"Ever since I became the captain of the guard, this Li Shu took the initiative to show his kindness to me and said that he would swear allegiance to me in the future." An Dafang recalled for a moment and said bitterly: "I didn't expect that he would be like this in the future. He framed me in Ye Mansion because I trusted him too much before."
"Brother Da Fang, do you still remember what Li Shu said when we were in Ye Mansion?" Liu Ningshi kept thinking about the previous scene in her mind: "He said that you have shallow qualifications. If you hadn't promised them to be Du Yuan Lord revenge, how can the twelve zodiac guards obey your orders?"
"You said that, and I thought it was very strange at the time. The twelve zodiac animals have always been at odds with each other? The ones who have the best relationship with Li Shu are Shi Niu, Shang Long and Yu Monkey." An Dafang took a bite of the burning knife and said: "These three people are usually very loyal to me."
"Then we can visit the people who have the worst relationship with Li Shu and see if there are any clues." Ghost Face said thoughtfully: "I wonder who the person with the worst relationship with Li Shu is?"
"Snow Horse and Jade Rabbit." An Dafang also laughed when he said this: "These two are female guards, and they usually can't get used to Li Shu's sinister look; and Li Shu's hands and feet are not clean, so he always I like to be frivolous about them."
"Those two sisters will be at a disadvantage. I have never seen Li Shu's movement that day, and it was too slippery." Liu Ningshi looked like she was being beaten: "My phantom steps can only be managed." Follow him."
"Miss Liu is a woman. It should be easier to get close to the two female guards when we visit them." Ghost Face smiled and said: "How about this, Da Fang and Miss Liu go to investigate the Li Shu case, and the case of the fake tax collector is handed over to me. How about that?"
"We will meet at Fengyuan Inn at Shenshi every day to discuss the situation of the day. Brother Dafang, what do you think?" Liu Ningshi nodded in agreement.
"Everything depends on Ning Shi." An Dafang nodded.
"That's it." Ghost Face stretched and smiled: "Miss Liu, you see we've finished talking about the business, Da Fang and I will..."
"Drink, drink! I have to go back home first." Liu Ningshi waved her hands to the two of them helplessly, and walked towards the outer door: "No wonder Brother Xiangyun doesn't want to come to Zuifeng Tower. If he and these two It would be strange if people don’t get drunk by them when they drink.”
The market is very lively at dusk, with all kinds of small traders selling their wares at the top of their lungs. There is also an endless stream of customers in the market, bargaining, looking for directions, and all kinds of noise.
Tong Bo, who had taken off his guard uniform, looked very ordinary walking among the crowd, and he also liked this state very much. When he saw someone who liked food or drink, he would spend a few copper coins to satisfy his five internal organs. That was simply... A never-before-seen enjoyment.
No, Tong Bo looked like he hadn't woken up yet, but he couldn't wait to come to a steamed bun stall: "Boss, how do you sell shaomai?"
"Sir, two cents each." The bun vendor saw a customer wanting to buy buns and greeted him enthusiastically: "My shaomai here is famous far and wide. How many do you want to buy, sir?"
"Yeah! Give me two shaomai." Tong Bo could smell the aroma of the steamed buns through the huge steamer. Since he missed lunch because he went to bed at noon, his stomach had already been protesting.
"Okay." The bun vendor picked up a reed leaf, wrapped two shaomai and handed it over. Tong Bo took out four copper plates from his waist and placed them on the surface of the steamer. He took the reed leaf with his left hand and was about to take out one with his right hand. As he was enjoying the Shaomai, he heard bursts of shouting coming from directly in front of him.
"Catch her, don't let this little thief escape." I saw an unkempt little girl running non-stop. Her originally beautiful hair looked very messy, and her thin cloth was covered with mud. She still held half of the sesame seed cake in her hand and took a bite from time to time; behind her, a commoner vendor with a sharp mouth and monkey cheeks was cursing and chasing after her.
Suddenly, the little girl stumbled and fell forward. The vendor caught up and picked up the little girl: "You little thief, you made me chase her for so long."
The little girl stared at the vendor stubbornly without shedding a single tear in her eyes: "You're talking nonsense. I'm not a thief at all, and I didn't steal anything from you."
"You still said you didn't steal it." The vendor snatched half of the sesame seed cake from the little girl's hand and showed it to the onlookers: "Folks, you can judge, she stole this half sesame seed cake from my stall. .”
"Little girl, it's not good to steal things at such a young age."
"Yes, is this what your adults taught you?"
The villagers who were watching started talking about it.
"He's talking nonsense, I didn't steal, I really didn't steal." The little girl defended desperately, but no one believed him.
"Hmph! Little girl, half a sesame seed cake is worth a cent. You have to pay me today, otherwise I can only use you to pay for this sesame seed cake." The hawker looked at the villagers around him and spoke for him, which only encouraged his arrogance. Arrogantly, he looked at the little girl with a greedy expression.
"Stop." Tong Bo rarely likes to meddle in other people's business, but seeing the vendor bullying a child like this, anger flowed from every pore in his body to his heart.
"Who are you? Want to meddle in other people's business?" When the vendor saw that Tong Bo wanted to meddle in other people's business, he suddenly became angry.
"Are you Yu'er?" Tong Bo took a closer look and saw clearly the face of the little girl. It was the child who was hiding behind Liu Ningshi in the west of Jinling City that day.
"Who are you? But I don't know you." The little girl looked at Tong Bo warily.
"I am Xiangyun, your sister Ningshi's friend." Tong Bo knelt down on one knee and took out a piece of white silk cloth to wipe the dust on Yu'er's face. However, he endured the bursts of sadness in his heart and refused to let himself be in the child's presence. Losing composure in front of others.
