Aspirations

Chapter 169

Xiao Wu was so angry that his seven orifices were filled with smoke, and he wished he could stride over, punching Jiang Xiaoliu and Li Xiaosi three times and begging for mercy.Zheng Xiang'an had already noticed Xiao Wu's abnormal movement, grabbed Xiao Wu's arm, and shook his head.

Xiao Wu had no choice but to suppress the resentment in his heart, and asked in a low voice, "Sir, when will we do it?"

Wei Zhongqiang and Liu Changting?Xia Xiang was startled. Wei Zhongqiang was Fu Ke's accomplice in poisoning Dong Xian and the owner of the tea stall.I have never found his whereabouts. It turns out that he is still really determined, and he is really courageous.Even more daring was Liu Changting, who dared to revolt and tied up Lian Ruohan.If he catches it, Liu Changting must remember it well!
Xia Xiang secretly clenched his fists.

Xia Xiang looked around a few times: "After Jiang Xiaoliu and Li Xiaosi go in, Xiao Wu, you and Zheng Langjun go around to the back and block the back door to prevent anyone from escaping through the back door. Mr. Jin Jia, Ye Zhenren, Cao Langjun, the three of you follow me in through the front door."

Several people nodded.

After a while, Jiang Xiaoliu and Li Xiaosi looked around, making sure that Ding Ke and others were not coming back, and then returned to the house.

The house is not big, just an ordinary village house.The yard has a radius of more than ten feet, and there are trees, chickens, ducks, and several fruit trees in the yard.Next to the fruit tree is a chicken coop.The chicken coop is not big, and people have to bend over to get in.However, it was built so squarely that at first glance it was thought to be a partial house.

The main house is facing the gate of the courtyard. There are three adobe houses, and the roof is covered with weeds.The withered and yellow weeds are like the white hair on the top of the head, swaying in the bleak autumn wind, adding to the sense of desolation.

Jiang Xiaoliu and Li Xiaosi had just stepped into the front door of the main house, and the sunlight shone into the room, except for a few tables and chairs, it can be said that it was poor.The two of them hadn't sat down to take a sip of water when there was a knock on the door.

"Who?" Li Xiaosi asked in a low voice with a vigilant face, "Jiang Xiaoliu, could it be Boss Wei who is back?"

"It's not like." Jiang Xiaoliu listened carefully, "It wasn't Boss Wei's signal to knock on the door, could it be that Ding Ke shot back the carbine again?"

"Ding Ke either knocked or knocked or kicked the door." Li Xiaosi was not too stupid at the critical moment, so he tilted his head and listened again, "It's not Ding Ke, definitely not."

A voice came in clearly from outside the door: "The poor Taoist is a wandering Taoist priest. Passing by here, he is extremely thirsty. Can the benefactor give me a bowl of water?"

Li Xiaosi and Jiang Xiaoliu looked at each other and nodded at the same time.Jiang Xiaoliu went out to the kitchen on the right, took a ladle of water, came to the gate of the courtyard, looked out through the crack of the door, and confirmed that the person standing at the door was indeed a Taoist priest, and then opened the door.

The Taoist bowed his head and said, "Thank you, benefactor."

After drinking the water, the Taoist returned the ladle to Jiang Xiaoliu, turned around and left.Jiang Xiaoliu returned the gift in a dignified manner, and closed the courtyard door.

Li Xiaosi came over: "Are you really a Taoist priest?"

"I, Jiang Xiaoliu, know countless people, and I can tell at a glance that Taoist priests are real Taoist priests. It's okay, don't scare yourself."

As soon as the words were finished, there was another knock on the door, and the two were startled.Jiang Xiaoliu came to the door and looked through the crack of the door, he was still the Taoist priest just now.He hesitated, but opened the door anyway.

"The priest still wants to drink water?" Jiang Xiaoliu asked.

