Aspirations

Chapter 121
Fan Li turned pale with shock, he didn't expect Mantuo, a delicate little lady, to have such martial arts.What should I do if I can't beat it?Do you still want to report to the police and arrest people?They are officials, and Ma Zhanguo is also an official.In desperation, he made a decisive decision, plopped and knelt down in front of Ma Zhanguo, crying, hoping that Ma Zhanguo would do him a favor for the sake of getting acquainted. Ma Zhanguo left one person behind, so he could go back to work.

Ma Zhanguo was in the public office, so he knew that it was not easy to be an errand, and besides, he was in Shile territory at this time, so there was going to be a big trouble, and it would be troublesome for Pei Shuozhang to participate in the Xia County Honorary Book.After thinking for a while, he left Zhuang Feifan behind.Compared with Yan Sun and Dong Lishi, although Zhuang Feifei is also a key person, he is not the most important witness.

Fan Li took Zhuang Feifan away and hurried back.After walking not far, he met Wei Chizhi, the deputy commander of the Forbidden Army stationed there.Yu Chizhi led more than a hundred heavily armed Imperial Army cavalry, and met Fan Li and his party head-on.

Zhending Prefecture garrisoned a total of 20 soldiers and horses, [-] were stationed in Zhending County, and [-] were stationed in Shile County.Because Shile County is a major grain-producing county, the Forbidden Army lives by food, so it is also called the Forbidden Army for Grain.Wu Yidong, the commander of the imperial army in Zhending Prefecture, was directly under the jurisdiction of Cui Xiang, and Yu Chizhi, the deputy commander of the imperial army in Shile County, was under the jurisdiction of Wu Yidong and also under the chapter system of Pei Shuo, and had to obey Cui Xiang's orders.

Of course, his direct boss is Wu Yidong, he obeys Cui Xiang's orders, Wu Yidong's orders, and Pei Shuozhang's orders, so Yu Chizhi is a doormat who is controlled everywhere and anyone can tell him what to do.

After receiving Pei Shuozhang's order to send troops, he originally wanted to consult Wu Yidong before dispatching troops, but the messenger showed his badge, which made him break out in a cold sweat. It turned out to be the gold medal of Xingwang Mansion.

That's right, the person who delivered the order was Gao Jianyuan.

After Pei Shuozhang sent Fan Li to intercept Ma Zhanguo and others, Gao Jianyuan learned that there was a beautiful lady accompanying them, and immediately thought of Mantuo.Mantuo's martial arts are so strong, how could a few yamen servants be her opponents?After figuring this out, he immediately asked Pei Shuozhang to write a letter in hand, and galloped to the Forbidden Army Garrison on Wangxiang Mountain in the east of Shile County with the letter.

Mantuo can only be stopped by dispatching the forbidden army!

Gao Jianyuan returned to the county office immediately after the imperial army delivered the order.He is a personal soldier of Xingwang Mansion, with a special status, it is not appropriate to show up.

With both Pei Shuozhang's letter and Xingwang's gold medal, although Yu Chizhi was not very willing to send troops, he had to muster 100 men and rode his horse to meet Fan Li.When Fan Li saw that the imperial army had dispatched a large group of troops, his spirits were lifted immediately, and he hurriedly asked Yu Chizhi to go after Ma Zhanguo and the others, and must escort Yan Sun and Dong Lishi back to Shile County.

Yuchi led his troops in pursuit, and after half an hour, he caught up with Ma Zhanguo and his party in Zhending County.Yuchi immediately slashed his sword and asked Ma Zhanguo to keep Yan Sun and Dong Lishi, otherwise they would meet each other with swords and guns.Ma Zhanguo refused, and now he is in the territory of Zhending. Although Yu Chizhi is the forbidden army stationed in Zhending Prefecture, he is also the food forbidden army in Shile County. He has no jurisdiction over matters in Zhending territory. He was very angry about the matter, and was forced by Yuchizhi, and immediately exploded. He waved the waist knife in his hand and shouted "Give it to me", and a group of arresters surrounded Yuchizhi in the middle.

Yu Chi laughed out loud, the policemen and yamen servants usually frighten the common people, but in front of the imperial army, they are mobs, fighting with the imperial army is like hitting a stone with a pebble, Ma Zhanguo's move is in his hands.He is the leader of the Forbidden Army, but he has no right to interfere with local affairs. What's more, Ma Zhanguo turns a blind eye to him in Zhending territory. If he just moves forward, he really dare not take down Yan Sun and Dong Li.Even if there is a gold medal from Xingwang, he is a smart person. If things get serious, Xingwang will definitely not admit that there is a gold medal. He can only swallow his anger and take the blame.

