Xi Ming and the others quickly found the place where Lin Zhen was buried—his body was transported to the ancestral grave of Lin's hometown in the countryside of Luling County for burial.
That place is not far from Luling County, but what Tang Fan and the others are going to do is not very obvious, so naturally they can't go to dig graves in the open and open, they have to do it in secret, so after Xi Ming and others came back to report, Tang Fan and the others came back to report. Pan chooses to go the day after tomorrow, because the day after tomorrow is Qixi Festival, and there will be a lively lantern festival in Ji'an at night. At that time, the whole city, men, women and children will come out to watch the lanterns, and only on that night, the whole city will not be closed. The city gate is under curfew, and if Tang Fan and others come in and out again, they will not attract attention.
After returning from Lin's house, Tang Fan did not do anything else for two consecutive days. Instead, he took Lu Lingxi and others to walk around the streets and alleys of Ji'anfu every day, going in and out of large and small restaurants, and tasting local food, which was completely elusive to others. Clearly, it is inevitable that some people think that Tang Fan has made no progress in the case, and they hear that the imperial court is about to appoint a second imperial envoy, so they are upset and give up on themselves.
No matter what others think, Tang Fan still goes his own way. He doesn't even enter the magistrate's yamen, let alone find Shen Kunxiu. In the past two days, no matter how old Ji'an is, he has been walked over and over by him.
Tang Fan didn't go to Shen Kunxiu, but Shen Kunxiu wasn't happy about it. The most sensational thing in Ji'an Mansion in the past two days was not that Tang Fan had solved the case, but that Shen Xuezheng had beaten his son half to death. It is said that he could not get out of bed without half a month's work.
This Young Master Shen is too capable of causing trouble, if he just does those rambunctious things, it will be fine. I heard that he went to the brothel two days ago, and was jealous of a girl and another playboy, and ended up losing the wind. He even took out his father's name and lost his face.
To say that Shen Kunxiu still has a case on his back, and if the case is not finalized in one day, he will carry the case with the back and force the suspect to death. As a result, it is better to be a son. In this way, I don't know how Shen Kunxiu would feel.
But Young Master Shen is still the only son of Shen Kunxiu. It is conceivable that Shen Si will become what it is today, and it is estimated that Shen Kunxiu is also to blame.
However, Lu Lingxi doesn't know how Shen Kunxiu feels for the time being, and his current mood may not be better than Shen Kunxiu's.
Because Tang Fan was going to pick up his distant cousin.
It is said that the cousin, surnamed Qiao, has some relatives with Tang Fan's mother. Because the two families are close together, Tang Fan was very diligent when he was a child, so he took advantage of the trend to get married and set up a baby kiss, but later because of changes in the world , the Tang family was destroyed, Tang Fan traveled far away from home as a young man, and gradually lost contact, and only recently resumed correspondence, the cousin's family was in a downturn, and now she is alone, very pitiful, so she came to go to her cousin, to When my cousin finishes the case, I have to go to Beijing with my cousin - this is what Lu Lingxi learned from Tang Fan.
This day was the Qixi Festival. During the day, there were many more pedestrians than usual. There was also a lively temple fair at the Chenghuang Temple, which was crowded. The female relatives rushed to the Buddhist temple to offer incense. Crowds of people.
But this is only a daytime scene. At night, there will be more lively lantern festivals. At that time, boys and girls will come out of the city to make wishes outside the city. There will also be spectacular lantern festivals in the city. The wealthy families unite to buy lanterns and hang them all over the city of Ji'an. That is the real fire tree and silver flowers, and the lights are bright.
Tang Fan didn't join in the fun, but went out early in the morning to find Ji Min to taste tea and discuss Taoism. When he came back, he hired a soft sedan along the way and asked Han Jin to follow the sedan to pick up people at the Fulai Inn. Fulai Inn is the closest inn to the city gate. Many businessmen from other places choose to rest there after entering the city.
He said to Han Jin: "I have made an appointment with her to wait at the gate of the inn after she enters the city. I guess it's almost time to arrive. You go early, and if you arrive early, wait there for a while."
Lu Lingxi listened to the side, and then interrupted: "Brother Tang, do you want me to help too? Miss Qiao should also bring her maid. The two weak women are alone on the road, and they are afraid all the way. "
But Tang Fan said, "No need, they also have a few old family members with them, or they can't come all the way here, Han Jin alone is enough."
