said that Lin Hai was assassinated on the street, and the assassin was actually a subordinate he brought from Yangzhou; The dagger had been found to be coated with extremely powerful poison, and the throat was sealed with blood. Then he sat down in front of the hall and ordered someone to bring him up and asked, "I treat you well, and I will not say such nonsense, but only what is the reason?" ”

The man's name was Hu Zhong, who was originally the son of the Lin Mansion, knelt down and kowtowed calmly: "I know that I don't live with the master, I just want to die quickly." ”

Lin Hai raised his eyelids: "You are also a smart person, do you think you can?" ”

Hu Zhong said: "I don't know anything, so where can the master ask something." ”

Lin Hai glanced at him.

Hu Zhongsui said: "The person who came to bribe me was of ordinary stature, his voice was dumb every time, and he wore a black scarf on his face, and he only came at night, and I really didn't know anything. ”

Lin Hainai asked, "How much." ”

Hu Zhong lowered his head and said, "Ten thousand taels of silver." ”

Lin Hai couldn't help but snort: "Your master's life is worth that much?" ”

Hu Zhong said casually: "The master's life is naturally more valuable, but I can only get these." ”

Lin Hai thought for a while: "A few days before you came to Beijing, you said that your daughter-in-law was going to take the children back to her parents' house to live for a few days, and I thought that I came to settle them. ”

Hu Zhong nodded and said: "Because I got the silver ticket first, the search for someone and secretly checked it was all true, and I settled the family well, so I took this job." ”

Lin Haidao: "Aren't you afraid that if you die, the family will be ruined?" ”

Hu Zhong smiled: "I'm a little clever, they are properly placed by me." Something happened to Hengzhu, no matter whether I succeeded or failed, I had to die, and the court and the other family would inevitably look for a few of their mothers and sons, or sit together or kill them. It's not that I'm boasting, I'm afraid that the master and them won't be able to find it. I was born a slave, and even if I live for a hundred years in this life, I am only a slave with others, so what's the fun? I also bring tired children and grandchildren. It's not that my lord treats me badly, or that I don't know how to be grateful. Such an opportunity is rare in a lifetime, even if I die, the children have been freed, and there is money to live in, and I can't care about it. ”

Lin Hai heard what he said so truthfully, and was silent for a long time. He didn't ask how Hu Zhong's mother-in-law and children got their free bodies - now that all the princes have their own authority, it is very easy to get a good citizen status for 10,000 taels of silver. The same rice raises hundreds of people, and there are hundreds of people under the Lin Mansion, and there are naturally those who are loyal and can be driven by interests. Moreover, Hu Zhong was originally an extremely shrewd person, and it was inevitable that he would not want to be a slave for life. But since this man understood everything, he didn't know where to start and ask him for a while.

Hu Zhong looked up at Lin Hai's thoughtful expression, and said with a smile: "Master don't have to bother thinking about it, I naturally tell my master." Lin Hai raised his eyebrows and looked at him, and he said, "I've thought about it early." It doesn't matter if it succeeds or fails, and no matter who asks me, what do you say? It's not for the grace of the master, and it's not for fear of suffering from flesh and skin, but there's no need to hide it. It was supposed to be a mere transaction. ”

Lin Hai was silent again, looked at him for a long time, and saw that he was always calm, obviously putting life and death out of the way, and suddenly asked: "You still have parents and brothers in the house, did you never think that it would drag them down?" ”

He said with a fearless face: "Parents, courtesy, righteousness and conscience can't be taken care of in front of their children." ”

Lin Haidao: "If you want to get rid of slavery, it's not that you don't have a serious way, why don't you come to me?" ”

Hu Zhong asked rhetorically: "How much money can the master give me to take out of the house?" At that time, my son was not going to be a tenant farming, and when the harvest was bad, he still had to sell himself into slavery. ”

Lin Hai sneered: "It turns out that you don't even have the confidence to leave your nationality to stand on your own feet and work hard to run your family business to become a small rich, and you have the face to be smart even if you lose it." How capable can your daughter-in-law be a woman? She has so much money, do you know that she won't find another good family to marry? And he who marries another will be a good man, and he will be able to do good to thy son. Besides, there are so many people in the world who are not talented, and there is no one to take care of them, do you know that your son will be able to walk on the right path? I'm afraid it's better to be a tenant and be a down-to-earth person. If you accidentally expose your wealth and meet a strong man, you can't save your life. ”

Hu Zhong was stunned before, but when he heard it, he smiled and said: "I know it in my heart, and I have all settled it properly." Then he said, "Instead of worrying about my child, why don't you ask what happened?" ”

Lin Hai looked at him with confidence, and he was afraid that it would not be easy to open the gap from his child, so he followed his words and asked, "How is the matter?" ”

Hu Zhong started from the beginning, and it was not a lie to see how he looked, but he really didn't know much.

It turned out that this matter started last year. Hu Zhong went out to do errands for Lin Hai that day and returned home late, so he found a small stall on the side of the road and rushed back, passing through a secluded alley, someone suddenly reached out and pinched his neck, and he couldn't make a sound immediately. The other put a bag over his head, gagged him with a handkerchief, and dragged him away.

