"Soup cakes, good mutton soup, crispy cakes, please grin in the passing guests"

There is a small soup cake house on Xidan Pailou Street, the owner of the soup cake house is surnamed Hu, who is forty years old, five short figures, and smiles every day. His mother-in-law was a head taller than him, tall and thin, and wore a long and wide skirt that hung on a hanger.

The husband and wife, one tall and one short, stand together and contrast with each other. There is a big pot in the store, the pot is churning with snow-white soup flowers, Boss Hu stands next to him and stirs with a big iron spoon, the aroma of the nose is blowing in the face, and the table next to it is placed with cut mutton, lamb head meat, lamb tripe, sheep intestines, sheep liver, sheep lungs, etc., according to the personal preferences of the guests with a colander in the cauldron to brew, and then put it in a large porcelain bowl, pour a spoonful of hot soup at the end, sprinkle a handful of green onions, smell it all makes people feel appetizing.

His tall and thin mother-in-law put the kneaded dough in the fireplace, and in a short time the golden and burnt scones were baked.

The delicious lamb soup with the crispy and soft scones will warm the tongue all the way to the stomach.

The couple is warm, the price is fair, and the small soup and cake house has always had a constant source of customers.

"Guest officer" Boss Hu saw a person coming from afar, so he went out of the store and greeted him with a smile on his face.

Officials of all sizes in Beijing either rode horses or sat in sedan chairs when they went out, and even if they came out to stroll on the streets, they would change into civilian clothes, and there was no reason to go out on the street alone in official uniforms.

Yang Muyun looked at Boss Hu's stunned appearance, and knew the clue, and smiled at the moment: "Old man"

"Oh," Boss Hu relieved himself, "My lord, the soup cakes in the small shop are a must in the capital, do you want to come in and taste them." ”

"Well, very good," Yang Muyun nodded, "The official also feels a little hungry in his belly." ”

"Adult, please"

Yang Muyun followed him into the store. The store is not big, but it is very clean, there are not many customers today, Yang Muyun chose a table against the wall and sat down.

"Two taels of mutton, two taels of haggis, two scones." Yang Muyun glanced at the table next to the soup pot and said.

"Okay," Boss Hu shouted with a smile, "Wait a minute, my lord, I'll be here soon." ”

Yang Muyun was originally from the south, and since he came to the north, he has gradually adapted to the diet of the north.

A bowl of mutton haggis soup full of chopped green onions was served, and Yang Muyun was already very skilled in breaking the brown and soft scones into small pieces and putting them in the mutton soup.

"It's so fresh" Yang Muyun picked up the spoon and tasted it, raised his head and glanced at Boss Hu and praised: "The shopkeeper's good craftsmanship." ”

"Thank you, sir," Boss Hu said with a smile, "If you think it's delicious, please come to the shop more often." ”

Yang Muyun nodded, "The shopkeeper is a local?" ”

Boss Hu hesitated slightly, and said: "Don't hide it from adults, the small ones are Kaiping people." ”

"Kaiping?" Yang Muyun couldn't help but be interested when he heard it, "Is it Kaipingwei north of the Great Wall?" ”

"Adults know that place too?" Boss Hu glanced at him in surprise, and then shook his head, "But there is no Kaipingwei now, and that place has been abandoned." ”

"I heard people mention it when I was young, it's a pity to give up so easily in such a big town." Yang Muyun sighed.

"Who's to say it isn't?" Boss Hu also sighed: "When I was young, I had a big ranch in Kaiping, and then I had to give up with the relocation of Kaiping Wei, otherwise I wouldn't have opened a small sheep soup restaurant here?" "It's embarrassing.

"The head of the house is in the past, what do you mention him to do?" Boss Hu's mother-in-law interjected.

"I heard that the imperial court was easy to attack and difficult to defend because of Kaiping's lonely hangover, so I had to give up." One diner couldn't help but interject.

"Actually, that's not the case at all," Boss Hu was reminded of the past, and the conversation box opened up suddenly, "It's true that it is easy to be attacked by Tartars, but none of us Kaiping people have ever been afraid...... "Boss Hu blushed and said: "In the first year of Hongxi, three hundred Tartars attacked my family's ranch, and at that time, my father led one hundred and ten men in our family to copy the guys and go to the ......"

"The shopkeeper has fought with the Tartars?" Yang Muyun asked in surprise.

"What's that?" The more Boss Hu said, the more energetic he became, "Tartars are also people."

