Half a month later, the Yangzhou illicit salt case spread all over Jingguo.

Scoop City, Yamen, an old woman beating the drum in front of the door, half paid, there was a breathless "coming" in the back hall of the Yamen, a man came out of less than seven feet tall, his appearance was mediocre, but his face was extremely clean, his body was thin, he seemed to have injured the second toe of his left foot when he walked, his walking posture dragged and dragged on, his head was crooked and he wore an official hat, and his official uniform was wide open, mixed with dissatisfaction with the sound of the drum, "Who is beating the drum outside the door?" Xi Yuanxiu asked while sorting out his official uniform.

The old lady said while carrying the basket in her hand: "Lord Xiaoxi, it's me, you went to my house a while ago."

"Aunt Hao, I haven't seen you for a long time, what kind of wind blew your old man here today?" As I said in my heart, I thought that Liu Xiao, that idiot, didn't he go to Xinghuayuan last night and die on the woman's belly, and now there is no one to see.

"Lord Xiao Xi, my dog, oops, I don't know what kind of illness I have, the hair on my body is gone, poor my son is a soldier in Liangcheng, and he can't come back once a year, only my dog son accompanies me, none of the doctors in this city will look at it, what if it leaves, Lord Xiaoxi, help!" Crying as he spoke, Xi Yuanxiu also saw this old lady Hao like this for the first time, and while hugging her, he said: "Aunt Hao, don't worry, I'll ask as soon as possible, your son, no, your dog son, I'll figure it out, didn't you say last time you wanted to bring me the osmanthus cake you made yourself?" ”

"Yes, yes, that Lord Xiao Xi, you hurry up and ask me about my dog son, I'll go back and get you that food, you must not forget, Lord Xiao Xi must remember!" Xi Yuanxiu repeatedly assured that he finally sent away Aunt Hao, who was smiling with coaxing eyebrows!

Xi Yuanxiu, Fengyuan 33 years to take office as the county commander of Huangcheng, served for three and a half years, in addition to dealing with the neighborhood disputes in the city, big and small trivial matters, is to eat and drink, and go to the gambling house to gamble a few in his spare time, which can be described as the most idle county order in Jingguo!

Xi Yuanxiu took off his hat, got up and walked to the back hall, and there was a voice like a male duck being pinched outside the door, "Lord Xi, good morning, good luck, Wishing you prosperity, Wishing you prosperity!" "The person who spoke, the smell of wine has not yet dissipated, and the traces of rouge can still be seen on the neckline, this person is the idiot Liu Xiao in Xi Yuanxiu's mouth, the master of the yamen, like Xi Yuanxiu, he has been here for more than three years, and he spent the night in the apricot blossom courtyard in this city last night.

Xi Yuanxiu looked at Liu Xiao with a solemn face, "Master Liu, how long have you and I known each other, and how long have you been here" Liu Xiao looked at Xi Yuanxiu's face and swallowed his saliva, "We have known each other since Yangzhou, and it has been more than five years now, and it has been three years since we came here. Xi Yuanxiu shook his head.

"That is, the above knows that our life is too shabby, and we have added a lot of money!"

Xi Yuanxiu paused for a moment and said: "It's been five years, five years, every day except for wine is a woman, and the tax for this half year will be handed over to you!" ”

Liu Xiao knew that he was at a loss, and said with a smile: "What the adult said is right, but there is no hurry to do this, it is better for me to accompany the adult to fill my stomach first!" Liu Xiao pulled Xi Yuanxiu out of the county office, laughing while talking, the more he laughed, the more debauched he became, as if he was talking about the beautiful girl in Xinghuayuan last night.

......

......

In the backyard of the county government in the afternoon, the breeze blowing in from outside the courtyard kept stroking Xi Yuanxiu and Liu Xiao, and the two big men were lying lazily in the gazebo, enjoying the time when no one disturbed them.

"Brother Xiu, the arrest of a few smugglers in Yangzhou City is now in an uproar!" Liu Xiao held up his bloated belly, took a sip of tea, sighed a few times, and said to Xi Yuanxiu, who was lying on the rocking chair and drinking tea.

"The case of private salt, the matter of the big man, what about me, I have to find a way to treat the dog, by the way, the court will definitely send the Qin messenger to Yangzhou as soon as possible, you back up our best osmanthus cake, ask someone to send it, if you go in person, very good!"

When Xi Yuanxiu said this, there was a smile on the corner of his mouth, but the look in his eyes, and the action of him tapping his thigh with his fingers, Liu Xiao saw it in his eyes, knew him, the words in his mouth, not in his heart, did not say more, got up, sang a minor tune that he didn't know where to learn, and walked out of the courtyard with a sway.

After Xi Yuanxiu saw Liu Xiao leave the distance, he seemed to think of something, blew the whistle, called the carrier pigeon, took out a pen and paper, and wrote two words, the carrier pigeon carried these two words, I don't know where it flew, Xi Yuanxiu fell asleep on this rocking chair.

Time is like a stream flowing into the sea, and before you know it, it's almost night!

Xi Yuanxiu, who was asleep, was woken up by the sound of restless cicadas, looked up at the bright moon that was about to rise, and thought to himself, he had slept until this hour.

got up and picked up the worn-out teapot that had been sitting for a long time, and drank it directly from the mouth to the mouth of the pot, and the tea leaves that had been brewed and stretched out were eaten by Xi Yuanxiu into his mouth.

His eyes were blank, he chewed the tea leaves in his mouth a few times like a lost soul, suddenly lowered his head, spit on the ground between his legs, and scolded in a low voice: "Liu Xiao, this idiot, must be looking for a girl again!" ”

Xi Yuanxiu sat up and was stunned for a while, then got up and walked while scolding, walked through the lobby from the backyard, and walked slowly to the door of the county office.

