"Can any problem be resolved no matter how big it is?" Chen Xiaomu secretly winked at Ximen Ruoen, pretending to be inexperienced in the world.
The thin old man stretched out his hand to twirl a few short beards on his chin, rolled his eyes in the triangular eyes, and asked Chen Xiaomu, "Does this thing you committed have anything to do with the Chu people?"
"Oh! How can I say it doesn't matter? How can I say it doesn't matter?" Chen Xiaomu said with a smile.
If it has anything to do with the Chu people, as long as it is not a serious crime of rebellion, everything can be dealt with, but it will cost more money. If it is just something that happened between us Zheng people, I will go to the prefect’s Yamen to say hello to you. It can be done with fifty taels of tea fee.
"I accidentally killed a Chu soldier!" Chen Xiaomu said.
"Ouch!" The thin old man was so frightened that he sat back on the bed and said to Chen Xiaomu with his eyes wide open: "Sir, you have committed a heinous crime. Not only did you kill a person from Chu, but you also killed a soldier. How did you get into this? These people? This is really difficult to handle!"
Chen Xiaomu glanced at Ximen Ruoen and cursed: "This bastard has evil intentions when he sees my wife is beautiful. Do you think I can make him?"
"Alas" the thin old man sighed deeply, "Brother, we Zheng people are already inferior in front of the Chu people. If you don't do this well, not only will you not be able to protect yourself, but you will also have to harm your family. You are young and angry. It’s too rich, why risk your life and fortune for a woman!”
"What are you saying? We women are not human beings? Are we allowed to be snatched away by you men?" Ximen Ruoen was not happy when he heard what the thin old man said and stepped forward to argue with him.
Chen Xiaomu hurriedly pulled Ximen Ruoen over, lowered his mouth to her ear, and whispered, "I'm trying to trick this old man, you have to calm down."
"Huh," Ximen Ruoen turned red with anger and walked out the door.
"Beauty is a disaster, beauty is a disaster!" the thin old man kept sighing.
"Old man, look at this, can you help me deal with it?" Chen Xiaomu bowed his hand to the old man.
The thin old man thought for a moment and shook his head, "It's difficult, it's really difficult, but I can only ask the magistrate for you to see if there is any room for maneuver, but you have to pay for it."
"The money is not a problem, but the man I killed was a soldier of the Chu State, and I am afraid that he is not under the jurisdiction of the prefect. I wonder if you can start with the prefect's son. After all, they are all members of the army. People should be easier to talk to!" Chen Xiaomu gave the thin old man a suggestion.
The thin old man first heard that the money was fine, and he couldn't help but perked up. But when he heard Chen Xiaomu's suggestion that he start with the prefect's son, he immediately shook his head and rejected it! He said: "The prefect's son is still in Zheng's army. He will definitely not be able to come forward in this matter. If we want to find a way, we have to go to the prefect's side."
Chen Xiaomu was shocked. It turns out that the traitor who stole the city gate for the Chu army is still among the Zheng army. This traitor was actually hidden so deeply that he even managed to open the city gate for the Chu army without being discovered. If he is not eliminated as soon as possible, he will be killed in the future. It brought great disaster to Zheng Guo.
Chen Xiaomu pretended to be puzzled and asked, "The magistrate left the young master in Zheng's army. If the people of Chu knew that he was in two boats, they would definitely not trust him anymore. If they go to him now to deal with this matter, they will probably go further." Worse!"
The thin old man turned around and picked up a leather jacket from the bed and put it on his body. He walked out from the counter, pulled Chen Xiaomu into a small room behind his bed, and used wooden bolts to lock the door.
"What are you doing?" Chen Xiaomu pretended to be panicked, struggling to shake off the thin old man's hand and open the wooden bolt behind the door.
The thin old man opened his palms in front of him and said, "Master, please take five thousand taels of silver and I will help you settle this matter."
Chen Xiaomu shook his head repeatedly, "Definitely not, just because the son of the prefect is still in Zheng's army, I'm worried that not only will he not be able to resolve the matter, but he will also implicate me!"
The thin old man slapped his thigh and said, "Sir, please sit down and let me explain this matter to you slowly. After listening to this, if you think I can handle this matter, you can take out your money and stay with me. I will go and do it at dawn." If you still can't trust me about your running away, then you can go your own way and pretend that we have never known each other."
"'But if you take my money tomorrow morning and report me to the government, what will you do?" Chen Xiaomu looked at the thin old man with confusion on his face.
"Hey, you young master! If you are so suspicious, no one can help you!" The thin old man spread his hands with an aggrieved look on his face.
Chen Xiaomu leaned on a wooden table in the room with his head supported by his hands and thought for a while, then said with a helpless expression: "Okay, old man, tell me about your relationship first. If the relationship is true, If you insist, I'll give it a try, it's better than sitting back and waiting to die, right?"
The thin old man nodded repeatedly and said: "Is this right? Those who know the current affairs are heroes, so I will tell you about my relationship."
The thin old man turned around, found a stool, placed it opposite the wooden table where Chen Xiaomu was sitting, and began to talk.
"This young man, my real name is Zhou Mugen, and I have a daughter named Zhou Huiniang. My daughter has been smart and capable since she was a child, and everything in the house is neat and tidy. My family didn't run an inn before, but made a living in a restaurant. For two years, One night before, the restaurant was about to close, but a group of officials came. I heard them talk and said that they were here to help one of them, Zhang Yong, the county magistrate. This man used to be an official in Cicada, a city on the border of Zheng State. Later, through the help of classmates and friends in New Kyoto, he was transferred to Xifeng County under the New Kyoto Prefecture to serve as county magistrate. Due to the rush, the family members stayed in Cicada City for a while and did not follow them. During the dinner, they saw that the little girl was doing things quickly, so they I asked a good friend of his to come over and tell me that he wanted to marry his daughter as a side wife and keep him company in the capital. At that time, I also gave the young man two hundred taels of silver as a betrothal gift.
"The little old man saw that although Zhang Yong was nearly fifty years old, he was still upright, generous, and a member of the official family, so he happily agreed. But within three days, Zhang Yong sent someone to come After taking the little girl over, about half a year later, Zhang Yong's family members also moved to the new capital. Zhang Yong had a wife and three concubines, including the little girl. His first wife gave birth to a son for him. One of the concubines also gave birth to a son for him, and the other concubine gave birth to a daughter for him. In his hometown, there was also a child bride who was before he passed the Jinshi examination. This child bride also gave birth to a son for him. , this son went to Cicada City to look for him when he grew up, but his wife was afraid that this son would rob the family property with her son in the future, so she teamed up with two concubines to make trouble with Zhang Yong, and Zhang Yong decided to divorce his wife. , but the wife's brother was in charge of the Ministry of Punishment, which made him scrupulous. In the end, he had no choice but to let his son follow a distant nephew of his family to serve as a soldier in the Zheng army. When the army came to attack Xinjing, his son was already under the care of his distant nephew and was promoted to the position of commander-in-chief of Zheng's army!"
"When hundreds of thousands of troops from the Chu State surrounded the new capital, Zhang Yong saw that the Zheng State was really defeated and could not even recruit any reinforcements from outside. At this time, he thought of a Chu State he had gotten along with in Cicada City. Hearing that this person's status in the Chu army was not high enough, he asked his son who was in the Zheng army to secretly contact this friend while guarding the city, and agreed with him on a time to open the city gate and let the Chu army enter. city."
