Mr. Zhou's father and daughter rested at Gongsun's house for one night, and then went home in a sedan chair at noon the next day. The old lady Gongsun Yu kept sending the two to the door, and did all the courtesy, as if it was Mr. Zhou who had passed his ninetieth birthday instead of himself. In addition to the old lady and Gongsun Guangxiao, Gongsun Shengqiu and Gongsun Shengyan also came out to send, these two future pillars who are optimistic about the family, and they don't know where fate will guide them, maybe there is an arrangement that doesn't care about fate, he wants to make decisions for himself, racking his brains to make fate surrender.

When the father and daughter of the Zhou family returned home, before they entered the door, Mr. Zhou asked Zhou Xue seemingly unintentionally: "Xue'er, what does Gongsun Shengqiu want to give you, do you want to refuse?"

"I don't know, who is rare with his stuff. Zhou Xue pouted and said coquettishly. The more open-mouthed this girl is in front of the people who are closer to her.

"Anyway, I accept it, people are kind, I think the bag is very beautiful. "Mr. Zhou enlightened his daughter.

"I definitely want someone else's, his, I don't want it, I always feel that he doesn't smile. ”

"Whoever sends it wants it, don't want him?"

"Yes, whoever sends it wants it, don't want him!" Zhou Xue repeated his father's words heavily.

"Then I'll ask Shenghua to give you a bird. "Mr. Zhou deliberately teased his daughter.

"I hate it, I hate it," Zhou Xue hit Mr. Zhou on the back with a pair of pink fists, "I don't want his stuff." ”

"Then what if Gongsun Shengyan gives you a gift?" Mr. Zhou smiled and chased after him.

"Oops...... Dad, you're so annoying. ”

Mr. Zhou stroked his beard with his hand and laughed.

Gongsun Shengyan stood beside the burned silk village, his brows furrowed tightly, revealing his thoughts that did not match his age. Most of the two-story wooden buildings had long since been reduced to ashes, and the remaining ruins lay on the ground, so black that it was almost impossible to tell what was what. There were a few people who looked like the government next to them, as well as the family members they had brought, who were listening to the residents who saw the fire nearby.

"I'm old and not well, so I always have to get up several nights to sleep. This morning before dawn, it was dark, I had to get up to go to the toilet again, so I lit the lamp and walked to the thatched house, and suddenly saw a fire here, a big fire, I didn't have time to pee, I quickly came out to see, and found that the silk village was on fire. At that time, it had already burned to the second floor, and the fire was bright and bright, and we carried water to extinguish the fire, so that the surrounding houses did not suffer with it. It's a pity that the silk inside, what a good satin, soft and slippery, my daughter has always wanted to buy that pink horse to make clothes. The old man went off track as he spoke.

"You mean the fire went up from the first floor?" asked a man who looked a bit of rank.

"Surely it is, like we make a fire in a stove, burning from the bottom up, you can see it at a glance. The old man nodded incessantly, and his tone was affirmative.

At this time, another official-looking person beckoned to the questioner and motioned for him to come over.

"Fire oil?" The person who had just asked leaned over and found a long string of black oil spots next to the foundation of the neighbor's house, leaned down and dipped his fingers slightly, put them in his mouth and licked them with his tongue, and then looked up and asked the person who had just beckoned him over.

"It should be," the other nodded.

"That's interesting, ordinary people don't have this kind of thing at home, do you have it at home?" asked the official rank.

"What do I put this in my house, this kind of thing I know is only available to ink makers and some alchemists. ”

"Alchemists also use this?"

"I've heard that it is used, but I don't know exactly how to use it. You forgot a few years ago, three years ago, Chengdong didn't die an alchemist who poisoned himself to death, and there was a lot of fire oil in his house. ”

"It's interesting, it seems that some people are afraid that this fire will not burn. The interrogator with an official rank touched his chin, "Let it go now, and the whole city will investigate." Check the ink and alchemy first. ”

Gongsun Shengyan saw the people from the government discussing things softly under the corner of the neighbor next door, and he was tired of seeing this large pile of rotten wood and broken tiles, so he slowly walked over and asked, "Wang Zhutou, do you have eyebrows?"

