Lu Wei had never heard of this name before and asked again: "Tell me everything you know about the situation!"
"This young man's father was originally a small businessman. He was literate. He followed his father in business since he was a child. Later, the barbarians came in and gave his mother to that..." The village chief was hard-pressed.
He said openly, "His father didn't mind. Later, his mother gave birth to a girl with green eyes and a high nose. She was quite pretty."
Lu Wei and Zhang Yuqing looked at each other, with horror flashing in their eyes.
This man's mother's experience is very similar to Liu Quan's mother.
Did they find this Du Jingyi through Liu Quan, or was there an invisible hand that instigated Liu Quan's so-called friends to find Liu Quan, and then pushed them to find this place?
"What happened next?" Lu Wei asked.
The villager picked up his sleeves and sighed, "It is said that their family was also unlucky. When his father was doing business, he encountered a barbarian and had the barbarians rob him. His body was thrown into the ravine. When he found it, it had almost been eaten by wild beasts.
Then he got sick, and the family was so poor that he couldn't take the blame. His mother had no choice but to sell his sister. His illness was cured, but his mother was gone again, and now he is the only one in his family." An atmosphere of silence spread among everyone.
Zhang Yuqing looked back at the worn black cotton quilt and asked: "Where is the other person? Do you know where he went?"
The village chief shook his head, "Who knows? He has been gone for several months, elusive and invisible. Some people saw him coming back two days ago, but now he has disappeared again."
At this moment, Lu Wei raised his head keenly and saw a little boy lying on the wall of the courtyard.
The little boy was startled and quickly retracted his head.
The village chief quickly said: "That's the family next door to the Du family. A widow lives with her son."
"Where is his father?" Zhang Yuqing asked.
The village chief hesitated for a moment and said in a low voice: "A few years ago, the adults in Baochuan wanted to collect a cigarette tax..."
A guard asked: "What is smoke tax?"
Never heard of it!
"Well, as long as you cook at home and smoke comes out, you have to pay the yamen. This money is called the smoke tax!" said the village chief.
Zhang Yuqing was silent in his heart. It was just corrupt officials who used clever pretexts to make money and scrape the last drop of money from the people. There were barbarians attacking and plundering outside, and corrupt officials sucking out the bones and marrow inside. No wonder there are only so few people in a place as big as Baochuan.
The people are really forced to the point where they can no longer survive.
"His father said that this was an official collecting money privately. The people who called the yamen heard this and put his father in shackles and dragged him to the county town. His father stood in shackles at the door of the yamen for several days in the sun without food or drink.
No more." The village chief sighed after discussing the matter, "Thanks to Du Jingyi, the young man, who often helps the two of them."
Lu Wei was furious, "Which sir?"
The village chief hurriedly said: "Sir, please calm down. It happened many years ago, and that master is no longer in Baochuan! Since you came to Baochuan, our people's lives have been much better than before!"
Lu Wei and Zhang Yuqing went out in the wind and snow, but they couldn't find the legendary shopkeeper, but they couldn't return empty-handed.
After dark, Lu Wei sent people to ambush on the way in and out of the village, and also sent people to surround the family. As long as the person entered the village, he would be unable to fly.
The night wind was blowing hard, blowing on people's faces like knives. The snow stopped and a bright moon hung in the sky.
Fang Qin and Kou Leguo, based on the information provided by Liu Quan, caught a salt thief. They followed the lead and killed all the thieves, and sent someone to report the news.
Zhang Yuqing's hands and feet were numb from the cold, and he sighed: "The winter in Baochuan is too cold!"
After running for a day, I still haven't caught the "big shopkeeper" and was frozen into a popsicle. It seems that there are always clues coming, but every time they are interrupted at the critical moment.
This made Zhang Yuqing feel like he was being manipulated by the "big shopkeeper", which made him very unhappy.
Lu Wei stood beside her, unfolded his cloak to block the wind from Zhang Yuqing, and said slowly: "It's not as good as Jiangnan."
"Of course it's better than Jiangnan!" Zhang Yuqing said.
Isn’t this nonsense? If Baochuan was like Jiangnan, would it still be called the Northwest Frontier!
Lu Wei looked at her, suddenly bent down and approached Zhang Yuqing, and asked, "What? Do you regret not marrying to Jiangnan?"
Zhang Yuqing looked at him inexplicably.
"If you were to marry in that nice place in the south of the Yangtze River, wouldn't you have to come here with me to drink the northwest wind?" Lu Wei said.
If Zhang Yuqing had married to the south of the Yangtze River, she would definitely be in harmony with Luo Danyangqinse and become a carefree lady in the back house.
Zhang Yuqing opened his mouth and took a mouthful of cold air, and suddenly choked. He turned around and started coughing. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry. What kind of nerve was this?
Lu Wei felt sour in his heart. Why did Zhang Yuqing react so loudly when he mentioned Jiangnan? It's probably a lingering feeling!
Yes, things in the world are unpredictable and things go wrong! Zhang Yuqing rolled his eyes in his heart.
If it weren't for the nonsense of the monks at Huangjue Temple, I don't know whether she would marry Luo Danyang, but Lu Wei would definitely marry Zhang Yuying, and there would be no way he would be forced into a country girl by the Zhang family.
