Zhang Xing walked around Jinhua Town, and saw a beggar lazily basking in the sun against the wall, she took out a dozen copper plates and threw them into the broken bowl in front of the beggar.

The crisp sound of a series of copper coins made the beggar open his eyes, sit up, and look at Zhang Xing.

Zhang Xing took out another piece of broken silver and said, "Ask you a few questions, if you answer well, this silver is yours." ”

The beggar grinned and reached out to grab it. Zhang Xing took it back and asked, "What strange things have happened in Jinhua Town recently?"

The beggar did not grab the broken silver, but took it in his salivation, picked his nostrils, and said slowly, "Strange things? There are strange things every day in this town, which one does the girl want to hear?"

Zhang Xing asked, "Are there many strangers who have come to town recently?"

The beggar looked at Zhang Xing. Zhang Xing had been a beggar, and when she looked at him, she knew that he was measuring her details, sneered, shook the silver in her hand in front of him, and said, "You are not the only beggar in this town, right? If you don't answer well, I'll have to find someone else." ”

This beggar is also an old man, and he was not at ease at all about Zhang Xing's words, so he stretched his waist unhurriedly and said: "There are indeed a lot of strangers recently, and their appearance is similar to this and that." ”

Zhang Xingshun looked at what he pointed at. He was referring to ordinary passers-by. The people she and Wei Minwen met and saw in the Huaiyang Mansion along the way, and the clothes were indeed similar to these people.

"Where do they live?" Zhang Xing asked again.

The beggar saw that she was not angry, and that she still seemed to believe his words, and that he knew something. His face was scattered and slightly retracted. The black hand pointed south. "There are some Fulai Inns on South Street. There are also some on the golden sand beach five miles outside the city, I wonder which place the girl is asking?"

Zhang Xing came all the way from Jinshakou, and he was still careful along the way, but he never saw a large number of people stationed there. "Where does Golden Beach go?" she asked.

"Out of the city, walk five miles south along the river, and turn around at the mouth of the first fork. The beggar stared at the broken silver in Zhang Xing's hand from time to time and said.

It turned out that it was not along the river beach, but on a fork in the road. Zhang Xing smashed the silver. He asked again: "Have you ever heard of the shipwreck in Jinshakou this month?"

The beggar's face changed suddenly, his expression was nervous, he looked around, waved his hand, and said, "Girl, I don't want your money." ”

Zhang Xing stared at him for a while, but still threw the broken silver in his hand into the hands of the beggar, turned around and left, and turned around again in a chaotic circle, making sure that no one was following, and then turned into the inn.

Wei Minwen has returned. He waited for Wang Jiye at the Jinhua Ferry, and also led him to the inn.

Zhang Xing has been in and out of Wang's house many times. But there is a difference between men and women, and it is the first time to meet Wang Bingyi's youngest son Wang Jiye. Wang Jiye is about eighteen or nineteen years old, tall, thin and strong, looking like his mother Wang Yu, and looking closely, his eyebrows and eyes are exactly the same as Wang Bingyi, just as thick and simple.

After Wei Minwen helped Zhang Xing and Wang Jiye introduce each other, he bluntly said to Zhang Xing: "Xing'er, Second Brother Wang does have news of your sister. ”

Zhang Xing's heart was full of surprise. Wei Minwen invited Wang Jiye to sit down and talk, and gave Wang Jiye a cup of tea. Wang Jiye didn't drink either, and said: "I also came out looking for an opportunity, and I can't stay here for a long time, so I'll make a long story short." Since you have found this place, I think that my father has already told you everything, so I will not go into details. ”

Zhang Xing nodded hurriedly. Wang Jiye said: "The eldest lady's boat had an accident on the fifteenth day of the first month, and our Eagle Yang Camp arrived here on the sixteenth day of the first month, and collected all the living people found within a radius of ten miles, and more than ten miles upstream and downstream. There are a lot of dead people, there are more than 100 corpses, but your sister Zhang Tao was not found among them. ”

Zhang Tao was in Huaiyang Palace, and after Zhang Xing took her to Wang's house once, she had to go to Wang's house often in her spare time, and she was very familiar with Wang Yu's family. Wang Jiye has never seen Zhang Xing, but he has seen Zhang Tao, and he also knows that she is the girl next to the eldest lady of Huaiyang Wangfu. After the eldest lady's boat had an accident at Jinshakou, he was ordered to set off, and he also paid special attention to the things about the girl around the eldest lady during the search.

Wei Minwen was overjoyed when he saw Zhang Xing's face, and he couldn't bear it. Although Wang Jiye did not find Zhang Tao's body, it did not mean that Zhang Tao was still alive. The Huai River originates from the Qilian Mountains in the north, crosses half of the territory of Daxia and enters the sea, and there are countless big fish in the dangerous shoals in the river.

Wang Jiye looked at Zhang Xing and Wei Minwen separately and asked, "Have you heard about the bandits in Qingmeng Mountain?"

Zhang Xing and Wei Minwen looked at each other, Wei Minwen nodded and said, "I know a little bit about it." ”

Qingmeng Mountain is located at the junction of Tongxian County and Jin'an, stretching for hundreds of miles, south to Jiangling County, north of Heyang's Datong Mountains, the largest mountain range in the Jianghuai area. About 20 years ago, a nest of mountain bandits suddenly appeared, and they specialized in blocking roads, robbing, killing, and stealing goods, and officers and men repeatedly went into the mountains to suppress bandits, but the results were not good.

In recent years, natural and man-made disasters have continued, and the people's lives have become more and more difficult.

