Chapter 21 Chapter 21 Qingshui Yulansheng (1)

In the third year of Yuanqing, after the Waking of Insects, the spring breeze blows into Yumen Pass, and everything recovers. At midnight, the jade bow was hidden in the clouds, and Baolu Town in Suzhou was shrouded in darkness and silence. Lan Sheng saw off the last drunken guest, yawned, and wanted to put away in the darkness. The wine flag fluttering faintly in the middle, slowly crossed the threshold, but he tripped over a black thing halfway and almost fell down. He quickly stabilized his body, looked back, and saw the black thing The thing seemed to be moving, so he sat up slowly and barked at him a few times. He jumped up and took a closer look, but it turned out to be a big black dog. Waiting obediently for his master, staring at him with two bright black eyes, making him furious for no reason, he patted his chest: "So it's Xiao Zhong."

The black dog rested its front paws on his arm, and stuck out its big tongue at him haha. Lan Sheng was amused, and sat on the threshold, stroking the little black dog: "Come and find your father!" The black dog barked twice as an answer, and Lan Sheng sighed: "What a good boy, but your father seems to have left through the back door and went to the casino." The black dog stared at Lan Sheng's mouth thoughtfully, as if trying to figure out the meaning, then turned his head and looked in the direction of the casino. Lan Sheng poked his head inward to make sure that the shopkeeper had already rested, so he took the leftover chicken bones from the guests, handed them to Xiao Zhong, and said seriously: "I haven't eaten yet, I'll go find your father after eating some Well, I think your father is in a good mood, so he can't keep it and spend the night there, if he doesn't eat, he will be hungry all night."

Xiao Zhong obediently squatted in front of Lan Sheng, sniffed the earthen plate, and then started to eat voraciously. Lan Sheng looked at Xiao Zhong's eating, breathed into his hands, rubbed his hands together, and said in a low voice: "I think your father may go to Qiuxiang Pavilion to find a good match later. I asked him to give the hairpin to Miss Qiaoqiao for me last time. I don't know where to give it." Lan Sheng babbled about his thoughts to Heigou as if he were an old friend, from the petty shopkeeper to Qiaoqiao, the top card in Qiuxiang Pavilion he admired. Listen patiently to him.

The black dog barked at Lan Sheng, lowered its head and began to sniff towards the casino, but stopped suddenly, looked around vigilantly, then ran back to Lan Sheng anxiously, biting his sleeve and dragging him out , Lan Sheng wondered: "Xiao Zhong, why are you still hungry, I'll find you something to eat, but just order it, I'm sleepy, I need to sleep..." The strength of the black dog suddenly increased, and he dragged Lan Sheng in. Fortunately, he added more clothes in late autumn and early winter, and the dog's teeth did not bite Lan Sheng, but he still bit his sleeve. He was so tired that he was half dead, and he only had these few winter clothes for a year. Even though he liked Xiao Zhong so much, he was annoyed this time, and was about to have a fit when he heard the sound of horseshoes in the distance.

After a while, there was noise outside the door, Lan Sheng wanted to go out curiously, the black dog was biting his sleeve desperately, he picked up the chair angrily and was about to drive the dog away, but the boss who was already lying down nervously put on his clothes. After getting out of the clothes, the candlestick in his hand kept shaking, and he asked in panic, "Lan Sheng, what's wrong?" Lan Sheng was about to answer, but the black dog let him go in fear, and turned towards the back door in a hurry. A dozen or so men in black stopped at the door, and they were the first to shout, "Young student, is this Baolu Town?"

Lan Sheng nodded, and the big man ran to a slender figure wearing a black gauze in the middle, and whispered a few words respectfully, as if he was talking about blocking the square or something. Sheng caught a glimpse of the man's beautiful eyes shining purple under the dim light, like the eyes of a wild wolf, the big man came back again, and said coldly: "We want to stay in the hotel, looking for three superior rooms." The shopkeeper came down and stammered: "The guest rooms are full, all..." Before the words fell, the big man stared at him, and the shopkeeper shrank back, leaving only a trembling voice to Lan Sheng: "Lan Sheng, you are so good at serving the guests."

