I don't remember how I fell asleep, a second before I closed my eyes, I heard Pan Yuchen's voice floating in my ears, but this time I knew why I woke up, it was because Pan Yuchen's voice, its penetrating power was too strong, burrowed into my dream, and woke me up.

So he put his hand on his cheek, looked out the window, and followed the carriage, chasing the wind and scenery.

In a blink of an eye, more than an hour passed, and there was a government-made stone tablet standing on the side of the road, and three words were engraved on the side facing us: Zizhou boundary.

At the speed of an ordinary horse, walk along the official road for another hour and a half to reach Shicheng, a border city in Zizhou. Stone City is a place of frequent trade and trade, and as we get closer to Stone City, the number of pedestrians, carriages, horses, and wagons on the official road gradually increases.

The official road was very wide, but Yun Qinglin asked the convoy to slow down. First, it is worried that there are many people on the road, and it is easy to hurt passers-by if the speed is too fast, and it is better to keep a low profile. He was thoughtful, but in this way, we had to spend more time on the road.

The arrival time in Shicheng city is expected to be after dark, so our dinner still needs to be settled on the way.

Half an hour later, Guan Xingyi commanded on the side, and the convoy turned into a small road next to the official road and quickly stopped.

After getting off the bus, I saw a small storefront next to me, and a flag was erected at the door of the store, which read: Full Plate Fragrant Restaurant.

Guan Xingyi took the lead in tying his mount to the railing at the door, helped out the two injured attendants from another carriage in Yunfu, and fed the horses with some feed by the way. There were already three horses standing next to the railing: two ordinary southwestern horses that were good at climbing mountains and carrying weights, and a white horse with a pale yellow mane: a small and sharp head, big eyes, a high head and neck, and strong limbs.

"Hei'er. Yun Qinglin shouted, the voice was not loud, but it penetrated far through the air. This reminds me of the day of his wedding, when Yun Yuelang was at the banquet, it seemed to be an ordinary speech, but the voice spread throughout the courtyard. This father and son are really alike.

Not long after the voice, a black tall horse ran at the entrance of the path, I recognized it, in the east mountain of Liuzhou Lincheng, Yun Qinglin was the one who rode it to find me. It turned out that this dark horse had been following our convoy with the two guards.

Yun Qinglin also noticed the three horses next to the railing, and he led Hei'er between the horses of our convoy and the three horses, and only wrapped the reins around the railing twice, without tying them into knots. The white horse was very spiritual, and glanced sideways at Hei'er, but there was no other reaction. On the contrary, Hei'er was a little vigilant, and his hooves stepped on the spot a few steps.

Yun Qinglin patted Hei'er's head, and Hei'er quieted down.

There was a large wooden barrel next to the railing of the horses, and the barrel was filled with fresh blades of grass, and I couldn't help but praise: "This restaurant is worthy of being a shop on the official road, and it is very thoughtful to prepare not only food for the travelers, but also food for the ponies, and it is rare that these grass blades are still so fresh." ”

Seeing that the white horse had finished eating the feed prepared for him, I took out a handful of blades of grass from the bucket and made a gesture to add some more to it. The white horse suddenly stepped aside, rejecting my kindness. I didn't laugh angrily and said, "This horse is really human, and knows how to reject strangers, and is a good horse." ”

Yun Qinglin was expressionless and led everyone into the shop.

The smell of vegetables wafts through the shop, and it smells a little full of incense.

There are three rows of eight tables in front of you: three in the innermost, three in the middle, and two in the doorway, with the rightmost tables in each row facing the window, and the innermost and leftmost tables in the middle row against the wall. At this time, there was a man sitting at the innermost table against the wall, he was tall and thin, dressed in gray clothes, the style of the shirt was very ordinary, there was a hat on the table, and the black veil hung down from the eaves, he had his back to us, and his appearance could not be seen; at the table in the middle by the window, there were two men, dressed as ordinary merchants, and there were no weapons on his body or on the table; at a table near the window at the door sat three men in coarse cloth and simple clothes, with hoes and bamboo baskets on the ground beside them, probably from the nearby mountain people.

