The two returned to the inn near the pavilion, Gai Zhongcheng's team was ready to leave, Li Siye asked Yan Xiaosi to go back to the room to rest, and he went to General Fumeng.

"You want to break away from the big team and stay in Lanzhou for two days?"

"There is an old man in Lanzhou City, who invited me to his house as a guest, and it was difficult to resist the hospitality, so I came to ask you for advice, and when this side is over, I will immediately rush to Chang'an and follow the general."

Li Siye knelt opposite Meng Lingcha in the lattice, and said respectfully with his crossed hands.

"It doesn't matter about this matter, you are going back to Chang'an to do your own business this time, I will go first with the team, and you will slowly catch up later, and it is estimated that there will be nothing to use you after returning to Chang'an, and when the time comes, you will go to the Anxi Duhu Mansion in Pingkangfang to stay in the backyard and ask, don't delay the return date."

"Thank you for the general's leniency, and I will retire from my humble position."

Li Siye slowly withdrew from the cubicle room with his crossed hands, left the post house and returned to the inn, and when he went upstairs and returned to the room, he heard Yan Xiaosi next door making a thunderous snoring sound, this kid spent his energy last night, and now he can only rely on sleep to make up for it.

He didn't rush to explore near the solemn temple, he was able to suppress this unconsidered impulse, it was difficult to prevent the vulture Zhang Kuo and his gang from having accomplices in Lanzhou City, maybe the courtyard itself was the Longtan Tiger's Lair, if the fight during the day attracted officers and soldiers, the treasures inside could not be suppressed.

It's better to go there when it's dark, just enter before curfew, and if there's a lot of money hidden in that yard, you'll have to spend a night counting it, hey, hopefully counting the cramps.

Yan Xiaosi slept in the room until noon, then rubbed his eyes and became confused, yawned against the wall board and said, "Captain, when is it now, and when will the Jiedu envoy leave for the team to enter Beijing?"

"Oh, Gai Zhongcheng's honor guard is gone."

"Gone?" Yan Xiaosi ran to the end of the corridor, pushed open the window sash and looked at the street, the front of the pavilion on the opposite side was deserted, and there was no shadow of the flag and the door in the courtyard behind the heavy eaves.

He turned his head and his face was full of guilt, and he lowered his head and raised his palm and gave himself a resounding slap: "I deserve to die!" Snoozing missed the itinerary and forgot to call you, causing the captain to be punished. ”

"There will be no punishment, I have already explained the reason to General Fumeng, and I took leave to stay in Lanzhou City for two days."

Yan Xiaosi was dumbfounded again, and pointed to his cheeks in a daze: "The captain specially asked General Fumeng for leave for me?" ”

Li Siye scratched his head, this kid feels good about himself, but why should such a thing be punctured, let him think so. He simply nodded and said, "Yes, I was tired like that last night, I shouldn't travel around, I should rest and recover my yang energy." Walk. I'll take you to eat mutton in a water basin, eating this thing can replenish yang energy. ”

He led Yan Xiaosi downstairs to the market in Lanzhou City. Yan Xiaosi lowered his head to avoid the crowd, looked at the back of the captain, and was inexplicably moved in his heart, Anxi has been in the army for many years, and he has never met a Shangguan who is so good to him, take him to the Qinglou to be chic, and because he delayed the trip, it is impossible for his parents to do this.

He originally wanted to do his part to protect the captain on this trip, but who knew that he would receive more and more kindness, how could Yan Xiaosi repay him?

The two sat cross-legged in front of the desk, each holding a porcelain pot of mutton soup in their hands, and feasted on it, although the mutton smell of this pot of meat was too strong, mainly because the store was reluctant to put pepper, but the taste was still quite sufficient, especially mixed with emerald green wild onions, which was moderately salty. The oil stars floating in the soup could not be wasted, and he poured it into his mouth with his head up and the basin without leaving a drop.

"Have you eaten enough?"

"Go back when you're full."

"Okay."

In the evening, Li Siye stood under the eaves, watching the thick clouds in the sky accumulate thicker and thicker, and the sunset was hidden behind the cumulus clouds and sank to the ground.

He carried the sarong lantern he had bought, and he also bought a small bottle of grease, enough to consume tonight.

Yan Xiaosi stood behind him and asked eagerly, "Do you want to go out tonight?" Although he didn't dare to have extravagant hopes for this, he was still faintly excited in his heart.

