"I wonder if the people who were taken captive up the mountain that day escaped safely?"

Chang'er sighed and said it was insignificant. As soon as he opened his mouth to speak, he saw several officers and soldiers with knives coming in at the door of the inn. As soon as one of his tall men entered the door, he sat down at a table in the middle with a big grin. Another soldier unsheathed his long knife and pushed it to the table, saying:

"Shopkeeper, our centurion general's favorite daughter Hong, will go to Haode daughter Hong to open a few jars to drink, and then tidy up a few side dishes to drink. ”

"Yes, the official master!

The second child in the store answered. But I did it with a bitter face.

"Bah, boy, we have been ordered to come here to protect you, even if we eat your bowl of wine, what's the matter?

"The kid doesn't dare! It turns out that it is very appropriate to wait for the uncle to eat for nothing! It's just that in the past three or four days, more than a dozen waves of officials have come to eat and drink. The small shop and small business really can't bear the uncle's free food. We ・・・・・・"

"Straight lady thief! But how can you speak! What do you eat for nothing! We are playing with our lives on the tip of the knife to protect you, and eating a bowl of wine is worth you to talk nonsense. ”

There was a snap, and Xiao Er stood there stupidly with his face in his hands.

"Second Brother Liang, dissipate your anger. The subordinate is rude, and will not speak according to the words!Wait for the little one to come and serve!" The shopkeeper hurried out of the inner room, bent over, and said with a smile on his face.

"Shopkeeper Liu, it's not like we're so eventful! My centurion military master came here to eat and drink, and it was also for the sake of your affection, how can it be like this!"

"Yes, yes, yes, thank you for your face! Bao Xiaoer, hurry up and serve tea, and tell the back hall to prepare a few side dishes as soon as possible. Lord Junmen, this is the best daughter red that has been treasured in my store for 30 years, and the villain first salutes the Lord Junmen with a cup, and the right to make amends. ”

"Well, it's good wine!"

After the centurion drank a full glass, he smacked his lips and said.

"Brother, let's go upstairs. ”

Seeing this, Chang'er frowned and whispered. Insufficient, she went upstairs with Chang'er.

When she entered a side room in Naxi, Chang'er sat upright on the bed, but sat cross-legged on a wooden chair.

"Brother, I see that there is no difference between their officers and soldiers and thieves! Do you want to go to the county government tomorrow?"

"Chang'er, although these officers and soldiers are like this, but we tell us about the thieves' lair, and they can't say that they have to be the master of the people. This is a great merit! Why hesitate!"

"But, brother, what if a thief comes at night?"

"Chang'er, don't you hear what the official said about that centurion? Presumably they were also urgently transferred here to prevent the thieves from coming back to provoke. You and I just have to rest assured, let's go to the county government office in Ming'er!"

"It's all up to my brother to decide, and I will go to the official office tomorrow to report to the official to kill those thieves!"

On the second day, he and Chang'er went out of Sancha Town with the merchants to the county seat. Naturally, it was not enough to dress up with that Chang'er like an ordinary merchant, in case something went wrong on the way and was recognized by the thief and gave his life in vain. Sancha Town is thirty miles away from the county seat. It was not enough to wait for the line, but it took only two or three hours to enter the county seat. The radius of this county is only about ten miles of ground. A cross in the middle of the city stretches out a street to the east, west, north and south, but only a few alleys lead through the street, and nothing else. The dwellings in the city are low and poorly built. There are few pedestrians on the streets, and there are very few customers in the shops. Separated from Chang'er and the merchants, he walked down the street, and saw that the merchants at the door of the shop were standing, standing, or sitting on wooden benches chatting, so he looked for an old man standing at the door to inquire about the whereabouts of the official office, and went straight to the county office.

The county government is located in the north of East Street and lives in the south. The red pillar color retreats, the yamen is narrow, and the stone lions on both sides of it are poorly worked. On the top of the five or seven steps, the two pages of doors are open, and the red paint on them is peeling off, mottled and ugly. A drum is placed on top of the drum stand on one side, and half of the drumstick is inserted indiscriminately. Lack of reading is very miscellaneous, at this time according to the book said drumming. Sure enough, after a short time, two officials came out with a killing stick.

"Bah, boy, what's the matter with drumming to bother me?"

"Official, we have something to report to the county official, please pass one or two. ”

"What's the matter?

"This matter can only be said about the eldest master!"

"Bold! It's not that I don't want to live, even the lord I dare to disobey!"

"I just want to pay homage to the eldest master!"

"This stinky scholar is also a donkey! Waiting outside!"

So one of them entered, and after a while someone called:

"That scholar just now, the master called you in!"

