My mother-in-law is very talkative and has a soft heart. To put it bluntly, she feels sorry for me and is worried about me. She touches this and is she afraid that she won’t be able to coax her? Of course, I quickly smoothed things over.
But Wang Jiajia couldn't use the same tactics. After all, a son could act coquettishly towards his mother. How could a grown man use this trick on a girl?
"Brother Jianghu, please eat slowly." Wang Jiajia felt distressed when she saw me devouring the food and not allowing me to speak.
I put down the bowl and touched the oil in my mouth, feeling very satisfied: "It's so delicious!"
Wang Jiajia took out a handkerchief and wiped my mouth: "That is, I collected some leftovers in the kitchen and cooked them. Brother Jianghu, how many more days are we going to stay here? I will give them to you when we get home."
You make something delicious."
How many days will we stay? This question is really difficult for me. Before I found out my husband, I really didn’t know what he would do to my family. At least I have Uncle Fu and the others taking care of me here, which is better than at home.
.
Lying in a room with Ah Wu, he was talking incomprehensibly in his sleep, sometimes accompanied by cheerful laughter. He wondered if he was dreaming about the beautiful event of getting married.
I'm still not used to sharing a bed with others, and I'm still a man, but if I get another room and it costs another hundred cents, I can bear with it. The door panel last night was really
I was so scared. Although the bed was not spacious, at least it was thickly padded and the two of them were warm when they squeezed together. I just hoped that he would just be dreaming and not think of me as a bride.
Lord Xiang, Governor Lei, Shopkeeper Huang...
Hey, things get more and more confusing! Li Jianghu, Li Jianghu, tell me, what are you doing? You are just a poor boy selling tofu, when will it be your turn to worry about this?
Xiao Mu! You are an imperial envoy! Where have you been these days? These are things that you should be worrying about!
What kind of world is this?
After finally surviving until dawn, I took advantage of the lack of people on the street and ran to the Governor's Mansion. Xiao Mu was still not there in the east courtyard.
"Li Jianghu? Do you want to see the imperial envoy?"
I was startled when I heard someone ask, but when I looked carefully, it was Qin Yong.
"Oh, Mr. Qin. Good morning!"
"I was on duty last night and was just replaced by Cao Hua."
"I wonder...uh...did you gain anything last night?"
I asked carefully, but I should know from his expression that the plan failed again. Lord Xiang said, knowing that they deliberately claimed that Lin Sheng was not dead and wanted to set up a trap, how could they still take the bait?
Sure enough, Qin Yong shook his head in disappointment: "There was no movement. I wonder if they believed that Lin Sheng would not wake up, or they knew that we had an ambush, so they did not take action."
"Oh, the imperial envoy... hasn't come back yet?"
"No. Last night Wu Changshi suggested that Meng Sima send a letter to Yiling, but Meng Sima suspected that the imperial envoy was not in Yiling at all."
I was really confused: "Then where is he?"
"Meng Sima said that he might be in Xiangzhou City to watch us perform."
"Ah? Watching a show?" I was a bit dumbfounded: "What's so good about this?"
Qin Yong smiled bitterly and said: "Look at us catching thieves! The imperial envoy once told us that he could not be an imperial envoy in Xiangzhou all his life and leave in March. By then, everything in Xiangzhou will still depend on us, because we are the only ones who can
He is the master of Xiangzhou!"
"This...such a big thing has happened. He..." I was speechless. I have never seen anyone as an official as him.
"Okay, go quickly, Meng Sima is asking me to find you. I have to go home." Qin Yong pointed towards the main door, took two steps and then stopped: "Oh, by the way, if my mother was right before
I hope you don’t take it to heart if you say anything unpleasant.”
"Oh, I wish Auntie...are you okay?"
"Except for being awkward in speaking, everything else is pretty good. My aunt comes over every day to relieve her boredom."
"Oh, that's good."
I don't know how to comfort people. By the time I giggled, Qin Yong had already gone a long way. The aunt he mentioned should refer to his cousin Long Yuhan's mother. I remember that the imperial envoy was injured during Nuanxin's assassination and was sent to the hospital.
I met her when I went to her home for treatment, and she was a very kind woman.
Qin Yong should also be a kind person. Although he looks ordinary, he is honest and has a cheerful personality. Otherwise, Mrs. Mu would never have fallen in love with him.
When I went to Jianghu Inn to deliver tofu, he was on good terms with Mrs. Mu. They built a house at home and lived in the inn. The few times I met him, he would take the initiative to give way to me, and sometimes he would lend a hand and help me unload the barrel...
Alas, it's a pity that because of his mother's interference, not only did he and Mrs. Mu break up, but his original hope of being an official was also shattered, and now his personality has become withdrawn.
I sighed and was led by the official to Meng Sima's study. Meng Sima was writing, no, it should be called practicing calligraphy. I saw that he was concentrating on copying a piece of calligraphy, and the faint fragrance of ink came, refreshing.
.
Pine smoke ink!
I couldn't help but get closer, and as soon as I took a look, I almost said out loud - "Quietness Zhiyuan"!
When I saw the stamp, I couldn't believe my eyes. Yes, I was so familiar with this calligraphy. Uncle Fu originally wanted to sell it to me, but a man in a gray short-sleeved shirt decisively sold it to me.
Bought it with a tael of silver.
I initially thought that Mrs. Mu was afraid that no one would want Li Dongsheng’s calligraphy, so she secretly had someone buy it. Until the second time I met Lord Xiang, he showed Lin Sheng a scroll, and Lin Sheng read out "Tranquility Zhiyuan"
, and Lord Xiang said it was written by Li Dongsheng...
