"Is there still no news about your husband?" Inside the embroidery curtain, Wei Changying, who had changed into a brand-new plain clothes, sighed slightly. Although Chang County is only two or three hundred miles away from the imperial capital, the Wei family only has a few shops here. industry, there is no particularly capable manpower. As the chief industrial manager of Changxian County, Shi Lin was considered a very smart person, but half of his smartness was in managing the property and half in serving the master's family. He was not good at gathering information in the chaos of war.
So Wei Changying and his party tidied up at Shi's house and stayed in the Wei family's villa in Chang County for two days. Shi Lin didn't find out what Wei Changying wanted to know.
However, it was a few days ago that the Xuanjia Guards were defeated due to internal strife and the remnant troops broke out to Yanzhou. As a result, Su Xiu Ming and Shen Zangfeng's uncle and nephew from Yanzhou broke out. Even though Chang County is relatively remote, Shi Lin has heard of it. But hearing this news made the group almost want to vomit blood - after arriving in Chang County, because they had initially settled down, everyone finally had time to gather together and talk about what happened before and after the breakout.
During the breakout, the reason why the royal family and the nobles all took the east gate was because the west gate was in urgent need at that time, so everyone chose the opposite east gate... But Pei Yu and Gu Xinian were originally among the candidates for the breakout from their respective families. He said that he was also a valued disciple in the clan, but he knew the inside story of the so-called Xuan Jiawei's support in the east.
It is precisely because of this inside story that after they escaped from danger, although they were sad for those who could not leave, they were also full of expectations to be reunited with their relatives who had taken the first step... According to their thinking, even when they left the city, they were just a mere group of people. There were twenty or thirty guards guarding them, and two female relatives who didn't know how to do martial arts or even ride a horse. Even they were able to escape unscathed at the cost of more than a dozen guards. There were so many dead soldiers at the east gate, and they couldn't hold them back. Including the Shao Yulin Army, the losses are estimated to be similar to them.
But now that I have heard that Xuanjiawei has been destroyed long ago, I still don’t know that the “inside story” of the response is completely a trap... In that case, the people who take the east gate...
Everyone's hearts were suddenly cast into a shadow again!
Outside the embroidery curtain, Shi Lin cautiously reported: "I have sent out all the guys who can ride horses, but within a hundred miles of the imperial capital, there are often military activities. I am worried that the guys will be captured by the soldiers. It's not a big deal. As soon as the location of the eldest lady was revealed... Although Changxian County had escaped several military disasters due to its remoteness, it was not very far from the imperial capital. Now there is no King Qin's army nearby, so... "
In fact, he didn't send people that far at all!
Shi Lin is the steward who manages the shop for the Wei family, not a dead soldier who trains secret guards for the Wei family... The men under him are all ordinary people. Since they are ordinary people, how can they be the opponents of the Rong people
Not to mention the Rong people, but also the refugees and bandits who have formed the current climate, who would not be interested in the eldest daughter of the Wei family
It’s not that Wei Changying is famous for her beauty. With her status as the jewel in the eye of Ruiyu Hall and the direct daughter-in-law of the Shen family, even if she didn’t take anything with her when she was in trouble, she was still a walking golden mountain!
Shi Lin was not a son of the Wei family. After being sold into slavery, it only took him more than ten years to climb to the position of a county manager. He was naturally very scheming. Now that the eldest lady of the master's family is in trouble and wants to settle down, this is his chance. If he can make the eldest lady happy, the benefits will definitely come to him.
But what is more important than taking good care of the eldest lady is ensuring the eldest lady's safety - this is the most important thing!
Otherwise, if something happens to the eldest lady when she comes to his place, not only will he not get any credit, but it will be nice if he doesn't get ripped to death by the two ladies in charge who he is not even qualified to see!
Therefore, Shi Lin obeyed Wei Changying's instructions in every way, but after leaving the house, he only followed his own plan: first, find a doctor and his family who had previously treated Deng Wanwan, Yan Ge and others. He was imprisoned under the pretext to prevent the identity of Chief Guard Ying and others from being exposed; then he used the power of the Shi family in Suoyan Town to threaten and intimidate the whole town from revealing the news that strangers had arrived at the Shi family; the third thing was to order the people Calmly carrying out the orders of the Guard Chief Ying - to find out the whereabouts of those who broke out of the imperial capital and the whereabouts of Shen Zangfeng.
