Chapter 7
The place irrigated by rainwater is either cold or humid, which is the normal state of Xiguan, and Yongzhou, where the spring breeze blows willows, has nourished a new green.

The previous dynasty was elegant, and so was the Great Wei Dynasty. At this time, the Flower Festival is approaching. The market is full of pear blossoms and willow branches, with colorful lights. The most lively place is Xihua Lane on Yongdu Street. There are two rows of stalls of different sizes along the street. The scent of flower wine is everywhere.

The young man took a deep breath, and besides the smell of flowers and wine, there was a strong spicy smell of broth. The guy across the street fished out a new bowl of saozi noodles, and then marinated it with hot soup and spicy oil. Fragrant and attractive, a bowl of oily soup fills the stomach, and the whole body is warm.

The young man pursed his lips, he was really hungry, more than seven or eight days had passed since Shiping escaped and traveled east to Yongzhou.He touched the belted and luxurious clothes on his body, and took out a gold inlaid jade bird pattern pendant from his sleeve pocket, which was the only valuable thing on his body.

"Shopkeeper, take a look at this." He handed the jade pendant over, "This is Anxiang Topaz from Runan. Its color is like red gold, and its texture is like goose greasy. Can it be worth 50 taels of silver?"

The shopkeeper Lu took it to look at it carefully, and when he moved, his heart was turbulent, and goose bumps immediately popped up.He raised his eyes suddenly, and saw that the man in front of him was dressed in luxury, with disheveled hair and a handsome air, which was quite different from the dude in his impression.

Mo Ran breathed a sigh of relief, and smiled back faintly: "It's natural, young master, wait a moment, I'll go to the inner room to give you some money."

The incense on the tribute platform was like a lotus, and the traces fell into the case, the green smoke curled up in the air, and the fragrance was tangled and hazy. Suddenly, the young man's body trembled, and there was a drug in the incense!
The young man walked out quickly, but his body was already staggering. Before he could struggle, he was dragged into the dark room by two burly men. His arms were tightly bound by hemp ropes. He became more and more out of breath, as if his whole body was trapped He was thrown into the deep pool, and his ears were buzzing.

The candles in the dark room were dimly lit, and a middle-aged man was squinting at him with a gold silk hand stove, panting slowly through his nose, "He gave you the jade pendant?"

"Yes." Shopkeeper Lu stood beside the man with his hands in his hands, nodded and bowed his waist, "This is Shiping Meng's customs clearance certificate, not everyone in Badafang is unknown, this person must be a fake, but... this jade pendant Why did it fall into his hands for no reason?"

Badafang is the eight famous chaebol families in the previous dynasty, headed by the Shi family in Anyang, including the Shen family in Pingyang, the Liang family in Luoyang, the Huo family in Longxi, the Cui family in Jizhou, the Guo family in Yanjing, the Li family in Taiyuan, and the Xie family in Lanling.However, in a few years, the glory faded and the grand occasion was in danger. If the situation hadn't changed, how could a clown like Shi Ping Meng get on the stage.

Pan Hongzhang raised his fingers and covered his lips and coughed a few times. The Shi family and the Liang family had always been at odds, and between old enemies, there was no reason to pawn their belongings at the pawnshop of the other family.

Mencius Zi's jade pendant was in the hands of this person, so the cause of Meng Shizi's death must be related to him.

Hearing his movements, Pan Hongzhang seemed to wake up, raised his head and looked at the boy again, "What's his name?"

The young man's forehead was soaked in sweat, his eyes were like deep dry wells, but he didn't show any fear, "Qi...Qi Xiao."

"Where did you come from, Yupei?"

"I picked it up."

Pan Hongzhang wiped his mouth and smiled, "How did you pick it up? What's your relationship with Young Master Meng? Why are you wearing his clothes?"

Qi Xiao closed his eyes, his chest was beating rapidly, his thoughts circled in his mind for a long time, but he still couldn't come up with an answer.

"Don't tell me that this dress is yours. This is a special tribute brocade made of Wusun mouse fur. The accounts are recorded in the books. You can know when, where, and what pattern you bought. You can't deny it. "

Qi Xiao raised his head slowly, his gaze fell cautiously on Pan Hongzhang's boots, "I... I escaped from Shiping."

"Why escape?" Pan Hongzhang leaned back in his chair and looked at the back of his hands, "I have never heard of famine, flood and drought in Shiping in the past few months."

