Chapter 19 The First Signs

Lantern Festival is approaching. The streets are full of officials who promote fire prevention. At the gate of Kyoto, the officers and soldiers guarding the city also strictly checked the passing pedestrians and goods.

City gates. The troika was parked in the procession entering the city, and was being inspected by the officers and soldiers entering the city. Escorting the carriage were a dozen sturdy men, their heads wrapped in coarse linen scarves, only half of their faces were exposed, and their bodies were tightly wrapped.

After the cargo was inspected, the escort was tying up, and the carriage that had just been opened at the time of the inspection. The carriage was dirty and covered with black grease. Pedestrians did not dare to approach, and they covered their noses and passed by. The outside is wrapped in waterproof cloth and tied up with flowers.

It was followed by an elaborately decorated carriage, which was lined up in a procession to enter the city for inspection.

At this time, a tactful and crisp voice floated out of the carriage: "It's been a long time, haven't you entered the city yet?" I'm afraid it's hard to catch up with Daddy's carriage. ”

"Miss, we'll be here soon." The driver replied respectfully.

The curtain of the carriage was lifted, and a delicate face peeked out from inside. This action satisfies most people's imagination of the hibiscus out of the water. It's more like a pink flower that is blooming.

The woman in the carriage was actually Zhao Susu. Because of the Queen Mother's birthday, the family drove to the capital. The bumps along the way made her stomach uncomfortable, so the carriage stopped and fell behind. By the time she arrived at the east gate of the capital, her father and younger brother had already entered the city first.

Zhao Susu, who was left alone in a car, had to wait in line for inspection. The waiting time was too long, and she panicked, so she lifted the curtain and looked outside. Seeing that he had arrived at the gate of the city, there were officers and soldiers inspecting outside, and then he retreated back.

The five carriages in front finally packed up and drove away from the checkpoint. The officers and soldiers waved their hands to let the carriage in which Zhao Susu was sitting go over to check, and the coachman flicked the reins and leaned over and stopped the car.

Just as the officers and soldiers were about to lift the curtain to check the situation inside the carriage. The horseman who was driving the car hurriedly stopped him, took the hands of the officers and soldiers and said with a smile: "Master Jun, this is the car of the Bei'an Palace, and it is the prince's daughter, so it is inconvenient to disturb." I also hope that the military master, bear with me! ”

When the officers and soldiers heard that it was the car of the Bei'an Palace, they stopped and waved their hands to signal the driver to drive over. The coachman returned the salute and thanked him, got into his carriage and drove his horse toward the city.

The carriage moved slowly through the crowded streets of the city. After only walking for a while, the front was jammed, and the carriage had to stop.

"Why did it stop again?" Zhao Susu, who was sitting in the carriage, saw that the car had stopped again, and asked anxiously.

"Miss, the road ahead is blocked." The groom turned back to Zhao Susu and explained.

"Is there another way?" Zhao Susu asked.

"The little ones know a trail, but they have to go around a distance."

"It's okay, just catch my father's carriage as soon as possible."

The family has not returned to the mansion in the capital for a long time, and the father has already explained on the way that they must bow together before entering the mansion. This is a custom of Nanyu country, if you are away from home for too long, you must bow three times before going home and enter the door - it means that the gods of all directions please move, and the master has gone home.

Zhao Susu was in a hurry to catch up with his father, so he asked the coachman to change the shortcut. The carriage turned into an alley, and the stone paved road in the alley made the carriage even more bumpy. There was a black mark of unidentified liquid dripping on the stone pavement. Looking ahead, a black line stretches to the end of the alley.

……

Under the banyan tree not far in front of the blacksmith shop, Luo Xiaotian was sitting in the tea shop drinking a large bowl of tea. The shopkeeper has become accustomed to this well-dressed boy, and thinks to himself, that is, the rich boy has come out to experience life. After all, this tea is mainly used in the city by porters and coachmen to quench their thirst. However, this tea is also clean and fragrant, with a sweet aftertaste.

In the shop opposite, there was a rhythmic hammering sound of clanging, crisp and loud.

Luo Xiaotian took a sip of tea and stared at the row of shops opposite. He believed that those people would definitely show up, but it was just not time. Either they will come and get the armor they have made privately, or they will bring in a surplus of pig iron. You must know that Nanyu's salt and iron are all operated by the imperial court. It is impossible for the blacksmith to have so much surplus pig iron ration to meet the forging of so much armor.

