Kaifeng Bistro

"Xun... Xun... Sheng?" Tan Zhifeng struggled to read Yi Yi's mouth shape, Zhan Zhao was even more puzzled, and looked back at Yi Yi behind him.

"Oh, Zhifeng is looking for his long-lost brother." Yi Yi was half-dead by Tan Zhifeng, and when he saw Zhan Zhao turning his head, he could only pretend nothing had happened, took a sip of tea, and answered for Tan Zhifeng.

Tan Zhifeng, Zhuozhuo and Changshang, who were eating extravagantly, were stunned, Zhuozhuo could hold back, Shangshang wiped his mouth with his sleeve, and said in surprise: "What?! Brother Zhifeng, no wonder you, you I kept staring at him, and I asked Yi Yi who he was, and Yi Yi went around and told me about Dayu's flood control for a long time..."

"Shut up, shut up!" Zhuo Zhuo and Yi Yi pressed down on Shangshang one by one: "Eat your roast sheep! Children don't interrupt when adults talk!"

"Oh." Shangshang was indeed still reluctant to part with the burning sheep. He tried his best to tear off the leg of the lamb, and suddenly remembered what he had just heard. Since Zhuo Zhuo and Yi Yi told him not to interrupt, he had no choice but to throw a "Congratulations" to Tan Zhifeng Zhifeng found his brother" eyes.

Tan Zhifeng was at a loss, and then he thought about Yi Yi's answer, which is quite reversible, and right now he seems to have no other choice except to break the pot and lie with Yi Yi.

"Well... this," Tan Zhifeng is obviously not as good at telling lies as Yi Yi: "I, in fact, I just have doubts. I, my mother once told me that I have an older brother, so I, I always wanted to To find him. This Xu, Xu Gan..."

"Brother Fangcai, you said that you are a passer-by in Kuizhou. Kuizhou is far away from Kaifeng. Why did you come here to find relatives?" Zhan Zhao asked earnestly, "Brother Yu is also taking a job in Kaifeng Mansion anyway. Brother, if you need it, I can find a way to look up the household registration in the government for you, as long as you tell me what you know, I will do my best."

Tan Zhifeng was completely dumbfounded, and looked at Yi Yi again.Yi Yi said without changing his face: "It's like this. Tan Zhifeng was abducted by Ren Yazi to Kuizhou when he was a child. His hometown is Kaifeng, so when he grew up, he went back to Kaifeng to find his brother."

"This Xu Gan looks very much like the deceased master of our family." He added: "It's almost carved out of the same mold."

"As far as I know, Xu Gan's father is a blacksmith. There is only Xu Gan's son in his family. He has never reported the loss of his child to the authorities. However, I can check again to see if those old files Among them, are there any clues?" Zhan Zhao asked after deliberation.

"Wait." After Zhan Zhao finished speaking, his two sword eyebrows frowned slightly: "I just know that you said that your mother told you that you have an older brother. If the family who adopted you would know that you also have an older brother." Woolen cloth?"

Yi Yi was taken aback by what Zhan Zhao said, but he quickly regained his composure: "Ah, I was wrong, the one who was abducted was Xu Yan, Zhan Huwei, and your government file does not know that Xu Tiejiang Is this son adopted?"

"Then...it's usually not recorded." Zhan Zhao replied slowly and calmly.

Tan Zhifeng looked at Yi Yi weakly, and said in his heart: "This is the so-called one lie that needs to be covered by a thousand lies!"

Yiyi cast a disdainful look at him: "If I can be rounded up, what can he do to me?!"

Tan Zhifeng suddenly remembered that the topic of today's conversation should not be the recognition of his relationship with Xu Gan, he quickly sat up straight, and continued to say to Zhan Zhao: "Guard Zhan, I hope you will keep quiet about this matter for now, I am not sure about Xu Gan's relationship with him. , He is my elder brother, you don’t need to search for any information for me, anyway, it’s been so long, no matter whether he and I are brothers or not, we have our own lives, I don’t think it’s necessary to tell Him, what do you think?"

"My dear brother, you are right." Zhan Zhao seemed to have some insight and said, "As long as he is still in this world, living his own life, why should he force other fates?"

"Yes, yes," Tan Zhifeng hurriedly said: "That's what happened. Let's talk about Zhang Shanchu's case now. Suppose those two deserters fled to Yingchang Mansion, and old man Zhang took them in. When Zhang Shanchu learned about this, I wrote it into my own script, hoping to attract the attention of the government, but I didn’t expect it to be known by someone with ulterior motives, and it is very likely that I killed old man Zhang who knew about it.”

Zhuozhuo dropped the mandarin duck belly in his hand, and asked, "If you think about it this way, it's not impossible for Zhang Shanchu to throw himself into the river because of guilt. Why do you think he was killed by someone?"

Zhan Zhao stood up, walked two steps with his hands behind his back, and replied: "Zhifeng, I believe in your character. Although Xu Gan may be your elder brother, I still want to tell you the whole story of this case. I believe , if you know something, you will definitely not hide it from me."

Hearing Zhan Zhao's words, Tan Zhifeng bowed his head guiltyly and smiled.But Zhan Zhao didn't seem to notice, and continued: "The reason why we didn't treat it as an ordinary case of falling into the water is that someone handed a note to the Kaifeng mansion afterwards, and the person who reported the murder was Xu Gan, a blacksmith in the south of the city. Zhang Shanchu sent a pen before jumping into the river." Xiaocai, according to him, was a gift from relatives. Presumably, it should be the money left by his father after his death and the remuneration he got for writing the script. It is not difficult to guess that he had contacted Xu Gan in order to write the script of Blacksmith Wang. , and may even promise to give him a little reward, they should have made an appointment to meet on the Longjin Bridge that night."

