The master said not to judge people by their appearance

"Hurry up!" The leading guard kicked old man He impatiently, "What are you pretending to be like!"

The old man He said "Ouch", but he didn't dare to speak, and hurriedly walked forward.

Following him was his son He Zhu, and several uncles and brothers. They all had ashen faces, their hands were tied with ropes, and they were guarded by guards and escorted to Cangzhou City.

Xie Yunlan rode a horse and led Shen Fan to follow behind. The people in front of him were the core figures who planned to sacrifice the river god. Although the rest of Hekou Village were not innocent, there were too many of them. They were young, old, weak, women and children. There were as many as three or four hundred, and even if they were captured in Cangzhou City, there would be no place to resettle them. Xie Yunlan first arrested a few main criminals, interrogated them first, and then convicted the rest based on the details he gave.

In order to prevent people from Hekou Village from escaping, Xie Yunlan left a few servants behind and ordered them to keep an eye on Hekou Village. If there is one person missing, they are the only ones to ask.

The remaining guards did not dare to follow his orders, and stared at the people in Hekou Village seriously, not daring to relax at all.

The guards who escorted the prisoners also tried their best to behave in front of Xie Yunlan. The leading guard knew that this group of people had offended Xie Yunlan, so he didn't give them any good face, and urged Old Man He and others to leave quickly all the way.

He had just finished kicking old man He, and seeing Xie Yunlan waving at him, he immediately changed his face, ran to Xie Yunlan's horse, bowed slightly, and said with a smile on his face, "Master Xie, what's your order?"

"How far is it from Cangzhou City?" Xie Yunlan asked.

"It's not far away. After walking through this rift valley, we will reach Cangzhou City in two miles." The leading guard replied respectfully.

Xie Yunlan looked at the sky, it was now sunset, it was not early, but Cangzhou City was not far away, and he was not in a hurry to enter the city before dark, but continued to maintain the current speed, so as not to let someone think too fast too crazy.

"What are you looking at?" Xie Yunlan looked back, and saw Shen Fan staring at the direction of the rift in a daze.

This rift valley is located not far from the official road, and it is hundreds of feet long. The marks on the edge of the rift valley are smooth and regular, and it does not seem to be formed naturally. , I really can't think of any use for it.

"It's nothing." Shen Fan withdrew his gaze, as if he was just looking casually, but his arms around Xie Yunlan's waist unconsciously tightened a little.

Xie Yunlan realized something, he asked, "Are you afraid of heights?"

They are now walking beside the rift valley, and they can see the bottom of the [-]-foot-deep rift valley with their probes. This height is a bit high for ordinary people, and if they fall, they will definitely break their bones and bones.

"Not afraid." Shen Fan replied, but his arms hugged a little tighter.

"Aren't you afraid that you are still hugging so tightly?" Xie Yunlan raised his eyebrows.

Shen Fan pressed against Xie Yunlan's back and said softly, "Because it hurts too much to fall."

Xie Yunlan didn't hear it clearly, he just thought it was Shen Fan's excuse for being afraid of heights, he chuckled lightly, as if laughing at Shen Fan's coquettishness, he was even afraid of such heights, but the hand holding the rein began to exert force, Leading the horse away from the rift valley, Shen Fan's hand really relaxed a little.

A group of people gradually walked through the rift, and Shen Fan also returned to normal, no longer hugging so tightly.

Xie Yunlan began to dig through old accounts that were not too old: "Do you know that you made a mistake?"

"What's wrong?" Shen Fan asked puzzled.

"What else could be wrong?" Xie Yunlan thought in his heart that Shen Fan didn't reflect at all, and his tone became severe, "Have you ever thought about the consequences of my not coming in time today?"

"What consequences?" Shen Fan still didn't understand.

Xie Yunlan: "You will be thrown into the river by them, and you will be the bridegroom of the river god, just like the first nine drowned people! You will become a wronged soul underwater!"