He was full of trepidation, thinking that he would have to give an account of this today, but the two men pressed him down and sat down, and took off the bag from his head. By the moonlight, he sat on a large rock, and the surroundings seemed to be a familiar place, and he was only too frightened to recognize it; The two people in front of him were of ordinary shape, with black scarves on their faces.

One of them said in a dumb voice: "Sir is frightened, don't be afraid, I just have a business to do with Mr." ”

Hu Zhong said boldly: "The villain is just a slave, and he doesn't have the capital to do business with adults. ”

The man skimmed and said: "Ten thousand taels of silver, in exchange for you to stab Lin Hai, whether you live or die, give money first, and we will prepare the knife for you." Lin Hai has hired a very capable guard by his side, it is usually extremely difficult to stab him, we will cover for you, and you will wait for the opportunity to do it. ”

Hu Zhong opened his mouth to stammer, and before he could refute, the man said, "Do you want your son to still be a slave?" ”

This sentence just hit Hu Zhong's heart. He has always been a self-respecting talent, but he was born a slave, full of talents and nowhere to display, at most in this life is just a housekeeper with Lin Hai, and his heart is depressed. Therefore he was silent for a moment. The man nodded, glanced at his accomplice, and Hu Zhong let the sack cover his head again.

The man still said in a hoarse voice, "Sir, move carefully." ”

Hu Zhong was not afraid this time, and An Sheng walked away with the support of the two of them. After they removed the bag again, there was no trace of him, and Hu Zhong had already returned to the alley. He hurried back to the house.

The next day after dawn he found the alley, walked some way from memory, and found that the place where the two men had consulted with him was on a secluded street where he walked every day. Then the two were no longer to be seen.

It wasn't until four months later that Hu Zhong returned late again for some reason, and was found by the two again. This time, it was the two of them who whistled twice and beckoned to him in the dark. At that time, he had already thought clearly, and he just let go of a slave life, so he raised his feet and followed them. The three of them walked to a secluded place one after another, and the two old things were brought up again. Hu Zhong wanted his son to have a good future, and vaguely felt that this matter could be done, so he couldn't care about it, so he immediately responded.

The two of them also trusted him, and immediately took a large stack of silver tickets of 10,000 taels to him, and said, "Mr. Hu is a smart man, and he will settle it himself." With that, he left.

Hu Zhongli stood stunned on the spot for a long time, and finally returned home with the silver.

Later, he tried to ask someone to verify the silver ticket and arrange the retreat for the family in advance, but the two never went to the road. It wasn't until the third day after Lin Hai got the order to return to Beijing to report on his work that Hu Zhong went to the street to buy goods, and let a smoky drunk ram a stumbling man, before he opened his mouth to scold, and suddenly there was a dagger in his sleeve. He knew that what was supposed to come was coming.

After listening to this, Lin Hai knew that there must be a detailed work in his house. The people behind the scenes are very familiar with Hu Zhong's temperament, and they are not afraid that he will run away with the silver, nor will they be afraid that he will come back and report to him; If you don't get along with each other for a long time, why do you handle him so well? Then he waved his hand, ordered someone to take him down, wrote a letter back to Yangzhou, and asked the henchmen who stayed there to carefully screen the mansion, especially those who had a close relationship with Hu Zhong; These brought out also need to be investigated.

There were also people from the Five Cities Soldiers and Horses Division talking back and forth, and the group of thugs were temporarily hired by someone on the road and halfway, because the person had a mediocre appearance and an ordinary Beijing accent, I was afraid that nothing could be found from that line. Lin Hai said with a smile: "It is obvious that they have someone in the capital, and it is also a harvest." And they sent them back, thanks to them.

On the other side, Jia Huan and Jia Cong went to the small study inside to see Daiyu and explain that he would go out to buy everything today. Lin Daiyu just laid out a booklet full of rewards for the New Year, Lin Hai brought, Rongguo Mansion brought, and King Xian's original house are different, and they are busy sweating on a cold day, and they don't look up when they hear that they came in, and they teased: "How much silver did you eat my father?" ”

Jia Cong didn't answer her words, and shouted: "Sister Lin! It's a thrilling day! ”

Jia Huan hurriedly glanced at him again and again, and "shhh

Lin Daiyu turned around and raised her eyebrows.

Jia Cong pretended to ask in a low voice, "Why don't you say it?" ”

Jia Huan stomped his foot anxiously, leaned up and bit his ear with him: "Do you want Sister Lin to die in a hurry!" ”

Jia Cong pouted: "This kind of thing is not something that happens once in a thousand years, and there is a precaution after knowing it, right?" I always thought that there was no need to hide everything from my own people, and I would grow wise. ”

How can you hide Daiyu like this? She frowned and said, "You don't need to sting scorpions, come and listen, there are a lot of them." ”

Jia Cong pulled Jia Huan over and talked about how to buy food today, how Lin Hai was almost assassinated, how he fell for the trick of diverting the tiger from the mountain, and fortunately, the assassin only wasted a bag of *ju walnut crisp that he had worked hard to buy in line. was so frightened that Daiyu's face turned white, and she immediately went to see her father.