Zhang Xing's heart jumped, and she couldn't help but say, "Could it be that this incident in Jinshakou was done by the mountain bandits of Qingmeng Mountain?"

Wang Jiye turned his head to look at Zhang Xing, nodded slightly, and said, "Even if they didn't do it, I'm afraid it won't have anything to do with them." Before this accident came out, they had been seen in and out of the neighborhood many times. There is a branch in Jinshakou that can lead directly to Jin'an. On the fourteenth night of the first lunar month, many strange boats appeared in this river. And one of the corpses we found was a mountain bandit from Qingmeng Mountain. ”

Zhang Xing looked at Wang Jiye in a daze, the Jinshakou River is wide, it is not a dangerous beach, if there is an ambush, the ambush boat can only hide in the artemisia grass first. Miss Gu's boat can carry more than 100 people, it must not be a small boat, and there are many guards on board. To ambush such a ship, it does take a lot of men. Many people come and go, and only the waterway is the safest.

But why are they from Qingmeng Mountain? A group of mountain bandits are enemies of the Huaiyang Palace, what good is it for them? No matter how strong the mountain bandits are, they do not dare to rashly become enemies of the Huaiyang Palace, which has been entrenched in Jianghuai for more than 100 years.

Zhang Xing really couldn't figure it out, so she simply didn't want to. This matter has nothing to do with her, she just needs to make sure that her sister is still alive, and if so, where is she now? Wang Jiye will not tell her this secret for no reason.

Zhang Xing took a secret breath and said, "Second Brother Wang, did my sister Zhang Tao fall into the hands of the bandits in Qingmeng Mountain?"

Wang Jiye was stunned, he was only halfway through his words, and Zhang Xing could guess so much, which really surprised him.

Zhang Xing looked at his expression, and knew that he had guessed nine times out of ten.

Wang Jiye hesitated for a while and said, "I don't dare to say absolutely. Just the night before yesterday, the people on the Jin'an River saw a boat, exactly the same as the previous large number of people, there was a woman on the boat calling for help, although this family did not hear clearly, but then fished a cloth from the river, which was wrapped in a woman's head, engraved with the mark of Huaiyang Palace. ”

Zhang Xing hurriedly asked, "Where is that thing now?"

Wang Jiye said: "I have asked the steward of the inner courtyard of the palace to identify it, and it has been confirmed that it is owned by Xia Lian, the girl of Qiuhua Courtyard." ”

"Xia Lian?" Zhang Xing muttered. Not Zhang Tao's?

Wang Jiye glanced at Zhang Xing, and said, "This Xia Lian is the girl who changed into the eldest lady's clothes." ”

Zhang Xing turned her head suddenly, "Zhang Tao is with this girl!"

Wang Bingyi once said that he listened to what the girl in Qiuhuayuan said, Zhang Tao rescued Miss Gu, asked her to change her clothes, and led the pursuers to chase her. Since Xia Lian fell into the hands of the Qingmeng Mountain bandits, Zhang Tao must also be with her.

Wang Jiye looked at Zhang Xing with an obviously excited expression, and stopped talking. This incident was already three days ago, and Xia Lian was still alive at that time, so it's hard to say now. And Zhang Tao is just a girl next to the fake lady, and even if she was on the same boat with Xia Lian at that time, she is not sure, let alone this will.

Zhang Xing was also excited. As long as Zhang Tao is alive, there is hope.

She was excited for a while, then settled down and asked, "Second Brother Wang, since the palace knows this, what are they going to do next? When will you find someone from Qingmeng Mountain?"

Wang Jiye shook his head and said, "There is no speech on this yet, and I don't know." ”

Zhang Xing said anxiously: "Since the matter has already been ascertained, why is it delayed? Don't you know that the more you delay, the more troublesome it will be?"

Seeing that Zhang Xing was so excited, Wei Minwen hurriedly calmed her down and said, "Xing'er, how can Little Brother Wang call the shots in this matter?"

Zhang Xing naturally knew that Daoist Wang Jiye was just a small team leader, and he couldn't be the master of this matter. But Zhang Tao and a few other young girls fell into the hands of a group of bandits who did all kinds of evil, and the consequences can be imagined, so they naturally have to be rescued as soon as possible.

After Wang Jiye said this, he said goodbye and left. Although Zhang Xing knew Zhang Tao's whereabouts, it was even more uncomfortable than when she didn't know Lu Tao. Wei Minwen comforted her: "This matter is not in a hurry, since the Huaiyang Royal Mansion has found out this, it will definitely do something." Second Brother Wang also said that if the palace moves, he will also come over to say something. Don't worry. ”

Zhang Xing couldn't eat, he didn't sleep all night, he still had nightmares, and when he stayed until early in the morning, he urged Wei Minwen to go with him to the golden sand beach where the Yingyang camp was stationed.

Wei Minwen didn't allow it, frowned and said: "The military camp is heavy, and idle people are not allowed to approach." You're still a girl, how can you go over there? I'll just go and see it. ”

Zhang Xing was worried, after Wei Minwen left, she thought that the kamikaze camp of the Huaiyang Royal Mansion was stationed at the Fulai Inn in this town, so she thought about going over there, maybe she could get some news.

She changed into Wei Minwen's clothes. But in the end, the size is far from Wei Minwen, and the older she gets, the more difficult it is to cover the girl's charm. I had to smear my face, take a big felt hat and put it on my head, and then go out.

When I arrived at the Fulai Inn, I saw that the courtyard was guarded by a special person. Although those people were dressed in regular clothes, their demeanor was clearly from martial arts, fierce and cold, rigorous and well-trained. (To be continued......)