After the old and shabby carriage drove out of the alley where Liu Yunyan was hiding, it turned around along the streets and alleys, almost running through most of the county seat of Luxian, and then stopped completely at the back door of what seemed to be a large mansion on a secluded street not far from the cross street. And unlike Liu Yunyan's family, which stopped and stopped and slowed when they bought New Year's goods, the speed of this old carriage was not slow. If it weren't for the fact that he would stop for a while after driving a certain distance, so that the family member who was driving the car could get out of the car to check the condition of the old carriage, I was afraid that Shi Ran would probably lose the target - of course, in Shi Ran's opinion, this family member got out of the car to check the car in vain, and it was true to observe the surrounding situation and prevent someone from following him.

Fortunately, Shi Ran is also a backbone of the "Feiyantang" who has been a secret spy for many years, and he is very clear about this anti-tracking method, so although the other party stopped for "maintenance" several times, he did not find that he had been followed. However, Rao is like this, and after following this section of the road, he was also so tired that Shi Ran, who was known for his sharp legs and feet and good light body kung fu in "Feiyan Hall", sweated. It's just that sweating is sweating, and Shi Ran, who is panting, has not forgotten his duty. He hid in the corner of a courtyard wall, wiping the sweat from his forehead as he stared at the old carriage parked at the back door of the mansion.

I saw the driver get out of the car, first looked around, and after making sure that there was no one around, he stepped forward and knocked on the back door of the closed house, and whispered a few words to the person inside the door that Shi Ran couldn't hear at all. A moment later, the door creaked open, and a man who was dressed as a retinue, but who was obviously much more flamboyant than the man who had come up and knocked on the door, walked out. The man also habitually looked left and right, and then said a few words to the driver of the car. Although the voices of the two of them were a little higher than when they knocked on the door before, because the distance was a little far, Shi Ran still couldn't hear it very clearly, but he vaguely heard the two of them mention "Fourteenth Master", "Everything is fine", "There is no abnormality over there" and other unclear words.

Before Shi Ran could figure out what the two people at the door were talking about, the other party had already stopped talking, and under the guidance of the relatively gorgeously dressed person who opened the door, he drove the carriage directly into the courtyard. The object of his tracking was about to disappear, and Shi Ran naturally did not dare to slack off. He hurriedly came out of the corner where he was hiding, walked quickly to the closed door, and looked through the crack in the door to listen carefully.

At this time, the old carriage had been driven to a stable-like place, and the housekeeper who was driving the carriage was unloading the car, and the housekeeper who was disguised by Liu Yunyan's so-called husband had also gotten out of the car, and was listening to the relatively richly dressed and respectful opener to report to him. Because the distance was closer than just now at this time, and the voice of the person who opened the door was also higher than just now, Shi Ran could basically hear the content of the other party's conversation clearly despite the fact that there was a door.

I heard the person who opened the door say to Liu Yunyan's so-called husband: "Fourteenth master, since you left last night, the villain has been guarding the outside of the Tianzi No. 1 room where you live, whether it is the head of the guard squad or other visitors who come to visit, the villain has been blocked by the fourteenth master on the grounds that you have occasionally felt cold all the way, feel unwell, and need to rest for a day. Moreover, with the exception of one or two of the more important visitor villains who want them to come back tomorrow, all other inconsequential visitors and villains refuse their requests to visit again or invite you to a banquet. ”

After listening to the person who opened the door, Liu Yunyan's so-called husband nodded and said, "That's the best." Those local merchants and gentry want to see the master, but they are just for the sake of stammering and obtaining benefits, so they don't see him. Tell me, which ones are you pushing until tomorrow to visit you? What do they want to see? It's good to be prepared. ”…,

The person who opened the door hurriedly replied, "Back to the words of the Fourteenth Master." There are only two who have been pushed by the villain to visit tomorrow. First, the chief manager of our 'Chase Firm' in the local branch, he would like to report to you about the operation and profit of the local 'Chase Firm' in the past year. This is one of the purposes of your visit to the local area, so the villain wants him to come early tomorrow morning. The second is Jia Wenqing, the local magistrate, who learned that you arrived in Lu County, so he came to see you in person. One is that I want to get to know you, the 'God of Wealth' of the Beiping Army, and the other is that I want to set up a banquet in my own house for you to catch the wind and wash the dust, so as to fulfill the friendship of the landlord. The villain thinks that this Jia County Order was promoted from the county to the county order when our Jiedu Mansion transferred the officials of various states and counties this time, and it can be regarded as the magistrate of Jiedu Mansion, especially the Seventh Master and Lao Zhong Tongzhi, who are in charge of Beiping Mansion. In addition, he personally came to meet the fourteenth master, but he was also a guy who knew the etiquette, so the villain dared to respond to his request and asked him to come back to see you at noon tomorrow. ”

