Zhou Xu led people to move into the Liu family compound in Gu Chang City. Along the way, Liu Ren was observing the face of Lord Jiedushi. Under his governance, such a big problem actually occurred in Gu Chang. At that moment, Liu Ren Ren wanted to die to apologize, especially after the soldiers who made mistakes were beheaded, he was completely sleepless and trembling.
Zhou Xu rested for a while, settled down with his wife, and then took Liu Ren and his party to Gu Chang's prison.
It wasn't until evening that he came back with the faint smell of blood and mugwort soap.
When Xiao Luolan was hugged by him, she felt like she was being held by a wild beast.
"Why aren't you sleeping yet, madam? Are you waiting for your husband?"
Zhou Xu put his forehead against his wife's and asked with a smile.
Xiao Luolan actually just couldn't sleep. She was a person who liked stability, but since she came here, she had been wandering. This was not what she wanted, but she had no choice.
"Yeah." Xiao Luolan nodded.
Zhou Xu kissed his wife until her breathing became unsteady, her cheeks flushed, and her heart became more and more happy. She felt that these days of companionship had an effect, and her wife gradually accepted him.
When the bed curtains were lowered, Zhou Xu had never been so obsessed with Madam, as if his heart fell on Madam, and he felt panicked when he couldn't see her all day long.
"My wife is happy." Zhou Xu kissed his wife devoutly and expressed his feelings.
When Xiao Luolan heard this, which was like a confession, and saw that he was serious, she crossed her legs and tentatively refused: "Then can I not do it for a few days?"
Zhou Xu took a deep breath.
Xiao Luolan waited nervously for Clan Leader Zhou's answer. She was not very keen on that kind of thing, especially after marriage. Clan Master Zhou had to fulfill his husband's obligations almost every day. Sometimes, Xiao Luolan was really afraid of him.
"Are you feeling unwell, madam?" Zhou Xu's voice was inexplicably aggrieved.
Xiao Luolan's face was hot, which was actually okay sometimes, but...
"It's not good to do too much." Xiao Luolan said with a red face.
Zhou Xu took a deep breath and held his wife in his arms: "What about tomorrow?"
Xiao Luolan: "..."
"Is it okay the day after tomorrow?"
Xiao Luolan turned over, not wanting to talk to the old pervert.
Chapter 61
Liu Ren, the top official of Guchang City, kept walking around the room with a frown on his beard. His wife looked impatiently and said, "Can you please stop leaving?"
Liu Ren looked at his wife: "Master Jiedushi will go to the prison today to visit the Wang family. What do you think I should do?" He clapped his hands suddenly and gritted his teeth angrily: "That Wang Anguo is really a difficult person to deal with. , he was tortured over and over but he was bitten to death without telling who was behind him? Where did those swords come from? Are there any large bows/crossbows among the weapons that are usually smuggled in? I was so angry!"
"If there are no results, I think the head on my neck will fall off."
When Cheng Xiuxiu heard what her husband said, she put down her mended clothes and said, "Isn't the bow/crossbow very big? How can I bring it in?"
"There are removable ones. What if there are three-bow beds/crossbows? Do you know about three-bow beds/crossbows? I will die if I find one!" Liu Ren sat down on the threshold, with a despairing feeling of imminent disaster: " Madam, you’d better make peace with me as soon as possible, so that if I am unfortunate enough to be in trouble, you won’t be implicated.”
When Cheng Xiuxiu heard this, she said angrily: "If you die, you will die. My son cannot die with you. Haven't you thought about our three children? What will they do if you die?"
Liu Ren rubbed his face fiercely, his eyes were red, and he stood up again: "My lady is right, I will go to the prison to torture the caravan owners of the Wang family and Li family."
"Don't worry, Lord Jieduzhi has never dealt with you for such a long time. It's impossible for him to pick off your head just one day after arriving." Cheng Xiuxiu said: "You are also the lord of Guchang City after all. You have no merit in these years. It’s hard work.”
Liu Ren gave a wry smile, who is he as the city lord? He was originally a small official in Langge, but he was inexplicably promoted to Gu Chang City. He could only manage people's livelihood, and managed to manage Gu Chang into what it is now, but his skills There is no military power here. The captain of Yao Nandao in Gu Chang is the one in charge of Gu Chang's soldiers, and Wang An's son-in-law is the captain of Gu Chang who is one level below Yao Nandao...
When Liu Ren thought of this, his mind suddenly exploded. He trembled all over, turned around and ran out.
"You haven't put on your shoes yet!" Cheng Xiuxiu saw her husband going crazy and chased after her.
Liu Ren put on his shoes in a panic. He didn't even have time to tidy up his clothes before he wanted to see Master Jiedushi.
