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

Chapter 628 Two Gold Treasures
Kan Jinbao?
This name seemed to be a very distant thing. With Haitang's good memory, she had to think for a while before she could remember: "The centurion in Ganzhou...who killed his wife?"

Haijiao smiled: "You remember? But killing his wife was something that happened in his previous life. He hasn't done it in this life yet."

A lot of things have changed in this life.

Suzhou City was not conquered by the Hu people, but won the battle. The Hu people retreated, the three princes were captured, and the Chu and Hu countries entered into peace talks, and the border gradually became peaceful. Kan Jinbao, who had lived in Ganzhou for generations, chose to go to Chang'an to fight for his future under the persuasion of his wife. The couple had no roots in Chang'an, and it would take a lot of time and energy to gain a foothold here. It is not certain that Kan Jinbao's wife could hook up with a man to be an adulterer, so naturally there would be no such thing as Kan Jinbao killing his wife.

The Hai family had lived in Ganzhou for several years, and Hai Jiao was born there. If Sun Yonglu had not been transferred to Ganzhou, the Hai family would not have hurriedly moved to the border town of Suzhou with Xie Wenzai and other exiled Wu clan members to avoid him.

During their stay in Ganzhou, the Hai family and Kan Jinbao's parents were neighbors and had some friendship. However, after the Hai family moved to Suzhou and Guazhou, the two families lost contact, and when Kan Jinbao's parents died, their friendship ended.

On the way back to Chang'an, the Hai family passed by Ganzhou and heard about his family again. Ma once said that she would take good care of Kan Jinbao, the son of an old friend, after returning to Chang'an, but when she found out where he lived and went to visit him, his wife's attitude immediately turned cold when she heard that Hai Xiya was only a seventh-rank official. She accepted the gift but did not even prepare a cup of good tea for the guest. Ma was indignant and never visited him again.

Hai Xiya used his connections to pass on the news that his wife had come to visit the son of an old friend to Kan Jinbao's ears, and also told him about Ma's rude and cold treatment by his wife. It was thought that Kan Jinbao would at least scold his wife and then take the initiative to apologize, but he was indifferent and continued to love his wife. Hai Xiya and his wife saw through his attitude and naturally had no interest in trying to curry favor with the cold butt, so they no longer mentioned their past friendship with the Kan family.

Haitang had been at home with her grandmother during that time, and she had heard her complain several times that the son of the Kan family did not remember their old friendship. However, many things happened later, and both she and Ma were distracted by the lawsuit of the third branch of the Zhou family. How could they remember the couple of the Kan family? The Hai and Kan families were not close friends, they had only been neighbors for a few years, and they were separated by several families.

When Haitang mentioned the rude and cold treatment of the Kan family a few months ago, Haijiao frowned and did not comment. Anyway, he had never had any friendship with the other party. He just said: "Zhou Xiaojian followed Tu Jinbao and saw him enter a tavern, wanting to taste the famous strong liquor in the northwest. The waiter in the tavern saw that he looked young and thought he was just a child, and did not want to sell him any wine. When he was about to make a fuss, he suddenly heard someone calling "Jinbao". He answered casually, only to find that the person was calling someone else. This is how he and Kan Jinbao met. Although they have different surnames, they happen to have the same name. Tu Jinbao is still a green hand and knows nothing; Kan Jinbao is also a newcomer and has encountered many setbacks. I don't know if it is because of this that he likes Tu Jinbao and invites him to sit over and drink with him without asking about his background."

Tu Jinbao was only fourteen or fifteen years old, how could he handle the strong liquor from the northwest? He said he wanted to drink, and Kan Jinbao really gave him some. As a result, he fell down as soon as he drank the glass of wine, and lost consciousness.

Tu Jinbao sneaked into the tavern, and somehow he got rid of the guards who followed him. He even changed his clothes, so no one recognized him as Tu Rong's son. Zhou Xiaojian knew his identity, but seeing a bunch of people surrounding him in the tavern, he didn't want to go up to him, as it would expose the fact that he was following someone. So he turned around and went to find Tu's guards, intending to report to them as a kind passerby and Ma Shangyi's servant.

