Ren Shanhuai was silent, and Zhu Qingqiu said slowly: "The concubine has grown up in this Tanglin Mansion since she was a child, and she is also a happy family, so unhappy. The ancestors of the family were important ministers of the imperial court, and although they no longer served as officials, but fortunately, the ancestors blessed them, and I wish the family to be quite famous in Tanglin Mansion. But sixteen years ago, there was a fire, and everything in my family was burned down, and no one survived except me. And when my life and death were confused, it was the prince of Tanglin who saved the concubine and raised me, how could the concubine not repay such a life-saving and nurturing grace?"

When Ren Shanhuai heard this, he already had five points of pity and sympathy, thinking that the two of them were still a little similar, they were both in the middle of the family, and they received the grace of Ying Wuji, so they stooped down to do things under him.

Ren Shanhuai said: "It's just that Ying Wujian is not a good person, you and I do things for him, I am afraid that one day, it will lead to fire." ”

Zhu Qingqiu said: "The concubine naturally knows about it. I also know very well that the king of Tanglin saved the life of his concubine, raised me up, and taught me to practice martial arts, but he wanted to use his concubine to kill people for him. However, if you don't repay the kindness, it is really unjust, although the concubine knows that it is wrong, she can only be wrong again and again. When the message is answered, the concubine will not do anything unkind and unjust, and I hope that Ren Gongzi will understand. ”

"The girl said seriously, she was reckless before, she misunderstood the girl, and I hope to wish the girl forgiveness. Ren Shanhuai was also quite helpless and understanding, and apologized calmly.

Zhu Qingqiu smiled slightly, and didn't care: "Where, Ren Gongzi is also serious." It's just that the concubine has one more thing, and I want to ask the son. ”

Ren Shanhuai said, "Girl, please speak." ”

"The concubine heard that Ren Gongzi's ancestors were also officials in the court?" asked Zhu Qingqiu. Ren Shanhuai replied: "Don't dare, but my father was the imperial historian of the dynasty, but he spoke out, was squeezed out by the traitorous party, and was dismissed from office." The ancestors of the Ren family have also been officials for generations. I don't know why Miss Zhu asked this?"

Zhu Qingqiu smiled softly, covered his mouth with his cuffs, and said softly: "I don't know if there is a Ren Gongzi who is the ancestor of Dongling Mansion?" Ren Shanhuai thought for a while and replied: "Indeed, it is the ancestor of my family." Zhu Qingqiu asked again: "Does Ren Gongzi know that Ren Gong has a close friend named Zhu Fengqi, who is the commander of the current Tanglin Mansion Governor's Army?"

When Ren Shanhuai heard this, he had already guessed a few points: "There is indeed this matter, could it be ......"

"That Zhu Fengqi is the ancestor of the concubine. Zhu Qingqiu lowered his head and said. Ren Shanhuai was overjoyed, and hurriedly said: "I don't want the two of us to be world friends, our ancestors are like brothers, and we are meeting here today, it should be a kind of fate." Zhu Qingqiu also nodded, and said softly: "It's not early, we should go back too, otherwise Dao Xueke and they will definitely be suspicious." With that, the two of them walked out of the teahouse and towards the Renfu Courtyard. Ren Shanhuai untied the knot in his heart, and had such a special relationship with the person he liked, so he was naturally in a good mood.

At this time, Yiye Jianmen and the others had already left the city in batches, gathered ten miles outside the city, and returned to Yiye Jianmen together. Ren Shanhuai and the two returned to the house, everyone also cleaned up, it was getting late, they each rested for the night, nothing happened, just left for Lu'an Mansion on the second day and then transferred to Yaoye Mansion.

Early in the morning, everyone packed their bags and went out. It was not yet midday, but the east was already glowing with white light, like white frost. In the bustling streets and alleys of Tanglin Fu, there are already some early vendors, they are busy with their own work, waiting for the crowd after the hour, in addition to the distant rooster crow, and the sound of wheels, only the rising sun in front of them is left, a little lonely. The wheel left two lines of car prints on the bluestone street, crushing the silence of the early morning, but it failed to crush the loneliness in everyone's hearts.