The person who asked first looked back and smiled, and said, "Young Master Shengyan, I don't dare to say how many eyebrows there are, but if you are careful, the clues left behind will always be discovered." Your Gongsun family and those charlatans should have no dealings. ”

Gongsun Shengyan didn't expect the other party to ask like this, the corners of his mouth twitched, and he said in a heavy tone: "There must be no contact, but just yesterday on the day of my grandfather's ninetieth birthday, a blind old Taoist priest came to the door, not to say that there was something big in the family, and I drove him away." ”

"Are you sure he's blind?" Wang Zhutou listened to Gongsun Shengyan's words and became interested.

"I couldn't be more blind, and my two white eyes didn't even have a single black. ”

"The blind can't set fires, can they?" Wang Zhutou turned to ask another official.

"The blind man can touch it and set it on fire, and the dumb man can sing. Another laughed.

"Taoist priest...... Blind man......" Wang Zhutou said to himself, "Your Gongsun family, I will tell the truth, dare to come to the door to offend you, in these mansions in the south of the Yangtze River, I don't know who has so much courage." But your silk village has been burned down twice, and the matter is too strange, it shouldn't be done by ordinary people. Have you offended anyone recently in your silk deal?"

"Brother Shengqiu also suspects that I have offended people, but I really didn't offend people, can I offend them?" Gongsun Shengyan spread his hands, what he said was also the truth, Gongsun's silk business has been doing for almost thirty years, not to mention in the local area, even in Jiangnan, there is no opponent worth competing for. The businessmen are proud of cooperating with the Gongsun family, and it's too late to make a fool of themselves.

Wang Zhutou stopped talking, and looked at the fire oil under his feet, and a few black drops had seeped into the mud in the cracks of the stone slabs. He squatted down again and looked at it carefully, and then said with certainty, "Check the Taoist priests first, then the ink-makers, and the famous and unknown ones for me." ”

"Then it's hard work for the king and the brothers. Gongsun Shengyan arched his fists with both hands and expressed his gratitude.

"Hey, it's a matter of duty. Wang Zhutou smiled magnanimously, reached out and patted Gongsun Shengyan on the shoulder.

"Are you back so early today?" Gongsun Shengyan returned home, and before he entered the door, he saw Gongsun Shengqiu walking out in a hurry, and after almost hitting a face-to-face, Gongsun Shengqiu asked him.

"I just went to see the things in the silk village, and there is nothing else to do today. ”

"How's it going, find out something?"

"Wang Zhutou said that it may have something to do with Taoist priests, I can't figure it out, how could a Taoist priest come over to burn our silk village?" Gongsun Shengyan didn't think about it, and directly revealed the real content.

"It's all a bunch of rice buckets, and if you can't find any clues, you will talk nonsense, I see," Gongsun Shengqiu swallowed the second half of the words back into his stomach and waved his hand, "I don't even bother to laugh at them, I think it's a wine bag and a rice bag." ”

Gongsun Shengyan smiled, he also felt that Wang Zhutou's argument was too far-fetched: "Brother, where are you going?"

"Grandpa had a birthday, I got up early in the morning, just went back to sleep after sleeping, and went out to do some chores. Gongsun Shengqiu said as he walked back.

Gongsun Shengqiu came to a market on the edge of the city, it stands to reason that there should be no talent in such a remote place, but at this moment the market is full of people, like a candy market before the New Year, for fear that there will be nothing to sell if it is late.

This is the largest flower and bird trading market in the city, Jiangnan itself is a rich place, and it has a tradition of enjoying flowers and playing with birds, so although the whole market looks like a dilapidated cattle and horse market outside, the decoration of each house inside is very stylish, and in addition to the people of the merchants themselves, most of the people who come and go are young boys and old men in gorgeous clothes, and it is common sense to think about it.

Gongsun Shengqiu walked to a big storefront, and Xiao Er, who was busy, saw him, stopped what he was doing, and walked over with a flattering face and asked, "This son-in-law, what do you want to buy?"