I had doubts at that time as to why Li Dongsheng's calligraphy came into the hands of Master Xiang, but I didn't dare to ask more, and I didn't even see clearly whether the scroll in Master Xiang's hand was "Quietness Zhiyuan".
And this calligraphy... is actually in Meng Sima's study now!
"Li Jianghu, are you here?"
"Greetings to Sima!" I felt rude and quickly clasped my hands.
But Meng Sima didn't blame him. He put down his pen and showed me the handwriting he had just written: "How does it compare with the painting by Li Dongjia?"
I looked at the two similar calligraphy and remembered what Li Huichun once said: "Is this... regular script?"
Meng Sima's face showed a hint of surprise: "Do you know calligraphy?"
"No, no, no, I happened to hear someone else say it. Why is this calligraphy here?"
Meng Sima smiled slightly, turned around, picked up several scrolls from the bookshelf, and unfolded them.
I was even more shocked: "These...these are Li Dongsheng's words!"
"Yes! It cost me a lot of money!" Meng Sima said, looking a little distressed.
I, including Uncle Fu, thought that the calligraphy that Li Dongsheng could not sell was secretly bought by Mrs. Mu. Unexpectedly, the person who bought the calligraphy was Meng Sima.
"Look, are all the things you are looking for here?"
What am I looking for? I sniffed and looked towards the inkstone on the table: "What am I looking for?"
"Okay, it's just the two of us here, so stop pretending. Team Si came to report last night and said that you suspected that the shopkeeper of Huang's pastry shop is the owner of Xiang?"
Uncle Fu is really talkative. I just asked Shopkeeper Huang more, and he actually reported it!
I glanced at his ink again: "Is this Songyan ink?"
"yes."
I said: "I met with Master Xiang yesterday and I smelled the scent of ink on his body. Shopkeeper Huang just bought a couplet from Li Dongsheng and put it in his sleeve. I suspected it was the smell of pine smoke and ink. So, I boldly
I wonder if Shopkeeper Huang secretly went to Maocaolong to meet me while entertaining guests to create evidence of his absence. However, Ah Wu and Shitou both confirmed that Shopkeeper Huang had never left."
Meng Sima frowned again: "You haven't left yet? The two inn guys, there were so many guests yesterday, they were so busy that they were dizzy, and you didn't specifically tell them to keep an eye on Shopkeeper Huang, how can they guarantee that?"
"This..." My suspicion that had just subsided was aroused again: "What Sima said is true. Shopkeeper Huang invited three tables of guests to have wine in three private rooms on the second floor last night. There was no special order. Ah
5. They were waiting on the first floor or at the stairs, and would not go to the room to disturb him. As long as shopkeeper Huang did not go down the stairs, they thought he was still in the room.
Even if his guests had a great time eating and drinking, they would not keep their eyes on Shopkeeper Huang, because there were beautiful women playing music at the scene, and they were all busy looking at the beauties. Even if Shopkeeper Huang left in the middle, they would just treat him as Shopkeeper Huang.
He went to another private room to toast other guests, and if asked for a confession, he would testify that he never left."
"Okay!" Meng Sima slapped me on the shoulder and said happily: "The imperial envoy is really accurate in judging people. He chose you as the captain of the team. I also questioned it because I thought you were such an ordinary tofu seller.
How can a businessman take on such a big responsibility? I didn’t expect you to be thoughtful and smart.”
"I... haha, Sima praised me so much, Li is so embarrassed." I smiled awkwardly, I was really embarrassed by the praise. If Meng Sima hadn't raised a question just now, I would have almost denied my reasoning. Hey,
I still lack confidence sometimes.
Meng Sima pointed to the paintings of Li Bai's poems and said: "These paintings were hung in the inn for several days without being sold, so I asked someone to buy them. But this painting of 'Quietness Zhiyuan' is for New Year's Eve."
The governor gave it to me on the morning of the 30th."
"What? It was given by Inspector Lei?" I carefully recalled the person who generously handed over a tael of silver to buy the calligraphy and painting that day: "Is it the Inspector Lei who sent someone to buy the calligraphy that day?"
"No, the governor said, he picked it up in his yard? He saw that I collected several calligraphy works of Li Dongjia, so he gave them to me."
I was at a loss again: "Picked it up? When did you pick it up?"
Meng Sima looked solemn: "On the night of the 29th of the twelfth lunar month! Oh, that's the day when the Li Dong family was unjustly accused and had Aunt Zhu's tongue cut off!"
I also recalled what happened that day. It was the last time I saw Xiao Mu.
"That day Li Dongsheng was wronged, and Uncle Fu asked me to come to the imperial envoy for help, but he was not here," I said.
"I wasn't here either. Someone sent a message early in the morning saying that the magistrate of Baokang County was scorning people's lives. The governor was very angry and ordered me to go and find out. When I went there, I found out that it was just a misinformation, and the person who sent the message was nowhere to be seen.
I came back and reported the matter to the governor. The governor said that it was possible that someone was dissatisfied with the magistrate of Baokang County and deliberately led us to conduct a surprise inspection. The matter was over.
Now that I think about it carefully, I guess that the person who sent the message was deliberately trying to send me away so that Li Dong's family would be isolated and helpless. Because I later learned that Mrs. Mu went to Yunyin Nunnery that day, and Li Huichun did not return from a medical visit.
In addition, I was not here. If the imperial envoy hadn't suddenly appeared, I'm afraid that Li Dongjia might have killed Magistrate Xu with a single blow."
I listened calmly to Meng Sima's words. This matter has passed, and it is useless to analyze it further. What I am concerned about now is how Li Dongsheng's words appeared in the yard of Lei Cishi's house.
Meng Sima seemed to see through my mind and picked up "Tranquility Zhiyuan" again: "Have you seen this calligraphy at Jianghu Inn?"