Lu Lingxi had no choice but to give up. He was really curious about the girl Qiao who he had never met before. Putting aside his inhumane thoughts, he always felt that someone like Tang Fan who was a talented person with a valuable character would be worthy of it in the future. His daughter must also be beautiful, and Lan Xinhui is of good quality. Speaking carefully, it is about the kind of mentality of "Although I know that I may have no hope for myself, I hope that the person I like can get the best."
It is precisely because he is so secretive, and usually shows his closeness by acting like a coquettish coquettish entanglement, so a person like Tang Fan, who is especially emotionally insensitive, will naturally not suspect that Lu Lingxi has unusual feelings for him, and will return him to him. Seeing that the younger brother who has not grown up is treated the same as the younger generation, this must be said to be a big mistake of Lu Lingxi, and he does not know how he will feel when he finds out that he has chosen the wrong method from the beginning.
But he said that Han Jin was ordered to pick him up at noon and didn't come back until it was almost evening. There was a cyan sedan with him, and two people followed closely. Judging from the dress, it should be the handmaiden of his cousin that Tang Fan said. and servants too.
Hearing that his cousin was coming, Tang Fan took Lu Lingxi and the others to greet them in person, but as soon as they stepped out of the official post, everyone including Tang Fan was shocked.
Let's not talk about my cousin, just talk about the two people accompanying the sedan chair.
The servant was about twenty years old, with short beards, tall and sturdy, but pockmarked on his face, described as vulgar, but that's all, a servant should naturally look like a servant. If he looks like a jade tree, what kind of servant is that? , It is said that it is precisely because of this old family that Qiao and her maid can arrive here safely all the way from Zhejiang, which is a great contribution.
But looking at the maid again, it's even more speechless.
The other party's upper body is covered with a pair of plackets and a round neck and sleeveless. Inside is a colorful short jacket with flowers, and underneath is a grass-green horse-faced skirt. The head is combed with double buns, and the two sides are also tied with red silk ribbons, hanging down. Strings of tassel, with the flickering footsteps, are exquisite and lovely.
But the cuteness is only limited to the dress up. If this outfit appeared on a 13- or 14-year-old girl, it would be considered pretty and pleasing, but if it was placed on a person who was about the same height as the servant next to him, it would still Is it cute
It should be called horror!
The most irresistible thing is that this maid has a thick layer of powder on her face, red rouge on her lips, long and thin eyebrows, small steps, and her feet are hidden. The bottom of the skirt is unwilling to show at all, and the manner is very gentle and delicate, but if it is matched with this tall skeleton, it will be very ridiculous.
The only thing that is desirable about her whole body is that she has a pair of fairly agile eyes on her face, looking forward to her spirit, and it is not abrupt when the foundation is thicker than the powder on the wall, and the other party's facial features are somewhat deep, It looks a bit exotic.
Lu Lingxi was stunned for a while, and then came up with a sentence: "Brother Tang, is it your cousin's maid, or a man of color?"
Semu people are the name of the former Yuan. The former Yuan ranked the people under its rule as the fourth class, and the Semu people were the second class. After the establishment of this dynasty, the Han and Tang robes were restored, and Hu language and clothing were banned. However, there are still many people in the Han Dynasty. The Semu people left by Yuan, Lu Lingxi asked this girl when she saw the high nose and deep eyes.
In fact, Tang Fan was no less surprised than he was.
He thought that Suizhou would disguise himself as his cousin, but who knew he was disguised as a maid, so who would be the "cousin" in the sedan chair
"Maybe." Tang Fan replied vaguely, looking away from the thick white powder on the maid's face and the colorful clothes, unable to bear to take a second look.
"I've seen Young Master Biao." The maid saluted him with a low voice, a bit indifferent to her sex. If he didn't look at his face, Tang Fan would almost be unable to hear the owner of the voice.
Tang Fan coughed lightly, "What's your name?"
Servant: "My name is Tie Zhu, I have seen Young Master Biao!"
Tang Fan: "..."
It was clearly Ponzi's voice.
Maid: "Come back, what I said to the young master, the slave's name is Xiaozhou."
Tang Fan: "..."
While speaking, she also raised her eyes and glanced at Tang Fan quickly, then lowered her head shyly, seemingly inadvertent, but in fact everyone saw it.
Lu Lingxi: "..."
Tang Fan said, "Your cousin must be in the sedan chair? Just invite her out."