Yunhai took Pan Yuchen and me to sit down at the innermost table facing the window, across a table from the gray-shirted man. Yun Qinglin's seat is the best, facing the door, you can see the entire dining room, and you can also enjoy the view outside the window in the afterglow.

Guan Xingyi and the seven attendants of the Yun Mansion and the three family members of the Pan Mansion occupied the other table at the door and the most central table in the middle row.

As soon as he sat down, the little guy in the store came over with a pot of tea and three cups, and asked enthusiastically: "What do you want to eat?" We have special dishes here, if you have anything else you want to eat, you can also tell me, if the ingredients are ordinary, you can tell us about what the dishes look like, and the chef should be able to do it. ”

It's interesting, it sounds like the chef is experienced and knows a bit about the food in different places. I asked, "What's the special?"

"Stir-fried pork with chili, steamed pork, spicy dried tofu, fried glutinous rice sticks. These are the specialties of the small shop. The little guy said with a smile.

I looked at Yun Qinglin and Pan Yuchen, they both nodded in agreement, so I said to the little guy, "Then let's have these things, and then have a green vegetable and egg soup." There are two tables over there, so let them order their own. ”

"Okay, you three wait a minute. "The shopkeeper filled our teacups with tea and went into the kitchen.

While I was drinking tea, I listened to the movements around me: two men dressed as businessmen were busy eating, and they didn't talk much, and the content was all about going out to find a source of goods; the three men at the door and the window were talking and laughing during the banquet, and there were many topics, and for a while they discussed who had met an old Ganoderma lucidum in the mountains and sold it for a lot of money, and then they talked about the market in Zizhou, and they were going to rush to join in the excitement in a few days; the man in gray had been eating quietly, his breath was slow and weak, and his body sounded good; there was the sound of water and chopping vegetables in the kitchen of the restaurant. The sound of the collision between the shovel and the pot, the sound of walking, and the sound of the shopkeeper and the cook talking from time to time are also closely related to life.

After a while, the fragrance of the dishes wafted out, and then the footsteps started, and the shopkeeper came over with two dishes and greeted: "Three slow use, the rest will be out of the pot soon." ”

I took a closer look and smelled it, and sure enough, it was full of incense.

The whispers of two men dressed as businessmen suddenly caught their ears.

"Eh, I said, the person inside seems to be Yan Ke, the son of Jinyi Villa. ”

"It's impossible, hasn't Jinyi Villa been in trouble lately? ”

"But looking at this person's appearance, he is Yan Gongzi. I have a cousin who has some small business with Jinyi Villa, I went to the villa with him once, and I saw Yan Gongzi, and he looked like this: tall and thin, very delicate, and he looked like a big family. ”

"Really? That's weird. I heard that Jinyi Villa is now under martial law, and no one is allowed to enter or leave. ”

"You're talking about the fact that they received the assassination notice?"

"That's right, I heard that on the first day of the first month of the Fu month, it is tomorrow, and someone wants to take the life of the owner Yan Hua. ”

"You even know the date, it's amazing!"

"I've heard from others, too, but when it comes to it, I know who wrote this assassination notice to them. ”

"Really? Then you tell me, who wrote it to them. It can't be those killer organizations on the rivers and lakes, right?"

"Heh, your brother knows a lot, and he even knows the things on the rivers and lakes. But it's really not this time, there is a signature on the assassination notice received by Jinyi Villa, what is the name, let me think about it, I have never heard of the name. ”

"You're still selling it to me, isn't it? ”

"Who sold Guanzi, I really can't remember, it seems to be called Chentian or something, I can't remember the last word. This surname is more special, it is the Chen of the hour, I remember it clearly. ”

"It's a strange name, it's the first time I've heard of it. You didn't deceive me, it doesn't sound real. ”

"Believe it or not. I can't afford to be with you, can I?"

"Okay, let's not talk about that. Do you know what happened to Jinyi Villa, which was so serious that it was about to be assassinated? Or was it an open assassination? ”

"Who knows, Jinyi Villa is secretly doing some dead people's business, how many businesses can be seen in it?"

"It makes sense to say that, I can't figure out these big businesses anyway, let alone do them. ”

"Let's not talk about business, just talk about this Yan Gongzi. My father is going to be assassinated tomorrow, and he is actually here, I really don't understand, is they going to fight back?"

