Wang Huaqiang took the wheat iron rod all the way to the largest Pingshun inn in the city, the so-called largest inn, that is, a simple two-story loess house, with a large wooden board hanging at the door, on which the words "Pingshun Inn" were written crookedly, and two lines of words were written in crooked Qiang language on the side.

When Wang Huaqiang and Mai Tiezhu came to Jincheng this time, they deposited their horses in the city early, so they were all walking in the city, and the dress was just an ordinary Hu businessman, so as not to let anyone see the wealth, although Mai Tiecane's martial arts were good, Wang Huaqiang himself was not weak, but in this folk style is fierce, and there are many bandits on Longxi Road, it is better to keep a low profile.

The two walked into the inn, the hall inside was dimly lit, and a shopkeeper in his fifties with a scruffy face was sitting behind the counter, looking up and down at the two new entrants while making calculations.

Another guy wearing a Western-style cloth hat on his head and a dirty rag on his shoulder walked over, looking ignorant, holding his arms, and saying in half-baked Chinese: "Do you want to be sharpened or stay in a hotel?" ”

Wang Huaqiang used to see a lot of such inn guys when he walked on Longxi Road before, smiled slightly, took out three big coins from his arms, threw them at the feet of the guy, and said: "Stay for one night, you want a clean and quiet room." ”

The guy heard the jingle under his feet, and the light of the copper coins entered his eyes, making his eyes that were originally slightly squinted suddenly round, and while bending down to pick up three copper coins, he put on a smiling face, and the whole person was much more diligent, he walked to the shopkeeper and took an oil lamp: "Guest, please follow me upstairs." ”

Stepping on the creaking and dilapidated stairs, enduring the loess that kept falling on their heads, Wang Huaqiang and Mai Tiezhu followed the guy to the second floor. Entered a house. Push open the thick door. A musty, damp and rotten smell came to his nose, Wang Huaqiang frowned unconsciously, and walked in, while Mai Tiezhu shouted from behind: "You guy, you are so rude, you took the money and brought us to this place?" ”

The guy spread his hands helplessly: "The rooms in the small shop are like this, I'm sorry, the small one will give you two hot water." So he said and ran out of the house.

The wheat rod is about to attack. Wang Huaqiang pulled him into the room, sat on the edge of the wooden table in the room, and said with a smile: "Iron cane, it's good to be at home for a thousand days, and it's more than half a day to go out. ”

Mai Tiezhu also sat down, and said angrily: "We are fighting in the wilderness, this is an inn, it must be the guy in this shop who looks down on people." Didn't arrange a good room for us to stay. ”

Wang Huaqiang sighed: "It's not, I came to this store eight years ago." It's similar to now, Jincheng is a border city in the west of Longxi, the conditions are difficult, you look at every household in this city, even food and clothing are difficult to achieve, relatively speaking, the conditions of this inn are already good. ”

Mai Tiezhu's eyebrows moved, he leaned closer, and said in a low voice: "Xingman, why don't you live in the shop today, no matter how you say it, it's better than here, besides, you obviously want to see Xue Ju this time, why don't you say you can't see the shopkeeper Liu?" ”

Wang Huaqiang also lowered his voice and said in a low voice: "I want to test it to see if Shopkeeper Liu has been bought by Xue Ju, he has never reported Xue Ju's affairs over the years, and the business here every year is only barely breaking even, if he becomes Xue Ju's person, then my shop here will also lose the meaning of existence, and I must find a way to change people." ”

Mai Tiezhu nodded: "But when we come to this inn, how can we detect the relationship between Shopkeeper Liu and Xue Ju?" If you know that Xue Ju is digging our people, will you continue to cooperate? ”

There was a sound of footsteps at the stairs at the door, Wang Huaqiang closed his mouth, sat back in his original position, and saw the guy just now walking in with a bucket of hot water, with two cloth towels hanging on the bucket, and the guy smiled: "The two Langjun have worked hard, the hot water is here, and the two basins are under the bed. ”

Wang Huaqiang nodded, and gave the guy two copper coins, and the guy happily thanked Wang Huaqiang and walked out.