He felt that if he didn't go in again, he probably wouldn't be able to hold back.
When Xiaozhou heard the words, he bent down and closed the curtain, and said softly, "Miss Biao, you're on the ground, please come down."
A slender hand stretched out from the sedan chair and put it on Xiaozhou's hand, and then, a man walked out of the sedan chair.
Everyone's eyes lit up.
This cousin girl has an oval face, willow eyebrows, eyes like autumn water, and a small cherry mouth. She is an uncompromising beauty. Like Xiaozhou, she also wears a jacket and skirt with tender eyes, but if you say Xiaozhou's dress is unbearable , Miss Qiao is a beautiful woman in a colorful dress, and the two are compatible.
Not to mention, from the appearance alone, such a woman and Tang Fan are a match made in heaven.
"Cousin!" When Mr. Qiao saw Tang Fan, a bright smile appeared on his face, "You must be your cousin, right?"
Although I always felt that this girl was indescribably familiar, Tang Fan still nodded and smiled and said, "Yes, I am your cousin, I haven't seen each other for many years, and my cousin really changed her mind, and she is the same as my aunt. It looks like the mold is printed. You must be tired after driving for so long, so go ahead and talk about it."
"Cousin, do you still remember what my mother looks like?" Mrs. Qiao bowed to him, then stepped forward and entered alongside Tang Fan, and squeezed Lu Lingxi to the back, as if she had known Tang Fan for a long time. .
Xiaozhou followed closely behind his own girl, relying on her figure to squeeze Lu Lingxi back again.
Lu Lingxi was very depressed, but he couldn't care about the two girls' families, so he had to admit it.
Suddenly, another figure approached in front of him, and when he looked up, he saw Tie Zhu smiling at him.
Lu Lingxi: "...You are a servant, why are you so close!"
Tie Zhu smiled naively: "But I've followed me all the way. Biao girl said that there are many bad people outside, so let me follow closely, so as not to be singled out and kidnapped by bad people!"
Who would want to kidnap you with your appearance
Lu Lingxi twitched the corners of his mouth: "You cousin and Big Brother Tang haven't seen each other for a long time. There must be a lot to say. You should not go in and disturb."
Tie Zhu: "But aren't you going in too? If you can, why can't I?"
Lu Lingxi: "I, no, go in, go."
Tie Zhu snorted and patted his belly: "Then I won't go in either, big brother, dare to ask if there is anything to eat here, I only ate ten buns today, and I'm very hungry!"
Lu Lingxi thought that he had met enough people and had enough experience, but he did not expect that after following Tang Fan, he would refresh his understanding again and again. Immediately discouraged, he said weakly, "Yes, I will take you there."
Tie Zhu became happy, followed behind Lu Lingxi and walked in the direction of the kitchen, he kept saying, "Then thank you big brother! Big brother, you are such a nice person. In our country, except for the cousin and Xiaozhou, everyone else looks down on me, so you won't be like this. You deserve to be by the side of Young Master Biao! Big brother, what do you call me? Big brother..."
On the other side, Tang Fan took Mrs Qiao into the hall. Xi Ming and Han Jin did not enter the room and were ordered to guard outside.
"Speaking of which, what's going on?" Tang Fan subconsciously avoided Xiaozhou's colorful clothes with a horrible expression.
Although Mrs. Qiao is also called bright and beautiful, it is not enough to shock Tang Fan to heaven. He just watched "Xiaozhou", and then looked at Mrs. Qiao. Comparing the two, Mrs. Qiao was immediately more beautiful than the fairy.
Qiao Shi chuckled: "Master Tang, why didn't you remember the slave family not long after we parted?"
Tang Fan was stunned for a while before he said, "Are you... Xiao Wu?"
Xiao Wu covered his mouth with his sleeve and threw a wink at him: "Isn't it me?"
Taking a closer look, this outline is indeed similar to Xiao Wu, but after they separated in Suzhou, Tang Fan asked Xiao Wu to hand it over to Wang Zhi for proper placement. Who would have thought of turning around and meeting here again already
Tang Fan couldn't help but looked up at Sui Zhou and said, "You guys really confused me!"
Xiao Wu smiled and said, "Let me explain to the adults."
