Wu Qingyi, there are three courtyards in the upper room, all of which are adjacent, Cao Hao lives in the west, and the courtyard next door lives Yan Zongbing and Wang Zongbing.

These two have always been foreign military attachés, rarely in Beijing, Cao Hao and them are both new to each other, let alone familiar. What is the reason why they are so hasty to get rid of a deputy from the second rank? It can't be that when he saw that the deputy general was going to retribution, he made a ruthless move to avoid future troubles, right? In that way, it would be too child's play, not to mention, if you can do these soldiers, who has no family power behind them, they may not put Zuo Shiyong in their eyes.

"Chen Hongdao! Chen Hongdao! Cao Hao suddenly remembered him, and hurriedly asked Wei Hei: "If it is arson, it will inevitably show traces, will this be involved in the Chen family's father and son?" ”

After thinking for a while, Wei Hei nodded: "This deputy will be a second-grade high-ranking official, so inexplicably died at the post station, someone must come forward to investigate, if nothing can be found at that time, the case for the surnamed Chen will be closed according to the charge of 'revenge and murder', and it will not be prepared!" ”

For Chen Hongdao, a corrupt Confucianism who does not know how to be flexible and affects his family, Cao Hao has no good feelings. It is good to be honest, and such a martyr family is also admirable, but a big man, since he has become an official, he can't even protect himself and his family, how can he be the "Qingtian master" who is the master of the people? But looking at the three children, Cao Hao couldn't stand idly by. It's just that it's early in the morning, and even if you want to do something, you have to talk about it tomorrow.

Cao Hao was about to go back to the room, when he heard someone call outside, it was Admiral Zhang's personal soldiers, who came to ask Cao Hao for an idea.

Originally, such a disaster happened at the post station, which had nothing to do with everyone, but the rank of the deputy general was too high, and the post man himself had no idea, so he asked Admiral Zhang, the highest official, to take the idea. Although Admiral Zhang's official position is high, his status and title cannot be compared with Cao Hao, so he didn't dare to hold it up, so he sent his own soldiers over and asked Cao Hao to decide.

Where will Cao Hao be diligent in helping them worry about these things?! Then he replied and asked Admiral Zhang to call the shots.

Immediately, in addition to immediately sending people to the Yamen, the commander of the infantry army in the capital, to report the case, Admiral Zhang also informed the courtyard, asking everyone to postpone the departure tomorrow, and everything will be said when the officials of the infantry army yamen arrived. Up and down this station, there are more than a dozen officials, although there are also dissatisfied in their hearts, but how can they talk so much to provoke suspicion at this time?

The next time, after grooming, Chu Yu wanted to help Cao Hao's wound change the dressing. How could Cao Hao show her the bloody wound that was several inches long? Seemingly casually diverted the topic, talking about the little girl of the Chen family, who was eight or nine years old, and witnessed her relatives being humiliated to death, how much stimulation would be there.

Chu Yu looked at Cao Hao with a little worry, and said, "What did you say, this little big child, I must be scared, I don't know if I could sleep last night, or, let's go over there and see her?" ”

Cao Hao nodded and said, "It's okay, let's go and have a look!" I don't know if her father's condition is better, but fortunately, the two boys seem to be sensible, or the family is old and young, which is really sad to watch! ”

Chu Yu sighed softly, paused and said, "Let's take the fine snacks brought by the capital and pick out one to give her, okay?" The little girls love these snacks ......"

Cao Hao knew that Chu Yu liked dim sum, so he shook her hand tightly, and the two smiled at each other.

In addition to preparing snacks for the little girl, Cao Hao and Chu Yu also found two leather jackets for the two teenagers, sealed two bags of silver, and then took a few people to Chen Hongdao's residence.

Because of the fire in the middle of the night, the deputy general was burned to death, and there was a lot of discussion everywhere in the post station, and naturally few people believed that it was "accidentally walking on the water". Speaking of which, because someone heard some rumors of the Acton incident, the suspicion gradually fell on the Chen family father and son. There are many things that people say, and there are many unpleasant things.

