Just when he gradually lost hope, he unexpectedly got the exact news about her!

No more doubts.

The person Chen Shao met that night was the Ye Nu he had been looking for for so long!

"Where does she live?" It was really too much mood swing at the moment, and he didn't want to show it in front of his subordinates, so he forcibly pressed it down, almost dumbfounded, and asked this sentence.

"The subordinates were afraid that they would be disappointed again, so they had gone to Yongpingfang to check in advance, and someone saw that the person went in and out of a mansion every day, which was opened by a widow named Gao Da Niang. The subordinates of the store went to check last time, and there was no name in the store book, so it should be omitted! ”

If it weren't for the tall lady's adultery, why would there be no news until now. The more Liu Bo thought about it, the more angry he became: "If I go again this time, if the adulterous woman is not honest, I will see that my subordinates will rush to the black shop without taking anyone!" Raising his head, he saw that his boss had urged the horse to go, so he and Chen Shao chased after him.

At this moment, the cars and pedestrians on the street have become sparse, the road is wide and straight, Pei Xiaoyuan galloped towards the south of the city, almost no obstacles along the way, and rushed to Yongpingfang in one breath, and went straight to the outside of the mansion of the high lady.

It was the busiest time of the day in the store, through the open door, he saw that the lights inside were dim, and the people who opened the store were reluctant to burn more than the fire sticks, only a few were used in the corners of the lobby and around the counters, which could be illuminated, making the already dilapidated lobby even more cold, but it was crowded with people who were eating and drinking, talking, drunk, scolding, shouting and drinking, all kinds of people, etc., and the noise was endless. In the corner, there was another group of people, around a birdcage, staking a few dollars that they had just earned outside during the day, and were fighting the two quails in the cage. Two groups of people rubbed their arms together, each cheering for the quail they bet on, one saw that they were about to lose, some laughed, some scolded their mothers, and the noise almost toppled the roof.

Behind the counter, there stood a greased and powdered woman, with her head bowed to a candle flame nearby, and quickly dialed the chips, ignoring all this, and was busy settling accounts.

"Silence!"

Liu Bo led people in and shouted.

The people around looked over one after another, recognized it as Jin Wuwei, and slowly stopped their own business. The reaction of the pile of quails in the corner, I don't know which one exhaled, a group of people grabbed the gambling money in front of them, and then scattered and fled, leaving a few bone dice on the ground that no one picked and the birdcage that was kicked over by someone in a panic.

At first, in the evening, some of the residents of the store opened a gambling game for entertainment, which slowly attracted nearby idlers, and after a long time, it almost turned into a blatant gambling gathering.

The imperial court is explicitly forbidden to gamble, but from the dignitaries and nobles, down to the small people, cockfights and quails, throws dice and plays with cattails, gambling is prevalent, and there are small fights here, usually no one cares, and the tall lady also turns a blind eye to some taps, but after all, it is within the ban.

The lobby was completely silent, except for the two red-eyed quails in the cage who were still flapping their wings and pecking each other fiercely.

Mrs. Gao raised her head and recognized that it was Chen Shao, who was often walking around, and hurriedly signaled the guy with her eyes to hurriedly hide the gambling equipment, and walked over after putting down the calculation plan from the counter, "Team Chen, I just paid the money last month, and there is no less money, what are you here for?" ”

looked at Liu Bo again and frowned, "Why are you again?" I remember that you just brought someone to check the store book the other day? I've scared away a lot of my guests, why are they coming again-"

Suddenly, her words stopped abruptly, her eyes fell on Pei Xiaoyuan, who entered later, her eyes lit up, she looked up and down, and a smile immediately appeared on her face, and she twisted her waist and was about to walk towards him, before she took a step, Liu Bo raised the handle of the knife and pushed the person back.

"Stand back! Be honest! He snorted.

This is not light. The tall lady was in pain, ouch, covered her abdomen, and complained lowly, but she also saw that this group did not seem to be here to catch gambling, and her heart was a little lowered, so she stopped gagging and asked what was the matter.

Pei Xiaoyuan asked a straight-eyed guy nearby to take out the store book, flipped to the record at the end of April, and said to Mrs. Gao: "After the closure that night, there are still people staying in your store, and you are not registered in the book." ”

"Which house do people live in, take me there!"

He looked into the woman's eyes and said.

At this moment, Su Yu was completely unaware of what was happening in the hotel.

