To be an official in this kind of place with the support of the elders of the DPRK and China, it is to pin your fame to the waistband of your trousers, and if you are not careful, you don't know how to lose it. Yan Shilin was born in the first list, spent tens of thousands of silver, and worked as a minister in the capital for several years, but he actually mixed up with a seven-grade top. Who knew that this year's bad luck was not good, and the one who was supposed to be good was robbed by someone else, and he didn't calm down in one breath.

Since arriving in Dangyang County, Yan Shilin has made it clear about the county records of this small county, how the previous officials were lost, especially which people in the county are related to the border servants. The more I figured it out, the more frightened I became. So he was cautious, not seeking merit, but seeking to spend the three-year term in peace and security, so as to keep his seven-grade meritorious reputation.

When the Beijing officials are placed in the place, the land must be scraped with a thick layer to make up for the deficit in the capital. When Yan Shilin arrived in Dangyang, not only did he not scrape the ground, but he couldn't wait to give two to the people. So in the past six months, it has been honest in the reputation of the people. This common crime in the fish and meat township, he can be regarded as evading. As for the bandits, he never had the guts. With the dozens of old and weak people in this city, I am afraid that not only did they not become bandits, but let the bandits surrender themselves. In this article, he is perfunctory. The mountain bandits in the city are also interesting, and they haven't made any major movements in the past six months, which can be regarded as giving Lord Yan enough face.

Who would have thought that such a big thing would happen in the city during the Chinese New Year. Listening to the report from his subordinates, it was said that the old Chen family in the east of the city had gone out of the water, and the casualties were not clear, and Lord Yan was so frightened that a glass of wine was spilled in his crotch. He clearly remembered that the old Chen Tou and the border attendant were real relatives, although they made a few more turns, if they were judged by generation, they were still cousins. This is how Yan Shilin is not anxious, if someone dies, let alone this black gauze hat, it is not known where to eat in the rest of his life.

Lord Yan didn't care about the residual wine in his crotch, so he beckoned his subordinates on duty to go to the homes of the major team leaders, and asked the officials to go to the yamen to order the mao. Another arrow was sent to the battalion officer defending the city, and the fifty soldiers were rushed to put out the fire. On Chinese New Year's Eve, every household drank seven meat and eight vegetarian dishes, and by the time the third shift of the county government arrived, most of the hours had already passed. So he took the water dragon and went straight to the east of the city, but most of the servants were still burping.

The battalion soldiers have military discipline, so they have to be faster in the end. In addition, the neighbors put out the fire on their own, and when Yan Shilin arrived at the scene with the officials, the fire had been controlled. After a hasty estimate, the two courtyards that Lao Chentou rented to Wu Fuzi have been completely burned down, and the rest of the houses are lucky, but they have only affected a little, and there is no major problem.

Lord Yan's tightly knit brows darkened slightly. Suddenly, I heard a report that a charred corpse was found in the courtyard. The brow that had just loosened was tightly screwed up again, and his face was black and terrifying.

More than an hour later, the preliminary results of the inquest have become clear, the fire destroyed two courtyards, 13 houses, and five houses were slightly damaged. Two corpses, one woman and one man, were found in the courtyard to the east, and all 17 men and women in the courtyard to the west were killed, apparently belonging to the old Chen family.

After listening to the inquest report, Yan Shilin's eyes darkened, and he fainted on the spot.

............

When he woke up, Ye Li greeted the light, and the first thing he saw was a pair of eyes. Those dark eyes were like two bottomless whirlpools, staring at themselves through the dust flying in the sun, as if they had the ability to see through people's hearts, and wanted to see their hearts. However, this feeling only existed for a moment before disappearing. Looking at those eyes again, they are also ordinary, but they are brighter than others.

Ye Li was a little dazed, and used his hand to block the light shining on his face. Although the sun in the first month is not strong, it is still a little dazzling when it hits the face.

"Wake up, I know, you must have a lot of questions for me. For example, who am I, why are you here, what is going on?" The voice of the owner of those eyes was very young and very good, making people warm and comfortable. "But don't worry, before I answer your questions, I wonder if you remember who you are?"

Ye Li sat up, shook his somewhat painful head, remembered the woman wearing the beaded hat, remembered the Wu Fuzi with a red face and knotted tongue, and remembered the delicious Chinese New Year's Eve dinner that he had never eaten. I thought to myself that I had just drunk a few more glasses of old wine, could I be so drunk?

It seems to be a ruined temple, and there is no incense during the New Year, and the statue of the god on the table looks a little hideous in the sunlight shining through the broken window. Ye Li sat against the wall, with a pile of dry grass under him, it seemed that something unusual must have happened after he was drunk.

