Xiao Bazi was stunned and said, "That's the word." After hesitating for a moment, he changed his words and said, "No, it's Man."
Liao Sanniang said: "The front and back of a copper coin are like the two sides of life and death. When the copper coin falls to the ground, only one side of life and death remains. If you lose, you will die, be captured, be disabled, or escape. The bandits are ruthless. If we were defeated today, the end would be worse. They. The martial arts of the Escort Bureau originally focused on restraint and retreating when difficulties are encountered, but now they are only left to show off their cruelty wantonly. It is not that they are cruel, but that their hearts cannot be moved. When facing battle, what is fought is a knife, and more importantly, anger, which cannot be shaken or shaken. To seize the will, you can only cast your heart into iron and transform into a fierce god. Kind thoughts and benevolent hearts only remain before drawing out the sword and after retracting it."
Xiao Bazi looked curiously in the direction of the copper coins, as if he wanted to confirm.
Liao Sanniang waved her hand and said, "Let's go, why do we have to demand results in everything."
After saying that, he got on his horse, looked at the sky, waved his hand and said: "Get in line and get to Zhuangzi before nightfall."
Old Feng nodded and drove the mule cart, the axles creaked and turned, the wilderness was desolate, the roads were full of fallen leaves, the evening sun fell to the west, and the autumn wind was bone-chilling, chilling everything.
When the carriage and horses arrived less than two miles away from the village, the manager of the village and the waiter at the front station came to meet them. Escort a cart of silver into the village.
This place is more than ten miles away from the capital. The presence of Wangfa in the capital has been greatly reduced, and the war is now in chaos. Therefore, Zhuangzi built it very solidly, with rammed earth walls covered with city bricks, and a deep trench was dug around Zhuangzi. Zhuang Hakka Ding watches day and night, it is a safe place.
One hundred thousand taels of silver is not a small amount. If it is leaked, who knows how much trouble it will cause. Fortunately, this place is not far from the capital. Large groups of bandits dare not assemble, but small groups of bandits can be dealt with with such a strong iron walnut.
However, with long nights and many dreams, both Liao Sanniang and Li Rufeng were eager for the bandits to send a second letter quickly and pay money to redeem their people. As long as Elder Leng is brought back safely, the matter will be settled safely.
Unfortunately, the thief didn't know what kind of medicine was sold in the gourd, and there was no news. The entire escort agency was at a loss, not knowing what to do.
Arriving at Zhuangzi, Liao Sanniang took care of storing the silver in the cellar - almost 60,000 taels of silver had been brought in here and there - which was a huge sum of money in the 17th century.
After the money was deposited in the cellar, Liao Sanniang called Lao Feng into the house and asked, "What did you ask?"
"There are eunuchs inside." Old Feng said with a contemptuous expression, "There are more than one."
"A chambermaid in the palace?" Liao Sanniang's expression changed. If the matter involves the palace, it will become more complicated.
"I was thinking the same thing just after I took off my pants. I thought the eunuch from the Royal Horse Prison was out hunting for wild food? Could it be that someone from the palace was involved? I didn't expect to find out after the first trial that it was the eunuch from Nanyuan."
"Is this happening?"
Although Nanyuan is not far from Nancheng of the capital, there is no farmhouse to live in. This place was the royal garden of the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. Because the Yongding River passes through the garden, a large lake and swamp is formed, with lush vegetation and gathering of animals and elk. The scenery is beautiful. From the Liao and Jin Dynasties to the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, emperors of all dynasties hunted here and built palaces and gardens.
After Emperor Zhu Di moved the capital to Beijing, he expanded the palaces and palaces here and built 120 miles of walls around them, which was called "Nanhaizi". The hunting grounds of the Yuan Dynasty were expanded dozens of times. Zhou opened four gates and built government offices for the emperor to hunt and enjoy. However, although the scenery here is beautiful, the area is too vast, there are not many palace buildings, and the "wild charm" is too strong. The number of emperor's visits became less and less, and by the Longqing period, the place was already in decline. Except for the guarding eunuchs and "Haihu", no one else came, and it was completely deserted.
At the end of the Ming Dynasty, this originally deserted royal garden inexplicably gained an additional function: to house eunuchs.
Originally, those who became eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty had to register with the Ministry of Rites and be castrated by specialized officers from the Ministry of Rites. Later, as time went by, the rules became obsolete, and some people began to castrate themselves into the palace. The famous 9,000-year-old Wei Zhongxian "self-castrated". Liu Ruoyu, who left the Ming Dynasty palace notes "Zhe Zhongzhi", castrated himself to enter the palace even though he was from an official family.
Floods and droughts began in the last years of Wanli, and people's livelihoods were difficult to maintain. The number of poor people who wanted to make a living as eunuchs increased sharply. A large number of eunuchs gathered in the capital. However, the number of eunuchs in the palace was only more than a hundred people every year. Over the years, the number of eunuchs who were unable to enter the palace accumulated. More than ten thousand people rose up. Since there were too many monks and not enough food, the Ministry of Rites took him in various gardens outside the capital city and provided him with a small amount of money and rice to survive.
This group of people who had no food and clothing, and who could not return to their hometowns because they were disabled naturally became "unstable factors" in the capital. The head of the bodyguard guarded the gate and guarded the courtyard for many years. The black and white people were the most well-informed and knew what they were doing: and The general bandits are different. They mostly act like ruffians and do not violate the king's laws. They do petty theft, beg for money, or blackmail people with pretexts. They rarely engage in road-blocking and robbery with open fire. That's why Liao Sanniang was very surprised.
