Because he drank some wine with several lieutenants of the military academy at night, now he didn't feel sleepy at all, returned to the study, picked up a copy of "Liutao", only turned two pages, and couldn't read it anymore, so he took the saber and walked out of the inner courtyard, there was a slight snoring sound in the chamber of Qingmo, this little brother recently learned swordsmanship with an old soldier in the city defense battalion, and he had to get up at the end of the third watch, and he always slept early at night.

Li Mao couldn't bear to wake him up, he wanted to call Mo Qi's supernatural powers, but after taking two steps and changing his mind, he simply went back to the study, changed into coarse linen clothes, put down his saber, and only brought a short dagger for self-defense.

Gushan Town has a curfew, and it is very strict, but the curfew time starts from Hai Shi, and there is still a quarter of an hour before Hai Shi, and the purpose of Li Mao's trip is to check the implementation of the curfew.

A quarter of an hour ago, the streets were bustling with activity, but now they are noticeably deserted, with vendors packing up their stalls and preparing to close, pedestrians hurrying around in their clad hoods.

No one paid attention to Li Mao, who was dressed shabby and walked alone in the night. This feeling makes Li Mao very uncomfortable, in essence, he is a person who likes to be lively and envies flashiness.

There are five city gates in Gushan Town, one each in the southeast and west, and two in the north city, one of which is dedicated to the military academy, only through the military horses, not for civilian use, and not under the management of the city defense battalion.

There is a wonton stall in the open space inside the north gate, and two guards sit on the side of the stall eating and drinking slowly, and the owner of the wonton stall does not take the upcoming curfew to heart because of the support of the officials and soldiers, and still does his business with peace of mind.

A sultry gas erupted from Li Mao's nostrils, and he didn't say a word and turned to leave.

There is also a wonton stall confiscated in the east gate, and the round-shaped proprietress is talking and laughing with four or five guards.

Li Mao frowned.

Before we reached the south gate, the drums of the curfew rang from the bell and drum tower set up in the city bureau, and when the drums were heard, the drums on the city gates on all sides also sounded again and again, and the pedestrians and vendors on the street were flying like flying, and they were in a hurry.

Li Mao has always grasped the curfew in Gushan Town very tightly, and the punishment of those who violate the ban is also very severe, especially after the autumn, which has almost reached the point of harshness.

Under the strict punishment and strict law, Li Mao thought that the curfew he personally arrested would be well enforced, but through this private visit, he sadly found that the truth was still quite far from his imagination.

He stood under a locust tree on the side of the street, and watched the chaos around him, a large adult tree transplanted from the mountains outside the city, which had taken root in the city and was already flourishing. But it's early winter, and the trees are bare except for the fallen leaves on the ground.

The night cold invaded, Li Mao's toes were as uncomfortable as being bitten by a cat, he looked west, calculating the time, there should have been a team of street cleaners.

But now there was nothing but dead branches and leaves swept up by the cold wind.

After waiting for another quarter of an hour, there was still no movement, Li Mao left the locust tree and walked towards the Wuhou shop in the east gate.

Wuhou is laid in the corner of the neighborhood, and each shop is rated to garrison six people in the city defense battalion, and they are on duty in three times. After nightfall, the street guards gathered in the Wuhou shop in the four gates and inspected the interface. Li Mao's current position is less than ten zhang away from the Wuhou shop at the east gate, and the street guards should have set off at this hour, and the street guards who stayed behind should stand on the street with lanterns and hit * to warn.

But now there is nothing but the rustle of the wind blowing the leaves.

There is a pot of charcoal fire in the Wuhou shop at the east gate, seven or eight soldiers are holding bowls, snoring and eating wontons, the hot wonton soup flows into the stomach, making people feel the warmth of spring, the wontons with thin skin and tender meat turn into food between the mouths, dissipate the cold of the winter night, this is undoubtedly a very enjoyable thing in this cold winter night.

A newcomer finished eating a bowl of wontons, looked at the dark street uneasily, he hesitated for a moment, but still put down the bowl, picked up the knife, picked up the gun, and stood on the cold street. He caged his hands, bent his neck, bent his back, and kept jumping on his feet, without a lantern or a bamboo tube, and only held a spear in his arms.

