Speaking of which, it has been more than a year since the rebirth of the late Eastern Han Dynasty, and Cao Peng has come into contact with many women.

Aside from her mother Zhang and sister Cao Nan, from Huang Yueying in Jianyang, to Xudu's rabbit sister, to Lu Lan in Xuzhou, and now Guo Huan by his side. Four women, each with its own merits. And the woman in front of her is not inferior to the previous three.

is not tall, and has the delicate beauty of a Huainan woman.

When the girl walked out of the door, she saw Cao Peng and others on horses outside the courtyard wall.

"Who are you looking for?"

She asked, confused, a look of alarm flashing in her eyes.

"Xiaoluan?"

Bu Qi heard the voice and spoke in surprise.

The girl was stunned, and then she stepped forward and opened the door.

"You are?"

When she saw Bu Qi, she was obviously a little confused.

Bu Qi looked the girl up and down, and suddenly pointed with his hand, "You are Xiaoluan, right?" I'm a stone, remember? Brother Stone in Huaiyin. ”

"Ahh

The girl couldn't help but take a few steps back, covering her mouth with her hand, and surprise flashed in her eyes.

"Mother, mother...... Brother Stone is here! ”

She turned abruptly and ran into the house, screaming as she ran, stumbling and stumbling as she looked.

Bu Qi hurriedly followed in.

Cao Peng and Chen Qun glanced at each other and got off their horses.

"I never thought that Zishan was calm, but now he is a little out of shape."

Chen Qun said, handing the reins to his entourage.

Cao Peng stood at the door, carefully looked at the slightly deserted mansion, and then shook his head slightly. It seems that this aunt in Buqi is not having a good time. At this moment, an old woman's cry came from the hut, and she seemed to be very excited.

Guo Huan wanted to go in, but was stopped by Cao Peng.

"Xiaohuan is reckless, and people finally meet, and they are about to tell their hearts. It's a little inappropriate for us to go in at this time. ”

Guo Huan nodded and said softly: "The son is really understanding. ”

In fact, Cao Peng is not too disgusted by Guo Huan's verbal pandering.

Growing up in the environment of the Hou family of Tongluo, it is inevitable that you will know how to figure out people's minds. It's just that Cao Peng doesn't like her pretentiousness! If Guo Huan could be more natural, Cao Peng might be more acceptable. It is precisely because of Guo Huan's pretentiousness that Cao Peng always feels that she is a little fake...... After a while, Bu Qi and the girl walked out of the hut with an old woman in their arms.

"Qiu Fang just lost his temper, and he was so tired that the son waited outside the door for a long time, and he hoped that the son would forgive his sins."

"Bu Luan doesn't know that the distinguished guests are coming to the door, and he still looks forward to Gongzi Haihan."

The girl's name is Bu Luan, and while supporting the old woman, she bowed to Cao Peng with a slight blessing.

Cao Peng said with a smile: "Mr. Zishan has to see his relatives, even if he is out of shape, he is still showing his true feelings, how can he say that he will forgive his sins?" After that, he waved at the old woman, "Old lady Wan'an, Cao Peng is so polite." ”

I don't know that the old woman is polite, and her eyes are straight to the hook, completely ignoring it.

Bu Qi made a gesture towards Cao Peng, which meant that the old lady's eyes were blind.

When Cao Peng saw it, he hurriedly took two steps forward, grabbed the old woman's hand, and greeted him again, and the old woman reacted and hurriedly returned the courtesy.

"This is my sister, named Buluan."

"There are birds and phoenixes, and people are as their name suggests."

Chen Qun looked at the girl and couldn't help but open his mouth to praise, but Ling Buluan suddenly blushed, lowered his head, and didn't dare to look at Cao Peng and the others again.

"Come and sit down."

Bu Qi said, helping the old lady to walk into the main hall.

The main hall is also a thatched hut, and it can be said that it is empty, except for a few simple futon mats in the room.

Bu Luan hurriedly cleaned it up, and said softly: "I have been a guest at home for a long time, so I am a little lazy...... Childe, please take a seat, and I'll go and prepare the drinks. ”

"Well, don't be busy!"

Cao Peng looked at the situation in this family and knew that the life of Buluan's family was very embarrassing.

He glanced at Guo Huan, Guo Huan immediately understood, walked to the gate of the courtyard, beckoned a retinue, handed out the bag on his waist, and told the entourage to buy some wine and food. Bu Luan saw it clearly, his face turned even redder, and he hurriedly wanted to step forward to stop him.

How did Cao Peng stop her, "Sister Hugh wants to misunderstand, it's all Mr. Zishan's money." ”

"Huh?"

Bu Luan was stunned and turned his head to look at Bu Luan.

saw Bu Qi wave his hand at him, signaling her not to ask.

