Chapter 248 Entering the deserted house late at night
The two returned to the inn near Guanyi. Gai Zhongcheng's team was already preparing to leave. Li Siye asked Yan Xiaosi to go back to his room to rest while he went to find General Fumeng.
"You want to leave the big team and stay in Lanzhou for two days?"
"I have an old friend in Lanzhou City who invited me to be a guest in his house. I couldn't refuse the warm hospitality, so I came to ask you for your advice. After this is over, I will immediately rush to Chang'an to follow the general."
Li Siye knelt down and sat opposite his husband Meng Lingcha in the cubicle, crossed his hands and said respectfully.
"It doesn't matter anymore. You are going back to Chang'an to handle your own affairs this time. I will go ahead with the team and you will catch up behind me. I guess there won't be anything that needs you when I return to Chang'an. You can go on your own then.
The Anxi Protectorate of Pingkangfang stayed in the backyard to ask, so as not to delay the return date."
"Thank you, General, for your leniency. I will retire from my humble post."
Li Siye crossed his hands and slowly exited the cubicle, left the post house and returned to the inn. When he went upstairs and returned to the room, he heard Yan Xiaosi next door snoring like thunder. This kid spent all his energy last night, and now he can only
Rely on sleep to make up for it.
He was not in a hurry to explore near Zhuangyan Temple. If he could suppress this unconsidered impulse, it was hard to prevent the vulture Zhang Kuo and his gang from having accomplices in Lanzhou City. Perhaps the courtyard itself was a dragon's pool and a tiger's den. If there was a fight during the day, it would attract officers and soldiers.
, the treasure inside cannot be suppressed.
It's better to play it safe and go there when it gets dark and enter before curfew. If there is a large amount of money hidden in the yard, it will take a whole night to count it. Hey, I hope I can count it until my hand cramps.
Yan Xiaosi slept in the room until noon, then he rubbed his eyes and drowsily woke up. He yawned against the wall and said, "Xiao Lieutenant, what time is it now? When will the Jiedu envoy's team to go to Beijing to commemorate their merits leave?"
"
"Oh, Gai Zhongcheng's wedding ceremony ceremony has already left."
"Leaving?" Yan Xiaosi ran to the end of the corridor, opened the window and looked towards the street. The front of the Guanyi Station opposite was deserted, and there were no signs of flags or door banners in the yard behind the double eaves.
He turned around and his face was full of guilt. He lowered his head and picked up the palm of his hand and gave himself a loud slap: "Damn it! I missed your schedule because of my snooze, and I forgot to call you, which caused the captain to be punished."
.”
"There will be no punishment. I have already explained the reason to General Fumeng and took leave to stay in Lanzhou City for two days."
Yan Xiaosi was dumbfounded again, pointed at his cheek blankly and said, "The captain specifically asked for leave from General Fumeng for me?"
Li Siye scratched his head. This kid felt good about himself. But why bother exposing such things? Let him think so. He simply nodded and said: "Yes, I was so tired last night. It's not suitable to travel. I should rest."
Restore Yang Qi. Let’s go. I’ll take you to eat water basin mutton. Eating this food can replenish Yang Qi.”
He led Yan Xiaosi downstairs to the market in Lanzhou City. Yan Xiaosi lowered his head to avoid the crowd and looked at the captain's back. His heart was inexplicably moved. He had been in the army for many years in Anxi, but he had never encountered it before.
The Shangguan was so kind to him and took him to a brothel to have fun, and because he delayed the trip, it was impossible for his parents to do this.
He originally wanted to do his best to protect the captain during this trip, but who knew that he was receiving more and more kindness from him. How should Yan Xiaosi repay him?
The two of them sat cross-legged in front of the table, holding a porcelain basin of mutton soup in each hand, and slurped down the meat. Although the mutton smell of this pot of meat was too strong, mainly because the store was reluctant to put pepper, the taste was delicious.
It's quite satisfying, especially when mixed with emerald green onions, and it's moderately salty. Don't waste the oily stars floating in the soup, just raise your head and hold the basin and pour it into your mouth every drop.
"have you eaten?"
"Go back when you're full."
"okay."
In the evening, Li Siye stood under the eaves, watching the thick clouds in the sky getting thicker and thicker, and the setting sun hiding behind the clouds and sinking to the ground.
In his hand he carried the gauze-shaded lantern he bought and a small bottle of grease, which was enough for tonight.
Yan Xiaosi stood behind him and asked with earnest eyes: "Are you going out tonight?" Although he didn't dare to have extravagant hopes, he was still a little excited in his heart.
"Yes," Li Siye turned around, saw Yan Xiaosi's slightly hot eyes, and knew that he had misunderstood, so he changed his words with a smile: "You go by yourself tonight, I am going to another place."
He took out a Sasanian gold coin from his pocket, handed it to Yan Xiaosi and said: "With this, you can exchange it for one with better looks, or just the one from last night, it's up to you."