At this time, the group of the Ten Ghost Hall had already come to Tanglin Mansion, in fact, they had already arrived outside the city a day ago, but they didn't know the situation in the city, and they didn't dare to trespass when they heard that something big had happened in the sun recently. As soon as the city gate opened this morning, they all wore straw hats, pretended to be merchants, hired a carriage, and asked Feng Zhan, who had inconvenient legs, and Cheng Lie, who had disabled arms, to sit on the car, Wen Nanzhi and Duan Qingmeng were responsible for driving, and Xiao Wuxian was riding a horse to protect him, and only then did he enter the city while there were not many pedestrians on the road. was walking to the gate of the city, passing by Dao Xueke and others, because they each bowed their heads and only cared about hurrying, so they didn't recognize them.

However, Na Luo Baiyi looked around, and saw that although the horse rider was wearing a straw hat and covering his face, his body and back were somewhat similar to Xiao Wuxi, so he said to Rao Mengli: "The horse rider is a little like his father, but the person who drives the car is a little like Meng Er and Brother Wen." ”

Rao Mengli tilted his head and said, "Father, they must be in Lu'an, how could they come to Tanglin together? Luo Baiyi stopped arguing with her, and everyone went out of Tanglin to the direction of Lu'an, and did not meet Xiao Wuxian and the others.

It was said that Xiao Wuxian and the others were asking around in the Tanglin Mansion about the news of Dao Xueke and others, how could they send someone to secretly keep an eye on the movements of Xiao Wuxian and the others as soon as possible, and expected that they would come to the Tanglin Mansion and wanted to meet and make peace with Dao Xueke and others, so they made a decision in advance, and Zaozhuang Qiu sent people to all households in the city to inform them, telling them not to mention what had happened in the city in recent days whenever they saw the living, and the violators would be severely punished. Therefore, no matter how Xiao Wuxian and the others inquired, they couldn't get any useful information. A few people had to stay in the city temporarily and find another solution.

Besides, the Dao Xueke and his party stopped and stopped, and it took two full days to arrive at Lu'an Mansion, and as soon as they entered the mansion, those neighbors and townships who were familiar with Dao Xueke and others deliberately avoided it, and they were far away and did not want to approach. Dao Xueke, Luo Baiyi, and Rao Mengli were all aware of it, Luo Baiyi was straightforward, grabbed the clothes of a roadside vendor and said with a smile: "Fourth uncle!"

Who knew that the peddler hurriedly opened his hand, picked up the flat pole and was about to flee, Luo Baiyi opened his arms to block his way, and said puzzledly: "Fourth uncle! I am the son of the shopkeeper Xiao, Baiyi, I am Baiyi! You hugged me when you were a child! Fourth uncle, don't you know me?"

The peddler who was called the fourth uncle by Luo Baiyi clasped his fists with both hands, his face was full of embarrassment, and he begged for mercy repeatedly: "Please, I don't know what shopkeeper Xiao is, I don't know any white clothes, I don't know anything, please let go of the second child for my age!"

When Rao Mengli heard this, she came over to pull Luo Baiyi, and said with a smile: "Brother Luo, you admit your mistake, he is not the fourth uncle, let's go." With that, the old man took his burden and left in a hurry. Luo Baiyi was pulled back into the team by Rao Mengli in confusion, and Luo Baiyi asked: "Xiaoli, why are you pulling me, that person is obviously the fourth uncle, I haven't seen him for a few days, how can I not know him?"

Rao Mengli tugged at his sleeve again and said softly, "Brother Luo, you better stop talking!"

Dao Xueke also turned his head to Luo Baiyi and said, "Baiyi, haven't you noticed that all the villagers and neighbors are avoiding us? Before the matter is clarified, if you are so reckless, you will probably cause trouble." Luo Baiyi nodded in agreement, stopped talking, and everyone walked in the direction of Rong Ji Pawnshop. Unexpectedly, all the acquaintances along the way avoided it, the hawkers closed their stalls, and the cries stopped abruptly, and they all fled home and closed their homes. Merchants also closed their doors, and everyone was shocked.

Before walking to the Rong Kee pawnshop, they found that this place had turned into a ruin, and everyone was shocked and shocked. Luo Baiyi and Rao Mengli even pushed aside the ruins and broken walls that were burned by the fire, and entered the inner hall, only to find that the inner hall was not spared, Rong Ji Pawnshop and the Ten Ghost Hall were burned into a piece of debris by the fire, and their eyes were full of desolation, Rao Mengli stood in place, crying silently. Luo Baiyi was at a loss, and said loudly: "How can this be, how can this be? We have only been away for a few days, how can the Ten Ghost Hall become like this!",

Dao Xueke, Liu Yuanjun, Ren Shanhuai and Zhu Qingqiu also entered the ruins one after another to check, but no one was found. Seeing Luo Baiyi and the two of them standing in a daze, he sighed, stepped forward and said, "I didn't find any bones, if you want to come to the hall master, they will be fine, you don't have to panic." ”

Rao Mengli's body was weak, Dao Xueke hurriedly stepped forward to support her, a crystal tear slipped down the corner of her eye, Rao Mengli asked softly: "Brother Xue, what the hell is going on, where will they go, father?"