At the beginning of the month, she took the painting exam according to the instructions she had received at Daeunji Temple. The location is in a partial courtyard next to the old Shangshu Provincial Election Hospital, entitled "Borrowing the Mayfly Generation, Rather Know the Year of the Turtle and Crane".

Today's emperor asked for alchemy, and the exam was also good, and the question was not easy to do, but it was not difficult. If the candidate really can't figure out how to behave, he will probably not be wrong to draw some real monarchs, golden immortals, queen mothers, goddesses, turtles, and cranes. After the exam on the same day, she asked Zhou He about the old affairs of the Xia Wei family.

Similar to what she expected, when asked about the whereabouts of the little lady of the Wei family, Zhou He did not know, only said that after King Ding's accession to the throne, many old clans related to Prince Jingsheng were hit to varying degrees, the most famous of which was the Pei Ji case, which was directly demoted from the prime minister to the county order. As for the Wei family, or they are more deeply involved with the prince, they do not have the prestige and status of Pei Ji, and the ending is quite tragic, Wei Minghui seems to have died in prison, and his home was also raided.

Su Yu didn't have much hope for this, and when he was waiting for the list to be released, he continued to look for people in Pingkangfang. Things didn't go well, but fortunately, the results of the subsequent painting school release list finally got as expected, and her name was listed on the list, which was the last one.

She didn't know how the ranking of the exam was determined, but she didn't care about the ranking, all she wanted was to enter the palace.

What she wanted to achieve, a little unexpectedly, was that Zhou He fell off the list.

Zhou He's painting skills are not bad, and he himself was born in a family of court painters, how did he not rely on Yin Enzi to inherit his father's business, and only now did he want to enter the court again, which is incomprehensible. But he didn't say it himself, so she didn't ask, and when the result came out, Su Yu comforted him, and he just smiled bitterly a few times, and said what he had said before, hoping that she would carry her in the future, if it had been expected.

Su Yu could only watch Zhou He's back go lonely. For the next half a month, I was taught by the academic officer with other people who were admitted to the painting school. There are two scholars, one is Song Bokang in the Da'en Temple that day, and the other is named Yang Jiming, who is a disciple of Yao Xu. The school is also in the side of the exam, and the content is to learn the requirements and regulations for various types of court paintings, as well as the palace laws that must be followed in daily entry and exit to the palace. It takes almost a month to complete the study before being brought into the Danfeng Gate and truly entering the direct courtyard located in the Jixian Hall in the palace, that is, the painting courtyard.

As of today, the study of painting is more than halfway through, and it is coming to an end. Once she officially enters the palace, I am afraid that there will not be so much time for her to continue looking for people, so near the end of the month, Su Yu will inquire one by one as soon as she is free.

Today's painting study is early, and as before, she came to Pingkangfang again, but seeing that this day is about to pass again, there is still no progress. She described Wei Yinniang's appearance and age to others, and no one knows. The only gain was that she had finished finding the Qinglou in Zhongqu and Nanqu, and only the place around the north wall was left.

There aren't many places left to look for. She came out of the narrow alley in the north and was about to go back to the hotel first and continue tomorrow, when suddenly someone behind her stopped her.

It was an old prostitute in the brothel she had just visited, dressed shabby. Just now, when she asked the porter at the door about a man of such appearance and age, she noticed that the old prostitute was standing nearby.

She stopped. The old prostitute walked up to her and whispered, "Xiao Langjun, I know the person you just asked. ”

"At the age of twenty-eight or nineteen, the full moon face, the red phoenix eyes, and a small dimple on the lips when you smile." The old prostitute repeated.

"Where?" Su Yu immediately asked her.

But the old prostitute said no more, and made a gesture to count the money.

Just a few days ago, Su Yu had encountered a similar scene. A fake mother said that if she wants to see such a daughter, she needs to eat and drink at least and spend money. At that time, the search for many days was fruitless, although it was suspected that the fake mother was taking the opportunity to make money, but with the news, he disappeared, how to be willing. After haggling with the lion's mouth-opening false mother, he made an appointment at the usual price. When I saw someone, it was not. Although □□ is slightly similar to what is described, she is thirty or forty years old, not Wei Yinniang.

Suyu asked her how much. The old prostitute peeked at her, slurred, and finally spoke, saying that she wanted fifty dollars.

"Yes." Su Yu nodded.

The old prostitute was stunned, and then showed a little regret on her face, probably thinking that it was too little.

In and out of these occasions these days, Su Yu has also seen a lot of old prostitutes like the one in front of him, who are cold in the court when they are old, and they don't save money when they are young, and they are squeezed by fake mothers, and they are struggling to survive.

