In the evening, a group of people sat around the courtyard, changing cups and feasting, and bursts of laughter could be heard from time to time in the small courtyard, which attracted the envy of the magic ape guarding the medicine garden.
It was the first time for Liu Rusheng and Cai'er to eat dragon meat. They were so surprised that they couldn't help but eat a few more pieces. Su Yunfei had refined the meat in advance, keeping the meat's deliciousness and removing excess energy.
After having enough wine and food, everyone's cheeks were slightly red, Yueyao made tea herself, and everyone enjoyed the rare leisure time.
After taking a sip of tea, Cai'er said:
"Brother Liu and I came here not only to visit Mr. Su, but also to look for our parents. I still don't believe that they will abandon me."
Immediately, Cai'er talked about things at home.
Thirteen years ago, Cai'er was only eight years old. At that time, her parents were in the jade business. Although the business was not big, they still made a lot of money.
They often travel between Nanli City and Yanhe City. Nanli City is the largest jade production and wholesale base in Daxia. Direct purchase from Nanli City can save a lot of intermediate prices.
But thirteen years ago, Cai'er's parents went to Nanli City and never returned, and there has been no news until now.
Some people said that they made a lot of money and didn't want to come back. Some people said that they were intercepted and killed by bandits. Cai'er didn't believe it as long as she didn't see their bodies with her own eyes.
After listening to Cai'er's story about her parents, everyone cast sympathetic glances. Gao Min took Cai'er's hand and said distressedly:
"Another child with a hard life. He must have suffered a lot when he grew up alone."
Cai'er's tears kept dripping like broken beads.
When Su Yunfei saw the pain on Lin Leisheng's face, he immediately thought that Lin Miaoke's mother Chen Miaoyan also passed away thirteen years ago, and died of the plague.
"Did Miss Cai'er's parents also die from the plague?" he thought.
"Miss Cai'er, Brother Liu, I will take you to visit Shushan for a few days, and then I will accompany you to find Miss Cai'er's parents." Su Yunfei said.
Several elders nodded in agreement. As long as Su Yunfei was not negotiating a project worth over 100 million yuan, they would not stop him.
At this time, Xiao Yue'er raised her little hand and shouted:
"Brother Yunfei, I want to go with you!"
Yueyao rubbed her little head and said softly:
"Yunfei is going to do some business with Liu Daxia and Miss Cai'er. You stay in Shushan and practice well."
Xiao Yue'er felt aggrieved and said:
"Every time Brother Yunfei goes out, he either takes Senior Sister Ye, Sister Yueyao, or Sister Miaoke, but he doesn't take me with him."
Seeing Xiao Yue'er's aggrieved expression, Su Yunfei scratched the bridge of her nose and said with a smile:
"Okay, okay, I'll take you with me this time!"
"Great!" Xiao Yue'er jumped into Su Yunfei's arms excitedly, like a koala.
Everyone laughed heartily and the atmosphere became cheerful again.
Three days later,
Su Yunfei, Xiao Yue'er, Liu Rusheng, and Cai'er flew out of Shushan and headed to Nanli City.
The four of them first went to Liuzhai Village, Xiaoyue'er's hometown, that cozy little mountain village.
In addition to giving Liuzhai Village a lot of supplies, Su Yunfei also placed a dragon bone in the clan leader's house. With the dragon bone in the mountains, wild beasts would not dare to attack the villagers.
Saying goodbye to the enthusiastic villagers, the four of them headed towards Nanli City.
Five hours later, Su Yunfei and the others arrived at Nanli City, where they had been away for two years, and found Wu Changqing.
After Lin Leisheng left, the Leisheng Escort Bureau was handed over to Wu Changqing. Every year, Wu Changqing would send someone to Shushan to hand over the money he earned to Lin Leisheng.
Seeing Su Yunfei, Wu Changqing was very excited and hurriedly greeted him, looking up and down.
"I thought I would never see Master Su Xian again. It must be two years since we last met."
Su Yunfei cupped his fists and saluted, and said with a smile:
"How are you, Mr. Wu? The sect is busy with affairs and I haven't had time to visit you. I really miss Guiyuelou's braised pork!"
Immediately, he introduced Liu Rusheng and Cai'er
, Xiao Yue'er needs no introduction, Wu Changqing has met her before.
After explaining his purpose, Wu Changqing thought for a moment and said:
"The management of Nanli City is still very strict. Everyone who comes in and out of Nanli City will register. When they enter the city, which inn they stay at or who they visit, and when they leave the city are all recorded. Let's do it this way. It's not dark now. It's early, let's go to Guiyue Tower to have a drink, and tomorrow I will take you to the City Lord's Mansion to check the files."
Early the next morning, Su Yunfei and four others followed Wu Changqing to the city lord's mansion.
The city lord of Nanli City has been replaced. The previous city lord accepted bribes from the Yunhai Escort Bureau and sat back and watched the bandits from Linglong Mountain enter the city, which resulted in the Lei Sheng Escort Bureau being almost wiped out.
Later, Su Yunfei, who was restored to his cultivation level, cut off one of his palms with a sword. Later, after Su Yunfei became the chief minister of the Daxia Kingdom, the Emperor of Daxia ordered that the man be removed from his position as city lord and sent to the border areas.
After learning that it was Su Yunfei, the city lord immediately bowed respectfully and said:
"Meet Chief Su!"