Anyway, the tavern was run by an old soldier, and they would not let a stranger take a teenager away. Tu Jinbao would not be in any danger if he stayed in the store. Zhou Xiaojian was not worried about his safety. But when Zhou Xiaojian brought Tu's personal soldiers over, Tu Jinbao had already been taken away by Kan Jinbao. Fortunately, everyone in the tavern knew Kan Jinbao's identity and where he lived. When they learned that it was the boy's family who came to look for him, they told the personal soldiers the address. The personal soldiers immediately went to Kan's house to pick him up, and took Tu Jinbao home safely, but Tu Rong could not hide his drunkenness.

Since then, Tu Jinbao and Kan Jinbao have been interacting with each other and seem to have become friends. Tu Jinbao often goes to the pub to find him. Although he dares not drink strong liquor anymore, he still has no problem drinking a few glasses of wine. And Kan Jinbao is willing to indulge him and tell him which nearby restaurant has delicious food, as if he treats him as an ignorant little brother.

Haijiao told Haitang: "The Tu family's personal guards didn't say much, so Kan Jinbao didn't know that Tu Jinbao was Tu Rong's son. He only knew that he had the same name as himself and his father was a military officer in the Dusi Yamen. He probably thought his father was only a fifth or sixth rank."

Kan Jinbao was a hereditary centurion, a sixth-rank official. Although he had left his hometown and no longer had the centurion soldiers under his command, his prospects for advancement were slim, but this did not prevent him from being proud of his rank. The seventh-rank officers of Haixiya were not in his eyes, and the fifth- and sixth-rank military officers of the Dusi Yamen did not move him either.

Although it is not known what Tu Jinbao was thinking to conceal his father's real official position, his friendship with Kan Jinbao seems to be relatively pure at present. He calls Kan Jinbao "Brother Kan" and Kan Jinbao calls him "Xiaobao". The two get together every day to eat, drink and joke. Kan Jinbao also took him back to his home. Tu Jinbao specially gave Kan Jinbao's wife a few pieces of good fabric to thank her for taking care of him when he was drunk. Kan Jinbao's wife was very happy and cooked for him and Kan Jinbao at home.

Haijiao felt that the Kan family was getting along harmoniously, and there was no rumor that Kan Jinbao's wife had cheated on him, so there should be no murder for the time being. As for Tu Jinbao, he did not learn any bad habits from Kan Jinbao except drinking, and he seemed to be influenced by Kan Jinbao, and he had a yearning for the military style of the Northwest Frontier Army. Tu Rong wanted his eldest son to join the army in Chang'an, which seemed to be feasible. If this continued, Tu Jinbao would probably not become the vicious playboy he was in his previous life, at most he would become an alcoholic at a young age.

Haijiao planned to withdraw Zhou Xiaojian in two days.

But Haitang asked him seriously, "Tu Jinbao went into the tavern during the day, right? Kan Jinbao has a job, so why did he drink strong liquor in the tavern in broad daylight? Who were his companions at the time?"

Hai Jiao was stunned for a moment, then replied, "They are just a few idle people. Zhou Xiaojian heard from the people in the tavern that they were not successful in the Chang'an Army, and they rarely had time to go on duty, so they went to the tavern to drink and relieve their boredom."

Haitang sneered: "If his career was going well, Kan Jinbao wouldn't have spent his days drinking in the tavern. He may not know Tu Jinbao's background and only treat him as a little brother. But is his wife the kind of person who can abide by the rules and share the hardships with him? The Kan family's roots are all in Ganzhou. Why did his wife urge him to come to Chang'an for no reason? If he got to Chang'an and didn't do well, why didn't Kan Jinbao stay at home and go to the tavern to kill time if they had a harmonious relationship? If there was a problem between them, would Kan Jinbao's wife really not have an affair with him?"

(End of this chapter)