It turned out that after the Suzhou case came to an end, Xiao Wu felt that she was a single woman with such looks. Even if she had tens of millions of wealth, she might not be able to hold on to it. When Tang Fan and Wang Zhi left, she might fall into the same situation as before. Being kidnapped is a situation of imprisonment, so she still needs to have the capital to protect herself, and she has long been accustomed to the exciting and lively life, and then let her return to the peaceful life of a good family woman, she must not be able to do it, so Xiao After thinking about it, Wu Si asked Wang Zhi for help, hoping that Wang Zhi could protect her. In exchange, she would also help Wang Zhi and become the other party's secret whistle and spy.
Although Xiao Wu doesn't know martial arts, she has an outstanding appearance and is used to acting on the scene. Even if she doesn't need to pay her body, many men will bow down under her pomegranate skirt, which is not completely useless, but now that the West Factory has collapsed, Wang Zhi's sphere of influence had already been transferred into the palace, so he couldn't possibly bring Xiao Wu into the palace to dedicate it to the emperor, right
So Wang Zhi contacted Suizhou. With the consent of the latter, Xiao Wu transferred to Jinyiwei and became a secret post under Jinyiwei. She helped Jinyiwei when she needed it, and she would naturally be sheltered by Jinyiwei. When needed, Jin Yiwei's signboard can almost let her block any external harassment, so that she can live the life she wants.
Jinyiwei's subordinates are of all kinds, and it is not without women in the past, but there has never been a subordinate as stunning as Xiao Wu. The reason why Xiao Wu is willing to take refuge in Jinyiwei or Wang Zhi is naturally because they know that they have a good relationship with Tang Fan, and with Tang Fan Fan's character, if the other party is not a good person, it is impossible for Tang Fan to have any dealings with them. In the final analysis, it was the trust in Tang Fan that made Xiao Wu make up her mind.
After talking about the ins and outs, Tang Fan realized that Xiao Wu's first task after joining Jin Yiwei was to pretend to be his distant cousin who had been engaged since childhood.
It is much easier for a beautiful person to pretend to be ugly than an ugly person to pretend to be beautiful. As long as you use a little skill, you can change Xiao Wu's skin color slightly, modify the outline of her facial features a little, change her voice slightly, lower her voice line, and change her tone from charming to light. Even Lu Lingxi couldn't recognize it. The pretty girl in front of her was Xiao Wu when she was in Suzhou, and she would never have imagined that Chen Luan's concubine had turned into a Jin Yiwei.
Lu Lingxi couldn't recognize it, let alone others, and Xiao Wu pretending to be Tang Fan's cousin was naturally more convincing than Sui Zhou.
As a maid with Semu's blood, it's okay to be taller. When others see the master and servant, their attention will generally be attracted by Xiao Wu, and they will not pay too much attention to the maid.
Tang Fan asked, "How are you guys going about the search for the remnants of the White Lotus Sect?"
Suizhou said: "With Li Zilong's cunning, the most dangerous place is the safest place. It is unlikely that he will leave the city, and he may be hidden somewhere in the city, but in order to avoid being thrown out of the nest by the imperial court, they There will definitely be some action. Yan Li and the others have already gone to the suburbs of Ji'an to investigate secretly, and it shouldn't be long before they find out. How are you doing here?"
Tang Fan talked about his plans to dig Lin Zhen's tomb.
Sui Zhou thought for a moment, and said, "That's it, I can take the opportunity of you to accompany Xiao Wu out of the city to see the lights. It won't attract attention. Pang Qi and I can also help."
Tang Fan thought for a while: "Alright..."
Just after saying two words, a loud voice of "Tie Zhu" came from far and near: "Little brother Lu, you can really deceive people. There are no buns under the kitchen, so you lied to me that I have buns!"
Lu Lingxi was very depressed: "You have eaten a big bowl of beef noodles, and you still complained that there are no steamed buns. You can eat all my portion!"
Hearing the movement of the two, Tang Fan and the others stopped talking and watched them walk in one after the other.
Lu Lingxi saw that Tang Fan was not sitting at the top, but sitting at the bottom, very close to Mrs. Qiao, and there was a coffee table between them, so she couldn't help but feel even more depressed. , Qiao Shi is also true, even if they are engaged since childhood, they will not even have the restraint of women, right
Who knows, as if to prove his slander, Qiao Shi was really not reserved at all, and did not care that Lu Lingxi was beside him, so he coquettishly said to Tang Fan: "Cousin, I heard that there is a lantern festival outside the city tonight, you accompany me to see it, OK?"