When they arrived at the courtyard where Lord Jiedushi and his wife were staying, they were stopped by a Miao girl.
"Hey, my mistress is inside, Lord City Lord. It's not good for you to want to go in without being informed while you are disheveled." Zheng Yuxin said softly to Lord City Lord. He Jin stood aside with a Zen staff and recited a sentence. Buddha's name: "Amitabha, Lord City Lord, do you have something important?"
"My dear lady, please inform me that your subordinate, Liu Ren, has something urgent to do and wants to see Lord Jiedushi." Liu Ren said hurriedly.
"Master Jiedushi took his people out before dawn." Zheng Yuxin replied.
Liu Ren was shocked: "Little lady, do you know where Master Jiedushi has gone?"
Zheng Yu's heart was twisting in her hair. She didn't care about these things and knew where Lord Jieduzhi had gone.
"Going to Captain Yao's place."
Xiao Luolan came over and saw City Master Gu Chang sweating with anxiety and said, "City Master Liu can go there to find him."
It was still dark this morning. Xiao Luolan vaguely felt that Clan Master Zhou had gotten up. There seemed to be voices of Tuoba Agu and Clan Master Zhou’s brother Zhou Xuan talking outside. Clan Master Zhou said that he had asked Yao Nandao to continue. sleep.
Later, when she woke up in the morning, she asked Dr. Li that Yao Nandao was the captain of Gu Chang City.
"Ah." Liu Ren was dumbfounded. He had just thought that Captain Yao and the Wang family's son-in-law, Colonel Lu Zequan, might be related. After all, they were both military attaches and had a superior-subordinate relationship, and they often interacted with each other. Maybe there would be a breakthrough. As for Captain Yao, Lieutenant Lu has been shouting that he was wronged since he was imprisoned. Did Captain Yao not know anything about what he did?
"I would like to thank you madam for informing me, I will go right away." Liu Ren went out quickly, got on his horse and whipped his horse and ran wildly. He, a frail civil servant, had managed to practice his skillful equestrian skills in this barbaric Saibei.
After City Lord Liu left.
Xiao Luolan read for a while after dinner. Seeing that the sun was getting higher, he couldn't sit still. The smuggling of weapons seemed to be quite serious. This could be seen from the torture of Clan Leader Zhou when he entered the city. The city wall outside There were still hundreds of dying people hanging on the bed. Would she like to go and see where they were found?
"Does the mistress want to go out?" Zheng Yuxin saw that the madam was restless, so she guessed something. She had long heard that the lord respected and doted on his newly married lady. Now it seems that it is not an exaggeration to say that the two are inseparable. .
"Dongxue, please prepare the carriage. I want to go to Captain Yao." Xiao Luolan put down the book and said to Dongxue.
"Yes." Dongxue curtsied.
After a while, the carriage was prepared, with He Jin acting as the driver, Zheng Yuxin sitting next to him, and the old hunchback sitting on the back seat with his arms hanging down and wearing a bamboo hat.
Xiao Luolan opened the car curtain and looked out the window. People of different races were mixed in Guchang City. Because there were mostly goods, the main road of Guchang City was built very wide. Both sides of the street were either rented or had been used. The house bought by Hu Shang has a dazzling array of goods, including various spices, silk, salt, agricultural equipment, and a grain and oil store.
The snake dancing aliens were blowing gourd silk, the snakes in the jars were dancing gracefully, the orchids were selling wine in the hut, and there were many pedestrians and traders.
Xiao Luolan couldn't distinguish the people from the various tribes in the grassland, but she could also see many prairie women wearing sheepskin robes and carrying milk cans or legs of lamb putting the things in their hands in front of the grocery store and mumbling. Once the transaction was completed, there was actually a Central Plains person next to him who would translate for the store manager of the grocery store. If the transaction between the two parties was successful, that person would withdraw one or two cents like an intermediary.
This situation is not rare.
In addition to the Youzhou dialect that Xiao Luolan is familiar with, the languages spoken in ancient Chang City also include the local dialects of the prairie people and the languages of foreigners.
Xiao Luolan looked at it for a while: "Are they people from the nearby grassland tribes?"
Dongxue said: "Yes, because there are many merchants in Gu Chang and there are many things to trade, many people will come here to buy and sell things. Every shop here requires rent."
Dongxue looked at the busy market outside and said: "More than ten years ago, Guchang City was still a small town that was ravaged by war. Later, the Jiedushi Master resettled the displaced refugees here and sent troops to garrison them. It developed slowly.”
Xiao Luolan looked at it for a while and saw human trafficking.
The beautiful Hu Ji, wearing brightly colored woolen clothes, was driven into the carriage like cargo. Kunlun slaves and Silla maids lined up in a long queue, waiting for their master's selection.