"Don't make inferences until you find the hall master. But find out and make a decision. Dao Xueke said.

When Luo Baiyi heard this, he rushed out of the ruins, banging on the doors of the row of shops opposite the Rongji pawnshop, and shouted in his mouth: "Open the door, open the door for me!" shouted and shouted, but the tears poured out of his eyes, his body softened, and he knelt down weakly. Dao Xueke hurriedly handed over Rao Mengli to Liu Yuanjun to take care of, and he came to Luo Baiyi's side, helped him up, and said to him: "Baiyi, you cheer up a little! There are many people during the day, but it is late at night, let's investigate again!" Luo Baiyi had to rely on him.

The merchants closed their doors as if it were night, and the noisy street market was quieted down by the arrival of the people, and everyone had nowhere to stay, so they had to temporarily live in the ruins, clear a few rooms in the dilapidated inner hall of the Ten Ghost Hall, and sleep for a day before making plans.

The day passed little by little, scattered in the glow of the sky, and several clouds of clouds wrapped around the blue tiles and white walls of Lu'an Mansion, showing a quiet peace. When the sunset receded, the sunset in the west had sunk into the ground, and the curtain of the night fell, covering the heavens and the earth, and a soft silver moon dotted the sky, reflecting only a tooth-white circle of light on the clouds around it. And the Lu'an Mansion was even more silent at this time, only the sound of gongs and footsteps of the watchmen still echoed in the streets and alleys, and the bluestone-paved streets left traces of the city. And the red lanterns hanging at the door of every house add a touch of night color to this peaceful Lu'an City.

"It's dry, be careful of the candles!" the watchman struck the gong and walked through the deserted streets. Two dark shadows flashed behind him, without a single sound. In the blink of an eye, the two of them came to a simple house, and opened the window with a knife, and when they saw that it was pitch black, they turned over and entered the house, and felt for the bed.

In his sleep, the poor fourth uncle felt a little stumbling, and at first he only said that he was a mouse, so he didn't pay much attention to it. By the time he could react, the cold blade was already on his neck. Although he couldn't see the face of the visitor, he only felt that the cold light of the blade was flickering in the night, and he was already trembling with fright, and begged for mercy again and again: "The hero raises his noble hand, raises his noble hand, the little second child doesn't know anything, he doesn't see anything!"

Dao Xueke took out a fire fold from his bosom, blew it and protected the fire with his hand, went to the table to light the oil lamp, blew out the fire again, took the oil lamp, and came to the window.

Luo Baiyi took away the long knife, tore off the veil, and said with a smile: "Fourth uncle, it's us!"

The fourth uncle narrowed his eyes, and only saw the faces of the two of them clearly through the dim oil light, first breathed a long sigh of relief, and then sighed and said: "Who are you, let's go, the little second child doesn't know anyone, he doesn't know anything." ”

Luo Baiyi panicked when he heard this, and said in a loud voice: "Fourth uncle, I am Baiyi, Luo Baiyi! You know me, this, this is the old knife, you know us! Why do you pretend not to know now?"

The fourth uncle waved his hand, and was about to turn over and go to sleep, and kept saying: "I don't know, I don't know ......."

Luo Baiyi was forced to be helpless, so he had to hold down the shoulders of the fourth uncle again, and put the long knife against his throat, which frightened the old man into a cold sweat and trembled, so he had to beg: "Little ancestor, you let me go, I still have a few years to live......?"

When Dao Xueke and Luo Baiyi heard this, they knelt down and kowtowed together, and said, "I really had no choice but to make this decision, please forgive me." The fourth uncle shook his head, sighed and sat on the edge of the bed, helped them up, and said, "Son, get up quickly." ”

Dao Xueke asked: "Please also ask the fourth uncle to inform me of what happened in this Lu'an Mansion in the past few days, how did the Rong Ji pawnshop lose the fire, and where did the Rong shopkeeper and Xiao shopkeeper go?"

