In the evening, Song Mian left Shouyang Academy and returned to his residence in Yanshi City.
Before he could sit down, he was a little surprised to hear that the county magistrate Gao Chong was visiting. After thinking about it, a trace of ridicule appeared on his face.
The land taxation at Luhun Villa is naturally inseparable from the county office. In addition, because of Gao Chong's sworn brother Gao Shang, the Song family does have a share of the interests in water transportation and smuggling.
But when it comes to personal friendships, Song Mian prides himself on being gentle and elegant, and looks down on people like Gao Chong who don't know how to restrain themselves.
"Gaoxian Cheng, a rare guest.
"I heard that Mr. Song donated three thousand guan to make up for the shortfall in the tax amount."
Song Mian smiled modestly and said, "This amount of money is also a large amount for Luhun Villa, so just donate it."
Gao Chong went straight to the point and asked, "In order to ask the county magistrate to help your brother arrange a marriage with the Zhang family's young lady?"
Song Mian's smile froze and he was not very happy and said: "I'm just a teacher. Could it be that Gao Xian Cheng came to see me on official business?"
"I think you have lost your wits because of your power. In order to cling to the Zhang family, you were deceived and used without even realizing it."
"Gao Xiancheng, it's better to be more measured when you speak."
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Gao Chong looked down on Song Mian's pretense of being aloof and frowned: "In my opinion, Zhang Sanniang's matter is a stalemate. Xue Bai wants to take power through this, but you brothers are like fish biting the hook."
Song Mian and Gao Chong were just interested in each other, and they didn't say anything because they delayed the Song family's important matter of improving their family status through marriage.
Gao Chong knew that Song Mian was not stupid, but greedy. To make him believe it, he had to first break his illusion of marrying his father-in-law.
"This incident is too coincidental and suspicious. I asked, and no one had the intention to rob and sell Zhang Sanniang, so why did she come from Yihe to Yanshi County? There is only one possibility - she came on her own initiative."
"Yeah?
"I don't have to lie to you. Think about it for yourself. It has only been three months since the Lishan stabbing case. Why do you need to do such a thing? It can be seen that this is a trap. Zhang Sanniang just wanted to help Xue Bai and put herself in danger for him. .”
"How is that possible?
"Give up, no matter what, your brother can't climb a high branch." Gao Chong gave a warning, his face was stern, and he said in an unquestionable tone: "Don't make trouble for me again. If you donate taxes at this time, it will only allow Xue Bai to win people's hearts."
Song Mian said: "Even Magistrate Lu doesn't believe what you said.
"It's not that he doesn't believe it, it's that he is weak. He only wants to calm down the incident, and he does not hesitate to push Guo Wanjin to take the blame, but he does not want to think that today it is Guo Wanjin, and tomorrow it will be his turn!"
"How is the county magistrate doing?
"Guo Wanjin will come to explain to Zhang Sanniang in person soon, and I will also investigate the matter thoroughly and expose Xue Bai's conspiracy."
"knew."
Gao Chong nodded and left.
He was tired of leading some fools to do things. Lu Linghao was weak and Song Mian was short-sighted. Guo Wanjin was the only one who was driven to despair by Xue Bai in this matter and was willing to take risks.
Song Mian sent Gao Chong away and stood there thinking.
After a while, his two sisters came back, holding a piece of handkerchief and discussing the pattern on it as they walked, muttering very excitedly.
"I've seen my brother.
"Have you met the Zhang family's young lady today?"
"Yes, she is indeed a noble lady from Chang'an. She is really well-informed and has a very good vision of food and clothing.
Song Mian asked: "What kind of high-level law?"
"Brother, you can tell when you look at this handkerchief. It is made of silk brocade with rich layers of colors. The weft thread is made of pure gold thread. It is embroidered with the palace in the palace. This handkerchief is a tribute. It was given to the young lady of the Zhang family by the imperial concubine. of.
Song Mian pondered and asked: "Do you think it is possible that this young lady from the Zhang family... is obsessed with Ding Xuebai?
"Pfft."
On the contrary, the postures of her two younger sisters were a little different. They hesitated for a while and said with a smile: "Look at what brother said, the little lady of the Zhang family looks like she is still in love at first glance."
"Yeah?
Song Mian had been persuaded by Gao Chong to come to his senses, but at this time, his thoughts of clinging to the high school came to life again.
When Song Li came back, the two brothers discussed the matter.
"You can't believe these nonsense."