He paused, then continued: "Secondly, according to what we know, Zhang Shanchu's homework has always been very good, and he is very likely to be promoted to the Inner House next year. Besides, he has already passed the test of understanding, and he will be able to take the test in the spring of the next year." Try, his essay is good, and the academic officials said that he is expected to pass the exam. Even if he fails, he is only twenty, and there will be plenty of opportunities in the future. The brother Zhou who had dinner in your tavern also said that, of course, the pressure of the imperial examination is greater , but he didn’t jump into the river at such a young age.”

"These are not evidence." Yi Yi said: "If it is put on...well, this is at best your inference."

"That's right, but there's the third one, which makes me the most suspicious." Zhan Zhao went on to say, "The next day, when I received the report, I went to check nearby. We found Zhang Shanchu's Footprints, due to the wet weather the night before, the riverside was muddy, and the night was cold, the footprints I stepped on were frozen, retaining the original appearance."

"Did you find the footprints of the second person?" Tan Zhifeng asked in surprise, "Who is it?"

"Someone has been following Zhang Shanchu, but Zhang Shanchu was in a bad mood and didn't notice it." Zhan Zhao said, "Xu Gan is much taller than Zhang Shanchu. I have observed his feet, and those footprints are definitely not his."

Tan Zhifeng heaved a sigh of relief, he believed that Zhan Zhao was not someone who would deliberately lie in front of him for the sake of cliche.Since he had evidence to rule out Xu Gan's suspicion, he shouldn't hide it from him anymore.

Besides, he suspected from the bottom of his heart that this incident had something to do with Bo.This despicable guy once tried every means to deceive Tan Zhifeng's trust, and now he wants to attack Xu Gan one after another. He doesn't know the origin of Bo, but Zhan Zhao may have a way to find out, but how can he reveal Bo's existence to Zhan Zhao? Woolen cloth?

With an idea, he said to Zhan Zhao: "By the way, Brother Zhan, there was actually another incident that happened the night I met Zhang Shanchu. It has something to do with the war situation in the northwest, I think it's better to tell you about it."

Later, Tan Zhifeng recounted to Zhan Zhao how Bo's horse attacked Xu Gan that night, and now he was sure that the horse was transformed from the ghostly yellow snake that was always by Bo's side.And Bo must be secretly manipulating all this. He wanted to create an accident to kill Xu Gan, but after he failed, he wanted to frame Zhang Shanchu's death on him.

As soon as Zhang Shanchu jumped into the river, the note identifying Xu Gan as the murderer was delivered to the Kaifeng mansion, so Zhang Shanchu's death must have been done by Bo.But who left those footprints?Why did Bo go to great lengths to arrange a murderer?Tan Zhifeng looked at Zhan Zhao, and sincerely hoped that this wise and mighty Zhan guard could find out the truth of the case soon.

After Zhan Zhao heard this, his expression became more serious: "I have long felt that this matter has something to do with him."

"Him?!" Tan Zhifeng was shocked again. Could it be that Zhan Zhao already knew about Bo's existence?Before he could ask, Zhan Zhao said, "Lord Bao has long suspected that Xixia's spies were acting as a hindrance, but it's really chilling to think about it. They had seen the script written by Zhang Shanchu long ago, which means that they hadn't started the war at the beginning of the year. At that time, he had already sneaked into Kaifeng!"

The expressions of Tan Zhifeng and the other three became serious, and Ting Zhanzhao went on to say: "We have received news that the spy sent by Xixia is a general of the Yeli Department, which is very prestigious in their party, named Yeli Changrong. Naturally, he didn't come alone. There should be a group of dead soldiers serving him under his command. It's just that this person's whereabouts are secretive, and he is quite proficient in witchcraft. We have never been able to find out his whereabouts. Zhifeng Brother Wei, you have provided Brother Wei with another important clue."

"I'm just a little puzzled, why did he harm Xu Gan?" Tan Zhifeng just breathed a sigh of relief, but seeing Zhan Zhao's face darken, he said to himself.

"This, this..." Tan Zhifeng was at a loss for words again, and after thinking for a long time, he said, "Maybe... maybe he didn't want Xu Gan to go to the appointment on time, so as to plant him on him...?"

"Your brother is right. He probably wants to divert our attention and cover the real perpetrator!" Zhan Zhao's eyes sparkled, and he turned to Wang Chao and said, "Today's trip is really worthwhile!"

Wang Chao obeyed Zhan Zhaoyan, and immediately asked, "Isn't Xu Gan the murderer? Do we still need to monitor him day and night?"

Zhan Zhao glanced at Tan Zhifeng, and Tan Zhifeng realized that Xu Gan was so close to being imprisoned.Zhan Zhao thought for a while, and said, "Don't withdraw the man, but protect his safety."

Wang Chao nodded and asked again: "Then what should we do next?"

Zhan Zhao said: "Let's start with the footprints of that day, compare Zhang Shanchu's footprints with his shoes, roughly estimate the size of the other person's shoes, check from the people in their room, but you can only act secretly, not Alarm them. Also, I heard that Luoposhanren has written a new script, you send someone to guard and see if you can find out who wrote it for Zhang Shanchu after his death!"