Mai Tiezhu shook his head, picked up the two tea bowls on the table, scooped up the water with the wooden scoop in the bucket, poured it into the bowl, and was about to send it to his mouth, Wang Huaqiang suddenly grabbed Mai Tiecane's hand, and said in a low voice: "Slow." He took out a silver needle from his bosom, stirred it carefully in the bowl, and looked at the color of the needle under the lamp to confirm that there was nothing abnormal, and then nodded reassuringly.

Mai Tiezhu drank a bowl of water, poured another bowl, and said with a smile: "Along the way, you are so thirsty, why don't you drink water?" ”

Wang Huaqiang dipped his fingers in water and wrote on the table: Iron rod, beware of the ear on the wall, you and I talk in handwriting.

Mai Tiezhu was a little surprised, but he still learned to write on the table like Wang Huaqiang, he learned to read and read in Wang Huaqiang in recent years, although the words are written like a dog crawling, but there is no difficulty in recognizing: Xingman, what is wrong with you today, how can you enter this golden city as if you are facing a great enemy, and you can't live in your own store, and you have to prevent people from poisoning you when you come out of the guest house, as for it?

Wang Huaqiang sighed and wrote: Iron rod, it's not that I'm making a fuss, but the development of things is a little unexpected to me, I haven't been to Jincheng for a few years, I didn't expect Xue Ju's power to be so strong, this person is ruthless, and extremely greedy, although I am an ally with him, but this does not mean that he will not see the intention of making money, while you and I are alone here, if I die, the shops in the Longyou area may fall into his hands.

Mai Tiezhu gasped: if this person is so vicious, why do you want to cooperate with him? Why do you want to stay in the city when you know it's dangerous?

Wang Huaqiang's eyes were like torches, and the green light flashed: I want to gamble, first of all, I learned that the shopkeeper of Lu Dao Liu has already thrown himself into Xue Ju, if he is Xue Ju's person, then Xue Ju will definitely come to see me tonight. Secondly, I want to see if Xue Ju still wants to continue to cooperate with me, if he is sincere, he will come to talk about it, if he has a crooked mind, iron rod, I think with the ability of the two of us, we can get out safely. If we leave here, Xue Ju will look down on me, and maybe he will really have the intention of seizing my property in the future.

Mai Tie Cane grinned, and wrote while laughing: This is right, Lao Mai's iron rod is not a vegetarian. By the way, how did you get acquainted with this Xue Ju before?

Wang Huaqiang thought of the first time he took the Longxi trade route eleven years ago and got acquainted with Xue Ju, he couldn't help sighing, and his subordinates were like dragons and snakes: I was only fifteen years old, and our Wang family's business did not extend to Longxi, only a few rice shops and cloth shops in Daxing City, but I heard that taking the Silk Road could have high profits, so I followed a Sogdian caravan and went to Longxi together.

At that time, Xue Ju was only seventeen years old, just a sergeant in this city, at that time their family had just come to Jincheng to settle down, far from the current strength, Xue Ju himself was also because of the second year of the emperor's war with the Turks before he was conscripted into the army and became a government soldier.

The time I went to Longxi was the fourth year of the emperor's opening, the war had just ended, and the Silk Road was broken for almost two years, I estimated that I would be able to make a lot of money by going to the goods at this time, so I bought silk with all the surplus money of the family, and brought a dozen guys, ready to go to Guzang City to sell, but when I came to this golden city, I heard that there were bandits rampant in front, and the caravan could not pass at all, and the caravan of the previous few rounds were robbed.

The Sogdian caravan had more than 200 guards, and they did not believe in evil, so they went directly, and I did not go with them, but two days later, these Sogdians returned to Jincheng, and all the goods were looted, and more than 20 people died.

At that time, Xue Ju was eating wine with a few sergeants in the lobby below, and he was impatient to hear it, and he slapped the table and roared, saying that if the husband was bullied, he should find a way to get back to the field, and cry here like a girl. (To be continued......)

PS: Next shift, 12 o'clock.