Huaxi Chronicle

When the two left the warehouse, Xun Feibai and Yan Cong'an explained: "If the steward Qian really cares about his wife and daughter, he will definitely let go within a day."

Just now in the barn, Yan Cong'an almost lost his sense of propriety because of his impatience, but now that he has calmed down, he naturally understands what Xun Feibai said.

Yan Cong'an was very lucky to have Xun Feibai by his side today, so she didn't let her lose her balance.Without saying a word, she took a step forward and took Xun Feibai's arm, leaning her head against his shoulder.

Seeing this, Xun Feibai hugged him into his arms with his backhand, and comforted him softly: "Don't panic, I will always be by An's side to find out the truth with you."

After Yan Cong'an knew that Guanshi Qian was related to his parents' affairs, he couldn't wait to find out the truth as soon as possible, but instead lost his previous stability.

At this moment, she buried her head in Xun Feibai's arms, feeling extremely at ease in her heart, she replied softly: "Yes."

Xun Feibai patted her on the back: "Let's go back to the East Garden and wait for the good news."

As soon as the two entered the East Garden, the gatekeeper hurried over and said, "Third lady, Mrs. Xun, there is a hunter named Cao Jiu at the gate of the village asking to see him, saying that he has something important to tell."

On the day of the long table banquet, when Cao Jiu toasted, he seemed hesitant to talk, and today he came to the door specially, thinking that he really had something to say to them.

Xun Feibai said to the boy: "Please go to the study."

When Xiaosi led Cao Jiu to the study, Xun Feibai and his wife were already sitting in front of the tea table waiting for him.He walked up to the two of them and saluted somewhat cautiously.

Xun Feibai saw that his left foot seemed to be injured, and he walked with a limp, so he asked, "Is your foot injured?"

Hearing his question, Cao Jiu hurriedly explained: "A few days ago I was accidentally injured when I went hunting in the mountains. I should have come to look for you two earlier, and it was precisely because of this injury that I was delayed."

He paused, straightened his expression, and continued, "Miss Yan San, Mistress Xun, I have something to tell you."

Xun Fei got up and led the person to sit down: "Brother Cao, sit down and talk." Then he ordered Yuzhu to serve him tea.

Cao Jiu took a sip of tea, and said solemnly, "What I'm talking about has something to do with Mrs. Yan San's parents." After speaking, he held the teacup in his hand a little nervously, looked at Xun Feibai, and waited for them Reaction.

Yan Cong'an frowned slightly when she heard the words, she was a little puzzled, wondering what this Orion would have to do with her parents.

Xun Feibai was also a little surprised, and said: "I don't know what Brother Cao wants to say?"

Cao Jiu drank the tea in his cup in one gulp, and said, "What I'm going to say may be unbelievable, but every sentence is true, and there is no lie. This matter has been hidden in my heart for many years, and I would never mention it. Afraid to bring disaster to my family. A few days ago, I thank you two for saving my Xiaolu, and I made up my mind to tell Sanniang Yan about this matter to repay your kindness."

Hearing what he said, Yan Cong'an felt a little nervous for no reason.She took Xun Feibai's hand and said to Cao Jiu, "Tell me and listen."

Cao Jiu straightened his expression, and said slowly: "I have been hunting for a living since I was 14 years old. Except for the North Mountain of Taohua Village, I sometimes go hunting on the nearby mountains. Five years ago, I was hunting in the Qingshan Mountain of Bailipo. That afternoon Suddenly it rained heavily, so I found a cave to shelter from the rain. The rain was heavy and didn’t stop until evening. My wife is pregnant, so I was worried that she would be alone at home, so I was a little impatient.”

He paused, looked up at the two of them, and then said, "I have been standing at the entrance of the cave to check the rain, but I happened to bump into someone killing someone on the opposite hillside."

When Yan Cong'an heard this, he had a vague premonition that the murder the groom saw must be related to the death of her parents, and asked in a deep voice, "Murder?"

Cao Jiu nodded and said: "It is undoubtedly a murder. At that time, the rain had gradually turned light. I first saw a carriage galloping on the opposite hillside. I saw the groom jumping out of the carriage when he turned the corner, but the carriage turned straight over. into the cliff."

"Not long after, two men came over there, both wearing long robes. They walked to the groom, and the three chatted for a while, one of them stabbed the groom in the waist while he was unaware. The groom was killed He lay on the ground not long after the stabbing, and then the two of them pushed him down the cliff together."

