Nongmen Shenjue

The night was dark, and the wind and snow had stopped.

The hot spring village of the Qi family is brightly lit, the eaves and roofs are covered with thick white snow, and the lights are white and crystal clear.A lot of guests came to the manor tonight. There were seven carriages parked in the spacious front yard. At the moment, there was only one coachman guarding each carriage. They were all robust adult men, wrapped in thick cotton-padded jackets, and holding a stove. , looking around vigilantly.

Passing through the front hall, there were quite a few people waiting outside a large flower hall, and these people were equally distinct and silent.

Inside the flower hall, there are seven or eight large lanterns hung up, and the figures that illuminate them curl up at their feet.There are seven sets of tables and chairs along the walls on both sides. There are tea and fruit snacks on the coffee table, and four copper smoke cages are placed in the corners. The room is warm and cozy. The smell of incense, tea, wine, etc. Mixed together, but very quiet.

It's not that there is no one in the house, but there are quite a few people in the house.

The seven guests sitting on both sides each have their entourage.In the first place is the master's house, and the servants standing by are ready to serve. The most conspicuous ones are the large and small stones in the middle of the open space. There are twenty or thirty of them. size.

At this moment, Mu Qingyan and Wen Jixue also arrived.

As voyeurs in the dark, they naturally cannot enter the house, and can only lurk on the roof, or the backlit side of the roof.Sweeping away the snow on the roof and prying off a piece of tile, because the cold wind is constantly blowing, in order to prevent the people in the house from noticing the cold wind, they chose a very partial location and blocked the wind with their bodies.

The person blocking the wind is naturally Wen Jixue, including Mu Qingyan who is protected by him.

In fact, as Mu Qingyan, he can observe the room without using his eyes with his supernatural powers, but Wen Jixue cannot.And because of Wen Jixue's presence, he could only behave in the same manner as the other party, leaning in the opened window and looking down.

Sitting here are the young masters of the Qi family, and beside you is the third child of the Qi family. These two preside over the banquet.

Looking at the seven guests again, one of them was Liu Huan.

Mu Qingyan glanced at the rough stones, lowered his voice and said, "Will they open the jade on the spot?"

"If it's for safety, no." It is indeed more convenient to carry it out on the spot, but if it is a good jade, who knows that it will not attract coveted or even plundered?These smugglers, no matter how they pretend on the surface, are just a group of lunatics who take risks for money.

After a short pause, he continued: "But they each have their own footholds in the city, and when the rough stones are transported back to the city, they will definitely come out."

Mu Qingyan asked casually, "Do you understand stones?"

Wen Jixue shook her head: "Yu can see it, but it's wrapped in stone..."

He really doesn't understand.

The corner of Mu Qingyan's mouth curled into a smile: "Although I don't know how to look at stones, if there are really top-quality jade, I will know."

High-quality jade contains energy, and some people call it aura. Since ancient times, it has been said that jade nourishes people. Good jade is full of water, and its tentacles are warm and moist. It is always extraordinary.Mu Qingyan discovered the benefits of jade in his previous life, and he also tried to gamble on stones with supernatural powers. He found that only jade with outstanding quality has obvious fluctuations, which can be captured by his supernatural powers.As for the others, he couldn't detect anything, so it was not enough to get rich by gambling stones, and the best jade was also very rare.

He unleashed his mental power right now, and probed the rough stones in the house one by one.

"There's a good one." Mu Qingyan pointed to a stone that was slightly bigger than an adult's fist.

That one stone is definitely wrapped in excellent jade, but it doesn't mean that the other stones are not good, but it doesn't reach the detection value of the ability, so he can't detect it.

Wen Jixue didn't quite understand what method he was using, but it was his peculiar ability. After thinking for a while, he smiled and said, "No hurry, this is only a small part, there are still many in the mine below."

Mu Qingyan was in a great mood when he thought of picking a vein of mine at will.

"The people from the government should be here soon, right?"

"En." Wen Jixue squinted his eyes to look around, although the surroundings were surrounded by pitch-black mountains and forests, he could hear various subtle voices in his ears.He has rich experience in this kind of thing, and it is easy to judge how many people are lurking, how far away and so on.

Jin Lilin had given the news to Jin Lilin earlier, and Jin Lilin really seized the opportunity, and even guessed about the source of labor in the mine.Jin Lilin said that the local county magistrate is unreliable, not that the county magistrate colluded with the Qi family mine, but that the county magistrate and the yamen guards have long been familiar with the big merchants in the county. There was no guarantee that the news would leak out, so Jin Lilin went directly to the magistrate.

On the other hand, there are also Jin Lilin's little thoughts in it.

Not only did he want to take the opportunity to make friends with the magistrate, but he also wanted to use this incident to pull down the magistrate of He County.Now that this is difficult to cooperate with, it is better to get a new county magistrate directly, so that he will stand at the same starting point as the others.In addition, with the prefect, the new county magistrate will also give two points of face.

The premise of deciding all of this is that this time the plan goes well.

Therefore, Jin Lilin was very busy these days, and he cooperated with Wen Jixue's requests.

When it was confirmed that tonight was a grand stone gambling event, they decided to come and get all the stolen goods.

For Wen Jixue, when everything is chaotic, they can fish in troubled waters.

"I think it's about time."