The fourth uncle stood up, poked his head out of the window, saw that there was no one around, closed the doors and windows again, cautiously returned to the bedside, brought a bench, and asked the two to sit, while he sat on the edge of the bed and couldn't stop sighing.

"What is there to hide?" asked Dao Xueke. The fourth uncle's face was heavy, he pondered for a moment, seemed to have made a decision, patted his thigh and said, "Okay, anyway, I don't have a few years to live, so I'll tell you." Actually, here, I've heard it from all over the place, plus what I've seen myself, so I'll give you a rough idea. In the eyes of outsiders, Dao Xueke and his staff are all buddies of this Rongji pawnshop, and they grew up here, so they are also familiar with the neighbors, and in the eyes of the elderly, watching these people grow up, they also treat them as their own children, and they are quite fond of it. The fourth uncle said: "A few days ago, a group of people from the rivers and lakes came to Lu'an. To say that in the past, there were many people from the rivers and lakes who came to Lu'an, but there were no like them. Although they entered the city in several groups and scattered in various inns, their style and dress seemed to be a group of people. There were about 300 men, all with swords in their hands. At the head was an old man, and a young man. ”

Dao Xueke glanced at Luo Baiyi, and said while comprehending: "Yiye Sword Gate!"

The fourth uncle continued: "The two people who were the leader lived in the Qing Yaxuan of Xiao Lingkai, who knew that something would happen. First, Xiao Ling returned to the Rong Ji pawnshop, but the door of Qing Yaxuan was locked. Listening to the novel of Wang who sold pears that day, he passed by Qing Yaxuan that day, and heard the sound of a fight in the gate, and after a while, an old man and a young man broke out of the door, the old one went to the Rong Ji pawnshop, and the few went to various inns. ”

"And the old shopkeeper of the teahouse opposite your Rong Ji pawnshop saw that the old man entered the Rong Ji pawnshop with a sword, but never came out, and the Rong Ji pawnshop also closed the door. No one knows what happened here. ”

But after a while, two black-clothed men jumped down from the room, one with a blade and the other with his bare hands, broke through the door, and I heard that he also killed the shopkeeper Rong. ”

"Uncle Rong is dead!" Luo Baiyi and Dao Xueke were dumbfounded when they heard this, shaking their heads and sighing.

The fourth uncle also said with a regretful face: "Yes, his life is not good." Later, I heard a rumbling sound in the Rong Ji pawnshop, as if someone was arguing and fighting, and when the two came out, there was no movement. Then, the young man who was with the old man before surrounded the Rong Ji pawnshop with a large group of people, and there was a sound of fighting, and the group withdrew, and before leaving, they also carried a corpse, which seemed to be the old man who went first. ”

Dao Xueke said: "It seems that Chu Yunshan did die in the Rongji pawnshop. Then they asked, "And then?"

Later, the Rong Ji pawnshop caught fire somehow, and the big guys were busy fighting the fire, and they didn't notice where the shopkeeper Xiao went. However, some people saw the gate of the city and saw them pushing several carts out of the city gate. It should be safe and sound, but the Rong Ji pawnshop has turned into a pile of ruins. Dao Xueke and the two of them were thoughtful when they heard this, and they were silent.

The fourth uncle finally said: "Everyone is helpless to avoid you. We are all ordinary people, we just want to live a good life and live a peaceful life, we don't want to be led in, and we are afraid to see you come back. Then I pretended not to know you, and I did not dare to say anything more about what happened that day. It's just that the Rong Ji pawnshop has caused some kind of people in the rivers and lakes, so it has attracted the disaster of killing. ”

"Thank you, Uncle Si. The two bowed down and thanked them, and were about to leave, so the fourth uncle called out to the two, "There is another matter, I don't know whether to talk about it or not." ”

Dao Xueke said, "Fourth uncle, please speak." ”

"Some people say that a few drops of blood were found in the alley outside Qing Yaxuan, and some people saw a man in black kneeling on the ground and wailing, looking a little like the young man who accompanied the old man!"

When the two heard this, if they had found a treasure, they said goodbye and left. Before leaving, he looked at the dilapidated room by the oil lamp, and there was nothing in the dilapidated room except a table, two benches, a bed, and a stove, and the walls were also dilapidated, looking up at the roof, there seemed to be mice scurrying on the beams, and a few rays of moonlight could be seen, so Dao Xueke took out a silver ingot from his arms and put it on the table, and then left with Luo Baiyi.