There are also loyal people who can't help but speak out to defend the Chen father and son. ——The third-class house of this post station is in the large courtyard, where several families of officials of the highest grades live. If Chen Hongdao came out in the middle of the night to commit murder, how could there be no movement at all? He was only a sick scholar, and although he had three children with him, the eldest was no more than fourteen or fifteen years old. The deputy general and his cronies entourage of more than a dozen people, where can his family deal with it!

* Chen Hongdao's family is placed in the east wing of the compound here, and there are only two rooms. When Cao Hao and Chu Yu came, they were around the table, looking at a few steamed buns in a daze. It was Chen Hongdao's second room who died last night, if it weren't for the fact that he couldn't bear to see his father and son eating cold steamed buns, he would not have caused such a tragic incident for no reason.

Hearing the greeting outside the door, Chen Hongdao hurriedly got up and invited Cao Hao and Chu Yu to come in.

Last night, he already knew that Cao Hao was the county lord's forehead, so he naturally guessed Chu Yu's identity and respectfully asked for peace. Because of Cao Hao's life-saving grace to his father, the two brothers of the Chen family still regarded him as a true hero and a good man, but when they saw their father treating this person so respectfully, they also knew that this was also a person in the officialdom, and their expressions when they looked at Cao Hao were no longer so eager.

The little girl An An stood behind her two elder brothers, looking at Cao Hao and Chu Yu with a little curiosity and uneasiness.

Chen Hongdao invited the two to take a seat, and Cao Hao and Chu Yu looked at the cold steamed buns and boiled water on the table, and glanced at each other.

Chen Hongdao tidied up his sleeves, and respectfully hugged his fists and bowed to Cao Hao: "Chen was confused for a while, thank you Lord Cao for your help!" For the grace of saving his life, Chen was powerless to repay it. If there is an afterlife, Chen is willing to tie the grass ring to repay the kindness of the adult! ”

Cao Hao waved his hand: "But it's a gesture, no need to be polite, but let me ask you, must you go to this capital?" It's freezing on this day, and the road is difficult, so you have to think more about them. ”

Chen Hongdao was stunned for a moment, and then heard Cao Hao's voice, but still nodded firmly: "Thank you for mentioning it, it's just that the bones of Chen's wife are still in the capital, no matter what, Chen can't abandon her!" ”

Pedantic! Cao Hao couldn't help but scold, the dead are important, or the living are important, knowing that there is danger, but still being so reckless, this person has read the book into the dog's stomach? But after the scolding, I couldn't help but admire him in my heart, and insisted on his style of acting so persistently.

Chu Yu had already taken the snack box in the hand of Xiyun, who came with him, put it on the table, and then gently called the little girl. The little girl had already been aroused by the sweet smell of the pastry, but she still stood behind her brother and looked at her father with inquiring eyes.

Along the way, the little girl was taken care of by her mother-in-law, and her hair was messy and her little face was not very clean, so she looked really pitiful. Chen Hongdao felt uncomfortable, first thanked Chu Yu, and then nodded to his daughter.

The little girl hesitated for a moment, but finally did not resist the temptation of the dim sum, broke her fingers, and moved to Chu Yu step by step.

Chu Yu has had many younger brothers and sisters in her family since she was a child, and she is the most good at coaxing children, but just a few words make the little girl close to her. Chu Yu wiped her hands with a handkerchief, and then pushed the snack box in front of her and asked her to choose her favorite food.

The little girl looked at Chu Yu, directly picked up the largest piece of walnut cake, and then sent it to Chen Hongdao with both hands: "Father, eat!" ”

Chen Hongdao's nose was sour, he choked up and couldn't speak, just shook his head and motioned for his daughter to eat by herself.

The little girl didn't move, just looked at her father, and at some point her dark eyes were already covered with a layer of mist: "Father, don't die!" Maybe in her heart, she doesn't know what death is, but because her mother is gone, and Erniang is gone, she more or less knows that "death" is not by her side.

Cao Hao couldn't stand it anymore, stood up, and said to Chen Hongdao: "Your son is very sensible, and your daughter is so filial, even if you don't think about yourself, don't you think about the three of them brother and sister?" ”

Where can Chen Hongdao still speak? I endured it so that I wouldn't let myself lose my temper, but I still didn't mean to change my words.

