As the night grew late, in a mansion in Luoyin City, sisters Bai Junzhu and Bai Yingxue were waiting for Bai Yan's return.
And until dawn, when the two sisters couldn't resist the sleepiness and fell asleep lying on the wooden table, Bai Yan did not return.
The second day.
When Bai Ping arrived, he woke up the two sisters.
"Where's Yan?"
Bai Ping came to the study, looked at his two cousins waking up dimly, and asked softly.
"I left yesterday and haven't seen you back!"
Bai Junzhu stood up and said to Bai Ping.
Yesterday, she had asked her attendants and other people in the house to inform her if Bai Yan came back. However, until now, Bai Junzhu had not seen any servant come to report.
"leave?"
Bai Ping frowned when he heard Bai Junzhu's words.
On the way to Luoyin, Bai Ping already knew what happened in Luoyin City during this period, so when he heard that Bai Yan left yesterday, he knew why.
"I have ordered people to go back to Xianyang to inform my father!"
Bai Ping said to Bai Junzhu.
Luoyin City had just been given to Bai Yan as a fief. Bai Yan didn't know anything about the noble clans and relationships in Luoyin City. So after Bai Ping learned about Luoyin's affairs, he was worried that Bai Yan would suffer a loss, so he immediately ordered his servants to return to Xianyang. Go and report to your father and ask him to come to Luoyin.
"Um!"
Bai Junzhu was relieved when he heard Bai Ping's words.
Bai Junzhu naturally knew Bai Ping's intentions. As long as the uncle came here on behalf of the Bai family, if it was really the nobles in Luoyin City who had done it, then after contacting the uncle and confirming the uncle's attitude, the nobles in Luoyin City would also take the opportunity to restrain themselves. , not only will he not continue to cause too much trouble, but he will also buy Bai Yan's favor and help Bai Yan calm down what happened recently.
Regardless of what happened in the city at the moment or the previous robbery and sale, the forces Bai Yan offended were, in the final analysis, nothing more than profit.
As long as Bai Yan compromises with them, no matter who is behind Luo Yin's back, they will know better than to stop.
In the study room.
While Bai Junzhu was talking to Bai Ping.
"My lord! I heard that Miss Xu received a letter from the general and is about to leave the mansion!"
A maid hurriedly approached the study and came to Bai Junzhu to report.
Hear the words.
Bai Junzhu and Bai Ping looked at each other and walked directly out of the study, with Bai Yingxue quickly following behind.
Inside Luoyin City.
Bai Yan was wearing civilian clothes, sitting cross-legged on a street corner, leaning against a pile of firewood. If it weren't for the sword at his waist, he would look like a young man who had nothing to do all day long.
With his hair a little messy and the corners of his mouth beginning to have a little beard due to his age, it is difficult to compare the Bai Yan now with the Qin general galloping on the battlefield.
Looking at the pedestrians coming and going on the street.
Bai Yan had a piece of grass in his mouth. He didn't spend money on a drink last night. At this moment, he already had an understanding of the relationship between the nobles and clans in Luoyin City.
Bai Yan was also aware of the fact that the noble clan's children relied on their family's strength to run rampant and tyrannical in Luoyin City.
However, Bai Yan is still not sure whether the people causing trouble here in Luoyin City and taking the opportunity to trip him up are the nobles in Luoyin City or the forces he has offended before.
As the sun rises.
Bai Yan waited for a long time and finally saw Master Xu arriving with two cronies.
"Gentleman, after checking, it's not poisoning! No external injuries were found! I heard from Qin Li that it does look like drowning!"
Master Xu saw Bai Yan and looked at the pedestrians around him, so he stepped forward to change his words and reported to Bai Yan in a low voice.
After receiving Bai Yan's letter just now, Master Xu followed Bai Yan's request and immediately took the seal and went to the government to check the corpse. Fortunately, the corpse was not buried. After checking, it was confirmed that those people were not buried before their death. Poisoned.
"Miss Yingxue, why aren't you in the mansion?"
When Bai Yan heard Master Xu's words, he nodded to Master Xu, and then looked at Bai Yingxue who came with Master Xu.
Following Bai Yan's inquiry.
Bai Yingxue lowered her head with guilt.
"I told the eldest sister that it was too boring in the house, so I wanted to go out with Miss Xu for a walk."
Bai Yingxue explained in a low voice.
Master Xu glanced at Bai Yingxue, then turned to look at Bai Yan, lowering his head slightly and not daring to speak. In fact, Jun Zhu, the eldest daughter of the Bai family, promised to let Yingxue follow her, but only if she went to the government and followed her. Here, it is completely Bai Yingxue's private decision.
