Xie Hanci climbed onto the stage, observing the diners and busy guys in front of her, most of whom had their backs to her to watch the float outside the building.

She took a step back, but felt something stuck to the sole of her shoe, and when she looked down, it was a sugar stain. Dip your index finger into your mouth and put it in your mouth.

Xie Lanzhou was anxious, and hurriedly pulled her hand away, "How old are you, why do you eat everything!" ”

"It's rock candy!"

Rock sugar on a sugar gourd.

"Is there a secret door to this stage?" Xie Hanci knocked on the stage, and there were two "knocks", and the inside was empty.

"Miss Xie, it's not that I don't want to show you, it's just that this is a mechanism in the end, and the master of tricks still needs to use it, I showed it to you, it is equivalent to exposing their shortcomings, if anyone sees it next time, I'm afraid they will blame me."

Xiao Er complained in his mouth, but he still went around to the back of the stage, pulled down the copper ring, and with a "click", a downward sliding door appeared in the middle of the stage.

Inside was a girl in a pink jacket, holding the half-eaten sugar gourd in her left hand.

"Yuanyuan!"

She lay on the ground and did not respond, as if she was asleep.

Xie Hanci bent down and jumped down, smelling a pungent smell, so he had to hold his breath and hug the girl out.

"There must be a cigarette in there."

"No wonder no one answered how she was called just now."

Xie Lanzhou took the child, because he was sick all the year round, and his arm was a little weak.

The old man wanted to take Yuanyuan over, but Xie Lanzhou shook his head and said, "It's okay", carried the child to the couch on the second floor, and opened the windows on all sides.

The cold winter wind immediately came in, cold but with a hint of sweetness.

After a while, Yuan Yuan opened his eyes and called "Grandpa". The old man crouched down, tears rolling down his eyes, and he blamed himself.

"Oh Yuanyuan, it's all grandpa's fault, I almost lost you. I knew that I wouldn't let you not buy Nalaoshzi, so many people, how could grandpa let you buy a little girl. ”

"Don't blame Grandpa."

The old man wiped away his tears for his little granddaughter, clasped his hands and bowed his hand, thanking the brother and sister.

"Little Lao'er's name is Chen Laosan, and he is a carpenter. The world is difficult, my son and daughter-in-law are gone, and I am the only one left at home with this little doll as a companion. If I lose my granddaughter, I won't be able to explain it to her father and mother in a hundred years. Thank you both for today's events! ”

Xie Hanci was a little moved when he heard that the little girl's parents were no longer alive.

Chen Laosan waved his hand: "It's all over, I just hope that Yuanyuan will grow up quickly, so that I can watch her marry a wishful husband, and it is best to have two fat dolls like her." ”

Xie Lanzhou was a little puzzled, the carpenter's income was not high, even if it was the Shangyuan Festival, it stands to reason that he would not come to the restaurant to order a table of dishes.

On the corner of the street, there was a sound of bamboo orchestration.

Someone downstairs shouted, "Look, the Oiran ladies are coming!" ”

Yuan Yuan came to his senses, sat up from the couch, took Xie Hanci's hand and said: "Sister, my grandfather is the most powerful carpenter master in the city, and you will soon see the float made by my grandfather!" ”

Chen Laosan scratched his head a little embarrassedly: "Little Lao'er built a float for Yinghonglou this year, and Yinghonglou will perform here tonight." The ladies were kind-hearted, so they let our grandparents sit at their tables. ”

The float reflecting the Red Mansion, looking at it from a distance, looks like a burning fire. The body is wrapped in red cloth of different materials, which is very layered, and although you can't see where the lights and candles are, the whole car exudes a soft light.

"Old Chen, the float you built should be the first place this year!"

"It's good if the two fathers like it. If you can, next year Xiao Lao'er will be the east, and invite the two of you to have a drink and express your gratitude. ”

The brother and sister also found this proposal very interesting, and immediately agreed, and agreed that the four of them would watch the floats here together next year.

"I don't know what kind of float Chen Lao will build next year." Xie Hanci was slightly drunk, and he had already begun to think about next year.

Chen Laosan smiled and pointed to the flower lane of Yingyue Tower: "This year is not over yet, Engong, please take a look again." ”

Out of the float came a woman, dressed in white, with only a red ribbon tied around her hair, fluttering in the wind. She wields a small, delicate bow and bends her arrows.

The moment the arrow was inserted into the roof of the car, the flames ignited, and two fireworks hit the night sky straight from the roof of the car.

Xie Hanci looked so shocked that he couldn't close his mouth, so he could only give a thumbs up to Old Chen.

As the float moved forward, Chen Laosan's face became gloomy, shouted "not good", turned around and ran downstairs.

Immediately after that, a huge popping sound came, and the floor slab under Xie Hanci's feet shook violently.

The float reflecting the Red Mansion suddenly exploded, debris splashed everywhere, billowing black smoke, the lights and candles in the car lit the cloth and wood, and the whole float turned into a huge fireball in an instant, blazing.

The lady in white at the front of the car was shocked and flew out during the explosion, and the fall was not light, but her life was worry-free.

The officers and soldiers guarding the checkpoint rushed to put out the fire, but fortunately, the floats were far away from each other and did not ignite the floats in front and behind.

Just when Xie Hanci stroked his chest, glad that his father's black gauze hat could still be worn for a while, a living person burst out of the flames, wearing a square and high scarf hat, dressed as a scholar, and there were flames on his limbs and hair.

"Ahh Help—"

Someone recognized him. "Oh my God, it's the painter of Liufu!"

The painter kept screaming, as if he had escaped from a volcanic hell, and soon half of his face was burned and his face was horrible.

