Shayuan Supervisor, south of Tucheng City.

The Tucheng City, where the Mumaxiang army lived, was divided into north and south by a small river. The north side is affluent, with neat streets and shops. Shayuan Prison Yamen, horse breeding, sick horse affairs, breeding affairs, teaching horse camps, and a number of offices are all set up in Beicheng. The southern city is dirty and messy, and the lower class soldiers and their families live here.

What Qin Xiao said happened in Nancheng. The family whose surname was Cui, but it was not a box army, but a wanderer from other places. With the skill of a medical horse, he settled down in the Shayuan Prison. The Cui family has a family of four, and the couple have a son and a daughter, although the life is light, they can also get food and clothing.

Cui Jiazi is 17 years old and was supposed to participate in this year's autumn festival, but he died.

Although Qin Chong intersected with the children of the Cui family, he knew nothing about the two. Not even a word.

Saving people that day was purely out of righteous indignation, and when he came out of Kuixing Tower, he was struck by lightning.

Today, Qin Chong went out early in the morning. The indescribable feeling in my heart is that I just want to go to Cui's house to have a look. Supposedly, a few days had passed, and there was no trace there, but he just wanted to go and see it. I always feel that Kui Xinglou has an intersection, and he has already formed a cause and effect with the Cui family, and he can't stay out of it.

He walked very slowly, and a little faster would pull the wound, and it hurt and hurt. Seeing that it was almost noon, he also walked from the north of the city to the "boundary river". A small river, neither wide nor deep, separates two worlds. Looking south, there are patches of low wooden houses and shacks, which are in tatters, and the streets are also muddy.

A few days ago, a rainstorm flooded most of the southern city, and almost every family was affected. Now, although the water has receded, the tattered scene left behind makes Qin Chong sigh deeply. Everywhere there were ruined houses, clothes, household belongings, and bedding to dry, children running around without worry, and the faces of adults were full of helpless numbness.

"Little Tiger." Someone called behind Qin Chong. Huzi is Qin Chong's name, and he has not yet reached the crown, so naturally he has not taken the word. The people who knew him well in the Shayuan prison all called him that. But he had to add the word "small", which made Qin Chong very unhappy, but he couldn't help it. Because those who call him so are all elders.

Qin Chong turned his head and saw a person standing under the eaves behind him, not tall, with wide shoulders and long arms, and his legs in a circle. Although the clothes are old but clean, the jaw is slightly contained, which is quite imposing. After concentrating for a while, Qin Zhong had already remembered this person, the deputy commander of the left wing of the Dingguo Army, Li Yuanzhou.

The Dingguo Army is the military number of the Xiang Army here, and as for the Jiaojun Battalion, it is responsible for training war horses.

Li Yuanzhou's riding skills are superb, and the sand garden supervisor is unsurpassed. In Qin Yutian's words, the war horses trained by Li Yuanzhou can all be married home as mothers-in-law. The border army came here to choose horses, and all those trained by Li Yuanzhou were designated to rob. There were several armed fights between the Shayuan Supervisors for this reason, and several troops refused to give in to each other and fought fiercely.

"Uncle Li." Qin bowed heavily and said hello.

Although Li Yuanzhou is a box army, he is full of ability, and he has a good relationship with Qin Yutian.

"Are you all right?" There was a playful smile in Li Yuanzhou's eyes.

"Huh? It's not a big deal. Qin Chong groaned in his heart, his feat was already known to everyone.

"Before your father went to Yanzhou, he made a special trip to worship Kuixing." Li Yuanzhou's smile was even stronger.

"Huh??" What does it mean? Qin Chong's intuition is not a good thing. "What is my father doing to worship Kuixing?"

"Your eldest brother is participating in the Autumn Festival this year." Li Yuanzhou almost laughed, "Your father believes in Kuixing." ”

"Huh?" Qin Chong suddenly felt a toothache, and his face twitched a little.

"Hahaha." Seeing Qin Chong's embarrassment, Li Yuanzhou couldn't help it anymore and looked up to the sky and laughed.

Qin Chong gritted his teeth and glared at Li Yuanzhou, his eyes unkind. This old man Li has no children or daughters, and his greatest pleasure is that he likes to tease Qin Chong, and he never gets tired of it. But Qin Chong is honest and straightforward, and he falls into the pit every time.

"My little nephew recently felt that the poplar tree was growing a little crooked, and I pulled it out one day."

"You kid dare." Li Yuanzhou was anxious. "What poplar tree? What poplar tree? That's crape myrtle. ”

Others say that the crape myrtle tree is pulled, Li Yuanzhou will only pout, you try? But Qin Zhong said that maybe one day his baby Ziwei will really be gone. This kid is born with divine powers, how dare you say that you try it?

