Nongmen Shenjue

When going out this time, Mu Qingyan still took the carriage with Wen Jixue and Gao Tian drove, but Mu Qingyan also brought Gao Chun and Gao Dong brothers with him.These two people are not the kind with quick brains, but they are down-to-earth and hard-working, especially Gao Chun's calm and proper behavior, Mu Qingyan is very satisfied with this.Considering that they will travel far in the future, he focused on letting the two learn the skills of driving and riding a horse. This time when they go out, Gao Chun and Gao Dong will ride horses.

The horses were bought by Tuomulin, and they were not as fast as the fast horses in the county government, but they were not bad.

One horse costs 14 taels, and two horses cost [-] taels. Gao Chun's two horses are very excited when they are riding.Horses are not common. Fenglin County is a large county with strong financial resources. Only the county government can afford fast horses. There are twelve horses in total, which is already remarkable.After all, horses are a strategic material, and the army rations them, and most of the civilian circulation is raw horses.

However, this dynasty is much better than the previous dynasty.

The horses of the previous dynasty were even scarcer, because they were not produced in the country, and most of them were exchanged by border trade.In the current dynasty, there were two or three large horse farms. In addition, during the reign of Taizu, the small countries in the surrounding areas surrendered, and horses were also the major part of the annual tribute. This not only alleviated the domestic demand for horses, but also reduced the price of horses.

After walking on the road for two days, it really snowed heavily as Mu Wan said.

Mu Qingyan was sitting on the carriage, holding a porcelain hand stove, wearing a moon white satin padded jacket, cut and sewn by Lianxin, it was comfortable and comfortable, not bulky.He doesn't like to wear a hat, and he is in the car. The bottom wall of the car is covered with a thin layer of cotton, which is comfortable and warm, and he doesn't feel cold.

A thick cotton curtain was hung on the car door, and it was slightly opened, and the cold wind swirled and blew in the goose-feather-like snow, which shocked people.

Not long after the snow had just fallen, the treetops were already covered with a layer of white. It was freezing last night, and after snowing, the heavy snow did not melt once it fell, but it made the surface less slippery.

Gao Tian was wearing a bamboo hat and coir raincoat, and he was a martial artist, so he wasn't afraid of this little snowstorm.However, if the snow fell deeply and affected the journey, Gao Chun went to explore the road before, and they could reach the town and settle down smoothly before dark.

"Beware of catching a cold." Wen Jixue pressed the cotton curtain to keep out the wind and snow.

Mu Qingyan leaned against the car wall behind him: "If the snow is too heavy, I'm afraid I won't be able to go on my way."

Not only is the carriage stuck due to the snow festival, but also such a heavy snow, when the snow clears up and the snow melts, the road is bound to be muddy and difficult to walk.

Wen Jixue is not worried at all: "This time I go out to relax, if the snow is too heavy, I will find a safe place to stay and enjoy the wind and snow."

Facing the wind and snow, a town finally appeared ahead.

This is Chenqiao Town. The town is not big, but business travelers often pass by, so it is quite lively.Gao Chun and Gao Dong rode horses and arrived at the town one step earlier, and had already prepared everything at the inn.The two got off the car in front of the inn, Gao Tian drove the carriage to the backyard, Mu Qingyan looked up at the town, there was a caravan driving towards the town in the distance.

The room they booked was on the second floor. There was a brazier in the room, and the charcoal made by the farm was used. There would inevitably be smoke. The windows were half opened for ventilation. Because of the leeward wind, there was no need to worry about snowflakes being blown in.

As soon as Mu Qingyan entered the door, he took off the red cloak with white fox fur.

Naturally, such a valuable thing does not belong to him, even if he wanted to make a cloak, he would not choose bright red.The cloak was given by Wen Jixue, and it was specially cut to fit his height.He didn't know in advance, otherwise he would definitely not let this happen, and it would be a pity to ruin a cloak.

In fact he didn't feel cold, and the cloak was on to keep out the snow.

Wen Jixue, however, thought he looked good in a cloak, and the bright and eye-catching red added a glamor to his cold face.It can be described as "even if it is ruthless, it is also touching".

The sky is getting darker, the wind is getting stronger, and the snow is getting denser.

Pedestrians and caravans moved in again, and the lobby below became lively.In such a cold day, they traveled all the way again. People sat around, ate some warm food, and hot pots of hot wine, and the tiredness and coldness on their bodies disappeared a bit.

Wen Jixue observed the snow and said, "It seems that we can't leave tomorrow."

According to this posture, after one night, the snow can bury a person's thigh.

Mu Qingyan thought it was just a self-driving tour, he didn't necessarily have to go to Hexian County, it didn't matter where he went, it would be good if he didn't stay in the wilderness.After eating a hot meal and hot dishes, and then taking a hot bath, the cold wind outside the window was whistling and snowflakes were raging, making the house feel warm and comfortable.

After sitting in the carriage for a day, he was not sleepy, so he declined Wen Jixue's invitation to play chess, and read a book to pass the time.

"What's so good about books?" Wen Jixue didn't expect that he would not play chess, and was a little disappointed, but he still asked the inn for a few more candles to light up to increase the brightness so as not to hurt his eyes.

Mu Qingyan glanced at him: "I can't play chess."