The officers and soldiers carried wooden buckets and poured water on him, but he kept scurrying because of the pain, and most of the water was spilled on the ground.

In a short time, the painter fell to the ground, no longer struggling, and was completely engulfed in flames.

The living man became a charred corpse in the blink of an eye.

Although Yuanyuan was covered with her eyes, she could still hear the man's wail, she grabbed Xie Hanci's fingers and asked, "Sister, what about my grandfather?" I'm scared, I want to find my grandpa. ”

Xie Hanci leaned on the railing to find Chen Laosan's figure, but saw him sitting in the corner of the first floor, with two cups of tea on the table.

Didn't he just notice that something was wrong with the float? Why do you sit calmly on the first floor and drink tea? The float he built burned a person to death, why can he still be so peaceful?

Xie Hanci walked behind him with Yuanyuan, called him a few times in succession, but there was no response, Xie Hanci suddenly had an ominous premonition in his heart, and with a gentle push, Chen Laosan fell directly to the ground, and there was no longer breath.

When she leaned over to check, Chen Laosan had no fatal injuries on his body, only blood came out of his ears, which was pierced by sharp objects such as hairpins.

Yuan Yuan watched Grandpa lying on the ground motionless, she shook Xie Hanci's arm and asked, "Sister, why did Grandpa fall asleep?" Is he also as stunned as I am? ”

Xie Hanci wanted to speak, but he felt choked in his throat and couldn't say anything.

Xie Yuan rushed over with the servants and extinguished the unburned fire on the ground.

Xie Hanci looked at the two corpses covered with white cloth on the ground, and didn't know where to start with his father.

"Are you two okay? Who is this little girl? Xie Yuan grabbed the shoulders of the two and looked them up and down to see if they were injured.

Xie Hanci leaned into his father's ear and learned a rough idea of the girl's situation.

After hearing this, Xie Yuan frowned. "Lan'er, you take the children home first, and then talk about the rest."

Xie Lanzhou nodded without refutation, took Yuanyuan's hand, and walked outside the restaurant.

Xie Yuan looked at his son's distant figure, and then looked at his daughter in front of him, his voice was full of exhaustion: "You have to go to another place with me, tonight's matter is not over yet." ”

A man dressed in black, taking everything in his eyes, said to the man sitting opposite, "Jing Yu, my informant is dead. ”

The man called Jing Yu looked immature, he threw a candied fruit into his mouth, and said: "This master carver is really good, not much worse than the one in the palace." It's just a pity, I'm afraid this restaurant is going to do it. ”

The man in black took a handwritten letter from the squire's hand, and after reading it, lit the candle of credit.

"Come with me, there should be a list in the Xuanfu envoy's family."

Xie Hanci got into the carriage, borrowed a pen and paper from his father, and wrote and scratched on the paper, Xie Yuan didn't ask, knowing that this was her habit.

She wrote the two dead in the center of a blank piece of paper.

Chen Laosan built a float for Yinghong Mansion, so he was invited to the restaurant tonight.

But there are two suspicions here, one is that his granddaughter was hidden, and the thief left a note without explaining the ransom, just letting him go home. Second, after he saw that there was a problem with the float, he was pierced with a sharp weapon.

A terrible thought appeared in Xie Hanci's mind, her hairs stood up, this person may not have wanted to kill Chen Laosan at first, but just wanted him to go home and use his granddaughter to blackmail him.

But she helped Chen Laosan find his granddaughter, which was equivalent to making this person lose his bargaining chips, so he chose to let Chen Laosan shut up forever.

In other words, if she didn't find Yuanyuan, Chen Laosan would not have died.

She is also a murderer.

Xie Hanci painfully pinched the brush in his hand, biting the tip of the pen, the tip of his nose was sore, and he felt depressed and breathless.

Xie Yuan was taken aback, hurriedly pulled out the paper in front of Xie Hanci, looked at his daughter's dense small characters, understood what was going on, hugged his daughter distressedly, and comforted: "How can I blame you for this?" Fool, at least you protected his granddaughter, if Chen Laosan didn't accept the coercion, I am afraid that the two grandparents and grandchildren would not survive tonight. ”

Xie Yuan took out a handkerchief and gently wiped away the tears on his daughter's face.

This action made Xie Hanci think of Chen Laosan, and his heart was sour. There are many clues about Chen Laosan on the paper, but there are few clues about the painter.

Although Xie Yuan didn't want to interrupt his daughter's train of thought, he had to speak.

"The girl of the Xuanfu envoy's family, have you seen her?"

"Liu Yu'er? I have only met a few times at banquets in other families, and I don't have a deep relationship. What's wrong with her? ”

Xie Yuan sighed and said, "She climbed onto the roof of the house, clamoring for death. ”

Xie Hanci's eyes widened: "Did the news spread so quickly?" Does he know anything about the painter? ”

Xie Yuan shook his head and said: "How dare she know that she made an appointment with the painter to elope on the night of Shangyuan, and waited until midnight at the back door and didn't see him coming. ”

Xie Hanci hesitated: "Doesn't my father want me to be a lobbyist, right?" Is it really good for me to mix this kind of furniture? ”

Xie Yuan took Xie Hanci's hand and spoke bitterly.

"Daughter, this matter is none other than you. According to her father's analysis, there are two reasons why she doesn't want to live, one is because she was betrayed by her lover, and the other is that she made a lot of trouble in the city before, and she is afraid that she will not have the face to stay in Shuzhou City in the future. It's not that my father is boasting, there is no worse reputation than you in this boudoir lady in Shuzhou City. ”