After chasing a few steps, seeing that Qin Zhong had already run away, Li Yuanzhou stopped and sighed slightly. When Qin Chong came to the south of the city at this time, he must have heard the news of the Cui family. With Qin Chong's temperament, he will not sit idly by.

At this moment, Li Yuanzhou was very conflicted, he hoped that Qin Zhong could seek justice for the Cui family, but he was worried that he would be hurt because of this. As far as he knew, in this matter, Yao Gang was just an accomplice on the surface. And behind the scenes, there may be a tougher backstage plotting. As for what was planned, it was not for him to know.

He is just the deputy commander of the command of the Junying Battalion, and he is an official, but in fact he is not as good as a civilian.

In the face of oppression, exploitation, and harm by the powerful, there is only helplessness and endurance.

The news of Yao Gang's murder and arson has spread all over Shayuan Prison. Because the day before the Dragon Boat Festival, Yao Gang broke into Cui's house with a group of servants and kidnapped the Cui family and his wife, many people have seen it. Later, Cui's house caught fire and the body was found in the house, and people naturally put the murder and arson on Yao Gang's head.

The body found in the house, charred and unrecognizable, had been carried away by the servants. But today, it is the third day of the incident, and the Shayuan Prison Yamen still has no action.

The place of residence of the Xiang army originally had the same plan as a military camp. But as time went by, the population multiplied, and the original dwelling was no longer enough. The Shayuan Prison Yamen didn't pay any attention to this at all, and left it to fend for itself. Therefore, the Xiang army can only build houses by itself, and the construction is rough and disorderly, which is becoming more and more chaotic.

If you are a newcomer, you will be lost in the winding alleys and you will lose your way after walking a few steps.

Qin Chong inquired all the way and came to the southwesternmost edge of Nancheng before he saw the small courtyard of the Cui family. There are few homes here, and the hills are undulating, and there are seven or eight fenced courtyards scattered around. The sheep intestine path winds up, and large areas of land are reclaimed on both sides, which are leveled and planted with all kinds of vegetables.

Walking up the path, Qin Chong was already soaking wet, and his sweat-stained wounds were painful.

The Cui family's small courtyard was in shambles, the fence had been trampled down, and there were messy footprints everywhere. To the north were three main rooms, only the one on the west side was on fire, and the doors and windows were burned to black ashes.

The people here are poor, and the raw material for building houses is clay, which is beaten into billets, and then dried to build walls. What's more, they couldn't even afford a house, so they had to dig a cellar on the spot, and the family lived in the cellar. If it rains heavily, it will suffer. The rain poured in, and it was miserable.

There was a locust tree in the yard with lush foliage that covered half of the yard.

Sunlight shines through the shade of the trees and on the blackened dirt walls, leaving dappled shadows that sway in the wind.

"Third brother, third brother." Behind Qin Chong, two teenagers came running, shouting as they ran.

Here in Nancheng, Qin Chong often comes, and he also has a few friends. These two teenagers are surnamed He, one is called Dahu and the other is Xiaohu, they are brothers, but they don't look like each other at all. Big Tiger Fourteen, round face and big eyes; Little Tiger Twelve, but with a melon seed face, like a handsome little girl.

The brothers grew up on horseback, and despite their young age, they were very skilled in riding. Hiding in stirrups, picking up money on horseback, and even somersaulting on the back of a galloping horse, it's like playing. Moreover, the brothers have their own unique skills.

Dahu followed his father and learned the ability to identify and track. According to the animal's hoof prints, feces, and traces left when passing through grass blades and branches, track the prey one by one. The tiger is extremely patient, and sometimes in order to catch a prey, he can lie down in the grass for the night.

And Xiaohu has a jumpy personality and is impatient to learn this, but he has a smart brain and endless ghost ideas. There are many children around him who are his age, or older than him, are willing to listen to his arrangement. Stealing chickens and sheep, the biggest one actually stole the granary, they stole more than 20 stone of grain, and no one found out.

It wasn't until a month later that the Shayuan supervisor checked the warehouse every month and found that there was a shortage of food.

It was also on that occasion that the Xiao Cavalry Battalion tracked down the lost grain, and Qin Chong met the two brothers.

In the end, the reason why there was no incident was entrusted to the blessing of the granary supervisor. The so-called relying on the mountains to eat the mountains, relying on the water to eat the water, relying on a granary, how can you not get up and down? It was originally a confused account, where did you dare to let people check it carefully? Within two days, there were inexplicably more than twenty stones in the granary, and the little official took inventory again, this time the number was accurate.

