A knife in love

Chapter 963

Li Qiufeng heard the temple wishes go on and on, and finally took advantage of him to stop to take a breath, and rushed to say: "Just now Wan Congyun and others came, saying that every year on the Lantern Festival, the wing rooms in the backyard of the Town God's Temple will be destroyed by people. Rent..."

Miao Zhu nodded again and again, and before Li Qiufeng finished speaking, he said with a smile: "This statement is not false. But you can rest assured, even if the king of heaven comes, you can live in peace and security. Are you The distinguished guests of the small temple, if it wasn't for you, Uncle Li, the villain would have been killed by the robbers that night."

Li Qiufeng said: "My brother misunderstood. I'm not worried that you will drive me away, but if there are officials' family members who live in the backyard and inadvertently bump into these people, I'm afraid it will cause trouble."

Miao Zhu said with a smile: "You don't have to worry, sir. Although you have condescended to stay in the small temple for only half a month, but you behave well, and the villain admires you very much. It is only for others to bump into you, why would you provoke others? And It is not the family members of officials who come here every year. Except for the midnight on the night of the Lantern Festival, these people will go to the main hall to offer incense, and they rarely go out after staying. Therefore, Uncle Li can live in peace of mind, don’t worry.”

Li Qiufeng thought over what Miao Zhu said, and asked, "How do you know that these people are not family members of officials?"

Miao Zhu said: "The villain has lived in this temple since he was a child, and it has been 40 to [-] years. In fact, the dozen or so families who live in the backyard wing room every year come and go. It's just that some old people die, and some The newcomer is here..."

Li Qiufeng's heart trembled, and he said, "A dozen or so families? Dude, do you mean that these ten or so families rent the backyard every year?"

Miao Zhu nodded and said: "That's right. These people are not from our city. The furthest ones are from Lingnan, and some from outside the city. The villain worked as a child servant in this temple when he was a teenager. At that time Every Lantern Festival, these dozens of families live in the backyard wing room. At first I didn’t care about it. After more than ten years, the villain did temple blessings and received these people every year. These are a dozen or so families. In the past few decades, almost none of the old ones came here, and presumably they have already passed away. And those young people have also become middle-aged and old people..."

When Miao Zhu said this, he suddenly slapped his thigh and said: "However, there are two old guys who come here every year. One is surnamed Ji, and the other is surnamed Han. Since I came to the temple when I was nine years old, these two people come here every year. The Lantern Festival must be here. Look at the respectful attitude of the dozen or so families towards these two people. I think they have a very high status. But if they can come this year, they will be 90 or [-] years old."

Li Qiufeng's heart is clear, the old man surnamed Ji mentioned by Miao Zhu is undoubtedly the old Mrs. Nie from Fengmen Village.And the old man surnamed Han was probably the "Old Master Lu" in the Nie family's population.This person is like a dragon who sees the beginning but does not see the tail, and has never shown up.However, since he takes "Han" as his surname, he presumably belongs to Han Qusi's lineage, so he is naturally the Lu family of the four families in Fengmen Village.

Seeing Li Qiufeng's pensive look, Miao Zhu continued, "These dozen or so families have always been housed in the small temple by the yamen. As for their origins, villains dare not ask. It was Mr. Zhang from the magistrate's yamen who brought them to the temple in [-], and the meals were also prepared by the yamen, which saved a lot of trouble."

Li Qiufeng nodded and said, "Since I'm not an official figure, I'm relieved."

Miao Zhu said with a smile: "Even if you are an official figure, you don't have to worry. This year's Lantern Festival has been advanced by more than half a month, and the two families like Lingnan and Shuzhong will definitely not be able to catch up. You always live in peace and boldness, no one will Don't dare to disrespect the uncle."

The two chatted a few more words, and Li Qiufeng went straight out of the Town God's Temple.He walked all the way south, thinking as he walked: "Things are becoming clearer. Every year during the Lantern Festival, the leaders of Fengmen Village's Nie, Lu, Zhao, Du, and Hua families would take the opportunity to gather in the Town God's Temple. As for whether they came to worship It is not known whether to sacrifice to the City God or the Goddess in the name of offering sacrifices to the gods, and to gather to discuss matters. For hundreds of years, the post of magistrate in Xiuwu County has been controlled by the five families of Fengmen Village. Asylum, every Lantern Festival, the important figures of the five families can safely and boldly live in the Town God's Temple. The Japanese pirates must have also inquired about this news, so they used the undercover agent of Henan's inspector to persuade Liang Huan, the inspector of the Lantern Festival. In advance, let the leaders of the various families in Fengmen Village rush to the Town God's Temple, and then wipe them all out. Now that the major sects have left Xiuwu County, the leaders of the Nie, Lu, Zhao, and Du families have gathered in the city again. It is the best time for the Japanese pirates to wipe out the four families in one fell swoop, Yagyu Zongyan will never let go of this opportunity."