"These Orchid and Kunlun slaves are standard equipment for nobles in the south. I heard that a well-trained Orchid as a bartender in Chang'an can be worth tens of thousands of gold. I don't know if it's true or not."
Xiao Luolan looked at those people and quickly lowered the curtains as if she had been stabbed, not daring to look any further.
Dongxue looked at her mistress in confusion, not understanding what was wrong with her.
When they arrived at the Yao Mansion, all the people in the mansion had been restrained. When the servants saw the mistress coming, they all bowed their heads and saluted.
Xiao Luolan, led by Lei Hu, quickly saw Sect Leader Zhou and the others.
In the nave.
Lieutenant Yao was howling miserably, almost kneeling and crawling to Zhou Xu's side, crying bitterly: "Master Jieduzhao, Xianguan... Xianguan really doesn't know what he did to the Wang family's caravan. Please be aware of this, Lord Jiedu."
Outside the central hall, kneeling were members of Captain Yao's family, including his wife, two concubines, two sons, and three daughters. They were all pressed to the ground, limp and crying.
Xiao Luolan stood not far away and did not go in.
Liu Ren's cheekbones turned red. He pointed at Yao Nan and said, "You have always been on good terms with Captain Lu. Don't you know? I remember that at the beginning of this year, you often had wine and chat with Wang An. The two of them called each other their acquaintances. Do you dare to say that you didn’t accept the money from him?!”
"Only your salary can support you with two bedrooms, a concubine, and three outhouses?"
Yao Nandao's face was red and white, and he stared at Liu Ren with a pair of eyes: "Master Jiedushi, Liu Ren is spitting blood! He..."
Zhou Xu knocked on the table to interrupt them. He really didn't want to hear about how many concubines this man had and he only believed in evidence.
Zhou Xuan came over and placed all the collected gold, silver and jewelry in the yard. Xiao Luolan was shocked by the high pile of belongings. There were so many.
"Come here, bring it up." Zhou Lingzhi clapped his hands.
An Orchid wearing tulle was brought to the venue by a cavalry. The tulle covered her body, looming, and she covered her face with a veil, but her beauty was still visible.
Suddenly, the wife and concubine outside yelled at her, and her thin clothes were torn off. Hu Ji knelt on the ground and begged for mercy with tears.
"Sir, this is the deed of sale that I found." Tuoba Agu handed a piece of paper to Lord Jiedushi.
Yao Nandao was dripping with cold sweat and kowtowed deeply: "Master Jiedushi, in the officialdom, it is common for people to exchange favors and give Hu Ji's prostitutes to each other. Although I am a little ridiculous in terms of women, I have never betrayed you. matter."
"Didn't you want to run away when you left the city last night?" Zhou Xu patted Yao Nandao's face with a black whip.
"My lord, my lord, this is absolutely not the case!" Yao Nandao kowtowed desperately: "Xiaguan's old father in the country is seriously ill and his time is running out, so he wanted to go out of town to visit him."
"Master Jiedushi, what my husband said is true." Yao Nandao's wife quickly said: "My father-in-law became ill half a year ago...well..."
Zhou Xu waved his hand and asked people to stop their mouths, not wanting to listen to those people's noise.
He looked at Yao Nandao and said calmly: "You have said now that your family is still alive."
Yao Nandao turned to look at his children kneeling outside the hall, and slowly closed his eyes.
After a period of dead silence, he knelt on the ground and cried helplessly: "I really didn't know...Wang An would be so bold...Sir, if I knew that his convoy was transporting bows/crossbows, I would shoot him on the spot. .”
"Five years ago, Wang An bribed me. At that time, he told me that he would send a batch of damaged iron swords to the tribes on the grassland in exchange for their good horses. I agreed in a hurry."
"He gave me Hu Ji again, and then there was a steady stream of gold and silver."
Yao Nandao was already in tears when he said this: "I also secretly checked several times later, and there were indeed broken and discarded swords and iron tools inside. Only then did I accept his bribe with confidence."
"Sir! Sir, you believe me, I have absolutely no intention of betraying Youzhou! I, Yao Nandao, swear to God, if I tell a lie, I will die!" Yao Nandao kowtowed desperately.
Zhou Xu stood up and walked away.
Zhou Xuan waved his hand and took Yao Nandao down. Liu Ren looked at this scene and cursed secretly. Five years ago, Wang An also bribed him and gave him an Orchid. Fortunately, he refused at the time.
Otherwise, he would be the one in trouble today.
The door of Yao Mansion was closed, cutting off the crying inside.
Zhou Xu returned to his wife's carriage and smelled the aroma of rouge before entering.