It didn't take long to cross the road in front of a shop. Suddenly the troika stopped, and it was the same group of men and horses that had just entered the city.

Observing the blacksmith shop every day, Luo Xiaotian had never seen so many carriages. This unusual situation surprised him. His brow furrowed slightly, staring intently at the carriages.

The carriage procession walked down the door to the blacksmith's backyard and knocked on the wooden door. Someone inside opened the courtyard door in response, and the two met and whispered a few words mysteriously. The man who opened the door immediately raised his hand towards the carriage procession and made a gesture to go inside.

Luo Xiaotian looked at the dozen or so mysterious people who wrapped their heads in scarves and only showed half of their faces, and thought thoughtfully: these people were dressed mysteriously, and they looked like people who practiced martial arts. And there are a lot of people, and they are by no means ordinary customers of the blacksmith shop.

At this moment, Zhao Susu's carriage drove out of the alley. The groom was hurrying to the cart and walking down the road in front of the blacksmith's shop.

In a blacksmith shop facing the street, a burst of molten iron splashed and fell onto the street. Zhao Susu's carriage happened to pass by, and the horses pulling the carriage were suddenly frightened and galloped down the street.

"Bang-"

With a dull sound. Zhao Susu's carriage crashed into the last carriage of the carriage procession. The horses, which had just been frightened, also stopped because the carriage was stuck.

After all, Zhao Susu's carriage was made of fine wood. After withstanding a strong impact, it only hit a little gap in the beam. And the cargo compartment of the team of men and horses was knocked open with a big hole. Black charcoal and an unknown black liquid flowed down the inside. Seeing this, the three people in the team immediately stepped forward to block it in a panic to prevent the gap from expanding.

Although Zhao Susu was not injured, she was very frightened, and she was even more anxious. So he poked his head out to check.

At this time, the driver has already gotten out of the car and is processing.

Seeing the groom get out of the car, several people close to the carriage looked at each other angrily, and angrily wanted to come forward to theorize. Seeing that the mysterious man who looked like the leader hurriedly came to stop him, he slowly shook his head and motioned for a few people to retreat.

Although he only showed half of his face. But I can still see that there is a deep scar on my face, and the piece of flesh looks like it has been torn off.

The corners of the scar-faced man's mouth twitched slightly under the scar, it should just be a facial nerve, a natural conditioned reflex, but the appearance is really scary.

Naturally, the driver was frightened, and stopped before he could reach them. lowered his head and didn't dare to raise his eyes to look at the scar-faced man, for fear of offending everyone in front of him. Hurriedly bowed down in a panic and said: "The horse was frightened, it was an accident, how much is this loss, we will compensate." ”

Unexpectedly, the scar-faced man didn't even check the damage to the carriage. Pointing to the road in front of him, he said coldly to the coachman: "Leave quickly, no need to compensate." ”

When the coachman heard this, the owner had said the wrong thing. After a while, he hurriedly smiled and thanked him, and quickly returned to the carriage.

Seeing this scene, Zhao Susu, who was sitting in the carriage, was also puzzled. Since the other party didn't ask for it, it was important to hurry, otherwise Daddy would blame.

Just as the groom was about to drive away, a group of patrolling guards approached. The leader of the guards saw that the two carriages were in the middle of the road, and the ground was pitch black, so he stopped the road and asked questions.

"What's going on?"

The scar-faced men's expressions suddenly became nervous, and they tightened the scarves on their heads, their eyes deliberately avoiding. The three carriages that had already entered the courtyard heard the sound and hurriedly closed the courtyard gates, leaving only the last two carriages parked on the side of the road.

"Official, it's okay, the horses were frightened, causing some accidents, and they have been dealt with." The groom hurriedly replied that his master was in a hurry to return home.

"Why is there such a mess on the ground? Looking at the accident is quite serious, what is in the car? The leading officer pointed to the carriage, still dripping with black liquid, and asked the crowd with a serious face.

At the head was a young officer, different from the ironclad soldiers behind him. He wears a dark brown military uniform and a straight knife for the royal guards at his waist. The figure is tall, and there is a heroic spirit between the eyebrows.

"Official, can I go first, the car is the daughter of the Bei'an Palace, can I be accommodating? My lord is still waiting. The groom leaned down and whispered to the officer who led the group.

