The eighteen-year-old girl turned a flower into a begonia and pear blossom. No matter how much he said, Zhao Haoran was once the most talented woman in Taoyuan who could match him. At least she was a well-educated and courteous lady, but now she saw people walking out of the county government office. The woman who came out had no bookish air from head to toe. Her face was as dark as smoke, and she looked like a village woman chopping wood to make fires. She was just young, and there were no crow's feet on her face, and her figure was Not to mention graceful, she walked like a man, and those silks and satins looked ridiculous on her body.
This, this can't be the eldest brother's wife.
Meng Xinghe and Mr. Chai communicated silently at the same time. This woman was prettier than any girl in Chunxiang House. When did the elder brother's taste become so bad? If she hadn't been wearing women's clothes. , the two of them almost treated her like a man at first sight.
"Madam, this is the master's friend," the guard walked beside the woman, introducing Meng Xinghe and others to her, and was even ready to welcome the guests.
"Friends," the woman's voice was a little louder: "Why haven't you heard Haoran mention any friends he has? Everyone knows that there have been burglaries in the city recently. Maybe someone with bad intentions has sneaked into the house to steal," she said It seemed that he deliberately told Meng Xinghe and others to listen. After speaking, he deliberately glared at Meng Xinghe, his eyes full of caution.
When he came to his brother's door, there was a woman there who refused to let him in. Hearing this, Chai Shao almost got angry and wanted to teach this woman a lesson for his elder brother, but Meng Xinghe grabbed him by the corner of his clothes and left in person. He stepped forward and respectfully called "sister-in-law" without breaking the rules, and then said: "Since my eldest brother is not in the house, I won't bother you today. It's our first time to meet you. We have nothing to give each other. This pearl of the South China Sea was brought from Hainan for my brother." I came back and now I’m giving it to my sister-in-law as a meeting gift,”
He took out an exquisite box from his arms. Meng Xinghe also had another one, which contained a mellow night-light pearl. Meng Xinghe asked someone to find it from the South China Sea. When he went to Chang'an, he gave it to Xiaosi. After all, the two of them had helped his wife and children escape from Chang'an. Mr. Chai beside him knew about this, but he didn't understand why the third brother suddenly took out such valuable things. What was his intention, but he was surprised before he could , Meng Xinghe looked at the woman and waved his hands to let everyone leave.
But at this moment, in the heavy snow in front of the county government office, there was a sudden sound of horses honking, and then, a group of people who seemed to have been traveling in the snow for several days appeared quickly, wearing snow-covered raincoats. The young man at the head of the group appeared quickly. Although the falling snow had covered the felt hat on his head and his nose and eyebrows were all white, the two men in front of the county government recognized him at a glance.
Big brother.
There was only one sound, but the man running in front suddenly reined in his horse, wiped the snow from his face, and even said happily: "Second brother, third brother," his voice was very loud, and even He had already turned over from his horse, and because he was anxious to land, one of his ancestors slipped and fell to the ground before he could step firmly. This time, he completely turned into a big snowman. Seeing this, the guards behind him wanted to jump down to help him, but they He was stopped by the county magistrate and said: "You two boys, you have passed by my Heqing County so many times and you are willing to take a look at me. Do you still have me as your elder brother in your eyes?" Although his words were actually scolding , but came to Meng Xinghe with a smile.
"Not bad. It's still strong. I haven't been pierced by swords or guns." He reached out and patted Meng Xinghe's shoulder. Zhao Haoran showed a satisfied smile. Then he looked up and down at Mr. Chai, who was pouting at the side, and said: "Second brother , your body is getting thinner and thinner,"
"Contempt," Chai Shao learned the look from Meng Xinghe and now applied it to Zhao Haoran, "Brother, if you don't come here, my third brother and I will have to sleep on the street today," Chai Shao stood behind with a squint. The black-faced woman was very angry when she was turned away just now.
