The night passed safely, and nothing changed.

After dawn, Yang Chen went straight to the county order to take leave, and then rushed to the post station to borrow a horse, and then headed towards Taiyuan.

Now the county belongs to Taiyuan, the two places are not far apart, riding a horse galloping only half a day's work, when the sun is slanting westward, Yang Chen has seen the Taiyuan City that is said to be pointed out by the great calligrapher Wang Xizhi of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the three words of Taiyuan City hanging high on the head of the city gate.

Along the way, he had to maintain a certain speed and keep an eye on his back, guarding against possible enemies. It wasn't until he was about to enter the city that he didn't find anything unusual, so he breathed a sigh of relief. As for the feeling of being watched last night, he didn't know if he was too worried at this time.

However, there is nothing wrong with being careful, after Yang Chen entered the city, he was still on guard, until he confirmed that there was no tail to follow, and then he came to a pawnshop in the east of Taiyuan City that looked very large. This is the Li pawnshop written on the half of the pawn ticket in his hand.

At this time, it was getting dark, and the streets were very sparsely populated, and even a few who were still walking outside were in a hurry, hurrying home. And in the pawnshop, several guys are also planning to clean up and want to close. Suddenly flashed into such a dusty servant, and at first glance it was a foreigner who had just entered the city, which made these guys obviously a little surprised: "Dare to ask the guest whether he is a thing or a ransom?" The tone was a little wary and cold.

These guys who work in the pawnshop still have a good eye, just from Yang Chen's ordinary clothes, you can guess that he is not a rich lord, so he is not as enthusiastic as he was when he was with distinguished guests.

"I have a pawn ticket here, and I want you to show it for me." Yang Chen didn't care about their attitude, he directly took out half of the pawn ticket in his sleeve, stretched out his arm, and slapped it on the counter that was much higher than his head.

According to the rules of pawnshops, the counter that receives ordinary customers is more than one person high, which not only makes people outside unable to see their expressions, but also gives guests who come to pawn things a feeling of inferiority, so as to better bargain. This tradition has remained unchanged for hundreds of years, and in the end, it has been inherited by some institutions and units in later generations.

Hearing him say that it was ransom, the guy's attitude was even colder. For a pawnshop, the best deal is to have a customer who lacks money to sell something of value at a very low price, so that the pawnshop can make a lot of money. When you come to redeem it, you generally earn a few taels of silver for the custody fee and interest.

"Wait for ......" After throwing out such a sentence stubbornly, this person took the pawn ticket in, and after a while, it was thrown out again: "You only have half a pawn ticket, why should we let you redeem it?" ”

Yang Chen seemed quite calm, and replied calmly when he heard this: "With the background of the Li family's pawnshop, this little thing will naturally be difficult for you. This thing is a human life, so please help. ”

"Hey, since you've heard of the name of our Li Pawnshop, you should know our rules. You just take half a ticket for no reason, how can people believe that this thing must be yours. Sorry, but if you want to redeem it, please take the whole pawn ticket and speak. The man immediately rejected his request.

"Didn't you hear me? This is a human life, I am from the Yamen......" Yang Chen's face finally sank, and he emphasized.

Unexpectedly, the other party didn't buy his account at all, but just snorted: "It's the people from the Taiyuan Mansion who are here, don't want to take things away if you don't follow the rules of our pawnshop." The tone was full of arrogance.

This guy is indeed qualified to talk like this, because the origin of Li's pawnshop is indeed not small. The history of this shop alone is more than 100 years, and it is almost in time for the founding of the Ming Dynasty. And this is still the property of the Li family in Taiyuan, which is one of the few big families in the northwest.

It is said that this Li family took root here when the Sui and Tang dynasties were fighting, and even the Li Yuan family of the prosperous Tang Dynasty generation is just one of the Li families, and there are countless official eunuchs and celebrities who have gone out from this family, and they are really big families.

Such a big family that has been entrenched in Shanxi for nearly a thousand years, its roots and branches are luxuriant, which is unimaginable to ordinary people, even the local government has to rely on them to help in many things, so it is natural to give it three points. Don't look at the Li family's pawnshop is just a pawnshop, but the government does not dare to provoke it at will.

Yang Chen, who understood what they meant, quickly frowned, it seemed that it was not as simple as he imagined to get Chen Zhigao's things here: "It seems that the only thing to use is ......" Immediately, he had made up his mind in his heart, so he reached into his arms, took out a brass brand and slapped it on the counter with a bang, and pushed it in with a force.

"What do you mean by that? Do you still want to use the government to scare people? The guy sneered: "I still want to be it......" Before he finished speaking, this person's face changed suddenly, and then with a squeak, he exclaimed that an upside-down onion fell down.