Li Mao was still a foot away from him when he found out.

"Stop, stop, who?" The little soldier shouted, and hurriedly grabbed the gun with his hands and feet, his hand cage was too tight in his sleeve, and he was flustered, and he couldn't pull it out for a long time.

"It's me."

Li Mao glanced at this pawn and felt a little embarrassed, there were more than 120 people in the city defense battalion, he had seen them all, and he could call the names of all the officers and more than ninety percent of the non-commissioned officers, but he not only couldn't name the pawn in front of him, but even suspected that he had never met.

As a last resort, he could only find the token he carried with him, and everyone in the city defense battalion had a token, the officer was copper, and the soldier was wooden, with the name and position engraved on it. The envoy of the city bureau and the general of the city defense battalion, Li Mao also has a bronze medal.

The pawn craned his neck to look at the token, and his face gradually had a stammering expression, he didn't know how to read, but he knew that anyone with a bronze medal was an official he couldn't afford to mess with.

"Please wait, sir, I'll call our boss."

Nodding his head and about to leave, he was stopped by Li Mao: "No need, ask Zhang Yang and me to go tomorrow morning." "Zhang Yanghe is the general of the city defense battalion and the Wuhou shop in the east gate, and he is the supreme commander of this Wuhou shop, Li Mao has to beat him first if he wants to hit the board.

Zhang ...... Yang, who is that? Sir, you ...... Who's it? ”

Li Mao really couldn't cry or laugh, he patted the pawn's shoulder, didn't say a word, and walked away silently.

After returning to his hometown, the more Li Mao thought about it, the more wrong it became, that is, he asked Mo Qi Shentong to call Feng Bu, Feng Bu led people to squat in the south of the city to arrest people that night, and he had just succeeded in freezing for most of the night, and was about to go back to the Simian Street Detective Office to celebrate, listening to Li Mao's call, he was so busy that he didn't even change his clothes at night and rushed over. Li Mao didn't say a word of greeting when he met, and asked directly: "What are Ma Hedong and Chen Lan doing, where did the soldiers of the city defense battalion come from, and why do they look so unreliable?" ”

Feng Bu didn't understand what the word "reliable" was, but looking at Li Mao's expression, he guessed that he had just returned from a night patrol. Since Ma Hedong and Chen Lan took over the city defense camp, the night ban in Gushan Town has become more and more relaxed, Feng Bu saw that in his eyes, he just didn't say anything, he got along well with Zhang Qi and Xia Chun, and he had no good impression of Ma Hedong and Chen Lan who came to pick peaches halfway.

Hearing Li Mao's question, he thought for a while and replied: "The city defense battalion originally had only one hundred and twenty people, and after the two generals Zheng Hedong and Chen Lan took over, they wanted to double the number of people. Speaking of this, Feng Bu paused: "Some country boys came into the city to walk, and they caught them, and even coaxed and frightened them into the industry. ”

Speaking of this, Feng Bu suddenly chuckled in his heart: Is it difficult for Li Mao not to know about such a major event as expanding the army?

It is true that Zheng Hedong and Chen Lan are Yu Hualong's people, but the city defense battalion is subordinate to the city bureau, not to mention asking Li Mao for instructions on such a major matter, and a report is the least, right?

When Li Mao heard this, he smiled bitterly and said to Feng Bu: "There are some things that I can't say clearly, you know in your heart that you still need to worry more about the affairs in the city." ”

Feng Budao: "Bombing the streets, picketing the evil, the duty is related, and you dare not relax." ”

After saying two more words, Feng Bu retired.

That night, Xiaoru had a dream, she dreamed that Li Mao came to her side after she was asleep, staring at her gently, caressing her hair, touching her ears, pinching her little nose, his eyes were full of love, gentle enough to make her laugh, she could finally conclude that he had always had her place in his heart, and the impatience and evil deeds shown by him were all used to fool the housewife, Xiaoru smiled happily in the dream.

When she woke up in the morning, the house was empty, but Xiaoru's heart was never full, she liked such dreams, although it was just a dream.