In the early morning of the next day, Tiandu County, dozens of miles away from Chang'an.

As soon as the morning light fell on the cold street, I saw a woman hurrying towards the yamen, dressed in a brown robe, with gray hair and a wrinkled face full of worry and anxiety.

It was still early, and the gate of the yamen was closed. She grabbed the drum stick wrapped in a red cloth on the side, and beat the big red drum at the entrance of the yamen with all her strength.

After half the incense burning, the drumming stopped. The gate of the yamen slowly opened, and an official came out with a long stick in his hand, looked at the woman with a solemn expression and asked:

"Are you beating the drum?" asked the official, looking at the old woman.

"Yes. The woman was a little distracted, and it took a while before she agreed.

"Come in with us. ”

As he spoke, the official led the woman into the yamen.

At this time, Wu Xian Ling was sitting in the public court, looking at the woman who was brought in by the official, and couldn't help frowning.

He was still sleeping soundly before the half-burnt incense, but he was suddenly woken up by a drum, and hurriedly got up and changed his clothes, and rushed to the court without even drinking saliva.

This early in the morning, he came to the yamen to beat the drum and voice his grievances, is there a murder?

But Tiandu County has always had simple customs and good public order, and the disputes between neighbors are at most a few quarrels.

It was a surprise to him.

The woman walked into the court in despair and knelt down in front of the desk.

"Who is beating the drum and crying out grievances?" Wu Xian Ling looked at the kneeling woman in the public court, trembling slightly, something very important must have happened.

"The county magistrate, the grass man Zhao, lives in Qingren Lane, North Street. The woman whispered.

"Are you the Zhao family who sells chrysanthemum wine?" Wu Xian Ling thought for a while and asked in a deep voice.

"Exactly. Zhao nodded.

The chrysanthemum wine sold by the Zhao family in Qingren Lane is known to everyone in the capital on this day. The aroma of wine is not afraid of the depth of the alley, just walk to the mouth of the alley, you can clearly smell the fragrance of chrysanthemum wine wafting out of it, which is not blown.

"If you have any grievances, please come together, and the county order will make decisions for you. Wu County Ling continued.

"Lord Cangtian, the little people are bitter in their hearts. When Zhao heard this, his tears couldn't stop falling, and he cried proudly, "Xiaomin has an ancestral treasure jade, and every year in Chongyang, you need to bring this treasure jade to the ancestral tomb to pay tribute to your ancestors." But just yesterday, Baoyu suddenly disappeared, leaving only an empty box there, which must have been stolen by someone. I beg the Lord of the Sky to be the master of Xiaomin, it will be Chongyang in a few days, if Baoyu is not recovered, Xiaomin will have no face to live......"

After listening to Zhao's complaints, Wu Xianling frowned again, there is not much time left before Chongyang, and it is not easy to find Baoyu. If you can't find this, Zhao can't think of committing suicide, and he Wu County will have to leave a big ink spot in his career!

"Do you suspect who did it?" Wu Xianling then asked, "When was the last time you saw Yu Pei?"

"Lord Hui County Ling......" Zhao Kaikai said with tears in his eyes, "The jade pendant is the heirloom of the small people, and it has been locked in the cabinet, and the small people will check whether the jade pendant is intact every day before going to bed, but when I opened it yesterday, the jade pendant in the box was gone, and only a note was left inside, which read, 'For the way of heaven, half a sword did it.'" 'The little people are wronged, this jade pendant is a gift from a senior monk who is virtuous and virtuous, and it can protect the heirs with continuous incense and keep peace forever. How did it become stolen goods and be done for heaven?"

"Can you take the note?" Wu Xianling listened, his face was very ugly, and he hurriedly asked.

"Xiaomin brought it. Zhao said, took out a note from Huang Jiji's arms, and handed it to the official on the side.

The official took the note and handed it to the desk.

Wu Xianling picked up the note and looked at it, his face was very bad. Then he asked the master on the side to take a look, and the master immediately nodded and said, "This is indeed the handwriting of half a sword." ”

"In this way, Baoyu was stolen, and it must have been done by half a sword. Wu County Commander said in a low voice, "You go back first, this county order will immediately send someone to arrest Half Sword, and at the same time, it will also report to the imperial court, I believe that this treasure jade will be returned to its original owner in the near future, and the Half Sword will also be caught, and it will not continue to be at large." ”

"Thank you to the county magistrate, the people are grateful!"