When the officer who led the team heard what the coachman said, he immediately changed his expression. The corners of his mouth rose slightly, and his eyebrows danced. may feel that he is a little out of shape in front of his subordinates, so he coughs dryly. straightened his clothes, turned back to the people behind him, and said, "You surround these two carriages first, check them, and give them to me on the road." He pointed to Zhao Susu's carriage.

The soldiers behind him answered yes in unison, hula and surrounded the two carriages of the scar-faced man. Immediately afterwards, he used the big knife in his hand to cut the rope tied to the car.

The scar-faced man and his gang could only cooperate with the inspection of the officers and soldiers and retreat to the side together.

Luo Xiaotian, who was in the distance, saw this scene and began to worry. I thought to myself: Oops, I'm afraid this is going to startle the snake. I have been observing here for several days, and I finally got a turning point. Now I am afraid that we will fall short, and it is too inopportune for these officers and soldiers to appear.

The young officer in the lead walked alone towards Zhao Susu's carriage. When you get to the car, take a look at yourself first. Then he knocked on the carriage and said with a proper attitude: "Sister Susu." ”

Zhao Susu heard the voice a little familiar, and lifted the curtain. Glancing at it: "It turned out to be my cousin." ”

The person who came was Zhao Susu's cousin - Li Wenyi (aunt married to the king of Bei'an as a concubine). Hearing that the groom said that his cousin was in the car, he came up to say hello.

"Haha...... Cousin, I didn't expect to meet here. The Queen Mother's birthday is approaching, and I happen to be here to investigate. Li Wenyi laughed, and when he saw that Zhao Susu was the only one in the car, he asked, "Why don't you see the prince?" ”

"Daddy is up front. It's inconvenient today, if it's okay, I'll leave first, so as not to wait for Daddy in a hurry. Zhao Susu was in a hurry to go home and had no intention of chatting.

"In that case, let's visit the house another day and say hello to my uncle on my behalf." With that, Li Wenyi stepped aside. Give the groom a look and let the carriage pass.

"Thank you, cousin, Su Su left first."

Li Wenyi nodded politely in response.

At the end, Zhao Susu lowered the curtain and retreated to sit back in the carriage. The coachman flicked the reins, and the carriage started slowly and drove away from the scene.

After Li Wenyi saw Zhao Susu leave, he turned around and came to the surrounding carriage and asked his subordinates, "Is there anything suspicious?" ”

"Tell you, this is charcoal from the furnace of the blacksmith's shop. It's just that I don't know why there is a lot of oil mixed in it. One of the soldiers reported.

As soon as Li Wenyi heard that the charcoal was mixed with grease, he immediately walked in front of the scar-faced man. Stared at him and asked, "What do you explain?" ”

"Official, this is tung oil, which is used for casting knives. The south is damp, and if there is no tung oil, the sword is not easy to preserve. The Scarface explained.

There was no expression on his face, and his cold gaze was hidden under the scarf.

"Tung oil for two big carriages, how many swords do you have? Think I haven't forged a knife? Li Wenyi didn't believe his words, but he couldn't see what this grease was. can only bluff him like an ordinary thief, bluffing him first.

"These two cars are a year's stockpile, and we just deliver them. The mountain is high and the road is far away, and the official is accommodating, and the net is open. ”

The scar-faced man's head was slightly lowered, and he didn't raise his eyes to look at Li Wenyi the whole time.

"You are one-sided, and you are not a mountain villager. The smuggling of tung oil is very similar, Beiwei smuggled it, and it is indeed a long way to go. Li Wenyi looked at the people in front of him, and then said to his subordinates: "Let's take this thing away!" ”

Li Wenyi felt that so much tung oil was a bit strange. He can only be charged with trafficking and smuggling first, but the law of this dynasty only confiscates goods for this crime. Because he had no excuse to arrest people, and in order to deal with it carefully, he could only order people to take away the two carriages.

The scar-faced men didn't stop them, but just watched the officers and soldiers pull the two carriages away.

After Li Wenyi took the officers and soldiers away, they secretly retreated into the alley. Carefully knock on the door of the courtyard and quickly dodge inside.

Luo Xiaotian, who was still sitting in the distance drinking tea, saw that the mysterious people had returned to the backyard. He also quickly got up and walked towards the courtyard.