Raised by biological parents, is there no way to have three heads and six arms? The Tartars left seventy-eight corpses on my family's ranch, and most of the rest escaped wounded. I'm not blowing it to you, I shot two of them at that time, and I killed one with a knife......" Boss Hu said foaming at the mouth.

The diners of the small shop opened their mouths wide when they heard this, and no one could see that such an unattractive person was so heroic at that time.

Boss Hu said and ripped open his clothes, and said with some pride: "Look at it, these scars on my body are left from the war with the Tartars." ”

Yang Muyun looked carefully, there were dozens of scars twisted on his chest and back like earthworm snakes, and there was a scar on his shoulder that was deeply dented...... The shopkeeper pointed to the sunken scar on his shoulder and said: "Once I was fighting with a Tartar, I don't know which dog secretly shot me an arrow, piercing my shoulder blades, I gritted my teeth and cut off the head of the Tartar...... It wasn't until the end of the battle that the arrow was pulled out for me, and I fell asleep for three days and three nights before waking up. ”

"The bravery of the shopkeeper," one diner praised, "why didn't the shopkeeper pull out the arrow?" ”

"You know what?" Another diner glanced at him, "If you pull it out at that time, it will definitely be life-threatening due to excessive blood loss." ”

......

Speaking of the events of the year, Boss Hu's face was full of red light, and he seemed to have returned to the years when his blood was boiling.

"Listening to what the shopkeeper said, we didn't fall behind in the battle against the Tartars back then, but why did the court withdraw when it said withdraw?" Yang Muyun asked puzzled.

"How do we know about the affairs of the imperial court," Boss Hu's face turned gloomy and shook his head, "The officials are bent on returning to the comfort nest of the Guannei, and they don't want to gnaw on the wind and sand outside the gate...... To tell the truth, those of us who are small people really don't want to leave! ”

"In charge," his mother-in-law glanced at Yang Muyun and said to the shopkeeper Hu: "Hurry up and greet the guests, what are you doing in the past?" ”

At this moment, the curtain was lifted, and a young handlebar walked in.

"Yo, it's Brother Yun," Boss Hu greeted him and said, "How is it, has the Datong Grain Shop in Jintaifang, the Grain Drum Tower, been collected?" ”

"Don't mention it," the Yun brother snorted angrily and sat on a stool, "They only accept the rice distributed by the father-in-law in the palace, and they don't buy any other food." ”

"It seems that Boss Shen is doing this specifically to curry favor with the father-in-law in the palace." Boss Hu said with a smile.

As soon as he heard this, Yang Muyun couldn't help but fall in love, and bowed his hand to Brother Yun, "This brother is invited!" ”

Brother Yun followed the sound and saw that it was a young official, so he immediately didn't dare to hold it up, and got up to salute, "Don't dare, may I ask the adults what they have to say!" ”

"I just heard my brother Tai say that the Datong Grain Store in Jintaifang, Gulou, specializes in receiving rice from the fathers-in-law of the inner court, is it possible that the price offered is higher than the market price?" Yang Muyun asked.

"The villain doesn't dare to hide it from the adult," Brother Yun said: "The price of rice in the market is three stone rice and one tael of silver, and the purchase price of Datong Grain Store is one tael of silver and one stone of rice, but this price is specially set for the purchase of the father-in-law's rice, the villain didn't understand it for a while, so he excitedly pulled a cart full of grain to go there, who knows...... "Alas," he shook his head, his face unhappy.

"This is strange," a diner said, "Could it be that the boss of the Datong grain store wants to pat his father-in-law's ass?" ”

"I think that's probably the case," said another diner, "but his sycophant is too loud, and there are so many fathers-in-law in the palace who want to buy all their rice, and this amount of silver is not small!" ”

"You mean this is not something that Boss Shen can do?" The previous diner asked.

"Think about it......" the diner who spoke behind him smiled meaningfully, "Today is the day when the father-in-law in the palace receives the money......

"I also heard that during the day, the new Taicang on Dongzhimen Street was crowded with fathers-in-law receiving rice......" The previous diner lowered his voice, "Later, I heard that the father-in-law and the people in charge of the grain depot had a fight, and there were ...... deaths."

"I heard that the deceased person was a father-in-law of the celebrant eunuch, so the chief administrator of the palace, Wang Gonggong, was angry and sent Dongchang and Jinyi Wei to get people, but he was forced back by Lord Hou of the military department...... "The one who spoke later."

