"This is not the place to talk. Dad, you go upstairs first. I'll explain it to you in a moment."

Cao Yuechan said, regardless of Lao Cao's strong opposition, she ordered the guys to start going to the door to close the silver number.

went upstairs, and without waiting for Lao Cao's thunderous question, Cao Yuechan directly picked up a letter on the table and handed it to Lao Cao, asking him to read it.

Lao Cao pressed his temper, unfolded the letter, frowned when he saw it, and complained: "Who can write this?" It's crooked like a dog. Huh......"

The more he looked at it, the more solemn his face became, and the hand holding the letter trembled.

"Hiss~~ Chan'er, what he said is true?" After reading the letter, Lao Cao trembled and handed the letter back to Cao Yuechan, and asked in disbelief.

Cao Yuechan bowed slightly, and said softly: "He doesn't dare to joke about this kind of thing, and his Cui family accounts for the majority of the Jufenglong Silver Account, and it is impossible to make fun of the closure for three days." And Daddy, didn't you hear about it in the morning? A notice was posted at the east gate, saying that the city gate was temporarily closed. I'm afraid ......"

"It's over~ Qingyuan County is going to suffer a catastrophe!" Lao Cao made a bitter face, sighed and said, "This mountain bandit has guarded the East Gate Tower, and the county government has been occupied by the mountain bandits, and even the county lord has been secretly held hostage by the mountain bandits." Oh my God, the founding of the Tang Dynasty has been around for nearly a hundred years, which is simply unheard of! Chan'er, what can I do, Jufenglong has just improved, and the sky in Qingyuan County is about to fall! ”

Cao Yuechan saw that Lao Cao had panicked, and hurriedly persuaded: "Daddy, don't worry!" Didn't we receive Cui Erlang's letter in time, and weren't we deceived into going to the county government for a banquet? If you really believe what this invitation says, you will be doomed. The daughter just didn't expect that Hu Countyling, as a dignified Tang Liupin official and a parent official in charge of Qingyuan County, would be at the mercy of mountain bandits for his life, and personally drafted and sent out so many invitations, deceiving the businessmen and wealthy households in the county to go to the county government. ”

"Oh, don't care if he is a county order or a county order Zhang, Chan'er, Qingyuan County is now secretly controlled by mountain bandits, what can we do?"

Cao Tian was so anxious that he stomped his feet and urged: "The mountain bandits must have come to the city for money, we have so many depositors' silver stored in the Fenglong Silver Horn, in case it is looted by the mountain bandits, my God!" This was hollowed out by your father's coffin, and you can't pay for it! ”

Cao Yuechan couldn't help but laugh lightly: "Dad, didn't Cui Erlang say it?" Let us close the silver account earlier, and transfer the silver money first? After a while, you put up a notice saying that the proprietor is happy and will be closed for three days. Let's take all the money away, and the people will hide with them for three days. Waiting for the arrival of reinforcements from Quanzhou Mansion and the extermination of the mountain bandits, it is not too late for Jufenglong Silver to resume business. ”

"You said it lightly, the only way out of the city is blocked by mountain bandits, where else can I transfer the money?" The more Lao Cao spoke, the more panicked he became.

"The letter said that the mountain bandits are only sixty or seventy people, and the county is so big, can you still find a hidden place to hide silver? My daughter had already thought about it, and before the bandits started to act in the evening, we would take our men to transfer the money. The transfer place daughter also thought about it, and it was in the ......"

……

……

East of the city, Yingchun Fang.

The mansion of the county Cheng Chen Ziang is located here.

It stands to reason that Chen Ziang, as a county magistrate, should live in Chongwenfang, the best and most expensive place in Qingyuan City.

However, since he was transferred to Qingyuan, there has been no empty house for sale in this Chongwen Fang. Besides, don't look at Chen Ziang as a Beijing official, from Chang'an, the imperial capital at the foot of the Son of Heaven, it seems to be very remarkable, but in fact, Chen Ziang is very poor and has no savings at all.

