"Uncle Zhao, the brothers we brought this time will be left to you." Xia Houxuan smiled: "Remember to solve this case as soon as possible, but don't wait for me to come back from Qingzhou. You have no clue yet."
"Don't worry, Taichu. I will try my best to handle this case and get to the bottom of it!" Cao Xi said with determination: "Taichu, you are going to Qingzhou. It's a long journey, so you must be careful..."
"Don't worry!" Xia Houxuan patted Cao Xi on the shoulder and smiled confidently.
In the early morning of the next day, a crisp sound of horse hooves broke the silence in the eastern suburbs of Xingyang City. Some woodcutters who got up early to cut firewood in the mountains on the outskirts of the city vaguely saw a knight in white riding an unparalleled white horse, walking towards the east through the frost and dew.
In the Xingyang Guesthouse, the chief of the 'Wuwei Army' was reporting the results of the night interrogation to Cao Xi.
"General Qi, according to Boss Zhao's confession last night, those horse traders from Soochow are generally the northern nobles who moved south to Jiangdong at the end of the Han Dynasty. A long time ago, their fathers lived in various northern states and counties. They have a very wide network of contacts, so they can easily contact guesthouses and merchants in various places. The methods of horse trafficking are quite common. Generally, Wu merchants disguise themselves as bandits at night and come to guesthouses. To steal the horses from the stables, the inn owners pretended not to know anything on the surface, but in fact they had already secretly benefited from the Wu people and colluded with them secretly. Since the method was illegal, they stole and sold the horses at one time. There will not be many horses, as many as three or five at a time, and as few as one or two. As for the places involved, only Boss Zhao knows about them, including counties in Jizhou, Bingzhou, and Yanzhou. And that Boss Zhao He also said that this kind of thing may have started to happen as early as five or six years ago, when Emperor Wen was still alive."
Cao Xi fell into deep thought after listening to Na Shichang's words. The official horses of the Wei Dynasty have always been managed by officials. There are also several exclusive horse farms in Jizhou, Bingzhou, Liangzhou, and Youzhou. Although there are horses among the people, they are too scattered and the number is too small, making it almost unprofitable. Therefore, private theft is almost unprofitable. Horses should only be incidental and will not be the main way for those horse dealers to collect horses. If something happens in these states, some officials in these places may not be able to escape their involvement. Who is so bold? You must know that this is a serious crime of collaborating with the enemy!
"Could it be that this case will involve someone in the court..." Cao Xi frowned and murmured: "If this is the case, I must find that person out and enforce the law of the country!".
Within the territory of Yanzhou.
Xia Houxuan drove for more than three days and finally arrived at Chenliu County on the south bank of Jishui River. Summer was approaching, and the originally warm spring breeze became hot and dry. Xia Houxuan found a tea shop, drank two pots of herbal tea, and filled up the water bag he carried.
"Second brother, pay the bill!" Xia Houxuan took out a few five-baht coins and put them on the case. He picked up the 'quality' and the package and left the tea shop. It was a long journey to Qingzhou, and the condition of the Queen Mother had deteriorated. , so he didn't dare to delay for too long.
This five-baht coin has been in common use as early as the Han Dynasty. However, due to the war in the country, the economy was affected, and the price of grain, cloth and other physical goods was much higher than the five-baht coin. In the early years of the Huang Dynasty, Emperor Wen Cao Pi paid for grain. Expensive money is cheap, five baht coins cannot be used normally, and five baht coins were stopped for a time. It was not until Cao Rui ascended the throne in summer and April of the first year of Taihe that the use of five baht coins was resumed. However, among the people, it is still impossible to change the phenomenon that grain is expensive and money is cheap, so that drinking a pot of tea costs several five baht.
Yanzhou spans both sides of the river and is where the Jishui River and the river meet, so water transportation is very convenient. Although it is not as prosperous as Sili Luoyang, it is still pretty good.
The land here has been away from the war for decades since Taizu unified the north. The people have been living and working in this land for decades. No matter what, this is a blessed place in troubled times.
Xia Houxuan held White Que in his hand and walked carefully along the narrow paths of the wheat fields, for fear of trampling on the crops in the fields. The fields on both sides of the road are full of wheat and bean sprouts that are about to mature, green and yellow. These crops, under the influence of the evening breeze of the setting sun, are like a golden lake with layers of "waves".
Xia Houxuan raised his head, looked at the blue sky here, and let out a long sigh of relief. At this moment, he suddenly felt very relaxed and happy. From childhood to adulthood, he almost grew up in major capital cities in the north, first in Yedu, and later in Luoyang. This was his first time in the fields. At this moment, he suddenly felt that every flower and grass here was so beautiful; the smell here was also so intoxicating. The warm summer wind is so kind, just like the voice of a mother calling her child, so kind.
The low and melodious moo of cows in the distance, the laughter of children in the fields, and the gorgeous clouds over there like Shu brocade...
Everything is so beautiful. It's like having a peaceful dream, which makes people extremely obsessed...
"Why……"
Xia Houxuan shouted loudly in front of the endless wilderness. He felt that at this moment, all the burdens and pressures had disappeared without a trace. Here, there was no need for intrigues or tricks. At this moment, he seemed to realize clearly that only when he was far away from the temple and in a place like this would he be a truly carefree young man.
While Xia Houxuan was intoxicated by the beautiful scenery of the fields, a young farmer holding an ox happened to come over.
"Hey! This brother." When the farmer saw Xia Houxuan, he waved and said hello.
