Yue Lao Qi fell heavily to the ground and let out a miserable scream.

"There are assassins!"

There were people all around, and they surrounded Yue Laoqi in the direction of landing, Yue Laoqi suddenly panicked, where could he care about any assassination mission, threw off his legs and ran outside Shanhe Fang.

I heard one person shouting, "Catch it alive!"

Everyone chased after him, and when they saw that they were about to catch Yue Laoqi, there was a sound of breaking the air, and an arrow passed through Yue Laoqi's back, and he ran forward a few steps and fell to the ground.

One of the swordsmen stepped forward and snorted and said, "Dead." ”

The leading swordsman said to the other, "Li Qijian, why don't you listen to orders?"

Li Qijian said coldly, "Li family rules, in Shanhe Fang, there are people who break in at night, and it doesn't matter if they are killed! ”

The leader of the swordsman seemed to be dissatisfied with Li Qijian, but he couldn't find fault with the other party, so he had to say, "It's just a little thief, he has been ambushed, and he will go to the government office tomorrow to record it." ”

The crowd dispersed.

Xiao Jinyan was dissatisfied when he saw Master Compassion doing this, and asked, "Why did you do this?"

The Master of Compassion said, "Sacrificing one Yue Lao Qi, first, can paralyze the opponent and make them relax their vigilance, and second, a total of dozens of taels of silver, three people will be divided, after all, it is not as good as two people." ”

Xiao Jin Yanxin said that this great monk claimed to be a master of mercy, and his style of action was no different from that of Jiangyang thieves, and said coldly, "I'm afraid that two people will divide it, so it's better to swallow it alone, right?" After the assassination, you won't betray me, right?"

The Master of Compassion shouted the Buddha's name, "Amitabha, Yue Laoqi is a burden in our trio, if we don't sell him, I'm afraid that it will drag us down, but Tang Daxia is different, you are a good hand in the rivers and lakes, and you have to count on you to do it in a while!"

"Won't you go down?"

"I am the master who teaches the Sutra of Murder, and I am responsible for commanding, and the specific actions have to be taken by you. With that, the Master of Compassion took out a bamboo tube from his bosom, then removed a piece of green tiles from the roof of the house and put the bamboo tube into it.

"What is this?"

"Soul Breaker. The Master of Compassion said, "This cigarette is produced in the Western Regions, and if it is blown into the room, it can make the other party faint within a few breaths, and the whole body will be sore, and you will be at your mercy." I bought this from Hu Shang for thirty taels of silver. ”

Xiao Jinyan said, "It doesn't seem cost-effective to kill a person for ten taels, right?"

The Master of Compassion pondered for a moment, nodded and said, "That's right." He immediately put away the Soul Breaker Cigarette and took out the other two bamboo tubes, "Fortunately, I came prepared, this is psychedelic smoke, which can be bought on the ordinary market, only a hundred copper coins, but the effect is not as good as the Soul Breaker Smoke, however, we can use two." ”

He poked the psychedelic smoke into the room, "Help me hold on!" and blew hard.

Xiao Jinyan secretly exerted internal force to block the lower end of the bamboo tube, only to feel a choking smell emanating from the top of the bamboo tube, and the master of mercy scolded, "Profiteer, give me a fake." Immediately, the world whirled in front of him, and he fell on the roof.

Xiao Jinyan sighed, jumped off the roof, and came to Li Chengcheng's room.

"Hear that?"

Li Chengcheng smiled and said, "You have patience. ”

"I'm here to save your life!" Xiao Jinyan didn't waste any time, he told Li Tingcheng about today's investigation, and asked, "In your clan, is there anyone with a white hilt?"

Li Chengcheng said, "Only the three major offerings in the clan that protect the ancestral hall use white sword hilts, but they usually don't go out of the ancestral hall at all. Do you think that one of them would be involved in the assassination of me?"