Oh, the third most important thing is not Wei Changying’s order, but his calmness!
Shi Ping, Shi Lin's son, was very worried about his father's actions: "What if the eldest lady finds out..."
"The eldest lady is still of use to our family now and will not do anything to us." Shi Lin smiled and taught his son, "The key is the eldest lady's safety! In the eyes of Mrs. Song and Mrs. Song, we receive the eldest lady and promise If you want to protect the safety of the eldest lady, you can use any means! As long as the eldest lady is good, any mistakes are minor and can be discussed!"
His face darkened and he warned, "On the contrary, once the eldest lady makes a mistake, it will be useless for us to make any contribution! So you remember, the people sent out to find out the information must be in our hands! Moreover, tell them that it is better not to get any information than to let people suspect that the eldest lady is in Chang County!"
Shi Ping looked at his father's expression, with a solemn heart, and lowered his hands and said, "Yes!" He added, "Even people in Suoyan Town know that although a stranger visited our home, he left the next day. . Besides, they may not dare to say it!”
"That's good." Shi Lin nodded, "I have sent someone to take a small road and travel at night to Fengzhou to report the news... From now on, our family will continue to be a moderate steward and show off in a small place like Suoyan Town, or will Seize this opportunity and rise to great wealth, but it all depends on your hard work!"
Everyone in the Shi family was urged by Shi Lin to seize this opportunity to rise to prominence at all costs. In addition, Guard Chief Ying was born aloof and had long been accustomed to the awe of his servants. Now that he was out of danger, most of his thoughts were on his separated family members. He never thought that a member of his mother's family would be killed. An ordinary steward who was not even qualified to meet her dared to deceive herself, the legitimate daughter of Ruiyu Hall.
Therefore, the Shilin family tried their best to conceal their whereabouts and carefully and conservatively inquired about the information she wanted... and actually hid everything from her.
After hearing Shi Lin's reasons, Wei Changying felt that they made sense. He sighed, waved his hand, and motioned for him to go down.
Shi Lin resigned just like that two days ago.
But this time, he hesitated and said: "Miss, I am incompetent and haven't found out the news about my uncle. But there is a piece of news that seems to have something to do with the nobles of the imperial capital... It's just that my knowledge is shallow and I don't know. Do you know if it’s accurate?”
Guard Chief Ying asked in surprise: "What news is it?"
"Yesterday noon, a boy who was sent to inquire about my uncle's whereabouts arrived in neighboring Jiuxian County. When he was working in a wine shop on the roadside outside the city, he saw children playing strangely outside the wine shop, so he stepped forward to stop and ask questions. Unexpectedly, I asked about something."
When Shi Lin said this, his face turned red. Apparently, this "playful play was different" and the things he was asked about made him confused about how to describe it to Wei Changying. He hesitated for a while and considered his words. The guard chief Ying was almost impatient, so he decided to skip all the detailed descriptions and get to the point directly, "It seems that a clan member passed by that wine shop."
"Clan?" Guard Chief Ying frowned and said, "Be more careful!"
Shi Lin thought to himself that this is what you asked me to say... He coughed dryly and said, "At the end of the day yesterday, dozens of horsemen escorting a carriage passed by, and they happened to be in this wine shop. This group of people is said to have simple clothes. , even the mount's fur has been soiled with snow, water and mud, so that the true face cannot be seen, and it is quite hidden. However, the eldest lady also knows that in this world... it is understandable that rich people are afraid of being coveted from afar. . So the people in the wine shop didn’t care and just served as usual.”
