After a stick of incense, Yao Xiaoba's family was brought to the government office. As Mu Qingshan said, the ancestors of the Yao family were villagers who settled here for generations, and they had never seen any big world, so they were suddenly taken to the government office. Ya, was naturally extremely nervous, trembling and afraid to even say a word.
Wen Liunian sat in the lobby with a dignified expression.
Yao Xiaoba's elder brother is named Yao Shan, about thirty years old, usually taciturn, now he doesn't know what to say, even his hands are trembling.
"Where did Yao Xiaoba go?" Wen Liunian asked.
"Back, back to my lord, Xiaoba has gone far away." Yao Shan answered with his head bowed.
"Going away, where did you go?" Wen Liunian asked again.
"The capital." Yao Shan said.
"I went to the capital ten days ago." Wen Liunian stroked his chin, "Riding a horse or walking?"
"Go, walk." Yao Shan stammered.
"Then we should have arrived at Ganping Town by now." Wen Liunian was thoughtful, and then he said loudly, "Come here!"
Yao Shan was so frightened that his legs became weak, and he thought he was going to be hit by a board.
"Here!" Two yamen servants stood up.
"Go to Ganping Town as fast as you can, and ask if a man named Yao Xiaoba has been there." Wen Liunian said, "The faster the better!"
After the yamen servant was ordered to leave, Wen Liunian asked again, "Do you know why the officer is looking for Yao Xiaoba?"
"The grassroots don't know." Yao Shan shook his head.
Wen Liunian slapped the gavel, "Because he secretly colluded with the bandits!"
As soon as the words came out, Yao Shan's face turned pale immediately, and he collapsed in the lobby.
Wen Liunian said, "Now Luoying Village has been wiped out, but Yao Xiaoba is nowhere to be seen. If you tell everything you know, maybe you can save his life and your own."
Yao Shan shakes like a sieve.
"Otherwise, if you don't report what you know, you will be guilty of the same crime as the gangster." Wen Liunian continued in a deep voice, "Now Yao Xiaoba's life and death are uncertain, if you insist on going to jail, no one can stop you, but before making a decision, the last Better think about the white-haired parents and the child to be fed at home!"
Zhao Yue thought to himself, it is obviously the same person, how come the trial is so different from usual.
Lu asked, "Why did the head of the family come to watch the trial of the case?"
Zhao Yue replied, "Because there is nothing to do."
Lu Zhui said, "I clearly said I was going to feed the horses earlier." Hei Feng was still waiting for the peanut candy.
Zhao Yue said, "Then why are you still here?"
Lu Zhui: ...
Zhao Yue sat on the beam of the house with the knife in his arms, and continued to watch Wen Liunian's trial.
Yao Shan's forehead was sweating, and he gave up resisting after a while, and told all the things he knew like beans in a bamboo tube. Three years ago, Yao Xiaoba went to the mountain to cut firewood, and was kidnapped by the people from Luoyingzhai. Later, he bought him as an insider, usually in charge of reporting and buying some daily necessities, in exchange for peace at home.
"Ten days into the Cangwu Mountain, and then there is no news." After the trial, Wen Liunian asked in the study while looking through the confession, "What do you think, Master?"
"Yao Xiaoba used to be a woodcutter in the mountain, and he is very familiar with the terrain of Cangmang Mountain. It is not difficult to bypass the government garrison and go up the mountain." Mu Qingshan said, "At that time, there were only three bandits in the mountain, Luoying Village and Fa Cai. No one knows where he went, so there are only two possibilities left, first, Yao Xiaoba has stumbled and fell off the cliff, and second, his disappearance is related to the Tiger Head Gang."
Wen Liunian tapped on the map on the table, "It's the Tiger Head Gang again."
"If the other party doesn't show up all the time, what do you plan to do?" Mu Qingshan asked.
"Why don't Xiao Wu and I go to the mountains tonight to explore?" Hua Tang just opened the door and came in.
Wen Liunian shook his head, "Hutougang is no better than Fa Caimen, no one knows what's going on inside, so don't take risks lightly."
"But it's not an option to spend it like this all the time." Huatang said, "The rumors can't be forced out, and they can't be attacked by force. When will it be over?"
"I'll always think of a way." Sitting on a chair, Wen Liunian said stubbornly, "Let me think about it carefully."
Huatang and Mu Qingshan looked at each other and sighed slightly.
The dinner is still held in Shang Yunze's house, after all, the cook has to cook it once, so there are many people and it's lively. After everyone sat down, Lu Zhui asked again, "Why didn't Mr. Wen come over?"
Mu Qingshan said, "My lord locked himself in the study, saying that he has no appetite, and let everyone eat first."
Zhao Yue twitched the corners of his mouth when he heard the words, nerds still have times when they lose their appetite.
"How can this be done? No matter how many things there are, there is always food to eat." Lu Zhui said, "The boss."
Zhao Yue: ...
Why me again? !
Everyone at the table looked at him with twinkling eyes.
Zhao Yue dropped his chopsticks and went out.
Shang Yunze said, "Master Zhao looks like he wants to collect debts."
"It's much better this time." Hua Tang said, "The last time I went to call my lord, it seemed like I was going to kill someone." Compared with the two times, it is actually quite an improvement.
The dark guard is also quite relieved, if it continues to develop, maybe it will soon be beaming.
It's really not too loving to push a cup and change a cup together.
It was not completely dark yet, so Zhao Yue naturally couldn't walk to the government office study in a big way, but fortunately he was good at it, so he quietly landed outside the study in the backyard, opened the door and walked straight in.