The purple pupils behind the black veil vaguely swept towards Lan Sheng, and his heart was tangled up in fright. The world has not been peaceful for the past few years, and there are terrible legends about Xiliang horse thieves and Nether sects circulating inside and outside the pass. He tried his best to hold on Xinshen: "Guest...guan...guan, I dare not lie...to lie...you, there are only two middle-class rooms and one low-class room left." The leading man frowned, as if he was going to have a fit, and the black-veiled woman called out softly, "Qiao Wan, you are away from home, so don't be so fussy."

The big man named Qiao Wan made a noise, and threw a bright object from his arms with squinted eyes: "Your reward." Lan Sheng was trembling, and took it for a closer look, his hands trembling excitedly. It turned out that it was a piece of silver. Lan Sheng's mixed vitality seemed to surge, so he led everyone up to the third floor. The Mrs. Hei Sha was guarded by all the big men. Lan Sheng was not only dumbfounded when she saw it, but suddenly remembered that a scholar who lived in their inn the year before last shook his head and recited an article. However, this lady is obviously covered with a veil, and she is three points more beautiful than her dream lover, Qiaoqiao.

After setting up the horses, Lan Sheng brought hot water to each house, and finally came to the lady's room, someone stopped him and asked in a deep voice: "Xiaoer, you can hear that some people here buy two catties of rice wine every day, half a day. A person who pours salt?" Lan Sheng rubbed his forehead and thought for a while, then nodded: "Guest officer, can you ask that Jiao Da is a turtle slave in Qiuxiang Pavilion? Now he is the only one who comes to beat two catties of yellow sprinkles and half a bag of salt every day." The big man's eyes shot out, and the scar on his face became even more distorted. He grabbed Lan Sheng and said sharply, "Where is he now?"

"He is a well-known bad gambler in the local area," Lan Sheng stammered, pointing at the gambling house with his fingers like autumn leaves in the wind: "80% of them are blocking visits now. Could it be that you are debt collectors?" "Qiao Wan let go," came a soft voice, which turned out to be the lady, "what's the name of this little brother?" Qiao Wan let go of Lan Sheng as he said, and he quickly leaned over and replied, "Madam will call the little Lan Sheng." "Brother Lan Sheng, to tell you the truth, the concubine and the servant came out to visit relatives who had been lost for many years." The lady sighed: "Then, is there any relative in the Jiao family?"