And because they were both women, Master Xu couldn't really open his mouth and chase Bai Yingxue away.
After all, Master Xu was once a noble woman, but after she and her mother were kicked out of the Xu Mansion when she was a child, she was sold to a restaurant as soon as her mother died. If she hadn't been good at guzheng, she would have been owned by many men.
Therefore, Master Xu felt a little inferior in his heart towards Bai Junzhu and Bai Yingxue, who were born in the Bai family, and lowered his status a lot.
Although they once saved Bai Yu and pretended to be Bian Que's disciple, the Bai clan, regardless of gender, old or young, respected Master Xu very much, but without Bai Yan's instructions, Master Xu did not dare to open his mouth to chase people away.
"Don't talk nonsense!"
Bai Yan didn't say anything when he heard Bai Yingxue's explanation. Bai Yan also knew the character of Bai Yingxue who was younger than him. After considering something, he finally didn't ask Bai Yingxue to go back.
"good!"
When Bai Yingxue saw that Bai Yan didn't chase her away, she looked up with surprise. She looked at the backs of Bai Yan, Master Xu and others as they turned to leave, and quickly followed them.
on the street.
Along the way, people were talking about the people who had drowned. No matter whether it was in teahouses or restaurants, you could hear noisy discussions.
As the days passed, more and more negative remarks about Bai Yan appeared on the streets.
"I've been on tenterhooks lately. Many people don't even dare to go out to do business. They're worried about their wives, children, and children at home."
"Isn't that true? If you have money, who would want to come out? There are dead people everywhere recently. Have you heard? In She Village, the butcher named Mang broke into the house and killed the neighbor next door while the man from the next door was out. Not only did the woman occupy it, but she also killed the woman and the whole family."
"It's not peaceful recently! I heard that those who drowned are all because the sky~ wants to punish Bai Yan!"
A hawker selling bamboo hats was chatting with the hawker in the stall next door. He spoke very quietly at the end. However, as he finished speaking, he suddenly saw a man coming to the stall.
This startled the hawker and he quickly turned his head.
Before he could be afraid, when the vendor saw the two beauties behind the man, especially the younger beauty, the vendor looked straight at him. In more than ten years of doing business in Luoyin, he had seen people who could match the beauty in front of him. There are not many women who are as beautiful as this one.
It is no exaggeration to say that you may not see one all year round!
The vendor selling wooden hairpins next to him was no better at this moment. The hairpins he originally held fell to the ground without realizing it. In his eyes, he could only see the beauty.
"How to sell headgear?"
Bai Yan asked softly while holding a bamboo hat on the stall.
The hawker selling bamboo hats came to his senses when he heard Bai Yan's questioning voice. He even reacted and saw that Bai Yan was wearing a sword and was not angry. He couldn't help but feel relieved.
"Five cents!"
The vendor said to Bai Yan, with a flattering smile on his face.
When Bai Yan heard the price, he took out the remaining money from yesterday from his sleeve pocket, counted twenty-five coins, and handed them to the vendor. Then he picked up two bamboo hats from the stall, turned around and gave them to Master Xu and Bai Yingxue respectively. Women put it on.
Seeing that he looked much better after putting on the bamboo hat, Bai Yan nodded with satisfaction, then took three more, distributed them to the two relatives, and put one on himself.
Bai Yingxue watched Bai Yan turn and leave, and while following him, her heart was full of questions at this moment.
Nowadays, the city is full of slanderous words about the young man. Why doesn't the young man care at all? Why does the young man seem not to care at all even though he is walking on the street and hears the words of passers-by and vendors with his own ears?
She couldn't help but feel a little angry.
Why, as a young man being talked about by the people, did he remain indifferent when he could immediately reveal his identity and go to the government to get an order to refute the rumors.
Thinking of what the eldest sister said last night, Bai Yingxue now hated the nobles in Luoyin City with all her heart.
In Bai Yingxue's eyes, no matter whether those people were killed by the nobles or not, right now, those nobles must be in the mansion, sitting and watching the young man's jokes, waiting for the young man to bow his head.
By the Jishui River.
Bai Yan came to the riverside again, but this time it was different from yesterday. Bai Yan already knew many things about Luoyang City from Wu Meng and others.
After all, no matter how depressed Pu Ling is, he is still from Luoyin and a scholar of Luoyin. He knows much more about Luoyin than the average person.
】
Follow the Weishui River and go upstream along the river bank.
Since people had been drowning during this period, there were not many people fishing in the Weishui River, and even fewer people were seen.
After a long time.