"That's right," Li Siye turned his head and saw Yan Xiaosi's slightly hot eyes, knowing that he had misunderstood, he smiled and changed his words: "You go by yourself tonight, I'm going to another place." ”

He took out a Sasanian gold coin from his bosom and handed it to Yan Xiaosi: "Use this, you can change it to a better one, or just last night, whatever you want." ”

Yan Xiaosi sniffed excitedly, and hurriedly stretched out his hand to block: "How can I use your gold again, I still have some savings, or I can stay in the inn tonight." ”

His longing expression couldn't even fool him, he just wanted to go. Li Siye grabbed his hand, stuffed the gold coin into his palm and said, "You and my brother, why do you need to divide each other, go back tonight." Also, by the way, help me to keep an eye on the house diagonally opposite, the room of the woman I stayed in last night, to see if she is in the house, or if she has been taken away for a walk, and come back tomorrow morning to tell me. ”

Yan Xiaosi nodded vigorously, compared to the favor given to him by the captain, this little thing was nothing. He didn't bother to delve into why the lieutenant asked him to spy on the woman, where could he explain the involvement between men and women.

The two parted ways at the door of the inn, each with their own expectations in their hearts, and went towards different goals.

Li Siye came to the gate of the solemn temple with a lantern, a stone staircase extended to the temple, the towering gatehouse stood on the stairs, the carvings on it were unclear, and it seemed to be old. But this place Li Siye knew that it was the former residence of Xue Ju, the overlord of Western Qin at the end of the Sui Dynasty, and was later converted into a royal palace by him. In the second year of Wude, it was built as a solemn temple by Tang Gaozu.

He has no interest in visiting the resort now, so he turned into the winding alley in front of the steps, silently counted his steps and walked out of more than thirty zhang, and there was indeed a deep alley when he turned right. There are small mud-walled courtyards on both sides of the alley, and some houses have lights on, but most people are poor and can't afford lamp oil, so the more they reach the end of the alley, the more dark and gloomy it becomes.

He carried the lamp in his hand, emitting an orange light, which could only dispel about a foot of darkness, and the insects and mosquitoes born in early summer swirled and flew in front of the lamp, or there was a faint green fluorescence with the weeds flying in the winding path. It was getting more and more deserted in front of him, and his destination courtyard was also close at hand.

This house is indeed abrupt in the middle of nowhere, it has a main hall, left and right wings and inverted seats, compared to the thatched roofs of the neighbors on the left and right, the tiled house stands here and does have the feeling of standing out from the crowd.

Li Siye judged according to common sense that it is possible for the poor to be neighbors with the rich in a convenient place, but the rich generally do not drown themselves in barren and remote encirclement. Unless it is another situation, the poor return to their hometown, the poor are rich, and they dare not be too public, so that the situation of the owner of the house coincides with Zhang Kuo.

The door of the courtyard was cracked and refuted, the four corners of the spider webs were crossed, and the top door stick was held up by the inside of the door. Then he could only take the unusual road, carrying the lantern over the courtyard wall and falling gently into the courtyard. The ground was covered with wild artemisia grass, and even in the cracks of the wooden steps of the main house, green grass mustard could be squeezed out.

He didn't pay attention to the left and right wings surrounded by wild grass, and walked straight to the main hall with a lantern, the ground was very dusty, and the desk and the shrine were also evenly sprinkled with floating ash.

The two side rooms on the left and right of the main hall are separated by wooden partitions, and the inside is empty and empty, and the clay pot in the corner of the wall does not look like a mechanism.

He stood in front of the hall and pondered for a long time, replacing himself into the identity of a bandit, thinking to himself that a person from a poor family who had been left from the Tang Army and became a bandit should hide where he should hide the stolen money, and this key in his hand should be useful.

You don't have to think about the mystical mechanism, you can break an object and bang open a wall. There is a specialization in the art industry, and the bandits can't do such a subtle thing, even if someone can do it, Zhang Kuo won't ask for it, the less people know about the ill-gotten wealth in his hands, the better.

What can a person who has no education, but has knowledge, and has been a soldier for two years, make? He tried to go into the partition room, lifted the straw mat on the ground, and only paved with green bricks underneath, he stepped on the green bricks back and forth, and found that some places below were empty, and he stepped on the empty places in turn to the root of the wall, and only then did he feel that the wall was pasted with a layer of hemp paper.

He lifted the lantern and looked at it carefully, and found that there was an imperceptible gap in the hemp paper, and he took out a short knife from his waist, gently inserted it through the gap, and pried it left and right, feeling it loose, and it should be the whole wall panel moving.

Li Siye dismantled the square wall panel, and there was an iron plate inside, and there was a keyhole on the iron plate, and the key could finally come in handy.

The key is very exquisitely made, there are three teeth in the front and back facing three directions, he inserts the key into the hole and the first tooth can only turn after unlocking, and then can go deep into the second tooth, after three consecutive unlocks, the iron plate can be pushed inside, revealing the ladder of Hesse downward.

"Sure enough, it's a money-hungry ......," came the woman's dark laughter at the door.