Since the pawnshop counter is extremely high, the stool under the guy is also specially raised. I usually don't feel anything, but just now when I leaned back in surprise, this one was unlucky, and it was really uncomfortable to fall off a stool that was as high as one person.

However, the guy didn't care about the pain at all at this time, and after getting up in a hurry, he said outward, "Big ...... My lord, you are a brocade from the capital...... Jin Yiwei? At the mention of the last three words, there was another fight between his upper and lower teeth, and it was like an ice cellar.

In today's world, this brocade guard is really a terrifying existence that can stop children crying at night. Especially among the people, to the common people, they are almost no different from the devil. It is said that as long as you provoke the adults of the Jinyi Guard, it is almost doomed to the end of your whole family.

In addition to the eye-catching flying fish suit and the long embroidered spring knife, the logo of Jinyiwei is only the waist card that shows its status. No one in the world dares to counterfeit this thing, so as long as it comes out, it is enough to scare people.

Yang Chen sighed secretly in his heart, but his face was cold: "Go and ask your courtiers to come and talk to this official." Now that he has revealed this identity, his attitude is naturally much tougher than before.

When he was sent to Shanxi to investigate the case by the Criminal Department that day, in order to make it more convenient for him to act in the future, the imperial court specially gave him such a hidden identity. However, in the past few months, he has never shown this waist card, and he didn't want to go to Taiyuan today, so he actually took it out.

The deterrent effect of Jinyiwei's identity is still quite good, only a moment of work, an old man with a long beard and a drooping chest rushed out of it, as soon as they met, they gave a salute again and again: "Please forgive me, it's the guy in our store who has no eyes, and I hope your boss doesn't care about the villain......"

"That's it, this official doesn't mean to delve into it, as long as you cooperate with me." Yang Chen naturally didn't have much to do, just waved his hand, took the pawn ticket and put it in the old court's hand, and said his intention.

Lao Chaofeng frowned slightly, but after his eyes swept the brocade clothes guard waist card that was still on the counter, he nodded again and said: "Since it is an important matter for adults, even if it is not in accordance with the rules, Xiao Lao'er will definitely cooperate." However, this will have to be done in the books, which may take some time. ”

"It's okay, I'll wait." Yang Chen saw that the other party responded, and finally made sure in his heart. It is said that the half of the pawn ticket only has the names of the pawnshop and Chen Zhigao on it, and half of the things that are written are gone, so it is really difficult to figure out and get things.

The old court smiled again, invited Yang Chen to sit aside, and then asked someone to serve tea and snacks, and then ran behind the counter to find it.

After more than half an hour like this, Lao Chaofeng came to Yang Chen with an account book, pointed to one of them and said, "My lord, do you see if this is it." ”

Yang Chen fixed his eyes and saw Chen Zhigao's name, as well as the date of the pawn, August 30 this year. Then he nodded and said, "That's it......" glanced at the item column again, and immediately moved in his heart.

This Chen Zhigao actually just pawned a cotton coat here! This is indeed very incompatible with his identity, but the more strange it is, the more it shows that there is a secret hidden in it, which makes Yang Chen's spirit even more uplifted. At the same time, considering that the date of the pawn was a few days before he was killed, the matter is even more worthy of in-depth investigation.

"Then please bring me the things." Yang Chen then said.

"Yes, please stay for a moment." After seeing that it was really just a cotton coat, Lao Chaofeng was really relieved. If it is something precious and valuable, if the other party bluntly says that he wants to take it, he really doesn't dare to be the master. But a cotton coat is worth a few dollars, and even if you give it to him, it's nothing.

After a while, Lao Chaofeng brought over a half-worn cotton coat: "My lord, this is Chen Zhigao's cotton clothes in our shop." ”

"Hmm." Yang Chen took it in response, touched his waist again, and asked, "How much should it be, you can report it." ”

"Don't dare...... This cotton coat should be given to the adults by the small shop to make amends, as long as the adults blame us for neglecting, we will be satisfied. The old Chao Feng said with a smile.

Yang Chen didn't insist, for Li's pawnshop, the price of such a cotton coat was not worth mentioning at all. After taking the cotton clothes, he looked at them carefully, but he didn't find any problems, this was an ordinary cotton clothes. He also believed that the other party would not dare to deceive himself in this matter.

"In that case, so be it. Remember, this matter must not be publicized publicly, you have never seen me, and you have not confiscated the cotton clothes. Yang Chen got up and took the square waist card and instructed.

"Yes, little old man understands." Lao Chaofeng nodded his head, and handed over a heavy money bag very covertly: "A little heart, I hope the adults will not dislike it." ”

Yang Chen didn't take the money bag, just smiled at him, then walked out of the door with a cotton coat. Only the old courtier and a few guys were left looking at each other, and they couldn't come back to their senses for a long time......