After Zhao kowtowed and left, Wu Xianling supported his forehead with one hand and sighed three times in a row.

"Master Jia, what do you say should be done now?" Wu Xian Ling looked at his master and asked, "That half of the sword thief is first-class, known as a thief, and the treasures in the homes of many adults in Chang'an have been stolen by him. And this person is extremely arrogant, and after stealing treasures, he will leave a note in his place, 'For the way of heaven, half a sword is done.' In the first two years, the imperial court sent a large number of people to set up an ambush and arrest him, but in the end, he didn't even know what he looked like. ”

"Wu County makes you don't have to worry too much. Master Jia said in a low voice, "Banjian has disappeared in the rivers and lakes in the past two years, and now there is finally a rumor, and the imperial court must attach great importance to this matter." When the time comes, there will be people sent by the imperial court to be responsible for arresting, and even if he has eight legs with half a sword, he will not be able to escape. ”

When Wu Xian heard the order, he didn't breathe a sigh of relief, and Master Jia said again: "It's just ......"

"Just what?" Wu Xian Ling was anxious, "You said it!"

"According to the lower officials, this matter does not look like it was done by half a sword. Although Banjian is stealing everywhere, it is also a thief, and the thieves are corrupt officials and corrupt officials. A few days ago, there were rumors in Chang'an, saying that once the half-sword stole the treasure of an adult's family, there must be a cat behind it, and the court still wished that the half-sword would steal a few more times. Master Jia said unhurriedly.

"That's right. Wu Xian Ling scratched his head and said, "This half sword is not in Chang'an City to distribute his ill-gotten gains, why did you come to my Tiandu Town, but still find the hard-working Zhao family to steal? Could it be that what was stolen was not an ordinary piece of precious jade?"

"This ......" Master Jia smiled helplessly, not knowing what to say.

......

After the hour, three young men of about sixteen years old walked into Tiandu County, two men and one woman, each with a burden on their bodies and a sword in their hands.

"Is this Tiandu County?" Ma Yan looked at the sparsely populated streets and asked suspiciously, "Why are there so few people?"

"I don't know. Xu Changfeng shook his head, "Let's go find someone to inquire about the situation here first." ”

Ma Yan nodded, and the two walked towards a passerby together.

And the girl in the yellow dress followed from a distance, and whenever she looked at the two people in front of her, her eyes were filled with disgust.

Early this morning, Xu Changfeng and others gathered at Anhuamen in Chang'an, and after receiving their respective tasks, they left Chang'an separately.

The task that Xu Changfeng and the three of them received was to go to Tiandu County to find the secret recipe for Zhao's chrysanthemum wine.

This task is not difficult to say, but it is not easy to say. After all, we already know where the thing we are looking for, but it is a little difficult to find a way to get rid of it.

The secret recipe for making chrysanthemum wine will definitely be regarded as a treasure, this is a guy who eats, how can it be handed over to others so easily?

So after Xu Changfeng and the three of them received this task, their faces showed distress. There are only seven days, which is too short.

The three of them walked up to a shopkeeper who was sweeping the floor in front of the store and asked, "Shopkeeper, we want to ask, where does this Zhao family from Tiandu County live?"

When the shopkeeper heard this, he immediately glanced at the unfamiliar faces of the three of them, walked directly into the store without saying a word, and even closed the small door that was open.

This made Ma Yan look dumbfounded, and he was surprised: "Are we so scary?"

Later, the three of them walked on the street and asked an old lady again, but as soon as the old lady heard that the three of them were inquiring about Zhao, she immediately turned around and left without looking back on crutches.

This made Ma Yan even more stunned, he was stunned for a long time, until the old lady disappeared into the street, and then he reacted, "What the hell is going on? Why don't people here welcome us?"

"What's not welcome here?" Xu Changfeng shook his head, "They are obviously afraid of us." Don't you see them look scared when they look at us?"

"Is it really that we are too ugly?" Ma Yan said to himself with some doubts.