"There are no wronged souls underwater, and the river is very clean." Shen Fan retorted one by one, "I know how to swim, so I won't drown."

Xie Yunlan's anger had already been vented, but at this moment Shen Fan ignited it again: "What's the use of knowing the water?! Didn't you see how urgent the river is?! And the river is so wide, they threw you from the center of the river, Do you have the strength to swim back to shore?!"

"Then I won't drown." Shen Fan said.

Xie Yunlan clenched her fists, annoyed by Shen Fan's attitude of not only refusing to admit his mistakes, but also constantly arguing, especially Shen Fan's innocent face, as if he felt that what he said was the truth, and he didn't understand why Xie Yunlan was angry about it.

Xie Yunlan took a few deep breaths in a row, managed to calm down, and stopped arguing with Shen Fan about whether he would drown, but said: "If they don't want to throw you into the river, but throw you into the valley , or directly rob you of your belongings and then find a place where no one is around and kill you?"

"There is a word that people's hearts are sinister. Many people can't tell whether they are good or bad just by looking at their appearance. When you go out, you must be on guard against others..." Xie Yunlan said a lot, he has never talked to anyone like this in his life Having said that, if today's facts didn't really scare him, he wouldn't have spent so much time admonishing Shen Fan, just so that Shen Fan wouldn't be deceived and run away next time.

He talked all the way outside the city of Cangzhou, the city gate was close in front of him, and he could already see the guard of honor at the gate, Xie Yunlan was about to stop talking, he looked back at Shen Fan and said, "Do you remember?"

He said so much, Shen Fan should remember it anyway.

But it wasn't until now when I turned around that I realized that Shen Fan had been distracted, and it took a while to respond after hearing his question.

"What did you say?" he said.

The blue veins on Xie Yunlan's forehead twitched violently. Sometimes, he felt that Shen Fan should not be called Shen Fan, but Shen Fanfan, and even one fan was not enough for him!

"I don't know if Mr. Xie visited Cangzhou, but I'm sorry to welcome you too far!" A person came out from the gate of the city, Xu Xin, the prefect of Cangzhou.

An officer went ahead and told him about Xie Yunlan's visit to Cangzhou. Xu Xin didn't dare to neglect, and hurriedly brought someone to the door to greet him.

Xu Xin's figure is bloated, a circle bigger than a normal person. When he runs, the flesh on his body shakes with him, like waves in the water, but not as elegant and light as waves. He is bulky and ugly. When he puts on a smile, The flesh of the face was so crowded that it was almost impossible to see where the eyes were.

The Hekou Village incident had already made Xie Yunlan dissatisfied with the prefect of Cangzhou. Looking at the other party's full-bodied appearance, he felt even more displeased. But after all, they are both in the officialdom, and if Xie Yunlan remembers correctly, Xu Xin should be regarded as the second prince. people.

To be an official, in addition to being talented and educated, he also needs to have a good appearance. With Xu Xin's appearance, he would not be able to be an official, let alone a city prefect.If he hadn't been running around in the capital, flattering the upper and lower, and winning the favor of the second prince's biological mother, Mrs. Luo, with his slick tricks, and recommending him to His Majesty, who would have gotten someone like him who was neither from a noble family nor talented to come to Cangzhou, a place in the south of the Yangtze River? An official in a rich place?

Remembering Wei Chengzhi's advice before parting, Xie Yunlan suppressed his emotions temporarily.

He got off his horse, walked up to Xu Xin, raised his usual official smile and said, "Master Xu, you are welcome. I just happened to pass by Cangzhou, and I didn't intend to alarm Master Xu. I have encountered a little trouble. Please, Master Xu." Do justice to me."

Xu Xin had already heard the officer's general account of what had happened, and he was sullen at the moment: "These unscrupulous people dare to abduct the passing passengers and kill them, and even slander Mr. Xie as a bandit. Come here, and take them all into custody. Tomorrow, I will be promoted to the court, and this officer must try the case carefully!"