In my heart, I am very grateful to Cao Peng. Although he has been working in Haixi for two months, he does not have many people. The position of the county chief is more than a hundred stones. Converted into a monthly calculation, it is about 16 hundreds. Buqi eats a lot and drinks well, so he hasn't been able to save much money. The only consistent copper coin was Deng Ji as a reward at the end of the year.

Cao Peng's move can be said to have given him enough face.

Chen Qun didn't care about the simplicity of the hut, and sat down on his knees with Cao Peng.

"Xiaoluan, go boil some water."

"Good!"

Bu Luan was just about to leave, when he heard Cao Peng say, "Xiaohuan, you help her." ”

"Whoa!"

Guo Huan agreed, and then asked to go over to help.

Bu Luan shook his head again and again, and said: "How can you work when your guests come to the door?" ”

However, she obviously couldn't stop Guo Huan, and finally Bu Qi spoke, and then took Guo Huan to the thatched hut next door to boil water.

When the old woman spoke, her Huainan accent was very strong.

Coupled with excitement, the speed of speech also seemed a little fast, and it was also a little vague.

Anyway, Cao Peng didn't understand it, just watched the old woman cry for a while and laugh for a while, while Bu Qi was next to her, holding her hand tightly, and she was also very excited.

"Can you understand the old lady?"

Cao Peng found that Chen Qun was smiling and bowing his head leisurely.

"I understand...... She spoke the Xuyi dialect, and I couldn't hear it clearly. ”

"And you're still listening to it with relish?"

Chen Qun glared at Cao Peng and said in a low voice: "Brother Xian, this is called etiquette. Could it be that I turned around and went out? Zishan will explain it to us. ”

"Ugh!"

Cao Peng gave Chen Qun a roll of the eyeball.

What kind of etiquette are you? You're pretending!

"Childe, Changwen, the mother was a little excited just now, so she neglected the two of you."

Shimu is also a kind of ceremonial title, which roughly means aunt and aunt.

"The Old Lady's Eyes ......"

Cao Peng couldn't help but ask.

Because on the way to Xuyi, Buqi had mentioned his aunt to Cao Peng.

Because Buqi's family was poor, he was often bullied by his clan when he was a child. It was his aunt who had always protected him and made him grow up to be sincere. Later, Buqi left suspicion and went to Guangling to ask for a living. When he left his hometown, his aunt didn't seem to be blind.

"Alas, my father died of illness, and my aunt was unbearable to be bullied by the clansmen, so she returned to her hometown.

But the situation in Xuyi's hometown is not very good...... The aunt's brother and sister-in-law passed away, and the children were unwilling to accept it, and they also seized the aunt's land. When the aunt was angry, the eyes ...... Alas, it's all my fault, if I had known earlier, I would definitely not have let my aunt suffer this humiliation. ”

Bu Qi's words were a little vague, but in general, Chen Qun and Cao Peng could understand it.

Presumably it was a dispute over the property. In Huaiyin, he was robbed of his family property by the Bu clan, and he thought that he would have an industry to wait for when he returned to his hometown. How do you know that your father and brother are dead, and your son and nephew are unwilling to accept it. The old lady must also be a very high-spirited person, and she was blinded by anger all of a sudden.

"Then how did the old lady come over all these years?"

"Xiaoluan is sensible and has been taking care of her aunt. Usually sewing and mending, washing and washing, barely enough for household ears. ”

"Oh, I see!"

Cao Peng nodded and glanced at Chen Qun.

"Mr. Zishan, since the situation here in Xuyi is not good, why don't you let the old lady move to Haixi? At least when you get to Haixi, you can have a care, right? ”

"Well...... I'll talk to the Mother of the World. ”

Bu Qi and the old lady talked, while Cao Peng and Chen Qun whispered on the side.

After a while, he came back with wine, food, and grain.

"Zishan, it's noon this day, eat first, let's eat our stomachs, and then talk about other things."

Bu Qi nodded in agreement, and hurriedly greeted Bu Luan to get busy.

The food and wine are all ready-made, and Buluan only needs to cook the grain and rice. Eight attendants sat under the porch to eat, while Bu Luan and Guo Huan set up a small stool at the door of the living room and ate carefully. And Bu Qiu has been sitting next to the old lady, waiting for the old lady to eat.

It can be seen that Buluan's mother and daughter are afraid that they have not been touched with meat for a long time, so they eat very sweetly.

"By the way, Xiao Luan has heard of it, Yunshan Mixing?"

While eating, Cao Peng made a nonchalant appearance and asked.

Bu Luan covered his mouth with one hand, and after slowly swallowing a mouthful of food, he nodded, "Yes, it's in the east of the city, and the biggest one is." ”

"Is Yunshan Mixing?"

"Yes!"