Ma Zhanguo made the move first. He could use the pretext of attacking the imperial army to send people back. Yu Chizhi immediately shouted, and when he was about to make a move, suddenly a figure flashed, and a graceful and charming lady stood in front of Ma Zhanguo.

It is Mantra.

Although Man Tuo is a son and daughter of the rivers and lakes, he grew up in a family of officials since he was a child. He has seen a lot of scheming and calculations in the officialdom, and he knows very well based on the current situation.She stopped Ma Zhanguo and told Ma Zhanguo in a low voice that Yu Chizhi was a garrison guard and had no right to interfere with local affairs. If he acted forcefully, it would be a serious act of exceeding his authority.

Ma Zhanguo was furious for a moment, and he wanted to do something. After being awakened by Mantuo, he suddenly realized that he quickly put away his weapons, and led the team to turn around and leave.

Yuchizhi's imperial guards looked at each other, waiting for Yuchizhi to issue an order to act, but unexpectedly, after waiting for a long time, Yuchizhi didn't speak directly, looking back, he saw Yuchizhi was drooling profusely while looking at Mantuo's back.

Yu Chizhi originally wanted to wait for Ma Zhanguo and others to go far away before turning around and going back to do business, so he used the excuse of not catching up to get through, so he didn't want to make things worse.He didn't want Mantuo's glimpse of Fanghua to make him salivate. He had never seen such a beautiful and heroic lady. He was so fascinated by ghosts that he couldn't help driving his horse forward and followed behind Mantuo.

Without knowing it, the forbidden soldiers also followed behind Yuchizhi.After walking for about half a mile, I came to a woods.Suddenly a few frightened birds flew out from the forest. Mantuo stopped and came to the center of the forbidden army. He borrowed a bow from the archer, bent the bow and put an arrow on it.

Just when everyone was shocked by Mantuo's magical skills, after the flying birds landed, they discovered that two flying birds were shot in the neck by an arrow, killing two birds with one arrow. The legendary archer is nothing more than that. a shout of hello.

Man Tuo returned the bow to the archer, drew out the sword, picked up the two birds with the tip of the sword, handed it to Yu Chizhi, and said: "The commander has worked hard, and it is not a respect to send a pair of birds."

Yuchi didn't know until now that the beautiful young lady in front of him was not only superb in archery, but also very good in swordsmanship. She was a rare master. He immediately put away his frivolous heart, took the bird, and bowed to Mantuo: "Thank you, lady."

Then he turned around, waved his hand, and shouted, "Back to camp!"

The imperial guards responded in unison, and more than a hundred cavalrymen turned around and drove away, stirring up boundless dust.

As soon as Man Tuo and his party returned to Zhending County Yamen, Xia Xiang was sent to Zhending Mansion Yamen by Cui Xiang.Cui Xiang first talked earnestly about his passion and passion when he first entered the officialdom, but later he realized after experiencing a lot of things. Sometimes giving in is not because of incompetence or cowardice, nor is it not for the sake of the people, but for the sake of the overall situation and for the sake of the people. The way of a gentleman of Zhongzheng and peace.

Then Cui Xiang bluntly asked Xia Xiang to suspend the trial of Dong Xian's case, and directly sentenced Fu Ke to death, and reported it to the government office. The government office will report to Dali Temple and the Ministry of Punishment for approval.

Xia Xiang knew that Cui Xiang was eager to execute Fu Ke because he must have been pressured from behind.It is said that Cui Xiang, as the magistrate, although he is his immediate superior, has the duty to intervene in Zhending County and has no authority to make decisions.He did not reject Cui Xiang outright, but claimed that Dong Xian's case had been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people on the grounds that he salvaged Dong Xian's body in the Hutuo River with great fanfare. If the case was closed hastily, it might cause dissatisfaction among the people.People's hearts have always been like a scale, and people's opinions are like a mirror. Cui Fuzun has had a lot of reputations and official reputations since he was really appointed as an official. It must not be destroyed because of Dong Xian's case.

Xia Xiang first sent a high hat for Cui Xiang to wear, and then changed his tone, saying that he had found definite evidence to prove that the real culprit behind Dong Xian's case did not involve any dignitaries, it was just a matter of business disputes. Sincerely.Within seven days, he will be able to find out all the truth, close the case smoothly, and then report the case to Master Cui.

