He Lingchuan smiled: "No matter what the reason is, it's best not to check this tonight."
"Oh why?"
"You are on someone else's territory, and you still want to dig up someone else's background?" Dong Rui clicked on him, "I'm afraid you won't be able to leave Chenjiazhuang alive, and you will end up being abandoned in the wild... just like that mother and daughter."
Li Xianwei shrank his neck and wanted to say "They dare"?
The words went around in my mouth twice, but they couldn't come out.
I only brought six or seven official servants with me, and they were not a large force. These rough and tough people from the countryside might really dare!
Dong Rui then added: "When we investigate in Zhuangzi, there are always people watching nearby. Most likely, Chenjiazhuang has some secrets, and we are afraid that we will dig them out."
This kind of Zhuangzi is a settlement with a big family name. It needs land and people. It usually lives its own life behind closed doors. It is difficult for outsiders to know any secrets.
"If the monster hadn't attacked and too many people died, Chenjiazhuang probably wouldn't have reported the crime." After entering the yard, He Lingchuan saw that there was no one idle here, and then asked County Lieutenant Li, "Do you know where Maodun and Xingyun Village are?
?”
"I know about Maodun. I'll send someone to check it out tomorrow morning." This can at least corroborate Ah Hui's statement. However, "I really don't know the name of Xingyun Village. I don't think I've ever heard of it."
"Liuxian County is not a small place and is mostly mountainous. How far can this mother and daughter go without mules and horses to travel by themselves?" He Lingchuan pondered, "I'm afraid County Lieutenant Li will have to do a thorough investigation when he gets back. There have been reports of villages and towns in your area.
It seems like it’s nothing unusual to disappear again.”
"Yes, yes, I will look through the account books when I return to the county."
He Lingchuan yawned: "Go to sleep, we have to be busy tomorrow."
A night of silence.
…
The next day, God's face was not good-looking, and the rain was not falling at all, and there was no pattern at all.
He Lingchuan and the others got up early in the morning and had a big bowl of mixed vegetable porridge in the yard. The farmer's earthen bowl was bigger than a human face. There was also a stack of shepherd's purse cakes that were fried until they were slightly burnt on the dining table. Pick one up and
, roll up the silver cabbage pickled with pickled pepper seeds, stuff it into your mouth, it has a crunch and bursts of pulp.
County Lieutenant Li thought he was a good eater, but he only swallowed three pieces of cake and the plate on the dinner table was all empty.
The three of them and the officials came out burping. Patriarch Chen hurriedly came forward to greet them with a smile, and asked the officials if they had made any new discoveries last night.
He Lingchuan spoke in an official tone and made a few prevarications.
The head of the Chen family personally sent everyone to the gate of Zhuangzi and watched them mount their horses and leave.
Everyone left Chenjiazhuang and walked into the forest. They couldn't walk more than fifty feet when the branches beside them rustled.
Lieutenant Li was startled and was about to call his men to alert him when he saw a monkey jump out of the treetop and land on He Lingchuan's shoulder.
He subconsciously looked at the ghost ape on Dong Rui's buttocks.
Another monkey? This one is much prettier and is wearing a round hat.
When Lingguang returned to the team, He Lingchuan asked him: "How is it? What did you find?"
Before Lieutenant Li led them into Chenjiazhuang yesterday, he assigned Lingguang to sneak into Zhuangzi at night to find out the shady secret. The two parties used eyeball spiders to communicate.
Only by investigating openly and secretly can the investigation of this case continue.
"Following your guidance, I discovered that there is a row of houses hidden in the dense forest in the north of Zhuangzi. There are villagers patrolling it, and no one can get close to it." Fortunately, Lingguang is not a nomad, and he does not need the consent of the villagers to enter or leave. "
That place is not difficult to find. On the surface it is a fruit-picking and wine-making workshop, but in fact there is a deep cellar dug under the house, which is blocked by wooden boards, tables, chairs and sundries, making it very hidden."
Lieutenant Li couldn't help but ask: "Did you get in? What's at the bottom of the cellar?"
"Brew-making vats, bottles—"
Lieutenant Li rolled his eyes secretly when he heard this, but Ling Guang immediately said: "There are also weapons, swords, guns, arrows, hooks and halberds. They are all complete, large in number, and new in appearance. The arrow clusters also smell of fresh wood."
Is that a weapon used by Chenjiazhuang for self-defense? Lieutenant Li frowned, sensing something was wrong.
"I only found one cellar, and there were hundreds of knives of different shapes."
"Hundreds of knives?" Lieutenant Li sneered, "Are they going to open a weapons shop?"
Zhuangzi, with three to four hundred people, had hundreds of knives, not counting other weapons?
County Lieutenant Li was not stupid either. After a second thought, he understood: "Okay, it turns out they are smuggling weapons!"
The Golden Plains are chaotic and turbulent, and the demand for weapons is far greater than in other areas.
Wool, fruits, wine, and the external livelihood of the Chen family are all used as cover to facilitate their private trafficking of weapons.
Chenjiazhuang is the fortress of arms dealers!
Of course, the extremely high profits from smuggling weapons are also due to the strict prohibition by the Pei State official.
Thinking of this, a layer of cold sweat broke out on Lieutenant Li's back. Fortunately, he didn't act rashly last night, otherwise these lawless gangsters might have killed people and silenced them.
He asked Lingguang: "How do you know there is Xuanxu under that row of houses?"
Lingguang looked at He Lingchuan and smiled without saying a word.
