The family looked at each other blankly, and the old lady muttered: "In the middle of the night, who still knocks on the door like this!" ”

Ling'er stood up: "Mother, you and Dad go to sleep first!" Ning Ba, you take care of Daqiang; Tenth sister, you also go back to the house, I'll go to the front and have a look! ”

Dad coughed twice and said, "Wait, Ling'er, let your mother go with you!" ”

"No, Dad, mostly... It's the grain sellers, you go to sleep first, and I'll let them come back tomorrow!" ”

Ling'er wanted to help her father into the house with her mother, but the knocking on the door outside was even louder, and the men were arrogantly scolding! Ling'er felt a little apprehensive in her heart, but she smiled comfortingly at everyone, and went to the front shop with an oil lamp.

Ling'er looked at the figure outside the door and paused slightly, let out a long breath, and raised her voice: "It's coming, it's coming, wait a minute!" ”

She put on the oil lamp and removed the latch, and the door panel snapped in, but fortunately she reacted quickly and jumped away quickly to avoid being hit by the door. A group of men rushed in, and without saying anything, they turned the shop over, and a few rushed straight to the backyard.

Ling'er was stunned for a moment, and when she reacted, the shop was already in a mess, there was a crackling sound in the backyard, and there was a frightened cry of the tenth sister. Ling'er hurriedly rushed to the backyard, and saw that the group of people had kicked open all the doors in the backyard, throwing the things in the house out one by one, scolding and scolding like bandits! And the father and mother and the ten sisters shrunk together in the courtyard, looking at the group of people in horror!

Ling'er ran over and hugged Ning Ba and Tenth Sister into her arms, and comforted her in a low voice: "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, it's okay!" ”

When the group of people turned to Daqiang's room, they suddenly heard a painful cry, and then heard a man scolding: "Stinky boy, dare to sneak attack Lao Tzu, Lao Tzu will abolish you!" ”

Ling'er hurriedly rushed in, and saw that the man pulled out the big knife and was about to cut it at Da Qiang, Ling'er grabbed something and threw it over, just smashed the man's wrist, the man screamed in pain, and the big knife fell to the ground!

Ling'er went over to help Da Qiang, "Da Qiang, how are you?" You okay? Da Qiang wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and said in a low voice: "It's okay!" Then he waited fiercely for the man.

"What a name!" Several men rushed in with torches, and the room was illuminated. He looked around, looked at the big knife on the ground, then at the man, and cursed, "Useless thing!" ”

Then he turned to Ling'er and Daqiang, swept back and forth twice, and said in a deep voice: "We are officers and soldiers stationed in Cangzhou, and we have been ordered to come to arrest the bandits, and you must not obstruct official business, otherwise the bandits will be punished as the same party!" ”

Ling'er also took a look at the people who came, she didn't pay attention to it before, but now she looks carefully at their dress, it is indeed the clothing of officers and soldiers. Soldiers! Earlier, Liang Daming said that people from the government would come, and he always thought that he was coming to catch fast, but he didn't expect that even the officers and soldiers of the barracks would be dispatched! And they came in the name of catching bandits, could it be that the bandits they want to catch are from Liangjia Village?!

Ling'er thought for a while, and said to the person who took the lead: "Official, we are just ordinary civilians, we do business honestly, and we have never interacted with bandits!" But you don't ask indiscriminately, rush in and smash it indiscriminately, just now that official still wants to use a big knife to cut my brother who is seriously injured in bed and can't move, may I ask the official, what are our crimes? ”

The leader paused, turned his head to look at the officers and soldiers who wanted to hurt people before, snorted lightly, and looked at Ling'er and Daqiang again. He walked over slowly, stretched out his hand, and shook off the quilt on Daqiang's body. After a few days of recuperation, Daqiang's injuries have improved a lot, but the gauze on his body has not been removed.

The leading officer and soldier said in a deep voice: "How did you get hurt? ”

Da Qiang stared at the man with vigilance, and Ling'er said: "Official, my eldest brother went to Cangmanshan Mountain last month to collect medicine for my father, and accidentally fell down the hillside, and his whole body was injured, and now he is not well, please be merciful, don't hurt my eldest brother again!" ”

The man stared at Daqiang's wound for a long time, and suddenly took out a few pieces of paper from his arms and held them up in front of the two: "Have you ever seen these people?" ”

Ling'er took it, looked at it roughly, flipped to the back of a few photos, startled her, her face turned slightly pale, and the head of the officers and soldiers narrowed her eyes: "Have you seen it?" Where are they? ”

Ling'er thought about it, pretended to be innocent and tilted her head and said, "Well, yes! When I used to go to the market, it seemed that I was... Seen at the bazaar! ”

"Oh? How many of them are there? What to do in the bazaar? In which direction did you go? ”

Ling'er frowned and thought for a long time, shook her head and said, "I can't remember clearly, it was a long time ago!" ”

"How long!" The other party was aggressive, and Ling'er pretended to be timid and said: "Official, I... I do not know! They... They were so fierce, as soon as I saw them, they scolded me, saying that they were going to sell me, and I was so frightened that I ran away! ”

The leader of the officers and soldiers squinted and stared at Ling'er, Ling'er shrank timidly, and after a while, several officers and soldiers at the door reported loudly: "Boss, the search is over, no!" ”

The leader of the officers and soldiers waved his hand behind their backs to them and said in a deep voice: "Take them to Zhenkou Square!" ”

"Yes!" Several officers and soldiers poured in, one picked up Ling'er like a chicken, and the other planned to do the same to Daqiang, Ling'er shouted: "Stop! …… Sir, please! My eldest brother's injury is not healed, he can't walk, and it is impossible to run away, please leave him at home, we will go with you! ”

The officer and soldier looked at the leader inquiringly, the leader hesitated slightly, nodded slightly, and Ling'er, her father, Ning Ba, and ten sisters were rushed to the town square by the officers and soldiers.

