Author: Skaven Fries

At noon, the scorching sun is in the sky.

Su Xiaochan rushed to Liu'an Inn and saw Xie Chen sitting at a roadside noodle stall, eating a bowl of Yangchun noodles and chatting with the diners at the same table.

Probably seeing Su Xiaochan arriving, Xie Chen put down his chopsticks, paid a few coins and stood up.

Su Xiaochan stood next to the carriage: "Is this another one of your principles where you need to ramble first if you want to know something?"

Xie Chen cupped his hands and said with a smile: "Miss Su is the one who knows me."

Su Xiaochan said amusedly: "The Liu'an Inn's Mrs. Song's fish soup is famous far and wide. With your temperament, you would be content to eat an ordinary bowl of Yangchun noodles on the roadside?"

Xie Chen said: "The more famous the food in this world, the better. If you look down on roadside stalls, you don't know how much fun you will miss."

Su Xiaochan was stunned when she heard this, and looked at the stall selling noodles. After looking at it for a long time, she only felt that it was ordinary, so she had to ask: "Is this noodles unusual?"

Xie Chen smiled: "Of course it's far inferior to Mrs. Song's fish soup in the inn."

Su Xiaochan looked puzzled.

Xie Chen added: "But now I don't dare to go into the store and sit down to eat."

Su Xiaochan was puzzled.

Xie Chen said: "If the police officers left behind in the store see me sitting in the lobby eating and drinking openly instead of studying the antidote, I'm afraid someone will gossip about me."

Su Xiaochan didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Are you just saving people now?"

Xie Chen said: "Didn't I already ask you to prepare the antidote?"

Su Xiaochan was puzzled again: "Since you already knew the antidote, why didn't you directly catch He Ming's head to detoxify? And you have to go all the way from Su's house? What's more, since it's the detoxification, why do you have to let me come? You need to know the process

What happened last night, I just fell asleep."

Xie Chen quickly showed a panic expression and apologized: "It turns out that I disturbed the young lady's sweet dream. It's really a sin."

Su Xiaochan couldn't laugh or cry.

Xie Chen added: "But of course I invite you here because I have something that must be done by you to ask for your help."

Su Xiaochan wondered: "What can I do?"

Xie Chen replied: "I need you to go from the roof of this inn to Zhu's house now, and be careful not to make any big noises along the way."

Su Xiaochan looked helpless: "Why is this? Could it be that you can't do it yourself?"

Xie Chen said: "Of course I can't do it. You know I'm not good at Qinggong."

Su Xiaochan said: "Although your Qinggong is not as good as mine, it's not bad either. What can't you do if you just fly over the roof and walk over the wall? What's more, why do you want me to go to Zhu's house?"

Xie Chen said: "You must be a master like you, but I don't need you to do anything when you go to Zhu's house. You just need to remember the time on the way."

Su Xiaochan thought for a moment and nodded in agreement, but then asked: "I understand, but why does the antidote have to be transferred from me?"

Xie Chen shook his head: "I have my own reasons."

Su Xiaochan was helpless: "Forget it, I will listen to you."

After saying that, he was on the roof in a flash, causing the passersby around him to exclaim.

Seeing Su Xiaochan walking away, Xie Chen turned around and took out some broken silver and handed it to the driver: "Go to the store and order a bowl of Mrs. Song's fish soup, plus some side dishes that your lady likes, and ask them to make an appointment.

When the time is right, arrange a quiet and cool location."

The driver was a little puzzled.

Xie Chen didn't explain, but just ordered: "Just go and let them prepare it. Come back after you're done. I have something else to ask you."

Soon the coachman came back from the shop and said to Xie Chen, "Sir, I have already asked you to make arrangements."

Xie Chen saw that the coachman was about to hand over the found silver and waved his hand: "You can keep it for yourself, and I'll treat it as your drink money."

The coachman quickly thanked him and accepted it happily. He heard Xie Chen ask again: "I often heard that servants of rich families often have private messages between them. Is this true?"

The coachman was startled and said quickly: "Sir, Mr. and Mrs. Su's family are very kind to us, but we never dare to gossip."

Xie Chen smiled and said: "Where are you thinking? I am not accusing or testing you. I just want to ask you, have you ever met the servants of the Zhu family, or have you heard any rumors about the Zhu family?"

Only then did the coachman suddenly realize, and he breathed a sigh of relief: "I'm sure we know each other. After all, you also know that in addition to working on weekdays, us servants can only chat a few words with people of similar status when we are free occasionally.

My kind

The coachman often drives for the master to visit him, so he has become familiar with the concierge and coachmen of other wealthy officials. The master chats about serious matters, and we can also sit down together and talk about family affairs. "

Xie Chen nodded: "That's right. In that case, are you familiar with the Zhu family's coachman and concierge?"