The Qi family in the room had already finished their opening remarks, and the seven guests also began to choose stones. Each stone was marked with a price according to its performance.Among them was a stone the size of a watermelon, without a label, placed directly on the table, and the person who liked it started bidding directly from the reserve price.Others are fast and slow.

There was a rapid cry of night birds, and the officers and soldiers who had been lurking at the foot of the mountain rushed towards Zhuangzi.

They didn't hold up torches, they didn't take Nahan, they rushed up together.Zhuangzi's gate was locked, but there was a sentry at the foot of the mountain, but he was gagged and tied up when the sentry didn't notice.Using excuses to trick the door open, rushing in, screaming and screaming finally alarmed the people in the village.

"What's the matter?" The people who were gambling wildly in the flower hall heard the movement and hurriedly asked outside.

The door was knocked open: "It's not good! The officers and soldiers are here!"

"What?!" Not mentioning others, the youngest of the Qi family was shocked.

"Brother, what should we do?" The third child of the Qi family also panicked.

The guests, including Liu Huan, were also flustered, but they were annoyed at the Qi family's lack of defense: "Master Qi, it is your Qi family's responsibility for the officers and soldiers to appear here, you can't ignore it!"

Young Master Qi had a gloomy face, and hurriedly ordered: "Throw all these stones into the secret passage, as long as we can't find the entrance to the mine, we will be responsible medicine merchants!"

At that moment, everyone started to work together, only to find that the entrance to the mine was at the corner of the flower hall.

"No, we have to leave too. What if the officers and soldiers find the entrance?" Someone questioned, pushing the Qi family away and walking down the secret passage, while inciting others: "There must be other exits from the mine, and we are not the Qi family. If you don't leave now, when will you wait!"

Businessmen seek profit, and when the Qi family brings danger, no one is willing to stay and share.

Everyone is crowding towards the secret passage now!

"These people!" The third young master of the Qi family gritted his teeth and was extremely anxious: "Brother, what should we do?"

Others can run away, and if they run away, they can get rid of their ties, but they are the Qi family, and this is the territory of the Qi family. Once the mine is discovered, everything will be over.

The young master of the Qi family glanced coldly at the fleeing businessmen, and said with a sneer: "Don't worry about them, throw all the stones down and seal the entrance. If they escape, they will settle their accounts after the autumn. If they can't...they can escape past the first day But fifteen!"

The third child of the Qi family had red eyes: "Who the hell leaked the news? Let me know, I'll skin him!"

For the safety of the jade mine, the Qi family has spent a lot of money these years, so naturally everything has been taken care of.If the county government really took action, someone should have leaked the news, but...they are all unfamiliar white-eyed wolves!

Unable to escape, the brothers of the Qi family could only come forward to deal with it.

When the two stepped out of the flower hall, a pair of officers and soldiers ran towards them, and then a middle-aged man in official robes strode forward.When the two saw each other, their faces turned pale.Although I don't know anyone, the difference between the official robes is obvious. The county magistrate's official robe is green, but this one is a vermilion official robe, which is at least the fifth rank.

"Master Zhifu is here, don't kneel down yet!"

Prefect? !

In horror, the Qi family brothers and even the upper and lower servants all knelt down.

The magistrate ignored the people kneeling all over the floor, he seemed to be waiting for something quietly, and the crackling of torches could be heard all around.

Soon, there was movement outside.

"Report to my lord, a group of people were caught at the passage at the foot of the mountain."

When the Qi family brothers looked up, they saw a group of people who had escaped through the mine before.

At this moment, all these people looked panic-stricken, their legs were so weak that they could hardly walk.They are indeed greedy, so they boldly smuggle jade, but this does not mean that they are stupid, they know very well what will happen if they are caught by the court.

Immediately afterwards, the coolies imprisoned in the mine were brought out, and some people went to dig the burial pit.

The Qi family's mine has been in operation for six full years, and because it is a secretive operation in private, many tools that make a lot of noise are afraid to use, and they all rely on manpower.Later, when they entered normal quarrying, those who wanted to escape were beaten to death, died of illness, or died of exhaustion... There were overlapping bones in the pit, and under the light of the torch, it made people feel numb.

Mu Qingyan and Wen Jixue didn't show up, took away the fist-sized stone in the chaos, and found a pile of stones of different sizes in a special stone room, which seemed to be reserved on purpose. Four of the best jades were found.It's a pity that these stones are too big, only one is the size of a watermelon, and Wen Jixue is responsible for carrying it, and the others are ignored.

The two ignored the follow-up and left with the "reward".

Returning to Jinjiazhuangzi, throwing the stone in the bedroom, Wen Jixue suggested to go to the hot spring.

"Hands are blowing cold, go soak for a while to warm up and sleep well."

No matter how straight-faced he is, he can't hide his ulterior motives.

Mu Qingyan just glanced at him, without revealing anything, just said: "Get some food, I'm a little hungry."

Seeing this, Wen Jixue smiled, "I told Gao Chun. Let's go there first."

Wen Jixue took the two of them's changed clothes, took his hand and walked towards the hot spring yard.

"After the business here is over, how about going hunting again? Just you and me. Make a good leather and take it back to make clothes for your siblings." Wen Jixue thinks this is a good thing that kills two birds with one stone. It is convenient for the two of them to be alone. The second is to improve the favor of the Mu family.

Mu Qingyan didn't know what was going on in his mind, and said with a smile: "Then we need a lot of skins."