"After a few days, I heard that your parents' carriage turned over the cliff, on the hillside I saw. After thinking about it, I think the carriage I saw that day should be your parents' one. "

Yan Cong'an was a little confused when she heard this, and she asked in a trembling voice, "Do you remember what day it was?"

Cao Jiu didn't think too much, and said directly, "April [-]."

Yan Cong'an asked suspiciously, "Why are you so sure?"

Cao Jiu replied: "On the third day after I came back from that mountain, my wife gave birth to Xiaolu, so I remember that day very clearly."

The groom who was stabbed in the stomach, April [-]th, and the hillside, all of these can be matched.If what Cao Jiu said is true, then he really saw the scene where his parents were killed.

Yan Lin'an couldn't restrain the excitement in his heart again, and asked tremblingly, "Can you see what those two look like? Do you recognize them?"

Cao Jiu nodded and said, "I saw it. The one who killed the groom was Manager Qian of the Villa. I have never seen the other person before. I don't know who it is."

Yan Cong'an paled in shock, stood up straight, and said in a voiceless voice: "But it's true?!"

Cao Jiu also stood up and said affirmatively, "I have been hunting all year round, and my eyesight is excellent, so I can't make a mistake."

After receiving Cao Jiu's affirmative answer, Yan Cong'an lost his mind, his legs went limp, and he was about to fall back to his chair.

Seeing this, Xun Feibai hurriedly pulled her into his arms, stretched out his hand to gently support Yan Cong'an's back, and called her softly to help her regain consciousness, "Cong'an, Cong'an."

Yan Cong'an has always speculated that the death of his parents was not an accident, but someone's intentional murder.It was precisely because of this that, regardless of his grandfather's dissuasion, he insisted on returning to Huaxi County, wanting to find out the truth of the year.

She didn't know whether to be sad or happy for a while, but the sad thing was that the death of her parents was not an accident as she thought, but was murdered.The joy is that it was not in vain that she has been brooding about it for so many years, and now that the real culprit has been found out, she has the opportunity to avenge her hatred and comfort her parents in heaven.

Cao Jiu has always been afraid of managing money. For many years, he only dared to bury this matter in his heart. As soon as he finished speaking, he hurriedly said goodbye and left.

Yan Cong'an was in a daze for a long while, and gradually regained his senses under Xun Feibai's comfort.

Although he regained his mind, Yan Cong'an still felt a little powerless just now, so he leaned against Xun Feibai's arms all the way, and let her carry him to the side couch to rest.

The two rested for a while, and Yuzhu came to invite them to have lunch.

Yan Cong'an was in low spirits, so he didn't eat much, so he went back to the main house to rest after the meal.

Seeing this, Xun Feibai was quite worried, so she ordered Yuzhu to prepare some pastries that Yan Cong'an liked to eat on weekdays.

As soon as he entered the main room, Xun Feibai saw Yan Cong'an getting up from the couch in a hurry, ready to put on his shoes and stay on the bed.She hurried forward, grabbed her and asked, "Where are you going?"

When Yan Cong'an saw her, he breathed a sigh of relief, and said anxiously, "It happened that you went with me to find that money manager. I want to ask him why he wanted to kill my parents back then? But because of his greed for ink?" Gangyi said After that, Yan Cong'an hastily denied it: "No, this greed for ink only happened after the death of parents, so what is it for? Could it be that someone bought him?"

"Fei Bai, do you think it was the eldest house who bought him to kill? The accountant is also the eldest son, and he dislikes him the most? Or is it the fourth house? Or the second house?"

Seeing her anxious appearance, Xun Feibai hastily pulled her back to the bed, and comforted her softly: "Don't be anxious, what we know is only what Cao Jiu saw, and there is no evidence in hand that can prove that Guanshi committed murder. If you rush over to question him in such a hurry, Guanshi Qian will only deny it as he did in the morning."

Yan Cong'an was at a loss for a moment, looked at Xun Feibai in a daze and said, "Then what should we do now?"

Xun Feibai had known her for more than half a year, and it was the first time he saw such a bewildered expression on Yan Congan's face.Concerned about it, chaos, thinking that the death of her parents was really a boulder in Yan Cong'an's heart, it made a person who was so cautious and steady on weekdays lose his sense of proportion.

She felt sorry for such a fragile Yan Cong'an, pulled him into her arms, and comforted him: "Now we can only wait and see what happens, let him come to us, if he is really worried about the comfort of his wife and daughter, he will take the initiative to tell What we want to know."

Xun Feibai was talking, and then lay back on the bed with the man in his arms: "Do you remember what Cao Liehu said just now, that day he saw two men in long robes, one of them was Manager Qian, so who was the other one? The truth is that the less people know about it, the safer it is, why did he want to be with that person?"