It is not enough to go with Jin Chang'er, and see that the hall is not very tall. There is a plaque hanging above the main hall in the middle, 'honest and square', and the official book case under it is very large, and there is a stack of copywriting on it, and it is a piece of wood. Later, an official with an elegant and kind countenance, although the official robe was very old, the sewing was obvious, but the slurry was clean. It was slowly taking its seat. Look at his middle figure, his eyes are kind and kind, his beard is eight-character, and he is loyal to the elderly.

"The people in the hall don't kneel when they see the master!"

A servant shouted.

"Forget it, let them tell me, what's the drumming?"

The county lord said gently.

"Parents, let me come later. We know where the bandits are located・・・・・・!

"Slow! The stakes are high at this time, please come back to the court. ”

After that, the county ordered the old man to get up and enter, and there were two officials, one in front of the other, and Chang'er passed through the side door of the lobby and entered the inner court. The inner court is furnished like a study, and it is still simple and elegant. A set of old tables and chairs, on which there are four treasures of the study. The calligraphy, painting and ink on the four walls are all made by famous artists. The old man sat on the chair, holding a teacup and was about to drink, but suddenly said:

"You two know about the Bandits' Lair, are you serious?"

"Yes, late life does not dare to deceive. The two of us ・・・・・・ that day."

Lack of such and such will be how to be caught, how to escape, how to come here one by one.

"If you want you to lead the way, can you still know the way?"

"This is a natural acquaintance! We ・・・・・・"

"Okay, immediately order troops and set off, and be sure to annihilate this gang of gangsters!"

So Jin Chang'er was placed by the master of the county government to live in the ya, and Shi Wei took the soldiers and soldiers invited by the county order, hundreds of people, and rushed to the mountain. People along the way avoided it and were afraid of harming the fish pond. At dusk, we finally arrived at the thieves' lair. The soldier, under the leadership of the commander of a thousand men and the commander of the county government, surrounded the thieves' nest. But it is not enough to see that there are three or five women eating dinner at the gate, and there are more than a dozen children running around, startling the chickens to run around. The two dogs saw the living man coming from afar, and kept barking, but when the army came, they were all trembling and fled into the inner courtyard. When the country women saw this, they all avoided the inner courtyard and disappeared. Suddenly, he felt a chill in his heart, and said secretly:

"It's not good! Could it be that this thief has already known about it and taken precautions! Hmph! How thorough can it be to take precautions in such a short time!"

"Well, the scholar, but here?"

"It's here, yes! But ・・・・・・"

"But this is obviously the house of a large family, where are the thieves?"

That's all in charge. The person was silent all the way, and at this time, he looked up in surprise. I saw that his appearance under the armor was very familiar!

"Hey, it's this person!"

Not enough to be shocked. He was actually one of the two people in the back garden of this village that day!

"Your Excellency, the thief who captured us that day really brought us here. This side door is a long corridor. The promenade is a stone platform. There was a stone chamber on that platform, and in it there was a cave covered by a huge stone slab. There is an iron chain on the stone slab, which is connected to a winch vessel, twisting this thing, and the stone gate is removed, and the crypt appears. There is a dungeon in which several of us are imprisoned. ”

As he spoke, the door of the village was wide open. An old man came out, followed by two or three scholar-like people and seven or eight strong men. They are strong men who know that they are crop men, and there is a trace of resemblance to the thieves!"

"All the masters are coming, the little old man is not welcome, and I hope to forgive the sins!

"This scholar sued you and the others for being thieves and held a large number of them hostage here, but is there such a thing?"

"The general is above, and the little old man Zhou Xiang lives here and has always been impartial and law-abiding. Besides, the little old man has quite a few acres of thin fields, and he still has a little surplus in his life, but he is not worth being a thief! As for killing people and selling goods, he will never dare to do so! Besides, the little old man is old, and his children are all scholars, and he has no power to restrain chickens, so how can he rob others? The mountain roads are so winding and similar that this little brother may be wrong to see it!"

"General, go in and search for it!"

That is not enough, although he knows the Tao in his heart at this time, he still returns to the Tao by luck.

"Little brother, I see that you are also a person who reads, and a scholar must speak the great way, abide by ethics, and understand his conscience! Didn't you accept the money and goods of one of my enemies, and wanted to trap me in injustice? Little old man can only guard a few acres of thin fields, manage a few mountains and forests, get some mountain goods, and earn a few small money. It's okay for the people who travel with me to be red-eyed, but the little brother has never known my family, so why did he come to harm us?"

"That old man, don't be in a hurry! Everything must pay attention to evidence, isn't it! Well, that scholar, lead the way in front, Gu Du is in charge, and you will take the officials of the county government to search. This is what you do, my brother is fighting and killing the enemy!"

So, Gu Du led the way forward, and he dismounted and led his subordinates into the side gate.