"What about you Boss Xie?" asked Gongsun Shengqiu.

"Oh," Xiao Er saw that no one was buying, so he turned his head and shouted loudly into the house, "Boss Xie, someone is looking for you." ”

Gongsun Shengqiu didn't wait to greet him, and walked directly into the room. This room is full of bird cages, which contain all kinds of birds, large and small, black, white, yellow, green, he just stepped in, he heard someone above his head say strangely: "Hello, hello......" Gongsun Shengqiu looked up, and a black-haired and yellow-billed starling was looking at him.

"Ah, it's Young Master Gongsun, a rare guest, you said that you would come to sit with me when you have time, I just thought you were joking. Boss Xie opened the curtains from the courtyard behind the room and walked over, and greeted Gongsun Shengqiu warmly, "Drink tea and drink tea." After saying that, he led him to the back room.

"I won't drink the tea, where did you buy this tea?" Gongsun Shengqiu had a proud attitude.

"That's right, yes, look at me, the people of the Gongsun family haven't tasted the good tea in Jiangnan, and I also bought this tea from your family's tea house. Hahaha. ”

"Boss Xie, is there still the Hu Falcon you told me about last time?" asked Gongsun Shengqiu straight to the point.

"Yes, of course there is, others want not, you want to, there must be. Boss Xie kept complimenting him.

"Show me. "Gongsun Shengqiu is completely unceremonious, a son-in-law.

"You come to the backyard with me, this falcon, it eats meat, and it especially likes to eat small birds, so it can't be put together with other birds......" Boss Xie had nothing to say while leading Gongsun Shengqiu into the backyard.

One after the other, the two of them came to a corner of the backyard, and in the corner was a narrow simple wooden house, and when the door was closed, the whole thickness was enough for two adult men to hide sideways. The wooden house was divided up and down several floors, but there were only three birdcages inside, which were much larger than ordinary cages, covered with cotton yarn, and there were indeed birds inside, and as soon as people approached the birdcages, they fluttered and sounded.

"What are you doing with this birdcage in broad daylight?" Gongsun Shengqiu asked confusedly as he hadn't played with these things.

"Young master, you don't know anything, the falcon is a bird of prey, and I recognize the master, if I don't use cotton yarn to cover the birdcage, and I am familiar with it back and forth, you can buy it back, it will be difficult to raise. ”

"Why don't you cover it with a black cloth?"

"If you don't see people, you have to see the light, otherwise your eyes will be wasted in the dark, and you won't be able to see anything clearly, and this falcon won't be able to sell for a price." Covering it with cotton yarn is to make it vaguely see only human figures, but it does not prevent it from seeing the sun. Boss Xie patiently explained.

Gongsun Shengqiu frowned in disgust and said, "Playing with a bird, so many famous halls, it really takes idle time." ”

"Who's to say it isn't. Boss Xie echoed him and was about to lift the cotton yarn on the birdcage, "I have two of them now, the best Hu Falcon, I have been leaving it and not willing to sell it, and I am waiting for someone like your young master Gongsun." ”

"No need to open it. Gongsun Shengyan took action to stop Boss Xie.

"Don't you pick?" Boss Xie stopped in mid-air and turned his head to ask him.

"You can pick one for me, I'll go home and lift the cotton yarn on this cage myself. ”

"Okay, since Young Master Gongsun can trust me, then you can take this one. After listening to his words, Boss Xie rubbed his feet a little and took off a birdcage placed on a high place, "This falcon, you can't pick up too much earth, after all, it falls from a tree flying in the sky, the better the falcon, the higher it must be, otherwise it will be no different from raising chickens." ”

Hearing this, Gongsun Shengqiu couldn't help laughing, and then asked without stopping laughing, "How much?"

Boss Xie waved his hand again and again: "Don't talk about money, don't talk about money, it's you who have a fate with this Hu Falcon." ”

"Then I'll thank you. Gongsun Shengqiu took the birdcage, was a little polite, turned around and walked out of the backyard, through the lobby, and soon disappeared into the crowded market.