Thinking of this, Li Qiufeng thought again: "But why do the families of Fengmen Village gather in Xiuwu County every year? They can definitely choose Fengmen Village as the meeting place. It is the most appropriate place to be isolated from the outside of the mountain. Why do you want to hide your whereabouts and come to this Town God's Temple to do something?"

He thought while walking, and before he knew it, he had arrived at the south city gate of Xiuwu County.But seeing the constant pedestrians coming and going at the gate of the city, it was very lively.Although there were sergeants guarding the city above and below the city, these sergeants gathered in twos and threes, some chatted and laughed, and some leaned against the city wall, lazily basking in the sun.Several sergeants were sitting on the ground with their swords and guns in their hands, dozing off with their heads down.

Seeing this situation, Li Qiufeng felt depressed, thinking that if the Japanese pirates attacked in a big way, they might be able to rush into the city in the blink of an eye.It's okay for these sergeants to scare the people, but if you want to rely on them to resist Japanese pirates, it's tantamount to nonsense.

Li Qiufeng raised his head and looked towards the archery tower above the city.I saw that the archery tower was two stories high, and it was already a little dilapidated.Dead grass grows from the roof tiles, and the cornices are dilapidated and look crumbling.Li Qiufeng thought to himself that there should be lanterns in the watchtower.Mr. Liu, head of Chu and other leading disciples are on their way now, and they will return to the outside of Xiuwu County by nightfall tomorrow night.If the Japanese pirates take action, I just need to grab the lanterns in the watchtower and hang them on both sides of the watchtower, and Mr. Liu will lead people into the city.These three masters have high martial arts skills, and their disciples are also shrewd and capable. It can be said that each of them can fight ten with one.Coupled with the arrests of Xiuwu County, Luoyang Mansion, and the Chasi Yamen, as well as the four children of Nie, Lu, Zhao, and Du, they should be able to fight the Japanese pirates.Moreover, Hu Kun's three thousand Ruyangwei cavalry are also outside the city, and reinforcements are available at any time.There should be a [-]% chance of winning this battle with the Japanese pirates.

Li Qiufeng looked up and down the gate of the South City, and after thinking about how to go up to the city to snatch the lanterns, he turned and walked north.It's just that after walking more than a hundred steps, several men came hurriedly.One of them happened to meet Li Qiufeng face to face, his face was startled for a moment, then he showed joy, and shouted happily: "I found it, I found Commander Li!"

Li Qiufeng was startled, and looked intently, and saw that these men looked familiar, as if they had seen them somewhere.But when I think about it carefully, I can't remember it.

While he was thinking about it, several men rushed to him.The man in the lead shouted happily: "Let us find Commander Li first! Now what do the disciples of Wan Laoer and Ba Boss have to say?!"

Hearing what he said, Li Qiufeng immediately guessed that these people must be Mei Dali's apprentices.Seeing the excitement on everyone's faces, he wanted to find out some news, so he said, "You guys are in a hurry to find me, what's the matter?"

The man in the lead said: "Commander Li, my master took us to inquire about the news in the city, and found that many people suddenly came from the north of the city. These people were sitting in more than a dozen carriages, carrying fifty or sixty boxes, large and small, They have already settled down in the abandoned house in the north of the city. Mr. Zhang from the magistrate's yamen personally led people to greet him outside the north gate, it seems that these people have a lot of connections."

Another man interjected: "Our brothers outside Beicheng have also heard news that there are several other teams approaching the county seat, and they will probably enter the city at noon. After my master inquired about the news, We rushed to the Town God's Temple to report to Commander Li, but in vain. He was afraid of delaying Commander Li's important event, so he divided us into several teams and searched for Commander Li everywhere in the city. Fortunately, we were the first to find him. Commander Li. Haha, haha."

Seeing his proud face, Li Qiufeng thought that Mei Dali must have agreed to them, if he found him, he would benefit them.So he smiled slightly, took out a few pieces of scattered silver from his pocket and handed it to him, saying: "Thank you brothers, let's take this little silver to drink tea."

(End of this chapter)