"That person is wearing a long robe, so he should not be the boy next to Guanshi Qian. If Cao Jiu doesn't know the other person, then this person should not be from the villa. If he is not a servant and he is not from the villa, then this person can only He is an accomplice of Guanshi Qian. Then why did this person kill parents together with Guanshi Qian?"

"As you said, Guanshi Qian embezzled the money to build the dam and open the canal after his parents passed away, so the reason why he killed his parents was not because of this." Xun Fei paused, frowning and guessing Said: "Maybe it has something to do with the sale of private salt."

Yan Cong'an was surprised and said, "You mean that Guanshi Qian started selling illegal salt five years ago? Maybe the parents knew about this and they were killed by him?"

"I'm not quite sure, but I guess if it's just some misbehavior such as greed for ink, since he has time to plan how to kill his parents, why didn't he just leave Huaxi County with the money and his family."

"It's worth spending a lot of time in charge of Qian's affairs, and he didn't hesitate to kill people to bury the evidence. Then what he did was not a trivial matter. From what we know now, only serious crimes such as trafficking in private salt, such as family raids, can drive him so mad. "

According to the laws of Liang State, those who sell private salt will be punished by beheading.Although it will not harm the nine clans, the wives and concubines/husbands and children in the family are all confiscated into the government as slaves and handmaids.

Listening to Xun Feibai's step-by-step analysis, Yan Cong'an calmed down a little.

"Another thing, I remember you once said that after the death of your parents, you were poisoned in Yan's house. You are in the house, poisoning you is not something that outsiders like Qian Guanshi can do, it must be The Yan family was involved. I guess if the death of your parents and your being poisoned are put together, Guanshi Qian’s killing of your parents should not only be found to be misbehaving, but more like being bribed. He would be so bold, killing his life for money. And the people who bribed him were none other than the Yan family, the man in the robe who was with him on the hillside that day."

"As for which room this person belongs to, I have to let Steward Qian tell you and me."

Yan Cong'an asked: "If he doesn't care about the safety of his wife and daughter, what should we do?"

Xun Feibai raised his brows slightly and said: "A person will have a weakness, if his wife and daughter are not her weakness, who does Cong An think this weakness is?"

Yan Cong'an didn't think about it, but said, "Mr. Liu?"

"If it's not Mrs. Liu, then it's him." Xun Feibai thought for a while, then whispered in Yan Cong'an's ear, "Next time you can test him like this..."

Sure enough, as Xun Feibai had guessed, in less than a day, Manager Qian said he wanted to see the two of them that afternoon.

Yan Cong'an ordered someone to take him to the study, but this time she didn't let him show him a seat, but let him stand in the hall.

Although Guanshi Qian was displeased, he thought that now he was not only trapped by others, but also wanted more from others.He had no choice but to forcefully suppress the slight unhappiness, and he said: "I can tell you two who Qian is selling illegal salt with, but I have a request, and you two must do it."

Yan Cong'an took a sip of tea and followed his words: "Let's talk and listen."

Guanshi Qian thought that he had agreed to his request, and was overjoyed. He pretended to be calm and said, "I want Mrs. Yan San to protect my wife and daughter."

"If I don't know where your wife and daughter are, how can I keep them safe?" Yan Cong'an asked.

"I know where they are now. The two of them are in Tianhu Village in Jiulang Mountain."

"You want me to send someone to find Feihu Village and rescue the two of them?"

She and Xun Feibai had expected Guanshi Qian to do this, but Yan Cong'an still pretended to be surprised and said, "The Jiulang Mountain is lush and forested, and the terrain is complicated, and the Tiger Village that day, I don't know where it is located. How can Guanshi be sure that my people can find the bandit village and rescue your wife and daughter."

"Since I have such a request, I know where the Huzhai is. Mrs. Yan San's guards are all very skilled. It is not difficult to come and go to Huzhai to rescue my wife and daughter that day."

Yan Cong'an pretended to think for a while, and reluctantly accepted the matter.

Guanshi Qian got what he wanted, he was overjoyed in his heart, and said calmly on his face: "With the help of Miss Yan San, I will draw the map of the mountain, and follow this map to find the Tiger Village that day."

After Qian Guanshi finished drawing the map, Yan Cong'an directly handed the map to the treasure box and asked her to send someone to take it to Chu Wuge.

