The third place is the house gate, that is, the back office, which belongs to the place where the county lord and his dependents live.

These three gates are not just a few doors, but buildings with roofs that serve as a dividing place.

There are more than 70 large and small houses in the whole yamen, and it can be seen that they were built very standard and neat at the beginning, but now they are in disrepair and most of them are dilapidated.

The place where no one walked in the yard was full of snow, no one cleaned it up, dilapidated and dark, only the cold wind blew.

Only a small courtyard of a bungalow on the east side of the instrument gate, repaired neatly, the windows and doors are intact, although the place is not big, but the household daily necessities are readily available, the house is still burning with a prosperous charcoal fire, the roof is not covered with snow, and the house is warm.

Inside the house, a middle-aged man with a mustache was sitting next to a charcoal brazier and drinking comfortably.

Beside him stood a young woman pouring wine from him in a flask.

The young woman turned her face sideways, her figure was slender, and she poured wine and said, "Master, it's spring, when do you say the new county lord will come?" I heard that this new county lord is the champion, so he should be very valued by the emperor, right? ”

The middle-aged man with a mustache took a sip of wine, and didn't care, "Just a nerd, what can you do if you are valued by the emperor?" We are far away from the emperor here, if he is obedient, it is okay to come to our cold city to increase his knowledge, if he is disobedient, hum, our cold city is a small border city, and it is very dangerous! ”

The young woman chimed in, "The old man has a point, this new county lord is an old man from the slave family's hometown, sir, you should entertain them well......

"I know, don't worry."

If Xu Jiaojiao and the others were here, they would definitely recognize this young woman.

It is the daughter of the ancient blacksmith in Shazhou County, Gu Xiu'er.

"I'll pour another glass of wine for the master......" Gu Xiu'er said with a wink, the whole person leaned on the man's body, the man was uneasy, and the two were about to do something, when suddenly, someone outside came to report.

"Lord Bookkeeper, Master Bookkeeper, there is a situation!"

The middle-aged man stopped the hand on Gu Xiu'er's waist and looked at the small leader of the official errand who came in at the door to report.

"Zhao Bantou, what's the matter?"

This Zhao Bantou is the leader of the Yamen Express Class, an old official in Hancheng, who has always obeyed Zhang's orders and is Zhang's confidant.

Hancheng is the abbreviation, and its full name is Hansha County, but most people are too lazy to bother, so they are called Hancheng. Although it has a special geographical location, it is also complete with three classes and six rooms, in addition, there are troops stationed.

Zhao Bantou looked at Gu Xiu'er's presence, pursed his lips, and did not speak.

Master Zhang asked Gu Xiu'er to go down, "You go and warm a pot of hot wine again." ”

Gu Xiu'er blessed the two, said yes, and left the main house.

Then, Zhao Bantou approached, leaned into Zhang's ear and whispered, "My lord, that old man Zhou committed suicide by hanging a tree at the gate of the city today......

Master Zhang squinted at him, "Are you dead?" There is no one in his house, is there anyone to collect the body? If no one collects it, it's the people of our cold city, you go and dig a pit and bury him......"

Zhao Ban waited for Master Zhang to finish speaking, and then replied with an ugly expression, "My lord, he is not dead." Someone saved Zhou Laohan. ”

Master Zhang was a little surprised, and sighed, "Who saved it?" Is there still such a warm-hearted person in the cold city? ”

Zhao Bantou said the details of the situation, "It's a few foreign merchants who just arrived in Hancheng today, I estimate that they should be the first time to come to our Hancheng to do business, looking at the faces, they are also very young, two big carriages, a total of five or six people, ordinary clothes, foreign accents, but they are all official, I can't tell where they are, the young man is impulsive, his skills are also good, and there is a woman who knows some medical skills, Zhou Laohan is obviously out of breath, give a breath of relief......"

He was near the city gate and witnessed the whole process.

Zhou Laohan started from the time he hanged himself, and went to the back of the businessmen to rescue.

He just watched in secret, and didn't interfere with it.

After listening to his words, Master Zhang's expression had returned to normal, "Really? This shows that Zhou Laohan is lucky, his life should not be extinguished, he is not guilty, it is our people in Hancheng, and it is also a sin to find a judgment by himself. His son died in prison, this is something that no one expected, but he can't think about it, now it's okay, pick up a life, I'm the master, this heart is also relieved. ”

Zhao Bantou was stunned, "Master book, that old man is very difficult, and he keeps asking our government to give an explanation, he is not dead now, if he is in spirit, I am afraid that he will come to the yamen every day to find things in the future." ”

"Let's not worry about looking for things, Hancheng is on this condition, no one wants natural disasters and man-made disasters, who let his son Zhou Xiaochai owe gambling debts and not be sued? We can't be the master of his affairs, if he doesn't accept the verdict, he can wait for the new county master to come and deal with it, and we won't let it, as long as he can afford to wait. Master Zhang replied calmly.

Zhao Bantou hummed a few times, and then said, "My lord, when do you say that the new champion will come to take office?" I don't know if I've left? Why isn't there even a single message at the moment? ”

Normally, before officials take office, they will send letters in advance so that the local yamen can prepare.

Master Zhang pondered for a while, "The county master's thoughts, how can we figure it out, this is just the end of the New Year, the cold city is located in a remote area, the county master may have just left, or it may be on the road, and he won't be able to get there for a while, okay, the team of foot merchants who saved Zhou Laohan, pay attention to it, what is the ......"

"My lord, I've already sent someone to follow you."

……

As he was talking, he heard a voice of panting outside.

"My lord! Zhao Tou'er, it's not good, it's not good! Someone forcibly broke into the yamen and said that he was the newly appointed county lord! ”

Zhang Zhushu and Zhao Bantou were both stunned.

Zhao Bantou shouted to the little yacha who reported, "What nonsense? It's freezing this day, and it's only been a few days since the New Year? How could the county lady come so early? In previous years, it was only in February or even March that they could come to our cold city, and this outside may not be a liar from somewhere, and it is worth your panic......"

"It's true, they still have official seals and documents, we all read it, a young couple is the leader, followed by a middle-aged man who says it's the master......"

Zhao Bantou's mind inexplicably remembered the team of businessmen who saved Zhou Laohan when he hanged himself to die, and he couldn't help but look at it.