However, it was said that after Xin Jia and the others returned to the pavilion, Xin Jia helped Mrs. Jiang to lie down on the couch and said to her: "Your injury has not healed, and you need to rest early, so that you can recuperate." Mrs. Jiang suddenly said, "Let Wan'er sleep with me tonight." ”

Xin Jia knew that she was worried about her daughter, and nodded. When he got up to leave, he suddenly remembered what Tai Ji said last night, and said, "Oh, there is something important, I almost forgot to tell you." ”

Mrs. Jiang frowned and said, "What's the matter?" ”

Xin Jia said: "It's about Wan'er's marriage......"

"Wan'er's marriage? Did Lord Yu Hou propose to you? How did you reply? ”

Xin Jia paused for a moment and said, "No, it's not Marquis Yu, it's your sister-in-law." She said that she saw that Wan'er and Kao'er were in love and wanted to arrange this family affair for the two children, so let me ask you what you mean. ”

Mrs. Jiang turned her face away and said, "That's not good. ”

Xin Jia felt a burst of surprise again—he had expected that his wife would refuse to shirk it, but such a simple refusal was greatly unexpected to him. He said in a slur manner, "Madam, this ...... Why is that? ”

Mrs. Jiang thought for a while, then turned her head and said to him: "Since my sister-in-law married into the Zhou family, there is a shortage of manpower in the Zhou family, and many things have to be done by her herself. These things are what you said in the past, and there will be no falsehood, right? ”

Xin Jia responded: "Having said that......"

Mrs. Jiang said again: "Today in the Marquis Yu's Mansion, Lord Marquis Yu and Mrs. Di have treated us so hospitable, are you invincible?" I could have seen that Mr. Yu was very fond of us Wan'er. With Wan'er's appearance and family background, she has to marry into a family like the Yu family at the worst. Otherwise, you will suffer the same sins as your sister for the rest of your life. ”

"If it doesn't work, Yu Yan's heart is not right, and it is difficult to become a big tool. If you just have a general relationship with him, it doesn't hurt, but it is absolutely impossible to marry Wan'er to him. ”

Mrs. Jiang whispered, "I didn't say that I wanted to give Wan'er to the Yu family. You also know that the wife of Lord Shang Shou is about to become the queen Jiang of the Great Shang now, and in the future, how prominent will our Shen clan be in Chaoge? If Wan'er marries into the Zhou family, I will be ashamed to speak up in front of my mother's family in the future. ”

Xin Jia said: "Then what do you mean?" ”

"When it comes to Chaoge, I will go to see the queen and ask her to help Wan'er find young talents among the Dashang royal family. This big Shang royal family, but I don't know how much stronger than a prince of Yu Guo who has declined. I plan this way so that Wan'er can have a good home in the future. ”

Xin Jia was very embarrassed in his heart, he couldn't ignore his wife's thoughts, but he didn't know how to talk back to his sister. He had something on his mind, and he couldn't sleep well all night, and before dawn he suddenly remembered that he had forgotten to add hay to his mount last night. His horse is also a famous breed that he spent a lot of effort to find, called Xianli, and he is fed by Xin Jia himself on weekdays, and never pretends to others. So Xin Jia simply dressed up and walked out of the bedroom to the stable.

The stables are behind the building, and at the east end there is a wooden shed for hay. The hut was made of only one plank wall, the rest of the place was supported by wooden pillars, and the roof was in tatters. Such a wooden shed can't withstand the cold at all, and it's better than nothing compared to empty flat land.

Xin Jia came to the outside of the hay shed, and was about to get some hay to feed the horses, but he heard loud snoring in the shed, and he wondered in his heart: Who is sleeping here? It seems that there are quite a few people. When he went inside, he saw a dozen or so unkempt and barefoot and ragged people, lying horizontally and vertically beside the haystack, only pulling some thatch to cover their bodies to keep out the cold.

Are these people the starving people who fled to Yucheng? Xin Jia didn't care at first, but he accidentally caught a glimpse of a bald head in the mess, which made him feel a little familiar.

Xin Jia thought to himself: Where should I have seen this person? He drank too much wine yesterday, and his mind was not very clear, so he thought for a while before remembering - isn't this the bandit leader who blocked the road and cut the path at the foot of Shouyang Mountain?

Thinking that Wan Ji was captured and his wife was injured, all because of this thief, Xin Jia couldn't help but be angry, and he couldn't wait to immediately stab this person to vent his anger. As soon as he touched his waist, he found that he had not worn a sword when he went out, and then he gradually calmed down: At this moment, I am bare-handed, and I must not be reckless, even if I can capture one or two people, the rest of the thieves will definitely disperse in a hurry, and where will I find them then? Since the heavens have opened my eyes for me to bump into them, this time I must wipe out this group of people.

