A feast that lasts until night.
Although it was Xia Jingyun's first time to come into contact with the banquets of this era, drinking was always the same, and he was still able to move forward and retreat with ease.
His performance as if he was born knowing it fell into the eyes of everyone, and naturally they secretly expressed surprise.
Mr. Yun looked at his only disciple with satisfaction and said, "Gao Yang, there is something I need to explain clearly to you."
Xia Jingyun quickly avoided the table and stood up, "Master, please speak."
"No need to be formal, sit down quickly." Mr. Yun stretched out his hand and pressed it, and then said: "The day of Concubine De's wedding is approaching. I am in a place where everyone is focused. The relationship between you and my master and disciple is delicate. It is temporarily inconvenient. Can you be considerate of publicizing it to the outside world so as not to cause unnecessary trouble?"
Xia Jingyun immediately said: "This is also to protect my disciple. Of course my disciple can understand."
Mr. Yun nodded with satisfaction, and then looked at Feng Xiuyun.
Feng Xiuyun stood up quickly and said, "Please rest assured, old master, I will definitely not say a word about this matter."
"Okay, it's getting late. Gao Yang won Wenkui today and hasn't gone home to celebrate with his family yet. We drank this cup!"
After drinking, Mrs. Yun held Xia Jingyun's hand and led him to the study.
As the saying goes: A woman's heart and a man's study are usually not open to others.
So Xia Jingyun, who followed him in, immediately braced himself, fearing that there would be something wrong with his response.
Mr. Yun closed the door, slowly walked to the chair and sat down, "Although today's matter is officially settled, there will be consequences afterwards. Behind Mr. Zheng, there is Jianning Prefect, Youzhou Xuexuezheng, and... There is a group of great scholars who have lost their moral integrity. Sometimes it is not necessary for Zheng Tianyu to do it himself, but there are some small-time villains who do evil to seek credit for the Lord, so you should be on guard."
Xia Jingyun naturally knew this, but since the old man cared about it, he couldn't pretend to say stupid things like "I already knew it" and seriously agreed.
Looking at his serious look, Mr. Yun smiled and said, "Don't worry too much. I'm going to speak for you today. No matter who it is, they have to think carefully before they want to deal with you."
Xia Jingyun then smiled and said, "That's right, Master, just a hint of your reputation is enough to scare Xiaoxiao and make them dare not move."
People never hate nice words, but they are often swayed by another preconceived impression. People who don't like it say nice things, that is, they are glib, frivolous and disgusting. People who like them say them like honey, and their words are warm. The hearts of the people.
Mr. Yun was so relieved at this moment. He nodded slightly and smiled a few times before he stopped smiling and said, "I asked you to come in. There is something else I need to tell you."
He looked at Xia Jingyun and said, "I asked the guards in the palace to find out about you. When I questioned the supervisor in the labor camp, the other person said that someone also asked him about you two days ago."
! ! !
Xia Jingyun's pupils suddenly shrank, and a cold and creepy feeling instantly rose from his back, as if there were countless snakes crawling silently.
Two days ago, the cultural gathering had not been held. I was just a hard worker who had just come out of the labor camp. I had not interacted with anyone. Who would go to find out his details?
Is it the brother-in-law of the neighboring county magistrate who took advantage of their Xia family's ancestral property?
Or is it Zheng Tianyu?
"Oh, another little thing." Mr. Yun said seriously: "These days, don't go out of the city unless you have something to do. I heard that the bandits outside are causing a lot of trouble, and many people have died."
Xia Jingyun immediately became solemn.
After a while, Xia Jingyun and Feng Xiuyun walked out of Yun Mansion.
Because Concubine De was visiting for a wedding, there was no curfew in the city this month. At this moment, there were still many people coming and going on the streets. The bright moon was rising, and the two of them were walking side by side, feeling quite a bit like the ambiguity of meeting people after dusk when the moon rises above the willow branches.
Feng Xiuyun glanced slightly sideways, looked at Xia Jingyun's side face, and sighed in her heart. After just one day, she had gone from being unable to reach Xia Jingyun to someone who needed to look up to him.
That weird and absurd idea was ruthlessly shattered before it was even put into practice.
Xia Jingyun's mind was still spinning what his master had just said to him. There was actually another group of people investigating his background!
He was never one to sit still and wait for death. If he didn't figure this out, he might not be able to sleep well.
So he turned to look at Feng Xiuyun, "Sir, I want to ask you something?"
Feng Xiuyun suppressed the sudden turmoil in her mind, took a deep breath, straightened her chest, and wanted to assume the same cold and aloof posture as before. Then she thought of the old master's apprentice next to her. He was someone she could not afford to reach. He said depressedly: "But it doesn't matter."
"How about you accompany me to the labor camp tomorrow?"
Feng Xiuyun blinked, as if to say, that's it?
------------------
When Xia Jingyun returned home, there was a joyful atmosphere in the small courtyard.
Seeing him coming in, everyone came forward excitedly, chattering around him and asking questions. It took a while before they stopped.