When Bai Yan, who was wearing a hat, saw people on the bank of the Weishui River, some people who had lost their loved ones were weeping and mourning by the riverside.
People in some places have this custom. If someone drowns in the river, in the eyes of the people, it must be that the Weishui River no longer protects them, and they must come to offer sacrifices and remember their lost relatives.
Bai Yan and Master Xu arrived not far away from the crying old, weak, women and children.
After waiting for a while, Bai Yan stepped forward after seeing the women, children, and children crying bitterly and planning to leave and go home.
"Old woman, may I ask who drowned in the family?"
Bai Yan came to an old woman with white hair and asked softly.
Due to grief, the trembling old woman saw Bai Yan and heard Bai Yan's questions. Tears slowly fell from her wrinkled face under her gray hair.
"Who are you?"
The old woman did not answer Bai Yan, but asked softly.
The other three old women and two young women with children were also looking at Bai Yan and his group wearing turbans, and they were full of vigilance. Fortunately, they saw that two of them were women, and She was very fair and beautiful, so she wasn't afraid just now.
"I am an official of the Qin State. I heard about the incident in Luoyin and came here from Xianyang to investigate."
Bai Yan said softly, and took out a seal from his arms, but did not give the seal to the old woman.
But when they saw the seal, whether it was the old woman in front of Bai Yan or other women, children, old and weak, they all knelt down in front of Bai Yan.
"grown ups!"
"Sir, please investigate clearly for us!"
Seeing that Bai Yan was an official from Xianyang who came to investigate, all the old women felt as if they were seeing a benefactor. Regardless of the mud on the riverside and the stones in the soil, they cried bitterly and kowtowed to Bai Yan.
Seeing this, Bai Yan quickly stretched out his hand to help the old woman up.
"Get up quickly. I will do my best to make the decision for you. However, we are needed right now. I will tell you everything I know and I will tell you everything I want."
Bai Yan said softly.
Hearing Bai Yan's words, the old and weak women and children kneeling on the ground seemed to have found the person who made the decision. When faced with Bai Yan's questions, they all spoke out without any concealment, even if it involved many small things in the family, there was no exception. No concealment at all.
Through questioning, Bai Yan soon learned that, as Wu Meng said, there were old and young among the people, and this was the place where he had seen the corpse before.
Bai Yan turned his head and looked at the surrounding riverside, with a hint of disappointment in his eyes. Then he looked upstream, with a hint of worry in his eyes.
Early this morning, Bai Yan also visited the place where the body was buried.
Bai Yan also felt at this moment that if this man wanted to find out the murderer, he might have some trouble.
Turning around to watch the old women in front of him tell them everything they knew, Bai Yan also felt very stressed when he saw the young women looking at him with eyes full of expectation.
Fortunately, it is not helpless.
After knowing the cause and effect of the incident yesterday, Bai Yan inquired about the news from the Qin officials from Puling, and that he had just asked Master Xu to take people to the government to check the body.
Since there is no external injury or poisoning, it is very likely that the murderer or accomplice must be very familiar with the five people who drowned, and at least those five people were unprepared. May succeed.
Otherwise, five men who were good at water and relied on the Weishui River to make a living could drown to death, which would be difficult even for ten men with bare hands.
Bai Yan didn't know if the Luoyang City Magistrate and all the Qin officials in Luoyin were aware of this, but Bai Yan had a hunch that even if the Qin officials could think of it, there would definitely be someone or some force interfering with it to prevent the Qin officials from investigating too much. Especially the villages of the dead.
Pu Ling said yesterday that the Qin official had died by drowning!
It can be seen from this incident that some people hope to see those five people drown normally and die early.
"Didn't you say that five people were found drowned here? Why are only four families like you here?"
Bai Yan suddenly became confused as he listened to what these old women said. As each old woman introduced the story of the drowning of a close relative in his family.
One, two, three, four!
Why did only four relatives of the deceased come to the river? It was clear that five people drowned!
Every place has its own customs, so these old women who have lived by the Weishui River for generations have the custom of worshiping the river god. It is impossible for a family member to have a dead body without this custom.
"Sir, that family is a poor person. There is only one blind old woman in the family. People in the village have never dared to tell her about the drowning of their three sons!"
When an old woman heard Bai Yan's inquiry, she explained softly. She couldn't help but sigh when she talked about the situation in the deceased's family.
"The blind old woman's early men, eldest son, and second son all died on the battlefield. Fortunately, the only three remaining sons were born filial. Although the family is not rich, they have always remembered their biological mother's kindness since they were young, and have been busy taking care of them since they were young. The blind old mother was rejected by other women's families time and time again when they were planning to get married. The same was true. No one in the village knew how to tell the old woman! She only said that her third son had to leave the house for something. a period of time."