As soon as he thought of this, Xin Jia quietly came out, came to the stable to lead the horse out, and rode all the way to the west city gate. At this time, the sky was just dawning, and the guards of the city opened the city gate, and Xin Jia rushed out of the door first. It turned out that all the attendants and guards he brought with him were camped outside the city, and Xin Jia came to the camp and called twenty or thirty guards to follow him into the city. When he arrived at the Deguan Station, he ordered the guards to be silent and quietly came to the outside of the forage shed, and then ordered: "Take down all these thieves for me!" ”

Poor and unallowed, all of them were still in a sweet dream, and before they could figure out what was going on, they were all suddenly pushed to the ground. If you want to say that you can't react quickly, although he is shocked, he has already shouted incessantly: "Master spare your life!" Spare your life! ”

The screams of killing pigs suddenly broke the silence of the early morning and alarmed everyone in the pavilion. Xin Jia shouted: "Shut up! You thief, do you know me? ”

It was not allowed to be firmly held down by the two guards, and he couldn't see Xin Jia's appearance at all with his cheeks on the ground, but he remembered Xin Jia's voice, and couldn't help but secretly complain, and said in his heart: I was also fascinated by ghosts, and I actually listened to Wan Ji's little girl's words, and I thought that I could come to receive the reward. Now that people are ruthless, I'm afraid my life is at stake. If you knew this, it would be better to run home yesterday than to die here.

Xin Jia didn't dare to answer when he saw that he was not allowed, and he was even more angry, took a sword from the guard's hand, pointed at him, and said, "Who are you?" The name of the express newspaper is on, and I will not kill the nameless person under my sword! ”

At this time, the two guards pulled up the upper half of the body, and they were not allowed to raise their eyes to see the tip of the sword shaking under their nose, so frightened that he twisted his head to the side, and thought to himself: He said that he would not kill the nameless person, so if I don't say the name, I wonder if he will let me go?

Seeing that he was not allowed to dodge, Xin Jia put the tip of his sword against his throat, telling him to avoid it. Don't be so frightened that you almost peed your pants, and hurriedly replied: "Back to the master, the villain's name is not accurate, and the name of the villain is not accurate, and he has offended the lord with no eyes, and he still hopes that the lord will spare the villain's life." ”

Since Wan Ji was captured, Xin Jia has always forgotten in his heart that he wants to find this culprit; It was only later that Wan Xi returned safely that he gradually forgot about it. At this moment, he saw that he was not allowed to confess to what he had committed, and thought: This time you fell into my hands, it is also the will of God, and it is not wronged to kill you.

Xin Jia lifted the sword, and was waiting for the life of the inaccurate result of the sword, but he was stopped by someone holding his wrist. Xin Jia looked back, but the person who stopped him was Zhou Chang. Zhou Chang said to him: "You can't kill it." ”

Xin Jia was puzzled: "Why can't you kill it?" ”

Zhou Chang said: "This is the Yu State Pavilion, if you don't interrogate Lord Yuhou, you will be tortured without authorization, and you will inevitably be suspected of overstepping your bounds." When this matter spread, Lord Yu Yuhou did not look good. ”

Although Xin Jia was unwilling, he said after a few struggles: "Okay, I will hand him over to Lord Yuhou to deal with." ”

He was not allowed to listen to it on the sidelines, and he was so shocked that he knew that Emperor Shun was the ancestor of Marquis Yu, but he dug Emperor Shun's mausoleum and even opened the coffin. If it is dealt with by Yu Hou, I don't know what kind of tragic death he will end. Thinking of this, he had turned from crying to wailing, and even hoped that Xin Jia could kill him with a sword and be happy.

Xin Jia ignored him and ordered the guards: "Take all these people away!" ”

As soon as he turned around, he saw Wan Xi standing outside the hay shed. Wan Ji saluted him and shouted, "Father." ”

Xin Jia felt a little strange and asked, "Wan'er, what are you doing here?" ”

Wan Xi said, "Father, you can't hand them over to Lord Yuhou. The child had promised not to sin him if they would escort me back, but to reward them. If it weren't for that, I'm afraid Wan'er wouldn't be able to see her father again. ”

Xin Jia hurriedly said: "You couldn't help yourself at that time, and you were forced by the situation to say those words, naturally you can't do it!" Any one of these people's crimes is a capital crime, so how can they be spared with a few words? ”

Wan Xi replied: "Father, you taught me in the past that you were born in the family of princes and were nobles; However, if you do not believe in your words, how can you convince the people? ”

Xin Jia was speechless for a while, he turned his head to look at Zhou Chang, but Zhou Chang just smiled and said nothing. Xin Jia said embarrassedly: "It's all because I neglect to discipline on weekdays, so this kid dares to confront me in front of me like this, which makes you laugh." ”

