After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 112 Road Encounters
After Xie Wenzai heard the news, he was happy and helpless at the same time.

Strictly speaking, Zhuang Shitong only had friendship with him, and only had casual acquaintances with Cao Gengyun and Lu Bainian.When something happened to him, Zhuang Shitong, as one of Wu Shangshu's disciples, was also implicated a lot. However, because his family was wealthy and he had taken care of everything, he was able to escape. However, he was also banished to a foreign country, and he has been wasting his time in the local area.But after he settled down, he asked someone to go to Chang'an to bring money to Xie Wenzai to provide some relief. He also brought him follow-up news from his relatives, friends, teachers, and fellow disciples. Cao Gengyun and other exiled officials also benefited. Xie Wenzai has always been grateful.

Although Zhuang Shitong's official career was not smooth, he managed to keep his official position, and his luck was much better than that of Xie Wenzai and others.However, such good luck is limited.After Wu Shangshu's death, he could not avoid being implicated.Fortunately, he had strong financial resources and wisely stayed away from the central government. He only served in places far away from the capital. He never made any mistakes as an official, so he was able to save himself.Four years ago, Emperor Deguang posthumously gave Wu Shangshu the posthumous title of "Wen'an". The suppression on the Wu clan's former students was lessened, and Zhuang Shitong was able to be transferred to Shu and serve as an official in a relatively prosperous and stable place.

Unexpectedly, he only served one term in Shuzhong and immediately sought transfer. It was not for the purpose of climbing higher, but just to be closer to his old friends, so he came to Chang'an to be a general judge of the sixth grade. It is really surprising. What to say.

It seemed that he was not idle at all in Chang'an. He actually had a wide circle of friends and even made friends with military attaches from Wugong County.Just seeing that these old friends can confidently say that Zhuang Shitong will be very happy to welcome Xie Wenzai out of the city when he hears the news that Xie Wenzai has returned to Chang'an, we can know that they are very familiar with each other, so familiar that everyone knows Zhuang Shitong's temperament.

After returning to the inn, when Xie Wenzai talked about these things with Hai Xiya, Cao Gengyun and Lu Bainian, he couldn't help but sigh: "Brother Zhuang's temper has really remained unchanged for decades. It's hard for him to maintain this after years of wasted career. His optimistic temperament is really admirable."

Cao Gengyun laughed and said: "If he didn't have this temper, how could he be so close to us? We haven't seen each other for decades, but we are still good friends. It is a blessing in life to get to know such a true gentleman, let alone Says we know more than one person.”

How could Tao Yue not be such a true gentleman?
Lu Bainian was also in a very good mood: "Chang'an is only over a hundred miles away from Wugong County. Hurry up and deliver the message. I guess Zhuang Shitong will know that we are coming tomorrow. I wonder if we can see him when we enter the city?"

Hai Xiya also said: "We will take the most common road into Chang'an from the west. Mr. Zhuang only needs to ask someone to find the right place. He will not get sidetracked."

Xie Wenzai then discussed with him: "Should my cousin send people to Chang'an? Not only to deliver letters to relatives, but also to ask them to help clean the house and heat the water and heat the kang in advance, so that we won't have to make a mess after we arrive and spend half a day settling in. Don’t come down.”

Hai Xiya smiled and said: "Then I will send the strong and fast horse ahead tomorrow. After entering the city, I can also send a message to Mr. Zhuang on the way to prevent him from going to the wrong place."

Cui Dazhuang set off for Chang'an early the next morning.Although there was one young man missing from the team, thanks to the ten guards borrowed from Wugong County, the Hai family was safe on the road and arrived at Chang'an smoothly.

When we were still more than ten miles away from Chang'an City, the sky was already dark.Hai Xiya was quite familiar with Chang'an, and upon seeing this, he knew that they would not be able to enter the city before the city gate closed anyway, and would have to find another place to stay, so he went to his wife's cousin and others to discuss it.

