"Two young heroes," the man raised his hands and cupped his fists and said, "Excuse me, are these two young heroes from Taoxi Village?"
"Yes," Zhili said, "What do you want?"
"I would like to inquire about someone," the man said, "a girl, about fourteen or fifteen years old, non-local. She should have just arrived in Taoxi Village not long ago, about... less than four months."
Zhili raised his eyebrows and said: "You are a person in the world, why are you asking a young girl so politely?"
The man paused and said, "She, uh... is my long-lost sister."
"You have been separated for so many years and you still know that she has been in Taoxi Village for less than five months?"
"...I heard about it from many sources."
Looking him up and down, he found that the man was about twenty-seven or eighty years old. He was not handsome in appearance, but he had bright eyes and was very energetic.
Zhili waved his hand: "There have been too many people in my Taoxi Village over the years. We have a lot of girls of fourteen or fifteen years old you mentioned here. You can find someone else. I don't have time to talk to you."
After passing the man, Zhili turned his head and said to Xia Zhaoyi: "This man is lying at first glance. I will go to the street and pick up a random person and ask him to ask a foreign girl of fourteen or fifteen years old. I guess he can tell me two things if he opens his mouth." There are about ten of them. This person has been lost for many years and yet he can still be found here. I believe he is a human trafficker."
The voice was deliberately loud so that the man could hear it.
Xia Zhaoyi was amused by his serious look.
As soon as he left here and went to the rural road, Zheli's expression changed. Su Rong said: "Little senior sister, are you looking for me?"
"It sounds like they came to see me." Xia Zhaoyi said.
"I don't know if they are friends or foes."
"That big sword looks scary."
"Tch," Zhili said with a look of disdain, "are we still afraid of him?"
"I have to stay for about ten days before I can leave." Xia Zhaoyi said.
Thinking about it, he nodded vaguely.
All the way back, I guessed who sent this person, but it was really hard to guess.
The only people who clearly knew that Xia Zhaoyi was in Lining were the old man, Zhao Ning, Xia Zhaoxue, and Shen Lie.
Xia Zhaoyi mentioned in his letter to Shen Lie that he might stay in Linning in the past few months.
But it was hard to tell secretly. Whether it was Zhao Ning, Xia Zhaoxue or Shen Lie, the three of them were not alone at the moment. They were surrounded by groups of people.
Although Xia Zhaoyi has been traveling around these years, he has visited more than ten people during this period, so it is not impossible that someone has paid attention to them.
The market was light, the streets were almost deserted, and only a few shops and stalls were still there.
Zhili went to each of these houses to buy something, and paid three times the price because he felt that setting up a stall in such a situation was probably too short of money.
After leaving the market and heading onto the country road, the sound of horse hooves could be heard in the distance.
Zhili and Xia Zhaoyi followed the sound and saw a troop of nearly a hundred soldiers and horses running southeast from a distant rural road.
After living here for several months, I often see troops coming and going, but there are only twenty or thirty people there. This is the first time for such a large scale.
"What happened," Zhili said as he walked, "Is it related to conscription?"
"Conscription will not send out so many cavalry."
"Will someone cause trouble?"
"If there is a riot with less than 20 people, the petty officials can deal with it on the spot. If there is a riot with more than 20 people, not only the one hundred cavalry will be dispatched."
"why is that?"
Xia Zhaoyi smiled: "Because making trouble can be contagious with emotions, as long as there is one person who takes the lead, the rest of the people will be easily incited and imitated. A mere hundred people can't suppress it."
"Then what do you think these people are doing, little senior sister?"
"I don't know," Xia Zhaoyi said, "It probably has little to do with us."
After she finished speaking, she closed her eyebrows slightly and looked towards the row of adobe wooden houses in front of her.
The row of old houses had weathered the wind and rain, and were in a precarious state. They had long been uninhabited. A rather large man was hidden in the wall. He might not be visible from the other side, but from this angle, his back was clearly visible.
Moreover, it looks really familiar.
Xia Zhaoyi raised her toes, and a stone bounced up and landed in her hand. She raised her hand and threw it towards the figure with her backhand.
The man was startled, clutching his back, and immediately turned back, his eyes falling on Xia Zhaoyi and Zhili with a murderous look.
The two young men showed no signs of timidity, and the one who threw the stone had his hands in front of his chest with great interest.
"It has something to do with us now." Xia Zhaoyi said.
"Who is he?" Zhili asked.
"I don't know," Xia Zhaoyi said, "It is said that the three brothers look exactly the same."
ยท
Taking the most secluded but farthest route, Xia Zhaoyi and Zhili took Yang Changjun back.
Zhili saw Yang Changjun for the first time and looked at him frequently, wondering if there were really two people who looked exactly like him in the world.
Yang Changjun couldn't help but look at Xia Zhaoyi several times. The little girl he had only seen once or twice from a distance now grew taller like bamboo shoots after rain.
After a few exchanges along the way, Xia Zhaoyi took Yang Changjun to the study.
The bookstore was filled with the fragrance of ink, and several words had been written on the birth certificate pressed on the paperweight, but the pen was still put aside.
The person who wrote left before finishing writing, which shows his randomness.
Yang Changjun took a cursory look and found that they had been living here for some time.
I'm afraid Song Zhiyi would never have imagined that Ah Li, whom everyone in the world has been looking for for several years, would live on his territory.
Zhili poured a few glasses of water in, and Xia Zhaoyi asked Yang Changjun to take a seat. Yang Changjun held the glass of water. The martial artist who was usually used to being rough suddenly became a little cautious now.
"Why did Song Zhiyi arrest you?" Xia Zhaoyi asked.
"It's not Song Zhiyi," Yang Changjun said, "it's Yan Qinglin."
"Who is Yan Qinglin?" Zhili asked.
Xia Zhaoyi looked at him but said nothing.
She had never mentioned Yan Qinglin to Zhili because Yan Qinglin's existence and the things she had done were not only wounds in Xia Zhaoxue's heart that would never heal, but also problems that Xia Zhaoyi always wanted to solve.
Moreover, Yan Qinglin seems to have disappeared in these years, and no one has ever heard a word about her.
"I also want to know who she is," Yang Changjun said, "Maybe she is a crazy woman now."
"What does she do?" Zhili asked, "The madwoman can't mobilize Song Zhiyi's troops to arrest you."
"I really don't know what she does," Yang Changjun said with a speechless face, "I thought she helped the prince out of loyalty before, but later I found out that she just used the prince as a puppet and wanted to fight for power herself.
Later, we discovered that she was not doing it for herself. She actually liked Song Zhiyi very much. As a result, Song Zhiyi ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor last year. She had nothing to do. Song Zhiyi hugged a group of women, and she was nothing. "
