The sky gradually darkened, and the hazy twilight fog was heavy.

The crowd on the top floor of the pavilion retreated, and there were no intention of staying for a long time. At this time, it was a busy dinner in the Song Mansion.

Poor families eat two meals a day, and people who maintain health think deeply that they follow suit, saying that they don't eat at noon. However, after all, the merchant's house is not the same as the cold family, and the white candles and lamp oil that support the candle lighting overnight can cost a lot of silver. If you live for an hour or two, you will naturally feel hungry. Therefore, three meals a day are essential.

Steward Xu is the busiest at the moment, and it stands to reason that he has no time to contact the internal response, but Huang Xinyong, who is staring at him, still does not dare to slack off.

Huang Xinyong, who drank cold tea on the northwest wind, couldn't stand the chill of early autumn, and called the shopkeeper to the kitchen to cut half a roast chicken and scoop a bowl of hot soup.

After a full stomach, night has also fallen, the autumn wind is high, and the clouds are heavy. The sky was covered with heavy clouds, the moonlight outside the sky was difficult to penetrate, and all parts of the city were dim and invisible. Only the lights and candles in the gate are shining, the earth is like another night sky, and the lights of the world are the eternal stars of the vast sky.

A small servant in a private courtyard carried an elegant play lamp in the style of an air death wind lamp to the third floor one after another, hung the lantern of the teleprompter painting on the pillar, and cleaned up the wooden bench and wooden table with his hands and feet. This is a literati and elegant guest family raising children, the arrival of the master in advance to make it convenient, here is about to usher in the second group of guests.

In addition to a three-storey watchtower belonging to the Capture House Bureau, this Chu Yu Pavilion has a good view and is the most suitable for viewing. Idle people and other people during the day are cheesy, and talented people disdain to coexist with them. At night, ordinary people are confined to the curfew and settle in their homes, where they come to enjoy a moment of elegance.

Huang Xinyong got up and left consciously, and the group of upper-class people who held their own identities couldn't rub the sand in their eyes. Not to mention that at the moment, there is only a single knife hanging on the waist, that is, the iron card of the capture is on the body, and the collision with the literati or the gentleman, and the trouble to the official office is the errand and his own loss.

Contrary to the coming literati rioters, Huang Xinyong bowed his head and walked down the stairs.

After leaving the Chu Yu Pavilion, Huang Xinyong walked along the dark wall. After entering the mansion during the day to explore and looking at the top floor of Chu Yu Pavilion, Huang Xinyong had a deep understanding of the outline and fortification of the Song Mansion. At a dead end, Huang Xinyong threw out a flying claw, and the iron claw of thin rope mixed with oil-soaked beef tendon hooked the wall, pulling it continuously, and it was extremely firm. Huang Xinyong climbed the rope and climbed up, like an ape, easily climbed the high wall. Squatted on the wall to make sure no one noticed, but jumped down without retracting his claws.

Continuing to swing his claws up the nearest house, Huang Xinyong ran in small steps, stepping only on the ridge of the roof under his feet, not touching the fragile and fragile tiles. When he saw the house close to him, he jumped over, and the farther one took advantage of the flying claws, until he saw the figure of Steward Xu from afar, Huang Xinyong retracted his body, and crouched in the shade of the roof like a gecko, slowing down his breathing, almost not moving.

Although the Song Mansion is not a big official family, there are many idle affairs in the mansion. Steward Xu has a gentle and delicate temperament, but his handling methods are not bad, and he can easily deal with trivial matters of all sizes, and he has won the trust of the head of the Song Mansion and his wife. At this time, everything gradually stopped, and the mother-in-law of the director freed her hands, and there was also time to control the maids and servants everywhere.

Steward Xu drank a bowl of tea that had been left cold, and did not wait for dinner to eat, and walked out after a few words.

Huang Xinyong, who was hiding on the roof, had a bright eye and knew that the time had come.

In an open-air courtyard well, a few small servants are moving dozens of pots of precious flowers and plants that are tired of dew into the root of the wall under the eaves. These flowers and plants are expensive, delicate and difficult to raise, and they need to bask in the afternoon sun for half a day, and they need to avoid the fog and dew in the morning and evening. If you forget to move, endure a night of fog and dew, and then be exposed to the bright sun, the branches and leaves will wither and the roots will rot.