Bu Luan said: "Yunshan rice shop is the largest rice shop in the local area, which was originally opened by the Lujiang Mei family. In the past two years, I heard that Lujiang was a little unstable, so last year, he transferred the rice store to the Lu family. Nowadays, Yunshan Rice Line has been renamed Dongcheng Rice Store. ”

"Plate out?"

"yes."

Cao Peng was a little confused.

Lujiang, Mei's? The disc was given to ...... The Lu family?

"Youxue, what's wrong with you?" Chen Qun couldn't help but ask curiously: "Along the way, I heard you say this Yunshan rice line?" ”

Cao Peng hesitated, smiled wryly and shook his head.

"Brother, it's a long story when it comes to this matter."

So, he told him and Deng Ji about leaving Xudu and killing Lei Xu in Chenliu.

Then he took out the white silk from his arms and handed it to Chen Qun.

"On this white silk, Yunshan Mixing is mentioned, so I will be interested. I always thought that the payment on the white silk was Wang Cheng. But then I felt that something was not right! Wang Chengcheng is Xue Zhou, and he also knows Lei Xu, so he should use 'state' instead of 'cheng'. Actually, this matter is not too important...... It's just that I always feel that there is something wrong here. ”

Yunshan rice line, Lujiang Mei's ...... In Cao Peng's mind, a flash of inspiration suddenly flashed.

"Yunshan Mixing, when will it be distributed?"

Bu Luan tilted his little head, thought about it carefully, and said, "It seems to be last year's ** month?" I don't remember the exact time.

Yunshan Rice Store sells all polished rice and millet, and I haven't bought anything there. So I don't know much about what he has done. Anyway, it's sudden...... The Lu family suddenly took over the industry of Yunshan Rice Shop, but most of the people who used it were old men from Rice Shop...... In the past, the Mei family was very powerful here, but they all withdrew at once. Anyone from the Mei family has never appeared again! ”

Cao Peng fell into deep thought.

Bu Qi suddenly said: "Childe, maybe you heard it wrong?" ”

"Did you hear it wrong?"

"Didn't you say that when Chen was staying, there was a horse thief who mentioned a man named Lu Mei?"

"Oh, there's such a person."

"You also say that when that person heard the name, the other person was drunk. Is it possible that a drunk person could not speak clearly and said 'Lujiang Mei' so vaguely that another person heard it as 'Lu Mei'? ”

"Well, it's possible."

Cao Peng couldn't help laughing!

He found that Buqi seemed to have learned a trick.

It's his 'bold assumption' trick.

If a person is drunk, he may indeed be slurred, and if another person is also drunk, it is very likely that he will hear a word or two less.

As a result, Lujiang Mei's became Lu Mei!

Well, this explanation seems reasonable...... As for how to argue?

Cao Peng didn't think about it.

Because of this matter, it seems that it has nothing to do with him anymore.

The Lujiang Mei clan has already taken out the rice line, so it is naturally impossible to investigate it again. Besides, what does the matter of Lujiang have to do with him?

Thinking of this, Cao Peng breathed a sigh of relief.

But then another question came to mind.

"Then why can't it be the Lu family? The Lu family accepted Yunshan Mixing, and Lu Mei is the son of the Lu family, isn't it just as reasonable? ”

"No way, no way!"

Bu Qi shook his head again and again.

"After all, Childe's time in Xuzhou is still short, so it is understandable that I have not heard of the Lu family in Dongcheng."

"Oh? That hasn't been consulted yet. ”

"The Lu family in Dongcheng is also a wealthy family in Xiapi. Dongcheng and Xuyi were originally owned by Linhuai County, and later the Xiapi Kingdom was established, and Dongcheng and Xuyi were both under the rule of the Xiapi Kingdom. It is located in the southwest of Xuyi, and it is also the southernmost county of Xiapi Kingdom, adjacent to Jiujiang County. ”

Bu Qi cautiously added a pair of chopsticks and food to the old lady, and then took another sip of wine himself.

However, due to the war in Xuzhou in recent years, although Lü Wenhou was entrenched in Xiapi, he had actually given up the governance of Dongcheng County. Since Yuan Shu entrenched himself in Huainan, Dongcheng has actually become Yuan Shu's territory...... As for the Lu family, the ancestors are wealthy merchants in the Xia Pi country, and they can also be said to be the largest grain merchants in the Huainan region. The reputation of the Lu family is very good, and it is by no means comparable to the powerful bullies in that place.

If I were to say anyone else, I would probably believe it.

But to say that the Lu family colluded with the Yellow Turban bandits, I can't believe it.

There is one of the most important reasons for this, thinking that when the Taiping Road incident occurred, the eight states oscillated, and Xuzhou and Yangzhou were affected.