"Who knows, let's hurry up, no matter what the reason, it is unlucky to meet someone who is targeted by the killer, we often go out to find a source of goods, and we are most afraid of bad luck. ”

"Yes, yes, let's hurry up and stay in Stone City as soon as possible. ”

After the two men dressed as merchants finished speaking, they left a small ingot of silver on the table, cleaned it up a few times, and quickly walked out of the restaurant. After a while, two neighings, followed by a few distant hooves.

I turned to look at the gray-shirted man behind me, still sitting quietly, eating his meal from the dishes.

The shopkeeper's ears were very bright, as if he had heard the sound of the silver ingots falling on the table just now, and he was not in a hurry, but walked over slowly with a plate and a rag, cleaned it up in an orderly manner, wiped it clean, and then returned to the room to wait.

I gave him a look of appreciation.

After a while, the three of us put down our chopsticks. I ate eight points full, Yun Qinglin ate nine points full, Pan Yuchen has an innate advantage, even if she eats eleven points full, she can't see it from the appearance.

The wind blew in through the window, and it felt a little warm to the touch.

Suddenly, Yun Qinglin's hand reached out and smoothed out the few strands of hair that had been blown by the wind around my eyes.

Pan Yuchen picked up the teacup on the table, lowered his head and drank tea without saying a word. I thought about it, and still smiled out of the corner of my eye.

I don't know if it's a delusion, the moment I laughed, the man in the gray shirt stopped the dishes and chopsticks in his hand. After only a short time, the voice sounded from the side, and he continued to eat.

The three of us sat down at the table for a break.

The man in the gray shirt also put the money on the table, got up and walked to the door. His figure soon came into view: he was wearing a hat and his footsteps were soft. But I also felt that when he got up, maybe through the black veil, he was looking at me.

After a while, our group also walked out of the restaurant.

Outside the door only the horses of our convoy remained, and the leader of the team was already fed, and when he opened his eyes and looked ahead, he was actually meditating, and Hei'er stood quietly, resting.

Looking up at the sky, the west is orange and red, and I remember a poem: the afterglow is scattered into Qi, and Chengjiang is as quiet as practice.

At the time of a meal, there are many fewer pedestrians on the official road. The speed of the convoy gradually increased, and it drove towards Shicheng in Juzhou.

Following Yun Qinglin, he naturally lived in the most quiet and elegant inn in Shicheng, Shicheng Inn. The price of the Stone City Inn is not the most expensive, there are many more luxurious inns than it, but the overall price level of the Stone City is not high, and it is very close to the people.

Stone Castle is a mountainous landform, and the terrain is generally high in the north and low in the south. Stone City Inn to the north, the terrain is high, don't look at it is only three stories high, standing next to the window on the top floor, the field of vision is very wide, far away can actually see a building on the city wall on the southeast corner. Even if the distance between them is very far, you can guess that the green tile cornices on it and the Zhu Liang painting the building. There are several fires burning around the building, and then the dark sea of stars behind it is reflected, like a secluded world.

It's rare to come to Stone City, and it's a pity not to go to the Star Pavilion.

The Stargazing Pavilion is a place where the imperial court used to observe the stars and worship the gods according to the astrological location. The city wall is more than 30 meters high, and there are three floors of pavilions above the city wall, so standing on the top floor of the stargazing pavilion, you can look at Chu Tian'er and gallop far away. The location, status and view of the Stargazing Pavilion are enough to explain its importance, so it is heavily guarded all year round.

It's a pity, it's a pity, I sighed again.

Soon it was the dead of night.

Suddenly, there was a scream in the distance outside the window, not loud, but it sounded clear.

I lay on the bed, my eyes moving slightly, making my way, and then frowning slightly.

This was followed by a burst of doorbreaks, exclamations, and hurried footsteps.

After a while, the sound of horses' hooves appeared, from far and near, stopping at the place where the screams appeared, and the voices of people were noisy, as if there were shouts and reprimands of officers and soldiers.

The sound of carriages on the street sounded again, and when it stopped, the voices of the crowd began to shift.

Soon after, the sound of carriages and horses' hooves faded away, and the sound gradually became quieter and finally disappeared.

The night was quiet again.