Beside the river.
When Bai Yingxue and Master Xu heard the old woman's words, their beautiful eyes couldn't help but turn slightly red.
When they heard that the blind old woman only had one child left and had no children, they all knew how desperate the old woman would be if she knew about it.
"Can you please take me to that old woman's house to take a look!"
Bai Yan thought for a while, then bowed his hands and bowed to the ladies in front of him.
"You don't have to be polite, sir. If you want to go, you can do it now!"
Several old women by the riverside wiped the tears from their eyes and responded quickly.
Half an hour later.
On a relatively remote road away from the river, Bai Yan followed many women and walked around a hillside to the village the women mentioned.
Before he could walk down the hillside towards the village, Bai Yan saw a middle-aged man sitting slumped under a tree beside the road, crying. The middle-aged man's eyes looked far away. A family in the village looked at the lonely old woman sitting in the yard with tears streaming down their face.
Bai Yan saw all the old and young women, as well as Bai Yingxue and Master Xu, but none of them saw the middle-aged man.
Bai Yan thought of something and felt relieved.
Things are so much easier when you can see them!
"Sir, the person sitting in the courtyard of that small garden is that blind old woman!"
An old woman told Bai Yan, pointing to a small garden in the village.
Bai Yan looked in the direction where the old woman was pointing, and suddenly saw the small garden in the village. An old woman was sitting alone in it. Her figure was not big, but she was extremely conspicuous in the small garden.
Bai Yan didn't know why, but suddenly thought of his grandmother.
Ever since my uncle moved to Linzi after getting married, my grandmother has often been like this, sitting alone in the small garden.
Every time I visit my grandmother, I see her alone.
While thinking.
Looking at the figure in the distance, he thought of his grandmother, and recalled the scenes when his grandmother was full of love, smiling and pampering him when he was a child. Bai Yan could no longer suppress the longing in his heart, turned his head, and looked at it with red eyes. To the side.
I've been away from home for more than two years. It's a lie if I don't miss my grandma!
When I first left home, my grandmother would give me dry food all night long.
"You go first! I'll be there in a minute!"
After Bai Yan came to his senses, he whispered.
Master Xu and Bai Yingxue stared at the young man's profile with their beautiful eyes. When they saw the young man's eyes, they did not expect that Bai Yan, who had always been known as a famous young general in the world, would show such a side.
Bai Yingxue looked at the young man and recalled the scenes the two had experienced. She had always heard about the young man's deeds. In her eyes, the young man had always been very strong. Not only was he very strong in swordsmanship, but his strategy and courage were even more amazing to others. But at this moment , looking at the young man's slightly red eyes, for some reason, there was a hint of distress in his beautiful eyes.
"He must be homesick!"
An idea came to Bai Yingxue's mind.
"Let's go!"
Under the protection of two attendants, the old woman quickly led Master Xu and his party towards the village.
Bai Yan looked at the backs of Master Xu and others as they left. After calming down his emotions, he turned to look at the middle-aged man under the shade of the tree.
...........
Inside Luoyin City.
In a mansion, in a main hall, seven men wearing silk clothes and jade ornaments knelt down behind their respective wooden tables, drinking and laughing.
"This time, Bai Yan, I'm afraid, no matter how capable he is, he won't be able to save himself!"
"Yes, the people in the city now all say that it was God who punished Bai Yan, and that's why people died!"
"Hahaha! We just sit back and watch Bai Yan's joke, the fiefdom! Haha, although Luoyin is already the fiefdom of Bai Yan, it doesn't mean that we have nothing to do!"
The three men laughed and talked to each other. When Bai Yan was mentioned, they all laughed and shook their heads.
Although there is no saying in this world that a strong dragon cannot overwhelm a local snake, in the eyes of these men, this is what it really means. No matter how capable Bai Yan is, he has not yet established a foothold in the land of Luoyin.
"Don't underestimate Bai Yan. Even if Bai Yan can't find out, I'm afraid the Bai family won't let it go in the future!"
A white-haired old man at the top of the main hall was sitting on his knees behind a wooden table. He glanced at these men and asked softly. There was a scepter beside him.
"Mr. Luo, don't worry. Not to mention whether Bai will find the murderer, even if Bai does find the murderer in the future, he will not find us here!"
A middle-aged man saluted the old man. After speaking, with a smile on his face, he turned to look at the others.
They were all waiting for Bai and Bai Yan to make a fool of themselves and beg them personally.
