Yin Fu Daojun

Chapter 4 San'in
"Call..."

"Young students, we're here!"

The old farmer's reminder interrupted Xie Duan's thinking.

After about half an hour, the city of Shanyin County was already in sight. The towering city wall was built against the mountain. On the gate tower, the word "Shanyin" was engraved with flying dragons and phoenixes. The city gate was wide open to welcome visitors from all directions.

The Daqi Dynasty, in terms of geographical division, followed the old system of the Han and Tang Dynasties, and made changes on the basis of the two systems, dividing all parts of the world into states, counties, and counties.

Counties are divided into upper, middle and lower classes, and Shanyin County, which was once the prefecture of Kuaiji in the Han Dynasty, ruled fifteen counties in a radius, and was once prosperous.

Later, after dynasties changed, it was passed down to Daqi, and now it is only a county under the jurisdiction of Kuaiji, with a population of less than [-] households and an economic downturn.

However, there are no natural disasters and wars affecting this place, so it is quite peaceful.

Xie Duan got off the bullock cart, thanked him again, and then came to the gate of the city, but he saw soldiers guarding both sides of the gate, checking the pedestrians and vehicles passing by, and the notice boards on the left and right were covered with notices.

A few are trivial matters in the county, and most are arrest notices.

Xie Duan once passed the county school examination, was promoted to be a student, and has the reputation of a scholar. He was also given a student document, which is equivalent to a student ID card and a pass, so everyone in the world can go. Homeland.

Running around without authorization, once investigated and dealt with, will be considered a black household or even a spy from another country, and will suffer physical pain at the slightest, and prison at the worst.

After handing over the disk, the city guards let him enter the city after a brief investigation. Without this, he would not be able to pass the checkpoint at all.

Although Shanyin County is small, it is not as prosperous as his hometown Houguan County, but it should have a lot of bustle. There are wine shops, brothels, Goulan gambling houses, various shops, and even street stalls.

The aroma of wine and food, the smell of powder, floats in the air.

The peddlers here are shouting at the top of their voices, the girls there are coquettishly whispering to attract customers, the sound of the silk and bamboo orchestras in the Goulan can reach your ears, and the dice and Pai Jiu in the gambling house are breathtaking, which is a scene of tranquility.

"It seems that my brother-in-law is still able to govern the county."

Xie Duan thought to himself, he couldn't wait to see his sister and brother-in-law, but at the same time he was at a loss.

After all, he is no longer the original Xie Duan.

We really met, what should he say?What should I say?
Although Xie Duan came from a not-so-famous family, he could still be called a wealthy family. Both his father and his son had been selected as scholars, but his father failed many times in the test, and in desperation he started a business like a man.

There is a cloth shop in Houguan County, and the business is not very good, but it is not a problem to ensure that the family has no worries about food and clothing. It has nothing to do with Dafu Dagui, otherwise there will not be a flood, which will force him into desperation.

In his memory, the eldest sister, Xie Ying, was dignified and beautiful, and she was proficient in everything about female red weaving. Because her father and younger brothers were both scholars, she was also able to know books and theory by ear, and she was born in a scholarly family.

Five years ago, she was betrothed by her father to the son of a classmate and friend as his wife.

My brother-in-law, surnamed Li, surnamed Qing, styled Wenxiu, was seven years older than me. Three years ago, he was promoted in high school and went to Shanyin County. The whole family moved here. Since then, the contact between the two families has gradually diminished.

Communication is nothing more than letter transmission, but the mountains are high and the road is far away, and it will take more than a month to send a letter from home at the fastest. If there is another accident on the road, it is not impossible for a few months.

Before coming here, he had sent a letter home to his sister, which showed the situation after the disaster at home, and I don't know if she received it.

Putting aside these miscellaneous thoughts, Xie Duan looked around, looking for someone to ask for directions, and a man in a bunt came up to him, leading a donkey and two lambs in his hand, shuttling back and forth among the crowd, looking honest Yes, it should be a country farmer.

With a smile on his face, he stepped forward and gave a salute.

"Brother, may I ask how to get to the Yamen?"

Seeing someone asking for directions, the man's expression sank, he glanced at Xie Duan, raised his right hand, and pointed impatiently back.

"Go straight along this road, go to the end of the three roads, go to the leftmost one, and when you see the Earth Temple, turn left and go straight."

Xie Duan said "Oh", thanked him, and walked away.

It was his first visit to Shanyin County, so the road structure in the county is naturally not very clear, even though it is only a lower county today, but one thing to say, the scale of the city is not bad.

Xie Duan followed the path guided by the man, and after a while, he saw a memorial archway standing in the middle of the street, beside the stone pillar on the right side of the entrance of the archway, many people surrounded him, pointing secretly.

There were bursts of heart-piercing cries from the crowd.

"My son! Son, mother is sorry for you, mother shouldn't have brought you out! How can we let mother explain to your father now!"

With curiosity, Xie Duan took a step forward and went to have a look.

I saw a woman with disheveled hair, slumped on the ground, clutching a shoe tightly with both hands, crying loudly, distraught.

"Oh! This should be the third child abduction this month!"

"What's wrong with the world! Thieves are rampant. Is there anyone who can control them? If this continues, how will people live?"

"Sister-in-law of the Wang family, don't be in a hurry, it's useless to sit here and just cry, hurry up and report to the yamen! Inform the child's father by the way."

"Yes, yes, no matter what, you have to act."

……

The passers-by were discussing, and two of the young men who recognized the woman raised her from the ground while reminding her.

"Hey! Old man, what's going on?"

Hearing their discussion, Xie Duan probably understood five or six points. At this time, seeing an old man watching the excitement standing beside him, he couldn't help asking again.

The old man took a good look at Xie Duan, saw that his clothes were shabby, his hair was disheveled, and he spoke the unified official language of the imperial court. His accent was not that of a local, so he knew that he was either a beggar or a refugee.

"You young man is from another place! No reason to inquire about these things?"

The old man was very vigilant to the outside world, so he didn't answer directly.

"I... I'm just curious, just ask!"

Xie Duan smiled lightly, with an air of whether you like to talk or not.

"Curious? Isn't that obvious enough? The child is lost! This woman is the daughter-in-law of the old Wang family in our alley. Her husband does long-term work for a wealthy family and rarely returns home twice a month, so she lives alone with her son." Today, I took my child to the street to buy rice and vegetables, and I accidentally lost it, and I guess I was abducted by someone."

The old man explained the situation again, perhaps to satisfy his curiosity, or out of etiquette, or for other reasons.

It was also at this time that Xie Duan realized a problem, that is, from what he saw and heard since he entered the city, the pedestrians around him were almost all adults, and it was rare to see anyone with children, so this was the reason.

"Damn kidnapper, why are you staring at us in Shanyin County so hard? Three children go missing and abducted in a month, and how many families are ruined overnight. If I let my father meet him, he will have to be skinned."

A burly black-bearded man clenched his fists and gritted his teeth.

The sister-in-law of the Wang family barely controlled her emotions, still crying, and accompanied by her neighbors, she headed for the yamen.

Seeing that there was no excitement to watch, the onlookers gradually dispersed.

"It seems that Shanyin County is not as peaceful as I imagined."

Seeing this scene, Xie Duan couldn't help feeling a little slapped in the face.

He didn't stay any longer, and simply followed behind those people, crossing the long street, bypassing the Earth Temple, and after about a stick of incense, a huge building appeared in front of him.

The four characters of "Shanyin County Government" hang high above the eaves of the door.

　Ask for tickets, ask for collections!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)