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"This courtyard is the property of the Zhou family in Nanxiangzhai. In the early years, it was rented to a merchant who purchased tung oil seeds from Tongbai Mountain. However, for some reason, the tung oil merchant never came back after last autumn, so the courtyard is empty here——
I heard that the courtyard is not small and the interior layout is elegant."
Walking into Dongli Lane at the east end of the market, Liu Qiong'er pointed to a courtyard with a pair of small stone lions standing under the eaves, and told Xu Huai what she knew.
"Since everything happened by mistake, you blackmailed Zheng the Butcher in order to enter the Yuehong Mansion. The only money and goods that can be used for our mission are the three hundred taels of silver left in my bag; this is really true.
I can't afford to bother. I thought at night that just opening a wine shop would be difficult to maintain, and I wouldn't be able to find out much information, let alone have an excuse to recruit people. Since there are so many crises at the moment, I don't have the right to think of myself as aloof.
Disdainful of showing off laughter is a dirty job in muddy water. And what I can do is play and sing a few songs and get along with others. I thought about it over and over last night, if the dentist took over this yard, I would also
I recognized a few women who were kicked out for not abiding by the rules of Yuehong Mansion, and brought them over to help serve the food and drinks, clean up the yard, and buy two smart maids to serve them. Then I could set up the Qin Zhai and make a living out of it.
No need to waste any effort..."
Xu Huai and Liu Qiong'er have already walked around the courtyard and haven't entered the courtyard yet, but they have carefully looked at the external environment.
Although this area is far away from the main street market, it is considered a high-end residential area in Huaiyuan Town.
Behind the yard is a pond and canal about ten feet wide, which leads to the Baijian River from the west and leads to the Huai River in the north. Many people in the market wash clothes and wash vegetables in this pond and canal; the front of the yard is a paved stone lane, surrounded by two
The tall courtyard walls on the side form a narrow strip.
The alleyway was quite quiet at the moment, and no pedestrians could be seen passing by. Presumably it would not be noisy at other times.
Xu Huai thought that if the assassin heard the news and came over to inquire about the situation, it would be difficult to hide his whereabouts if he ran around here.
And if he could ambush the lone assassin and throw him into the pond and canal at the back, the body would be washed into the Huaihe River overnight, and there would be no chance that the government would catch him.
It is a very suitable place to set bait and lure assassins to bite the hook. It seems that Liu Qiong'er is much more familiar with every aspect of Huaiyuan Town than he is.
As for Liu Qiong'er, she was a smart person and had been exposed to all kinds of religions and nine streams in the past few years. After all, she was not like an ordinary woman. She had thought through the management of Qin Zhai in just one night.
“It’s good to be able to take over this place,”
Xu Huai nodded and praised Liu Qiong'er for being so considerate at night and choosing such a place to stay, and said,
"There are many poor families in Tongbai Mountain who can't survive. Walking 250 miles from Xinyang to Biyang on the horse road, you can see many boys aged 14 or 15 pulling horse-drawn carts and acting as laborers, but they can't even make ends meet.
Food to eat - Miss Liu, please pick out a few with strong bones and strong muscles, and hire them with good basic skills. I will teach them fists, feet and sticks, so it won't be a problem to deal with three or five small thieves in a short time."
After hearing Xu Huai say this, Liu Qiong'er's face changed, she frowned angrily, and scolded in disappointment:
"Maybe the assassin will come after hearing the news tonight. How can I have time to train you newbies? I tried my best to take over this house and return to my old business. I also hope that I can be more useful in your eyes, but I haven't.
I guess you just want to use me as bait in your heart. If you use it once, it won't be a pity to die."
"..." Seeing that Liu Qiong'er's mood was a little broken, Xu Huai was also caught off guard and explained, "Assassins don't know what's going on, so they will never dare to kill you. Even if there is danger, I will not abandon you alone. Again.
Sir, I told you my situation yesterday, where can I recruit trustworthy veterans to strengthen the defense of this yard?"
Liu Qiong'er was a little disappointed, but after a while she regained her composure. She stared at Xu Huai for a while and said doubtfully, "Are you sure you can't find anyone you can trust to help?"
"..." Xu Huai spread his hands. Liu Qiong'er and he were like grasshoppers tied to a tree. She was not allowed to have other choices, so he told her everything he could tell her yesterday.
