In a tavern on a remote street in Jinling, in the window of the private room on the second floor, Xie An held a wine cup and looked out the window with a light smile across the large row of houses.

Along with the houses where ordinary people lived, that row of houses was not really divided, with three walls and one door, and the huge area of the house was covered with mats and bedding, and from time to time some people of different identities came and went in and out of it.

Sitting on the bench outside the house, sighing from time to time, it was the people of other lands who had left their homes and waited for the foreman to be hired; Those who hold a scroll in their hands in the shade of a tree, or shake their heads and recite poetry in the courtyard, they are down-and-out students and scholars; There are groups of orphans who frolic in the streets, sometimes grimacing and sticking out their tongues in the midst of the adults' shouting; There are also old people who have no one to rely on, resting on the stones at the door with crutches, and then passing rice porridge and other subsistence food from the hands of the people in the righteous house.

Jin's Yishe, the most praised place in Jinling City, as long as it is Jinling people, no one does not know this place.

It's all your own money......

Holding the wine cup, Xie An sighed secretly.

You must know that in the three years that Jijing took office as the secretary of the Criminal Department, Xie An really received a lot of gold and silver treasures sent privately by Jijing's wealthy people, colleagues in the DPRK and China or local subordinates during the New Year's holidays, especially the great joy of the Xie family such as Jin Ling'er's birth of a daughter, and the person who went to his Xie family to send congratulatory gifts was a million two million taels, aside from the insignificant expenses of dozens of good drinks and dishes on the table, Xie Fu made tens of millions of taels every time, but it is a pity that most of these huge gifts were scraped by Liang Qiuwu, the eldest grandson Xiangyu, and Jin Ling'er's three daughters, even if it was a fraction, It has also become the cost of maintaining the mansion of Yiyi, who is really in charge, to be honest, in those years, except for the filial piety silver that some officials gave to Xie An in private. Xie An really hadn't seen much silver.

Liang Qiu Wu is undoubtedly for the sake of the military salaries of the Eastern Army and the Southern Army, come on, this general only needs to take care of the military salaries of the 20,000 soldiers of the Eastern Army under his hands, but later, Lu Gong entrusted the Southern Army to Xie An after resigning from his military position, which made the burden on Liang Qiu Wu's shoulders even heavier. Even if he understands, he can probably push it when he does such a troublesome thing.

And the eldest grandson Xiangyu obviously does not have such a noble character as Liang Qiu Wu, the main purpose of this woman in the hands of her husband Xie An is to maintain her superior living conditions, all the luxury jewelry and clothing that appear in the capital of Ji. She'll be sure to have one ready. Of course, she will not treat Liang Qiuwu, Jin Ling'er, and Yiyi, the three roommates, badly, and always thinks about them, but don't think that this woman has a good heart, she just doesn't want to lose her face, after all, all the women are Xie An's wives. If Liang Qiuwu, Jin Ling'er, and Yiyi were secretly laughed at by the daughters of the families or famous ladies in the capital because of their dress, where would her face go?

Compared with the slightly selfish Liangqiu Dance and the extremely selfish eldest grandson Xiangyu, Jin Ling'er's conduct can be called noble, and sometimes Xie An really can't figure it out. This murderous Jinling Meiji actually has that kind of sympathy that makes people feel incredible, except for the expenses required for the operation of the Jinling Assassin Lodge, she actually dedicates all the money in her hands to the public welfare for free, helping those who are poor and helpless.

Could it be because of the tragic experience of childhood? So that she can't help but feel compassion for people who are in poverty and helplessness?

But in any case, even if there were a few complaints a few years ago. However, after seeing the harmonious and warm scene in the righteous house, Xie An couldn't help but feel proud of his wife Jin Ling'er. After all, in this era where almost everyone is too busy to take care of themselves, not everyone has the same compassion as Jin Ling'er.

It may be that seeing his own lord Xie An staring at the direction of Yishe for a long time, Ding Qiu smiled and said, "It has been much better in recent years, but the most difficult thing is that in the first few years, we have to deal with the government and be vigilant against the surrounding heroes, and at the same time, there are a lot of people who need to be taken care of...... At that time, it was really difficult, even among the brothers, there were many people who couldn't understand the eldest sister, some people left, and some people said that they still had the name of my dangerous building, but they took orders privately and didn't report them, do you remember Xu Bi? ”

"Huh!" Xie An smiled faintly when he heard this, how could he forget the Jinling assassin who had assassinated him and even killed Fu Bo by mistake, it was precisely because of this person's death that the former crown prince Li Wei would send Ding Qiu, and then lead Jin Ling'er.

