The two entered the county seat, found an inn to live in at random, and then went out together to find out the news.

"Senior brother, how are we going to find out the news?"

"Let's go to the teahouse!"

"Huh?" White Cliff was dumbfounded.

When he went to the teahouse to find out the news, he understood that the teahouse in this world is more lively than the wine store, because it is more down-to-earth, the food is cheap, and he can listen to storytelling and songs. Of course, the taste of the refreshments is definitely not as good as that of the liquor store.

When Bai Ya once followed Wang Peng to inquire about the news in Didao City, the two often went to teahouses and wine shops.

However, Jiangcheng County and Xiaole Town were both at the foot of Qingcheng Mountain, and Bai Ya thought that they only needed to find out the news from the peripheral organizations of the Qingcheng faction.

Hearing Bai Ya's question, Xuan Ji shook his head like a rattle.

"For this kind of task, the sect will not let us go to the intelligence spies, otherwise it will not be effective. ”

"The teahouse is the teahouse!" Bai Ya sighed, he was afraid of trouble, but trouble could always keep up.

But what is strange is that no one in the teahouse is talking about Xiao Le Town, which is not far from here, and they don't seem to know about the escape of the people in the town.

Even if Xuan Ji changed several teahouses and liquor shops and sent out a lot of rewards, none of the tea doctors and shop Xiaoer knew the news of Xiao Lezhen.

"It's troublesome, it is estimated that Jiangcheng County ordered the news to be blocked, and it may be a bit serious. Xuan Ji frowned, feeling a little uneasy, "Could it be that you really want to go to the county magistrate of Jiangcheng County?"

"Why don't I go and see the announcement column of the Di Bao first?" Bai Ya's heart moved, and he suggested.

There are official newspapers in this world, and Di Bao is one of them, which belongs to the official newspaper. Originally, the newspaper only published official documents and court events such as the emperor's edicts, edicts, and ministers' recitals, and was only circulated among local government officials and scholars.

Nowadays, there are two kinds of newspapers, the imperial court and the local government, which are government-run newspapers, and scholars and civilians can spend money to buy them.

As for the announcement column of the Di Bao, it is almost the same as the announcement column of the residential community in the previous life of Baiya. In front of the square in the city, there is a erected announcement board, on which you can post newspapers, chronicles, business advertisements, and so on.

In addition to the regular Di newspapers, these bulletin boards charge for private self-run chronicles and business advertisements, and the fees are very high, calculated by the hour.

Even so, there are still many businesses and individuals waiting in line to make an announcement.

For example, a certain tavern has withdrawn from the new cuisine, a certain Oiran night in a Qinglou, a certain opera troupe has rehearsed a new play, a certain famous talent has published a new poem and a new book, and so on, all of which must be widely advertised for some money.

"Since the official family has blocked the news, you can't see anything in the newspaper, right?" asked Xuan Ji strangely.

"Yes, there will be no bright news in the newspaper, but there is still a lot of content. Bai Ya explained with a smile.

This is what he heard from Wang Peng's mouth before, Di Bao is the same as the news broadcast in Bai Ya's previous life, it belongs to the official mouthpiece, and it does not publish bad news, only good news. But if someone has a heart to understand it the other way, many times you can get a lot of insider information.

Since there are people fleeing in Xiaole Town, and the people in Jiangcheng County don't know, it means that the Jiangcheng County Order has taken countermeasures. In order not to cause panic among the people in the city, there will be a cover-up in the newspaper.

The masses who don't know ~ the truth will definitely not be able to see the cover-up, but for Xuan Ji and Bai Ya, it can be seen at a glance.

"Dashan, the little junior brother is really smart. Xuan Ji stroked his palms and praised, praising Bai Ya blushing for a while.

This is Wang Peng's experience in the rivers and lakes, not his. It's just that Xuan Ji's performance made Bai Ya a little vigilant, it seems that this senior brother has been in the mountains for too long, and he has forgotten how to walk the rivers and lakes.

......

Coming to the front of a bulletin board in a lane, the two carefully searched for the content on it, and soon found something inappropriate.

"Little junior brother, look!"

Bai Ya followed what Xuan Ji pointed to, and saw a newspaper that had just come out of the palace announcing that several villages such as Xiaole Town and neighboring Meng Town were suffering from epidemics, and now the road to those places had been blocked by the county soldiers, and the government reminded the people not to go to those places if they had nothing to do.

The official seal of the Jiangcheng County Order is also used at the bottom of this newspaper, which looks like an official document.

"Let's go, let's go to Mengzhen. ”

The two got the available news and immediately rushed to Meng Zhen without stopping. Bypassing the officers and soldiers blocking the road, the two soon entered the so-called "epidemic area" -- Mengzhen.

Although it was forcibly turned into an "epidemic area" by the government, Mengzhen is still in order.

There are indeed a lot of refugees in Xiaole Town in the local area, but the three elders of Meng Town have done a good job and vacated some houses in the town for the refugees to live in, which has not caused too much trouble.

"Looks like we've come at the right time. Xuan Ji smiled at Bai Ya, "Let's go, just find a fleeing townsman from Xiaole Town and ask." ”

"Senior brother, why don't you go to the three elders of Meng Town to inquire!" Bai Ya's eyes rolled and he stretched out his hand to stop Xuan Ji, "They must have asked more of the townspeople of Xiao Le Town, maybe they have a more specific understanding of the situation." ”

"It's okay!" Xuan Ji thought about it and nodded in agreement.

