Wang Chao and Ma Han lit torches and walked out of the official road in the mountain and out of the mountain pass. The night wind was tighter, and the torches in his hands swayed from side to side, and it was bitterly cold.

The two knew that they could not walk at night, so they put out their torches and looked around, hoping to see a place where there were lights or human voices, and it was not very far from Yangzhou City, and it was impossible that there would be no village.

However, it is dark and vast all around, there is no light to be seen, the village is more than frugal, Mo said that it is almost two watches now, even if it is earlier, as long as it gets dark, the people are also blowing the lamp to sleep, and the year of the catastrophe is not full, who will waste the lamp oil money.

The two were a little disappointed, and suddenly there was a squirming movement in front of them, as if someone was walking along the official road; Wang Chao quietly pulled Ma Han by the hand, and the two slowly pulled the horse to the side of the road, waiting quietly, and heard someone in front of them talking softly, walking towards this side as they spoke.

"Brother Li, I'm afraid I'm going to go back empty-handed tonight, the weather is so cold, I'm afraid the yellow wolves and rabbits don't want to come out to look for food."

"Yes, this year's situation is really not smooth, the crops are not successful, even the small beasts in the field are a lot less, and I am counting on catching some wild things to sell for money, and there is no New Year's goods at home, but I am sad."

"Hey......! I hope to survive this famine year, but I hope that next year will be smooth and rainy, and we will be satisfied if we can eat and feed our family. ”

The two talked while slowly approaching the hiding place of Wang Dynasty Mahan, and Wang Chao suddenly appeared, lighting the fire fold, and the frightened two people were stunned, thinking that they had seen a ghost, and turned around to escape.

Wang Chao hurriedly shouted: "Two big brothers, slow down, we are nocturnal walkers, don't be afraid." ”

The two of them turned around suspiciously, and asked in trembling voices, "Are you really human?" Not a strongman or a lonely ghost? ”

Wang Chao said with a smile: "I came from Yangzhou City, I didn't expect this official road to be so difficult, I thought I could find a place to stay before sunset, but I didn't expect it to be dark in the mountains, and I groped all the way to here; The two eldest brothers are people around here? ”

The two of them saw that the dynasty was talking kindly, so they dared to come up slowly, and one of them gathered some hay and made a fire on the side of the road, so that they could see each other's true face; These two people were in their thirties, and they looked very capable, but their bodies were in tatters, each carrying a large bamboo basket behind him, holding an iron-headed pitchfork in his hand, and several bundles of rope on his shoulder.

The two of them also saw the dress of the dynasty Ma Han and the two horses, and immediately said in awe: "It turned out to be two poor masters, and the grass people were offended." ”

Wang Chao beckoned the two to sit around the fire, and said with a smile: "The two eldest brothers turned out to be hunters, no wonder they are still walking outside in the middle of the night, but it's hard." ”

One of the black and thin men arched his hand and said: "What the poor master said is that the fifth king of the grass people, that one is my brother Li Hu of the same village, and the two of us are doing this night hunt for a living; However, I don't specialize in this, but I come out to set traps in the winter leisure season, catch some hares, yellow wolves, roe deer, etc., and sell them in restaurants in the city for some rice and oil money. ”

Wang Chao said with a smile: "The two eldest brothers will live, and it is also their duty to work hard to support their families." ”

Li Hu, who was a little fatter, said: "There is no way, poor master, who doesn't want to sleep at home in the winter with a hot quilt, but the rice oil at home is exhausted, there is an old lady, and there are three or four children to feed, and it is helpless to see that it is the New Year's Festival again." ”

Ma Han said: "How's the harvest tonight?" ”

Wang Wu frowned and said: "Don't mention it, nothing has been found in the past few days, and the traps laid are empty, no, Brother Li Hu and I have walked all the way, and the traps in the fields have not been found, and we have not even caught a wild mouse." ”

Li Hu also said: "This year is a year of famine, and many people are starving to death, and I am afraid that the wild animals have nothing to eat, and the number is much less than in previous years." ”

Wang Chao asked tentatively, "Have you two been hunting outside since the beginning of winter?" ”

Li Hu said: "In previous years, there was also a break every other day, because in previous years, the harvest of the acres at home was good, and if you don't come out, you can mix food and clothing, but this year's situation is worrying, and you can only come out every night to try your luck, to eat, to dress, it is also unthinkable." ”

Wang Chao said: "I see, since the two of you come out every night, I want to ask the two of you one thing." ”

Li Hu and Wang Wujun said: "The poor master is so polite, what do you want to ask?" ”

Wang Chao said: "About ten days ago, did a large group of chariots and horses pass by on this official road? ”

Li Hu and Wang Wu glanced at each other, shook their heads at the same time and said, "I haven't seen it." ”

Wang Dynasty looked at the eyes of the two, seemed to be a little scared, and his demeanor was a little untrue, so he smiled: "Don't hide it from the two of you, the two of us are the subordinates of Master Su, the grain envoy in Yangzhou City, and I went out of the city so late because my family found a clue to smuggle grain, and there was a profiteer in the city who hoarded all the grain and wanted to take advantage of this year's famine to make a fortune; My lord was sent by the imperial court to investigate these people; The two of you must understand that once these grains are found out, my family will definitely help the people, like the families of the two eldest brothers, the imperial court will definitely have relief grains to tide over the difficulties of this winter. ”

Li Hu and Wang Wu were silent, Wang Wu looked at Li Hu, and Li Hu shook his head slightly.