Xiao Jinyan shook his head, "I don't know, but I can't be guarded against." ”

"That's easy. It's a big deal, when I worship my ancestors, I asked my father to find an excuse to send them to the outer village. ”

The two discussed for a moment, and Xiao Jinyan said, "If you want to track down the mastermind behind the scenes, you might as well start from the direction of the silver coin, which is more reliable." ”

Li Chengcheng said, "My father has ordered someone to track down the accounts of the clan for the past three years. ”

"But what is the result?"

"Except for one suspicious pawnshop, the other accounts were too perfect. It is precisely because it is too perfect that my father falsely claimed that there was a problem with the examination of the accounts, and asked the third uncle to check it again, if the third uncle has a ghost in his heart, he will naturally find a way to cover it up, and then compare the accounts on both sides, and you can see the clues. ”

Li Chengcheng wrote an address and handed it to Xiao Jinyan, "This is the No. 7 pawnshop in the city, and it is recorded in the accounts that a sum of money was transferred to the Lingnan Sword Sect at the beginning of last year, and it is inconvenient for me to come forward, so you have to find a way to check it." ”

Xiao Jinyan agreed, and then asked, "What about the one upstairs?"

Li Chengcheng said, "Since you want to kill me so much, I will strengthen the guards here tomorrow and let him stay on it for a few days." ”

"It's not a big problem, but how can I give an account to Zhangtou?"

"The dignified Xiao Daxia went out to assassinate him, how could he return empty-handed, it is better for us to take the opportunity to make a good show. ”

......

When the Master of Mercy woke up, it was already the morning of the next day, he hid in the groove, secretly looked outside, and heard the crowd of people below, obviously something important had happened, and listened carefully, and vaguely heard the news such as "the assassination of the third young master" and "the whole city searched for thieves", and thought to himself, could it be that the kid's action last night was successful? In this way, he could ask Lao Zhang for money. At this time, the weather was hot, and the sun was shining on the roof, so that the master was red and itching, but he did not dare to make a sound, so he waited for the night to sneak away.

The news of Li Tingcheng's assassination last night soon spread throughout the Li family in Jinling, it is said that the assassin's martial arts are very strong, and Li Tingcheng has two swords, Li Tingcheng was injured by the sword qi to the heart, his face was very pale, and the injury was extremely serious, although there was no worry about his life, but in a short time, he could not use the sword.

For a while, there was an endless stream of people who came to visit, those who came to deliver medicine, those who asked for warmth, one after another, but Li Xiaohua did not come, but sent the housekeeper Li Ruliang to send a wild ginseng.

At noon, Qingcao shouted, "Young master, the third master is here to visit." ”

Li Xiaoshu walked into the courtyard, Li Tingcheng saw this, and even struggled to get out of the house, ready to salute, Li Xiaoshu took two steps forward and held him up, "You are seriously injured, don't move easily." As he spoke, he secretly crossed a trace of internal force to investigate Li Tingcheng, only to feel that the true qi in Li Tingcheng's body was empty, and it seemed that he could not condense the true qi.

Li Chengcheng said, "I'm tired of the third uncle." ”

Li Xiaoshu even withdrew his internal strength, and said with concern on his face, "Your injury is not light." ”

Li Qingcheng smiled bitterly, "It's not!"

"I have brought a few boxes of healing elixirs, you can rest in peace, remember to mess with your internal forces. He said coldly: "If you dare to hurt someone under the nose of the Li family, the third uncle, I will definitely let people find out the thief." ”

Li Chengcheng said gratefully, "Thank you, Third Uncle." ”

Li Xiaoshu sighed, "It's really not the right time to get hurt, there is still half a moon to worship the ancestors, fortunately, you have the position of the head of the family is expected by everyone, and you don't need to fight the sword! By the way, your father has been here?"

Li Tingcheng shook his head.

"It's all father and son, so you don't have to hurt your feelings because of some trivial things. ”

The two chatted for a while, and then heard Qingcao say again, "Miss Hedong Liujia, I heard that the young master was injured and came to visit!"