"But it was a naughty kid in the wine shop who happened to be... using the toilet at that time. He drove the two knights in the group to want... this... There was more than one place in the place. But the two men insisted on driving the kid away. , that child is very dissatisfied. There is no discipline for country children, so... "
Shling paused for a moment, then said with difficulty, "I took the slingshot I usually use to shoot birds, and wanted to hit the two people while they were using the toilet. I didn't want the child to go around behind and look through the gap, only to find that There is a physical difference between these two guards... Although this child is only six or seven years old, his parents are busy with their livelihood and have no time to educate them. They let him run around and hear many... many inappropriate and nasty remarks, so they are not very good at certain things. I know. So he was very surprised when he saw it, but he didn't pursue revenge. However... after the group left, he went to... take off his companion's clothes to check... but he happened to be seen by the boy who was sent out. , I took a few big bucks to coax him, and he said everything.”
"..." The embroidery curtain remained silent for a long time.
Wei Changying's face turned red and white...
Shi Lin was so embarrassed that he only dared to look at the blue bricks under his feet.
The master and servant were silent for a long time, then the guard chief Yingcai said: "Do you know who are the people being guarded?"
"I don't know." Although her words were lukewarm, no anger could be heard. Shi Lin secretly breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly said, "Because the people in the carriage never dismounted and only asked the knight to send some Hot water and soup noodles come in, and the portion is only for one or two people.”
Wei Changying bit her lip gently and pondered: "Someone from the clan escaped here. Could it be from the east gate? If so..." Thinking of her husband's whereabouts, her heart trembled and she prayed secretly, "I hope it's good." That’s good news!”
He ordered, "Hurry up and send someone to catch up and ask. If they are really coming from the imperial capital, tell them the names of Shen and Wei! Ask them to wait where they are or come here to meet them."
Shi Lin quickly agreed and was about to say that he had already done so when Wei Changying suddenly thought of something and asked: "Since this happened at noon yesterday, are these people in Jiuxian now? I remember that the Wei family is here There are also some industries in Jiuxian County?”
"What the eldest lady said is that the Wei family has four shops in Jiuxian County. The chief steward there is named Li, and he is familiar with the younger one." Shi Lin said, "It's just that the younger one didn't dare to reveal the whereabouts of the eldest lady, but he didn't Tell Manager Li that the eldest lady is in Chang County."
"Not to mention this, let me ask you, are there any big families in Jiuxian County?" Wei Changying asked.
Shi Lin said without hesitation: "Both Chang County and Jiuxian County are just remote places. The so-called wealthy families are just ordinary wealthy families, but they are not noble families."
"In addition to the Wei family, is there any property or management of other noble families in Jiuxian County?"
"Back to the eldest lady, the Quyin Min family also has some property, so there is a steward here. There is nothing else."
Wei Changying narrowed his eyes: "So, if this group of people enters Jiuxian County, they will most likely find Manager Li to settle them, right?"
Although the clan's family status among the six clans in the sea is still not as profound and noble as those who are members of the clan, in the past two hundred years, Guozuo has become accustomed to being superior to others and has distanced himself from the common people.
If this group of people wants to settle down in Jiuxian County, they will definitely not find those wealthy households who are not even small nobles - let alone stay in an inn.
Because an inn in a small place like Jiuxian is determined not to satisfy the real guests.
The wealthy households of the common people are not qualified to receive them, the inn is not qualified to receive them, and there are no wealthy nobles' mansions nearby, so they can only settle for the next best thing and find the servants of the wealthy families who manage the property here... These servants are capable of managing things. Those who have been trained by the master can serve more people than the wealthy common people and innkeepers.
Moreover, the property in their name can also be regarded as belonging to the master's family. In this way, their master's family will receive them... This is in line with the identity of the person being received...
Just like Wei Changying and his party, the Shi family in Suoyan Town are servants of the Wei family - but even if it is not the Wei family, it is the Song family, the Qian family, and the Duanmu family... Any noble family, they will go to the Shi family instead of the inn...
Shi Lin also understood this and said, "That's what I expected... It's just that Manager Li didn't know that the eldest lady was here, so he didn't report the news."
"Then don't let anyone know that I'm here!" behind the embroidery screen, Wei Changying said with a cold light in his eyes, "First, let's find out if these people are from the imperial capital, and which gate they left the imperial capital through. … Then let me know!” (To be continued)