The New Year was approaching, and it was getting colder and colder outside. Qiao Lan thought that the family would set off now, and when they arrived in the north, it would be freezing weather.
The ice and snow are frozen along the way. If someone gets cold at home or falls or something on the road, it will be troublesome. It is better to spend the New Year here before going there. After the New Year, there will be more caravans and the road will be smooth. When you go to the north, the ice and snow will also melt.
It's almost done.
The Duan family had no objections to Qiao Lan's proposal and stayed at home with peace of mind.
Since the farce that day ended, there have been no neighbors chatting with each other at the entrance of the alley. Qiao Lan heard Sister-in-law Song say that they have all changed their chat place now, far away from Duan's house, and they no longer dare to gossip in front of Duan's house.
Qiao Lan didn't care about the gossip among the neighbors. What Qiao Lan cared about was the handling of the fraud case.
I heard that many wealthy businessmen in Tongzhou were arrested, some were released, and some had their homes confiscated.
It is said that some students who are found to have bought questions will be detained and interrogated.
In comparison, Duan Mingqing and the two of them had a near-miss.
Even if the test results are canceled this time, as long as their knowledge is still there, they can still pass the exam. Qiao Lan doesn't worry about them and can live as they want.
Regardless of whether you pass the exam or not, you can live a good life.
It was so quiet for a few days, and Tongzhou Prefecture was immersed in the atmosphere of the New Year.
When Qiao Lan was wondering whether she should prepare anything for the New Year, she heard a message from Wang.
It was said that a husband came to the family from the capital to visit her.
Visiting her husband?
Qiao Lan searched through Qiao's memories, but could not find any connection between her and any young husband. From what Wang said, it seemed that the husband was very good.
Qiao Lan simply stopped being curious and went directly to the front hall.
I saw a dignified man in a sky-blue cotton robe standing in the front hall with a jade hairpin on his head. When he saw her coming, he immediately greeted her and saluted, "Junior An Yong, I have met Lady Huitian!"
Since he was calling for her ban, he might have come here for her ban.
Qiao Lan: "My rented yard only has meager meals. Please forgive me for the poor hospitality."
"The tea at Nujun's house suits my taste very much, and the snacks are also very good, which I have never had anywhere else." The man said politely.
Qiao Lan was not a talkative person, so after finishing her polite remarks, she got straight to the point, "I wonder where the young man comes from, and what's the reason for coming to my house?"
Mrs. Qiao was a person who paid special attention to her clothes. Qiao Lan accepted her memory and saw at first glance that the deerskin shoes this person was wearing were made of the best deer material and could not be bought by her family if they had money.
kind.
After spending a moment with the man in front of her, Qiao Lan could probably guess who this man was when he saw how he spoke, was neither humble nor overbearing in his dealings with others, was polite and well-mannered, and had a valuable hairpin on his head.
road.
He should have been a noble, and now he should be an official in the court. With a sword on his waist, he should be a military attache.
As for which family named An, Qiao Lan couldn't guess. The original layout of the court was not clear to the Qiao family, let alone the current Qiao Lan.
After listening to Qiao Lan's words, An Yong looked around, as if to determine the safety of the surrounding environment.
Qiao Lan: "These are all my family members, but Mr. An said it doesn't matter."
An Yong smiled and didn't say much.
Wang was a very transparent person. When she saw this man acting like this, she said directly to Qiao Lan, "Mom, let me go to the kitchen first and check the fire on the stove."
"Okay! Go and have a look!"
"I'm sorry." An Yong stood up and apologized to Mr. Wang.
Mrs. Wang smiled and didn't care, and even took away the children who were watching the fun in the front yard, leaving some space for the two of them.
Later, Duan Mingjing wanted to follow him to the front yard to see what guests were coming, but was stopped by Wang who had just exited.
"Second Master, the old lady is talking to the guests right now. Second Master, you'd better go there later."
Later? Wouldn’t it be too late?
Duan Mingjing was a little confused, but he still nodded and said, "A sister-in-law is like a mother, and he still has to listen to her words."
inside the house.
After An Yong made sure that no one was around, he stood up and saluted Qiao Lan again. "To be honest, I came from the capital this time, firstly, for important matters in the court, and secondly, I was entrusted by my friends.
Come to visit the queen."
"Because it involves an imperial examination fraud case, and someone from the Duan family is involved in this case. This junior has to come alone this time, and I have to trouble my lady to cover up for me."
Only then did Qiao Lan suddenly realize.
He came from the capital, no wonder! It was so mysterious, it turned out to be related to the fraud case. The son of the Duan family just cleared away the relationship with this case, and now the investigating officials have come to the house, so they need to be more careful.
"Don't worry, sir, my family will never mention this matter to anyone." Qiao Lan promised.
However, Qiao Lan also had a rough guess about the friend mentioned by An Yong.
When it comes to guessing riddles, it would be a bit embarrassing if you guess wrong. So Qiao Lan did not directly name the person, but directly started to ask, "I wonder who your friend is? Do I recognize him?"
An Yong smiled: "It's Mr. Helan..."
Qiao Lan nodded, it was true. Thinking of this, Qiao Lan couldn't help but sigh, Mr. Helan is still a good person. Others send Buddha to the West, but he is not just sending Buddha to the West, he also comes to care about everything.
If she hadn't dressed like an old woman, Qiao Lan would have doubted her own charm.
"How is Mr. Helan doing now?" Qiao Lan asked with concern.
An Yong, "The young master is very good, and I can rest assured. The young master heard that I was coming to Tongzhou this time. He originally planned to let me go to Lantian County down below to visit my wife after completing my official duties. Who would have thought that by such a coincidence, she would come to Tongzhou."
"
"After reading the case file and asking around, I found out that Jun's family is here, so I came to visit uninvited. I apologize for any offense I may have caused," An Yong said with a smile.
, explained the purpose of this visit.
However, this is not the case.
—A month ago in Beijing, An Yong was first assigned by his superiors to go to Tongzhou to supervise a case, and then He Lanfeng called him to his house.
The task given by He Lanfeng to An Yong was to go to Tongzhou to investigate the case and get the Duan family out of the muddy water as soon as possible to ensure that the Duan family was safe and sound and could enter Beijing as soon as possible.
It was difficult for An Yong to handle this matter. He didn't know what kind of family the Duan family was. What if the Duan family was really involved in the fraud case?
How could he fish out the two convicted people in full view of the conclusive evidence?
Just because he has some power in the capital does not mean that he can dominate the sky in Tongzhou.
However, He Lanfeng told him with confidence that the Duan family would never participate in fraud, so that he could go with peace of mind.
An Yong was amazed by He Lanfeng's curiosity and was a little curious about the Duan family. After checking, he discovered that there was so much excitement in the Duan family.