"Xu Bi is also one of them......" Sighing slightly, Ding Qiu said with a wry smile, "But it's no wonder, doing what I am waiting for, licking blood from the knife edge, fighting for wealth and nobility with his life, and he may be killed by the enemy at any time, and there are a few who are willing to hand over most of the remuneration they have earned to them......" As he spoke, he nodded at those who entered and exited the righteous house.

"Aren't you one?" Xie An said with a smile, with a bit of approval in his tone.

I don't want Ding Qiu's face to turn slightly red when he heard this, and he said with a little shame and self-deprecation, "I wasn't willing at first, whether it was me or Xiao Li, those guys were a little complaining in my heart at first, I can only say that the eldest sister was too strong at that time, I didn't dare to resist......

"Was it just then?" Xiao Li muttered with a strange face, it seems that he has not forgotten the grudge that his eldest sister hated and frightened him from setting foot in Xie Mansion for several months.

"......" glanced at Xiao Li speechlessly, Ding Qiu shook his head secretly, and said to Xie An, "But I've gotten used to it after a long time, how can I say it, maybe it's to be a good heart, after all, the silver we earned is a blood-soaked ......."

Gou Gong next to him nodded as if he agreed, but after glancing at the direction of the righteous house, his face unconsciously became a little embarrassed, after all, the Dongling people are not as kind as the Jinling people, and the silver they earned was used cleanly by themselves, who had ever thought of opening a righteous house.

In fact, looking at the five major assassin pavilions in the world, I am afraid that only the Weidi Jingxia Assassin and the Jinling Weilou Assassin carry out this kind of righteous act, after all, everyone will have selfish intentions, and how many people are willing to take out their own things to share with everyone?

At this moment, the door creaked open, and a strong man with a figure comparable to Xiao Li walked in from outside, and it could be seen that this person was walking in a little eagerly.

"My lord, He Tao is here!" Ding Qiu introduced in a low voice.

He Tao. When Jin Ling'er was accidentally captured by Xie An, he went to the rescue of the Jinling assassins with Ding Qiu, and after Jin Ling'er got out of trouble, he returned to Jijing with Ding Qiu and cooperated with the former prince Li Wei, while He Tao returned to Jinling and took over the internal affairs of the Assassin Pavilion in Jinling City. And Xie An's trip was precisely to meet this person, after all, this person has been in Jinling for a long time, and obviously knows more about the Taiping Army than Ding Qiu, who has been away for several years.

"Brother Xie!" The first salutation of He Tao's mouth made Xie An feel a little speechless, but Xie An was not surprised. After all, when he first confirmed the relationship with Jin Ling'er, people like Ding Qiu and Xiao Li didn't call him the eldest brother, although Xie An was much younger than them.

"Brother Xie, do you remember the younger brother? ――...... in Hanhan Valley Pass that year"

"Ahem!" Ding Qiu coughed and interrupted He Tao's enthusiastic reminiscence, after all, that incident was not commendable for either Xie An or Jin Ling'er, and it was even more embarrassing. Back then, he Ding Qiu knocked Xie An unconscious with a knife.

Glancing at Ding Qiu in confusion, He Tao said to Xie An with great interest, "When I heard yesterday that a large army had entered our Jinling, the younger brother thought it was. I never thought that it was Brother Xie, and when my brother came to inform the younger brother, the younger brother really couldn't believe it...... By the way, didn't the eldest sister come this time? ”

may be seeing He Tao's free and easy nature, which looks like Xiao Li. Xie An didn't see it, and said with a smile. "Your eldest sister is at home with her daughter......

"Oh!" Under the knowing smiles of Ding Qiu, Xiao Li and others, He Tao nodded suddenly in realization, rubbed his hands and said with a smile, "The eldest sister's daughter is called Nini, right?" -- Brother Ichigan was overjoyed when he heard about it earlier, but unfortunately the matter here is delayed, otherwise I would like to see what the eldest sister's daughter looks like......

"What words!" Ding Qiu reprimanded angrily, but with a smile on his face, he had to say that Jin Ling'er's status in the hearts of the assassins in Jinling was indeed very high.