Cui Xiang wanted to say something more, but Xia Xiang left in a hurry on the grounds that he still had something to do, not giving Cui Xiang a chance to continue.Although Xia Xiang also knew that if Cui Xiangzhen wanted to force him, he would be very embarrassed.The most important thing right now is to find out the real culprit as soon as possible so that the truth can be revealed to the world. No matter how powerful the black hands behind the scenes are, they can't stop the mouths of everyone in the world.

At this time, Cui Xiang has not received a letter from the capital, asking him to do his best to stop Xia Xiang's trial.

After learning about what happened to Man Tuo and his party in Shile, Xia Xiang further concluded that there must be something hidden behind Dong Xian's death, and even the imperial army was dispatched. It can be seen that Pei Shuozhang only realized it after receiving instructions, and he must stay at all costs. Fortunately, Man Tuo and Ma Zhanguo were resourceful and managed to bring back Yansun and Dong Li's family. Although it was a pity that Zhuang Feifei couldn't bring them back to Zhending, it was considered a gain.

Xia Xiang's mind was fluctuating, and after thinking about everything, he walked along the river with Xiao Wu, Man Tuo, Ma Zhanguo, and Ding Ke for half a day.

It is late autumn, the autumn wind is rustling, and there is a deep coolness.Xia Xiang and his entourage came to a bakery called Yang Mazi Dabing. It was a small two-story building.There is a tall poplar tree in front of the door. At this time, all the leaves have fallen, leaving only bare branches.

The style of the building has Tang charm, and there is a couplet at the door, which is also quite tasteful.

The first couplet: Although the processing is complicated, we dare not save labor. The second couplet: Although the taste is expensive, we dare not reduce material resources.Although the couplets are not neat, they are also in line with the way of business.After several people entered the door, there was another couplet on the pillars of the hall.The first couplet: no one sees the repair, the second couplet: God knows with the heart.Xia Xiang nodded secretly. It is no accident that the business of this store is so prosperous. The store owner must have something special about him.

When I got upstairs, I chose a good place to sit down, but I didn't see Xiao Er coming to say hello. When Xiao Wu was about to call for someone, he saw the shop owner hurried up and came to Xia Xiang. Rentian is dissatisfied with seeing the county magistrate."

Xia Xiang was stunned for a moment, then looked down, yes, he was wearing a green coat and a cap, he looked like a scholar, he couldn't help but wondered: "Shopkeeper, I'm a scholar, not a county lord."

Tian Manchu grinned: "The county lord is an official ordered by the court, and the villain will not be mistaken."

"Could you have seen me?" Xia Xiang remembered that when Dong Xian's body was salvaged, he had appeared on the boat in the river.But it was far away from the shore, and not many people knew who he was.

"The villain has never seen the county venerable." Tian Man's expression was respectful, but there was a hint of complacency, "Just now when the county lord went upstairs, he looked left and right in the narrow part of the corridor, for fear of bumping into the long wings of the black gauze hat. If it wasn't for wearing a long-winged official hat, how could it be like this? Among the Zhending county government, only the county lord and the county magistrate wear the long-winged official hat, and the villain Xu Xiancheng knows each other. It will be someone else."

Xia Xiang is happy. Speaking of which, he didn’t wear the long-winged official hat very often, but unexpectedly, he has developed the habit of avoiding it from left to right. What you think, in the eyes of caring people, has become a prominent feature.

Tian Man is over fifty years old, with a pair of surprisingly big eyes on his thin face, the eyes are shining brightly, and the eyeballs are quite agile and clever when they turn.With a pair of big protruding ears, sparse eyebrows, and thin lips, it can be judged from his appearance that he is a shrewd, witty, and good at observing words and expressions.

Xia Xiang thought about it, and asked with a smile: "Tian Manchu, your name is quite interesting, is it 'never complacent' to remind yourself from time to time?"

Tian Manchurian just settled accounts at the counter downstairs. He casually glanced at Xia Xiang and his party going upstairs. He didn't pay much attention at first, but suddenly thought of something, put down the brush in his hand, and went to the stairs to stare at Xia Xiang's back intently. When he saw Xia Xiang looking left and right in the corridor, his eyes lit up, and he concluded that this person was the newly appointed Xia Xianzun.

He took the courage to summon up the courage to come up to serve Xia Xianzun in person. He wanted to leave a good impression so that Xia Xianzun would remember him. A bit bigger: "Hui Xiaxian Zun, the villain's family was poor when he was a child, and he always couldn't get enough to eat. In addition, the villain's appetite was astonishing. The name is dissatisfied, which means that it cannot be filled..."