In that turmoil, the Lu family suffered extremely heavy losses. It is said that the patriarch of the Lu family died at the hands of Taiping Dao, and his family's two dock forts in Dongcheng were broken by Taiping Dao, and the children of the Lu family who died at the hands of Taiping Dao were countless, and the hatred between them was very great. ”

In fact, Cao Peng also asked.

After the Lu family took over Yunshan Rice Shop, it was renamed Dongcheng Rice Shop, which has explained the problem.

took over in September last year, and Lei Xu was still in Chen at that time...... If the Lu family really colluded with Lei Xu, it would be impossible to change the name.

However, listening to Bu Qiu's words, Cao Peng became interested in the Lu family.

He narrowed his eyes and subconsciously rubbed his nose, "Then the Lu family, why did you want to buy Xuyi Mixing?" ”

"This ......"

Bu Qiu scratched his head, a little unable to answer.

"Why don't we go to Dongcheng Rice Store after dinner?"

Cao Peng said to Chen Qun.

Chen Qun thought for a while, "It's okay. ”

At this moment, there was a sudden sound of chaotic footsteps in the courtyard.

Immediately after that, I heard someone shout: "Old beggar, you have money to buy wine and meat, but you don't know how to pay it back, what do you want to do?" ”

Bu Luan's face suddenly turned pale, like a frightened rabbit, and shrank behind the window. The old lady's face showed a look of anger, and she stood up with a snort.

A series of syllables came out of his mouth in a hurry, and it sounded like cursing.

Cao Peng frowned, stood up, and walked outside the house.

I saw more than a dozen big men breaking into the courtyard and scolding.

"Wait, who!"

Chen Qun came out of the house and asked in a deep voice.

Don't look at his usual hippie smiling face with Cao Peng, but this sinking face, the majesty of the children of the family, was suddenly vividly revealed.

"Who are you?"

The big man who took the lead scolded loudly: "Lao Tzu collects debts, what does it have to do with the ears." ”

His speech was quite clear, and although there was a dialect, Cao Peng could understand it.

A touch of anger suddenly appeared on Chen Qun's face, and he walked out, but was stopped by Cao Peng. At this time, Bu Qi had already rushed out of the hut.

"You bastards who have no conscience, not to mention robbing your aunt's property, are now coming to the door to make trouble, and you are too much to deceive people."

"Who are you?"

"A certain family is the master of Haixi."

After the big man glanced at each other, he suddenly laughed coldly: "Your head bookkeeper of Haixi County, you came to Xuyi to make trouble, don't you think that I have no one in Xuyi?" ”

Cao Peng walked down the porch and climbed onto the paperwork.

"What are you doing here?"

"Do nothing, collect debts."

"What debts?"

"The old beggar borrowed a lot of money from us when she was sick.

We used to see her pitiful, so we didn't ask for it. But the old beggar didn't pay back the money when she had it, but hid at home to exchange for wine and food. I'm telling you, today she has to pay it back. If you don't repay the money, you will take that little lady to pay off the debt, which is also a matter of course in the yamen. ”

Bu Luan hid in the house, not daring to show his head.

Bu Qi was so angry that he wanted to rush over and teach these people a good lesson, but Chen Qun reached out and stopped him.

At this time, Cao Peng generally understood the reason for the matter. These people should be Aunt Buqi's clansmen, or even nephews. Before, they occupied Aunt Buqi's land, and then Aunt Buqiu fell ill, so Buluan went to them to borrow money...... That's how it should be.

But Cao Peng feels that this matter should not be as simple as it seems.

He stared at the big man with burning eyes, "Money, I can wait for them to pay it back." But one thing I want to ask clearly, who asked you to come? ”

Dahan was stunned for a moment, and seemed to hesitate.

After a while, he spoke: "No one asked us to come, so why should we be in debt?" ”

"Hehe, it's only right to repay debts. How much do they owe you? ”

"Childe, don't you ......"

Bu Qi hurriedly shouted, but saw Cao Peng raise his hand and signal him not to speak.

"This ......" Dahan hesitated for a moment and stretched out a finger, "Always money." ”

"You are talking nonsense, you only gave me fifty dollars, why did it become consistent?"

"What's so strange about fifty dollars after so long and becoming consistent...... Bu Luan, I have your notes here, and you don't want to repay the debt. ”

Bu Luan's face was flushed, and he wanted to open his mouth to argue.

But I heard Cao Peng ask quietly: "Is it always money?" No problem...... It's just that the money is with me, do you dare to come and get it? ”

As he spoke, Cao Peng stretched out his hand back, and Guo Huan hurriedly took out the usual copper coin from his body, ran to Cao Peng's side, and put it in Cao Peng's hand.

A finger hangs on the money.

Cao Peng shook and shook at the big man, "Well, the money is here, you can take it." ”

————————————————————————

(To be continued)