Xi Yuanxiu, who was about to go out to find Liu Xiao, saw a thin young man holding a sword in his arms standing in front of the door, his body was weak, as if he had been blown by the strong wind, and he would break immediately, but it was like bamboo, and he had been resisting the strong wind and could never fall.

There are also the hands that are hugged, and the finger joints are distinct, if you are seen by those swordsmanship, you will definitely say that this is a pair of hands that are born with swords.

Of course, this person's hands were indeed used to wield the sword in his arms!

When Xi Yuanxiu saw the appearance of the person at the door, his eyes rolled and he said, "You kid is here to replace the stone lion that was stolen from me!" Also, it came so quickly, did you agree with my plan? ”

"Well, I've been in Yangzhou these days, so I'll come faster!"

The man said in a somewhat impersonal tone.

"If I wait for another three years and five years, I may be very sure of this matter, but what is happening in Yangzhou City now makes me feel that this is an opportunity to return to Beijing in advance, but because of the rush of time, I am less than three points sure!"

The brother who he described as a stone lion didn't care about what he said, and walked straight to the courtyard and said, "Drink!" ”

After saying that, he jumped and flew to the roof.

Xi Yuanxiu scolded: "Masters love to drink on people's rooftops? This is a problem that must be cured, you ....."

Before Xi Yuanxiu finished speaking, the man on the roof casually pulled the sword out of its sheath, then put it in again, put the sword aside, and then lay on it and closed his eyes.

And Xi Yuanxiu felt that there was a wind close to his ears and blew to the trees behind him, and in an instant, the sound of cicadas fell.

Xi Yuanxiu looked back and saw that the largest cicada on the tree had climbed a few steps up and divided into two sections.

The lower half of his body had fallen to the ground, and the part with his head was still climbing upward, completely unaware that his life was over before the fall came.

Xi Yuanxiu dispelled the idea of going to Liu Xiao, covered his mouth, and went into the house to get wine.

......

......

The next morning, the weather suddenly became less irritating, and even the sunlight shining in through the window was not so annoying, but just right.

There are more birds on the eaves of the county government than before, and the chirping is also happy for the cool weather.

Xi Yuanxiu's mood improved, he liked that autumn was coming, but the season he liked didn't bring him any good luck.

Even his respected father was taken away by the confused emperor at the birthday banquet in the autumn of that year, and he was removed from his official position on the way home when he went to Dongshi to buy birthday gifts that day!

But he still loves this season, just as he always believed in his father, and of course he still thinks that the emperor must be confused!

It's just that he hasn't gotten up yet, or he can't get up, he was clicked on by the big stone lion brother, and he was still lying on the ground.

Xi Yuanxiu couldn't figure it out, obviously it was this swordsman with a cold face who drank too much wine and broke his bowl last night.

And he was just half a dirty word before he was pointed to now, and it was still a dog gnawing.

Xi Yuanxiu cried out of the house: "Xu Daxia, it's good, you give the villain a chance to make up for it, the little one will go out to drink for you now, you have a lot, let me go, if someone comes to the yamen later, where will I put the face of the county commander!" ”

Xu Lai, who heard the sound, entered the house and looked at Xi Yuanxiu. Xi Yuanxiu looked at him with a cheap smile on his face, waiting for his body to be liberated, and then scolded him when he was far away.

Xu Lai didn't unlock the acupoint for him, but directly picked him up and walked towards the backyard.

During this period, Xi Yuanxiu kept yelling, but Xu Lai ignored him and threw him directly on the stone table where he had tea with Liu Xiao yesterday.

Xi Yuanxiu had tears in his eyes, and said aggrievedly: "Big brother, did you put me here to let me feel the wind and the sunny weather?" ”

Xu Lai walked out of the court with a sword, stood in the open space in the courtyard, and said four words: "Accompany me to practice swords!" ”

Xi Yuanxiu was a little stunned, wondering if Xu Lai had drunk his brain, and others were lying here, how could he accompany this nerd. He looked up and screamed again, but was mesmerized by the scene in front of him.

Under the hundred-year-old ginkgo tree in the backyard of the county government, Xu Lai held the sword in his hand, and there was no superfluous movement, just stabbing in one direction one by one, taking out the sword, and closing the sword, although there was only this move, but what Xi Yuanxiu saw in his eyes was completely different. He felt that this sword could stab him in the face even if he was three feet away.

In this way, Xu Lai practiced the sword for half an hour, and Xi Yuanxiu looked at the sword for half an hour in a daze, well, of course, Xi Yuanxiu could only watch him practice the sword.

"Didn't you say that you want me to accompany you to practice swords, your old man has been playing there for a long time, and I have covered this cold stone table here!" Xi Yuanxiu said weakly.

Xu Lai walked up to him, put him on the rocking chair with one hand, unlocked the acupoint, and then said to Xi Yuanxiu, who was about to fold his waist: "I finally know why the master lets me watch every time he practices the sword!" ”

After speaking, he walked out of the backyard, leaving Xi Yuanxiu, who was still in the pavilion and couldn't straighten his waist.

Xi Yuanxiu scolded and scolded, stopped his mouth, and suddenly thought that when he was in the capital before, every time his father was in the study, he let himself watch him practice calligraphy on the side, maybe it was also this feeling!

He shook his head weakly, sat on the stone pier, and said with a smile: "Nearly seven years away from Beijing, now I Xi Yuanxiu is not what it used to be, not only to treat dogs, but also to accompany people to practice swords, how can I find a man like me in Jingguo, all-rounder, all-rounder, hahahaha!" ”