"There's a chance!" Waving his hand, Xie An said with a smile, after all, the Jinling people and the Dongling people can now be called his descendants, and he is naturally happy to be close to these righteous men.

"By the way, He Tao...... Sit, sit. ――I have asked you to ask about the Taiping Army...... You have been in Jinling for a long time, have you ever found out some news about the Taiping Army? ”

"The Taipings?" He Tao, who sat down at the table, was stunned when he heard this, the smile on his face slowly put away, and he said, "Big brother is planning to deal with the Taiping Army this time?" ”

Xie An didn't hide it when he heard this, and nodded, after all, the loyalty of the assassins in Jinling did not need to be verified, and since Jin Ling'er married him, the Jinling people were no different from the private soldiers in his mansion.

"Then the eldest brother should be cautious...... his eyes showed a bit of solemnity, He Tao lowered his voice and said, "In the past two years, the Taiping Army's activities in Jiangnan have been extremely frequent, building weapons and piling up grain and grass in various places, as for the specifics, the eldest sister is not there, and my brothers in Jinling do not dare to go too deep to investigate, and finally maintain the situation that the well water does not violate the river water, but according to the grapevine, the Taiping and Wuhu areas are like a group of Taiping troops gathered together, the number is not large, about hundreds of people, and I don't know what they are doing, well, in general, The strength of the Taiping army should be at the junction of Jing and Yang......"

"Jing and Yang Junction...... Near the fief of Li Yan, the king of Chu? Xie An frowned when he heard this, although it had been written in the letter sent by Li Xian earlier that the three kings had secretly colluded with the Taiping army, but Xie An still felt a little surprised, after all, the three kings were royal status, how could they dig their own graves and collude with the Taiping army? You must know that once this matter spreads, the three kings will definitely be removed from the Li royal family, and now that he heard He Tao say this, Xie An couldn't help but be cautious.

After thinking about it, Xie An told He Tao about his intention to force the Taiping Army to take the initiative to rebel, and wanted to hear the opinion of this local snake near Jinling.

"Want to force the Taiping army to rebel? According to what Brother Xie said, I'm afraid this is a bit troublesome......" He Tao thought for a moment when he heard this, then suddenly raised his head and said, "Big brother, it's better to try your luck in Pengze, Hukou, and Poyang!" ”

"Pengze, Hukou, Poyang?"

"Hmm! If this is true, the eldest brother might as well play a momentum to take Pengze, Hukou, Poyang and other places, I think this move will definitely force the Taiping army, unless they are willing to give up those grain and grass! ”

Willing to give up?

It took Lee Hyun three full years. Always paying attention to the actions of the Taiping Army, and repeatedly ordering the local government in Jiangnan to curb the Taiping Army in the matter of rice and grain, it can be said that the grain and grass in the hands of the Taiping Army were gathered little by little under the suppression of Li Xian, how could the other party be willing to give up?

Of course, the premise is that the areas of Pengze, Hukou, and Poyang are really hoarding the grain and grass needed by the Taiping Army as Tao said!

"It's a solution!" Xie An nodded when he heard this, looked back at Ding Qiu and Gou Gong and said, "Inform General Liang Cheng when you go back." Tell him to take 40,000 Liang troops to take the first step and cross the river south to Lujiang Wancheng, Ding Qiu, you send some people to Lujiang Wancheng in advance to inform the local government. ”

"Lujiang Wancheng? ――Isn't it the Poyang area? Ding Qiu looked at Xie An with a puzzled expression.

"Huh," Xie An chuckled. explained, "We divide our troops and set up in Lujiang and Anhui City, and the Taiping army will naturally realize that our target is the Panyang area, if they really hoard a large amount of grain and grass in the Puyang area, in order to protect the grain and grass, they will inevitably gather people to interfere with us and fight our army head-on!" -- Our army's immediate task is to force out the Taiping army. Instead of occupying or burning down one or two of its granaries! ”

"Ignorance, understood!" Ding Qiu nodded.

At this time, the door creaked open, and surrounded by more than a dozen Jinling assassins, the little girl Wang Xin ran in. Behind her, Qin Ke'er, a mirage who was smiling and groaning, was obviously not very happy when she saw the little girl pouting and sullen appearance.

"How's it going?" Xie An asked with a smile.