Jia Cong hurriedly stopped her: "What is my sister anxious about?" Uncle Hengzhi didn't even have a thread torn in his clothes, and he was judging the assassin at this time. ”

Two strings of tears flowed down Daiyu's eyes: "It's a coincidence that Huan'er is blocking it with something today, and that assassin doesn't have much strength, in case it's not so coincidental, but how is it good!" ”

Jia Cong said with relief: "If the second-rank members of the imperial court were so easy to be assassinated, the world would have been in chaos a long time ago." It shows that the people behind the scenes dare not mess around. They must have been planning carefully for a long time, although they wanted to harm their uncle, they were also afraid of exposing themselves. If you can't do it in one hit, it's hard to have a next time. ”

Daiyu said: "I'm afraid that one plan will not make another plan, we don't know anything now, and my father can't be martial, so he can't prevent it." ”

Jia Cong said: "Is it easy for my sister to be an uncle? The assassin was originally playing by surprise and attacking him unprepared, this kind of strategy is like an empty city plan, only one time, and the next time it will not work again. ”

Daiyu's heart was already unsettled, with a handkerchief in her hand, tears falling on her face, and muttering: "Why don't I prepare a heart shield with my father?" There must be one side in the back, let alone two sides......"

Jia Cong saw that she was still anxious, so she hurriedly said, "That treats the symptoms but not the root cause." Instead of being in a hurry, let's all think about it, is there a way to help find out who is behind the scenes? That's the cure. My uncle is a very good man, and he will definitely not offend anyone in vain. ”

Daiyu immediately let him take the thought away, stopped crying, thought for a long time, and said: "Since it is time to assassinate my father, it is a big crime to assassinate a member of the court, who would dare to do it?" I'm afraid that my father is holding some handle in his hand, and if he shakes it out, I'm afraid it will also kill him, and even harm the whole family. ”

Jia Cong said: "My uncle has been in Beijing for so long before he started, and I don't know how many times I have discussed everything with the sage. Therefore, he must not have reported the secret of the person behind the curtain to the saint, otherwise it would be useless to kill him. But why not? My uncle is not a person who hides his secrets, and if he does, he does not have to risk stabbing him. ”

Daiyu frowned and couldn't think of a reason for a long time, stood up and paced around the room with her hands behind her back, and saw that she had a bit of Lin Hai's bearing.

Jia Huan quietly came out with a sentence: "Could it be that my uncle doesn't know yet?" The man's secret handle. ”

Jia Cong pouted and said: "People are idle, do you waste your efforts to stab a second-grade master who doesn't know anything to do tricks?" ”

Jia Huan said: "You said that he has discussed various things with the sage many times, if he knew, wouldn't he have said it earlier?" ”

Jia Cong glared at him: "Are you raising the bar?" ”

Daiyu suddenly high-fived: "My father is afraid that he doesn't know yet!" ”

Jia Cong was stunned: "Huh? ”

Daiyu's face tightened, and she said solemnly: "This time, my father has been picking quarrels and provoking trouble on the way to Beijing. Even if not, my father has guards by his side, and it is okay to come. ”

Jia Cong nodded again and again: "Yes, just like those indiscriminate thugs now, they are useless, they are used to fool people." ”

Daiyu quickened her pace: "Yes, those thieves on the road and today's thugs are all pretenses, and my father and the guards think that they are just capable of that idea, so they are not very vigilant." This subordinate is a real assassin, and he has been in ambush for a long time. He actually started at this time. Daiyu stopped, thought for a while, and said categorically, "My father doesn't know yet. However, after returning to Yangzhou, I am afraid that I will be able to know. ”

Jia Cong suddenly thought of something, and clapped his high-five: "And only he knows!" If there is an accident in my uncle, and the imperial court changes the successor of the imperial history of the salt class, some clues or causes and consequences are inevitably unclear, but I am afraid that I will not be able to detect it. "This kind of thing like fighting the east wall and fighting the west wall and playing poor information, Jia Cong has seen a lot in the company in his last life.

Daiyu listened and nodded again and again: "That's it." The man behind the scenes didn't want his father to go back to the south, so he could only start on the road or in Beijing. I couldn't help but be afraid, "Fortunately, it's today." Remembering that Jia Huan had just saved her father's life, she hurriedly thanked, "Thanks to Huan'er!" ”

Jia Huan has always revered her for being a talented person, and she has never hidden her selfishness or looked down on him as raised by her aunt, so she waved her hand again and again: "It's just a coincidence, where can I afford my sister's thanks." ”

Jia Cong said vinegar on the side: "Sir! Thanks to your student and my cleverness, I could see early that the group of people who were fighting was wrong, otherwise it would have been even more chaotic. ”

Jia Huan pouted and said, "Yes, thanks to Cong'er, otherwise Brother Yi'er would not have been tricked." ”

Jia Cong glared at him: "What about a brother like you who specializes in poking his brother's life?" ”

Jia Huan said: "You yourself talk about your brother all day long, is it used to sell?" ”

Daiyu let them tease each other left and right, but she relaxed her brows.

(l~1`x*>+``+