"It's been more than three months since Hekou Village used living people to sacrifice to the river god. Has Mr. Xu never heard of it?" Xie Yunlan pretended to be surprised.

"Master Xie, I don't know that the flood season is approaching, and the dam outside the city needs to be reinforced. I have been busy strengthening the dyke for a while, and went to inspect the dyke every day. I accidentally let Hekou Village do evil for so long. It is really a shame. It is hard to escape the blame." Xu Xin felt pain and regret.

It has to be said that he was able to win Mrs. Luo's favor with such a dignified appearance. He really has some skills. His acting skills are very good, and the excuses he made are also very high-sounding. Where is the slightest trace of wind and sun on the face.

Xie Yunlan didn't expose him, but said with a half-smile: "Master Xu really works hard for the common people."

"It should be!" Xu Xin observed Xie Yunlan's expression, and couldn't see the other party's attitude for a while.

Xie Yunlan is now the emperor's special envoy, patrolling the world on behalf of the emperor, and has the right to report the local situation directly to the emperor. His perception of a place will also affect the emperor's perception to a large extent, so he must not be negligent.

Xu Xin thought about it for a while, and felt that it was right to entertain him first, so he said, "Master Xie, are you tired from the journey? I have ordered someone to prepare a banquet to clean up the dust for Sir Xie!"

He made a gesture of invitation, Xie Yunlan was about to be invited, but suddenly remembered something, and looked back at Shen Fan.

Xu Xin had already noticed that there was another person on Xie Yunlan's horse. He was dressed in white, with a handsome appearance and the appearance of a loose moon. Reminiscent of the rumors he heard from Beijing, he asked Xie Yunlan in a low voice: "This is the Dragon God?" messenger?"

"Exactly." Xie Yunlan was able to temporarily suppress his dislike towards Xu Xin, but not his anger towards Shen Fan. He was really pissed off today.He knew that Shen Fan wouldn't get off his horse, so he purposely didn't help him get off, and waited for Shen Fan to speak, but Shen Fan didn't think of looking for him at all, and was asking a servant to squat down slightly to serve as his horse stool.

"What's the name of the master?" Xu Xin asked again.

"Shen Fanfan." Xie Yunlan tried his best to restrain himself, but he still couldn't restrain himself. The nickname he just made up was blurted out with anger from the bottom of his heart.

Xu Xin was taken aback, and tentatively asked, "Which 'fan'?"

"Annoying, annoying!" Xie Yunlan gritted his teeth.

"So it's Master Shen Fanfan, I've admired him for a long time!" Xu Xin went forward and saluted Shen Fan.

Shen Fanfan?Shen Fan was stunned for a moment, seeing that there was no one around, Xu Xin was indeed talking to him, so he hesitated to answer.

"Master has been exhausted all the way. I have worked hard. I will hold a banquet at Linjiang Tower tonight, and I will invite Master to show you respect." Xu Xin greeted with a smile.

Shen Fan answered "Yes", and followed Xu Xin to Linjiang Tower.Along the way, officials who heard the news, or some local celebrities and gentry came to greet him one after another, and everyone shouted "Master Shenfanfan".

Shouting made Shen Fan very confused, he wanted to ask Xie Yunlan, but Xie Yunlan was also surrounded by the crowd, so he had no chance to ask.

It was not until Linjiang Tower, after sitting down in the private room on the second floor, that Shen Fan had the opportunity to quietly ask Xie Yunlan: "Why do they all call me Shen Fanfan?"

Xie Yunlan also heard everyone calling Shen Fan along the way, and instead of being annoyed at the moment, he felt the pleasure of getting revenge. He said without changing his face: "There are customs in different places, and overlapping characters in Cangzhou may be A kind of honor."

Shen Fan let out an "oh" and believed it.