The Taoist shook his head, stared at Jiang Xiaoliu intently for a long time, and then sighed: "As the saying goes, the kindness of a drop of water should be repaid by a spring. The benefactor just gave the water. The poor Taoist should not reveal the secret..."

Jiang Xiaoliu raised his heart immediately: "Master Taoist, is something going to happen to me? It doesn't matter, you tell me, I'm not afraid. It's a blessing or a disaster, and the disaster cannot be avoided."

The Taoist priest raised his whisk and counted with his right hand: "You are about to face a catastrophe."

Jiang Xiaoliu trembled in fright: "Dao, Daoist, what a disaster? Is it to kill the head or kill the family?"

The Taoist said: "The misfortune is Xiaoqiang, be careful of the villains around you. This misfortune can be big or small. If it is big, it will not leave a blade of grass. If it is small, there will be no danger."

"What do you mean by misfortune?" Jiang Xiaoliu hadn't read any books, but he understood the last sentence, turned around and said to Li Xiaosi who was hiding behind the door, "Li Xiaosi, the Taoist priest said beware of villains around you , didn't mean you?"

Li Xiaosi cursed secretly, if Jiang Xiaoliu fell down and died one day, he must be stupid, he stepped forward: "The Taoist priest said that I am a villain beside him?"

The Taoist looked Li Xiaosi up and down a few times: "No, there is someone else. This person is also in the courtyard."

Li Xiaosi was startled, and hurriedly said: "The Taoist priest is joking, there is no one else in the yard except me, him, and the Taoist priest."

"No." The Taoist stepped into the yard, looked left and right, and his eyes fell on the chicken coop, "A beautiful lady came to this yard before, but she is no longer here. Now in the yard There are nine more."

Jiang Xiaoliu was so startled that he almost jumped up: "Don't talk nonsense, Taoist priest, where there are nine people, there are clearly four people."

It was a step too late for Li Xiaosi to stop Jiang Xiaoliu. Jiang Xiaoliu pointed and continued, "I am one, Li Xiaosi is one, Taoist chief is one, Fu Ke is one, who are the other five?"

The Taoist laughed, turned around and said, "The other five are outside, Mr. Xia Xianzun, Mr. Jin Jia, Mr. Cao Lang, please come in."

Xia Xiang, Jin Jia, and Cao Shujun stepped in. Jin Jia closed the door and stood at the door.Li Xiaosi is also smart, seeing that the situation is not good, he turned around and rushed into the main room. Jiang Xiaoliu didn't react for a moment, and he was taken aback for a moment before he said, "Well, Li Xiaosi, you don't even want to escape from the back door." Let me say, what a villain."

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Xiaosi went faster and came back even faster—he flew upside down, fell to the ground with a plop, and immediately fell with a bruised nose and a swollen face.

"Li Xiaosi, when did you learn martial arts? Why are you so good?" Jiang Xiaoliu thought that Li Xiaosi flew back by himself, and was very surprised.

Li Xiaosi wished he could kick Jiang Xiaoliu to death with one kick, he had been bad luck for eight lifetimes, how could he meet such an idiot who was so stupid when he was about to die?
Xiao Wu and Zheng Xiang'an Shi Shiran came out from the main room. The two of them were waiting at the back door when they met Li Xiaosi who wanted to run away.Xiao Wuzheng was angry, and immediately flew away to send Li Xiaosi back the same way.

"Jiang Xiaoliu, where is Fu Ke hiding?" Xia Xiang patted Jiang Xiaoliu's shoulder with a pleasant expression, "Tell me quickly, I still owe Fu Ke a large sum of money."

"Ah, you owe money to Fuke? Who are you..." Jiang Xiaoliu turned his head a few times, realized something, and opened his mouth wide, "You are Xia Xiang? Oh, Xia Xianzun, you are just like the legend, Young and handsome, he really deserves to be the number one magistrate in the world who looks like Pan Ancai Bizijian."

Xia Xiang barely laughed out loud, but managed to hold back: "Jiang Xiaoliu, you are also the most handsome gentleman in the world."

