The next day, the three of them did not ride horses, but slowly wandered to the double arch on the north side of the county office, and then turned west to the market in front of the drum tower. Suddenly, I saw a fisherman in the middle of the market arguing with a white-faced scholar, who was in his twenties, with a thin face, and his cheekbones were raised because of the thinness of his cheeks.

A group of idlers surrounded them, stretching their necks one by one, watching the excitement.

Seeing the situation, the fisherman did something on the catty, and was recognized by the scholar, so he quarreled. In the end, the scholar threw a handful of copper coins into the fish basket and said angrily: "The small people also dare to deceive the good in broad daylight. How! ”

Before the words were finished, a broad-shouldered and broad-backed biao-shaped man stepped forward and punched the scholar's face, the scholar was beaten to the mouth and nose, and the biao-shaped man scolded: "You are a yellow-mouthed child, you dare to scold Huai in the crowd, insinuating and insulting our Lord Lei, I will let you taste the taste of the old fist today, and I will touch it next time." Cut off the base of your tongue! ”

When Ouyang Yong saw this, he was about to go up to fight the grievances, but Xia Xue hurriedly pressed his hand on his arm, suggesting that he should not be reckless.

Seeing this, the idlers on the lookers scattered like birds and beasts. The scholar wiped the blood from his mouth and nose without saying a word, and bowed his head to himself.

Xia Xue gave Ouyang Yong and Ouyang Qian a signal, and the three of them followed the scholar away.

The scholar entered a secluded alley, and Xia Xue strode to his side, saying, "Xianggong, please stay!" Forgive me for taking the liberty of seeing that splash of skin abusing you, why did you swallow your anger and leave without suing him to the county yamen? ”

When the scholar heard this, he looked Xia Xue, Ouyang Yong, and Ouyang Qian up and down with suspicion, and sneered: "You said, I don't know that the three of you are Lei Zhentian's meticulous work?" If I don't want to be whimsical, how can I find myself uncomfortable again? ”

Xia Xue looked around and saw that there were only three of them in the alley, so she whispered: "Xianggong Xiu should be afraid, I am the minister of the imperial court, and I came to Qingyuan County for a private visit, what do you have to say." But it's okay to talk about it. As he spoke, he took out the official certificate from his bag.

After reading the official documents, the scholar suddenly became full of joy and his face turned pale. I saw him wipe his forehead with his hand, calmed his spirits, breathed a deep sigh of relief, and gradually smiled on his face, and said respectfully to Xia Xue. "It turned out that Lord Qincha came here, and Xiaosheng Du Lian was polite! I am a poor talent in the local area, and the people of Qingyuan look forward to being virtuous and wise, which is like the hope of a great drought. My lord is here, Qingyuan can hope to be governed, and the country is very fortunate! Li Min is very lucky! It's just that the adults are coming, and they don't know Mount Tai in their later lives, and they ask the adults to forgive them! ”

Xia Xue said: "It's serious, why does Du Xiucai need to speak like this, you have something to say, the atmosphere in this city seems to be abnormal, what do you have Pili Yangqiu, although he and the plate are out." ”

Du Lian didn't answer immediately, pondered for a moment, but said: "It's inconvenient to talk here, can the adults go to the cold house to talk, Rong Xiaosheng invites the three adults to drink a cup of fragrant tea, so that the three of them can see a hole and get a foolish revenge." ”

Xia Xue agreed and followed Du Lian to the south of the city. After walking for more than half an hour, Xia Xue saw a large lotus pond and asked, "Du Xiucai lives next to the lotus pond?" ”

Du Lian nodded.

The willow-shaded official road became narrower and narrower, and the four of them branched into a path, which was densely wooded. A swamp can be faintly seen everywhere, and the water vapor is dark green and light green, which has a unique scenery.

Du Lian pushed open the bamboo gate and suddenly saw a large quiet and elegant garden, and a crooked board bridge led to the small pavilion in the center of the lotus pond. By the lotus pond, the grass is green, the wild flowers are beautiful, the water birds are chirping, and the butterflies are circling. On the lotus pond, there is a piece of new lotus, and the fragrance is bursting. The breeze blows, the lotus leaves flutter, the waves shake, the lotus leaves flutter, the white lotus dots, very beautiful, just like in the painting.

Xia Xue said: "Good scenery! Mr. Du sings poems and drinks tea in this garden all day long, so Yaxing. ”

Du Lian said: "Where is it, Qingyuan County is now smoky and miasma, where do I have any Yaxing poetry and music?" ”

The four of them stepped on the rickety board bridge and walked to the wing pavilion. On the hexagonal cornices on the small pavilion, a copper bell hangs down from each. The red paint of the pavilion pillars has been mottled and peeled off, and the green tiles on the roof of the pavilion are also jagged and incomplete. On the opposite side of the lotus pond, a few houses are sparse, and most of them are shaded by a towering oak tree. In the thick shade of the pavilion, I saw the mist and morning fog filling, and I didn't hear the sound of chickens and dogs.

Du Lian's home is not far from the lotus pond, he asked Xia Xue and the three of them to sit in the pavilion, and then stepped on the "squeaky" shaking bridge, came to the lotus pond, went around the embankment to his own house at the other end of the garden, and asked his wife to bring tea and tea sets. Du Lian's wife was dignified and quiet, and after bringing tea to Xia Xue and them, she made a good fortune, smiled shyly and went back.

Ouyang Yong was bored and took a stone and threw it into the lotus pond, and after a "poof", there was no other movement, and asked Du Lian strangely: "I don't know if there are toads in this lotus pond?" ”

Du Lian smiled and replied, "Of course there are frogs." However, our lotus pond is weird, and the frogs never bark during the day, even if they are frightened. At night, he is very vigilant, and at the slightest movement, he will call at every turn. It's daytime, and if you throw rocks again, the toads won't call. ”

"There is such a miracle!" Ouyang Yong scratched his head.