Liu Qiong'er asked with some confusion: "You don't seem to know about your father's past?"
Xu Huai admitted that he knew very little about his father and said: "I was indeed ignorant and clumsy in the past, but in recent years I suddenly became enlightened and understood many things - but no one mentioned many old things about my father to me.
According to hearsay, few people in the clan talk about these old events."
"You know that I deal with all kinds of gods and goddesses in Yuehong Mansion. In addition to playing the piano and singing, I also have to think about things to make the guests happy, but I can also hear all kinds of anecdotes from these guests. Of course, I haven't done any research on these things before.
It's also a story, so you should tell it like this." Liu Qiong'er said.
"You tell me whether it's true or false, but I can still tell the difference." Xu Huai said.
Liu Qiong'er said: "I have heard people say that although your father Xu Wuxuan is a direct descendant of the Xu family, he does not have a good relationship with the eldest brother Xu Wufu. When he was young, his family was in ruins and he left Tongbai Mountain to go to another country.
Have you ever heard of such a story after working in the field for several years?"
"That's what I know. Is there any other explanation?" Xu Huai asked doubtfully.
He heard Lu Xiong mention that more than ten members of the Xu family, including his father, had returned from the Jingsheng Army. Xu Huai had many doubts in his heart at that time, but it was inconvenient to ask in detail.
He did not expect that Liu Qiong'er would come into contact with people from all walks of life in Yuehong Mansion, and actually hear about his father's past experiences.
"I also heard someone say," Liu Qiong'er said, "Twenty years ago, the magistrate of Tangzhou was Wang Xiaocheng, a figure who is still admired today. Wang Xiaocheng came to Tangzhou to take up a post, and saw the serious banditry in Tongbai Mountain.
Many parties organized troops to suppress the troops. At that time, the Huaiyuan Inspection Department recruited local soldiers, and it was Wang Xiaocheng who promoted it. Wang Xiaocheng was indeed effective in suppressing the bandits. When he left Tangzhou and took up the post of commander of the Jingsheng Army, he
Many thieves who were captured in Tongbai Mountain were incorporated into the Jingsheng Army by him. Although the Xu family has always kept it secret, there are still some people in Huaiyuan Town who think that your father and those who will follow Jingsheng in the future
The Xu clan members who returned home after the victory were actually the bandits recruited by Wang Xiaocheng from Tongbai Mountain; and your father went to other places to wander in his early years, but he was actually anonymous and became a bandit in Tongbai Mountain - your father even
He is still a bandit chief, so he can quickly take up a military position after joining the army..."
Xu Huai held the knife in front of his chest with both hands. Although his face was silent and gloomy, his heart was filled with ups and downs:
Although all these were rumors heard by Liu Qiong'er, Xu Huai believed that this version might be closer to the truth.
At that time, there was a tradition of hunting down bandits to fill the army, which made the local security relatively stable, but at the same time, it was difficult to maintain the military discipline of the Forbidden Army and the Xiang Army.
The generals of the Jinxiang Army were all tenured for life. There was no special reason. The sick, old and dead were all buried in the army. To prevent them from escaping the camp, the generals had gold seals tattooed on their faces. Their status in the world was actually very low;
Few people join the army voluntarily if they have no choice but to do so.
Therefore, without special reasons, it is difficult to imagine that his father would join the army with so many people from the Xu clan in his early years; and his father has no martial arts fame. Apart from accepting recruitment as a thief chief and making repeated military exploits, it is difficult to become a military minister.
among the list.
It is easier to understand why his father wanted to remain anonymous when he became a bandit in his early years.
Hiding one's name or changing one's name is, firstly, to avoid compromising the family and clan, and secondly, after saving enough money, one can return to one's hometown, buy land and a house, and become a rich man.
In today's world, being a bandit is such a willful thing.
And these things are by no means glorious. They are kept secret within the Xu family and no one mentions them. It is quite normal, let alone mentioning these old things in front of him.
"If these rumors are true, in the eyes of the old soldiers of the Xu family who have returned from the Jingsheng Army, you are the real young master!" Liu Qiong'er said excitedly when she saw that Xu Huai believed her words.
.
"What kind of young master is this?" Xu Huai said with a self-deprecating smile, "When my father was in the Jingsheng Army, he was just a small commander. He was not as good as the regular inspectors who had entered the ranks of the Eighth Grade; how could he be called a thief?
Can bandit leaders still be hereditary?"