In fact, He Lingchuan also secretly placed an eyeball spider on the Chen clan leader last night to monitor his behavior. When they visited Chen's wife, Aunt Wu and others, Chen Ling became restless and mentioned the Northern Workshop to his confidants several times.
He also ordered the workshop to turn off the lights at night so that the inspectors and officials would not discover him.
Chenjiazhuang is not small, and the workshop is separated by trees. As long as the lights are not turned on, people who don't come often will not know that there is a building there.
When Chen Ling said this, He Lingchuan knew that something was fishy.
Sure enough, Lingguang went to investigate again and found the weapons at the bottom of the cellar.
"No wonder the patriarch of the Chen family concealed Ah Hui's mother and daughter because he didn't want to cause trouble. But we just visited two villagers and took a look at the scene of the thatched house. The most he could do was confirm that we discovered the existence of Ah Hui and her daughter." He Lingchuan told Li County
Wei said, "After we leave, Chenjiazhuang may have to transfer weapons."
He continued: "From this point of view, even if Ah Hui did not conflict with Chen Fu'ang and the other five people, it would have been difficult for Ah Hui to leave Chen Family Village."
Lieutenant Li scolded: "These bastards!"
Dong Rui yawned: "Hurry back to Liu County, County Lieutenant Li has to send someone to look for the body."
…
Xiao An tossed and turned and didn't fall asleep until almost dawn.
As soon as I fell asleep, everything was pitch black again.
Empty, lonely and familiar darkness.
So Xiao An knew that the monster was coming to catch her again.
Her eyes widened and she looked left and right. Running at this time would only waste her energy in vain. She had to confirm the direction first.
Soon, there was a strange clicking sound behind her, and something disturbed the air and came straight towards her.
An arm suddenly stretched out from the darkness, pale and thin!
Xiao An jumped forward and his arm flew away.
Now! Run, run!
She moved her short legs and rushed forward without looking back.
The monster behind her was chasing after her, and she could hear heavy footsteps.
She was also familiar with the rhythm of the footsteps. Xiao An even knew that as long as she kept running forward, the monster would always disappear.
But the last few times, the monster's pace has become faster and faster, and it has gotten closer and closer to her.
She could even feel the monster's breath on the back of her neck, which was wet and cold.
She didn't dare to look back, and she didn't know when she would be caught!
"Run!" My mother's voice came from nowhere. It was very urgent, but also very vague. "Xiao An, run!"
The monster's low roar suddenly rang in my ears!
Xiao An sat up with a groan, cold sweat covering his back.
Wake up, she finally woke up.
The surroundings were no longer pitch black, and the golden sunlight passed through the small window and shone on the dusty ground.
Even the dust becomes cute.
She spent another night safely.
Xiao An's breathing gradually calmed down.
"Eat, eat, eat." Someone came to the door frame.
As soon as I got up, I had warm and mixed vegetable porridge to drink, as well as two fragrant oil dumplings. One bite, and they were so crispy that they crunched away.
She had never experienced such a beautiful morning since her exile.
The only fly in the ointment was that Han Tingting, who promised her that she would be back when she woke up, did not show up, and naturally she did not bring back the chicken drumsticks she had promised.
She asked the servant who brought the meal: "Where is Tingting?"
"who?"
"You came with me yesterday."
The servant's attitude was very indifferent. He said "I don't know" and turned away, as if she was sick and he would be infected if he stayed for a few more seconds.
She was small and weak, and no one else could do any chores for her. Xiao An had nothing to do after dinner, so he went to walk around the village.
But before he could walk a hundred steps, a healthy servant came out from behind the tree and said with a straight face: "Go back, who told you to walk around?"
This person! Xiao An recognized that it was this Jian servant who took Han Tingting into the second young master's house last night.
"Where's Tingting? She was with me last night. You took her to find the second young master."
"She is serving the second young master." Jian Pu said casually, "Don't worry, it will be your turn tonight or tomorrow night."
He blocked the corridor and refused to let him go, so Xiao An had no choice but to retreat.
Jian Pu also followed up, following suit every step of the way. His mission was to follow the little one and not let her get lost.
After all, Butler Zou bought her with money, so the second young master might call her when.
It was afternoon in a blink of an eye.
The little girl went to the hut for two-quarters of an hour.
The servant knocked on the door but there was no answer. He was afraid that she would fall in, so he knocked the door open.
It was empty inside.
"Damn it!" This little thing is quite good at drilling, but he actually lost it!
He didn't know that this little girl had good legs and feet. Taking advantage of her short size, she climbed over the loose wooden planks of the hut, passed through two bushes, and disappeared behind a few plum trees.
Jian Pu hurriedly searched everywhere.
After Xiao An got rid of him, he slipped away to the second young master's yard, dodging many adults along the way.
There are so many trees in this villa, there is always a place for her to hide.
The second young master's yard is far away from the servant's wing. Fortunately, she has a good memory. She only walked the route once last night and can still remember it after dawn.
Two quarters of an hour later.
It should turn like this, turn like this, well, the front should be the second young master's yard.
Sure enough, Xiao An saw a bluestone wall, which was the outer wall of the second young master's yard.
If she shouts outside the wall, can Han Tingting come out to find her?
Xiao An hesitated for a moment and was about to speak up when he suddenly saw the small door on the wall creak and open.
Someone came out.
She subconsciously hid behind the tree and peeked her head quietly.
Two servants came out of the small door, holding a long object together and covering it loosely with a white cloth.