Xia Jingyun smiled and said: "Mom, aunt, don't worry about doing small business. Dad and uncle also don't think about things like teachers and nursing homes. During this time, you just stay at home and take good care of yourself." . Big brother, when you have time, go look for famous teachers and polish your martial arts. Ning Zhen, well, just be responsible for being as beautiful as a flower!"
How could the family's simple thoughts be hidden from him? It was just that he was in a hurry to prepare for the cultural gathering yesterday and had no time to pay attention to it.
"Second brother is so kind!" Xia Ning shook Xia Jingyun's hand happily.
Seeing her daughter's happy and proud look, Ms. Xia Zhang, who had been poked in the lungs several times, hummed: "It's easy to put it lightly, why don't you have money..."
Snapped!
Xia Jingyun took out a banknote from his pocket and slapped it on the table.
Five hundred taels!
Xia Zhang hesitated for a moment and said angrily: "You still have to concentrate on studying and socializing, so let's just sit back and have nothing. These five hundred..."
Snapped!
Xia Jingyun took out another banknote and slapped it on the table.
Another five hundred taels!
Xia Zhang stared at his hand, "Is there any more?"
Xia Jingyun shook his head, "No more."
Mrs. Xia Zhang breathed a sigh of relief, "I'm not telling you, even if you have a thousand taels, you really want to use your hands and feet..."
Tuk-tuk-tuk.
There was a knock on the door of the courtyard, Xia Yunfei quickly opened it, and the supervising master craftsman Zhang Dazhi walked in with his disciples with a smile, "Don't blame Mr. Xia for coming to the door without permission. I am a rough man and have nothing to give. This time One hundred taels, I should be able to congratulate Young Master Xia in Chinese!"
After saying that, he glanced at the whole family and said, "It seems like I came at the wrong time?"
Xia Jingyun turned his head and looked at his aunt with a half-smile, then looked at Zhang Dazhi, "No, your Excellency came at the right time."
...
After some pleasantries, Zhang Dazhi laughed at himself and said: "Originally, I wanted to recommend you to be the general prisoner, but I didn't expect you to be able to take over Wen Kui. I'm just being sentimental."
Xia Jingyun quickly thanked him. No matter what, he was never afraid to confront others when they were evil, but he would always respond solemnly to others' kindness.
"It's okay. I'm here to ask you if you have any good ideas in your mind. If you have any, you can tell me. If it works, I still have some money left."
Xia Jingyun thought for a while, "Okay, let me sort it out. I'll go visit you tomorrow night."
Zhang Dazhi was overjoyed and said, "If so, thank you very much."
After sending Zhang Dazhi away, Xia Jingyun handed two pieces of five hundred taels to his mother and aunt respectively, then took the one hundred taels into his arms, looked at the surprised people, and smiled, "Go to bed early!"
------------------
After replenishing his energy, Xia Jingyun and Feng Xiuyun left the city and headed straight for the labor camp early the next morning.
Because Mr. Yun reminded him that even when going to the labor camp that was guarded by officers and soldiers along the way, Xia Jingyun asked Feng Xiuyun to bring two guards.
A group of four people rode on horseback.
Seeing that Xia Jingyun could even ride a horse, Feng Xiuyun was shocked again. Is this really a poor boy from a remote countryside?
Her body was undulating and she was panting slightly, "What are you going to do?"
Xia Jingyun straightened his waist slightly, clamped his legs together, showing off his skillful horse control skills, "Let's find out the details!"
The journey was uneventful, and the two of them led their guards straight to the two-story building of the labor camp.
The wind in the labor camp also carried the sour smell and blood. Not only the leaves on the branches were withering, but also the people on the ground.
Xia Jingyun didn't have any emotions when he revisited his old place. He was not a cold-blooded animal, but he was not a saint either. He knew that this was an evil done by a huge imperial machine. Now he had no power to change it, so he had to pretend not to see it.
What's more, at this moment, all he had in his mind was the news that made him restless.
There is no secret about the new manager of the labor camp. In front of a palace official like Feng Xiuyun who had defeated the previous manager, and a civil servant like Xia Jingyun, there was no airs at all.
"Manager Qian, I have a question for you."
"Please tell me."
"Have any outsiders come here to see my former supervisor in the past two days?"
There was a hidden trap in his question, because Mr. Yun had definitely sent someone to inquire. If the money manager said he didn't have it, he would be lying.
Manager Qian nodded, "Yes, two people came here one after another. I don't know them both."
Xia Jingyun was slightly disappointed, but this was expected, so he asked, "Do you know what they asked?"
Manager Qian shook his head, "I'm new here and don't know much about it. They mainly asked about Niu Er, your former supervisor."
Xia Jingyun hummed, "Can we invite this supervisor over?"
Manager Qian looked embarrassed, Feng Xiuyun glanced at him lightly, "Huh?"
Manager Qian quickly explained: "It's not that I don't want to invite him. Niu Er went home on vacation last night, and just now the Yamen police officer came to send a message saying that he was dead!"
! ! !
A biting chill suddenly flashed across Xia Jingyun's back.