Zhou Chang said: "Where, I think what Wan'er said is reasonable." ”

While talking, he saw that Tai Ji brought Zhou Kao and Zhou Fa to inquire about the situation, and after Xin Jia explained what had happened, Zhou Kao said to Zhou Chang: "Father, the child also said at that time that as long as Wan'er and I return safely, they will also be rewarded." ”

Xin Jia didn't wait for Zhou Chang to speak, and said first: "Kao'er, don't act so simply. To impunity the guilty is to encourage them to re-offend. If more rewards are imposed, it may attract future generations to follow suit, and once this example is opened, how will it be banned in the future? ”

Zhou Kao didn't dare to refute it, but he heard Wan Ji say: "No, let me ask you, after we came down from Shouyang Mountain, you could have escaped, why did you come to Yucheng Pavilion?" ”

Although he didn't know what he meant, he didn't dare to talk nonsense at this moment, so he had to answer honestly: "Back to the eldest lady, after we came out of the wind and boyu, the young lady once told me to wait at the Yucheng Pavilion to wait, and the villain didn't dare to disobey." ”

Wan Ji turned to Xin Jia and said, "Father, these people came here because they believed that Wan'er would keep their promises, and they were captured by you. If they die today, Wan'er will be a treacherous person, and I will feel guilty for the rest of my life. ”

Only then did Xin Jia understand, and secretly thought: I said that there is such a coincidence, this group of thieves would throw themselves into the net and rush to their deaths - it turned out that Wan'er ordered them to come here to receive the reward. If Wan'er's promise is broken, it will indeed damage the reputation of the Xin clan; But how can I swallow this breath by letting them go like this?

When Xin Jia hesitated, Zhou Chang pulled his arm and snorted slightly. Xin Jia understood, and walked outside the forage shed with Zhou Chang, Zhou Chang said as he walked: "The subordinates who are not allowed are just a group of accomplices, and they are just obedient to the orders; They are not unforgivable......"

Xin Jia was silent after hearing this, and the two walked farther and farther, and Zhou Chang continued: "As for that inadmissibility, of course, it is his crime that deserves to be punished, but it is not yet time." Who instructed him? What exactly is it that is looking for in the tomb of Emperor Shun? If we want to uncover the mystery, this person is the only clue in our hands, and only by bringing him to Chaoge can everything be revealed. ”

Xin Jia said: "The items in the tomb of Emperor Shun originally belonged to Yu Guo. Who is not allowed to be behind the scenes, Yu Hou will naturally try to find out. We are not allowed to return the two jade plates to Lord Yuhou, won't we save a lot of trouble? ”

Zhou Chang waved his hand and said: "No, if you don't find out the mastermind behind the scenes, there is no conclusive evidence, and you are not allowed to hand it over to Marquis Yu in this way, you and I will inevitably be suspected of being under the melon field." In case this is not allowed to bite back in front of Yu Hou, saying that it was instructed by us, it is really indefensible. ”

"How could Lord Yu Hou listen to the words of the inaccurate side? With the identity of you and me, is the weight of words not as good as a grass people? Xin Jia asked rhetorically.

As the saying goes: it is better to believe in what is there than to believe in what is not. The day before yesterday, Yu Yan had seen with his own eyes that Kao'er and them were not allowed to come down from Shouyang Mountain together, and in such a situation, it was difficult to ensure that Yu Hou could not afford to be suspicious. If we can't find the real culprit in the future, he will most likely settle this account on our heads. Moreover, in addition to the two jade plates, I don't know if there are other treasures in the tomb of Emperor Shun. If we don't find out clearly, in the future, Marquis Yu will say that we have swallowed up something, so how can we justify it? ”

Xin Jia nodded, and then stopped. "And what do you say about these people?"

Zhou Chang said: "You and I are both people who lead soldiers, and we know the truth that rewards must be done and punishments must be believed, as long as the rewards and punishments are clear, we are naturally not afraid of provoking criticism." It would be fine to give them the reward that Wan'er and Kaul had promised, but the men who were not allowed to do so would have to do five years of hard labor before they could be released, and as for the man who was not allowed himself, he might as well be given a chance to atone for his sins—if he could help us to find the Lord's servant, let him live; If he is stubborn and refuses to tell the truth, it will not be too late to kill him. ”

Xin Jia thought for a while, turned the sword in his hand upside down, and handed the hilt of the sword to Zhou Chang: "You will send this person down - just don't let them come to Xincheng, if your sister-in-law finds out, I can't save their lives." ”

After saying that, Xin Jia walked away quickly, as if he was afraid that he would change his mind. Zhou Chang lowered his head and pondered for a moment, returned to the forage shed, and said to the others: "Can you wait for the guilt?" ”

The subordinates who were not allowed were panicked at first, not knowing how to answer, and when they saw that they were not allowed to kowtow like pounding garlic, they said continuously: "The villain is guilty, the villain is guilty!" Then they all prostrated themselves and shouted in unison: "The villain is guilty."