Seeing that Yan Cong'an had arranged for someone to deal with it so quickly, Guanshi Qian breathed a sigh of relief. He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could speak, he heard Yan Cong'an say, "Except for the matter of private salt, I will There is one more thing I want to ask Guanshi Qian."

A flash of light flashed in Qian Wo's mind, knowing what she wanted to ask, he hurriedly said: "I don't know about your parents."

Yan Cong'an still didn't tell the truth after seeing him, his face turned cold, and he said in a deep voice, "You kept saying that you didn't know, but you were there when my parents' carriage fell off the cliff, weren't you?"

Guanshi Qian was shocked when he heard the words, "What did you say?"

"I already know that five years ago, the groom deliberately threw my parents' carriage off the cliff, and then you killed the groom on that hillside, and threw him off the cliff to kill him."

"Miss Yan San, don't talk nonsense and frame Qian to kill someone." Guanshi Qian immediately denied it.

"Do you know that when you stabbed the groom with a knife, you were clearly seen by others. I also know that there was another person present besides you, right?" Yan Cong'an asked sharply.

Hearing this, Guanshi Qian was already a little frightened, and said in horror: "Why... I..."

Yan Cong'an interrupted him, and then said: "I've made it so clear, how can you argue? Could it be that you still want to say that you stabbed the groom to death that day to avenge the robbery of his wife, not Do you want to kill people to cover up the truth?"

"What kind of woman is the groom's widow, Mrs. Liu, who let Guanshi Qian steal money for her, buy houses and land, and even murder her wife? And her son, could it be Guanshi Qian's parent?"

Guanshi Qian was a little flustered because Yan Cong'an found out about the murder. He wanted to defend himself, but she interrupted him.Immediately after Yan Cong'an guessed the secret in his heart, he was a little caught off guard. He was ashamed and angry, and sternly shouted at Yan Cong'an: "You!"

Yan Cong'an said angrily: "The groom took away your childhood sweetheart, and you killed him. How can I settle this revenge with you for killing your father and mother!"

Hearing Yan Cong'an's stern questioning, Guanshi Qian remained silent, even planning to deny it to death.

Yan Cong'an's expression was cold, and he said in a flat tone, "But let Guanshi Qian also experience the pain of bereavement!"

"You!" Guanshi Qian lost his temper for a while, and said at a loss for words: "You, don't take it out on them. I did everything. If you want to know about the private salt, I will tell you!"

Yan Cong'an was unmoved, and said with emotion: "Guan Qian is really forgetful. The deal you and I made just now was that I saved your wife and daughter, and you told me about the private salt. Now you are using this matter to save the lives of Liu's mother and child. , it seems that the two of them are not very important to Guanshi Qian."

Hearing what she said, Guanshi suddenly realized that he was anxious, so he said directly: "If you are willing to let the four of them go, Qian will tell you everything he knows, including the real culprit behind the murder of your parents. Let me know."

Yan Cong'an said in a deep voice: "That depends on what you said, but it's worth my saving the lives of the four of them."

Guanshi Qian knew that he had no choice but to tell the truth.He thought for a moment, and then slowly said: "Because my mother was ill and spent a lot of money back then, I had no other way out and used the convenience of the villa to start a business of selling private salt with others. But since then, I have been terrified all day long, afraid that this will happen to me. It was revealed to the public, and your father found out about it. It is true, but within two months, your father found out about it. I was bewitched by others, and for a while, I was fascinated by ghosts, and planned to kill your parents. I..."

Yan Cong'an scolded: "Don't talk so much nonsense, just tell me who ordered it?"

Guanshi Qian lowered his eyebrows and said, "Yan Guangxing."

Yan Cong'an asked suspiciously, "Really?"

"Sure, really." Guanshi Qian paused, and then said: "Your father Yan Guangxin and him are both descendants of the same family. If you kill your father, he will definitely be the head of the Yan family in the future. He and I... .”

Xun Feibai interrupted: "You are lying."

"I, I didn't lie." Guanshi Qian denied.

"When you spoke, your words flickered, you lacked confidence, and you didn't dare to look up at the two of us. What if it wasn't a lie?" Xun Feibai said in a deep voice.

Yan Cong'an said angrily: "Up to now, you are still full of nonsense and lies. It seems that you really don't care about the safety of your wife and daughter and Liu's mother and child."

"Treasure box, bring a letter to Binzhou, and send the coffins of the two Lius here in the future."

Manager Qian panicked completely, and hurriedly said, "It's Yan Guangyi, Yan Guangyi ordered me!"

"Do you have evidence?" Yan Cong'an said in a deep voice.