Liu Qiong'er ignored Xu Huai's self-mockery and said, "I don't know many of Xu's veterans who returned home from the Jingsheng Army, but Xu Wuliang, who runs a blacksmith shop in Liutiao Lane, heard that he was in the Jingsheng Army.
He has served as a general for ten times, and he is quite famous for being able to teach people how to use fists, kicks, and sticks in Willow Alley. He probably followed your father in the past. If you go to him to guard this yard, he will not refuse you - and he thinks
When I realize that you are not as stupid as others say, I will definitely help you even more!"
Xu Huai looked at Liu Qiong'er in surprise, and couldn't help but wonder if she had thought of this before she was seemingly forced to redeem herself from Yuehong Mansion, but in fact he was tricked by her?
Of course Xu Huai was familiar with Xu Wuliang.
After Xu Wuliang returned home from the Jingsheng Army, he did not stay in Lutai Village and join his family. Instead, he married into an old blacksmith's family in Huaiyuan Town. After his father-in-law died, he inherited the small blacksmith shop in Liutiao Lane.
.
Xu Huai still remembers that when he was a child, he often went to play in the blacksmith shop of Xu Wuliang's family.
Every time Xu Wuliang would secretly buy one or two scallion pancakes or other snacks on the street and stuff them into his arms.
Once he was caught by Xu Wuliang's mother-in-law, who snatched the scallion pancake from his arms. After returning home, he was beaten and scolded by his mother. From then on, Xu Huai never went to Xu Wuliang's blacksmith shop, and even
Will deliberately avoid it.
After regaining his consciousness, Xu Huai thought about these old things and realized that he had done something wrong.
Most of the tribesmen who returned home from the Jingsheng Army lived a very miserable life.
Xu Wuliang inherited a small blacksmith shop from his father-in-law and was actually able to barely make ends meet. The food he secretly stuffed into his arms was really squeezed out of the mouths of the family.
But when he was young, he was ignorant and couldn't get rid of the hunger feeling in his bones, so he ran to Xu Wuliang at every turn.
Thinking of these old events, Xu Huai was very touched and said to Liu Qiong'er: "Although the assassin believed that the Xu clan members who returned from the Jingsheng Army were involved, Uncle Wu Liang lived a stable life, so how could I force him to be involved?
?”
"..."
When Liu Qiong'er heard this, she wanted to roll her eyes at Xu Huai for the rest of her life: You dragged me into this pit of fire without even blinking, how could you bear it?
After a while, Liu Qiong'er suppressed the anger in her heart and said,
"Xu Wuliang ran that dilapidated blacksmith shop, and his life was not easy. I heard that it was Xu Wuliang and his mother-in-law who were seriously ill a few years ago, and they took medicine and emptied their family fortune. When they died, there was no coffin, or Xu Wuliang bought it from the Tang family warehouse
He borrowed more than ten thousand dollars to pay for the funeral and burial, but the debt has never been repaid, and the compound interest has become a huge sum. Even if he has to tear down his old bones at this time, he can't afford to pay it back. I listened to the servant of Yue Honglou privately
During the discussion, Tang Lingde and others said that Xu Wuliang's daughter had good looks and would be a beauty when she grew up, and they deliberately forced his family to sell their daughter to Yuehong Mansion to pay off debts. However, Xu Wuliang was born in the army and was not weak in skills, so he could be regarded as a member of the Xu clan.
People, they don’t dare to push too hard yet..."
"That's it..."
Only then did Xu Huai realize that with all these secrets that he had never heard of, he made the right choice by forcefully dragging Liu Qiong'er out of the Yuehong Building.
"Are you going to find Xu Wuliang?" Liu Qiong'er saw Xu Huai was silent for a long time and couldn't help but urge him.
"Go, let's go right away," Xu Huai said.
Even if he wanted to know whether his father's story of being a bandit in his early years was true or false, he could only verify it by going to Xu Wuliang.
Uncle Seventeen was only an eleven or twelve-year-old boy twenty years ago, and he was not an old soldier of the Jingsheng Army. It was only after his father returned home from the Jingsheng Army that Uncle Seventeen learned the Fumang Quan and swords and spears.
Xu Huai was very suspicious that Uncle Seventeen knew the details of that year.
Although Lu Xiong was acquainted with his father in the army, he might know some old things about his father, but he might not know them in detail.