Lan Sheng nodded: "Exactly, this Jiao Da is a bad gambler. He even gambled away his ancestral house this year, and almost sold his wife to Qiuxiang Pavilion. His wife fell ill in a fit of anger. He didn't come out for a year, and he had no money to see a doctor for his wife, so he asked for a folk prescription from the temple in front of him. Every day, he would come to our inn to buy two catties of rice wine and half a pot of salt, which he said was used to mix the red willow leaves. , to wipe her wife's body." "Could it be that Jiao Da is Madam's lost relative?" Lan Sheng asked suspiciously. The lady was silent for a while, and glanced at the big man named Qiao Wan through the black veil, but Lan Sheng was sure by the light of the fire that the lady really had a pair of strange purple pupils. "Brother Lan Sheng, we are foreigners. It is very inconvenient to walk outside. I am most afraid of disturbing your land. Please don't spread the news." After finishing speaking, as soon as he raised his hand, Qiao Wan rewarded him two taels of silver with a sullen face. Surprised and delighted, Lan Sheng slept restlessly guarding the four taels of silver that night, and woke up the next day with the sound of cocks crowing. Lan Sheng jumped out of bed, and after careless washing, he opened the shop door to do business. , but saw an honest-looking villager sleeping at the door of the inn with his sleeves wrapped around his sleeves. Lan Sheng called out, "Jiao Da." The man was snoring, turned over, Lan Sheng called again and again, kicked Jiao Da hard, then woke up, yawned, red nose, sleepy eyes and said: " Two taels of high-quality rice wine, half a pot of salt." Lan Sheng said contemptuously, "Jiao Da, do you have money to pay the bill today?" Jiao Da seemed to be fully awake, and snorted heavily: "Little boy, when did I ever rely on you, Mr. Jiao? I have plenty of money, but I was thinking about not scaring you, you brat." Lan Sheng laughed, then stretched out his five fingers expressionlessly: "Bring me the money." Jiao Da spit on the bluestone slab, murmured a few words, touched a few copper coins in his arms, counted them one by one for a long time, and then handed them out distressedly: "It's all that damned woman If you cause trouble, take it, it's just eight pennies." Lan Sheng scolded the rotten gambler in his heart, and took a long time to get the eight coins from Jiao Da's filthy hands, counted them, and said in a low voice: "Hey! Did you give the hairpin to Miss Qiaoqiao for me? " Jiao Da hesitated and hawed for a long time, and was about to run away, but before taking a half step away, he stopped there suddenly, staring blankly at the eight horses in the stable. Lan Sheng was about to ask him to get the hairpin back, but he saw fear in Jiao Da's eyes that he had never seen before. Even the gambling thugs came to the door and threatened to take his skin to pay off the debt. He was never so scared. , as if seeing a ghost all at once. Thinking of what the lady said last night, Lan Sheng was about to speak, but Jiao Da left without looking back, not even asking for wine. "Jiao Da, Jiao Da?" Lan Sheng yelled loudly, but he didn't see him turning his head. Looking at Jiao Da's back running away, he could only scold him as a rotten gambler. As soon as he turned around, he saw a person standing in front of him. It was Qiao Wan from last night. Lan Sheng was startled: "Guest officer, what do you want?" Qiao Wan didn't answer him, his copper-bell-sized eyes just looked at the direction where Jiao Da disappeared for a while, his eyes flickered, and he turned and left silently. As the morning sun rises, the first thing the shopkeeper does when he wakes up is to ask Lan Sheng about the miracle of last night, and Lan Sheng still answers, except for the four taels of silver. The shopkeeper went to the upper room to greet him in person, but was blocked by a few black-clothed house slaves who waited outside, so he had no choice but to return disappointed. Qingshui Town is a small town. Even the owner and his wife quarreled, and the old man of the West had mustard greens on his body, which would be talked about for a long time. What's more, such a mysterious guest came. Talking quietly with a few regular customers about the mysterious guest from last night, Lan Sheng couldn't help but think that Jiao Da seemed to have forgotten to take the two taels of high-quality rice wine and half a pot of salt. Ri Lansheng was free this day, so he took the rice wine and salt and went to Jiao's house. Mingyue seems to be hiding with Lansheng, hiding under the dense dark clouds for a long time. This small street that has been walked thousands of times, suddenly grows longer. Nearby, there was a strange burning smell. Lan Sheng raised his head, but saw a wisp of black smoke rising in the distance under the faint moonlight, which was barely visible in the night. There were a few lights on. Feeling bad, Lan Sheng ran quickly and came to the door of Jiao Da's house, the dilapidated shed had already been turned into scorched earth. Lan Sheng covered his mouth, wondering where he was, and was about to rush in, but there were figures flickering in the scorched earth. The leader with a pair of purple pupils was exceptionally bright in the dark night, like a monster. It was the purple-eyed lady from the inn, she slightly opened her red lips, and the most beautiful and coldest voice in the world sounded: "She is not here, we have fallen into a trick to divert the tiger away from the mountain." Qiao Wan's voice came with some doubts: "Only two taels of rice wine and half a pot of salt can be effective. Our dark men have checked here for the past two years, and it is indeed correct." "Idiot, this Jiao Da knew that he was tortured to extract a confession, so he set himself on fire and died. It can be seen that he just wanted to cut off all the clues, so that we can't continue to investigate." She snorted coldly, and her purple pupils shone in the moonlight: "In this world Someone bought rice wine and salt to hide her, so the rice wine and salt workshop can't hide people?" "It's still the master who is thoughtful, and the villain will go now." The purple-eyed lady shook her head lightly, and sighed: "I'm afraid it's too late, don't you forget, that guy mentioned that Jiao Da has a very obedient black dog, and now Jiao Da's family is burned, but the black dog doesn't know I think it was the first moment we arrived, so we reported the news, the nobleman in Xiying is good at taming wild animals, it's not like you don't know."