On the north side of the Fallen Leaf City, the crowds of onlookers who had recently posted the notice at the yamen dispersed in twos and threes, and it was already close to dusk.

Cuiyu blamed herself a little, as if she was ashamed of her subconscious distraction, her little face was slightly red, and she didn't know if it was caused by the qi and blood rushing in her heart, or the sunset at dusk.

The little girl saw the slightly hunchbacked short man go away, so she came back to her senses, looked up at the sky, and found that it was the twilight of the red sun, so she suddenly became sad again, and she didn't dare to delay any longer, and walked quickly along the main road leading to the direction of the county government in the center of the city.

In the wine shop diagonally facing the drunken flower building, the guests who come and go to drink and eat are basically the same, and the lobby of the small wine shop is particularly empty, if someone looks inside from the door, just a glance, you can see the two men sitting and drinking tea opposite the window.

One is slightly younger, the other is burly and imposing.

The young man seemed to have something on his mind, and the hand on the table turned the teacup in circles, wanting to say something.

The burly man stared out the window, his eyes were cold, as if he was looking into the distance, his eyes did not blink, and his eyesight was excellent.

When the guy in the wine shop came out of the back hall after a busy while, he had two more things in his hands, a pot of wine and a glass of white wax.

The shopkeeper of the wine shop by the counter heard the movement, turned his head to look, saw the guy come out, nodded slightly, and didn't need him to say anything, the guy already understood, and according to the previous shopkeeper's instructions, he gave the two masters a lamp and a pot of wine.

Just when Chen Wen was hesitating to say something, the guy from the wine shop had already stepped forward, and after standing in front of their wine table, he naturally put the pot of wine, touched his free hand around his waist, and took out a fire fold.

On the verandah a few steps away from the wine table, there is a human-height lamp holder fixed horizontally, after the man moved a few steps to put the ash in his hand, he opened his mouth and blew, the faint firelight slowly lit up, the newly opened ash was rattled, fluttering and shaking, the bean-sized lamp gradually brightened, the firelight was reflected on the wine table near the window, and the sunset afterglow through the window was intertwined and mixed together, and it was difficult to distinguish each other.

At this time, wax doesn't actually play a role in lighting, but it's better than nothing.

A breeze blew outside the window, and the bright light that fell on the wine table began to ripple, flashing in front of the eyes of the two people sitting opposite, like naughty children reflecting the daylight through a bronze mirror, very abrupt.

The burly man blinked his eyelids, put down the teacup at the entrance, and looked at the shopkeeper of the wine shop on the counter behind Chen Wen, who smiled and nodded.

Chen Wen also put down the teacup in his hand, bent his fingers and tapped the table a few times, and shouted to the guy in the wine shop next to him, after the guy finished everything, he pinned the fire fold to his waist again, came to the wine table of the two, and stood quietly aside.

His expression was solemn, and he didn't have the high spirits at all when he was full.

Chen Wen looked a little funny, turned his head to the counter behind him and lowered his chin, and said to the guy: "At this time, you are in charge of the lamp, aren't you afraid that your shopkeeper will scold you for being a loser?"

The guy also turned his head to look at the counter, and when he saw that his shopkeeper lowered his head, he didn't care about the situation here, and the guy who was ordered to act straightened his waist and replied softly: "It was the shopkeeper's order, saying that he couldn't miss the big things of the errands." ”

Chen Wen picked up the wine jug on the table and shook it, "This is?"

"The wine was also sent by the shopkeeper, saying that it was getting late, and drinking some wine could warm up the body. ”

The man stood aside and replied very naturally, apparently by the shopkeeper in advance.

Chen Wen looked at the team leader sitting opposite, Liu Ling just nodded, and continued to look out the window.

"The shopkeeper has a heart. Chen Wen sighed a little, raised his voice and said: "It's just this wine, I'm afraid I'm going to live up to the shopkeeper's kindness today" The words were quite lonely, as if he was saying it to the guy, and it seemed to be saying it to the shopkeeper on the other side, but it was more like saying it to the burly man opposite.

All the officials who worked together in the yamen knew that Liu Ling had always forbidden everyone to drink alcohol during business hours, unless there were special circumstances.

Chen Wen didn't expect that since Brother Liu had acquiesced to himself today, he could drink.

It's just that he has no interest in drinking at all at this time, so he is a little lonely in his words, and those words are actually what he said to himself.

The guy didn't understand what he meant, he just thought it was Brother Chen in front of Liu Bantou, he didn't dare and couldn't let go.

Liu Ling is thoughtful, like Chen Wen, Zhang Si and Wang San, the three of them, who have been by his side for a long time, and he knows what kind of heart everyone is.

As for the interesting stories that Chen Wen came from the drunken flower building in those years, he regarded it as the experience that a young man should have, and he didn't object to it.

As long as he doesn't delay his business, where will he care so much.

Besides, how can a young man not miss a woman in his energetic years?

Doesn't it often be said that "My Fair Lady, Gentleman is good" or something?

As soon as she thought of the scholar, Liu Ling thought of the young man in the green shirt, and when she drank with him, she looked at the person who looked like a serious scholar.