The loss of grain in the granary was unanimously let go gently, and no one mentioned it again.

In fact, Xiaohu's stealing methods are not very clever. The back wall of the granary, next to a low barren mountain, is overgrown with shrubs, weeds, and pits in the ground, all of which have been made by weasels. Xiaohu and they took advantage of these holes, and after a little digging, they dug directly into the granary.

Usually there is no trace of people here, so the soldiers guarding the warehouse are lazy and never patrol this barren mountain, giving Xiaohu the opportunity to steal. For three or four days in a row, more than 20 stones of grain were transported.

At that time, the cavalry battalion sent a capital to find the lost grain. The head of the team is Shi Yong, the master who taught Qin Chong's martial arts. Shi Yong is Qin Yutian's right-hand man, not only strong in martial arts, but also meticulous as a hair. Sure enough, it only took Shi Yong half a day to find the cave where the grain was hidden.

More than 20 stones of grain were hidden in caves. Apparently, the grain thieves had not yet had time to transport it away. Shi Yong did not rush to carry the grain, but ordered someone to clean up the traces and restore the camouflage at the entrance of the cave to its original state. Then, pretending not to find anything, he went to look elsewhere. secretly ambushed people and waited for the net.

The soldiers lay in ambush for a day and a night, thinking that no one would come. But at dawn the next day, a small figure appeared in front of the cave. It was Xiaohu who was not worried about the food, so he secretly ran to check it, and specially picked the dawn with the least one person. Unexpectedly, the soldiers who were ambushed took it right.

Seeing that he had caught a child, Shi Yong had already understood seven or eight points, and he sighed in his heart.

The salary of the Xiang army is not high, and the Shangguan is deducting and deducting money, and there is not much money in hand in a year. The family, young and old, is all counting on this money to survive. You can save clothes all year round, but you can't skip your stomach. The family lives in fear, and from time to time they run out of food, so they can only rely on digging wild vegetables to make a living.

As soon as he was interrogated, Xiaohu cried a lot, only saying that he was hungry and had no food at home.

A group of old men, touched by Xiaohu's crying and telling, with tears in the corners of their eyes, bowed their heads and sighed, and wanted to scold their mothers with grievances in their hearts. The days of the forbidden army are much better than those of the box army. However, every family has a scripture that is difficult to read, and everyone has a large family to support, and life is stretched.

The cavalry battalion is stationed in the Shayuan Prison, so the military salaries, grain and grass are all supplied by the Shayuan Supervisor.

Shayuan supervisor raises horses for the imperial court, directly under the herd department, and is a fat water yamen. The annual cost of horse breeding allocated by the imperial court is millions, but only two or three percent are really used for horse breeding. During this period, all kinds of names were peeled layer by layer, from top to bottom, geese plucked their feathers, and fattened countless corrupt officials.

When he arrived at the Shayuan Prison Yamen, it became even worse. Deducting the salaries of soldiers is only the simplest operation.

What's more, they resold horse feed, grain and grass, cattle and sheep to enrich their own pockets.

The soldiers of the cavalry battalion have not received their salaries for three months. And the contradiction between Qin Yutian and the chief bookkeeper Yao Pingyuan is because the supervisor of Shayuan deducted military salaries and did not pay them in arrears. But in the battle between the two, Qin Yutian was obviously at a disadvantage, and he was in the Great Song Dynasty where he admired literature and suppressed martial arts, and he was suppressed by Yao Pingyuan when he returned to him, and he was helpless.

Shi Yong put himself in his shoes, sympathized with the Xiang army, and couldn't bear to deal with Xiaohu. The crime of stealing military rations is not small, and once it is fallen, it will be exiled at least and beheaded at worst. Even if Xiaohu is still young and can save his life, he can't escape severe punishment, and he will even affect his family. I can't say that dozens of families were ruined like this.

"Master, why don't you let him go?" Qin Chong was present at the time, and he couldn't bear it.

Shi Yong didn't make a sound, slowly turned his head, and quietly looked into the distance. He was ordered to arrest the thief, and if he let the thief steal grain privately, this is a crime, and if he can't do it, he will be dismissed from his post and investigated. Moreover, there are many people in the barracks, and it is inevitable that no one will reveal the news in the future. Shi Yong was entangled left and right for a while, and it was really difficult to decide.

Seeing that the sun was getting higher, Shi Yong waved his hand and summoned his soldiers to converge.

"Put or catch? What do you guys say? Shi Yong's eyes flashed, staring at several people and said.

