On the second day of the first lunar month, the side door of Chen Xin's mansion slowly opened, and several plainclothes guards came out first, observing in an arc outside the door, and only after the outer guards outside gave a safety signal did a black-clothed guard return to the courtyard, and after a while, three identical four-wheeled carriages drove around to guard the black uniformed guards on horseback.

Chen Xin's mansion is on the east side of the Shuicheng school field, and there is a guard battalion stationed in the school field, and on the other side is the compound of the civil department, where there are also guards, so that Chen Xin's mansion has a peripheral guarantee.

Even so, Chen Xin is still very cautious. As the backbone of Dengzhou Town, he has a lot of enemies, just Denglai has a lot of gentry, clans, and officials who have enmity with him, and there may also be remnants such as Yanggu. Therefore, the new deputy chief of the chamberlain did not dare to be sloppy, and he was responsible for Chen Xin's security work, including food inspection, anti-assassination, anti-poisoning, protection of family members and other tasks.

Usually temporary outings are generally only used for accompanying guards, because that kind of going out is unpredictable, even if someone wants to assassinate Chen Xin, they can't make perfect preparations in advance, and they may not even be able to rush to the ambush point in advance.

But today is the time of Zhou Laifu's New Year, Chen Xin said early in the morning that he was going, and there are still many people who know. At this time, it is necessary to plan the route in advance, send the plainclothes of the attendant's room to the street intersection and other points in advance, and then prepare a number of routes, some of which are known only to the deputy chief of the attendant's room, and also prepare emergency response and evacuation routes.

This type of trip would involve three identical carriages at the same time in order to confuse the possible killer and reduce the likelihood of Chen Xin being assassinated. Thanks to the tight security of the guards, his safety has never been a problem.

Liu Min's residence was a little south, and his entourage was simpler, with five or six bodyguards and a four-wheeled carriage. The windows of the last carriage were opened. Revealing Chen Xin's face, the two said hello, and the four carriages headed to the east of the city together.

Zhou Lai's mansion is in the official district in the east of the city, which is called Zhenguan Street by Dengzhou people, because they are all inhabited by civil and military officials in Dengzhou Town. When Wendeng Ying entered Dengzhou, the officials in Dengzhou City had been swept away, and many places in the city were burned to the ground.

Originally, there were still some civil officials living in the city, but after the restoration of the imperial court institutions in Dengzhou, the number of court officials also increased. Although there was no direct conflict between the two sides, the officials of the Civil Affairs Department always felt awkward, and they all slowly moved to the east of the city, forming this area where officials from Dengzhou Town lived.

The four carriages came to Zhenguan Street in the east of the city under the protection of the front and rear guards, and Zhou Laifu's house was in the middle. At this time, there was already a crowd in front of the gate, many people who came to pay New Year's greetings had arrived, Zhou Laifu was there to greet him, and there were some people like domestic helpers and bodyguards who were maintaining order.

Chen Xin's carriage did not stop at the main entrance, but went directly to the side door, which was exclusively for carriages to enter and exit, without steps and thresholds. Although it is a little difficult for ordinary officials, Chen Xin does not have these psychological barriers.

Seeing this, Zhou Laifu hurriedly confessed to the others, followed the carriage all the way over, and overtook the carriage on the way. Went to the side gate in advance and let the door open, the carriage stopped at the door, the minimum uniformed guards controlled the front and rear alleys, and several plainclothes guards advanced into the courtyard. After standing in the courtyard and observing from all sides, he made a gesture, and the carriage rushed in.

Zhou Laifu waited for the carriage door to open with a smile. It turned out that Chen Xin was in the last carriage, and when Chen Xin appeared at the door, Zhou Laifu hurriedly greeted him, "The adults are coming to the cold house, and they are shining." ”

Chen Xin snorted and said: "Laifu, you are also crepe, let's just come to see the neighbors, when I and the people first arrived in Tianjin, you were busy running before and after helping, today is to visit the neighbor's house, except when we talk about errands, you just treat the official as a neighbor." ”

Zhou Laifu said it with a smile on his face, of course, he wouldn't really regard Chen Xin as a neighbor of Erdao Street. Zhou Laifu followed and saw Liu Minyou again, and the three of them walked to the main hall together.

Zhou Laifu's courtyard is quite large, with several courtyards inside, and it is divided into seven or eight small courtyards, and the main hall is in the middle of the garden.

There were already some people standing in the garden, including many civil officials and colleagues from trading companies in Dengzhou Town, and there were very few people in the army, and Chen Xin only saw one Dong Yu chatting with people in the courtyard. Chen Xin nodded in his heart, this week Laifu is still more good at watching the limelight, although he is also familiar with many people in the military, but he deliberately reduces contact on weekdays. Because Dong Yu is in charge of military logistics, and logistics in other places have always relied on trading companies, it makes sense to invite Dong Yu to come.