He was originally from the Shehong clan in Zizhou, Shuzhong, and his family was just an ordinary family, not from a big family. Although Chen Ziang is said to be the Beijing official of Chang'an, but the Beijing official is also divided into large and small, high and low, he is just the right remnant of the seventh grade of Zhongshu Province, and he does all the errands of admonishment and ridicule, and is a clear water official who has no oil and water and offends people.

Moreover, Chen Ziang is an honest official, and he is light on money and generous to his friends, and often uses his own money to help those poor friends around him. Therefore, in the long run, Chen Ziang did not say that he had no savings, and even this time he was demoted from Chang'an to Qingyuan, he relied on those poor friends in Chang'an to make up the travel expenses.

After Qingyuan became the county leader, not to mention that there were no vacant mansions for sale in the Chongwenfang area, even if there were, Chen Ziang couldn't afford to buy them.

So he bought a small courtyard in Yingchunfang, but fortunately, there were not many people in his family, except for his wife, there was only a maid who married his wife. There are only three people in the family from top to bottom, and the independent courtyard is more than enough.

Approaching evening, the weather was a little cold, Chen Ziang asked his wife to get a robe for him, and prepared to go to the county office.

His wife, Chen, is the daughter of Chen Ziang's mentor when he was a student, virtuous and virtuous, and has a bodhisattva heart.

Before Chen Ziang was admitted to the Jinshi, she married Chen Ziang, and she shared ups and downs.

Chen took his coat from the bedroom, gently draped it on her husband's body, and said softly, "Husband, isn't it Xiumu today?" Why do you have to go to the county government on a business trip? And you're running out when it's almost dinner......"

During the Qin and Han dynasties, the habit of washing hair every three days and bathing every five days had been formed. Therefore, the government will give a holiday every five days for officials and servants to go home to bathe, and this holiday is called "rest and bath".

"Who's to say it isn't?"

Chen Ziang shook his head a little helplessly, and said: "An hour ago, Hu County sent someone to send an invitation, saying that he was going to hold a banquet in the county office, and invited those businessmen and wealthy households in the city to discuss county affairs. No, let me also attend the feast. So Madame doesn't have to wait for me for dinner, you can eat it yourself. ”

"Oh, since it's the county that invites you to discuss business, it's time to go."

Chen gently dusted off the robe that had just been draped on Chen Ziang's body with his hand, nodded and said, "By the way, I heard that the east gate was closed during the day today, saying that it was a mountain bandit outside the city, and the city would be closed for three or four days." Tomorrow, I will ask Cui'er to buy more rice and come back, so that the rice merchants will take the opportunity to increase the price arbitrarily. ”

"Snort...... My wife, you are a dignified county lady, who dares to raise the price of your rice? ”

Chen Ziang touched Chen's head dotingly, and said happily: "It is estimated that Hu County's order to summon the county's businessmen, gentry and wealthy households to the county government for a banquet is mainly for the rampant bandits outside the city and how to calm the people's hearts in the city during this time. Rest assured, in less than three or four days, Quanzhou Mansion will definitely send heavy troops to exterminate the mountain bandits outside the city, and the east gate will be reopened at that time. Just let Cui'er buy some rice casually, you don't have to buy too much. ”

"Hmm." Chen responded.

"Okay, let's go to the county government for my husband first."

With that, Chen Ziang turned around and walked out of the house and walked towards the courtyard door.

As soon as the bolt of the door was pulled, there was a creak, and the courtyard door was pushed open from the outside to the inside.

Chen Ziang was almost knocked to the ground by the courtyard gate, and shouted angrily: "Who is reckless outside this official courtyard?" ”

"It's me, Chen Xiancheng."

As soon as this person's voice fell, Chen Ziang heard the voice of the person.

He looked up in surprise, looked at the other party and asked, "How could it be you?" County Lieutenant Cui, didn't you say that you went to Putian County to arrest the suspect? When did you come back? I heard that mountain bandits are rampant outside the city, have you ever fought with mountain bandits on the way back? Is there something wrong with coming to me at this time? ”

Chen Ziang crackled and asked for a while, and Cui Geng didn't know which question to answer first.