Xia Xue knows that frogs don't like to live in environments that are too cold, too hot or too dry, and they prefer cool and damp places. It's so hot during the day, and the frogs are probably hiding in the shade and sleeping in a groggy place. It's cool at night, and of course it's more active.

The four of them sat in the small pavilion and slowly drank green tea, Du Lian said in a low voice: "My lord doesn't know, Qingyuan County is a county where the Yao, Zhuang, and Han ethnic groups live together, with many peaks and mountains, streams and streams, high terrain, remote geography, and isolation from the world, so this place has been 'the mountain is high and the emperor is far away' since ancient times." In recent years, there has been a bully in this county, named Lei Zhentian, he is a Zhuang clan, Lei Zhentian has raised about 200 thugs in the house, these minions are running wolf in the county all day long, oppressing the good, arbitrarily judging the country, and the people, and no one in the county dares to say a word to him. He ran cabinet shops, pawn shops, casinos, green houses, inns, and restaurants, and grabbed a large amount of huge profits and wealth through forced buying and selling, clever robbery, and usury, and bought off all the official government from the county order to the government officials, and was almost the de facto number one in Qingyuan County. The yamen who had eaten his benefits only turned a blind eye to his evil deeds, never cared about them, and even often covered them up, making him even more arrogant, claiming to be the king and hegemonic, and lawless. Shicai was born late in the market and did not name him by name, and he still ate a punch from his subordinates in the face. ”

Ouyang Qian asked, "What kind of weapons are these thugs carrying?" ”

"This gang of pimpies only carries sticks and sharp swords, but in the Thunder Mansion there are eighteen kinds of blades, piled up like a mountain, like an armory."

Ouyang Qian asked again: "Du Lian, have you ever been to the Lei Mansion?" ”

"But I don't dare! On weekdays, I see that he can't hide, and he dares to cause trouble! The area around the Lei Mansion was never going in his later years, but he saw the Lei Mansion surrounded by a double-layer wall, and the watchtowers at the four corners stood tall, which could be described as heavily guarded. ”

Xia Xue's face was frosty: "There is such a disaster in Qingyuan County, no wonder the lives are miserable, and the people have suffered." ”

"Lei Zhentian is as cunning as a fox, and he knows that the bow will break if he pulls it too tightly, so for the rich businessmen and giants in this county, the famous big stores are not knocking on the bones and sucking the marrow, but making the shops more or less profitable after paying a lot of money. In addition, he was able to maintain local tranquility in a so-so manner, and if a thief or brawler was caught by his men, he would be beaten half to death on the spot. It is a fact that his minions go in and out of various tea houses and wine shops, eat and drink, and never give a single copper coin; But on the other hand, Lei Zhentian is a spendthrift, and he and his minions are all customers of many big stores in the city. However, it was those small shops and bad shops, and the craftsmen and craftsmen were the most oppressed by him. Now the people of a county have to go against the grain and resign themselves to fate, not knowing that the situation in this world is in Hudi. ”

Xia Xue asked, "Are Lei Zhentian's minions loyal to him?" ”

Du Lian asked rhetorically, "Why are they disloyal to him?" There were about 200 of them, and they spent their days in the taverns and casinos. They are either ruffians, hooligans, beggars, and thieves in the past, or they are fugitives in the official army. Speaking of the Thunder House, it looks like a fortress, not far from the west gate, the outer wall is very high, the top of the wall is a row of sharp iron, four doors, guns in hand, swords out of the sheath, day and night guarding the gate. ”

Xia Xue was silent for a while.

Xia Xue asked some things about the former county magistrate Yang Dao, and Du Lian praised this upright county magistrate, but only sighed at his untimely death. Xia Xue questioned the cause of Yang County's death and suspected that he had been killed, and Du Lian also agreed, but unfortunately there was no evidence.

"Could it be that now the entire Qingyuan County government is completely dark, from the county order to the government officials? Not a single good guy left? Xia Xuedai frowned slightly.

Du Lian shook his head, "Although the entire Qingyuan County Government is completely dark now, there is indeed a good person in the county government of Qingyuan County." ”

Xia Xue asked in surprise, "Who is it?" ”

"Shao Wen, he is the county lieutenant of the Qingyuan County Government, mainly responsible for the county's public security and theft, he is more upright, he doesn't buy Lei Zhentian's account, he is a Yao clan."

"Shao Wen!" Xia Xue was happy in her heart, the Qingyuan County Government finally did not disappoint her completely, and she decided to visit this Shao County Lieutenant who came out of the mud and was not stained.

Du Lian said with a gloomy face: "It's hard to be a good person in the yamen of Qingyuan County!" County Lieutenant Shao was too upright, offended the county commander Feng Qi and the bully Lei Zhentian, he was plotted more than a month ago, his left leg was broken, and now he is still lying on the bed to recuperate, the murderer has not been found so far, it must be the minions of the Lei Zhentian faction, but there is no proof of death, alas——"

Xia Xuexiu clenched her fists, and Ouyang Yong and Ouyang Qian were also full of anger.

Xia Xue drank the dry teacup and decided to visit Shao County.

Du Lian told Xia Xue about the residence of Shao County Lieutenant, Shao Wen's family lives in the north of the city, Du Lian lives in the south of the city, and the distance between the two is quite far.

Du Lian sent Xia Xue and the three of them out of the hut and threw them to the ground, "Lord Li take care, the well-being of the people of Qingyuan County is entrusted to you!" ”

Xia Xue solemnly replied, "Please rest assured Mr. Du, I will definitely live up to my mission!" ”