Xia Houxuan raised his eyes and looked at the farmer. I saw that the farmer was in his thirties, with a rather strong build, dark skin, and no moustache. At this moment, he was looking at himself in a friendly manner.
"Little brother, you must be on your way." The young farmer spoke a dialect from the Qingyan area, and his tone and eyes were full of sincerity: "It's getting dark, and there's no resting place nearby. Son, how about this? My house is not far ahead. I will take you to my house and stay one night first."
"That's very good. Thank you so much, big brother!" Xia Houxuan originally wanted to find a farmer to stay for one night, but unexpectedly he happened to meet him. The two of them led an ox and a horse respectively, chatting as they walked towards the entrance of the village ahead.
"Little brother, judging from your accent, you must be from the capital. These days, there is a lot of war and chaos. I think you are a weakling, so why are you going out alone to make a living?"
"Brother, please don't look at my frailty. In fact, I also studied martial arts for a few years in my early years. This time I left home mainly because I wanted to go out and explore the world and gain experience." Xia Houxuan was not comfortable revealing his identity, so he did not tell the truth. He looked at the farmer and smiled: "By the way, I haven't asked my eldest brother for his name yet."
"Hi! I am a rough man, my nickname is Lu Zhi. I was originally from Fufeng. Later, in order to avoid the Qiang bandits in Guanzhong, my family moved to Yanzhou. In fact, I also studied in a private school in my early years. After a few years of reading, I am proficient in writing, but unfortunately I don't have much knowledge. I can't be promoted to be a filial piety, nor can I go to the Imperial Academy in the capital, so I simply gave up writing and started farming. I can support my family by my own strength these years. Yes. Brother, I wonder what you should call me?"
"My surname is Xiahou, my single name is Xuan, and my courtesy name is Taichu."
"It turns out to be Brother Xiahou. Look, there is a humble house in front of you." Lu Zhi pointed to several wooden houses surrounded by fences in front, his eyes filled with happiness.
"Mom, little sister, I'm back!"
"Brother..." I saw a little girl sticking her head out from the door. Perhaps she was shy and afraid of meeting strangers. When the little girl saw Xia Houxuan, she retracted her head.
"This is my little sister, her maiden name is Lu Yan. She is always like this. She is afraid of meeting strangers. Please don't take it off, brother Xiahou, and please be patient." Lu Zhi scratched the back of his head and said with a naive smile.
"Zhi'er, you're back..." I saw an old woman in her fifties or sixties, with gray hair and wearing brown clothes, walking out of the house on crutches. When the old man saw Xia Houxuan, he guessed who he was. It was a passerby who was on his way and had nowhere to rest. The old man smiled kindly: "This little brother, maybe he missed his schedule because he was in a hurry and couldn't find the hotel. Haha..., Zhi'er, take this little brother with you." Go sit in the back room first while Yanzi and I cook and eat together later."
"Thank you, ma'am!" Xia Houxuan bowed and thanked her.
The Lu family was just an ordinary farmer's family. Without those bells, tripods and tables, Xia Houxuan felt a little more comfortable sitting with the rest of his family around a small wooden table on the floor.
The little girl likes to pester her elder brother to tell her stories from various books, but Lu Zhi has only read the Five Classics for a few years, so she doesn't know any interesting stories. When the little girl heard that Xia Houxuan came from Luoyang, she was so busy asking questions that she didn't even eat properly.
Sitting with this happy family eating together, Xia Houxuan couldn't help but feel a little dazed.
Vaguely, he remembered the rainy night when he was eleven years old. In the Yishou Pavilion, Master, Xi Di, Hui'er, and himself were sitting together like this, eating dinner and talking around the fire... …
He also thought of Aunt Han and Magu...
It's just that things have changed and everything has changed.
The next morning, when it was just dawn, the farmers began to work in the fields. The partially yellowed wheat is ready to be harvested.
"Brother Lu, is there any water?" Xia Houxuan waved his sleeves and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He insisted on going to the fields to work for a while before leaving. Lu Zhi couldn't resist him, so she took him to harvest wheat together.
"Brother Xiahou, you must be tired." Lu Zhi threw a water hyacinth to Xiahouxuan. Lu Zhi cut the wheat with a sickle and said with a smile: "Go and have a rest. We rural people are used to doing these rough jobs. How can you bear it?"
"It doesn't matter, I'm okay." Xia Houxuan wiped his sweat. He had held a knife and a pen with his own hands, but he had never held a sickle or farm tool. Therefore, this sickle was very uncomfortable in Xia Houxuan's hands. However, he was not discouraged and continued to harvest wheat.
In the empty and boundless fields, the chirping of insects, birds, and the cries of crickets... everything combined into that beautiful melody, which left a deep imprint in Xia Houxuan's mind...
"My child, why don't you stay a few more days..." The old man watched Xia Houxuan mount the white horse and sincerely persuaded him to stay.
"Auntie, Brother Lu, Yanzi, thank you for your hospitality. It's just that I have something to do, so I can't stay too long." Xia Houxuan grabbed the reins and turned around to say goodbye to everyone. Suddenly he seemed to remember something and took it out of his arms. A jade pendant said: "By the way, Brother Lu, I actually have an errand in the capital. If you want to come to me one day, just take this jade pendant and come to Xiahou Mansion in Jiuzifang, Luoyang City to find me. Farewell , see you later!”
Xiahou Xuanzuo bowed to say goodbye and rode eastward.
"See you later..." Lu Zhi took the jade pendant and waved in the direction where Xia Houxuan went.
Xia Houxuan was actually a little reluctant to leave in such a hurry. In the distance, he couldn't help but look back to the west again, looking at this beautiful and simple village.