Where would he have thought that the guy who had sworn to the guy in the wine shop standing next to him, and the old god was pretending to be a scholar, was now crossing Erlang's legs, slumped against the wall on the side of the prison with a dirty face, staring out the window in a daze.

Liu Ling still looked out the window, maintaining that posture, and suddenly said in a soft voice: "Chen Wen, if one day you find that someone close to you is involved in a murder, what should you do?

The young servant was a little silent, knowing that the team leader must have seen his thoughts, and he didn't know how to speak for a while.

Liu Ling didn't wait for an answer, and as expected, he continued: "What if it's love? If there really is a day when you find that the woman you have been thinking about, she or the closest person around her, has done something wrong, what should you do?"

When Chen Wen heard this, he seemed to have been drained of all his strength, and he deliberately concealed that he had met Miss Miao from Zuihualou in the alley not far from Fuke Building in the east of the city, but after all, the team leader saw through his deeds.

In fact, before questioning the young man, Chen Wen had already roughly guessed who the woman Li Liu saw in the alley adjacent to the Yang Family Pharmacy and the Zuihualou that day was.

According to the confession of the guy in the wine shop, the young man happened to meet the little maid who came to the wine shop to sell wine when he was having dinner at noon, and at dusk he and Wang San also saw the little maid with a lantern at the gate of the drunken flower building talking and laughing with the man, and the guy from the Yang family's pharmacy also saw Li Liu and the man meet in the alley next to him on that day.

When Fourth Brother Zhang saw the dead Li Liu on the side of Poor White Lane, he had already verified the date of death.

Chen Wen felt miserable and guilty, he had been hesitant to speak before, but he didn't want to be inadvertently broken by the team leader.

Liu Ling didn't look at him much, but just said softly with emotion: "Falling Leaves City hasn't happened in five years!"

The guy at the wine shop standing next to him was confused and didn't know why.

Five years?

Since the witch curse five years ago, Fallen Leaf City has indeed been calm for a while, and Chen Wen peeked at the file and knew that it was after that witch disaster that the county government of the original Fallen Leaf City changed a lot.

Brother Liu is reminding himself that the current Lord Zunhuang of Fallen Leaf City County is his own uncle.

Fortunately, when the guy in the Fuke Building in the east of the city was making a confession, he said that he saw the man holding a dead man in a gray robe with blood on his hands at the time, and he did not find such a dead body in the Tonghe Dyeing Workshop at the scene of the crime, which is also part of the reason why Liu Bantou was willing to treat the person leniently at that time and did not immediately arrest the person.

In that interrogation with the participation of a few people, Li Yunfeng told the truth, Chen Wen was a little happy on the one hand, and was relieved that most of the little girl had little to do with the murder here, and it would not affect Miss Miao, but on the other hand, he was a little worried, just afraid of what happened in the dark.

That's why he kept being nervous and hesitating.

As if he had woken up to something, Chen Wen said to the burly man in front of him: "Brother Liu, after Li Liu met that person not far from here that day, I heard that he ran into a hunchbacked beggar later. ”

Liu Ling frowned, "I heard?"

Chen Wen turned his head to look at the guy at the wine shop who had been standing next to him, raised his eyebrows, and signaled that it was your turn to play.

The guy is actually very tight, just look at the words he jokes with the idlers on weekdays, he may still have reservations in front of Chen Wen and others, but as soon as he saw Liu Ling, the guy felt a little worried in his heart.

Without Chen Wen's reminder, the guy elaborated the words he had spoken to Chen Wen that day word for word.

Liu Ling listened to it, if that was the case, the hunchbacked man must be a master of using poison.

However, according to Li Yunfeng, the "brother" in the little girl's memory is not such a scene, could it be that they are wrong in their speculation?

Just as Liu Ling's mind was in a hurry, a short figure in a gray robe walked by through the main road diagonally across the window of the wine shop, and the man grabbed the wide sleeve of the other hand to cover his face, as if he was afraid of something.

The man was thin, wearing a slightly wide robe, and Liu Ling's eyes were sharp, even in the busy flow of people at dusk, he accurately caught the strange and strange alternative figure.

Just when the man had not been old for a while, Liu Ling was suddenly stunned and stood up hurriedly.

The little girl Cuiyu saw the sunset, did not dare to delay, all the way from the north side of the city to the city center of the government office, when passing by the drunken flower building, the little girl had palpitations, for fear of being recognized by the acquaintance on duty in front of the building, tightly grasping the wide robe sleeve on one side to block her face.

Dozens of paces behind him, a hunchbacked man quietly followed.

Chen Wen saw the team leader stand up, knowing that something must have happened, and with the team leader's gaze, the short hunchbacked figure shuttled through the flow of people, like a slippery snake.

The two looked at each other and said in unison: "It's him!"

The guy at the liquor store also looked out the window, but found nothing.

They originally intended to wait for the pair of master and servant in the drunken flower tower today, guessing that they would definitely take action after knowing the notices at the city gates.

In fact, I want to see if there is really such a "brother" hidden in the dark.

I don't want to wait until the main owner doesn't say it, there is another gain.

really responded to the sentence on the small flag of the Fuke Building at the east gate of the city, "Fu has a double to, and the 'guest' is not a single line."

It's just that this 'guest' is not the other 'guest'.

Liu Ling's eyes were sharp, "I've finally waited for you." ”