There were three people on the ambush mission, plus Shi Yong and Qin Chong, a total of five people. To conceal this matter, it requires the five people to speak in unison, share the responsibility, and no one can stay out of the matter.

"Let it go, this thing is in my stomach." Someone made a statement.

"What to do with all this food?" Someone was worried about food.

"Divided." Shi Yong said in a muffled voice.

Shi Yong knows human nature, sympathy is sympathy, if they are allowed to take the risk and release people, I am afraid that no one will do it.

Only when interests are evenly distributed, can this matter be concealed.

After some deliberation, a total of twenty-three stone of grain was divided, which was divided into six parts. Shi Yong, Qin Chong and three soldiers, each with four stones, and the remaining three stones belonged to Xiaohu. Xiaohu didn't say anything and silently accepted the result. In other words, committing such a big thing, and being caught squarely, and being able to get out of the whole body is already burning high incense.

At noon, a piece of news came, which made Shi Yong and the others extremely excited. The grain was found in the granary, and it was not lost before, but the small official made a mistake in counting, and the number was correct after the count was repeated. This time, everyone was happy.

Afterwards, Qin Chong didn't ask for the four stones of grain, and quietly gave it to Xiaohu. Although Xiaohu was bold and dared to attack the granary of Shayuan Prison, he was indeed hungry and anxious, so he made this decision. There is grain piled up in the granary, and their family has more soldiers who are hungry, what the hell is this?

One stone is one hundred and fifty catties, and four stones are six hundred catties, which is life-saving food. Xiaohu's family is grateful to Qin Chong. Because of this, the big tiger and the little tiger attach importance to Qin as a benefactor.

Since this incident, Nancheng has an additional name: Nancheng Rat Thieves. I don't know who started it, and I don't know where it came from. Anyway, this name became louder and louder, and later, everyone knew it.

"I'll just say, right? The third brother is so powerful, how could he die. Xiaohu grabbed Qin Chong's arm, very excited.

The brothers heard that Qin Chong had come to Cui's house and chased after him in a hurry. In the past few days, news about Qin Chong has also spread all over the sky, and there is everything. What made Xiaohu angry the most was that someone said that Qin Chong was killed by lightning at the end of heaven. They couldn't enter the Qin family to find Qin Chong, so they could only wait.

"The third brother is here to find Xiao Nizi?" Dahu was much calmer, and guessed the purpose of Qin Chong's visit.

"I know, I know." When Xiaohu heard this, he immediately rushed to talk.

"Oh? Did you know? Qin Zhong was quite surprised.

"Third brother, look at this." Dahu said, took out a cloth bag from his arms, untied the tie, and poured out a piece of white jade, half the size of a palm, crystal clear in the sun, and it was good at a glance.

"Where did this jade come from?" Qin Zhong looked at the jade pendant and had some guesses in his heart.

"Picked it up." The little tiger is quick to speak, and he rushes to speak.

Three days ago, on the sixth day of the fifth month. At that time, it was already dark, and Yao Gang took the two of them to Nancheng. When passing by Xiaohu's house, it happened that Xiaohu was peeing outside the door. Through the faint light in the room, Xiaohu recognized one person as Yao Gang. It is also Yao Gang's usual swagger, and the children in Nancheng all recognize him.

Yao Gang and the others hurried by, and no one paid attention to Xiaohu. But Xiaohu was curious, Yao Gang has always been a jade fan in brocade clothes, and he is dressed with a graceful demeanor. Where is it like now, dressed in black, hiding his head and showing his tail? simply followed behind Yao Gang, wanting to see what was going on. Not long after, they came to Cui's house.

The little tiger hid behind a tree, and he couldn't hear anything far away. Soon after, Yao Gang and the three returned, one of them carrying one person on his shoulder. He looks small, like a child. The child didn't cry or move, his arms drooped, and as he walked, he shook and flicked, and eighty percent fainted.

Xiaohu followed all the time, and strangely, Yao Gang did not go to Beicheng. In the alley of Nancheng, I turned left and right for a long time, and finally entered a dilapidated house. In Nancheng, there is no place that Xiaohu does not know. But in this house, Xiaohu really doesn't know whose house it is. I vaguely remember that this place was empty for a long time.

When he returned, Cui's house was already on fire, and the red was very conspicuous.

At that time, Xiaohu didn't know who was kidnapped, but now he knows, the Cui family's little girl.

"People are still in the South City?" Qin Chong was slightly surprised, didn't he say that he was going to sell?

"Yes." Xiaohu said in a loud voice, "My soldiers are staring." ”

Qin Chong smiled, knowing that the soldiers Xiaohu was talking about were a bunch of half-grown children. Because of the feat of stealing grain, he was regarded as the leader by his partners, and was known as the rat thief in the south of the city. It can't be underestimated, Xiaohu's subordinates have at least more than 30 people, most of whom are in their teens, and they have been assigned positions by learning from the forbidden army.

