Pedestrians on the narrow streets are hurrying, the little seconders of the shops are on the door panels, and the eldest grandson Hong walks through the afterglow of twilight and sunset, and inquires all the way to the street in front of the city.

No matter which county, the most lively street, all belong to the Yaqian Street, this is the place where the Yamen is located, the teahouse and the restaurant, the silver building restaurant are the most concentrated, in the daytime, people come and go here, the river is endless, there are many idlers, holding the lice on the body bored squatting at the gate of the county ya, waiting to see the person who lost the lawsuit being spanked by the county, for the idlers, it is a very interesting pastime.

Because the state government of Hezhou is in Shizhao County, the county government and the state government are on the same street, but the county government is in the east and the state government is in the west, and the scale of the county government is much smaller than that of the state government.

When Changsun Hong came here, he went straight to the county yamen, but there was no one in front of the yamen, the sparsely populated streets were empty, the yamen gate was closed, and there was not even a door.

Off work? It's so early.

The eldest grandson Hong looked at the Dengwen drum erected at the door, his hands itched for a long time, but he still didn't dare to pick up the mallet and beat it, he lingered in front of the door for a long time, and waited until it was dark, only to see a servant yawning out to light a lantern.

Changsun Hong took a few steps and walked in front of the man with a smile on his face.

It was dark, and the official put his hands together to make a fire, and when he was concentrating, a head suddenly popped out and squeezed in front of him with a smile, and he was startled, and he almost fell to the ground with a few steps back, and when he saw clearly that it was a young man, he suddenly became angry.

"Where's the kid? Come to the yamen to make trouble! The official shouted, touching his chest and suppressing the shock: "Get out of here!" Otherwise, I'll beat you little bastard! ”

"Don't, don't, brother, I'm here to deliver the letter." Eldest Sun Hong's face was full of smiles, and he said, "Someone asked me to send a letter." ”

"Go, go, go, it's so late, everyone is back, no one can be found, what's the matter to come back tomorrow." The official rolled his eyes and snorted through his nostrils.

"The people are not leaving, this letter is for those who live here." Changsun Hong's face smiled like a flower: "Big brother, it's convenient, please let me know." ”

The official laughed angrily, crossed his arms and sneered: "I said that your little brother has figured it out?" This is the county government, and the one who lives here is the county honor, and there is no one else, do you want to send a letter to the county lord? ”

He was teasing, but he didn't expect the young man to nod again and again, and said, "Yes, yes, it's for the county." ”

The official couldn't help but be furious, this kid came to find Lao Tzu to have fun? He turned his face and scolded: "Get out! If you don't go, Lao Tzu will kill you! ”

Before he finished speaking, a hand reached over and pinched a piece of hard stuff into his hand, and the servant was startled, and reflexively clenched his hand, according to the feeling, it was a silver ingot.

At least five yuan, the official almost held his breath, being a servant in the Shizhao County Yali is far from being as popular as an errand in the state yali, and the people who fight lawsuits disdain to deal with the likes of the yamen, so his life is not very rich, and bribes of five coins and silver are rare.

Eldest Sun Hong handed over the silver, his smiling face became even happier, and he said again: "Big brother, please inform me." ”

The official looked at the cloth-clothed young man in front of him suspiciously, hesitated for a while, and said, "The county is in the house...... Do you really have a letter to give to him? ”

"Of course." Changsun Hong took out the letter, held it in his hand and shook it: "It's here." ”

The official took the letter, looked at it backwards, and then looked at Changsun Hong, full of doubt, and finally put down the lit lantern and said to him: "That's the case, you wait here, I'll go in and hand it over for you, but the ugly words are ahead, I don't know if the county respects it or not, and when the time comes, I'll return it to you, don't blame me, I won't return the money." ”

Changsun Hong stood up straight, and said loudly: "As long as the county lord sees the cover, he will definitely accept it, eldest brother don't have to worry, just send it in." ”

The official rolled his eyelids again, turned to enter, and closed the door with a "bang".

The black-lacquered copper-nailed gate was as cold as a rock, and Changsun Hong looked up at the high door frame, squatted down, sat on the steps of the yamen, and silently raised his head to look at the sky, waiting silently.

A round of autumn moon hangs on the branches, bent like a golden remnant sun, illuminates the quiet city, the bluestone slab reflects the light slightly, casting the light and shadow on the face of the eldest grandson, the childish face, but in the moonlight with a calm expression, a pair of bright eyes, deep and firm, surrounded by black houses, a lantern like a firefly is placed on the ground alone, the thin figure is set off more and more thin, the twelve-year-old boy sits on the ground, as if turned into a stone statue, and the dark night is integrated.

I don't know how long later, the closed door opened again with a tooth-aching "squeak" sound, and the official flashed out an upper body, looked out, and screamed.

"Little brother, come, the county lord wants to see you."

Changsun Hong stood up, patted the ash on his buttocks, and thanked him: "Okay, thank you big brother." ”

The officer's expression was a little cramped, he opened the door a little more, let Changsun Hong in, closed the door again, squirmed and forced a smile, and said, "Please come with me." ”

He carried a lantern and led the way in front, and the two walked along the corridor, and the official looked back from time to time, his expression was as unnatural as it was, and the eldest grandson Hong's heart was bright, and he smiled without saying a word.

Sure enough, after walking a short distance, the official finally couldn't bear it anymore, stopped, grabbed the back of his head and said embarrassedly to Changsun Hong: "That, little brother, you and the county lord...... What's the relationship? ”

Eldest Sun Hong shrugged his shoulders: "You shouldn't ask about this, right?" ”

"Yes, yes, yes, yes." The white hair and sweat on the head of the official were all coming out, and he shuddered at the thought of the reaction of the county lord who had always been arrogant just now when he saw the letter.

He gritted his teeth, reached into his arms, pinched the five-dollar silver that had not yet been covered in his hand, handed it to Changsun Hong, and said with a smile: "This is back to you, in fact...... Little brother, I generally don't dare to ask for this kind of money, you ...... Please wait to see the county honor, but don't mention this, otherwise...... I'm going to eat the board. ”

The reaction of the official was as early as the eldest grandson Hong expected, a Shuzhong county commander saw the words Wei Liaoweng, who had been a member of the Fourth Road in western Sichuan, and he could imagine any expression reaction, and it was reasonable for the official to overestimate his identity.

The eldest grandson Hong pushed the hand of the servant back, put the ingot of silver back into his arms with a smile, and said, "What did the eldest brother say?" Generally not long-sighted, they won't really come in to report at all, and they will go out and lie to me that the county will be over if they don't answer the letter, where will they be as sincere as the eldest brother, don't shirk this little meaning, the eldest brother's surname? ”

"Don't dare to be, don't dare to be, villain Wang Gui, serve as the head of the soap class in the ya, and the little brother can call me Wang Laosi." The official was pleasantly surprised, and hurriedly thanked him: "Little brother is going here, the county is already waiting." ”

The front and back courtyards of the county government, the front yard office, the back yard residents, along the corridor through the six rooms through the four doors, and then through a moon gate separating the front and back courtyards, you enter the backyard of the county office.

Under the Moon Gate, a tall, thin middle-aged man in a regimental collar robe was waiting eagerly, probably a little anxious, and he kept turning in circles.

(End of chapter)