At this point, the man who opened the door paused slightly, and peeked at the other party's face. Seeing that the other party had an indifferent face, he neither praised nor blamed, and for a while he didn't know whether the two things he agreed to on his own initiative, especially the idea of agreeing to the county order to come to see him again, was in line with his master's wishes. So, he hurriedly said tentatively: "If the master doesn't want to see these two people, then the villain will send someone to inform them, so that they don't have to come tomorrow." ”

Liu Yunyan's so-called husband waved his hand when he heard this, and said: "The local chief shopkeeper of the 'Datong Commercial Bank' must be seen, otherwise the master will not wait for the New Year in Beiping City when the New Year is approaching, but he will come all the way to this Lu County to hang out, wouldn't it make others suspicious?" As for that Jia County Commander, it is rare for him to know the rules and etiquette so well, and it doesn't hurt to see him. After all, he is the person promoted by the seventh brother and Lao Zhong Tongzhi, if I don't take him seriously too much, it will not look good on the face of the seventh brother and the twenty-seventh brother. ”

"The villain understands." The man who opened the door replied, "The villain will go to inform the head of the guard Feng in a while, and ask him to arrange in advance the escort of you to the banquet at the county magistrate's house tomorrow." ”

Immediately, the person who opened the door went to the front of the house to find the so-called Feng squad leader in his mouth to arrange the next day's itinerary. And Liu Yunyan's so-called husband and the other two family members waited there for a while, and then left the stable. Looking at the background of Liu Yunyan's so-called husband disappearing into the small door not far away, pondering the speculation about his true identity that he had obtained after following him along the way, especially after listening to the report of the person who opened the door, Shi Ran only felt a little unbelievable and a little incomprehensible for a while.

Although Shi Ran has not been in Lu County for a long time, he has been by Zhang Yan's side these days, and accompanied his uncle Zhang Zhili with his boss to "talk about business". After a few days, I also remember a lot of local business leaders. Among them, the most famous one is the local businessmen of the Beiping Army and those foreign businessmen who come here to do business unanimously respected as the "God of Wealth of the Beiping Army", ranked fourteenth among the "Qingyuan" brothers, known as the "Fourteenth Master" or "Fan Ye", and is in charge of the "Qingyuan" brothers, who can be called the largest commercial house in the Beiping Army and even the whole world, "Datong Commercial Bank".

Considering that this Fan Wucheng was a member of the "Qingyuan" brothers, knowing more about him might be helpful for his actions in the Beiping Army. In addition, he has the identity of a local business leader, and he is ready to "expand business routes" here, so asking more information about this person will not arouse the suspicion of Zhang Zhili and other businessmen. Therefore, when Zhang Yan and his subordinates deliberately did it, they also learned a lot of news about Fan Wucheng from Zhang Zhili and other businessmen. Therefore, after listening to the conversation between the person who opened the door and Liu Yunyan's so-called husband, Shi Ran had already linked him with the famous "Beiping Military God of Wealth" - after all, he was not only qualified to listen to the report of the local chief shopkeeper of the "Datong Commercial Bank", but also could treat the Luxian county order with a bird's-eye view, and he was the only one who was respected by others as the "Fourteenth Master".

It's just that although people and names are linked together, there are more incomprehensions and doubts arising from this - Liu Yunyan, as a person who has made great contributions to the "Qingyuan" brothers, has nothing to do with Fan Wucheng to become husband and wife, why does Fan Wucheng hide the relationship between the two so much, and even do not hesitate to disguise themselves and look different? Why did Fan Wucheng, who has not yet married a wife, want to place Liu Yunyan in such an inconspicuous mansion, instead of bringing her to live in his mansion in Beiping City? .

There are so many irrationalities that Shi Ran is puzzled, and he can't figure it out for a while. After pondering for a long time, Shi Ran finally gave up his efforts to solve the mystery on his own, and decided to return to Zhang's Mansion to consult with the head hall master and other brothers. However, before going back, Shi Ran still has one thing to do, that is, to find out where Fan Wucheng's mansion is, so as to report it to the head hall master. So, he settled down, turned along the street to the cross street where the main entrance of the mansion is located, looked up, but found that this small building is not someone's house, but the largest restaurant in the county of Luxian - "Tianfulou" Luxian Branch.