Chapter 8: A Preliminary Exploration of the Mansion
Watching San'er put the last piece of mutton into his mouth, Xiao Chen stood up to pay the bill.
After that, the two came to the collapsed wall. Xiao Chen took a broom from the old man's yard next door, cleaned up the snow on the wall, and began to carefully examine the roots of the wall.
San'er was very obedient. He followed behind and used a small broom to clean up the corners together.
After a while, the shape of the entire bottom of the wall was clearly exposed to Xiao Chen's sight.
The insulation effect of the wall has been lost, and the soft areas at the base of the wall have become frozen and extremely hard.
At the base of the wall, there is a row of green bricks placed along the length. It was obviously a temporary foundation for the normal construction of the wall at that time.
Standing on it, Xiao Chen looked around.
The thickness of this adobe wall is at least about one foot and two, and the position of the green bricks can only reach one-third of the wall, and it is biased to one side of the house.
In other words, when the entire wall was built, the side close to the official road was always in a suspended state. According to San'er's description, the reason why it never collapsed was that the wooden wedge with the big black dog tied on it played an absolute role.
function.
Xiao Chen sneered.
Such a crude mechanism was actually used to deal with the Dongchang eunuchs, and no one had discovered Ni Duan yet.
The wall was built by the people of the town, and Zhang Shanren was the one who paid for it. Zhang Shanren was involved in the murder intentionally or unintentionally.
The person who captured the stray big black dog, tied it to the wooden wedges that supported the balance of the fence, and placed a large animal trap nearby must be the real mastermind behind the scenes.
However, even if all this was done perfectly, how did they know that Wang San would pass through here that day, and how did they know that Wang San would definitely feel compassion for the big black dog?
If all this is just a coincidence, as long as the mastermind behind the scenes is brought to justice, it can be regarded as an explanation for Wang San's spirit in heaven.
But if even the big black dog knows about the other party, then it means that the other party has known Wang San for more than ten years. Then this person is very likely to be hiding around him.
Either inside Jinyiwei or inside Dongchang.
Looking at the narrow green brick foundation on the ground, the expression on Xiao Chen's face did not change.
Putting the broom in his hand back into the old man's courtyard, Xiao Chen took San'er and slowly left the place.
Among the crowd, a thin man looked at the direction the two left, pondered for a moment, turned around and disappeared into the sea of people.
Returning to the Thirteenth Army Yard in Dong'anmen, since there was no order to perform the mission today, the captain Duan Tianming was practicing the exercises normally in the yard.
"Xiao Chen, who is this child?" Duan Tianming stopped what he was doing and asked in surprise.
"This is my younger brother San'er. There is no one to take care of him. I want to take him with me. I wonder if the captain agrees?" Xiao Chen looked at Duan Tianming and asked with a smile.
"Looking at what you said, your brother is my brother, that is, the younger brother of everyone in the Thirteenth Army. Then we can live in the same house with you and we, the Thirteenth Army, can raise a child. There will be no problem." Duan Tianming said cheerfully.
Although he said this on his lips, he felt deeply unhappy in his heart.
You have brought people back, and you still ask me if I agree. Can I disagree? Do I dare to disagree?!
Back in the room, Xiao Chen laid a small bed for San'er opposite his own bed.
I purposely thickened the mattresses a few times, and ordered two brand new cotton quilts from the reserve of the Thirteenth Army, and placed them on the small bed.
He rummaged through the boxes and found a few literacy books that Dongchang gave to junior school captains, and handed them to San'er: "I read these books before the year and tried to figure them out for myself. When the private school starts after the year, I will send you to study."
From the moment he entered Dong'an Gate, San'er was shocked by the prosperity in front of him.
Although he grew up in a small town more than ten miles away from the capital, he had never been to the capital of the Ming Dynasty once.
San'er couldn't believe her eyes when she looked at the room that was fully equipped with all kinds of belongings and the stove that made the whole house warm.
I also heard from Xiao Chen that when he was sent to a private school after the New Year, San'er seemed to have relived his life, and was a little dazed.
Studying, a treatment that only rich children can enjoy, can actually be enjoyed by myself.
With a "pop" sound, San'er knelt on the ground: "Brother, I have suffered all my life. I am just a wandering orphan. How can I be so virtuous and capable to be treated like this by you? You are my reborn parents."
Looking at San'er who was kneeling on the ground and worshiping him, Xiao Chen did not step forward to help him.
Although I don’t expect that San’er will repay me in the future, I should have this kind of gratitude throughout my life.
"Do you know what the relationship between the person who died under the wall and me is?" Xiao Chen asked in a low voice with his back to San'er.
"San'er doesn't know."
"You kneel down and worship me like this today, and I knelt down and worshiped him like this back then." Xiao Chen said word for word.
San'er raised his head, with a hint of clarity in his eyes.
"San'er understands, this is called the grace of knowing and meeting someone."
"Well," Xiao Chen nodded, "After you finish learning calligraphy, you can learn some boxing and kicking skills from the big brothers in the yard. If I have time, I will also teach you."
"Remember, others can only take care of you for a while, but they cannot take care of you for a lifetime. You have to walk the road ahead yourself."
"San'er remembers it."
In the evening, San'er carefully looked through Dongchang's basic literacy books in front of the table specially prepared for him by Xiao Chen.
Xiao Chen took off his soap-colored captain's uniform, put on a black tights, and slung the standard saber around his waist.
"Brother, it's getting late, do you want to go out?" San'er looked at Xiao Chen and said a little worriedly.
Xiao Chen stretched out his hand, touched San'er's head, and said: "Your benefactor is still there, but my brother's benefactor was murdered. Do you want to avenge this?"
"If you want to retaliate, you must retaliate." San'er said resolutely, with determination in his eyes.
Xiao Chen smiled happily, turned around, and walked out of the door.
In the evening in the north, the streets were already quiet.
Even in a prosperous place like Beijing, you can't meet a single person within a hundred steps.
Xiao Chen felt the wind at his feet and galloped towards the town more than ten miles away.
Through the investigation during the day, this vicious Zhang Shanren may be a breakthrough in this matter. The purpose of Xiao Chen's trip is to get something useful from Zhang Shanren's mouth.
Zhang Shanren is one of the largest households in the town. Whether it is the land area or the luxury of the house, it is particularly conspicuous.
At the gate, two sturdy servants stopped Xiao Chen: "Stop, who are you?"
Xiao Chen turned sideways slightly and flashed the Plum Blossom Ling on his waist.
"I don't know what this is. It's getting late and Zhang Shanren has gone to bed. Please leave quickly." The servant's tone was full of threats.
"Yeah." Xiao Chen didn't even raise his head, he raised the scabbard of the saber on his waist, slapped twice, and slapped the two servants in the face.
At the same time, he exerted force on his feet and rushed into the yard.