There are already guards in charge of the periphery here, and the guest list has also been reviewed by the guards in advance, Zhou Laifu considered inviting Chen Xin, and the invitations were basically relatively high-level, and the safety was guaranteed, so the level of security here was not high.

People on the road have greeted Chen Xin and Liu Min, some of the shopkeepers from other places are not often in Dengzhou, and they are a little nervous to see the two of them, and two of them have been being shopkeepers in other places, and they are used to kneeling when they see officials, so they kneel directly. Chen Xin and Liu Min returned the salute one by one, and helped the kneeling two people up, and started a routine with these people.

Like most chain stores in this era, the foreign shopkeepers of the Four Seas Trading Company had to leave their families in Dengzhou, and the family did not even know their specific addresses in other places, and the letters exchanged had to be checked by the trading company before they could be sent. However, the difference between Sihai Trading Company and other firms is that after one year of becoming the shopkeeper, there are top shares, only dividends for the first three years, and after ten years, they can be held for a long time after passing the assessment, and they can also be passed on to their children and grandchildren, while ordinary businesses in Shanxi, Fujian and other places can only be divided into top shares until they are seventy or eighty.

Because the top body stock got relatively early, doing things for the four seas trading company is also doing things for themselves, so many shopkeepers are jumping ship, they have experience in business before, these shopkeepers are very dedicated to doing things, and do their best to complete the annual assessment of the trading company, and once they are found to have corruption and other behaviors, they will be fired directly, and the top stock is gone, which increases the cost of their corruption.

Chen Xin and the two became the core of the scene, everyone gathered around to listen to Chen Xin, Chen Xin's attitude was easy-going, laughter came from time to time in the crowd, Zhou Laifu brought his eldest son to see Chen Xin, this son is now in Wendeng University Hall, learning to make wine that is relatively unpopular, but he has a very good relationship with Song Wenxian's eldest son.

Zhou Laifu kept beckoning the servants to bring the seats and fruit points, and lit a bonfire in the middle for these people to keep warm. Regardless of the bitter cold, everyone sat in the garden and had a tea party. The atmosphere was very warm.

Chen Xin looked around, and found Lu You, the shopkeeper in Tianjin, Lu You and Lao Cai stood together, Chen Xin saw this affectionate past and greeted these two old colleagues.

Liu Minyou grabbed the busy Zhou Laifu and asked, "Last time you married your daughter, Lord Chen didn't come, this time he just said to see your son-in-law, why didn't you let Junior Brother Guan come over?" ”

Zhou Laifu said in a low voice: "I'm going to pick up the people from his family, there are three people from my in-laws' side, and Brother Guan Xiaodi's brother and sister were in the army before, and they didn't come last time." This time, I took advantage of the New Year, and I happened to recognize the door. ”……

Brother Guan carried a burden in front, and his sister supported Aunt Guan in the back, and the three of them were stopped as soon as they walked near the gate, saying that they couldn't go in if they weren't guests. After telling the identity, a servant went back to report.

Junior Brother Guan ran over with an anxious face, and Aunt Guan was about to open her mouth with a smile, but Junior Brother Guan complained impatiently: "I told you to arrive earlier, but I have to wait until today." ”

His mother's words were swallowed back immediately, Brother Guan was dressed very energetically today, wearing a red military uniform and wearing his first-class medal on his chest. Although he was very brave on the battlefield, he was very careful in the face of this younger brother: "There was a lot of snow on the road, and the road of the carriage and horses was broken, and it took a lot of money to rent an ox cart from the tunhu to arrive." It's not that it's not too late......"

"I only look at the results, I don't want to listen to the reasons." Brother Guan couldn't tell the difference, "Since you know that there is snow on the road, why don't you go out earlier." What day is it, to be a guest at someone's house. How can there be a reason for the master's family to wait, even Lord Chen and Master Liu have arrived, I still have to wait for you here, how can the Zhou family look at me. If the people in my workshop had done this, I would have told them to get out. ”

Guan Xiaomei hadn't seen her little brother for a long time, she was originally smiling, but after listening to it, she turned her head and said: "It turns out that you think you are your own Zhou family, so let's see who comes here from the Guan family." ”

Guan Xiaodi snorted, Guan Aunt hurriedly grabbed Guan Xiaomei, and persuaded Guan Xiaodi: "Little brother, anyway, we are all here, we all go out less, how do you know that there are those inconveniences, or don't say it, take your brother and sister to meet your in-laws." ”

Junior Brother Guan turned around with a calm face, and was busy leading a few people into the door, he saw that Senior Brother Guan was going to pick up the picks on the ground, and stomped his feet and shouted: "What time is it, what do you care about that picker." ”

"This ...... This is honey, corn, salted fish for my in-laws......"

