The four of them came to the county office and asked Menzi to go in to report, and after a while, Menzi came out and said, "My lord is waiting for you in the second hall." ”

Before entering the second hall, Cao Hong smelled a smell of wine, and then the door went in to report, Wang Ying said to Cao Hong: "Brother Li, go in for a while, let's report the above meaning to the county order to know, as for the ...... that Lao Qi said" Wang Ying was obviously not very at ease with Cao Hong.

Cao Hong laughed and said: "Don't worry, say what should be said, and never say more that shouldn't be said." ”

Wang Ying was a little relieved and nodded at him.

At this time, Menzi came out and said that the prefectural magistrate let them in. The four of them thanked each other, and Yuguan walked into the second hall.

When I entered the second hall, I saw a big man sitting in the upper chair, about forty years old, with a black face glowing red after drinking. Seeing the four people coming in, the county commander asked loudly in a thick voice, "What kind of errand did you four come to my Mengjin for here?" ”

Cao Hong saw that the county order was drunk, but he didn't dare to be careless, and said carefully: "Lord Yin Yelu came to Mengjin with his subordinates for the matter of the three chiefs, why didn't he submit the three chiefs to the mansion for a long time." ”

The county commander waved his hand and said, "Didn't you send it a long time ago?" ”

Cao Hong, the four of them, you look at me, I look at you, and they are completely confused by this county order. Cao Hong was about to ask again, only to hear a female voice in the back hall say: "Father, the matter of the three elders has not been reported to the house, maybe you are mistaken." Listening to the voice, it is very pleasant, listening to the voice, Cao Hong estimates that this woman is more than ten years old.

After hearing this, the county order slapped his head and said loudly: "Oops, I forgot, it was indeed not reported, has it been elected?" ”

Then the back hall reminded again: "It's elected." ”

The county magistrate sighed and said, "It's okay, it's okay, then hand it over to these people and send it to you." ”

At this time, there was no sound in the back hall, and the county order waited for a while, and when he saw that no one had sent it, he staggered to his feet and walked towards the back hall. Cao Hong and the other four only heard a sound of rustling, and then heard a whisper in the back hall, and then saw the county order come out.

The county commander coughed awkwardly, cleared his throat and said, "Today, you wait to stay at the pavilion first, and then I will check the candidates for the three elders, and then hand them over to you to present to Lord Yelu." ”

The four of them knew that he couldn't take it out, and it was not strange, so they gave a salute and withdrew.

Out of the county office, Wang Ying saw that it was still early, so he said to Cao Hong: "Brother Li, you see that when you go back to the pavilion now, you can sit idly and have nothing to do, why don't you go shopping with us?" Halfway through his words, Wang Ying looked around like a thief and said to Cao Hong: "Brother, I have been to Mengjin a few times, and I know a lot of good places. ”

As soon as Cao Hong heard this, he knew that Wang Ying had designated to go to those Qinglou Chu Pavilions again, so he shook his hand and said with a wry smile: "Thank you, Brother Wang, my family is very strict, and I am ...... age."

Wang Ying listened to Cao Hong's words, and was happy to spend less silver, so he hurriedly said: "Ah, brother, you, walking in the yamen, can you go to these places less in the future?" That's it, you go back to the pavilion to rest, and the three of us go to drink tea and listen to music. I'll be back in a moment. ”

After hearing this, Cao Hong smiled and said, "Brother Wang, have fun, come back early." ”

Wang Ying and the two clerks smiled at Cao Hong and left on their own.

After Cao Hong saw the three of them leaving, he looked at the sun, and soon after noon, he thought to himself, idle is idle, so he also went to the market casually.

Turning around the county office, not long after leaving, Cao Hong heard a burst of crying, only to see a family not far away was handling the funeral, and the surrounding relatives, friends and neighbors all came to the courtyard gate to pay their condolences, but there was no one from the main family to greet and return the gift.

The so-called condolence is that relatives and friends know that there is a funeral in this family, and they all come to this house to mourn and give some clothes to the deceased to send condolences. At this time, the bereaved family should kneel down and return the salute and thank everyone for coming to mourn. But no one in this family returned the salute at the gate of the courtyard, and there was strangeness everywhere, Cao Hong couldn't help but walk over with curiosity.

The funeral is still going on, and the people in the courtyard are busy, and the surrounding people are bustling around the courtyard gate for several floors. Cao Hong walked to the gate of the courtyard and was looking inside, only to hear a person next to him say to his companion: "It's really pitiful, the thief is unfair, last year my mother was sick and had no money for treatment, or the old lady Qian invited a doctor to come to my mother's door to see a doctor." Now the white-haired people send the black-haired people, which is really unbearable for everyone. ”

I only heard another person say: "No, my son was supposed to get married today, but he fell ill and died last night." What's this called......"

Cao Hong knew after hearing that this was the courtyard of the old lady Qian who was elected as the party leader. With a slight movement in his heart, he stepped forward, pulled a subordinate in the hospital, and asked him to help out.