At this moment, Cao Hao suddenly had a sense of powerlessness, and there was a kind of confusion that "the right way in the world is the vicissitudes of life". In fact, what is the fault of this Chen Hongdao? His wife, in order to save him and help him clear his grievances, is not afraid of life and death; He is a big man, how can he say that because he was afraid of the bumpy road ahead, he abandoned his wife's bones in a foreign land, so that the outlaw could not enter the earth for peace.

This should be said and said, and then what to do is his own choice. Cao Hao was a little depressed, so he asked the two brothers to help him get a pen and paper, and roughly wrote down what he knew yesterday, and wrote down Admiral Zhang, General Yan and General Wang who knew about it, as well as several envoys who knew their names, and finally signed their names. deliberately listed these names, knowing that I had to tell others, not to close the case indiscriminately and suppress the idea of suppressing the matter, so as not to let the Chen father and son be scapegoats.

After writing and folding, he handed it to Chen Hongdao, and then said: "Zuo Shiyong is in the banner, you are a Han Chinese, this case is either interrogated by the Yamen of the infantry army commander, or tried by the Yamen of Shuntian Mansion. If the other party wants to force you to confess in order to close the case as soon as possible, then you can hand over this letter, maybe you can protect Ichigo; If the other party is fair, you don't need to make trouble! ”

Chen Hongdao has also been accustomed to seeing people's warmth and coldness for more than a year, and he can't help but have some doubts about Cao Hao's sudden enthusiasm, so he didn't reach out to answer the letter for a while.

When Cao Hao saw it, he was bored, and he couldn't help laughing at himself, when did he become so good, he wanted to tear up the letter, and when he saw the three brothers next to him, he couldn't bear it and threw it on the table.

Chu Yu saw his unhappiness, got up to say goodbye to the Chen family's father and son, and followed Cao Hao out.

In the courtyard, because I heard that a "nobleman" from the Chen family had visited, several low-level officials staying in the same courtyard were neatly dressed and waiting at the door. What came out was a young couple, followed by a maid, who did not know what to call for a while, and avoided the road and did not dare to come forward.

It wasn't until the person went far away that Fang Youyou remembered extraordinarily, patted his thigh and said: "Hey, look at the fur on those two people, that's not an ordinary grade that can be worn, whose little prince is this?" ”

Someone else pouted: "Who are you bluffing?" The Belle Lord who came out of this palace was all wearing yellow belts, although the prince was a little more noble just now, he was not like the clan, which prince should have entered Beijing! ”

Everyone guessed for a while, and they didn't know when the Chen family had such a noble relative, so they had some scruples and didn't dare to talk nonsense.

Cao Hao deliberately took this trip, also for this reason, although he did not speculate with Chen Hongdao, but it could be regarded as achieving the original intention.

At noon, the officers and soldiers of the Yamen, the commander of the capital infantry army, and several catchers from the Shuntian Mansion arrived quickly. Speaking of which, the military attache from the Yamen of the Step Army is still Cao Hao's acquaintance - Changling, the son of Fu Ding of the Step Military Academy.

Although these two people are not familiar with each other, they are cousins of in-laws, and they have also dealt with each other due to epidemic errands before, so they naturally have to have a greeting when they meet each other.

Before Cao Hao left Beijing, Fu Ding's family also passed, because he just said goodbye in a hurry, he didn't leave a meal, and he didn't meet Changling. After that, Fu Ding did not specifically mention to his son that Cao Hao was released from Beijing. Therefore, at the moment when he first saw Cao Hao, Chang Ling was slightly surprised.

After knowing that he had been let go of the way, this time he was specially taking the county lord back to his hometown to visit relatives, Changling didn't know whether to be jealous of his youthful pride, or to laugh at him for finally losing his sacred heart and being sent out of Beijing.