When Ling'er and the others arrived at the square, the square was surrounded by officers and soldiers with torches, all with weapons in their hands, and they were all in a large circle, and many people had gathered in that circle, all of whom were residents of the town. People looked around in panic, but they didn't dare to speak. The slightest complaint of dissatisfaction will be whipped to the ground by the officers and soldiers with whips.

Ling'er was also seeing this battle for the first time, which reminded her of the massacre she had read about in books before! Thinking of this word, Ling'er couldn't help but shudder!

"Sister, why are they beating people?" The tenth sister pulled Ling'er's sleeve and asked in a whisper, Ling'er covered the tenth sister's mouth, and looked around nervously, fortunately no one noticed, Ling'er whispered: "Tenth sister, don't talk!" ”

"Why? Are they bad guys? ”

"Shh Ling'er motioned to the tenth sister and Ning Ba and her father and mother with her eyes, asking them not to panic, and the family stood together, watching the residents of the town being gathered in this square one after another.

After two quarters of an hour, the square was filled with people, and the torches illuminated the square as bright as day, and a small platform was quickly erected with tables and stools in front of them. Just now, the leader of the officers and soldiers walked up, put his hands around his chest, and slowly glanced at everyone in the audience.

The people looked up at the man as if they were looking up to the gods, their eyes full of fear and panic. The leader of the officers and soldiers paused for a long time and said loudly: "Fellow villagers, we are officers and soldiers stationed in Cangzhou, and we have been ordered to come to arrest the bandits. On the contrary, who dares to fornicate with the bandits or even know that they do not report and harbor the bandits, hum! Once verified, full ~ door ~ copy ~ chop ~~"

In the end, the words that were deliberately elongated and lowered made the backs of the people in the audience cold, and the square was silent for a while. The leader of the officers and soldiers paused for a long time, and with a wave of his hand, several officers and soldiers came out of the line, took out a stack of papers and handed it to the people in the front row: "This is a portrait of a bandit, after reading it, it will be passed on to the future, and anyone who meets or knows the news will go to the table on the right to record a confession and receive the reward!" ”

The people in the back craned their necks to look around, as if they were very curious about the appearance of the bandit, and after seeing them, they gathered around and talked about it, as if they had forgotten the panic and fear of being surrounded by officers and soldiers.

Ling'er pricked up her ears nervously, paying close attention to the conversations of the people around her, because she had seen those portraits before, indeed, she had seen and knew the people on the portraits, and there was more than one! Among them are Chef Sun and Steward Liu, who were lurking in Yan's Restaurant last time in Banlin Town; There is also the expected Liang Daming.

However, Liang Daming, who came during the day, has made up and dressed up, and the portrait does not look very similar, I believe that at the current level of the portrait, there are not many people who can recognize it, but it is not necessarily, in case it is recognized, everyone knows that the big owner has something to do with his own family, and it will be troublesome when the time comes!

By the way, there is another person on the portrait that surprised Ling'er, that is, the village chief of Liangjia Village, Dabao's grandfather, but today he looks younger in this portrait. Chef Sun and Steward Liu's gang are undoubtedly bandits, but why are the people of Liangjia Village accepted as their gang? Could it be that there is really some collusion between them?

If you think about it, it's possible! Liangjia Village is located in the deep mountains, it is difficult for outsiders to find, they have no land, they only rely on hunting and selling medicine for a living, a few days ago they couldn't even take out one or two hundred taels of silver, why is it a few thousand taels this time? Also, why do the people of Liangjia Village buy grain secretly, and they dare not go to the grain store when they can afford the money?

No wonder they want to buy so much food, it is estimated that the whole village of Liangjia Village will have no problem eating for two or three years! If they're really a gang of bandits......

"Hey, this guy looks so familiar!"

Ling'er was startled, and turned her head to see that it was her own mother who was talking, and the people around her also turned their heads to look over, Ling'er hurriedly said: "Mother, isn't this the uncle who bought baskets at our stall before?" ”

"Huh? Didn't ......."

"That's it, mother, you see, the eyebrows are like that! And the nose is also like ......," Ling'er said while secretly pulling the old lady's sleeve. Seeing that the old lady still looked puzzled, Ling'er was secretly anxious, and someone next to her began to ask the old lady about the situation, the officers and soldiers saw that there was a situation here, and began to come this way, and the old man coughed twice and said: "Old woman, Ling'er is right, last time you came back from the market, you said that this person bought two pairs of baskets but didn't pay, right, Ling'er!" ”

"Yes, yes, that person looks so fierce, and he is not a good person at first glance!"

"Spread out, what are you doing? What are you talking about? The officers and soldiers shouted and shouted.

"Official, this Yang family's mother and daughter have seen bandits!" Ling'er chuckled in her heart, and sure enough, someone fell into the well!

The officer and soldier immediately came to the spirit: "Which one?" Come out, come out! Record a confession in the past! (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to come to the starting point (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation, monthly pass, your support, is my biggest motivation. )