Li Xiaoshu laughed, "It's the hardest thing to be beneficial, I won't bother, I'll leave first." With that, he turned and walked away.

Li Tingcheng said to Qingcao, "Let's just say that I am not feeling well and it is inconvenient to meet guests." ”

Before Qingcao could speak, Liu Yuhan pushed the door in, and when he saw Li Qingcheng with a haggard face, he couldn't help but feel sour in his heart, and actually shed tears.

Li Chengcheng was more reluctant to the marriage of the Liu family, not that he had an opinion on Liu Yuhan, but he was not very satisfied with the arrangement of the elders in the clan, seeing Liu Yuhan's appearance, but he didn't know what to say, he looked back at the inner room, and heard the sound of Li Jinhua putting on his shoes on the ground, and he was afraid that she would be worried, so he said: "There is Miss Lao Liu, I'm fine." ”

Liu Yuhan said, "Who is so ruthless to do it to you." You told me that this time I brought ten masters, even if I searched the entire Jinling City, I would never spare him. ”

Because of the escape from marriage, Liu Yuhan became the laughing stock of the clan, she was jealous, so she brought ten masters, originally to find trouble with Li Tingcheng, but when she saw it at the city gate, she was heartbroken, and half of the three souls and six spirits were lost. Early this morning, when I heard that Li Chengcheng was assassinated, I didn't care about my identity, and came directly to Shanhefang.

Li Tingcheng didn't want to entangle with him too much, for fear of misunderstanding Li Jinhua, so he deliberately said with a stiff face, "This is the Li family's family matter, so I won't trouble Miss Liu." ”

When Liu Yuhan heard this, his eyes turned red again, "But I want to help." ”

Li Chengcheng shouted to the inner room, "Golden bottle, you come out." ”

Li Jinhua walked out of the inner room with the curtain open, saw Liu Yuhan, and nodded slightly. Liu Yuhan saw that Li Jinhua was not good-looking, and knew that she had an ordinary background, so he looked down on her, and couldn't help but say, "Just because of this woman, you ran away from marriage?"

Li Chengcheng's face was displeased, and he said, "Miss Liu, when I ran away from marriage, I didn't know the golden bottle. I want to marry Li Jinhua because Li is devoted to her, and has nothing to do with other people, and has nothing to do with you and me. ”

This sentence was like a thunderbolt that hit Liu Yuhan. She is unwilling, if the other party is a famous girl, or a country and a city, if she loses, she will feel better, but just such a boatload of women, but she robbed her favorite person, she can't accept it.

The tears that had just stopped fell again.

"How am I inferior to her?"

Li Qingcheng said, "You are better than her everywhere, but I only like her." Miss Liu, I'm sorry if I hurt you unintentionally!"

Liu Yuhan said, "You don't have to tell me I'm sorry, if you want to say it, it's her who says it!"

Li Tingcheng's face sank, and he said coldly, "Qingcao, send off!"

Liu Yuhan threw the gift he brought on the ground, and turned around and left the courtyard in a rage. When I got out of the courtyard, I let out a wow and cried.

"Li Tingcheng, I hate you!"

"Anyway, I must get you!"

Several subordinates saw the appearance of the eldest lady and stood there one after another, at a loss.

At this time, a middle-aged man stood in front of Liu Yuhan and said, "Miss Liu." ”

"Who are you?"

"Under Li Xiaocao, he is Li Chengcheng's second uncle. ”

Hearing that it was the Li family, Liu Yuhan didn't dare to make a mistake, and said, "I'm sad, what's wrong with you?"

Li Xiaocao said, "The girl is for the city?"

Liu Yuhan nodded, and Li Xiaocao said, "It's rare for a girl to be so affectionate and righteous, if Allure can take a girl, it will be his creation." ”

But he had someone else in mind. ”

Li Xiaocao said, "This is indeed a problem, but there is a solution to any problem, it depends on how much the girl is willing to spend." ”

When Liu Yuhan heard this, could things still have taken a turn for the better? She wiped her tears and said, "I am willing to bear the price." ”

"Girl, please come with me!"

