The words are divided into two ends, let's not talk about the situation on Zhao Kai's side first, and then talk about the progress of Liu He and Gan Qi.

The two of them visited their good classmates all the way in the academy, asking the words and actions of the fisherman Lao Suo the day before his death, although Lao Suo went out to visit friends this time was still a cordial conversation with the scholars, and there was no abnormality, but he did not disclose where he would go, only said that he would go out to visit friends, and the two had to follow the path pointed out by their classmates, and once again embarked on the journey that the teacher had walked, out of the academy, and went to several villages outside the academy.

Liu He and Gan Qi know the teacher's temperament, and also know that the teacher and many peasant men are quite chatty, every time they go out to greet people is a common practice, sometimes they will take advantage of the interest to directly visit the farmer, the two of them think about the mood of the teacher at that time, maybe they will have a good talk with the farmer of which family, alleviate the depression, stained with the light of the teacher, many farmers also know the two, which gives them a good opportunity to inquire.

The death of the fisherman Lao Suo had already spread all over Lingping, and the farmers who were close to the academy here also knew that they were the first to greet the two disciples who had been following the fisherman all along, and there was no excitement on their faces, only sadness and sadness.

This is not pretending, for these farmers, the fisherman Lao Suo is a big man in the academy, but he treats them very well, they all know that this friendship is rare, often more cherished, hospitality is also natural, and Lao Suo has no hypocrisy, every time he talks about something, and even will do some work himself, although this old man is a famous scholar all over the world, but he is also proficient in rough work such as farming, and he is familiar with the seasons of heaven and earth, and has taught better farming skills many times, so that this person is like a farmer disciple, but the villagers know that this old man is a real scholar, that etiquette, that discipline, are not pretended by others。

Many years ago, when the villagers saw the old man and were restrained, they thought that he was a big man, and he should be respectful, and after getting along for a long time, they recognized the old man from the inside, regarded him as a friend, and a good friend, this friendship is extremely rare, and both sides are cherishing it, but now that the old man is gone, the friendship has nowhere to return, so it has also turned into sadness and longing.

"Are you Lao Sue's disciple?" shouted a farmer who was working in the field with sharp eyes.

"That's right, the two of us are the personal disciples of the teacher, and I came today to ask about something. ”

Everyone who heard the affirmative reply was shocked, as if they had heard some big news, and immediately put down their hoes, regardless of the sludge on their bodies, and ran directly, but what stunned the two was that the direction of the other party's running was not their own side, but the village on the other side.

"What does this mean?" Gan Qi was a little confused.

Although Liu He was also a little confused, he immediately thought of a possibility when he was active, and even lowered his face, "Could it be that Wang Qingyuan intimidated these villagers and prevented them from speaking out?"

"No, don't say if Wang Qingyuan has the ability to do it, he can't do such a blatant thing, if he really threatens it, once the incident happens, it will be very unfavorable to him when he is convicted. ”

"Well, could it be these villagers..."Gan Qi did not continue, because he was speculating about the malice hidden in people's hearts, which his teachers did not like, and they could not believe that people's hearts were so fickle.

"Don't guess yet, anything is possible until you ask about it. We can't give up, we still have to go to the village and ask about it. ”

Gan Qi and Liu He continued to move forward like this, their steps quickened slightly, and they didn't know why the villagers ran away, and they were a little worried.

Just approaching the entrance of the village, they were completely stunned when they saw groups of people holding their things and approaching their two sides.

There was a kind-looking, white-haired old man who walked out of the crowd first, and the two recognized that this was the mayor of the nearby township, who was living in this village.

"Don't panic, we just want to do our part, Lao Suo is gone, we are sad and sad here, like the loss of one of the most important friends, Lao Suo is here often to guide farming, teach some practical life skills, now that he has passed away, we should also do our part. This jar of wine is brewed according to Lao Suo's method, originally we made an appointment to drink the wine when it came out of the cellar, but now that the words have become empty, you take it and sprinkle a glass in front of Lao Suo's grave, and you have fulfilled your unfulfilled promise. The kind township chief stuffed the wine jar in his arms into Gan Qi's hand, and he couldn't hide the sadness on his face.

"There are also some pastries I have here, I bought them from the city yesterday, I used to bring some food for my little seedlings to eat, after hearing the bad news this time, I wanted to visit the academy yesterday, but I couldn't go in, so I put the pastries now. The stout man was full of sincerity that could not be refused, and he just stuffed a large package of pastries into Liu He's hand, Liu He checked it, this amount is really a lot, it is estimated that it is enough for a child to eat for ten days and eight days, and the mind of the man on the other side can be imagined.