Yan Xiaosi sniffed excitedly and hurriedly reached out to stop him: "How can I use your gold again? I still have some savings, or I can just stay in the inn tonight."
His longing expression couldn't fool even him, he just wanted to say goodbye. Li Siye grabbed his hand, stuffed the gold coins into his palm and said: "Brothers, you and I, why do we need to separate ourselves? Let's go on tonight. Also,
By the way, please help me pay attention to the house diagonally opposite, the woman's room where I stayed last night, and see if she is in the house or was taken away for a horse walk. Come back and tell me tomorrow morning."
Yan Xiaosi nodded vigorously. Compared with the favor given to him by the captain, this trivial matter was nothing. He had no intention of delving into why the captain asked him to spy on the woman. How could the connection between men and women be clear?
The two parted ways at the door of the inn, each with expectations in their hearts and heading for different goals.
Li Siye carried a lantern and came to the gate of Zhuangyan Temple. A stone staircase stretched towards the temple. A towering gate tower stood on the steps. The carvings on it were unclear and seemed to be ancient. But Li Siye knew that this place was the tycoon of the Western Qin Dynasty in the late Sui Dynasty.
Xue Ju's former residence was later converted into a palace. In the second year of Wude, it was built as a Zhuangyan Temple by Emperor Gaozu of the Tang Dynasty.
He was not interested in visiting tourist attractions now, so he turned into a winding alley in front of the steps, silently counting his steps and walked more than thirty feet. When he turned right, there was indeed a deep alley. There were small earth-walled courtyards on both sides of the deep alley, and some houses had their lights on.
Lamps, but most people are poor and cannot afford lamp oil, so the closer you get to the end of the alley, the darker and darker it becomes.
He held a lantern in his hand, emitting orange light that could only dispel about a foot of darkness. Insects and mosquitoes born in early summer were whirling and flying in front of the lamp, or there was a faint green fluorescence accompanying the winding paths of weeds.
It was getting more and more deserted, and his destination, the small courtyard, was close at hand.
This house is really unexpected when it appears in a remote place. It has a main hall, left and right side rooms and a side room. Compared with the thatched roofs of the neighbors on the left and right, the tiled house standing here really makes it stand out from the crowd.
Li Siye judged based on common sense that it is possible for poor people to be neighbors with rich people in places with convenient transportation, but rich people generally will not submerge themselves in barren and remote areas. Unless it is another situation, when the poor return to their hometowns and the poor suddenly become rich,
Don't dare to be too ostentatious. From this point of view, the situation of the owner of the house coincides with that of Zhang Kuo.
The courtyard door was cracked and cracked, with spider webs growing on all four corners, and the inside of the door was held up by a stick on top of the door. Then he had no choice but to take the usual route, climb over the courtyard wall with a lantern, and gently fall into the courtyard. The ground was covered with wild grass.
Wormwood can even squeeze out green grass from the gaps in the wooden steps of the main house.
He didn't pay attention to the left and right wing rooms surrounded by weeds, and walked straight into the main hall with a lantern. The ground was covered with thick dust, and the tables and shrines were evenly covered with dust. Judging from the situation, no one had come here for two or three years.
However, this way there is no need to worry about Zhang Kuo having other accomplices.
The two side rooms on the left and right of the main hall are separated by wooden partitions. They are completely empty inside, and the clay pots in the corners don't look like any kind of mechanism.
He stood in front of the hall and meditated for a long time, replacing himself with the identity of a bandit. He thought about a person who grew up in a poor family and left the Tang army to become a bandit to make a fortune. Where should he hide the money he robbed?
The key above should be useful.
There is no need to think about mysterious mechanisms, where breaking an object can cause a wall to rumble open. There are specialties in the art, and bandits cannot do such exquisite things. Even if someone could do it, Zhang Kuo would not do it.
Please, the fewer people know about the ill-gotten gains in his hands, the better.
What could an uneducated but knowledgeable person who had served as a soldier for two years create anything? He tried to walk into the partition room and lifted up the straw mat on the ground. There were only green bricks underneath. He stepped on
Stomping back and forth on the green bricks, he found that there were some empty spaces below. He stepped on the empty spaces one by one to the root of the wall, and when he touched the wall, he felt that there was a layer of hemp paper on the wall.
He raised the lantern and looked carefully, and found that there was an imperceptible gap in the hemp paper. He took out a short knife from his waist, inserted it gently through the gap, and pried it from left to right. He felt that it was loose. It must be that the entire wall panel had moved.
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Li Siye dismantled the square wall panel and found an iron plate inside with a keyhole. The key could finally be put to use.
The key is very exquisitely made, with three front and rear teeth facing three directions respectively. He inserted the key into the hole and unlocked the first tooth before turning it, and then penetrated into the second tooth. Only after three consecutive unlockings could the iron plate be unlocked.
After being pushed inside, a dark staircase descending was revealed.
"He is indeed greedy for money..." A woman's sinister laughter came from the door.