Wen Jixue raised her eyebrows.

Mu Qingyan sneered: "You are a man of the rivers and lakes, you are also a qin and a chess player, you have entered the wrong line."

Wen Jixue couldn't help laughing: "It's the same for the family members."

Indeed, even though he is from the rivers and lakes now, he was once a son of an aristocratic family, and his family background is not bad.Their family has strict tutoring, and the curriculum has been very full since they were young. As the eldest son, they cannot relax.When I was young, I complained and got bored, and later I encountered an accident and my mood changed, but I learned those things bit by bit.

There was a sound of footsteps, and the door was knocked: "Guest, the catcher in the yamen is here to inquire, please open the door."

The two looked at each other in surprise.Usually nothing happened, it was impossible for the yamen to go to the inn to check on the merchants, not to mention it was dark and snowing heavily.

As soon as the door opened, the innkeeper smiled apologetically, and beside him stood two sturdy policemen with snow on their hats.

The policemen's interrogation was the same, they asked where they came from, and then asked where they were going, after reading the identity documents of the two people, that's all.The bad weather was so bad that the police officers were naturally not in a good mood. After checking one room, they went to the other room.The shopkeeper was afraid of disturbing the guests, so he knocked on the door in advance, and kept smiling to appease him.

Gao Tian, ​​Gao Chun and Gao Dong both came out of the room.

Mu Qingyan then told Gao Chun: "Go and find out what happened."

Wen Jixue guessed: "Maybe there are robbers blocking the road. Such bad weather makes it difficult to travel, but it is convenient for the robbers to escape, and it is not conducive to the government's pursuit. What's more, the Chinese New Year is coming, and the robbers also want to get a sum of money." Have a good year."

Although it is snowing heavily now, there are quite a few caravans on the road, and many caravans have caught up with the replenishment of years ago.Or when foreigners rush home to celebrate the New Year, they often carry a lot of belongings with them, which will make the bad guys fall in love with them.Even during the two days when they went out, they encountered a few robbers blocking the way.

When Shaoqing Gao Chun Gao Dong came back, it was exactly as they had guessed.

At noon today, someone went to the county government to report to the county government, saying that a corpse was found in Chenheli outside Chenqiao Town.The police went to check and found that there was a hemp rope wrapped around the body of the deceased, and a ring was tied at the other end, which seemed to have bound something.The police officers were used to handling cases, and they immediately thought of it. After killing the person, the murderer planned to tie the deceased to a big stone and sink it into the bottom of the river.

The deceased did not have any property on him, nor did he have any identity documents, and was worrying about how to find out his identity, someone came to identify the body crying.

The person who identified the body was a young man in his early twenties named Liao Zian, who said that the deceased was his father Liao Zhang.

The Liao's family is a fur merchant, they rushed to Huangqu County to deliver a batch of goods in [-], and returned home with the money, passing through here yesterday.They were originally riding in a carriage, but unexpectedly the carriage broke down at Shili Pavilion outside Chenqiao Town. It was getting dark and they were in a hurry when they happened to meet a carriage passing by.

The owner of the car was enthusiastic and willing to take them for a while, but there were already two people in the car, while the Liao family and his party had five.In addition to the Liao family's father and son, there are also Liao Zian's second uncle Liao Cheng and two buddies.

Liao Zian thought he was young, so he asked his father and second uncle to go to the town by car first, and he and two guys stayed behind to repair the car.It was very late when the carriage was repaired, and the night was dark and the road conditions were unknown. It was already dawn when we arrived in town.They also passed by Chenqiao Town when they went to Huangqu County, and stayed in the same inn every time. Liao Zian went to the inn, but he couldn't find his father and second uncle, and even the innkeeper said that they didn't stay.

Liao Zian didn't think much at first, thinking that his father's second uncle had changed his place of residence, but there were only two or three inns in the town, and he searched them one by one, but still couldn't find them.Now Liao Zian panicked, fearing that something might happen to his father and second uncle, because those two had more than 200 taels of silver on them.

When he heard that the body was found in the river, Liao Zian burst into tears as soon as he described the clothes and appearance.

When the police officers heard that there was another Liao Cheng, they suspected that he was also killed, so they searched for someone to salvage him.It was cold in winter, and Liao Zi'an promised to give each of them a tael of silver, so two people who knew water were willing to go down the river.After some searching, another corpse was fished out from the bottom of the river. It was wrapped in hemp rope, tied with boulders, and its neck was almost cut off. It was Uncle Liao Zi'an.

The two men had nothing on them, so it was obvious that they were murdering for money.

The county government attached great importance to it, so they sent the police to search everywhere in the town. The first thing they were looking for was the carriage that Liao Zhang and Liao Cheng were riding in.

Gao Chun said: "According to Liao Zian's description of the appearance of the driver and the style of the carriage, combined with time calculations, the police officers strictly searched all the vehicles, but they did not find the vehicle at all, let alone the person. The guy at the inn said that they They wait at the door every day to wait for guests, and they will definitely greet every car and horse passing by, but yesterday evening, there was no such car coming from the direction of Shiliting."

"Could it be a local?"

Gao Chundao: "Some people are also suspicious, but Liao Zian's description is only approximate, and no one can tell whether they know such a person."