Su Yu intuitively felt that this old prostitute didn't seem to have come to cheat money, so she said, "You tell me everything you know, and I'll give you a hundred dollars." ”

The old prostitute was overjoyed, hurriedly agreed, led Suyu to a nearby corner of the wall, and said in a low voice: "Xiao Langjun, I do know that one is exactly the same as what you are looking for, the age and appearance are all in line, I heard that she used to be the daughter of a criminal officer, from the workshop, good looks, high learning, good pipa, very popular with guests, more than ten years ago quite famous, is a frequent visitor to many banquets, now there are not many people who have seen her. First, when he is old, most of the former benefactors have dispersed, and second, it seems that he has been bought out in recent years, so he no longer sees customers. Don't look at me now I can only work in this alley, I used to go to the table with her often, but my luck was not as good as hers, and the benefactors didn't remember the old feelings, and they all abandoned me like a shoe. ”

The old prostitute's tone became plaintive. Su Yu's heartbeat accelerated: "Where is that person now?" ”

"If she hadn't left in the past two years, she would still be in the Jinfeng Building at the intersection of Zhongqu Street, named Yumian."

Su Yu knew that it was the most famous one in the whole Qinglou Restaurant, she had been there a long time ago, and she should have been seen by the porter that day and blocked out. She was guarding the back door to stop a rough servant girl who came out of it, gave her some money, and inquired. At that time, the maidservant girl said that the autumn girls in the hall did not grow like that, and Su Yu left. At this moment, if what the old prostitute said is true, there are two possibilities, one is that the woman named Yumian has left, and the other is that the maid she asked that day did not have the opportunity to contact Qiu Niang of the same level as Yumian, and Yumian has rarely seen customers in recent years, so she has never met.

"You said she was bought out and stopped seeing customers, if I want to see her, how can I meet her?"

"If an official summons him to a banquet and drink, he is a buyout, and he must also be called. But I don't know where the high-roller who bought her came from, and I haven't heard of her comeback in the past two years. ”

It seemed to be closer to what she was hoping for, and she should have been encouraged by it, but no, not at all.

In the past, the gentle elder sister was about to become the woman of the emperor's grandson Li Yan, but overnight, she fell into the abyss and became a lowly person like today.

She suppressed her disordered mood, paid the old prostitute, and turned around to go back to Jinfeng Tower.

This occupies an excellent position in the square of the green building eaves wide and high, if it is not for the door of the museum day and night, guests in and out, the style and the high-ranking mansion in the square is also comparable. Like last time, she was stopped at the door again.

"I have been commissioned to do so. I have a villager who has accumulated a lot of money in business over the years. When he came to the capital in the early days, he admired your Yumian lady very much, and now he still remembers it. Because I haven't re-entered Beijing for many years, I don't know if the lady is still here. This time, let me ask first. If he is still there, he will bring a great deal of money. As long as we can see each other again, no matter how much it costs, we are willing. ”

The porter sneered after hearing this: "Your villager is very affectionate, but Yumian Lady has her own high-rollers, so she doesn't need to worry about him anymore." There are still many new ladies in my family now, and they are all from the workshop, and the color art is not inferior to the Yumian lady, you call him! ”

At this time, it was not early, and Su Yu got the answer he wanted, turned around and left, and hurriedly went back.

The woman named Yumian is still here! Just how can I get the opportunity to meet?

It's that she is rich, and obviously, the Qiu Niang named Yumian is also something she can't approach now.

When she returned to the hotel, it was already dark, and the door was about to close, but there were several mule carts outside the door that had not yet entered, and there were many people who had just returned like her. Soon I arrived at the hotel, and when I entered, I felt that it was different from usual.

This time of the day was the busiest time in the hotel. The guests finished their day, came back from all directions, gathered in this dimly lit lobby in the commoner's house, eating, drinking, laughing, scolding, gambling, fighting, shouting and cheering, and the tall lady either sent her men to shout at the top of her voice, or stood behind the counter and was busy settling her accounts.

But at this moment, there was no one in the lobby, it was quiet and silent, even Aunt Gao didn't guard her counter, no one was gone, it seemed that everyone had finished eating and drinking early, and had gone back to their rooms to sleep.

This is usually impossible, even if the meal has passed, the noise will continue until after the second watch, and then slowly stop.

Su Yu was full of worries, and didn't pay much attention to it, so he continued to walk inside, turned to the back hall, and stepped on the stairs to go up.

The night sky was dark and the sky was completely dark.

