The Nanyan Merchant Gang is the largest gang in Xinling, and the house is naturally not comparable to the ordinary small businessmen and small households, and it is midnight when they go, but they are still full of people and bright lights, and they want to come to entertain guests.

In addition to patrolling the courtyard, there were also a whole number of soldiers standing at the door, to be exact, it was a mixed team of two soldiers, except for a slight difference in clothing, but there was no difference. Maybe it's because they've been delayed for too long, or because they've lowered their vigilance on their own turf, so these people look a little lazy and don't look like regular local troops.

Bai Yan and the three of them had excellent skills, they climbed over the wall and crossed the door without much effort, sneaked into the main hall and picked up the eaves, and heard that someone in the hall was going out, and the three of them held their breath and hid their figures.

"Don't worry, the old man's birthday, we will come to the party. ”

"We are all people in the same boat now, the second master has mastered the real power in the gang, which means that our East and West Second Counties have a firm foothold in Xinling City, and I won't tell you, our current situation is not much different from yours, Qiang Shuyang's kid looked silent, but he didn't put our East and West Second Counties in his eyes at all, and I and Lord Zhang didn't suffer much from him on weekdays. ”

"That's why Cheng asked the two adults to notarize for me on my father-in-law's 60th birthday the day after tomorrow, proving that my father-in-law will pass on the position of helper to me. ”

The man who spoke looked like he was in his thirties, dressed in a cyan robe, and his specific face was a little blurred because of the backlight, while the other two were dressed in official uniforms and smelled of alcohol.

After listening to the words, Bai Yan and the three knew that this was the second leader of Nanyan and the county guard of the east and west counties of Xinling. It seems that they have reached some kind of consensus and are driven by common interests to come together. The guess of himself and others is correct, Old Man You was indeed under house arrest.

"Let's go. With a slight jump, Bai Yan got on the tile and bent down to take a closer look.

This house is very large, built in the shape of a ladder, the council hall is the highest part, overlooking the overall situation, at a glance the water pavilion promenade is very complicated, they are not familiar with the terrain, and they don't know where the old man is forbidden.

"What should I do!" Heng Yue was a little anxious, and his brows were full of worry. After reading it, Bai Yan said to the two: "We are not familiar with the terrain, so it is not good to act rashly, otherwise we will not have a chance to startle the snake." You see—" He pointed downward, drew a circle, and said: "Two days later, it will be the sixtieth birthday of Old Man You, and this house will definitely be redecorated again, and there will be a lot of things to be sent in at that time. He said and glanced at Merry, Merry "Heh", and raised his eyebrows: "You want to pretend to be a cook and sneak in to investigate?"

Bai Yan naturally understood the reason for the merry smile, he knew that he had no talent for being a cook, but his merry cooking skills were beyond doubt, as for him and Heng Yue, they could completely work as helpers. With Shopkeeper Li's connections in Xinling, it is not a problem for him to help recommend, which is better than breaking in rashly without a purpose.

And so it goes. Merry nodded in agreement, and the three of them looked left and right, and retreated without anyone noticing!

The times are changing, every place has its own rules, and the strong dragon can't suppress the head snake, let alone fight against such a few forces with its own strength, and only planning and acting is fundamental.

The shopkeeper Li really had a lot of means, and in the early morning of the second day, he immediately gave the three of them an errand in Wande Building, the largest restaurant in Xinling City, and showed his hand, which was very appreciated by the boss of Wande Building, and Bai Yan used a human skin mask to pretend to be a vulgar boy in the countryside, and did miscellaneous work with Heng Yue.

As expected, just after the end of the day, the housekeeper of the Southern Tobacco Merchant Gang entered the door of Wande Building. The boss of Wande Building is worried that the novelty of the dish is not enough to fight the good fortune, and the merry has made a few good dishes, and it is a dish that few people have tasted here, the boss of the Wande Building is very happy and recommends it, and the three of them went very smoothly with the team into the house.

The house looked more spacious from the inside than last night, but fortunately they didn't act rashly yesterday, otherwise the odds were really not great. The back kitchen is very spacious, but it can't put so many ingredients and tools, there is a long queue in the yard, and the crowd is very busy. Merry and the other chefs listened to the housekeeper's advice in the hall, Bai Yan and Heng Yue helped everywhere with the workmanship boys, and from time to time brocade silk and satin furnishings were sent in, and they had to be sent to different places according to the category.

It stands to reason that Old Man You was under house arrest, and Cheng Jinluo should have sent more people to guard that place, but along the way, there seems to be no place that is deliberately isolated, except that Old Man You has never shown up, everything is normal, and there is nothing wrong with the people who come and go, as if all this is just the speculation of a few of his own.