"Where did you pick up this jade pendant?" Qin Zhong asked again.

Speaking of jade pendant, the incident happened on the fourth day of the fifth month, that is, the day before Qin Chong was struck by lightning.

That afternoon, Yao Gang took a group of servants and walked through the streets and alleys to find Cui's family. Such a big movement naturally attracted the attention of everyone in the neighborhood. Yao Gang is notorious in Shayuan Prison, and no one dares to take care of his affairs, just watch from afar. Without much effort, Yao Gang and the others carried two sacks and came out of Cui's house with a menacing attitude.

The sack looked like it was full of people, writhing incessantly, and whining. A son and a daughter of the Cui family chased out of the yard, and kept shouting for their father and mother, trying to stop the gang from leaving. Several servants turned around and punched Cui Jiazi. The Cui family brothers and sisters fell to the ground, watching Yao Gang walk away.

When Yao Gang arrested people, the big tiger was nearby, but he didn't come close. The Cui family is not a box army, but a foreign outcast, Cui Laohan because he knows how to treat horses, he has an errand in Shayuan. Cui Jiazi is a scholar, and he rarely interacts with the Shayuan supervisors, and he has no friends among his peers.

Dahu noticed that by Yao Gang's side, there was also a stranger, about twenty years old, dignified and richly dressed, and at first glance he was a noble son with a good identity. Calm face, never say a word.

Seeing that the Cui family had suffered a disaster, many people went to comfort and help clean up. Dahu also went forward, wanting to inquire about the cause and effect. Who knew that this Cui family was just crying and didn't say a word. Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly felt something under his feet, and when he rubbed his toes, there was a jade pendant in the wet mud.

The big tiger bent down and picked it up, but he didn't say anything, and put it in his arms first.

"On the fourth day of junior high school, Yao Gang arrested the Cui family's parents?" Qin Zhong asked, he felt that things were complicated.

"Yes." Big Tiger nodded.

It turned out that Yao Gang and the son of Jinyi had already arrested the Cui family's parents. No wonder, Qin Chong saw a scholar that day, kneeling in front of Yao Gang, and kept kowtowing and begging. Thinking about it, Cui Jiazi specifically approached Yao Gang and begged him to release his parents. However, what did Yao Gang want to arrest an old couple?

Qin Chong frowned and pondered, combing the whole process little by little. First catch an old couple, then catch a little girl. At that time, he intervened and blocked Yao Gang's actions.

Later, Yao Gang secretly went to Cui's house, arrested the little girl again, but killed Cui's family.

It seems that the little girl is the key, the person Yao Gang must get.

However, why did you kill Cui Jiazi?

"What does the yamen say?" Qin Chong couldn't figure it out, so he simply stopped thinking about it.

"There's nothing to say." The big tiger said hatefully.

a large living man, burned alive; A little girl, forcibly taken away; There was also an elderly couple who were also kidnapped in sacks. A good and decent home was ruined in the hands of Yao Gang like this. The yamen pretended to be deaf and dumb about this, and did not move for three days, as if they had not seen it.

With only one Yao Gang, it is impossible for Shayuan Supervisor to do this. There must be a tougher behind-the-scenes person who interfered with Shayuan Prison's actions. What is it that deserves such a big deal?

Qin Chong slowly locked on the brocade boy in his heart, and he could almost conclude that the Cui family's affairs had nothing to do with this brocade boy. Or, he himself is the initiator.

It was this boy in brocade who designed himself in Kuixing Tower, urinating Kuixing in front of countless people, and offending the world's scholars. This trick, Qin Chong at that time couldn't see through it, and he was confused, thinking that he had saved someone, but he didn't know that people kidnapped Xiao Nizi in a blink of an eye. From beginning to end, he was playing Qin Chong.

Moreover, Qin Chong, who was harmed, was killed by lightning. Of course, this revenge must be avenged.

"Third brother, let's go in and rescue people." Xiaohu loves to fight with Qin Chong, it's too enjoyable.

"No, we'll outwit this time." Qin Zhong said gloomily.

"Huh?" Xiaohu's mouth was so wide open that he forgot to close it. Qin Chong, who has always been on a rampage, actually said that he wanted to outwit? It's incredible. Big Tiger and Little Tiger all felt for a while that this person was not Qin Chong. Because, in the past, Qin Chong disdained scheming the most. His mantra is, if you can't do it with one punch, then you can do it with two punches.