Although the three elders are also township officials, almost no one treats them as officials. These people are the oldest and most prestigious old people in the local area, and if you ask them about things, they will not be questioned by their fellow sects about manipulating the local government.

Most of the townspeople in Meng Town were surnamed Meng, and the two soon met the three elders of Meng Zhen in a large mansion in the town.

"The two of them are the heroes of Qingcheng who rushed to Xiaole Town, and the old man thanked the people of Meng Town and Xiao Le Town this time!"

The third elder of Meng Zhen was an octogenarian Meng Liangting, and when he heard that Xuan Ji and Bai Ya were visiting, the old man happily welcomed him out.

The Qingcheng faction helps the people at the foot of the mountain to solve difficulties all the year round, and the three elders in some places actually know that there is a big sect in this Qingcheng, but they don't usually say it.

"The old man is polite, the two of us can't be heroes. Xuan Ji took over the communication with the three elders, and Bai Ya stopped talking this time, standing behind Xuan Ji as a background board.

"Old man, I don't know if I can tell Xiao Lezhen about the current situation?" After entering the house, Xuan Ji wiped his lips with the tea bowl and asked the question.

"Alas, what a sin!" Meng Liangting heard Xuan Ji ask, but he sighed and told the story of what happened in Xiao Le Town.

More than 30 years ago, there was a wealthy family in Xiao Le Town, named Xiao Cheng.

This Xiao Cheng was a river merchant when he was young, and he started by transporting goods on the Jialing River. Because of the good business, by the age of forty, the family had a lot of money, so he returned to his hometown and set up a big mansion in Xiaole Town.

Because he was busy with business when he was young, he did not start marrying and having children until he returned to his hometown, and he married a total of three wives.

However, just because you marry more wives doesn't mean you have more children and grandchildren.

I don't know if it's because of Xiao Cheng's age, or because the first two wives are too incompetent, Xiao Cheng has never had children and grandchildren until the third concubine enters the door.

This concubine gave birth to a daughter to Xiao Cheng a year after entering the door. When her daughter was five years old, she gave birth to a big fat boy to Xiao Cheng.

Xiao Cheng was so happy that he was so happy that he was almost obedient to this concubine and a pair of children, and even wanted to divorce his eldest wife and second wife and correct this concubine.

If the house is restless, there will be trouble!

Xiao Cheng's eldest wife and second wife were willing to be killed, so they used Xiao Cheng's son to look different from him, and everyone said that this was born from an affair between a concubine and a long-term worker in the family, otherwise at Xiao Cheng's age, where would it be so easy to get a child.

At first, Xiao Cheng didn't believe in this kind of nonsense, but with the disappearance of the long-term worker at home, he suddenly became suspicious.

Later, one day, the maid next to the concubine suddenly handed Xiao Cheng a few letters, and he found out that the missing long-term worker in the family was really related to the concubine.

That Changgong was originally a showman, and his concubine did like this showman. It's just that Xiucai tried and failed, so he was forced by his family to marry Xiao Cheng, who was over half a hundred years old.

The next thing was very bloody, Xiao Cheng was furious, he didn't listen to the concubine's crying explanation, and under the witness of the town's clan elders and townspeople, he gave the concubine and his son to Shen Jiang.

As a result, not long after Xiao Cheng's concubine and son Shen Jiang, the long-term worker came back, and he came back after winning the imperial examination.

Seeing this situation, the original Xiucai, and now the old man sighed and said something to Xiao Cheng.

According to him, he had no selfish relationship with that concubine. It's just that after the concubine got married, she saw that he was poor and pitiful, and wanted to help him, so she invited him to come over as a long-term worker and secretly funded him to continue studying.

He disappeared for more than half a year, and he simply went to Fucheng for the exam.

When Xiao Cheng heard this, he fainted on the spot, and he couldn't afford to get sick when he went home.

And this tragedy did not end there, after that, Xiao Zhai began to die in a row.

First, Xiao Cheng's eldest daughter cried at night, saying that her mother and younger brother had returned, and then died of fright. Then the maid who reported the master bled and died violently screaming the name of the concubine. Then it was Xiao Cheng's turn to be the eldest wife and second wife, and finally Xiao Cheng died.

The master all died, and the servants of the Xiao Mansion did not dare to live in this house anymore, and soon became scattered birds and beasts, and this big mansion was slowly abandoned.

"Since it has been safe and sound for more than thirty years, why has it become a murderous mansion now?" Xuan Ji and Bai Ya glanced at each other, only to be puzzled.

"It's not because of the relationship between Ah Duwu......," Meng Liangting smiled bitterly, "This house has no owner, so it will naturally be regarded as the property of Xiao Lezhen." The three elders of this generation divided the property and assigned it to one of the families in the clan......"

Coming out of Meng Liangting's house, Xuan Ji and Bai Ya were speechless.

Meng Liangting's words are still unclear in some places, and they may not be able to believe them all.

But Xuan Ji and Bai Ya can't, after all, this matter has passed for too long, and the parties are almost dead, and the inside information of each can no longer be verified.

"I'll ask the refugees in Xiao Le Town later, and then I'll go to Xiao Le Town to see on the spot!" Xuan Ji discussed with Bai Ya for a while, and then made a decision.