Wu Jinqiang steeled himself and went to class for half a day. After lunch, when he returned to the school, his eyelids kept dropping, so he fell asleep at his desk to regain his energy.
People around him came back one after another, and Cheng Ting also came back, stretching out his beak and chirping. The people around him continued to echo, and the sound floated above Wu Jin's head, illusory and distant.
"Did you hear that a corpse was found in Shuoshui this morning and was transported to Yizhuang? The people doing the autopsy have completed the autopsy..."
"really?"
"What a rarity a corpse is."
"Listen to me!" Cheng Ting shouted and kicked him again, "Hey, Qi Wenbing, get out!"
Qi Wenbing was a lecturer in arithmetic, and he had just scolded Cheng Ting in the morning.
Wu Jin struggled to open his eyes and took a look. He didn't see Dao Lang, but only saw Cheng Ting playing with the big yellow dog that came in to take shelter from the cold.
The big yellow dog still ignored him with a drooped face, walked to Wu Jin's feet and lay down.
One person and one dog closed their eyes again. Cheng Ting's mouth was babbling and he couldn't close it no matter what.
"You will never guess how he died."
"Drown!"
"Yes, as soon as there is water, someone will drown."
Everyone was making wild guesses. After guessing, Cheng Ting sneered: "Drowning can also alarm the domestic and foreign gangsters?"
He lowered his voice: "He made someone into a mule!"
Wu Jin opened his eyes suddenly, but did not move his arms and buried his head to listen carefully.
"Mule?"
"never heard of that."
"It's for that kind of people... who specializes in the gold business... I heard from people in the trade that their stomachs were cut open, their internal organs were taken out, and they were stuffed with copper and iron coins. Sewn together.”
The audience immediately burst into laughter.
Wu Jin suddenly remembered Mo Lingfeng's words: "If you use a mule again, you will become a mule."
He raised his head and asked, "What is the name of the dead person?"
Cheng Ting trembled in fright, raised his hand and slapped him hard on the shoulder: "I'm scared of you, you're pretending to be a corpse!"
"Who is the dead person?" Wu Jin asked again, his eyes calm, making Cheng Ting swallow his saliva inexplicably, and did not dare to look more, always feeling that Wu Jin was a little weird.
"Liu..." He recalled what the boy said, "Liu... is very important, yes, that's the name."
The words Liu Chengqi rolled through Wu Jin's heart.
"Do you know him? From your shabby street?"
Wu Jin didn't answer, got up and went out to wash his face.
Cheng Ting scratched his head and asked himself: "Is this because he was asleep?"
During the policy inquiry class in the afternoon, Wu Jin was distracted. The collusion between officials and businessmen, the Mo family, the ship dealers, and the mule all merged into one, and it became a secret in his heart. Although he kept silent, he did not know that the Mo family Believe it or not.
After class, he returned home with all his worries hidden, had something to eat and then went to sell cakes.
The moonlight was shining brightly, illuminating the snow and ice all over the ground. Wu Jin was hawking in the wind. In less than half an hour, his face was green and green from the cold.
It was cold, Yuhua Street was also deserted, and the cake sales were terrible. Wu Jin was about to change places when he saw Yin Bei coming on horseback and ordered a pancake with a smile.
He ate one in two bites and said with a smile: "Brother, you must have been an apprentice in a Hu cake shop. It's like the recipe of Hu cakes. It's a pity that it's cold, otherwise it would be more delicious."
Wu Jin nodded: "Yes, six coins of fried cake."
Yin Bei did not pay for it, but looked at the remaining cakes: "It happens that people in the house want to eat cakes. You can bring all the cakes to the house. Go through the southeast corner door and someone will open it when you knock. Do you know how to get there?"
Wu Jinhe loosened his left hand on the cake basket, and the lid of the cake basket was pressing on the back of his right hand.
He took a breath of cold air, took out his hand, shook it twice, and closed the cake cage again: "I know."
Yin Bei didn't seem to notice his gaffe, and still smiled: "Then I won't lead you the way. Go back to the house first."
After that, he spurred his horse on and left, soon disappearing.
Wu Jin shouldered the cake basket, put away the shelf, and walked towards Mo Mansion step by step.
Sure enough, there is a corner door in the southeast corner of Mo Mansion. There are two short stone pillars outside the door, with two toads on them. The vermilion door leaves are tightly closed. The word "Fu Tai" is engraved on the lintel, and two red lanterns are hung on the left and right to illuminate it.
Wu Jin walked up the stone steps and knocked on the door.
The door opened as soon as he knocked. The person who came out of the watch room looked him up and down, and before he could explain his purpose, he led him behind the screen wall.
Although this mansion bears the name of Jiedushi, it is actually the old residence of the Mo family in Kuanzhou. It is deep and spacious, with courtyards on the left, gardens after gardens, corridors everywhere, countless rockeries and flowing water, and it is overwhelming.
In the dark night, only the lights swayed and meandered away, pointing out a way.
Everywhere he went, there were servants taking over. Wu Jin knew that this was not the way to the kitchen, and became more and more uneasy.
After walking for who knows how long, he finally entered a square courtyard. The white walls on both sides were covered with vines and thick branches. Old piles planted in an unknown year covered the entire wall like a net.
The tiles and tiles on the walls all give off a sense of old-fashioned solemnity, and there are servants like clay and wood sculptures standing on the left and right, without even moving their eyes.
There are only two things placed in the corner of the yard that make people relax.
A tile dog that can be ridden and played with, and a pottery ringing bell next to the vines are all things for children to play with.
The servant asked Wu Jin to remove the cake basket from his shoulders and led him into the corridor, but he was not allowed in. Instead, he was asked to wait outside the door, not shying away from letting him hear the content of the conversation inside.
"If Kuanzhou doesn't use it, why don't other places use it? You're so stubborn and you've lost real money!"
After a while, Mo Qianlan's voice came: "I don't like chaos."
"There hasn't been any trouble so far... You didn't say not to use it before. Besides, Miss Mo... isn't that a joke?"
A sneer came from Mo Qianlan in the room. After a long time, Mo Qianlan's low and cold voice reached Wu Jin's ears: "What she said is what you must abide by."
There was complete silence inside and outside the house.
After a long time, the people in the room left and came out without taking another look at the dusty Wu Jin.
The servant standing at the door went in to report. After a while, the servant opened the warm curtain and whispered to Wu Jin: "Please."
As soon as the curtain is opened, a warm breeze comes from the shop.
Wu Jin straightened his clothes and stepped in. He saw a man wearing a soap coat sitting on the Grand Master's chair facing him. He was around thirty years old. He was Mo Qianlan, Mo Lingfeng's brother.
Wu Jin took a quick glance at it the previous two times. Today, when he took a closer look, he found that Mo Qianlan also had pink and phoenix eyes and a sickly look on his face, as if he had an old illness.
Wu Jin bowed his head and said: "Wu Jin was born late and has met the Jiedushi envoy."
Then he folded his hands, lowered his head slightly, and focused his gaze on an inch in front of him.
"Wu Jin," Mo Qianlan's voice was gentle, and his eyes softened a lot, "Sit down, don't be formal, you are Aji's friend, I should have invited you to my house a long time ago."
He pointed toward the chair below.
Wu Jin followed his fingers and sat down. At the same time, the charcoal fire made a soft "pop" sound in the corner behind him.
Good charcoal has no trace of smoke, and even the sound of burning is so crisp.
At the same time, he felt the coldness and hardness of the chair. The armrests and backrest drew him in, and they straightened him out without him having to sit up straight.
