Lord please forgive me

Chapter 178
On the edge of the river in the city, a black and thin middle-aged Confucian scholar sat on a stone pier, with a sword case as tall as a half person standing beside him, holding a bag of peanuts in his left hand and a jug in his right, drinking and enjoying himself.

Jingzhou Prefecture has a well-developed water system and wide river channels. From time to time, small boats pass by. Many local residents also make a living on this. There are cargo ships and passenger ships that take tourists on tour.

At this time, the middle-aged Confucian scholar was staring at a black-covered boat on the river with great interest. There were two people standing on the bow, a man and a woman, both of them looked like heaven and man, but the man in black on the boat Smiling and beckoning to himself, the middle-aged Confucian scholar also looked at each other with a smile, and the whole figure flew out like this, and the sword box followed behind him as if being pulled, and landed steadily on the black-covered boat.

The middle-aged Confucian scholar grinned:
"Thank you, I'll treat you both to a drink."

After speaking, he took out a large stack of bank notes from his pocket, and after counting for a long time, he finally found the one with the smallest value and handed it to the old man on the boat.

"Boss of the boat, find a nearby place to stop the boat, and help me buy a bag of peanuts, ten catties of pork head meat, three pots of flower carvings, and the rest of the money is yours."

The boss of the boat took a look at the silver ticket, and was dumbfounded. My seventh uncle and grandpa paid a total of 500 taels, and the peanuts and pork head meat included wine, and it was no more than 20 taels of silver. The rest is yours?
Cao Xiaozhi saw that the boatman was somewhat puzzled, and urged impatiently:

"Be quick, if I can't drink for half a stick of incense, the money will not be yours,"

"Okay, okay, I'll go to half-do it right away." The boatman hurriedly steered the boat to the shore,
Cao Xiaozhi lifted the curtain, and raised his hand to invite Yingzhen and the others to enter the cabin.

After less than half a stick of incense, the boatman came back. In addition to Cao Xiaozhi's order, he also bought an extra five catties of sauced beef and a large bag of cucumbers.

Cao Xiaozhi looked at the appetizers on the small square table, looked at the boatman with a smile and said:

"If you buy less of these two things, can't you make more money? Be a man, don't be so honest. After all, the one who suffers in this world is an honest person. I know you, an old man, whose sons and daughters are all dead. How can you support three grandchildren alone? Easy, take the boat home early today and buy some delicious food for the children."

"Thank you, sir,"

The boatman nodded heavily and exited the cabin.

Ying Zhen smiled and watched the rich and powerful middle-aged Confucian scholar open the wine jar, washed the already clean chopsticks again in clear water, and handed them to Ying Zhen and the others.

Compared with the last time we met in the forest, this time the other party looked much more pleasing to the eye. He changed into a rather elegant and clean long gown, and he also had a cool sword box. Last time he looked like a villager, but this time he looked like a Is a learned.

Cao Xiaozhi, the No. 1 Nine-Prade Sword Attendant, with a sword hidden in the box——Xin Ting Dao, the Nine-Prade Sword Attendant has a total of nine people, eight of whom use knives and one uses a sword. Cao Xiaozhi felt a little sorry, so he added Xin Ting The word "knife" is deceiving.

The three of them didn't say a word. After drinking a jar, Cao Xiaozhi didn't stop talking and kept eating. When he ate, his mouth was very loud, but it was very delicious.

"The boatman also has a heart. Peanuts, pork head meat, sauced beef, and cucumbers are called the 'four treasures' of drinking. The more you eat, the more you can drink. The more you drink, the more you want to eat, so happy~~"

Jiang Peining looked at the strange behavior of this wonderful servant, and said with a smile:

"Let me take a look at your Xin Ting."

Cao Xiaozhi didn't raise his head, and slapped the sword box with his other free hand. The sword box opened, and the bitter sword energy overflowed, and the boatman outside the cabin couldn't help but shuddered all over.

I saw a very ordinary long sword lying in the sword box, but people with sharp eyesight like Yingzhen and the others can naturally see that there is a silver light flowing in the sword body, which is already a common sword. Lingbao sword.

After a while, the sword box closed automatically.

A look of surprise flashed in Cao Xiaozhi's eyes, and he said with a smile:

"It's a little shy."

"Good sword!" Jiang Peining couldn't help admiring from the bottom of his heart.

Cao Xiaozhi laughed: "Wrong, it's a good knife."

Jiang Peining was taken aback for a moment, then relieved, and said with a smile:
"How can such a great talent as Mr. Cao become that Ninth Grade Sword Servant?"

Cao Xiaozhi pursed her lips, raised her head in thought for a while, then shook her head and said:
"I don't want to either. The first emperor allowed me to go to Chaotian Temple to read all kinds of classics. As a condition, he asked me to be a sword servant for ten years. However, he also allowed me to listen to the announcement and take care of myself, which is quite a comparison." Be free."

Yingzhen sized him up and said, "You're injured, can Wang Xiajian and Yuan Huai'an hurt you?"

Cao Xiaozhi shook his head: "He disappointed me, he just slipped away after a dozen or so moves in the fight, it seems that being a lackey is really affecting Jianxin, if you don't advance, you will retreat, the surname Yuan is no longer worthy to be my opponent gone."

He picked up the wine jar and filled it with Yingzhen and Er, and then said:
"This time, I will thank you two. Tomorrow, I will bring my junior and brother's family back to Beijing by land, so I won't cause any trouble to the leader Ying."

"Okay!" Yingzhen nodded.

Seeing that the other party was about to leave, Jiang Peining asked anxiously:
"Mr. Cao, are you familiar with Chen Guangming, the red bat among your nine-rank sword servants?"

Cao Xiaozhi was taken aback, "How does Lord Jiang know the name of the red bat? It took Cao a long time to find out."

Jiang Peining didn't hide anything, and directly narrated the misfortune of his uncle's family.
"I want to find this person now and ask him about his situation at that time."

Cao Xiaozhi was silent for a moment, nodded and said:
"I know Mr. Di. He was a very knowledgeable person in our Great Zhou Dynasty. The Ministry of Criminal Affairs sent people to investigate the case, but in the end they didn't find out why. The Jiang Clan mainly knows, often This kind of big case that can't be found out is actually suppressed by someone behind the scenes.

The relationship between the various ministries in the court is intricate and there are many parties. Even if my mentor is an old man, he can only talk on the one-acre land of the official department. Master Di is the Minister of the Ministry of Rites, and the memorials can be heard directly. And I don’t belong to any party. In fact, it’s hard for this kind of person to have a good end. When Cao was a servant in the Ministry of Officials, he was also working under the nose of his mentor. If I were thrown into the Ministry of War, I would have been squeezed out to death. My lord, this case should be caused by party disputes. As for Chen Guangming, he is nothing more than an executioner. He has a house in the eastern suburbs of the capital, and he will stay at home when he is not on duty. Among them, it is not bad. If the Jiang Clan master comes to the door in the future, try to save his life as much as possible. This is also a good thing for the Jiang Clan. "

Jiang Peining nodded, looked at Yingzhen, hesitant to speak,
Yingzhen guessed her thoughts, patted her shoulder lightly,

"Ning'er, let's go back to Beijing with Mr. Cao. After the matter in Luoyang, I will go to Chang'an to find you."

Jiang Peining bowed his head sadly,
"Ning'er is reluctant"

Ying Zhen said softly: "Don't worry, it will be soon."

Cao Xiaozhi couldn't help but rolled his eyes at the side,
"Can you two stop flirting in front of me, a bachelor? Is it interesting?"

(End of this chapter)