"Suffocated! - Brother lied again, and said that he would take people to the streets. It turned out that he was just eating tea and drinking here, and he told this hateful woman to go with the others......" he said. The little girl glared at Qin Ke'er hatefully, and it could be seen that her biggest dissatisfaction with this trip was that Qin Ke'er was by her side.

beckoning the little girl to approach, Xie An touched her head and said with a smile, "Brother also wants to go shopping with you, but it's just ......" As he spoke, he sighed and glanced at his legs that had completely healed.

"Then I'll stay here for tea, anyway, I don't want to ...... with this vixen," muttered, and the little girl sat sullenly on the stool beside Xie An.

This hateful girl......

Seeing that he called himself a fox spirit in front of so many people in the house, Qin Ke'er secretly gritted her teeth angrily, but she didn't show the slightest expression on her face, just looked at Xie An with a helpless and resentful gaze, as if to convey to Xie An [she had tried her best but couldn't ease the tension between her and the little girl] This helpless mood.

"Brother, what did you just talk about? ――It's not like you're going to be in a hurry again, is it? The little girl looked at Xie An bitterly, she couldn't ride a horse, even if she rode with Xie An, the bumps along the way made her unbearable.

"Hmm, that'......"

"Liar!" The little girl snorted and asked timidly, "How many days will it take to travel this time?" ”

"It's almost half a month, if it's fast......"

"Huh? ――Where are you going? So far? The little girl was taken aback when she heard this, she still remembered that it only took two days to rush from Guangling to Jinling, and this time it was half a month's journey, and what if it was fast?

I saw Xie An glancing at Qin Ke'er intentionally or unintentionally, and pretended not to care and said, "Poyang! ”

Poyang......

A granary where the Taiping army stored grain and grass was located......

Qin Ke'er was slightly startled in her heart, and sat aside with her head down, seemingly motionless.

At the same time, in the room of Qin Ke'er, the government of Jinling Mansion, Mo Fei, one of the four heavenly kings of Dongling, was making a temporary cameo appearance as a gentleman on Liangshang, searching Qin Ke'er's luggage.

The clothes in the package and the jewelry in the jewelry box were all searched by Mo Fei, but he didn't find anything out of the ordinary, how did he know that what he was looking for was right now inserted into Qin Ke'er's hair bundle.

"No, the thing the adults said ......" muttered, a little confusion flashed in Mo Fei's indifferent eyes, and after frowning slightly, he searched confidently again, but the result was still nothing.

Oh, it's not that the slightest gain is useless, at least Mo Fei found the letter, and according to Xie An's instructions, he took a pen and paper and copied it as it was, but as for what important information was hidden in this seemingly ordinary letter, Mo Fei couldn't see it at all, in fact, let alone him, even Xie An couldn't see it, after all, this requires the help of a special prop.

Seeing the sky outside the window gradually darkening, Mo Fei realized that he couldn't stay for a long time, after all, it was not difficult for him to guess from the words of his own adult Xie An, although Xie An was suspicious of this woman named Qin Ke'er, but at the moment he had no intention of tearing his face with her and completely breaking the matter, although Mo Fei's interest in fighting between life and death was much higher than that with women, this did not mean that he did not understand the private affairs of his children, on the contrary, he knew very well that his own adult Xie An was most likely in love with this woman named Qin Ke'er, Otherwise, he would not have asked him to search Qin Ke'er's belongings cautiously and carefully, so as not to be seen by her that something was wrong.

Putting the things back in their original positions, Mo Fei took the draft of the letter into his arms, turned around and was about to leave the house, when the alertness he had honed over the years made him vaguely feel that something was wrong with the room.

It was as if a voice in his subconscious mind had told him that the room had left traces of his entry and exit.

Footprints? It is impossible for him to be negligent in such a trivial matter, and when he came in, he took off his boots, and there were no footprints of him on the floor in the house.

As for the things that were turned out, they were also put back into the distance, and they were the same as they came......

What went wrong?

Mo Fei frowned and surveyed the entire room.

I have to say that Mo Fei is worthy of being the assassin who is best at hiding, tracking, and assassinating in Dongling, and there is no doubt that his three righteous brothers will be exposed to experience.

After half a ring, I saw that his eyes changed slightly, and he leaned down suddenly, lying on the ground, pressing half of his face to the ground, squinting at the smooth and shiny floor.

It didn't matter what he saw, and he almost gasped for air, because he found that there was an extremely thin layer of dust on the ground, and he had just rummaged through the house to find things, and there was no doubt that he had left messy footprints on this layer of dust, although those footprints could not be seen unless he looked closely.

"Damn it!"