Zhao Haoran saw the embarrassed look on the face of the woman behind him and had already guessed it. He said solemnly: "The third brother is the Minister of Household Affairs of the imperial court. How could I let him pass by and sleep on the street in Heqing County?" If this reaches the ears of His Majesty, the black gauze on my head will fall off. Second brother, you don't remember the faults of villains. I will make amends to you as a brother. What if everyone doesn't get drunk at night and don't go home? If it still doesn't work ,I’ll…”
Before Zhao Haoran could speak, Mr. Chai had already stopped and said that he didn't want people in Heqing County to know about his hobby of sleeping in brothels, so he immediately said: "Okay, I won't hold any further charges for the sake of your return in time." "
"Then what are you guys doing standing around? Come into the house quickly. It's so cold and snowy outside, so go back to the house and warm yourself by the fire." Zhao Haoran welcomed everyone into the house politely, but put one hand on her very gently. The black-faced woman patted her hand and comforted her: "They are all my brothers and they are not bad people. You don't have to worry. As long as I am here, no one will hurt you again."
"Well," the woman nodded in a low voice. At this moment, it was difficult for others to realize that her voice was actually very pleasant. "I was wrong."
"Don't worry, my third brother won't argue with you. I will tell him your story later," Zhao Haoran gave a reassuring smile, held his wife's hand and walked behind everyone. Go into the house.
In the snow-covered winter, everything there is completely white. The lilac grass in the Fuzhong Garden has disappeared. Only a few wintersweet trees stand proudly on the branches, and a faint fragrance floats from time to time. After all, it is a small county town and the county government cannot talk about the corridor. Yao Man returned to the winding courtyard, led everyone to the side room, and told his servants to arrange a room for rest tonight. Zhao Haoran took Meng Xinghe alone to the study room in the county government office.
"Third brother, I saw that you didn't speak much all the way into the house. Do you want to ask something about Xiaoqian?" Zhao Haoran moved a stool and sat down opposite Meng Xinghe. He knew that this third brother liked to ask questions. Well, Zhao Haoran simply broke the conversation first. Originally, he wanted to tell Meng Xinghe about Xiaoqian, but now that there is no one around, he feels more relaxed.
Meng Xinghe chewed Zhao Haoran's words carefully, "Xiaoqian," should be that woman's name. It's a pity that she had such a good name, but she was even darker than herself.
"Brother, there is something that I, as a brother, have to remind you." After a pause, Meng Xinghe decided to tell Zhao Haoran what he was saying: "That woman named Xiaoqian is not simple."
"I know," Zhao Haoran seemed to know what Meng Xinghe was going to say. He was not surprised at all. Instead, he took out a box from his arms. It was the night pearl that Meng Xinghe had just given to Xiaoqian as a meeting gift: "Xiaoqian said three My brother’s things are too valuable, so she asked me to return them to you privately, and I hope you won’t be angry,”
This woman is indeed not simple, Meng Xinghe sighed inwardly, but he took the box of night pearls. After all, he only had two boxes with him, and one was indispensable for Xiaosizi and Chai Xijia.
"Third brother, have you ever heard about the female snitch when you came to the city?"
Zhao Haoran didn't talk about Xiaoqian's affairs first, but started with the female snitch. Could it be that Xiaoqian and the female snitch still had a story? Meng Xinghe thought about the strangeness of this matter, but still listened attentively: "Listen I have said a few things, but they are all hearsay. It’s just that Heqing County was very troubled by the female snitch. It is so close to Chang’an. If this matter spreads to the court and someone makes an issue out of it, then the elder brother will also be in a lot of trouble. ,"
Zhao Haoran sighed and said: "Yes, I have been searching door to door in the city for the past few days. Seeing that the New Year is approaching, if I don't catch the female snitch, I won't be able to live a safe life this year."
"Then why don't you set a trap and catch all the female snitches?" Meng Xinghe came up with an idea. Since the female snitch had the slogan of robbing the rich and helping the poor, why not take advantage of his plan and arrange for a wealthy family in the city to wait for the female snitch? Come visit and catch them all.