Wen Liunian was taken aback at first, but he was relieved when he saw who was coming, "Why didn't the boss knock on the door?"
Zhao Yue paused and said, "Because someone will find out."
"That's right." Wen Liunian shook his head, feeling dizzy.
There was still a topographic map of Cangmang Mountain and the confessions of the gangsters spread out on the table, Zhao Yue stepped forward and flipped through it two or three times, and said, "Still have no clue?"
Wen Liunian shook his head, looking a little listless.
Zhao Yue put all the things on the table together, "Go eat first."
"No appetite." Wen Liunian sat still, like an eggplant beaten by frost.
It's rare to see him like this, Zhao Yue said patiently, "Even if they don't eat, the people in Hutougang will not surrender voluntarily. If so, why do you have to torment yourself so much?"
Wen Liunian said, "Master Shang's cook cooks too blandly."
Zhao Yue: ...
"I'll go to the kitchen and cook a bowl of hot and sour noodles by myself, it'll refresh me." Wen Liunian said, "Let's go eat at home, don't worry about me."
Zhao Yue said, "Cook two bowls."
Wen Liunian was a little surprised.
But Zhao Yue has already strode out the door.
Wen Liunian rubbed his nose, strolled to the back kitchen of the government office, rolled up his sleeves and quickly heated up the oil, and returned to the study after a while with two bowls of steaming hot and sour noodles.
Zhao Yue was sitting on a chair and flipping through a short story book, and there were two packs of snacks on the table - they came from Shang's mansion.
Wen Liunian handed him the chopsticks.
The candles flickered in the study, and the food that was illuminated also warmed up.
Zhao Yue took a bite of the hot and sour noodles, and felt that the taste was not salty or bland.
Wen Liunian couldn't help asking, "Why does the head of the family come here to eat?"
Zhao Yue said, "Because Lu chased the nearest grandma."
Wen Liunian: ...
Zhao Yue picked up pickles with a chopstick.
There is another reason, because the cooks of Shang Mansion really don't put much salt in their dishes.
The mouth can really fade out of the bird.
After finishing a big bowl of hot and sour noodles, Wen Liunian broke open another snack and handed him half of it.
Zhao Yue took it over and drank tea with him to clear his stomach.
Wen Liunian said, "This is the best Emei Xueya, I brought it from Sichuan."
Zhao Yue shook his head, "I don't understand tea."
"It's okay, just drink to refresh your mind." Wen Liunian was holding a white porcelain teacup, two jasmine flowers were floating up and down, emitting a faint fragrance.
Zhao Yue took the cup, raised his head and drank it down.
Wen Liunian smiled and helped him refill another cup, pressing the lid of the pot with his fingers, slender and fair.
Zhao Yue thought to himself, this is what a scholar should look like.
In the Shang Mansion next door, everyone had already finished their dinner, and they all felt in their hearts that it was so light, each meal was lighter than the last, no wonder Master Zhao slipped away so fast... Next time, he must sneak into the kitchen to put salt!
But in fact the cook is very innocent, because Shang Yunze told him at the beginning that the taste should be as light as possible.
Only Mu Qingshan was very satisfied.
"Do you want to go out for a walk?" Shang Yunze asked him.
"No." Mu Qingshan stretched his waist, "I'll go and see your lord."
"Master Wen may be discussing matters with Master Zhao." Shang Yunze held him back, "It's better not to disturb."
Mu Qingshan said, "We can also discuss things together."
"I've been tired for a whole day, so I should take a rest at night." Shang Yunze said, "It doesn't matter if you don't go out, I just bought a painting, can I go to the study?"
"Alright." Mu Qingshan agreed as expected.
The two went to the study room together, and when they opened the door, they saw a scroll on the table. Shang Yunze said, "It's "Landscape and Qingyuntu". It took a lot of hard work to get it."
"Painting Saint Huang Daoxi's "Landscape and Qingyun Tu"?" Mu Qingshan was really surprised when he heard this.
Shang Yunze liked his eyes very much, "Exactly."
"That's hard to find." Mu Qingshan's cheeks flushed with excitement, "Can I take a look?"
"Of course." Shang Yunze nodded, otherwise why would I buy it, I've never heard of Huang Daoxi before.
Mu Qingshan wiped his hands on the lapel of his clothes before carefully unfolding the painting scroll. The light ink landscape is well arranged, and the clouds in the distance are floating, which is quite artistic.
Seeing his concentration, Shang Yunze felt that the money was well spent.
Mu Qingshan's fingers lightly groped for the scroll.
Shang Yunze smiled, "If you like—"
"Where did you buy this?" Mu Qingshan interrupted him suddenly.
Shang Yunze said, "Sanwu City."
"The castle owner has been cheated." Mu Qingshan was anxious, "Can you still find a seller? Hurry up and return it."
Shang Yunze was struck by lightning, what does it mean to be cheated
"It's nothing more than an imitation by later generations, and it's a shoddy imitation. It's worth a dozen or twenty taels of silver at most, which is a thousand miles away from the original!" Mu Qingshan asked again, "How much did the castle owner pay for it?"
Shang Yunze: ...
At most, it's worth a dozen or twenty taels of silver? !
Mu Qingshan rolled up the scroll and stuffed it into his arms, "Hurry up, or the other party will run away."
Shang Yunze's face was livid, and he really wanted to beat up the painting seller.
Mu Qingshan earnestly said, "Castle Master will not buy these things in the future. If you want to buy them, you have to ask someone to see them before making a decision. There are so many scammers in the painting and antique business. If you are not careful, you will be caught."
Shang Yunze's head buzzed, and he felt from the bottom of his heart... that he had never been so ashamed in his life.