Zhou Chang said: "You gang of bold and fanatics, you dare to steal the king's tomb, disturb the princes' cars, and kidnap the grandson, all of which are capital crimes......" The more you listen, the more frightened you become, cold sweat trickles down, and your vest is cold.

"However, remembering that you did not embarrass my two children and escorted them back safely, it is still evident that there is a sense of repentance, and today I will give you a lenient sentence, and sentence you to serve five years of hard labor in the city of Qizhou. After five years, if there are no other bad deeds, I will let you return to your hometown. As for the reward promised by Kao'er and Wan'er, it will be paid on the day you return home. Will you confess? ”

They were not allowed to say that they would not escape death today at the beginning, but now they know that they can not only save their lives, but also receive rewards in the future, they are really happy to fall from heaven, where can they dare to have half a complaint? couldn't stop kowtowing to Zhou Chang to thank him.

Zhou Chang instructed the guards to tie his men with ropes and escort them back to Qizhou City. He struggled to stand up and followed, but was stopped by Zhou Chang: "No, you are the leader of this gang, and your guilt is far greater than the rest, how can you be so lenient?" ”

I didn't think I could get through the tricks, but I didn't expect that Zhou Hou would not let go of himself after all. At that moment, he suddenly remembered that his life was always ill-fated, and he didn't know how to fall into the field he is today. He couldn't help but lament in his heart: God, God, why do you always have trouble with me? When is this going to be the end?

Zhou Chang saw that he was silent, but he was afraid in his heart, so he said: "Who did you instruct to steal treasures from Emperor Shun's mausoleum?" As long as you are willing to tell the truth, it is not that you cannot spare your life. ”

It is not allowed to tell how he was instructed by the masked man to come to Shouyang Mountain to sneak into the royal tomb and steal the treasure, which is no different from what Wan Xi relayed. Zhou Chang listened, but he still didn't have a clue, and couldn't help but frown.

I was not allowed to see the look on his face, knowing that Zhou Chang was skeptical of his words. He said: "My lord, what the villain said is the truth. Even if the adults wanted to cut off my head, the villain still didn't know who the masked man was. ”

Wan Ji saw that she had an indifferent expression, worried that Zhou Chang would really get angry, and hurriedly said: "Uncle, you are not allowed to swear ......."

Zhou Chang interrupted her and said, "Wan'er, you don't have to intercede for him, this person can't be killed now, and he can't be released." I'm going to take him to Chaoge to see your grandfather, and then I'll make a decision." ”

"Only, uncle. It's just that Wan'er still has something to ask him. ”

Zhou Chang said strangely: "What else is going on?" ”

Wan Xi smiled a little shyly, and then said inaccurately, "What about the two little tiger cubs I asked you to bring back?" Where are you now? ”

He was not allowed to answer: "The two tiger cubs were put in the hollow of a dead tree outside the city." ”

Wan Ji was very anxious when she heard this, and said, "Why do you want to put it outside the city?" What if I am eaten by a wolf? Or, or maybe they've run away, but where to find them? ”

"It's not hard to bring tiger cubs into the city, but the dogs in this city will bark when they smell the tigers." It was too eye-catching, because the villain didn't dare to take them into the city. ”

Wan Xi jumped to her feet when she heard this, and said, "Take me to find it!" If one is missing, I will cut off one of your legs; If both of them are gone, I, I ......" Before she finished speaking, she pulled up her sleeves and walked out.

Zhou Chang didn't know why for a while, and seeing that he was not allowed to be dragged away by Wan Xi, he turned his head and asked Zhou Kao: "What tiger cub?" Where did it come from? ”

Zhou Kao didn't dare to hide it, and replied: "When we came out of Shouyang Mountain, we met a big insect on the road - two small tigers in their mouths. Later, at the mouth of the valley of Fengboyu, we saw that the big insect had been killed by random arrows, and only two small tigers remained. Wan'er saw that they were pitiful, so she was not allowed to bring them back. ”

"Since the big tiger has died, the two little tigers are left to their own devices, why bother to rescue them? Do you still have to feed these two tiger cubs? ”

Zhou Kaoleng was stunned for a moment, not knowing how to answer. At this time, Taiji said to him, "What are you still standing here for?" Why don't you follow Wan'er quickly, how can she rest assured that she is alone and not allowed to go out of the city to call people? ”

When Zhou Kao heard this, he chased him out as quickly as if he had just woken up from a dream. Zhou Chang shouted from behind: "You have to be careful and accurate, don't let him escape." ”

Zhou Kao said yes outside the stable, and he was already far away from the sound.