Because of the water in the early morning, everyone set fire to the first aid, and the fire scene was a mess, and there were black footprints everywhere, and nothing could be seen at all. The people from this step military yamen and Shuntianfu checked it several times, but they didn't get any clues. But a dignified member from the second grade, he can't die like this, even if someone didn't deliberately set the fire, he had to find the source of the fire in order to make a difference. But under the rubble, where can the root cause of the fire be found?

From Cao Hao to Yicheng, they all went through a simple inquiry. As expected, the most suspicious are still the Chen family father and son.

The infantry yamen and the Shuntian Mansion pushed each other off, and finally discussed, and the Shuntian Mansion escorted the Chen family father and son, while the infantry army yamen transported Acton's body and the remains of Zuo Shiyong and others back to Beijing. As for how it will be tried, that is the business of the lords of the two provinces, and it has nothing to do with them as errands.

After tossing and turning this morning, Cao Hao felt that the injury was a little itchy, so he went to Wei Hei and asked him to help him refill some medicine.

After the re-bandaging, Cao Hao felt a lot better, this medicine is not as stimulating as yesterday, it is a little cool and cool, and it is very useful. But when I looked at Wei Hei's hand, it was still the bottle from yesterday, and there was no difference.

Wei Hei saw that Cao Hao seemed to be suspicious, "Hehe" laughed twice, put the bottle on the table, and asked Cao Hao mysteriously: "Childe, guess who sent this medicine?" ”

Cao Hao shook his head and said: "How do I know this, it's just that Brother Wei is so relieved, anyone's medicine dares to use it on me......" Halfway through speaking, he seemed to have an understanding, and said with a wry smile: "This ...... Could it be that this was sent by the county lord? ”

Wei Hei nodded, and said in a slightly persuasive tone: "Childe, it's not Lao Hei who said it, it's just that you hide everything from the county lord like that!" You don't want to say it, she doesn't want to disobey you, so she won't ask, but can you not worry about it? No, send medicine to Lao Hei, and don't say that Lao Hei said that she sent it, I'm afraid you're worried that she knows! ”

Cao Hao's heart was also hot, and he said with a smile: "It's not that I deliberately hide anything from her, I was afraid that she would be worried when she saw it, and it was so bloody yesterday, wait for Ming Hou to look a little better, and let her see it again!" Speaking of this, he glanced at Wei Hei and couldn't help but quip: "Brother Wei, when will you add a sister-in-law to us?" That vanilla is a good girl, if you don't hurry up, then when she is married, it will be too late to regret it! ”

Hearing the mention of vanilla, Wei Hei's face brought out some unnaturalness.

After Wei Bai and Fang Cha and his wife left, Vanilla was entrusted by Fang Cha to help Wei Hei do needlework twice. Later, a daughter-in-law in the house teased her, and in order to avoid suspicion, she stopped coming forward.

After Cao Hao and Mr. Zhuang learned about this, they both felt that Wei Hei should not give up this good opportunity, so they asked for marriage and married Vanilla into the door. Such a good daughter-in-law with a gentle surname and good looks is difficult to find even with a lantern.

Wei Hei didn't have the intention of marrying at first, but although he was a little moved by everyone, he took into account that he was more than ten years old and hurt his eyes, and he was afraid that Vanilla would be wronged, so he refused to let go. When he left Cao's Mansion and left the capital, he felt a little empty, as if something was missing.

Cao Hao looked at Wei Hei's stupid appearance, and secretly calculated in his heart that after the New Year and everyone met in Yizhou, the first thing to do was to handle Wei Hei's family affairs. Although Chen Hongdao's face is older, he seems to be a few years older than Wei Hei, and he is now the father of three children, and the eldest son is a half-sized boy.

Because of homesickness, after setting off from Wuqingyi, Cao Hao and others went all the way to the south. Although it was a cold winter, fortunately, the farther south went, the warmer the weather became, and it was much better than when I first left Beijing. Despite this, it is also tired of the road, but I am afraid that if the road is delayed, I will not be able to catch up with the Spring Festival, so I rarely stay on the road and go all the way to the south.

Every day I set off early, rested in the evening, went straight for more than 20 days, and on the eighteenth day of the lunar month, Cao Hao finally saw the gate of Jiangning City.

(To be continued)