When Song Li thought about Zhang Sanniang's noble status and charming appearance, his mind was turned on and he didn't believe Gao Chong's words at all.
"Brother, there is another possibility. Gao Chong deliberately kidnapped the young lady of the Zhang family in order to make his men heroically save the beauty, and even make the rice cook. But when the matter was exposed, he instead put the blame on Xue Bai. …..
The next day, two guys were taking Yibo westward along the Luo River to Daodefang in Luoyang City.
The carriage slowly stopped in front of Du's house. Yibo got off the carriage and turned around to look around. She saw a lot of people walking in the neighborhood, but she had not found her familiar figure yet.
But although she didn't notice, there was a beggar on the street corner hiding in the dark and watching her secretly.
"You guys keep an eye on me, I'm going to find Brother Ayi.
The beggar put the two coins in the broken bowl, slapped his dirty feet on the cold and biting snow, ran out of Daodefang, ran through the bustling streets of Luoyang, and turned into a dark alley.
There was a broken truck in front of the dilapidated house at the bottom of the alley, with buckets of dung piled on it, and the stench was overwhelming.
"Hey, Liu Da is back."
The beggar entered the house and heard Liu Da talking to Wang Yi.
"It's true, there are a lot of people talking at the government office and the county office. Lieutenant Xue County has taken over a place where beloved people are being robbed and sold. The matter has become a big deal, and no one knows how to end it... Gouwa, too. came back."
The beggar dog boy said: "Brother, I went outside the Du family's house and saw Sister Yibo."
As he said that, he handed over the Hu biscuits he bought with the money from begging, one for him and one for Wang Yi.
"Woo!
Before Wang Yi could answer, Du Wulang, who was tied and gagged, groaned, so Wang Yi removed the cloth from his mouth.
"Phew, my mouth is sore from being blocked." Du Wulang took a deep breath and asked, "Why don't you bring me some food?"
Gouwa said with a smile: "Blame me? Blame it because no one gave me charity. It happened to make you so hungry that you had no strength and you couldn't run away."
Du Wulang's stomach growled loudly and he said, "You are too poor. Why don't you ask my grandpa for some money to buy food?"
He really couldn't help but said these two useless sentences, and he just got down to business.
"Wang Yi, you have also seen it. I didn't lie to you. Xue Bai is trustworthy. You have to believe him and we will give him the evidence.
"Why didn't I leave it to your grandpa? I'm a fourth-grade official."
"My grandpa...he can't do these things."
Wang Yi had seen Wang Yansiam betrayed with his own eyes and was very cautious, but today he finally nodded and said: "Okay, I trust Xue County Lieutenant."
There was worry in his eyes, and he said: "But I am also worried about him now.
"Why
"He was too impatient. He just arrived in Yanshi and took action before he had a firm foothold. Those people were cruel and did not follow the rules at all. If anything happened, they would kill him directly.
Seeing that Wang Yi had an idea, Du Wulang asked directly: "What should I do?
Wang Yi didn't even bother to eat the biscuits. He stood up holding it, paced on his lame legs, and muttered: "First, I have to remind Lieutenant Xue County to be careful; secondly, I have to find a way to deliver the evidence to Wei Mansion as soon as possible." Yin, ask him to mobilize troops and horses from Luoyang.
"Mobilizing troops and horses, is it so serious?"
"Li San'er of the Yanshi Cao Gang looks like he is smiling, but he is actually a desperado. We cannot suppress them without troops."
"Is Wei Fuyin trustworthy?
Wang Yi nodded and said: "I have been observing in Luoyang for two months, and I can confirm that Wei Fuyin is not the same as those people."
"Give me the evidence, and I'll ask my uncle to ask Wei Fuyin. You can't go to Yanshi. Those people are waiting to catch you, so I have to go.
"The evidence is not in my hands." Wang Yi said, "But I am also one of the evidence. I went to see Du Shijun... Yibo is at Du's house, so it can be seen that he will meet me.
"good.
Du Wulang looked dazed, but at the critical moment he was also cheerful and said: "My grandpa will definitely meet you. Please let me go. I will go and remind Xue Bai right away."
Gou Wa asked: "Brother, can you trust him?"
"Believe him." Wang Yi said, "Untie it."
At this point, he simply handed the biscuits in his hand to Du Wulang and said: "Let the boatman Peng Bo take you there... Don't you worry that I won't be able to move the reinforcements and you will die in Yanshi?" ?”