......

Among the thirteen branches of the Li family, there are only six people in Li Xiangzhong's family. Over the years, Li Xiangdong and his wife gave birth to four daughters and a son, but the son died of a strange disease at the age of three. Due to the lack of prosperity, the status of the Li family in Jinling is extremely low, and even so, it is considered a branch in the family tree. The thirteen branches have no property in the Li family, but they live on the monthly money in the family, about five or six hundred thousand taels a year, after all, they are members of the Li family, although they cannot be compared with the big clans, but the life is not bad.

Li Xiangzhong is 40 years old this year, likes to raise flowers, birds, insects and fish, and has no big pursuits, and his temper in the clan is notoriously stinky.

When Li Xiaoshu came to his house, Li Xiangzhong was fiddling with a plantain, and when he saw Li Xiaoshu coming, he knew that there was nothing good and ignored him.

Li Xiaoshu watched for a moment before he said, "Speaking of which, I am two years older than you, so I can be regarded as your brother." ”

Li Xiangzhong said, "I know your intentions, if you have something to say, let it go!"

Li Xiangzhong's family is not prosperous, but he is also a member of the clan Elders' Association, and in the past six months, Li Xiaoshu has sent a lot of strange flowers and plants.

"It's fine. Li Xiaoshu said, "Let's take a look at how you've been doing here recently." ”

"I'm doing well. ”

"By the way, I heard some wind. Li Xiaoshu said, "The other rooms in the clan feel that you are not involved in the family business in the thirteenth room, and there are no martial arts practitioners in the family, but you can get hundreds of thousands of taels of silver every year, so you are very dissatisfied." They've complained to the head of the house many times in private, I don't know what you think?"

Li Xiangzhong said with a cold face, "The mouth is on them, what do they say about my? I am dividing the silver according to the clan training, what is the matter hindering them?"

Li Xiaoshu sighed, "I'm afraid that people's words are terrifying." Once or twice, the head of the house may not have any ideas, but this kind of thing can't stand people's thoughts. Two days ago, the three rooms discussed and prepared to adjust the monthly money distribution according to the size of the contribution of each room. ”

Li Xiangzhong paused in his hand, put down the pruning tools, looked at him and said, "Do you mean to starve us to death in the thirteenth room?"

"Not really. Li Xiaoshu said with a smile, "Recently, I was ordered by the head of the family to check the accounts of the clan in the past few years, and I found that you still have some means, brother. ”

Li Xiangzhong frowned and said, "What do you mean?"

"At the beginning of last year, there was a No. 7 pawnshop that transferred 300,000 taels of silver to the Lingnan Sword Sect, if you guessed correctly, this silver was used to assassinate Li Qingcheng, right?"

Li Xiangzhong said angrily, "I don't have this property under the name of the thirteenth house at all!"

Li Xiaoshu smiled, "As far as I know, the No. 7 pawnshop is indeed not in your name, but in the name of your brother-in-law." ”

"Blood spews people, there is no such thing!"

"Don't be in a hurry to deny it, if you don't believe it, you might as well go to your lady to verify it. ”

Li Xiangzhong lost his temper, turned around and entered the room, and then heard the quarrel in the house, and heard his wife shouting, "Li Xiangzhong, I have been married to you for 30 years, with your little monthly money, can you afford to support our family? You have no income, I can't buy some things for our three daughters? If it weren't for the help of the third master, wouldn't we go to Beicheng to ask for food?"

When Li Xiaoshu heard this, he smiled but did not say anything, sat down and poured a cup of tea, and watched the changes. Sure enough, not long after, Li Xiangzhong walked over with a drooping face.

"It's all your idea!"