Junior Brother Guan interrupted: "If you leave it here, everyone has everything in their house, what are you doing with these things, and you are delaying time in vain." It is important to go to see Lord Chen and Lord Liu first. ”

Brother Guan put down the pick, rubbed his hands a little overwhelmed and followed behind, Brother Guan hurriedly walked a few steps and turned back and said: "Mother, my name is Guan Dehong now, you don't want to call the little brother anymore." ”

Aunt Guan didn't dare to ask in detail, so she had to sigh, Guan Xiaomei flattened her mouth and said in a low voice: "Since you have even changed your name, why don't you change your surname." ”

Brother Guan was a little afraid of this sister since he was a child, and as if he was in his ears, he led a few people into the gate, and a few servants of the Zhou family who were in charge of guarding the door asked, and then let a few people in, and his attitude towards a few people showed no respect at all.

The mansion occupies a large area, with many courtyards and exquisite decorations, and there are many servants and maids who come and go. Brother Guan and Sister Guan have been running around over the years, and they have also gained a lot of knowledge, but most of them are looking at the mansion from the outside, and it is another thing to really come in and feel it.

When they arrived at the gate of the garden, there stood several soldiers, their clothes different from those of ordinary soldiers, all black. Brother Guan has heard that Chen Xin's guards are black uniforms, not necessarily all of them are masters, but they basically have battlefield experience, and their family backgrounds are also very innocent, the number is about 200 people, and the guards of the attendant room are as many as 500 people, and the guards of all the high-ranking officials in Dengzhou are drawn from the guards of the attendant room, and the adjutant and personal soldiers of the army are also separately matched by the Department of Military Affairs, so there is no military force, and the high-ranking officials in Dengzhou actually do not have their own private arms.

The captain in charge of the door came over with a blank face and said, "Those who enter should be searched." ”

Junior Brother Guan hurriedly said: "This Shangguan, they are all family members of my family, my mother is a tunhu, my brother is a non-commissioned officer of the soldiers, and my sister is from the Qingzhou Theater, please let them in." ”

The captain looked at Brother Guan, and after seeing his Tiger Head Medal, his face eased, and he remembered that the family's surname was Guan, and he couldn't help asking, "Are you Brother Guan from Zhenhaimen?" ”

Brother Guan nodded honestly and said, "It's me." ”

The captain nodded, and said softly: "We are members of the General Guard, Lord Chen is in there today, and we have our responsibilities, so we can only ask Sergeant Guan for forgiveness, and we must search before we can enter." ”

Brother Guan is accustomed to obeying orders, and he has never seen any beatings and punishments in the army, so he doesn't care about this search at all, but he immediately hesitated and said: "Then my mother and sister ......"

The captain waved his hand to the back, and a woman in a black military uniform came up, and the captain said to Brother Guan: "We have a female team member to search." ”

Aunt Guan said: "Then, then search, search." ”

Two team members, a man and a woman, immediately came to search, Guan Xiaomei stepped back with a dissatisfied face, and when she saw two people searching her relatives, the dissatisfaction on her face became more and more intense.

Junior Brother Guan came over at this time and asked Guan Xiaomei in a gentle tone: "Sister, I heard that Xu Yuanhua has a nephew named Xu Pingjie, does he recognize you?" ”

Guan Xiaomei turned her head and looked at this younger brother strangely, "How do you know?" ”

"His father plans to partner with the Zhou family to open a workshop, specializing in horse-drawn carriages, so Xu Pingjie followed Zhang Luo because he and I also knew each other, once I heard him mention your name, I knew that he had also been a propaganda team. His family's family background is good, Xu Yuanhua is now making a comeback, and he has great prospects in the future. Dengzhou this place, these families are all powerful, Lord Chen will soar into the sky in the future, these people are all high-powered people, don't ignore people all the time, you can marry into these families, our Guan family will be more stable in the future, and it will also be beneficial to my workshop......"

Guan Xiaomei suddenly interrupted with a scream: "Little Brother Guan, I don't want you to teach me what I do." I will sue you today, your sister is not rare in the power of the Na Lao Shizi, look at your appearance, even forget who you are, if it weren't for the second brother who entered the Wendeng camp to earn the whole family into Tunpu, you are just herding sheep and farming, so many years, when have you given incense to the second brother, when have you thought about the second brother, every day is your workshop and power. You are rare and powerful, you go by yourself, I can't be the rich days when I was searched, and my mother won't serve now. ”

After Guan Xiaomei finished scolding, Guan Xiaodi was caught off guard, and before she could figure out how to fight back, Guan Xiaomei had already thrown her braids and turned around and walked towards the gate under the stunned gaze of everyone.