went straight to find Master Jiu.

Xie Jing told Master Jiu about Huang Renfeng, Master Jiu asked a few words about the chief of staff, his face relaxed slightly, and said: "It's okay, I know who it is, Luo Nianqiu also mentioned it once or twice when he came here. In other words, the chief of staff is an old acquaintance with him, and he is also a member of the Luo family. They are in Jiangkou, do you know how many people there are?"

Xie Jing said: "I heard that there are several battalions of soldiers."

Master Jiu pondered for a moment, and said: "Bai Er and Mr. Huang are missing, and the people who went to pick up Hong Er yesterday also said they couldn't find anyone. This matter cannot be delayed any longer. The longer the time, the greater the changes. I will go to Jiangkou tomorrow. Find some helpers. You stay here for me, don't act rashly, no matter what the other party says or does, you just delay and wait for me to come back."

Xie Jing said: "Okay."

Xie Jing talked about the news that he found in the ruined temple on the mountain today: "Master, the guide who went up the mountain today said that they have Mrs. Ru here, Liu Ruyi."

Master Jiu thought for a while, and only after hearing Xie Jing say "pipa girl" did he remember who Liu Ruyi was.

Xie Jing asked: "Can I go and inform Mr. Cao?"

Master Jiu said: "When he comes back, we can talk to him again."

Xie Jing nodded in agreement, and looked at the sky outside: "It looks like it's going to rain outside, Mr. Cao went out to look for someone again?"

Jiu Ye said: "Well, he went to the mayor's side, there are some things to discuss."

Xie Jing stood beside Master Jiu, and they were very close when talking. Master Jiu raised his head and caressed his cheek, and suddenly saw his gaze shifted to the side, and asked, "What's wrong?"

Xie Jing frowned slightly: "On the way back just now, I saw many statues of dragons and tigers, and there were many carved on the doors and windows." He raised his hand to touch the uneven stone pattern on the wall behind Master Jiu, on which there were also carved beasts The class is just too small and old, so I can't see the specifics clearly, and the appearance is very vague.

the other side.

The mayor's home.

The old mayor warmly entertained Cao Yunzhao, not only made hot tea, but also asked his family to prepare meals, and insisted on keeping him for dinner.

The old mayor persuaded him to take a seat, and said with a smile: "It's just a simple meal, and Shangfeng came to visit suddenly, so I didn't have any preparations for a while, just taste the taste of the countryside, and eat something new."

Four plates with three vegetables, and another plate with salted fish. The rice is quite filling, but the color of the rice grains is also old food. It is really a rough meal.

Although there were many people in Cao Yunzhao's group, they were unable to move around in the town. If they wanted to ask the old mayor, they could only sit down and have a meal with him and chat with him.

Cao Yunzhao liked art, and was really impatient to listen to the old mayor's rotten official language. His eyes fell on the middle hall hanging in the hall, and he wanted to boast but couldn't. Finally, he saw the altar of the Eight Immortals beside him. Liang said, "This set of tables and chairs in your home is not bad. The small animals carved on it are simple and delicate, but dragons and phoenixes?"

"It's a dragon and a tiger." The old mayor said kindly: "These are left by the predecessors. This place is poor. It has not been changed for more than a hundred years."

Cao Yunzhao smiled and said: "Yes, when I first came here, I saw people in the town using wooden boards as doors, and I was shocked."

After dinner, we can talk about business. Cao Yunzhao proposed to stay for a few more days. The old mayor agreed after a moment of pondering, but he also made a request, wanting him to officiate the wedding for him.

The old mayor said: "According to the old calendar, it is the most auspicious time when Shangfeng is around. However, if this old man dares to speak up, please don't blame Mr. Cao."

Cao Yunzhao responded casually, and the old mayor was very happy, and told him many things about "Ru Madam", bluntly saying that she is a noble woman.

Cao Yunzhao didn't take it to heart, and teased: "Mrs. Ru? You will enjoy the blessing of being equal."

"No, Mr. Cao misunderstood, it's just a title, just because there is a word 'Ru' in her name, her boudoir name is Ruyi."

"What's her name?"

"Liu Ruyi."

Cao Yunzhao was in the middle of speaking, and suddenly stood there in a daze, watching the old mayor forget the second part, and after a while he gritted his teeth and uttered a sentence: "That Mrs. Ru is from the Northland?"

The old mayor asked puzzledly: "How does Mr. Cao know? Her natal family is indeed in Beidi, but it happened a long time ago. She entered Sichuan a few years ago and has never left here."

Cao Yunzhao stood there listening, feeling uncomfortable.

The old mayor hesitated again and again, and then asked: "But, old acquaintance?"

Cao Yunzhao shook his head subconsciously, not wanting to cause trouble to Liu Ruyi, but the old mayor sighed first, looked regretfully at Cao Yunzhao, folded his hands in his sleeves and said, "Blame me, Mr. Cao was born in the north, I didn't realize it early. I can think of it, since I am an old friend, there is no other way."

Cao Yunzhao wanted to explain a few words, but suddenly, for some reason, he felt tired and couldn't stand still.

Before losing consciousness, he vaguely saw several figures jumping out of the room, trying to open his eyes to see clearly, but fell into endless darkness.