"I believe you too." Du Wulang casually threw away the rope on his body, rubbed his numb wrist, "Let's go."
Just as he was about to go out, he was grabbed by Liu Da who was digging out dung and pushed into the dung bucket.
"The old man will take you to the boat.
It was already evening when the dung truck arrived at the Luoshui River.
Du Wulang jumped on the boat and looked up, only to see the stars shining on the Luohe River, making the waves sparkling. This was a scenery that Chang'an did not have.
"Let's set sail.
Although Uncle Peng did not dare to speak loudly, he did not forget to recite this sentence.
In Yanshi County, the women brought out of the secret house were temporarily placed in the empty house of Sanguan Temple.
Xue Bai went to ask them.
If there are daughters of officials among them, those people can be held accountable for robbing and betraying their loved ones, and things will be much easier to handle. If not, it's just a matter of continuing to check, but it will be a little more difficult.
"May I have your name?
"Hongxia."
"Don't you have a last name?
"She is a slave from Luhun Villa. She has a son named Hongxia since she was a child.
"How did you end up like this?
"Eight Lang...Song Li took my body and sold me...
Xue Bai thought of the runaway households he saw when he was clearing his father's land. They were sheltered by wealthy families and seemed to be living a good life, but they also became objects.
"Do you have any skills?"
"This slave can weave and embroider...does it count?
"Forget it." Xue Bai looked at the records. Many of the rescued slaves were able to weave. "We can set up a weaving workshop and you can live a new life.
Hongxia never thought that she could still live her life. She raised her head and glanced at the county captain, looking forward to what he said.
Of course, it can't be done now, and Yanshi is not Xue Bai's final decision.
"Brother.
Xue Xin hurried over, put his ear next to Xue Bai's ear, and whispered: "Brother-in-law is here, at the post house."
When they arrived at the post house, Du Shi took Xue Bai through the corridor.
"Wu Lang has just arrived, I asked him to clean up first."
"How did he get into the city?"
"He was quite clever. He got dirty and smelly, disguised himself as a refugee and went outside the city gate. He met a man who came into the city after finishing his work and took him with him.
"Is Wang Yi here?" Xue Bai asked.
"No, Wulang came alone."
While they were talking, the two entered a small side room at the end of the corridor, and saw Du Wulang holding a bowl and eating noodle soup, looking like a starving ghost reincarnated.
"Let me remind you that you are in danger now. Wang Yi said that Li Saner may kill you at any time."
"Don't be anxious, speak slowly."
Xue Bai asked Du Wulang to swallow the noodles first, and then he breathed a sigh of relief after hearing what he said about the situation with Wang Yi in Luoyang.
“It’s good to have evidence.
Du Wulang said: "If you have evidence, you must first persuade Wei Fuyin, and then ask him to send someone to protect your life."
"No." Xue Bai had already thought about it and said: "The evidence is used to explain to the court after the fact. How can we expect the court to see the evidence and do it?
"After what?"
“After getting rid of them.
Du Wulang opened his mouth in surprise and asked: "You mean...get rid of them first? But aren't you an official? How long ago did you become a bandit in the local area?"
"The locals are fighting to the death. Only thieves can deal with them."
Xue Bai knew that both of them were thinking of taking action at the moment, but they were both worried that it would not end.
Heart, and then divide the opponent. Coupled with Wang Yi's evidence, he was able to explain to the court afterwards, and the preparations for action were mostly completed.
He destroyed the secret house first, not only to use the opportunity to demonstrate, but also to arrange people to enter Yanshi, and to win over some people. The problem now is that the strength is not strong enough.
Although Du Shi anticipated Xue Bai's thoughts, he was still a little worried and whispered: "But there are thousands of people in the Cao Gang. Once we take action, we will not have enough manpower."
Xue Bai said: "First get rid of Guo Wanjin for the crime of robbing and selling his beloved, which Lu Linghao has agreed to do. After that, support Lu Linghao and Song Mian, use the huge profits left by the Guo family to drive a wedge between them and Gao Chong, and when the time is right, get rid of Li San Son, the Cao Gang was leaderless, but they could be defeated one by one, and finally the Henan Prefecture sent people to suppress it.
Du Shi said: "Instead of hoping that Wei Ji will lead troops to suppress it from the beginning, why don't we get rid of Li San'er first, and then Wei Ji can only come to clean up the situation?
"good.
"But one thing is that we cannot let Guo Yuanliang and the people around him see Zhang Sanniang. Do we have time to prepare?"