Li Xiaoshu said, "You must know that the crime of assassinating the heir of the head of the family, you can't afford to bear it! However, I only found out about this matter, and I haven't explained it to the head of the family yet, so everything is easy to discuss." ”

Li Xiangzhong said, "I can explain this matter to the head of the family." ”

"What do you say? The property is yours, right? The money was transferred from the pawnshop, right? The human and physical evidence is there, who will believe you?"

Li Xiangzhong gritted his teeth and said, "What do you want to do?"

Li Xiaoshu said, "At the elders' meeting after the ancestor worship ceremony, vote according to my wishes, and I will help you cover up this matter." ”

"How do you cover it up?"

"The No. 7 pawnshop is taken care of by your brother-in-law, but nominally, it is still our three-room property, as long as you do what I say, I will destroy the contract signed by your lady. ”

Li Xiangzhong said, "Third master, your ambition is not small!"

Li Xiaoshu smiled, "They are all children of the Li family, whoever sits in the position of the head of the family, you will receive your own monthly money, what's the difference?"

"We're different. ”

"Actually, it's all the same. ”

......

The Li family has a total of eighteen pawnshops in Jinling City, the No. 7 pawnshop is on Xuanwu Street in the east of the city, because of the proximity to the palace and the six departments, many precious utensils in the palace and the palace will circulate here, among the eighteen pawnshops, the business is the best.

Xiao Jinyan walked into the No. 7 pawnshop and saw that there were four or five courtiers in the shop, and five or six guys were busy, "A broken teapot, it hurts the mouth, it is dead, three taels of silver!"

When there is life, there is death. When you live, it is redeemable, and when you die, it is when you have it.

A small man dressed as a small man said in a low voice, "This is an object in the palace, how can it be worth one hundred and eighty taels?"

Chao Feng sneered, "The objects in the palace, then we don't dare to accept them, you go somewhere else and ask!"

The little guy said, "Don't mind, I'll add a few dollars, I've been to another place." Mingde should give ten taels!"

Chao Feng said, "Two taels of silver." ”

The little guy seemed to be very short of money, and he was entangled with the court for a long time, and finally sold it for two or three dollars, and the little guy took the silver, and didn't even ask for a ticket, and went straight away.

Xiao Jinyan looked at the teapot, the workmanship was exquisite, it was indeed an object in the palace, how could it be worth a thousand eight hundred taels, this one in and one out, several hundred taels into the account, I couldn't help but sigh, the money in Li Chengcheng's family was too easy to earn.

He was entrusted by Li Chengcheng to investigate the matter of 300,000 taels of silver. Li Tingcheng was afraid of startling the snake, so he couldn't blatantly check the accounts, Xiao Jinyan came to find out first, thinking that after nightfall, he would mix into the pawnshop, so he stepped on it first.

With no one in front of him, he stood up and took out a jade pendant from his arms. This jade pendant was taken from Li Chengcheng last night, he was about to take it away, but before he walked to the high counter, he saw a person hurrying over, squeezing past Xiao Jinyan, and said to the court, "It's the seventh day of the first month today, I'll get the silver." ”

The man was in his thirties, and his steps were vain, and he looked like he was overly drunk.

One took a silver bag from the shelf and handed it over. The man weighed it for a while, "How can it only be two hundred taels?"

"This month, the thirteenth lord uses a lot of money, so I specially told you to give you less!"

The man said, "He doesn't care if he uses money or not, what does it matter to me? I don't care, I will ask for five hundred taels, otherwise, don't do your business!"

"Aren't you being vexatious?"

"Unreasonable?" said the man, "when I was asked to help you make a deal, you didn't say that, but now that the matter is exposed, I want to leave the city!

When the pawnshop shopkeeper heard this, he said, "Take it to him!"

Chao Feng made up another silver ticket, and the man walked out with a snort.

Xiao Jinyan paid attention, and the shopkeeper went to the back cabinet and told a few guys, "Wait for him to go out of the city and do him." ”

Xiao Jinyan paid attention to his heart and followed the man.