"Really? Xia Xianzun didn't lie to me?" Jiang Xiaoliu couldn't help but snorted at Li Xiaosi, "Did you hear that, Li Xiaosi, Xia Xianzun said that I am more handsome than you... Fu Ke in the chicken coop."

Li Xiaosi looked up to the sky and sighed, tears streaming down his face, everything is born in nature, how could Jiang Xiaoliu, who is stupider than a pig than a donkey, be born?

Xiao Wufei came to the chicken coop, kicked open the small door, and bent down to enter.After a while, Xiao Wu picked up a person from the inside and threw it on the ground: "It stinks, if I hadn't seen him before, I would have thought he was a ghost."

Fu Ke on the ground has hair like a chicken coop, his body is covered with chicken feathers and chicken dung, and his face is so dirty that he is beyond human appearance. It is completely impossible to tell that he is the arrogant Fu Ke from before.

Seeing Xia Xiang, Fu Ke rolled and hugged Xia Xiang's thigh, crying bitterly: "Master Xia, take me back to the county government, I've had enough, I can't live anymore. Even if I die, I’m going to die in the county government too. It’s okay to sleep in the chicken coop every day, it’s still full of chicken feathers, if I’m not careful, I’ll eat a mouthful of chicken dung, and I’ll turn into maggots if I stay any longer.”

Xiao Wu first took Fu Ke down to clean it, Xia Xiang, Jin Jia, and Ye Muping interrogated Jiang Xiaoliu and Li Xiaosi.The two didn't know the whereabouts of Lian Ruohan. They only knew that after Liu Changting and Wei Zhongqiang kidnapped Lian Ruohan, they took a few carriages to the high hills outside the village, and then took Lian Ruohan ride away.

Seeing that nothing came out of the question, Xia Xiang no longer forced himself, tied up Li Xiaosi and threw him aside.Several people discussed and decided to wait for Wei Zhongqiang to return.

Going east from Yuanjia Village, there is a village about ten miles away called Shangfangzhuang.Shangfangzhuang is a large village with a population of more than three thousand.Fangfangzhuang is backed by mountains and facing water, and has thousands of fertile fields, it is an excellent treasure land.

The mountain on which Shangfangzhuang is backed is called Changshan.The mountain is neither high nor big, just like a giant hand holding Shangzhuang in the palm.At the root of the hand is a vast lake named Changshan Lake.Like the Zhongshan Village surrounded by the Hutuo River in the Taihang Mountains in Lingshou, Shangfangzhuang, which is surrounded by mountains and rivers, is quiet and beautiful, and it is a rare paradise.

However, compared with the peace of Zhongshan Village, although Shangfang Village has a beautiful environment, it is not quiet.At the foot of Changshan Mountain, there are [-] garrison troops stationed here.Whenever the Forbidden Army is training and deploying troops, the shouts of killing are shaking the sky, and there is no peace.

Although the imperial guards stationed there are still several miles away from Fangfang Village, they come to the village to purchase more for their daily expenses.Wu Yidong has always been strict in running the army, and soldiers are not allowed to go out of the camp to harass the people, but it is still inevitable that bold and reckless people will come out of the camp to steal chickens and dogs in the village.

In addition to the military rations allocated by the imperial court, the imperial guards in Daxia's garrison will also cultivate their own fields in the garrison to be self-sufficient.Therefore, generally speaking, the life of the Forbidden Army stationed in the city will be much better than that of the Forbidden Army stationed in Beijing.

The imperial army stationed in Zhending Mansion has been stationed here all the year round since the establishment of the Daxia Dynasty. Over the past hundred years, a military camp with a radius of tens of miles has been formed. At a glance, densely packed military tents and houses are intertwined. In the middle is a castle. Ordinary mansions, along the outside of the mansion, the houses are lowered step by step, at first glance, it looks like the manor of a wealthy family.

The mansion in the middle is Wu Yidong's residence.