Lu Wei felt that his heart was colder and more desolate than the raging northwest wind at the moment. He couldn't help but said: "There is nothing good about Jiangnan. Jiangnan... Jiangnan has more people but less land. There are many rotten literati and many rules!"
Zhang Yuqing finally stopped coughing, frowned and said, "What's wrong with you, Jiangnan? Do you have such a big opinion against Jiangnan?"
Lu Wei's heart was filled with hatred. He hated Zhang Yuqing for not understanding the style, and hated her for pretending to be someone else. In anger, he grabbed Zhang Yuqing's shoulders with both hands, faced her, and said with a bit of anger: "I just don't like Jiangnan.
!"
The two of them looked at each other, one high and the other low. The bright moonlight reflected the white snow on the ground, and reflected in Zhang Yuqing's dark eyes. The glimmer of light in his eyes made Lu Wei silently indulge in it.
Lu Wei looked at those bright red lips and couldn't help but lower his head.
At this moment, a guard ran over crunching through the snow.
Zhang Yuqing excitedly threw away Lu Wei and walked forward, "How is it?"
"Someone has entered the village!" the guard whispered.
Lu Wei's face was livid, and he looked at the guard expressionlessly.
"Okay, don't alert the snake." Zhang Yuqing warned.
The guard was frightened by Lu Wei's murderous eyes. He braced himself and said solemnly: "Master and madam, please rest assured. As long as he enters the yard, we will arrest him! Keep him safe so that he can't escape.
!"
Zhang Yuqing smiled and nodded, "Go!"
A dark cloud gradually covered the bright moonlight, and the entire land fell into darkness, with only the faint light reflected from the snow.
Zhang Yuqing and Lu Wei were hiding in the backyard when they heard the wood door creak open.
There was silence all around, except for the crunching sound of someone's feet stepping on the thick snow.
However, at this moment, a heartbreaking scream suddenly came from the yard next door, "Brother Jingyi, run!"
Zhang Yuqing's face changed drastically. Before he could shout out the word "Arrest", Lu Wei had already drawn out his long knife, tapped his toes lightly on the snow, and rushed over like a roc spreading its wings.
In the lightning flash, the man also showed his weapon.
The sound of the weapons clashing was particularly harsh in the silent night. The man was obviously defeated by Lu Wei, and was immediately hit by the force of Lu Wei's knife and took a few steps back, falling to the ground.
The guards who had already been ambushing the yard swarmed up and subdued the man to the ground.
The sky was dark and Zhang Yuqing couldn't see clearly at all. He only heard a few whooshing sounds. Every time the sound was heard, the guards who were suppressing the man jumped up and screamed. It seemed that every shot was fired.
Not in vain.
The people accompanying him quickly lit the torches, and Zhang Yuqing saw a teenage boy riding on the wall of the courtyard, holding a slingshot in his hand and aiming at the guards.
Someone immediately pulled him down from the other side of the wall.
Zhang Yuqing quickly ran over with a torch. Each of the guards who were hit by the slingshot covered their noses, with blood dripping from their noses.
The man who was pinned on the snow raised his head.
He is a very young man, in his early twenties, with handsome features and a kind smile.
Being suppressed by so many people and becoming a prisoner, not only was he not afraid, he even smiled calmly at Zhang Yuqing.
Zhang Yuqing looked at him condescendingly.
At this moment, the village chief came with people escorting the little boy. He apologized to Lu Wei and Zhang Yuqing in panic, saying that he had accidentally failed to keep an eye on the child and almost caused him to cause trouble.
The boy twisted hard, trying to break free, and cursed loudly: "You are all the government's lackeys! You will be punished!"
The village chief cursed angrily, "This Lord Dusi is different! Our life has been much better since he came!"
"They're arresting Brother Jingyi! They are the bad guys!" the boy yelled.
The village chief whispered: "If your brother Jingyi didn't do anything bad, Master Dusi could catch him?"
Don't talk about him, who in the village doesn't wonder what Du Jingyi does for a living outside? If he can do it, Lord Si will come to arrest him personally. What a big deal he has committed!
Zhang Yuqing looked at the slingshot in the boy's hand, and then at the bloody noses of the guards, and was secretly shocked.
The sky was dark, with only a little glimmer of snow, making it impossible to see clearly, but the boy was able to accurately hit the guards in the nose from such a distance!
The reason why he punched his nose was because everyone was wearing thick clothes, so it was useless for him to hit the areas covered by cotton-padded clothes.
With such amazing eyesight, accuracy, and keen observation, even the archers who have been trained in the military camp for many years cannot match it!
Zhang Yuqing's breathing became rapid. Seeing the little boy's eyes glowing with gold, he ordered the guards, "Take him away too."
The village chief was shocked and said with a smile: "Madam, he is just an ignorant child..."
A woman next to her burst into tears and knelt down to kowtow to Zhang Yuqing, "Madam, please spare him! He is ignorant, I will beat him to vent your anger!"
The person who had been silent on the ground spoke with a helpless smile, "I said Mrs. Dusi, aren't you here to catch me? Now that you have caught me, why bother with a child?"