Ma has no objection.She was still a little embarrassed.Originally, the family was able to go to the city in the evening according to the plan, but because she had not arranged lunch, the whole team's schedule was delayed. Now they are upset.

Xie Wenzai believed that they would not be able to reach the inn and needed to find a safe place to spend the night.They have so many people and cars that an ordinary small village inn may not be able to accommodate them.

Ma said hurriedly: "Sister Er has a village in the south. It's a huge place. She prepares family members to go hunting in the mountains all year round. Why don't we stay there for a night?"

Haixiya also knew about that villa: "It happens to be quite close here. It's only seven or eight miles away. We should be able to get there before dark. It will be convenient to enter the city tomorrow morning." Xie Wenzai vaguely remembered that Ma's eldest sister The Zhou Ma family did have such a dowry village. It was not far from the Qinling Mountains. The place was quite large, but the land was not very fertile. The advantage was that it could provide a place for family members who went hunting in the mountains, and it was considered decent to tell people about it.When they were still living in Chang'an with the Hai family, it was not easy to go around. Hai Xiya, Ma and his wife, together with their son Hai Dingcheng, visited the villa several times. After returning home, they visited the villa several times. Tell him.

The Hai family team then turned south and headed for Zhuangzi, where Zhou Ma's dowry was.As an old servant, Uncle Cui was sent to the village on horseback to say hello, so that the head of the village could make some preparations in advance so as not to be caught off guard by the sudden arrival of the large group of people.

Haixi Ya hadn’t been to Zhuangzi for many years. Ma also felt a sense of strangeness when he found the way. The group took several turns in the ravine, always wondering if they had taken the wrong road, but the sky had already turned completely dark. , it’s hard to find the way, and there aren’t many people nearby.

Hai Changan took the initiative to express his willingness to ask for directions to a nearby place with lights. The large army rested there for a while. They were in a ravine with earth walls on both sides, so they didn't have to worry about the cold wind.

Haixi Ya agreed.Ma felt uneasy: "Chang'an, you should be careful when you are alone. If you look bad, come back quickly. There are many people."

Hai Changan smiled and said: "Don't worry, mother, this is not far from Chang'an, it is a densely populated area, and there are several guard posts stationed there. The bandit Xiaoxiao doesn't dare to come here!"

He took a torch, turned the horse's head and left.Ma whispered to Aunt Cui in the car: "If you don't see a single family, what kind of densely populated place is it?" Aunt Cui laughed twice, but she was worried about Uncle Cui who got up early and went to report the news alone.

The torch held by Hai Changan disappeared around the ravine wall in front of him. After a while, the sound of rapid horse hooves came back, and then everyone in the Hai family saw Hai Changan's torch reappearing.He hurried back to the team, and shouted from a long way away: "There are many dead horses and people in front of us. It seems that we have encountered a disaster!"

There was a commotion in the Hai family team. Hai Xiya raised the curtain of the carriage and asked loudly: "What's going on? The robbers are chasing me?" The ten guards borrowed from Wugong County reacted immediately, and several of them ran away. He went behind Hai Changan and protected the front of the team. Others went around to the rear of the team to prevent being outflanked.

Hai Changan replied loudly: "There were no robbers, I only saw dead people and horses, the car was broken down, and there were bloodstains all over the ground. I don't know if anyone survived. I didn't dare to get close, so I had to come back first to report the news."

Hai Xiya discussed it with his wife and cousin, and then went to talk to the borrowed guards. They finally decided to take out four guards and escort Hai Changan to check the place where the incident occurred to see if there were any survivors.

In any case, a major case of murder and robbery occurred so close to Chang'an City. Haixi Ya, as an official, could not ignore it.

Hai Changan and his men rode away again.Haitang checked the equipment in her carriage, then took the riding whip, got out of the car and went to Grandma Ma's carriage.

Ma was comforting Aunt Cui: "It's okay. Maybe Lao Cui didn't take this path? He's not a fool. Of course he would turn around and run away when something like this happened. Can he stay and get stabbed... …”

(End of this chapter)