"The time must be grasped. If it is too early, the officers and soldiers of the Henan Prefecture have not arrived, and we are not strong enough to close the situation. We may be killed by Gao Chong; if it is too late, the Guo family and his son can expose the trap we set."
"The key to the first step lies in the attitude of Lu Linghao and Song Mian. If they support it, you will work together to blame the Guo family; if they do not support it, they will join forces with Gao Chong to put the blame on you.
"As soon as the Guo family enters the city, something will happen. Don't panic..."
Du Wulang originally came to remind Xue Bai to be careful, but he didn't expect that he could only hear the two of them talking about each other, which was completely incomprehensible.
He was stunned for a while, then simply picked up the noodle bowl and continued eating.
Strange to say, he was very worried about Xue Bai's safety when he was in Luoyang, but once he got to Xue Bai's side and was in a dangerous place, he relaxed instead. My heart says let it go, if something goes wrong, smart people will figure it out.
Guo Wanjin, Guo Yuanliang and his son also rushed to Yanshi County. The first thing they did was to ask to see the young lady of the Zhang family, hoping to apologize to her, but she was rejected.
Afterwards, they went to see Gao Chong and their attitude quickly changed.
"This is a situation." Gao Chong was very firm, and the boss said, "Zhang Sanniang and Xue Bai are a team, and they are deliberately trying to harm you." What does the county magistrate think we should do? "
Gao Chong didn't have any scruples about what he said to the Guo family and his son, saying: "It's simple, either bribe it or get rid of it."
"Get rid of the Zhang family's young lady? How dare you?"
"You still haven't woken up?!" Gao Chong scolded: "People have already put the blame on you. This is a matter of life and death. If you can't ask for forgiveness from the Zhang family, you might as well get rid of them now and die without any evidence."
Guo Yuanliang was a little frightened and turned pale; Guo Wanjin twisted his beard in thought and asked, "Can you explain it?"
"I just said that Zhang Sanniang must have an affair with Xue Bai." Gao Chong said: "Except her, pretend to kill for love, and then get rid of Xue Bai. I am still arranging this matter. Before I make arrangements, you can settle it yourself."
"If we can avoid killing officials, it is best to calm down. After all, it is a troubled time."
"By the way, go give some gifts to Lu Linghao, Song Mian and others. Don't let them really think that you kidnapped me."
After this long conversation, the Guo family and his son realized that the matter was more serious than imagined, and they were terrified.
They listened to Gao Chong's suggestion, and Guo Wanjin quickly went to visit Lu Linghao with gifts.
Guo Yuanliang went to the Song family to visit.
He knew that Song Li helped Xue Bai frame his Guo family in order to cling to Zhang Sanniang. He felt resentful in his heart but had a friendly smile on his face.
"We have been friends for many years, how can Balang still not know about me? How dare he touch the daughter of the Duke?
"I just know you, Guo Erlang." Song Li said, "That's why I thought it was your person who almost killed Sanniang."
Listening to his tone, it seemed as if the Zhang family's young lady was already his wife.
Guo Yuanliang felt contempt and said with a smile: "Balang, I heard that several daughters of the Zhang family are addicted to gambling and have a fierce temperament. It seems that your family intends to propose marriage to the Zhang family for you?"
He also knew very well that in order for the Song brothers to wake up, they must first break their illusions.
Unexpectedly, Song Li didn't believe the kind reminder.
"Isn't Guo Erlang feeling guilty when he says this? Such a charming and charming woman, do you think she is fierce?"
"Pretty and cute?
"I've seen it with my own eyes, how could I not know?"
Guo Yuanliang didn't believe it and said with a wry smile: "It seems beauty is in the eye of the beholder."
"I have been an old friend for many years, so you want to ruin my marriage? I am not the only one who says she is beautiful and gentle. My fourth sister even painted a portrait of her.
"Oh? Can you allow me to take a look? Just take a look."
Whether you look at the portrait or not, Guo Yuanliang will have to apologize sooner or later, and you can see it. But when Song Li saw how interested he was, he still glared at him and became defensive...
The portrait was quite freehand. Although it was not possible to clearly see Zhang Sanniang's appearance, it did outline her temperament.
Guo Yuanliang looked at it and felt that the person in the painting looked familiar, but he had clearly never seen the young lady of the Zhang family.
"Where have you seen it?
He murmured, his eyes falling on the tearful mole in the painting...