Su Yunfei helped the city lord up and explained his purpose. Without any hesitation, the city lord immediately took Su Yunfei and others to the archives room of the city lord's mansion.
Next, with the assistance of officials from the city lord's palace, a group of people began to search for records of Cai'er's parents entering the city in the archives.
Due to its long history and the fact that Nanli City was the production and wholesale base of jade in the entire Xia Kingdom, there were a large number of people coming and going every day.
Everyone searched for three hours, and finally an official from the city lord's palace shouted excitedly:
"Found them, Meng Zikun and Zheng Caifeng. They entered the city on the seventh day of June in the seventh year of Yongning and left the city on the 28th..." Meng Zikun and Zheng Caifeng are the names of Cai'er's parents. Cai'er's real name is Meng Cai.
As he was thinking about it, the official from the City Lord's Mansion stopped, with a serious look on his face, and handed the file to Cai'er.
Cai'er hurriedly received the file and couldn't stop crying as she looked at it, feeling extremely sad.
Su Yunfei and Liu Rusheng quickly took a look at the file, both showing sadness.
Cai'er's parents were infected with the plague after leaving the city and died within a few days.
In the file, Su Yunfei discovered a name that was both strange and familiar: Chen Miaoyan. This was the mother-in-law he had never met before, who was also Lin Miaoke's biological mother.
Through the records in the files, Su Yunfei learned that Cai'er's parents went to Nanli City to purchase jade thirteen years ago. Jade was a luxury product, so he hired Lei Sheng Escort Bureau to escort them to Yanhe City.
After leaving the city, they contracted the plague and died around the same time.
The atmosphere in the entire archives room became extremely heavy, and many officials from the City Lord's Palace silently exited the archives room.
At this time, Cai'er asked with a cry:
"Lord City Lord, where are my parents buried? I want to pay homage to them."
Knowing that her father and mother died of the plague, Cai'er was heartbroken, and at the same time she untied her heart. Her father and mother did not abandon her, they had always loved her.
The city lord said:
"According to Daxia's handling of the plague, all those suffering from the plague were quarantined together to prevent the spread of the plague. If someone died due to the plague, they would be cremated together and not buried privately."
"I'll look in the archives to see where the cremation place was."
Su Yunfei nodded secretly, Xia Guo's handling of the plague was still in place.
After a while, the city lord found the file and hurriedly shouted:
"Found it, it's in a wasteland a hundred miles west of the city!"
Everyone prepared some memorial items and immediately left the city.
When we arrived at the cremation site, there were a lot of ashes left by burning paper money. People should often come to pay their respects.
After setting up the altar, Cai'er and Liu Rusheng knelt down.
Cai'er's eyes were filled with tears. She burned the paper money and shouted:
"Father, mother! Cai'er came to see you. Cai'er has lived a good life these years. No one has bullied Cai'er. Now Cai'er is the steward of Tianbao Chamber of Commerce, and she has a wishful husband. You are under Jiuquan You can rest in peace!"
Liu Rusheng looked solemn, cupped his fists and bowed, saying:
"Uncle and aunt, don't worry. I, Liu Rusheng, swear that I will take good care of Cai'er and won't let her suffer the slightest injustice!"
Seeing this scene, Su Yunfei also bowed deeply to the cremation ground, where Lin Miaoke's mother's ashes were also buried. He carefully observed the spark location and subconsciously sensed it.
Soon, he felt something was wrong. The soil of the crematorium was no different from the surrounding soil. Although thirteen years was enough for the ashes and soil to completely merge, there was still a difference after careful sensing.
However, Su Yunfei did not feel the difference. He asked the city lord who had been accompanying him,
"Lord City Lord, are you sure that all the people who died due to the plague were gathered here and cremated?"
The city lord said with certainty:
"Chief Su, I'm sure they were all cremated. Great Xia is very strict about dealing with the plague. If there are any missing bodies that are not cremated in time, the officials who deal with the plague will be beheaded, so no one dares to joke with their own heads."
Su Yunfei frowned slightly. He felt that something was fishy and the matter was not simple. He asked:
"Are the Nanli City officials who dealt with the plague still there?"
Although the city lord didn't know why Su Yunfei was so concerned about this matter, he still told the truth:
"When I came to Yanhe City to take office, I checked the resumes and files of all the officials. No one had served for more than thirteen years. I have to go back and check the files of the previous officials."
Liu Rusheng and Cai'er heard the conversation between Su Yunfei and the city lord. They didn't understand why the two discussed this matter. Liu Rusheng asked:
"Brother, what's wrong?".
Su Yunfei looked solemn and said:
"If there are any traces of ashes here, I seriously suspect that there must be something fishy inside. I will know if there is anything fishy after I go to the city lord's palace and check the files of the officials who handled the corpses."
The city lord, Wu Changqing, Xiaoyue'er, Cai'er, and Liu Rusheng were all shocked. Cai'er in particular grabbed Su Yunfei's arm excitedly and choked with sobs:
"Mr. Su, do you mean that it's possible that my parents are still alive?"
Su Yunfei reassured:
"I can only say that it is possible!"
"Let's go to the city lord's mansion to check the files!" Cai'er pulled Su Yunfei and was about to leave, but Liu Rusheng hugged her.
"Cai'er, calm down."
After Cai'er calmed down, everyone came to the city lord's mansion and quickly found the files of officials who handled the plague corpses back then.
After seeing it, Su Yunfei was extremely shocked.
Without exception, those officials all died under mysterious circumstances within three years.