"If it weren't for the collusion of the entire Southern Smoke Gang, then there would be only one possibility. ”

"What is it?"

"Old Man You is not imprisoned, and the people in the gang can still see him if they want to see him, but he may not be able to tell Cheng Jinluo's conspiracy, or he doesn't know who else to trust, so he keeps silent and refuses to show up. ”

"Then what should we do, we can't bring in Lin Rui Gongzi. ”

"You still have to find him, do you have Linrui's brand with you?"

"With it. ”

"Okay, follow me. Bai Yan took Heng Yue back to the kitchen, and when he saw them enter the door, he glanced at the corner of his eyes and said coldly: "You two followed me in to help cook, why don't you hurry up and prepare things for me." ”

"Yes, yes. The two of them hurriedly ran over, and saw the housekeeper holding a food box out of the small kitchen inside, Bai Yan gave a look, Heng Yue stepped back and collided with the housekeeper, the housekeeper fell backwards with an "ouch", and the food box in his hand fell to the ground.

"You-" The housekeeper was so angry that his beard straightened, and when he saw that the dishes in the food box were overturned and the porridge flowed all over the ground, he immediately stomped his feet and scolded: "What a thing that doesn't have long eyes, what the master is waiting to eat, you knocked it over, what will I send it over now!"

"Stupid!" Merry pretended to scold Heng Yue, handed over the japonica double lotus porridge and a few side dishes he had just made, and said with a worried face: "We are the chefs of Wande Building, these two are my new apprentices, we happen to have a sample of tomorrow's dishes, just made, and it is still hot, it is better for you to send this over." Ahh ”

The housekeeper raised his hand and looked at it, and immediately pointed at Heng Yue with a sad face and scolded: "There are more than things to lose, and my hand has been broken, this is good, there are so many things waiting for me in the gang, and the master's lunch is late, I am going to be scolded to death by the second master." ”

"Yes, yes, it's my brother, it's not right!" Bai Yan slapped Heng Yue's head, took the thing in Merry's hand, and said to the housekeeper with a flattering face: "We will send this thing over, you hurry up and bandage your hand, help Li Ming'er has a big matter, you can't be sloppy." ”

"Oh, my temper. The housekeeper was about to fight Heng Yue, but Heng Yue hid to the side with his head in his hands, Bai Yan quickly put the porridge and side dishes into a hurry food box, and didn't wait for the housekeeper to say anything, just hugged the box and walked out, took two steps before pretending to be honest and smiled, and said, "This, I don't know where to send it." ”

"From here, enter the council chamber, go inside, there is a door, the door is guarded, you say just deliver food. ”

"Hey!" Bai Yan should trot all the way, and soon arrived at the door of the council hall, and touched his arms, which was the token that Fang Cai Hengyue specially stuffed into him while pretending to avoid the butler's pursuit, he straightened his clothes and entered the door with a smile on his face. There was no one in front of the council chamber, but after turning to the back, he understood why he couldn't find a place where the guards were so tightly guarded, it turned out that all the guards were not in plain sight, but in the depths of the inner hall.

"Well, why didn't the housekeeper bring the food?" The man at the head looked at him suspiciously, he bowed to a few people, and stammered in a stammering tone: "Tube, tube, tube...... Tube ......"

As soon as the guard saw that he was a stammerer, he kept tugging at that word, and he was so upset that he almost vomited, and he didn't wait for him to finish speaking, so he raised his hand impatiently and said, "Okay, okay, don't say it, go in." ”

His face flushed, and he was repeating the word in the pipe, and the guards were angry and raised their hands to beat him, and he hunched his back and stumbled into the door like a steamed shrimp.

The door is very dark, the lamps and candles are shaking, indicating that there is wind circulation, the door is a downward extension of the road, after walking about 20 steps, a wooden door appears in front of you, after pushing it open, it suddenly opens, a person in the room with tables, chairs and stools is reading a book by candlelight, and the gray hair is not combed or draped behind him.

It turned out that the mystery was under the trapezoidal building last night, the Yongdao crossing was long and narrow, even if there were only a few people guarding outside, it was not easy to attack it, no wonder Cheng Jinluo was fearless.

"Didn't the fifth child come today?" the old man's voice was a little hoarse, and he didn't look back when he spoke, but he already knew that the person who came in was not the butler. Bai Yan straightened up, no longer had the ridiculous appearance of Fang Cai, he walked to the old man with the food box and put it down, then took out the token from his arms, wiped it, and solemnly put it in front of the old man!

"Old man, I brought Lin Rui here!"