Gao Da Niang is very calculating, she can save money, a long walkway, she only hung a lantern at the staircase, a little further away can not shine light, can only rely on the night to move forward. Fortunately, she was familiar with her surroundings, and by the hazy night light that penetrated from under the eaves of the porch, she passed through the corridor so quiet that only the sound of her own footsteps could be heard, and came to the house where she lived at the end.

She pinched the key to find the keyhole, and suddenly hesitated, and her hand stopped.

She didn't look back, but she felt as if someone was behind her.

The security of this place is not good, and the place is indeed remote. The reason why he has never moved away is because of the money in his pocket, and the second is that he is also familiar with Gao Da Niang, and he suddenly said that he wanted to leave, and he lived there day by day. Although Gao Da Niang is very powerful, I don't know where the relationship came from, I usually don't see the ruffians in the shop come to the door to blackmail and make trouble, but after night outside, there are often drunk fights and thieves stealing. It is said that thieves can also fly cornices and walk walls. Just a few days ago, a vendor who lived here claimed that a snitch had flown up from the poplar tree in the courtyard to his window in the middle of the night to covet his money bag. Later, it was proved that it should have been a wild cat passing by, but it was not guaranteed......

She stood still, and suddenly turned her head sharply.

A man stood under the lantern in front of the staircase she had just walked, the dim light outlining her familiar silhouette.

It was the shadow of a silent, long man, and she immediately remembered the man who stood beyond the threshold with her that evening.

Pei Ji's nephew Pei Xiaoyuan?

At first glance, I thought I was wrong.

She knew that Hu Er Chengping, who had met in the county guard mansion before, was going to enter Beijing. But this person?

Su Yu was too surprised, and couldn't help but feel a wild palpitation in her heart, and the smooth iron spoon in her hand slipped from her fingers like a fish, and fell in front of her feet with a ding, and she lost her reaction for a while, only to watch him walk towards her, and with the clear sound of the boots falling, he came behind her, leaned over, picked up the key from her feet, and inserted it into the lock hole.

With a slight sound of unlocking, a palm slowly pushed the door open for her.

The lantern was picked up in the dark night at the end of the corridor behind him, the light flickered faintly, like a moon floating in the corridor covered with hazy clouds, the end of the corridor under the eaves was now dark, and the two of them were close, never before.

Su Yu didn't raise her eyes, but she sensed that the person beside her was bowing slightly, and her eyes fell on her.

"Come in! I have something to ask you. ”

At first he didn't speak. Suddenly, a moment later, in the midst of this gloom, he leaned into her ear and whispered.

Chapter 25

The corridor is dilapidated and leaky, and when it gets dark, there are always a lot of small noises. It seems to be the sound of walking by, the chirping of insects in the corners of nowhere, or the sound of dust falling from the gaps in the tiles overhead.

But at this time of daylight, the surroundings are too secluded, and the silence is unusually quiet. With this whisper in the man's ear, she instantly had a delusion, if her whole person was surrounded by a faint intimacy that seemed to be there.

In an instant, she was stunned, and in response to his words, she hurried in.

She groped slowly in the dark room, and after a few breaths, finally lit the lamp in the room.

The candle flame gradually brightened, slowly dispelling the darkness and illuminating the four walls.

At this point, she had recovered from the great accident when she saw him at the beginning, gathered her mind, stood by the candlelight, turned around and nodded to the person who was still standing outside the door, and invited him in with a smile.

Pei Xiaoyuan looked at the woman in the light shadow in the room.

The candle flame was cast at her, reflecting her face as bright as the moon.

On this face, he could not see half of the joy that he felt at this moment, because he was looking for someone.

She was still the last impression he had in the county guard's mansion. Gentle, polite, and with a bit of distant politeness.

In fact, he had been waiting early under the lantern at the top of the stairs.

In his own imagination, when she climbed the wooden ladder, he would stand there to meet her. Unexpectedly, the ghost was in a daze, and when he heard her footsteps approach, the first creak of the wooden ladder, he retreated, and hid himself in the shadows, watching her unconsciously pass under the halo of lanterns that were not more than three feet away from him.

It should be that it is not easy to find her. From the sweet and cool of the wind and sand to Jiangnan Road, and then to the west of Jingluo, in the middle of thousands of miles. When he saw her again with his own eyes, the old things that were only a few months ago felt like a world away from him, and many words rushed to his throat.

But now, as the candle flame lit up the surroundings, he looked at her who had invited him in with a smile again, and all the thoughts that were not enough for outsiders a moment ago disappeared.