As the commander of the garrison's imperial army, he is also the highest officer, commanding 20 imperial troops. He seems to have a high position and authority, and he speaks his words, but he is not.Great Xia emphasized civility over military affairs, and had a lot of restrictions on military officers. In order to prevent military officers from rebelling, various systems were set up to prevent the garrisoned troops from commanding envoys to become large.

At this time, Wu Yidong was sitting in the study room drinking tea, and there were two people sitting opposite him, one was Liu Changting, the other was a hulking, bearded face, with eyes like copper bells.If Lu Dongdong was here, he would have recognized at a glance that this person was Wei Zhongqiang, the tea stall owner who poisoned Dong Xian with Fu Ke.

Wu Yidong looked displeased, and took a sip of tea slowly: "Mr. Liu, you don't discuss such a big matter with me and make up your own mind. Now that Xia Xiang is chasing you around, you come to ask me to clean up the mess for you again." , there is such a reason in the world?"

Liu Changting's complexion changed slightly, and he forced a smile: "It's not that Commander Wu doesn't know that I adore Miss Lian and rob Miss Lian on a whim, not a long-planned plan. Besides, Miss Lian obstructed our grand plan in every possible way. , and tied her up to prevent the good times from happening again."

"That's what I said, but I always think it's inappropriate." Wu Yidong cast a sideways glance at Liu Changting, and said eccentrically, "Liu Yuanwai is eloquent and eloquent. It's a trivial matter to satisfy selfish desires, but you say it It became a major event for His Royal Highness Star King's plan, and I don't know how to admire Liu Yuanwai."

Liu Changting smiled embarrassingly: "Looking at Zhending Mansion, besides Cui Fuzun, who else can turn clouds and rain like Commander Wu? Letting Lian Ruohan hide in the barracks is a trivial matter for Commander Wu. It's just a matter of moving your fingers."

Liu Changting secretly slandered in his heart, Wu Yidong, Wu Yidong, you made excuses and made things difficult in every possible way, just to show your important position in the big event, hehe, after the thing is done, I will take a good look at you in front of Xingwang, and let you I regret what I did today.

Wu Yidong picked out his ears, flicked his fingers, and said with a smile: "Liu Yuanwai really knows how to joke, let alone the 20 forbidden troops in Zhending Prefecture, only 20 are in Zhending, and the other [-] are in Shile County, dozens of miles away. It is only said that although the [-] forbidden troops are the most elite cavalry among the [-] forbidden troops, they are directly led by the deputy commander Han Meng. You know very well that Han Meng and the official have always been at odds. If you suddenly found out about this, if you insist on reporting it, you will not be able to keep your position as an envoy. Even the lady is not an ordinary person, but she is the helm of Daxia No. [-] Commercial Firm, which is always in good times."

What an old fox!Liu Changting cursed secretly in his heart, but still had a smile on his face: "To tell the truth, Commander Wu, Han Meng has already been caught. By then, he will not only cooperate with us obediently in major matters, but also in matters concerning Mrs. Lian. It’s even more silent.”

Wu Yidong glanced at Wei Zhongqiang casually, took off his boots and scratched his right foot, and smiled: "Han Meng's handle... is it about Miss Zhu?"

Wei Zhongqiang nodded and replied: "It's the first sister Zhu. Commander Wu, I grew up with Fu Ke as a child. They have similar temperaments and trust each other in life and death. After he was arrested by Xia Xiang and put in prison, he entrusted the first sister Zhu to me. The first sister Zhu is right. She is very trustworthy, she will listen to whatever I say next."

Wu Yidong heard Wei Zhongqiang's implication, and sneered for a while: "That is to say, what do you tell First Sister Zhu to do, and First Sister Zhu must obey what you say? First Sister Zhu obeys you, which is equivalent to Han Meng obeying you? Wei Zhongqiang, you You entrust Fu Ke with life and death, why don't you treat him well, treat him like a guest, but put him in a chicken coop, do you let him hatch chickens or lay eggs?"

(End of this chapter)