Immediately, he shrugged his shoulders with a smile and asked, "I'll talk about it later, where is Chen Xiancheng going?" ”

Chen Ziang said: "County government." ”

Cui Geng asked again: "But Hu County invited you to go to the county government for a banquet and discuss county affairs?" ”

"Yes," Chen Ziang was not surprised that Cui Geng knew, because he was also an official of Qingyuan County, since he was going to discuss county affairs, in his opinion, Hu Zeyi invited him, and he would definitely invite Cui Geng, the lieutenant of Qingyuan County.

Cui Gengyou smiled at all and asked, "Doesn't Chen Xiancheng feel strange at all?" Isn't it just to discuss things, Hu County's order sent a personal notice, why do you want to send you an invitation in a crowd? And today is a holiday, not only the officials are on holiday, but the officials and miscellaneous servants in the entire Qingyuan County Yali are all on holiday, why do you have to choose this time to invite so many people to the county government for a banquet? ”

Chen Ziang was a little puzzled when he heard Cui Geng's words, and wondered: "Why did County Lieutenant Cui say this?" What exactly are you trying to say? ”

"Also, today is the day of rest, the tolerance to send you invitations, either the porter, or those grooms or handymen, do you remember the appearance of the people who came, have you seen them before??"

Cui Geng did not answer Chen Ziang directly, but said to himself: "Besides! How important is the closure of the city, Hu County's order is to close the east gate without permission, and to issue a notice, have you ever informed me? Chen Xiancheng doesn't think all kinds of things are weird? ”

"Huh? When you say that, I think it's a bit counterintuitive. ”

Chen Ziang also pondered for a while after hearing this, his face suddenly changed drastically, his voice trembled a little, and asked, "County Lieutenant Cui, you... Do you know something? ”

"Chen Xiancheng, standing at the gate of the courtyard is not your hospitality, right?"

Cui Geng touched his nose and said with a smile: "Why don't you invite me into the hospital first, and the family will say?" ”

"Oh oh oh, it's Chen's negligence, come on, Lieutenant Cui, please come in quickly!"

……

……

At this time, it is getting darker and darker.

An endless stream of people holding invitations walked into the gate of the county government, gathered in the lobby courtyard, and greeted each other.

And the county commander Hu Zeyi, the main master, has not yet appeared.

He was hiding in the corridor where the second hall of the lobby was at the junction, watching the visitors in the courtyard of the lobby with the one-eyed dragon and the others.

"It's almost time, Master Fang, you count the number of people first, is it that all the candidates on your list are there?" The one-eyed dragon asked.

"Don't worry, since someone entered the lobby, I have been counting the number of people against the list."

After Fang Ming carefully compared, he said, "There are a lot of people here, but there are also many people missing. ”

"Huh?"

The one-eyed dragon's face sank suddenly, and he asked, "Who are they missing?" ”

"There is less Chen Xiancheng, there is less of the Cao family who gathers Fenglong Yinhao, and there is less Tian Wenkun of the North and South Warehouse! Hey? ”

Fang Ming suddenly found that Cui Geng was missing, and couldn't help gritting his teeth and hating: "What's the matter? Since Cui Erlang is not in Qingyuan County, then Cui's Wine House should send his second mother, why didn't this mother-in-law come? ”

After a while, the one-eyed dragon grabbed Hu Zeyi's collar and scolded: "How can there be so many fewer people? One less person, Lao Tzu will earn a lot less silver, do you know? Didn't you deliberately miss the invitations of several of them? ”

"No, it's written against the candidates on your list, wronged, hero!"

Hu Zeyi made a bitter face and begged for mercy and explained: "Good man, think about it, Wu Gongli of Tianshun Qianzhuang and Shi Wu Gongyi, the county's money-catching order, are both relatives under him, and even I sent invitations to both of them according to the list, how could I miss other families?" There must be other hidden secrets in it, and I can't blame it for this! ”

This book was first published in Reading Books