At this point, you can see how clever Xiao Wu is in acting. When she was in Suzhou before, Lu Lingxi also met her, but at that time Xiao Wu was as her name suggests, charming and gentle, and I felt pity for it. This lively appearance is like a different person. It's no wonder that Lu Lingxi can't recognize it, let alone Lu Lingxi. Tang Fan and her have been with her for a few days.
But she saw Tang Fan showing a gentle and doting smile to her: "There are many people at the lantern festival, what if you accidentally get lost?"
Qiao Shi said coquettishly, "I am not afraid of my cousin with me!"
Tang Fan: "Okay, but you are not allowed to run around!"
Qiao Shi: "Well, I will listen to what my cousin says."
Seeing this, Lu Lingxi couldn't help reminding: "Brother Tang, we are going to do business, so I'm afraid it's inconvenient to bring Miss Qiao?"
Qiao Shi pouted unhappily and glared at him: "What's up with you!"
"Don't be rude!" Tang Fan reprimanded her lightly, and smiled again: "I was negligent, you haven't officially met, this is Lu Lingxi, the name is Yiqing, I am a younger generation who has been friends with each other, you Just call him Yiqing. Yiqing, my cousin is not an outsider, you don't have to hide anything from him."
Although Tang Fan did not reveal the identities of Xiao Wu and the others, Xi Ming and the others were onlookers, and they quickly heard his overtones, and could not help but look at Qiao's more, but Lu Lingxi authorities were fascinated, seeing Tang Fan treating his fiancee whom he had just met. With such a high value on trust, it is inevitable that I will lose my mind.
Seeing that he didn't seem to have reacted yet, Tang Fan added: "If you have a cousin accompanying you at night, you can hide it from people's eyes and ears."
Lu Lingxi reluctantly accepted this reason, and looked at Suizhou and Tie Zhu, who were standing behind Qiao, who were inseparable: "Then they don't have to go?"
Tie Zhu's voice was like a bell, and Lu Lingxi stood beside him, his ears buzzing with shock: "Young Master Biao, you can't leave me alone, I'm strong, I can do anything!"
Qiao's maid Xiaozhou pinched the corner of her clothes and said shyly, "Miss Biao said that I will be a maid for Young Master Biao in the future, so where Young Master Biao asks the maid to go, the maid will go."
Lu Lingxi: "..."
Tang Fan hurriedly lowered his head to drink tea, but in fact, in order to hide the corners of his mouth that began to twitch again.
After dinner, everyone took a short rest. After night fell, they left the official post and prepared to go outside the city.
There were indeed many people outside, and a white light was reflected in the night sky in the distance. It was obvious that some people set off fireworks outside the city, and there was a faint noise. There were many passers-by along the way, just like Tang Fan and the others. out.
In contrast, Tang Fan and the others were all young men and women, but they were completely integrated into the crowd and were no longer conspicuous. The only difference was that people went to see the lights, and they went to dig graves.
The ancestral tomb of the Lin family is not far from here. The carriage arrived after nearly half an hour. The surroundings were quiet. Originally, there was a small town nearby, where Lin's hometown was, but today most of the people in the town went to see the lights. The rest are old and weak women and children. Even if they hear any movement, no one will come out to see the movement.
Xi Ming and the others had already spotted Lin Zhen's burial place, and they walked directly to his tombstone, took out the shovel and other tools from the carriage, and started digging.
Mr. Qiao was sitting on the carriage, and stuck his head out at this time, but there was no look of surprise and fear on his face, as if he regarded everything they did as normal.
No matter how stupid Lu Lingxi is, at this time, he should see that Tang Fan's cousin is unusual, not to mention that he is not stupid at all. Tang Fan suddenly appeared a cousin who didn't talk about it, and he dared to be so important when they first met. Talking to her about the matter, and bringing her to such a place, the two must have known each other for a long time, and they must have a close relationship.
Thinking of this, Lu Lingxi had mixed feelings in his heart, but his subordinates still did not delay the business. Except for Tang Fan and Qiao Shi, several people present were all strong in martial arts. It was really overkill for digging soil. After a while, A corner of the coffin below was exposed.
Everyone quickened their movements, and the coffin was quickly revealed. Several people worked together to lift it out, and then used tools to pry off the rivets on it and open the lid of the coffin.
There was no need to wait for Tang Fan's autopsy. Everyone was shocked when they saw the corpse under the coffin lid.
Mr. Qiao, who got off the carriage, couldn't help but let out a soft sound.