A few small servants moved the clay pots lightly, and the movements were skillful, and even the flowers and leaves rarely fell.

Steward Xu stood under the lamp, and the candlelight shrouded in white oil paper stretched and magnified his figure, and cast it on a few young people who were working.

"Steward Xu is good!" Whether it was holding a clay pot in their hands or leaning over to move the flower pots in their free hands, they recognized the person who came and bowed slightly to say hello.

Steward Xu beckoned to one of them and explained to the others: "I'll ask Qian Ying to explain some affairs, you can wait until you finish the work at hand and go to the kitchen to drink porridge." ”

Everyone replied in unison, knowing that the two had some kinship with each other, Qian Ying was still recommended by Steward Xu to enter the palace as a servant, and it was not surprising that they met in private.

A figure attached to the shady side of the ridge, almost completely submerged in the darkness. Huang Xinyong's hiding place is not far from the two, and through the carved gap in the roof, he can already identify the appearance of the young man under the lamp. This Qian Ying is different from Huang Xinyong's guess of the internal candidate, and it stands to reason that Song Zi is more suspicious and more suitable to be the internal candidate.

Steward Xu's face was gloomy, so he just buried his head and walked forward, taking a sharp step, and Qian Ying needed to step up his pace to follow behind.

Walking to a secluded corner where the lights could not be reflected, Steward Xu suddenly retracted, clasped his hands in front of his chest, and looked at Qian Ying coldly.

Qian Ying was full of surprise, and said in surprise: "Uncle Shi, what is this doing? My nephew is stupid, if there is any inadequate etiquette recently, please take care of Uncle Shi." ”

Steward Xu snorted coldly, and said without justification: "Say, how much silver did you accept from others?"

"What does Uncle Shi mean by this? My nephew works as a servant in the Song family, and he has a salary of two cents a month, or what you always handed over to me!" Qian Ying tilted her head, her face full of the purity that a teenager should have.

There was a crisp sound of "pop", and Steward Xu slapped the young man called Qian Ying hard. Steward Xu, who had never beaten anyone, used too much force, so that his whole arm trembled after this slap was thrown out.

Steward Xu's deep voice trembled slightly, obviously accumulating full of anger: "Don't force me to tear your face with you and make trouble with the head of the family and the government! I am a world friend with your father, and we are separated from each other, but we often exchange letters. Although you didn't grow up as a child, your bad habits are mentioned a lot in your father's letters. I read that you are the son of an old friend, and I hope to be bound by the dogma of the Song Dynasty, and then influenced by benevolence and reason, you can never go the wrong way again. Unexpectedly, you still collude with thieves and steal the property of the owner! What a bold man! What a black heart!"

Qian Ying knelt down with a "poof", her knees were bleeding, tears fell, and she hugged Steward Xu's legs and begged for mercy: "Uncle! My nephew is fascinated for a while, and he does such an ugly thing that betrays morality and harms pigs and dogs, you beat me and scold me, don't report it to the official! If you enter that tiger's mouth, your nephew will be ruined......

Steward Xu earned a few times, and Qian Ying pounced again, as if hugging Dinghaizhu in the turmoil, Steward Xu simply kicked him away and scolded: "Dog!

Because she didn't dare to resist, Qian Ying was kicked on all fours, and when she heard this, she immediately turned over and got up. didn't pounce immediately, wiped away his snot and tears, and flattered: "Uncle, what do you mean?"

"You honestly explain the hiding place of the gang of thieves and the flow of the thieves, and I will reveal it to the dog leg of the house without leaving a trace, after which you need to be restrained and honestly be your inferior servant!" Although Steward Xu was eager to cut off the leg of this dog, there was still a trace of pity in his eyes, after all, he was the son of an old friend, after all, he was still young and careless.