"Are you really sister Ningshi's friend?" Yu'er felt sour when she heard Liu Ningshi's name. She could no longer control her emotions, and tears fell from her eyes.
"Yu'er, brother Xiangyun is here, don't be afraid." Tong Bo wiped her tears again with a tender face.
"Have you two finished your recognition show?" The vendor on the side looked at Tong Bo and the little girl talking as if no one else was around, and couldn't help but roared as he didn't take himself seriously.
"Did you just say that she stole half of your sesame cakes?" Tong Bo stood up and turned around. It only took a moment for his expression to change from tender to cold.
"Yes, so what?" The vendor looked at Tong Bo's eyes and shuddered immediately, but his mouth remained stubborn.
"Really?" Tong Bo was not polite and snatched half of the sesame seed cake from the vendor's hand. He looked at it for a moment, then raised it and turned it around in front of everyone: "Fellows, look at this half of the sesame seed cake. It's full of dust." , and a footprint, your stall sells this kind of stuff?"
"Brother Xiangyun, this half-seed cake was picked up by someone else who threw it on the ground." Yu'er defended: "Sister Ningshi taught Yu'er that you must have integrity as a person, even if you starve to death, you can go there. steal."
"Yes, these are sesame seeds that others don't want."
"Okay, it turns out you wronged me."
After what Tong Bo and Yu'er said, everyone understood that it was the hawker who was lying, and they all started to accuse him.
"You're talking nonsense. This was obviously stolen and then dropped on the ground and trampled on." The vendor was still arguing shamelessly.
"How much did you say half a sesame seed cake cost?" Tong Bo didn't get angry after hearing the vendor's sophistry. Instead, he laughed, his smile was so deep and charming.
"One, one penny." The hawker looked at Tong Bo's expression and felt frightened for some reason. He even stammered when speaking.
"It doesn't matter, I'll give you just a penny." Tong Bozhong flicked his index fingers vigorously, and a sharp and fast yellow light flew towards the vendor.
"Ah!" I could only hear the vendor scream. He was lying on the ground trembling in pain while holding his left arm. The copper coins were deeply embedded in his left arm. After a while, blood slowly flowed out along the skin. The taste is simply worse than death.
"Yu'er, you must be hungry. Brother Xiangyun will take you to eat." Tong Bo didn't even look at the vendor, picked up Yu'er and left.
"You deserve it if you bully a little girl."
"Yeah, it's really worse than a pig or a dog."
Hearing the shouts and curses from the crowd, Tong Bo, who had walked far away, couldn't help but sigh: "It's true that virtue is not matched, and there will be disaster."
In the corner of Jingrui's bun shop, Yu'er didn't care about the ugly appearance of her food. She held a bun in one hand and chewed it hungrily. Tong Bo on the side moved a cup of tea in front of her and said with a smile: "Yu'er, slow down. Eat, don't choke."
"Brother Xiangyun, I haven't eaten all day." Yu'er said as she grabbed another bun and put it in her mouth.
"Don't you live in the west of Jinling City with Wang Ma? What happened there?" Tong Bo looked at Yu'er like this, and there was an ominous premonition in his heart.
Sure enough, when Yu'er heard Tong Bo's question, the sweet buns she was eating fell to the ground, and she started crying again: "Wang Ma, Wang Ma and Xiaotuo are all dead."
"Dead?" Tong Bo was like five thunders hitting the ground, and his heart was bleeding. Those were a few young lives, the children he tried to protect; for them to grow up happily and peacefully, and for his own affairs not to be implicated. They, every time I can only watch them from a distance, are now dead.
"If Yu'er doesn't cry, tell Brother Xiangyun what's going on?" Tong Bo calmed down, calmed down the burning emotions in his mind, and gently stroked Yu'er's head.
"They are some officials wearing red uniforms. What kind of tax do they want to collect?" Yu'er's mood calmed down a little: "Wang Ma didn't agree, so she had a conflict with them, and was stabbed to death by an official with a dagger. Xiao Tudou and the others rushed out and were killed by them, but Yu'er hid in the thatch behind the house so they didn't discover her."
"Official official?" Tong Bo thought quickly in his mind: "It seems that a group of fake tax collectors have appeared in Jinling City recently, and they have harmed many people. I didn't want to meddle in this business, but now I must fight with you."
"Guard Tong, why are you so anxious to call me here by flying pigeon?" Just as Tong Bo was thinking, Huan Yu appeared in the bun shop wearing a light yellow silk shirt.
"Miss Yu, you are finally here. Could you please take Yu'er to freshen up, and then take her to buy two changes of clothes." Tong Bo took out five taels of silver from his arms and handed it to Huan Yu.
"Who is this little girl?" Huan Yu was confused by Tong Bo's explanation.
"She is Miss Liu's friend. I will tell you the details later." Tong Bo turned around and left: "I want to go to the west of Jinling City to have a look."
"Brother Xiangyun, are you leaving Yu'er?" Yu'er timidly pulled on Tong Bo's clothes, reluctant to let him go.
"How could it be! Brother Xiangyun just wants to find out the murderer who killed Wang Ma and the others and avenge Yu'er." Tong Bo turned around and stepped in front of Yu'er, scratched her nose, and a warm smile appeared on his face: "Yu My dear, go back with Sister Yu first, Brother Xiangyun will definitely come to see you after finishing these things."
"Then, brother Xiangyun must keep his word and come to see Yu'er." Yu'er held out her little finger innocently: "How about we pull the hook."
The moment Yu'er and Tong Bo's little fingers touched each other, their hearts were filled with a deep warmth, and their faces showed contented smiles.