Guanshi Qian said dejectedly: "Murder is a felony, how can we leave evidence, but he was indeed the one who tricked me into killing your parents back then."

Yan Cong'an asked suspiciously: "How did you meet him? Why are you bewitched by him?"

"Before I became the manager of Binzhou Rice Shop, I was a guy at Huiming Tea House, and I got acquainted with him at that time." Manager Qian frowned, and said in a low voice, "Pull me into the water and sell private salt with me. It was Yan Guangyi. The two of us worked together, I used the villa to store salt and transport it, and Yan Guangyi contacted the buyer."

"Did you buy the sea salt from Chaozhou?" Xun Feibai asked aloud.

"Exactly."

"Since it was purchased in Chaozhou, it was supposed to be transported to Huaxi County by river and waterway. All parties involved in this process. Apart from the two of you, there must be someone involved in it?" Xun Feibai affirmed.

"It is true, but I have never met that person. Yan Guangyi has always been in contact with him. Yan Guangyi mentioned it unintentionally. That person should be a big shot in Chaozhou, and Chen Zhong is his subordinate."

"Gou Erlang was also killed by someone sent by him?"

"It should be so." Speaking of Gou Erlang, Guanshi Qian felt a little dissatisfied.

The man didn't care about his face at all, and directly sent someone to kill Gou Erlang.Not only did he not take him seriously, but it was also a warning to him.

Yan Cong'an asked in a deep voice, "The two of you killed my parents because you were exposed for selling illegal salt?"

"That's right. After your father found out, he not only wanted to inform Mrs. Yan, but also wanted to report to the authorities to deal with the two of us. My mother happened to pass away a few days ago. I pleaded with him and asked him to give him a few more days until after I buried my mother. Since he will surrender himself to the county government, he will let me go for the time being."

"I originally planned to surrender, but I never thought that Yan Guangyi would come to seduce me after my mother was buried. I was confused for a moment, and I had malicious intentions to kill your parents." Qian Guanshi spoke earnestly, and lowered his head as if remorseful.

Although Yan Cong'an had long guessed about the death of his parents, but he still couldn't restrain his anger when he heard the truth behind the old events.

She looked at the person in front of her who bowed her head and blamed herself, a surge of anger rushed into her heart, her hands were clenched into fists, and she wished to kill this person before she could relieve her anger.

But thinking of the culprit behind the scenes, she had no choice but to save this person's life, only for it to be useful in the future.Yan Cong'an took a deep breath to suppress the anger in his heart.But after letting go of the anger, I just felt weak all over.She didn't want to deal with Guan Qian any more, so she calmed down and said, "Baby box, take him back to the barn."

Seeing that she was going to drive him away, Guanshi Qian hurriedly stopped her and said, "Miss Yan San, don't forget your agreement with me to rescue my wife and daughter from Tianhu Village, and ensure their lives, mother Liu's and their son's life are safe."

Yan Cong'an heard the words and said: "What you said is all empty words. I can't tell the truth from the fake. Why should I save the lives of the four of them for you?"

Qian Guanshi explained: "Although I have no evidence that he instigated me to kill people, all the account books of the two of us selling illegal salt in the past few years are all in my hands. Except me, these account books also have Yan Guangyi's signature Draw a bet."

"Those account books are all ironclad evidence. With them, Yan Guangyi has no way to deny it. Qian knows that he has committed a serious crime. It is not a pity to take my life to pay for your parents. I only hope that Yan San can let it go." For the four of them, all the evil things were done by me, and they didn't know about it."

"I promise you this matter." After finishing speaking, Yan Cong'an waved his hand and let the treasure box lead people out of the study.

When the treasure box and the two walked away, Yan Cong'an let go of the last bit of strength in her body. She supported her head with one hand, only feeling that her mind was in chaos.She couldn't help reaching out and rubbing the center of her brows, trying to wake herself up.

Seeing this, Xun Feibai hurried to her side, wrapped him in his arms, and rubbed the center of her brows for her.

At this moment, Yan Cong'an felt very tired, his whole body was light and powerless, as if he was in a vast expanse, and the scenes he saw were all smoky, illusory and unreal.

In a trance, she felt the warm touch coming from the forehead, and the gentle massage, again and again, gradually dispelled the restlessness and hesitation in her heart.

Xun Feibai breathed a sigh of relief when he saw her stretch the tails of her brows.After less than a quarter of an hour, she found that the person in her arms was leaning against her and fell asleep.

Xun Feibai was even more sympathetic, she slowly bent over and gently picked him up, and walked towards the bed in the study.