The coachman thought for a while and replied: "I don't have many friends with the Zhu family, but because we both have business on the Silk Road, we can't help but move around a bit, so I can be said to be acquainted with the servants of the Zhu family."

Xie Chen asked again: "Then have you ever heard anything about the Zhu family from the people of the Zhu family?"

The coachman carefully recalled: "It's not a big deal, but I only heard from the servants of the Zhu family that Mr. Zhu is quite harsh on them on weekdays. Although Mr. Zhu himself behaves quite extravagantly, he is very stingy in rewarding his servants, and Mr.

They are completely different people.”

Xie Chen said: "Has anyone ever expressed any dissatisfaction?"

The coachman said: "You should ask who is satisfied. Most of the people in the Zhu family have some complaints about Mr. Zhu, but they still dare not say it openly because of the power."

Xie Chen asked again: "When I went to Zhu's house last time, I saw that the courtyard where Mr. Zhu lived was quite simple, but everyone said that he acted extravagantly. Why is that?"

The coachman said: "No one knows. Even the servants of the Zhu family are quite strange. They often use this as a source of weird things in conversations. Some of the good ones even make up some unreliable stories."

Xie Chen asked: "What unreliable story?"

The coachman said: "It's nothing more than a golden house hiding beauties, or there is a secret room in that house to hide the treasures that Mr. Zhu brought back from the Western Regions. But in fact, according to the maid who cleans the house, there is no secret room for beauties at all."

Xie Chen said: "That's true. That house is just an ordinary house. It's a pity that Boss Zhu He is dead. I'm afraid no one knows the reason why this house is so simple."

The coachman only agreed.

Xie Chen asked again: "As far as you know, have there been any changes in the people of the Zhu family in the past two years?"

The coachman said: "I can't explain this clearly. For a wealthy family like Mr. Zhu, there are too many things like changing a few cooks and buying a few young maids. Apart from the Zhu family, how can outsiders do the detailed counting?

"

"That's true."

"But..." the coachman hesitated, "I remember that about two years ago, the Zhu family's coachman changed."

Xie Chen hurriedly asked: "Has the driver changed?"

The coachman affirmed: "Yes, the coachman has been changed. I remember this clearly. After all, I am a coachman, and I usually deal with other horsemen a lot, so I remember this clearly."

Xie Chen asked again: "Then why was it changed? But what wrong did the previous groom do?"

The coachman shook his head: "I don't know the inside story. I only know that the Zhu family said that Boss Zhu thought the previous coachman was old, so he gave him money to go home and retire. However, when you think about it, this is quite strange.

"

Xie Chen said: "Why is it strange? It is not strange to be sent home with money when you are old."

The coachman said: "But Boss Zhu is usually stingy. He seldom gives money to dismiss servants, and even if he does, it is very small. But this coachman is the only one who gives a lot."

Xie Chen said: "Perhaps the groom worked hard to please Boss Zhu He."

The coachman said: "Others also guessed this, but I thought it was strange just now. I remember that when the coachman was dismissed, he was just over forty years old. If it was to please the master, it would be a bit early to dismiss him at this age.

Already?"

Xie Chen also seemed a little confused: "It's a little weird. What about the groom who came later?"

The coachman said: "Speaking of the new coachman, he is also a somewhat strange person."

Xie Chen said: "How weird?"

The coachman said: "That man is quite solitary and taciturn on weekdays, but his skills in driving horses are first-class. Now that I think about it, maybe Boss Zhu took a fancy to the newcomer's outstanding ability, but the old man was also quite pleased with him, so he came to see him rarely.

I was generous enough to change the groom."

Xie Chen said: "Maybe it is true. Then let me ask you again. I made some careful inquiries in Hangzhou recently and found out that in the past few years, women in the surrounding towns have often been abducted?"

The coachman nodded: "This happens all the time, but it's not near Hangzhou. In fact, if a woman in the countryside gets lost, whether she is helped by bandits in the mountains or abducted by a kidnapper and sold to a foreign country to be a wife, it is not

What a weird thing, it’s just that there may be more of them near Hangzhou.”

Xie Chen asked: "Is it possible that the government doesn't care?"

The coachman said: "How could you not care? I heard that both the six-door policeman and the government officials are worried about this matter, but what can I do? Although it is embarrassing sometimes, sometimes one is lost, sometimes several are lost,

Sometimes we don’t get together for several months, and sometimes we get together several times a month. Check the Jianghu website and you’ll find that

Even the green forest heroes from several nearby cottages helped to investigate, but they couldn't find out any information. They couldn't even tell whether it was the same group of people. How to investigate such a case with no beginning or end? Not to mention, some

The missing woman might have eloped with someone else, and that would be even more confusing."
Chapter completed!