There is a black lacquered counter on one side, and there are several wine jars behind it, polished and shiny, looking like some years, you can smell the aroma of wine from afar.

A silver-white Taiping coin swirls on the counter.

The shopkeeper standing behind the counter, wearing a half-new robe, washed white with a cyan scarf on his head, held his chin with his right hand, and looked at the spinning Taiping Qian in a daze.

The guy sat on a bench, leaning against the wall, dozing, his head pecking at rice like a chicken, little by little.

Suddenly, a man walked into the lobby.

With a "snap", the shopkeeper reached out and slapped the rotating Taiping money under his palm, and then slowly removed his palm, revealing the words "Taiping in the world" on the Taiping money.

He looked up, and his signature smile was already on his face.

The man looked to be in his forties, with a weathered face and scars all over his body.

His left sleeve was empty, and his right leg was limping.

But in this place, such dignity is nothing, neither frightening nor surprising.

Because this is an "inn".

Different from ordinary inns, this "inn" is a mixed place.

The gods on the high mountains and the stinging insects in the mud gather together, there are rich and noble families in gorgeous clothes, there are also roosters and dog thieves who can't get on the table, and there is no lack of masters hidden in the market.

Facing the man, the shopkeeper spoke: "This guest officer, I don't know what to do?" As long as the price is right, it's all negotiable. ”

The man who dragged his crippled body to this place took out a brand-new official ticket from his arms, slapped it on the counter in front of the shopkeeper, and said in a hoarse voice: "This official ticket can be exchanged for 1,000 Taiping dollars in any official account in various places." ”

The shopkeeper glanced at the official ticket and did not rush to speak.

The man continued: "So much peace money is enough for many people to wash their hands and leave this business to become a stable rich man." ”

The shopkeeper nodded in agreement: "If the guest officer wants to buy someone's life, many people here are willing to gamble." ”

The man shook his head and said, "I don't buy my life, I just want to keep one person's safety." ”

"Protect one person from Qingluanwei's hands."

The man's voice is not loud, but it is very clear, in the moment of the exit of the three words "Qingluanwei", the lobby with the layout is no different from that of an ordinary inn, and all the movements of the "guests" have a moment of condensation, which shows the murderous name of Qingluanwei, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it can stop the children's night crying.

The shopkeeper played with the Taiping money in his hand, and slowly said: "In our Great Xuan Dynasty, for officials of all sizes, the most terrible thing is not the dismissal of officials, the big deal is to go home and guard the wife and children to live, the most terrible thing is to be arrested and questioned by Qingluanwei, everything is contaminated with Qingluanwei, the family is ruined and people are just waiting for leisure, and when it falls into their hands, there is often only the luxury of 'but asking for a death' or 'just a quick death'." Since ancient times, it has been difficult to die only once, but when it comes to Qingluanwei, the word 'death' has become the greatest relief. ”

The man was silent.

The shopkeeper glanced at the official boots on the man's feet and the little blood stains on his shirt, and then said: "Since the previous dynasty, Qingluanwei has gone through two dynasties and four hundred years, and it is notorious for its murder, from the princes and ministers to the high-rollers in the rivers and lakes, all of them are afraid of three points. If you want to protect people from Qingluanwei, I'm afraid that no one will dare to play this package ticket, this point, the guest officer won't know about it, right? ”

The man accentuated, "I know, but this is the 'inn'. ”

The shopkeeper smiled slightly self-deprecatingly: "The 'inn' is no longer the 'inn' it was back then. Our 'inn' and Qingluanwei's well water do not interfere with the river water on weekdays, but if the 'inn' crosses that line, Qingluanwei will not be polite at all, including those of us who beg for a living in the 'inn', are also not pleased. When I say this, can the guest officer understand? ”

The man was silent, and turned to look at the people in the hall.

No one dared to respond.

The man's face first showed disappointment, and then it changed from disappointment to despair.

At this moment, a voice suddenly sounded in the corner of the lobby: "I took this deal." ”

After a moment of silence in the lobby, there was a sudden sound of whispering, like the disturbing insect chirping in the summer night, and like the rats traveling at night. Even the guy who had been dozing off woke up from his dream, first looked around, and then hurriedly got up and left, as if he was afraid of being hurt by the fish in the pond.

Hope regained on the man's face, and he turned his head in the direction from which the voice came.

It was a young man who spoke, wearing a cloak and a hat, dressed in a very common outfit.

He sat in the corner of the lobby, without companions, and occupied a table with a short sword on it.

The young man got up and came to the counter, glanced at the official ticket on the counter, and said, "One thousand Taiping money is not a small amount, and if it is exchanged for Ruyi money, it can be piled up into a small mountain." ”

During the Great Wei Dynasty in the previous dynasty, private minting became a trend, and bad money was rampant, resulting in chaotic circulation, cumbersome conversion, and more officials profited from it. Feeling this, this dynasty unified the minting of gold, silver, and copper coins, canceled the square hole, turned into a whole circle, and named it "circle".

The back of the golden round is engraved with the words "Chengping worry-free", which is called "worry-free money"; The back of the silver round is engraved with the words "Taiping in the world", which is called "Taiping money"; The back of the copper circle is engraved with the words "peace and ruyi", which is called "ruyi money".