Mahan saw that these two people must have been untruthful, and they were about to have a seizure; Wang Chao hurriedly grabbed him and said with a smile: "If the two of you really don't know, it's okay, if you really know, the person who provides the clue will be rewarded." ”

After that, he reached into his arms, took out the money bag he was carrying, and said: "There are five big money here, and the right should be rewarded, if what is said is true, there is another reward." ”

Wang Wu looked at the heavy money bag, a little moved, and just wanted to speak, Li Hu hurriedly grabbed his sleeve and pulled it and said: "Two poor masters, it's not that we don't want to receive the reward, it's just that we really didn't see it; The Lord Su you are talking about is Su Qingtian, who opened a warehouse to release grain some time ago and destroyed the bandits of Bagong Mountain? ”

Wang Chao said: "It is my son-in-law." ”

Li Hu said: "We and other grass people have also received Su Qingtian's favor, and they also entered the city to greet Su Qingtian on the day of the triumph of exterminating the bandits. ”

Wang Dynasty suddenly realized, these two people didn't know, but they didn't believe that they and Ma Han, it was true that they met in Pingshui, and they didn't know each other for tea time, and it was really difficult to teach people to believe it with just one sentence of their own; However, the flame of hope ignited in the hearts of the dynasty, these two people are so cautious, I am afraid that they know more than they imagined, and as a common person, there is such a high level of vigilance, it will not be without reason.

"It turns out that the two of you don't believe that the two of us are the people next to Master Su, indeed, the two of us are private investigators, and I don't have any documents on my body, but I can tell you two about my son-in-law's experience and appearance, presumably there are a lot of rumors about my son-in-law, but there are some things you must not know."

"Oh? I would like to hear about it. Li Hu said with interest.

"When you ask my son-in-law when he will triumph, even if such a question is answered, how can I prove the identity of my son-in-law, because this matter has caused a sensation in the world, and the entire Yangzhou City, and even Huainan Road know what happened that day, so I won't say it; On that day, the Mahan brothers and I rode down and followed the prince, I was wearing gray armor, and he was wearing black, so you must not have paid attention to the two of us. ”

"This ...... I really didn't pay attention. ”

Dynasty Mahan was devastated, and the two of them deliberately dressed up that day, dressed shrewdly and capably, and sat on the horse with a majestic spirit, but they didn't expect that in the eyes of the people, they didn't have the impression of the two of them at all; What's even more infuriating is that these two guys won't even flatter a lie, and they just say that they didn't pay attention, which is really a waste of the day's pretentiousness.

"Hmm...... Where to start, let me tell you a few things you don't know, my son-in-law is from Luzhou, and his family is one of the four wealthy businessmen in Luzhou. Later, we followed the prince to Ying Tianfu Academy to study, no one in Ying Tianfu did not know the name of my son-in-law, and had been favored by the grandfather, dreaming of my son-in-law, and then the three envoys appreciated, the emperor specially summoned my son-in-law, entrusted with the responsibility of the grain affairs envoy, and then went to Yangzhou to do an errand. ”

Li Hu hurriedly said: "You have been following Su Qingtian during this period? ”

Mahan glared and said, "How can you not believe it?" Tell you, I know what color my son-in-law's underwear is, but you two fools don't believe it, just ask, let's find someone else to ask. ”

Li Hu said: "Don't worry, let me ask the last question, what is hanging on your son-in-law's waist?" ”

Ma Han blinked and said, "On the waist? Nothing but a belt? ”

Li Hu's face changed, and Wang Chao hurriedly said: "He is a Hun person, I don't care about this, let me tell you, my son-in-law has a jade pendant hanging on his waist for many years, and this jade pendant is called the big three-yuan jade pendant, hmm...... I might as well tell you some secrets, this jade pendant is a gift from a confidant of a red fan before the prince went to study in Yingtian Academy, which means that I hope that my son-in-law will have three yuan in high school and soar. ”

Li Hu was overjoyed and said: "If this is the case, it seems that the two of them are indeed Su Qingtian's companions, Su Qingtian has a very high reputation among the people, originally I didn't notice any big three-yuan jade pendant, or that day the rich man in the village Mr. Wu mentioned this matter to us when he was basking in the sun at the head of the village, Mr. Wu was well-informed, he said that the jade pendant on Su Qingtian's waist was called Da Sanyuan, which was quite precious, how could I and other grass people know this; The two of them can even know this, so it must be true. ”

Wang Chao rolled his eyes and said in his heart: "I have said so much, it is not as big as a jade pendant, I knew this, why should I spend so much effort?" ”

Once their identities were proven, Li Hu and Wang Wu immediately became polite, squatting on the side of the road was not a thing, and the two immediately invited the two to rest in their own courtyard in the village east of the mountain, and woke up the Hun family to peel and cook a full casserole of the game they had hunted a few days ago, and several people chatted while eating.