After a while, an old man with a white beard walked over tremblingly with the support of two subordinates, and Cao Hong said with a slick on the ground: "Uncle Qian, little nephew, please mourn." ”

The old man Qian Yanqing looked sad, nodded, and said in a hoarse voice: "Childe?" I don't know what to do with old decay? ”

Cao Hong said: "I am a friend of Qian Bin and Mr. Qian, and I heard the bad news today, so I came to pay tribute to Brother Qian." ”

Qian Yanqing sighed deeply, nodded and said, "It's rare to have a son, thank you for your son!" After speaking, Cao Hong was led into Qian Bin's main bed, only to see a door panel laid under the south window, and a young man in his twenties was lying quietly on the door panel, Cao Hong thought that this was Qian Bin, so he stepped forward and solemnly saluted the corpse.

After the salute, the man introduced Cao Hong into the main hall again, only to see that the old lady Qian was closing his eyes to recuperate, but the pair of shou mei trembled slightly, Cao Hong knew that the old lady Qian was in pain at the moment, but he just held back. Cao Hong's heart was also gloomy, at such an age, his son died, and he was very sad.

When Mrs. Qian saw Cao Hong come over after the salute, she said to Cao Hong: "I don't know the name of Gongzi Gao, how can my son get acquainted with you?" ”

Cao Hong gave another salute and said: "My surname is Li, and I don't have much contact with Mr. Qian on weekdays, I got acquainted with Mr. Qian at a poetry meeting, and saw that Mr. Qian was kind and charitable, and his writing was good, and he admired him in his heart, so he became friends with Mr. Qian. ”

After hearing this, Mrs. Qian was sad again, but she reluctantly smiled and said: "Li Gongzi has a heart, Bin'er is dead, and he must be happy to have a friend come to see him off." ”

Cao Hong asked, "Brother Qian was still good before?" Why do you suddenly say that you are leaving? ”

After Qian Yanqing heard this, the old tears couldn't help flowing down anymore, and he choked up and said, "It's all my fault!" It's all my fault! I hurt Bin'er! With that, he pounded his chest vigorously with his hand. When the people saw it, they hurriedly grabbed the old lady Qian.

Seeing this, although Cao Hong wanted to ask a few more words, he couldn't bear to ask any more questions when he saw a father who had lost his son.

After quitting Qian Yanqing, as soon as he walked to the door, he heard a noise coming in from outside the door.

I saw a Su Canaan walk in outside the door and smiled: "Fourth Highness, Canaan is polite." After speaking, Ying Ying gave a salute. , the boy with red lips and white teeth walked in shaking a fan: "Brother Qian, my good brother Qian, how comfortable I was with my little brother that day, why didn't you come to greet me today when I was lying on this door panel!" The man pretended to cry, but instead of looking in pain, he even looked at Qian Bin's corpse with a smile.

Seeing this, Qian Yanqing's hands trembled angrily, and he stretched out his hand tremblingly, pointed at the person who came and said, "Xu Zhi'an, don't deceive people too much." ”

The young man named Xu Zhi'an seemed to be fanning some stinky smell, and fanned the feather fan in his hand everywhere and said, "Uncle Qian, Zhi'an came to the door today to mourn, is this how the Qian family entertains guests?" ”

After Qian Yanqing heard this, she couldn't support it anymore and fainted.

Xu Zhi'an walked up to Qian Bin's corpse with a laugh and whispered: "Mr. Qian, if you go against me, you can only walk quietly, your wife who hasn't passed the door, hehe...... I laughed it off. ”

Seeing that Xu Zhi'an was so rampant, Cao Hong clenched his fists tightly, and even his knuckles turned blue.

At this time, Xu Zhi'an let out a long laugh, paced, and walked out as if no one was around.

When the people saw Qian Yanqing fainting, they were in a hurry again, helping and helping, asking for a doctor, and no longer caring about anything else, only to see this solemn and sad mourning hall, which was noisy like a market in an instant.

The surrounding onlookers whispered, and Cao Hong saw the person who had just spoken beside him and said to the people around him: "My arms can't reach my thighs, hey, in our Mengjin County, who dares to argue with this Xu family?" Evil! ”

The man next to him said: "Bah, this Xu family is really not a thing, killing people is not enough, everyone is dead, and if you don't let go of the Qian family, you won't have to die well in the future." ”

At this time, the old lady Qian woke up slowly, and when Cao Hong saw this, he hurriedly walked over and said, "Uncle Qian, are you okay?" ”

Qian Yanqing's eyes were closed, his face was like white paper, and he slowly shook his head and said: "My Qian family's ancestors don't accumulate virtue, and I don't know what evil they have created. Let's go, I'll die as soon as possible, and I'll see Xu Zhi'an's face. ”

Seeing this, Cao Hong asked: "Uncle Qian, what is the matter, why is this Xu Zhian so excessive, can no one take care of it?" ”

Qian Yanqing just closed his eyes, shook his head and said, "Gongzi Li, I advise you not to be too troublesome, in this Mengjin County, you can't afford to offend that brute." ”

After hearing this, Cao Hong said hatefully: "I don't believe that there is no royal law in this Mengjin County?" ”

That Qian Yanqing smiled bitterly and shook his head, and didn't speak again.

Cao Hong looked at Qian Bin's corpse, and then at the grief-stricken old lady Qian, and secretly vowed in his heart that he would get to the bottom of this matter. After thinking about it, he walked out of the money house.