A diner said: "The father-in-law did not give up, but the Datong grain shop sent out the news of buying rice at a high price, and the father-in-law stopped making trouble, and now they are all crowded to the Datong grain shop to exchange their rice for money!" ”

"It seems that the real reason is that the father-in-law is dissatisfied with his own money!" The previous diner sighed.

"No," the corner of the diner's mouth curled up at the back of the speaker, "In the past, the father-in-law collected two taels of silver after the conversion of rice, one stone of rice and one tael of silver, but now they directly distribute the rice, and they have to go to the market to sell it themselves, and everyone has to make trouble about it." ”

"Datong Grain Store is doing this to calm the turmoil for the imperial court, can he Shen Junping and a businessman have such a quick awakening and such a big stroke?" The diner from before sneered, "There is no doubt that this must have been instructed by a big man......

"Silence ......" The diner who spoke behind him glanced at Yang Muyun and said to the previous diner: "Brother Jia, it's better for you and I to talk less about state affairs, and brother will take you to a good place later......" The voice became lower and lower, and at the end of the day, he actually laughed.

Yang Muyun heard it in his ears, and he also had doubts in his heart. New Taicang has just been killed because of the fat, and there is a Datong grain store here that buys rice at a high price to calm the turmoil, which really makes people doubt the connection.

He thought about it, and the soup cakes were almost finished, and his heart moved, "Why don't I go to the Chase Grain Store to have a look, maybe I can see some clues, anyway, I have nowhere to go." "The idea is certain, and I am about to get up after paying the bill. At this time, another person lifted the curtain and entered the soup cake shop, and suddenly came to sit opposite Yang Muyun, this person was dressed in a brown shirt and wore a hat to cover his appearance.

"What are you doing?" Boss Hu stepped forward and said with a smile.

"I'm not here to eat, I'm here to find someone." The person who came said coldly: "You better go to the side and greet the others!" ”

"Yes, yes." Boss Hu had a smile on his face, and turned around and walked away.

Yang Muyun listened to his unkind tone, looked at him and asked, "Who is Your Excellency?" Could it be that you're looking for me? ”

"What do you say?" The man raised his hat slightly, revealing the face underneath, "We just fought during the day, you won't be so forgetful, right?" ”

"Is that you?" Yang Muyun's eyes widened in surprise, the person who came was actually the person who assassinated the master of ceremonies in Xintaicang.

The corners of the visitor's mouth hooked slightly, and he quickly got up and walked outside the store.

"You stop," Yang Muyun shouted loudly. But the man had already floated out of the store, and his body was extremely fast.

When Yang Muyun chased out of the soup cake house, he saw a flash of brown shirt, and the man had disappeared into the crowd and went north.

Yang Muyun chased after him quickly, this person loomed, always lost his trace when he was about to catch up, and showed his trace when he settled down. I don't know how many alleys and alleys he has passed, but Yang Muyun has never been able to catch up with him.

The two chased for a long time, only to see the man flash into a deep alley, Yang Muyun leaned over and tiptoed over, and saw from a distance that he seemed to have entered the gate of a high-rise compound.

Yang Muyun walked forward quickly, in front of a magnificent mansion, two big stone lions stand on both sides of the vermilion lacquer copper ring gate, two big red lanterns hang on it, a huge stone steps, the door is tied to the horse stone, the door is hung on the right lamp pole, the lantern on the pole is swaying with the wind, the white wall of Daiwa, the high wall is deep, the eaves are winged, and the opulence is magnificent.

"Looks like this should be a prince's mansion." Yang Muyun looked at the gate, there was no plaque hanging on it, he couldn't help frowning, that person obviously entered through this gate, should he chase him in. He hesitated, only to hear the door creak open.

Out of it came an old man wearing a pale cyan collared robe, with three locks of long beard under his chin, his eyes like electricity, his clothes were neatly washed and straight, his big sleeves fluttered, and the white lining was spotless, revealing an indescribable momentum all over his body.

"Is there something wrong with this lord wandering at the front door of my master's mansion?" The old man asked with a slight smile and arched his hand.

"Hmm," Yang Muyun hurriedly returned the salute, "I just saw a sneaky person enter this mansion, so I chased after him. ”

"Oh?" The old man said with a beard: "Little Lao'er is just around this gate, and I haven't seen anyone come here!" ”