"I thought they were taking a desperate risk, but I didn't expect that when I asked them just now, I got a clue."
"What?"
"They said they were not originally part of the gang, but someone paid them to follow the gang."
Liao Sanniang's pupils shrank: "There is such a thing! Who is he?"
She originally thought that Wu Yanluo's calamity was just another common occurrence in troubled times, but she didn't expect that there was a hidden secret in it!
"They couldn't reveal the specific person. They only said that someone gave them money and asked them to join Wu Yanluo's gang with the news about the silver car and follow the gang. Leave secret notes along the way..."
Liao Sanniang's mind was spinning rapidly. It turned out that someone had provided the information! She was a little confused at the time. Obviously, the person who hired the eunuch must be related to the gangsters who kidnapped Leng Ningyun, otherwise it would be difficult to get such accurate information about their whereabouts. But since they have shopkeeper Leng in hand, as long as they hand over the money on time, they will naturally get the money. Why use this method to seize more than 10,000 pieces of silver? Judging from the battle just now, if Wu Yanluo really succeeds, even if they are behind, they may not be able to 100% control Wu Yanluo and his group.
Calculating it, either they were discovered by "experts" in the process of transporting the money, or someone knew about Shopkeeper Leng's kidnapping and followed the loophole to make a profit - just like taking the money. It was the same as those who came to extort money one after another after the redemption letter arrived. After comprehensive analysis, the latter is the most likely.
Liao Sanniang felt that the situation in front of her was in chaos. They were in deep trouble. Even though they spent a lot of manpower and material resources, they still couldn't find any major clues. Feeling a little depressed. Lao Feng said: "Sister, please don't be anxious! We are anxious, but the kidnapper is even more anxious! Don't mess up the situation."
"You're right, Lao Feng." Liao Sanniang put her hand on her forehead and smiled, "We are suffering so much, but we can't survive it. We are short-lived in vain!" After saying this, she patted Lao Feng on the shoulder. , "Take care of the kitchen and prepare a feast tonight. The people we brought and the people in the village will all have a good meal - only one thing, please don't drink alcohol."
"Yes!" Old Feng raised his brows in joy and was about to retreat when Liao Sanniang stopped him, "I have already taken Xiaoba as my disciple. I am determined to teach him martial arts, but his temperament is still a little impetuous, and he is also somewhat impetuous underneath. It's empty. This is a life-and-death future, and it's almost the same. I have a lot to do, so you can give him a hard time."
"I love to grind the juniors down." Old Feng said with a smile, "I'm sure to make him cry for his father and mother!"
"Haha, you go." Liao Sanniang sent Lao Feng away, and immediately wrote a letter, telling the story of what happened along the way, and put it on the pigeon she brought with her and sent it back to the escort agency.
Li Rufeng put away Liao Sanniang's letter and put it into the box, frowning.
The long-awaited second letter still hasn't arrived. Sanniangzi meets Jie Dao again, and there are several "eunuchs" among them. The matter becomes more and more confusing.
"What kind of medicine is being sold in this gourd..." He touched his chin, puzzled.
It was getting late, and the four gate drums in Zhangjiawan Town were ringing in unison. People in and outside the town who were still on the road speeded up their steps when they heard the drums.
One hundred and eight drum beats are played fast and slow. When the last drum beat falls, it is officially night and the four gates of Zhangjiawan Town will be closed.
Whether you are leaving the town or entering the town, you must pass through the town gate before the drum beat ends.
On the Tongyun Bridge outside the south gate of the town, a group of pedestrians quickened their pace. This Tongyun Bridge is a stone bridge built by Shenzong in the 33rd year of Wanli, named "Tongyun".
The bridge spans the Queen Mother Xiao River from north to south, and is thirteen feet long and three feet wide. There are relief vases on both sides of the railings on both sides of the bridge, both inside and outside. The lines are simple, the knife skills are smooth, and the bottle patterns are different. The stone lions on the pillars are beautifully carved and have different expressions.
Travelers passing by had no intention of looking at the stone bridge, but more than a dozen servants, accompanied by two healthy mules and a mule cart, came to the inn.
The companions cannot be said to be tall and tall, but they are all capable and capable. They wear a straight body in blue cloth and wear a wooden belt around their waists. A simple sword hangs from the waist and a whistle stick is held in hand. At first glance, it was Ding Huyuan, a servant of a wealthy family. Nowadays, the world is in turmoil, and the capital is no exception. There is a danger of disaster within a few dozen miles of the city.
A young man wears a Fan Yangli with a red tassel on his head, a large Dorona cloak, and a Japanese sword in the style of the frontier army hanging from his waist. Riding on a horse and mule, the horse and mule were fat and strong. It was washed very clean and equipped with a trendy and fashionable "Australian leather saddle". It was obvious that the rider was a rich young man.
As usual, there are guards conducting interrogations at the gate of the town - the closer it is to closing the gate, the more detailed the interrogations become. The official reason is to prevent criminals from entering and exiting the town at the last moment, but in reality it is an opportunity to blackmail. However, seeing the momentum of this group of people, the leader of the town did not dare to say anything, took a few steps back, and directly let the people enter the town.
A bunch of copper coins swung out from the mule and fell into the hands of the town sergeant: "This is for you."
Just as the town leader was about to say thank you, a group of people had already passed through the door and headed into the town.
(End of chapter)