Then more and more people came forward, each saying their own words, while handing things, while saying good things about Lao Suo, but more and more things pressed over like a mountain, and soon Liu He and Gan Qi couldn't parry, and they threw down their things and ran away, but they couldn't forget the purpose of this trip, Liu He and Gan Qi glanced at each other, knowing that it was time to cut to the chase.

Liu He tried his best to say loudly: "Everyone be quiet, be quiet first." ”

Hearing this, the people around him stopped talking in interest, and the voices around them were a little quieter, but still a little noisy, until the kind township chief said, "Everyone be quiet and listen to what the little minister has to say." ”

The voice gradually sank, and the crowd did not move again, Liu He breathed a sigh of relief and said: "Listen to me first, the two of us are here this time to find out where the teacher went the day before he threw himself into the river, who he talked to, and what the content is. ”

This is not a lie, the two of them are traveling with the energy to explore the truth.

"What do you want to know, you might as well make it clear, we must tell each other the truth, and we will explain as much as we know. ”

"We want to know the specific itinerary of the teacher that day, who did we talk to, what did they say, and where did they go in the end?"

The villagers bowed their heads and began to think carefully, and after a while someone stood up first, and the man said, "I happened to be plowing the field that day, and Mr. Lao Suo chatted with me for a while, and then went to the village. ”

"Yes, yes, yes, you also talked to me for a while. ”

"I met Mr. Lao Su in the village, and asked him to sit down for a while, but he didn't talk about anything useful, and he was just gossiping, and then I saw that I turned to the right of the alley. ”

Soon everyone was gossiping together a rough idea, but most of it was small talk, or the fisherman Lao Suo imparted some knowledge, and there were no useful clues for the two.

In the end, the words reached the township chief, and the old man said: "I also made an appointment with Lao Suo to find a few villagers to go to the nearby Shuxiang Mountain in a few days. Alas, by the way, at last I asked him where he was going, and he told me that he was going to Dabie Village in the west to find an old city to live in. ”

"Old City Lord!" Liu He and Gan Qi looked at each other, they obviously knew about the old city lord, when the old city lord was in office, he and Lao Suo were close friends, and when they grew older, they changed everywhere, but the friendship was still there, and it was indeed the object of the mentor's visit to friends.

When Liu He and Gan Qi heard the news, they were anxious and didn't want to delay for half a minute, so they said again and again: "Fellow villagers, we still have to go to find the old city lord, it is inconvenient to stay longer, we know your friendship, but these things will not be accepted first, just because we can't take it, we will definitely communicate with the academy in the future, and we must let everyone go to the teacher's grave to worship, so as to have a final farewell, these things will not be used again, we will leave first." ”

After saying something, it was reasonable, and the villagers were not good at stopping it, so the two of them ran to Dabie Village in the west, thinking that they wanted to find the old city lord to find out what was going on.

Outside Dabie Village, two young men who looked like scholars stood at the entrance of the village, one was panting, the other was not tired at all, but both of them looked quite serious, as if what they had to do afterwards was extremely solemn, the two walked into the village slowly, a little nervous in their hearts, the final curtain was about to be revealed, if they found the city lord and asked again and again or did not know anything, and even the letter was not sent by the other party, then the matter would be more and more troublesome.

The old city lord's residence has been to the two several times, the young man's memory is not bad, but he is also familiar with the road, it is a three-entry yard, covering a lot of land, but it is located in the middle of nowhere, but it is not a rich family, bang two people knocked on the door, and soon a small Si looked like a person opened the door, saw that the two were familiar faces, thought for a long time, and recognized the identity of the two, "You, you are the two disciples of the fisherman Laosuo." ”

Liu He and Gan Qi nodded in response, and the little guy continued: "My lord is sullen these days, and I think it's because of Lao Suo's affairs, even those of us who are now quite sad, since the two prime ministers are here, you might as well enlighten and enlighten my lord, and thank you in advance for the kid." The little guy hurriedly thanked him, and the two of them looked at this appearance, but only the other party was a loyal person, and hurriedly arched his hand and said: "This visit only asks about some things, not much trouble, and will definitely enlighten and comfort the old city lord, the little brother believes that we are." ”

"Okay, good, the little one will lead the way for the two. After speaking, Xiao Si didn't even go in to inform the master, and directly led the two to the study in the house.