Qi Xiao's breathing was stagnant, and his fingertips were cold.

After hesitating for a long time, Qi Xiao still looked down at the ground, "Chencang hasn't seen any rain or snow since the beginning of winter, and the newly planted millet sprouts have all died of drought. My mother and I wanted to escape to Shiping, but she was hungry halfway through. died."

Qi Xiao swallowed lazily, his eyes kept moving left and right, "I picked up that jade pendant from a dead person, and I also picked up the clothes. I just rebelled for a while, and I didn't do anything harmful to nature!"

Pan Hongzhang continued to ask: "Where did you meet him?"

Qi Xiao replied, "Yongdukou."

Every word and every sentence is right, but because it is too perfect, it is full of loopholes.As soon as Pan Hongzhang lifted his body and slammed it against the wall, the pink and white on the wall fell straight down, "The fire...you also set it?"

He tightly clasped the man's jaw, "Why did you set fire to the corpse? Is it to conceal the crime? Or is it for something else? Kid, you don't really think that our place is easier than the torture prison, do you? The group of wine bags and rice bags are not worthy to carry our shoes , we have too many ways to deal with you!"

He turned around and dragged Qi Xiao violently, and kicked him to the wooden stake used for interrogation, "Use criminal interrogation, no matter what means, I must pry this dead duck's mouth open, just a little, people can't die."

That kick was too heavy, and it was nestled in his heart. Qi Xiaoren didn't have time to bear it, and his blood was pouring out, and his whole body had already rolled out, like a shriveled leaf in the autumn wind, rustling to the ground.

Shopkeeper Lu respectfully agreed, and immediately sent someone to take the iron lock to the jail, while urging the servants outside to prepare a new pot of tea, "Leave all these trivial matters to us. Let's go to the flower hall to have a cup of tea, Mr. Pan, okay?" The new Maojian in the south of the Yangtze River."

Pan Hongzhang waved his hand, walked out of the dark room in three steps, and looked at the man for a moment before parting, and then opened their faces to each other when they returned to the lobby, "This man seems to have a background, those who were arrested in the past, which one is not Crying and begging for mercy, even if you don’t cry, you have to ask who we are, where we are, and why we arrested him.”

As he said that, he narrowed his eyes, and said in his heart, "This kid is so calm and terrifying, he still has the mind to deal with me."

"By the way, don't forget to check your body carefully. If you have any doubts, write a note and hand it to me. A month ago, the eldest girl was upset because of the death of Mrs. Meng. Now the truth is about to be revealed, so don't make a mistake."

"I know, don't worry." The shopkeeper asked eagerly: "Then do you want to report a letter to Yumen Pass?"

Pan Hongzhang denied it straight away, "No need, the eldest girl will arrive in Yongzhou tomorrow, so let's make this matter clear." He bit his lips and thought for a while, "One more thing, remember to put the letter you just received Go out on patrol and monitor the disturbances in Yongzhou, especially the Que family and King Zhongshan."

The orders from the superiors were followed by the subordinates, but when they heard the name of the target, everyone's heart skipped a beat, and they were not sure what the master's idea was, but these were never the things they should worry about.

The most important thing right now is how to get that person named Qi Xiao to speak.

Looking up at the sky, there is a thin line of crescent moon.

Qi Xiao looked at the iron fence in the claustrophobia, and there was only an oil lamp lit on the wall table, which dimly gelled with the surroundings.After today's experience, he can probably figure out that those people are all staring at Meng's life, and they know the situation of the Meng family well. If the stalemate continues, he will be exposed sooner or later.

But now, there is nowhere for him to escape. When he was awake, he had already judged that the fence and walls of this dark room were filled with steel bars and iron plates, which were no different from copper walls and iron walls.

"It's time to eat." The guard boy opened the door, brought a bowl of porridge over, and asked him to take a few sips, "Why are you killing Meng Shizi, this pot of sewage poured on the master, it's too late for him to be bad luck, you might as well Admit it, so you can suffer less before you die."

Qi Xiao already had old wounds on his body, and after being whipped again, it was already difficult to lift his eyelids, "Master? Who is your master?"

The room fell silent, "Don't worry, when you find out tomorrow, our master is a good man."

 Spoiler alert: remember this guy, he's a character!

  
 
(End of this chapter)

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