"Haha, what a Tian dissatisfaction." Xia Xiang laughed loudly, remembered the name of the shop again, and continued to ask, "Your surname is Tian, ​​why is the name of the shop called Yang Mazi Bakery? You don't have pockmarks on your face either."

Tian Man was very lucky to be able to talk to the county venerable. He didn't want the county lord to be very interested in him, so he couldn't help being even happier. The business was lost, so I switched to a bakery. The original owner of the restaurant was Yang Mazi, who was originally from Quanzhou. Because of family problems, he took over the store and went back to Quanzhou. Because Yang Mazi’s cakes are famous, they are famous in Zhending. The county can be regarded as a small signboard, and after the villain took over, he didn't change his name..."

"Shop, if you have any signature dishes, just bring them up." Man Tuo didn't like Tian Man's overly servile demeanor, and didn't want him to delay Xia Xiang's business by talking any longer, so he wanted to dismiss him.

"Yes, yes." Tian Manchu peeked at Mantuo, but was so frightened by Mantuo's cold eyes that he shrank his neck and hurriedly went to collect things.

Not long after, Tian Manchu came up again, holding a tray in his hand, with various snacks, snacks, melons and fruits, as well as signature tofu and flatbread.

After putting it down, Tian Manchu still didn't want to leave, and stood aside: "Xia Xianzun, if you have something to do, just tell the villain, and the villain will wait by the side."

"Go down." Man Tuo waved his hand.

With a disappointed expression on his face, Tian Man complied, and reluctantly went downstairs.After only going down a few steps, I heard Xia Xiang's voice: "The store stays."

Tian Manruo obeyed the imperial decree, and returned in a hurry: "What orders does Xia Xianzun have?"

Man Tuo glanced at Xia Xiang in confusion, but Xia Xiang smiled indifferently, picked up a peanut and put it in his mouth, chewing slowly: "What kind of grain business did the shop do before?"

"Small man, small man..." Tian Manchu hesitated to speak, his eyes flickered, "Small man is just making small troubles, making arrangements in the middle, not a big businessman, not comparable to Xu Wangshan Xu Yuanwai and Ma Qingyuan Ma Yuanwai."

"Are you a Yaman?" Xia Xiang was not idle, he insisted on chatting with a shopkeeper to show his approachability as a county lord, but he noticed that Tian Manchu's excellence might be useful From his looking left and right, one can tell that he is a person with the status of a county venerable, and he has been in the market for many years. Tian Manchu knows more things than Ma Zhanguo and Ding Ke.

"Exactly, the villain has always been a Yaman before. Although he is not as good at the dialects of the six countries as An Lushan, he can also speak the dialect of seven or eight places, and he is fair and fair, so the villain should be When I was a Yaren, I was quite famous.” Tian Manan was quite proud of his previous experience as a Yaren, and he moved out of Anlu Mountain every now and then to glorify himself with his experience as a Yaren. They are thugs who invade the common people, bully the market, deceive and coax, seek profits, charge high commissions, and harm the interests of both parties in the transaction, but the villain has always abided by ethics, never profited from it, and only received what he deserved."

Xia Xiangcai didn't bother to pay attention to the people's evaluation of the Yaren. The Yaren lived between buyers and sellers, and they matched them to get commissions. They were also registered in the government and issued licenses. Who does the business match up with: "Tian dissatisfaction, I ask you, since you are a Yaman, who do you do grain business with? Could it be Xu Wangshan and Ma Qingyuan?"

"No, no." Tian Manchu waved his hands repeatedly, "The villain wants to do business with Xu Yuanwai and Ma Yuanwai, but unfortunately Xu Yuanwai and Ma Yuanwai don't look down on the villain. The grain business in Zhending County is all controlled by Xu Yuanwai and Ma Yuanwai. Yuanwai controlled it with one hand, and the villain was forced to make a living, so he had to run around for Dong Yuanwai in Shile County to earn a little hard money."

Originally, Ma Zhanguo and Ding Ke could not understand why Xia Xianzun wanted to talk endlessly with Tian dissatisfaction. The most important thing now should be to interrogate Yan Sun and Dong Li as soon as possible. Shile County only snatched back Zhuang Feifan, and Cui Fuzun asked Under Xia Xianzun's pressure, it may not be long before even Yan Sun and Dong Li will be forcibly escorted back to Shile.The most important thing now is to get crucial confessions from Yan Sun and Dong Lishi, so that Cui Fuzun and Pei Shuozhang have nothing to say.

(End of this chapter)