So Cui Yi tossed and turned on the bed, his heart pounding, his eyes staring, and he couldn't sleep. Then he thought again: 'Perhaps I am being overly concerned. The prince may not have so many eyes and ears. Even if he did, how could An meet him by chance like this? What's more, in an unknown inn...' Thinking of this, his anxiety subsided, and he comforted himself, no longer thinking about the worst outcome.
"That person, don't you think it's suspicious?" A strong man dressed as a police officer closed the door of the guest room, looked back at his colleagues, and frowned suspiciously.
"The one who was quarreling in front of the counter?" Another gentleman, who was taking off his soap boots, answered him, "He is a bit suspicious, and he doesn't look like an ordinary person. Moreover, in order to save his face, he threw two Two pieces of silver is too generous."
"Do you want to investigate this person?" the strong man asked, leaning on the door panel.
"It must be investigated," the man replied simply and neatly, "but before you and I were ordered to leave the capital, the prince had given instructions: Don't make any noise, and make the noise as small as possible. In my opinion, if he is a member of the Ye Thief, , will come from the capital, and will pass through several small counties along the way, and will definitely be questioned when entering the city. You can write down all his clothes, body shape, etc., and ask those counties and towns; if this is indeed such a route, then It is very close to our suspicion."
"This is a good plan, but we don't know his voice and appearance. Without these two clues, it will be very difficult to find out." The strong man came over and said, "I happened to have seen the portraits of people in the Ye Party, such as Cui Yi "
"I'm afraid... it will make him alert."
The strong man sneered: "Don't worry, I have a way!"
The next day when the rooster crows, Cui Yi gets up early. He is still uneasy and dare not stay in the store for a long time. He quickly puts on his coat and opens the door in a daze.
"Oh, don't leave!"
Just as Cui Yi was about to go downstairs, he suddenly heard someone shouting loudly from behind. It was as if he had been struck by a thunderbolt, and his whole body was unable to move.
"Is your name Zeng Yuan?"
Cui Yi held on to the stairs and turned around nervously. He saw a stout man wearing a light gray cotton coat with several patches.
"How...how did you know?" Cui Yi was wary.
The man smiled and said: "I came to stay yesterday and saw this name from the shopkeeper's name book. I was very surprised. Because my surname is also Zeng, and I have a cousin I have never met named Zeng Yuan. He moved to the capital when he was young. .I wonder if it’s you?”
"SD?"
"It's local."
Cui Yi then bowed: "I'm sorry, I just have the same name as him, not the same person."
The man was startled: "Oh, this is really a strange thing... What do you do?"
"I'm in a hurry. I'm about to go downstairs."
The man clasped his fists, said "Nao Nao", and retreated. Cui Yi didn't hear that he had any other intentions, so he let out a breath, thinking that it was a false alarm.
The strong man returned to the house, threw away his cotton-padded clothes, changed back into his official uniform, and then smiled and said to his colleagues: "It's a done deal. You don't have to go check it out anymore!"
"What? What news did you find out?" Another person grabbed his sleeve and asked.
The strong man slowly said: "I set a trap and said: 'My cousin moved to the capital when he was young.' He didn't refute, and actually came to ask me where I was from. Just imagine, if he was a When people from other places hear this, they already know that it is not him, so why ask again? It can be seen that he is undoubtedly in the capital!"
The man was overjoyed, slapped him on the arm and said, "That's great! There's really something extraordinary about this guy of yours! What's his face and voice like?"
The strong man shook his head: "I didn't recognize his face. His face was extremely dirty and there was no beard left; his voice was rather thin and not very loud."
"Well... everything is complete now, only one proof is missing. You and I, quickly go back to the Yamen and lead the horses, follow this guy, don't let him run out of our sight!"
"Uu, uh."
Cui Yi tightened the reins slightly and stopped the horse next to the wall. He looked at the huge mansion in the distance and thought to himself: 'This should be King Yi's mansion. ’ Then he put away his whip and got off his horse.
He walked out of the shade of the tree and looked at the soldiers coming and going in front of the palace gate. He suddenly felt hesitant, took a step back, touched his chin, and pondered.
'Although I didn't meet any prince's eyes and ears along the way, the process turned out to be so smooth, which is a bit scary. I can't tell you my real name, so I'm being cautious. ' With this thought in mind, he was about to step forward, but paused again, 'No! I won't tell you my name, but just because I am a commoner, I will definitely not be able to enter the house. 'So he was in a dilemma and kept wandering.
He gradually walked to the street and saw a large-character signboard in front of a locked shabby house that read "Chapter 10 Letters". Next to him, a gentleman wearing straight clothes sat on a stone bench and put all his pen, ink, paper and inkstone on the On the stone table, a man was writing dully.
"Hey, are you here for the calligraphy test?" The gentleman suddenly raised his head. He looked very young, in his early twenties.
"Sir, how much money can you make in a day by cutting words here?" Cui Yi looked over and asked.
The man stood up and smiled awkwardly: "I've been writing here for more than ten days. There are only two or three guests here. It's really deserted."
"Why don't you do something else?" Cui Yi continued to ask.
The fortune teller cupped his hands and stammered in reply: "Young man, I'm not talented. I only know how to read in my life, and I haven't read many books, let alone take part in the imperial examination. I can only follow the skill of splitting Chinese characters." The old scholars in the village are very knowledgeable, so they were able to open here.”
Cui Yi couldn't help but sigh: "I had the same experience as you in the past. It was all fruitless, nothing accomplished, looking for work everywhere, and life had no hope. It's not easy for you, just count it. Alas, you How is the level of this calligraphy test?"
"Young and stupid, you only learned a little bit from the old scholar, and it's not even a scratch..." The gentleman lowered his head, with a few beads of sweat on his forehead, and his face was full of shame, "That's rare. Several guests came, and I just wanted not to offend them, so I went out of my way to please them, saying everything that was bad was good, and everything that was bad was good, which I really feel guilty about."
Cui Yi smiled bitterly and said: "This is your difficulty, and no one can blame you. But you are very respectable for saying this. Those well-dressed people are not as good as a gentleman like you!"
"Thank you, thank you so much!" The gentleman was so grateful that he shed two tears.