Qian Ying nodded repeatedly, thought for a while, and said: "That batch of stolen goods has long been mixed with the goods of the dealers, and they have flowed out of Jinxue City through the Golden Chrysanthemum Fang, and now they are hidden in a flower temple outside the city. Those thieves are the green-skinned bastards in the city, and the leader is very scheming, and when the previous plan was implemented, several of them entered the Golden Jufang as peddlers and rented them near the mansion. That night, from the time the nephew opened the door for them to the time they collected the stolen goods and escaped, it was only half an hour before they settled nearby and avoided the search and curfew. It's just that I haven't been here long ago, and I don't know that Song Zi has a problem with waking up at night, which caused their plan to be slightly flawed. When the nephew asked them to divide the stolen goods, the green skin leader said that the stolen goods had been hidden for a year or two, and no one had investigated the case again, so he took them out and used them. I also listened to his orders, and did not immediately get out of the identity of the servants of the Song Mansion, which aroused suspicion, and now they pretend to be peddlers in and out of Jinjufang as usual, but in fact they are staring at the movements of the Song Mansion and the official government. ”

Steward Xu pondered, felt another tricky point, and analyzed: "This thief leader is shrewd, if he and his accomplices are suddenly arrested, they will definitely speculate on you." When he is released from prison, he will take revenge. ”

"yes, how is that good?"

Steward Xu pressed the shoulder of Qian Ying, who was stomping her feet in a hurry, obviously there was no one else, but he still unconsciously lowered his voice, and said: "The old lady next door asked me to write a deed two days ago, saying that someone wants to lease her house for a long time, and the deposit is not low. I expect that this person must be a thief, and after moving in, he will be able to do the dark under the lights, and he will also be able to monitor the actions of the Song Mansion day and night. The old lady has been packing up these days, she is old and frail, so she shouldn't be able to pack up so quickly...... I have something to do with the patrol and forbidden army, and the thieves must not have imagined that anyone would be able to take advantage of the short time they have not yet moved in to get out of the city despite the night ban. We will quietly take out our belongings, and after that you will not leave the house, whether they are watching during the day or listening at night, they will naturally not be able to know the fact that we have left the city. Even if you find out that your belongings are missing later, you will only think that there is a ghost among them, and you will not suspect you, and let them eat dog!"

Huang Xinyong, who was hiding between the eaves, had already intended to close the net, and he looked for this clue, arrested him and put him in prison, and tortured him severely, and was afraid that he would not recruit him? He was not allowed to add a heavy sum to the credit book of the government office? However, the steward surnamed Xu said that he was going out of the city to dig up the stolen property, which saved him a lot of trouble.

Huang Xinyong left the two of them, turned out of the mansion alone, and waited near the back door of the Song Mansion. After a while, sure enough, two figures pushed the door out, one carrying a bamboo white lantern covered with tissue paper, and the word "Song" was mentioned on the surface of the lantern. After covering the door, he swaggered away, without the sneakiness of a night walker.

Steward Xu led his nephew, who was not related by blood, to the south, and the direction pointed out by Qian Ying was not in the south, but if the two wanted to go out of the city, they could only take the south gate. Because the Song Mansion had some affection with the commander of the forbidden army defending the city in the south, Steward Xu gave gifts many times on behalf of the head of the Song Mansion, so the foot soldiers of the forbidden army in the south had more or less seen Steward Xu.

On the way, I met a team of forbidden troops patrolling the night, and sure enough, some soldiers recognized Steward Xu, and after a brief inquiry, a few soldiers were assigned to open the way for them, saving the time of being questioned again on the road.

Huang Xinyong hung forty or fifty paces away, occasionally raising his hands above his head to make a few specific gestures. This is when the arrester is handling the case at night, it is inconvenient to show up and show the patrol soldier the waist plate plate, so he uses the customary gesture to show his identity. Huang Xinyong not only made a secret signal when he encountered soldiers, but also raised his hands to identify himself to unknown places when he passed through several open areas, even though he had never encountered anyone.

The secret sentinels in the Golden Snow City are as dense as a sky net, and the sight can reach almost every corner of the city, which is composed of three parts: the military camp, the government office and the dark department. Among them, the secret posts of the military camp and the government office are responsible for supervising the fire and law and order, and the secret department, unless it is an assassin, even if there are thieves and fires within the monitoring range, they will choose to turn a blind eye. Huang Xinyong would rather be imprisoned in a military prison by the people of the military department than have the slightest misunderstanding with the people in the dark department.

Xu and Qian successfully approached the Nancheng Gate under the leadership of several soldiers, and the commander of the Nancheng District Night Patrol Army happened to be on duty here.