Zhao Haoran shook his head, as if recalling something he regretted most in his life, and said: "To be honest, third brother, I have had thoughts like yours before, so I found Mr. Zhao, the richest man in the city, to work together. Capture the female thief, but because of this, the news leaked out at some point. The only person alive in Mr. Song's family of more than 80 people is the Xiaoqian you see now. He harmed Miss Song for his brother's sake. The family was afraid that the female thief would not let her go, so they announced to the outside world that the black-haired and black-faced woman in the county government office was my wife who came from Taoyuan Township. This was really hard for Xiaoqian, calling her a woman I wear tung oil and wear a man's coat every day and disguise myself as a country woman to avoid the revenge of the female snitch. Thinking of this stupid thing, I can't swallow it for my brother. This morning I heard that the Li family in the east of the city was stolen again. There are many valuable treasures. If this case is not settled for one day, Heqing County will never be peaceful. Third brother, you are here now, you can come up with a clever plan for me and it will settle a matter in my heart."
Fortunately, there is no one around now. No one sees the always energetic County Magistrate being so depressed. They say that the authorities are blind to the beholder. At this moment, the County Magistrate really wants to have an onlooker's eye to guide him out of the fog. After all, that woman is... Snitches are really cunning, and it's really distressing that they can't catch them even though they're committing crimes right under your nose.
Finally, I found out that Xiaoqian's identity was the daughter of the Song family. It was really embarrassing for a lady from a wealthy family to dress up like that. Seeing her eldest brother Zhao Haoran, who was tortured by the female snitch, he was in a hurry to leave. Meng Xinghe also secretly decided to stay for two days and wait for the case to be settled before leaving. As for the agreement between him and Princess Golden Knife, winning or losing is not important to Meng Xinghe. After all, they are outside Chang'an City, and winning or losing has long been determined. .
"In this case, let's settle your case here before leaving," Meng Xinghe said these words when he saw Zhao Haoran's waiting eyes, and suddenly felt a lot more relaxed all over.
Zhao Haoran was immediately happy when he heard this: "Then I'll trouble you, third brother. From now on, all the soldiers in Heqing County are at your disposal. If you need anything, just tell me directly until the female snitch is caught." Zhao Haoran, who was frowning, could finally breathe a sigh of relief. With Meng Xinghe taking action, what case could not be settled? Although he was in Chang'an, Meng Xinghe never tired of hearing about the cases that Meng Xinghe tried during his trip to Jiangnan. What kind of night detective Fengqi Tower, the third trial of the resurrected female ghost, etc., the more I heard about it, the more mysterious it became. Now that he is dealing with this female snitch, the truth will surely come to light soon.
"Third brother, don't be tired. Let's go out for the dinner prepared outside." He was busy talking just now, and unknowingly it was time to eat. Zhao Haoran stood up to greet him, but at the same time they heard a knock on the door from outside the study. Voice.
"Sir, there are people beating drums in the hall outside, so there must be something important that needs to be raised."
The person who spoke was someone from the county government, and it might be another case about the female snitch. After all, the county government has been handling similar cases in the past few months.
"Well, I understand," Zhao Haoran suddenly felt tired: "Look, things have happened again. I can't even eat safely."
"It's okay," Meng Xinghe comforted, "I don't know who came to report the crime."
People outside thought that Meng Xinghe was asking questions and did not dare to refuse to answer Master Shangshu's words. Since he came from the front hall, he naturally knew who the person who reported the case was, and immediately replied: "Sir, the person who reported the case is a barbarian woman."
Meng Xinghe had a hunch that the Hu woman would not be the Princess of the Golden Sword. That would be a coincidence.
Seeing Meng Xinghe's different look, Zhao Haoran, who didn't know the reason, pushed him: "Third brother, do you want to go out and have a look together?"
"Well, let's take a look." Meng Xinghe just nodded. It couldn't be such a coincidence.