The shopkeeper glanced at the empty bench not far from the counter, stretched out his hand to hold down the official ticket, and said quietly: "This brother, whether it is Jinshan or Yinshan, and listen to the advice of the elder brother, although the Taiping money is good, I am afraid that I will not be able to spend it." ”

The young man said, "Thank you for reminding me, I know what's at stake." ”

The shopkeeper sighed slightly, withdrew his palm pressed on the official ticket, and said nothing more.

The man looked at the young man and asked cautiously, "Didn't you ask for your name?" ”

The young man said, "Just call me Qi Xuansu." ”

The "inn" is not directly involved in these fights, but acts as an intermediary to provide guarantees for buyers and sellers, and earns a percentage of the money.

To be able to do such a deal, it is naturally supernatural, and there are semicolons of "inns" everywhere in the world, and it is said that there is also a general number, and no one knows where it is.

Since Qi Xuansu was willing to take over the deal, the two signed a contract under the witness of the shopkeeper, a total of three copies, the shopkeeper put away one of the contracts for keeping, and the other two contracts were left for each of the two parties.

If Qi Xuansu makes this deal, he can rely on the contract to come to the shopkeeper and take 900 Taiping money, and the "inn" will take a tenth of it, which is 100 Taiping money. If Qi Xuansu can't do it, then the man can also return nine hundred and fifty Taiping dollars from the shopkeeper with the letter of agreement, and the "inn" will only take fifty Taiping dollars of the routine fee.

If there is a dispute in the future, the two can also go to the "inn" for mediation with this agreement, and if the mediation fails, the "inn" will respond accordingly as appropriate.

As for this response, whether it is a disaster of wealth and disaster, or a disaster of blood and light, it is not for outsiders to know.

The contract was made, the details of the transaction were explained, and the man handed over the official ticket of 1,000 Taiping to the treasurer. The reputation of the "inn" is excellent, even if it is a big deal of tens of thousands of Taiping dollars, there is no need to worry about ruining its reputation because of 1,000 Taiping dollars.

As for the specific requirements for this transaction, it is also simple, that is, ask Qi Xuansu to go to the county government in the city to save Li Hongwen, the magistrate of Fengtai County, who is about to be taken away by Qingluanwei. It is said that this county lord was involved in a major court case, and if he was taken to the capital and put into prison, he would be more than lucky.

Regarding this big case, Qi Xuan has heard of it, and the two factions are tilting against each other, which is treacherous, right and wrong, and it is difficult to discuss.

And then there is the identity of this man, it is not difficult to guess, judging from his dress, most of them are the cronies of the county magistrate, who risked his life to flee here for help.

Seeing that the shopkeeper put away the letter of appointment and sealed it together with the official ticket of 1,000 Taiping dollars, the man was obviously relieved, and after putting away his book of promise, he found a free table nearby and sat down, and then asked the shopkeeper for a pot of wine.

The shopkeeper opened the big wine jar behind him, and the aroma of wine overflowed suddenly, and then filled a pot of wine from it, and it was never warm, so it was sent to the man. When passing by Qi Xuansu's side, the two met for a moment, and the shopkeeper's eyes were slightly complicated, with regret and helplessness, as if they were looking at a dying person.

Qi Xuansu didn't care about this, put the book in his sleeve, walked back to his table, first hung the short sword on the table around his waist, and then reached out and pressed down the hat, covering his eyes, so that people could only see a slightly thin chin. Then he shook his cloak again, covering the sword at his waist.

The man took a sip of wine, calmed down a little, and said: "Brother Qi, I told you all the details of this, let me remind you again, this matter is dangerous, don't be careless." ”

Qi Xuansu, who was about to walk out, paused slightly and didn't look back: "Thank you." ”

The man wanted to say something, but when he thought of the covenant in his bosom, and was afraid of scaring the young man away, he shut down his voice, drank sullenly, and in a short time fell drunk on the table.

Because the entire "inn" was built underground, Qi Xuansu walked into a long corridor leading to the ground after leaving the lobby.

There are torches in the corridor, and the distance is not short, and it took about half a column of incense to come to the exit position.

The moment Qi Xuansu walked out of the corridor, he was greeted by a crossbow arrow, which shot straight into his left leg, and the intention was also obvious, that is, to make him incapacitated, so that he could be caught obediently.

Qi Xuansu was able to dodge at the last moment, the arrow grazed his thigh and nailed to the wall behind him, the arrow all submerged into the wall, and the black tail feathers were still trembling, which showed the power of this arrow.

This kind of crossbow arrow, he is very familiar with.

This is the standard equipment of Qingluanwei, there is a blood groove barb on the arrow, and if you are shot by this kind of arrow, if you pull out the arrow, you will tear off a large piece of flesh and blood by the barb on the arrow, if you don't pull out the arrow, you will be constantly bled by the blood tank, which is extremely vicious.

Qi Xuansu turned his head to look again, and a figure strode out of the shadows, standing still more than ten zhang away from Qi Xuansu.

This person is holding a pitch-black crossbow machine in his hand, obviously the arrow just now was shot by him, and then looking at this person's outfit, wearing a cyan narrow-sleeved long brocade robe, a black iron beast head buttoned at the waist, and official boots with a black face and a white bottom square head, there is no doubt that it is Qingluanwei.