A young man squatted opposite, he seemed to be older than Ye Li, and the green cloth cotton jacket he was wearing was covered with layers of patches, but the slurry was very clean, and there was no stain in sight. His eyebrows and eyes are very good-looking, his skin is also very fair, his thin lips are slightly pursed, and he looks at Ye Li with a smile.

"Who are you?Why am I here?What happened?" Ye Li sat up straight and stared at the good-looking eyes of the young man opposite.

"Looks like you're really hurting your brain. I didn't remember what I told you so quickly. The corners of the young man's mouth rose slightly, and he curved a hint of playfulness.

Ye Li came back to his senses and said, "My name is Ye Li, the leaf of the leaf, very powerful." ”

The young man stared at Ye Li again, as if he wanted to see through what he said was true or false, and after a while, he sighed softly, "It seems that the brain injury is not too bad." It's just that you shouldn't have the surname Ye, the surname of the tree is more appropriate. ”

............

"Speaking of which, I'm also your savior. There was a fire in the east of the city last night, and I wanted to go and see the excitement, and pick up some cheap by the way, but who knew that I picked up you, a big living person. Say, how are you going to repay me?" Without waiting for Ye Li to answer, the young man said to himself: "Speaking of that fire, it is indeed quite miserable, I heard that more than 20 people were burned to death. The magistrate is still busy with the autopsy, and he didn't eat the thirty dumplings, and he didn't even have time to eat the noodles on the first day of junior high school. ”

Hearing this, Ye Li hurriedly stood up, but his head was dizzy, and he sat down slowly. He took a deep breath and ran the innate true qi in the sea of qi, but it was not as smooth as usual.

"Don't rush out just yet. I heard that the origin of the arsonist had been ascertained in the Yamen, saying that he was a teenager who had only arrived in the county a few days ago, and that he was the internal response of the thieves stationed on Ma Mountain, and that he had taken advantage of the Chinese New Year's Eve to rob the foreigner surnamed Wu before setting fire to the house. I also heard that the person surnamed Wu was not a teacher at all, but the second shopkeeper of a huge family in Jiangnan, who had hundreds of thousands of silver from others, so he hid incognito in Dangyang City. The county government hung the portrait of the young man at the door of the lobby early in the morning, and the reward was actually three hundred taels. Now that you look closely, you are eight or nine points similar to the person in the portrait. I don't know if you have anything to do with him?" the young man still smiled faintly, looking at Ye Li's eyes with a bit of amusement.

Ye Li knew that so many things had happened in the few hours he had been drunk, and it seemed that there must be something strange in this. Maybe he wasn't drunk, but he was hit by some kind of powerful poison, Ye Li secretly ran his true qi again, and that unsmooth feeling still existed.

"Who are you, how do you know so many things?"

"Well, it seems that your brain is still not entirely good. On the first day of the Lunar New Year, living alone in a ruined temple, and dressed like this, can't you see that I am a beggar?" The young man was not ashamed of his status as a beggar, but showed off a little, "My name is shepherd, yes, that's what she means to herd sheep." I'm not a shepherd, well, I'll admit I've herded sheep before. But now I am a good man who mixes the rivers and lakes, and I will become a man of the beggar gang in the future. ”

Speaking of the beggars, the young man called the shepherd had a yearning look on his face. The beggar gang is the largest gang in the world, and all countries have their own gangs, and there are many of them, and it is said that the mysterious gang leader is also a master among the cultivators. It's just that the beggar gang has a rule for accepting apprentices, as long as those who are homeless are called Hanako, and those who ask for food are also proud to join the beggar gang.

"It's a beggar, so naturally I know more news than ordinary people. I know you have nothing to do with the fire, and when I picked you up, you were unconscious, and if it weren't for me, you would have burned to death in the fire. Where is there a thief who is stupid enough to set fire to burn himself to death?" the shepherd grabbed a white-flour steamed bun in the bowl, took a bite and chewed it in his mouth, and his words were a little slurred. "But now everyone in the whole county treats you as a thief, if you go out of here now, you will definitely be kidnapped to the county government in less than a stick of incense. ”

Ye Li ran the true qi a few more times, and that unsmooth feeling still existed, the strange thing was that the medicine that could poison him unconsciously should be quite powerful, but except for the bad breath, the rest of the place seemed to be fine.

"Thank you for saving me, and if anything happens to you in the future, I will save you again. But now, I'm leaving. Ye Li stood up, this time standing very steadily.

"I know what you're trying to do, but do you know who you're going to go to, and even if you're going to kill someone, at least know who you're going to kill?"

Ye Li was stunned when he heard this, and wanted to say something, but he stopped talking.

"I also know that you like the little girl of the Wu family. Rest assured, according to what I have learned, her body was not found in the fire. ”

Ye Li breathed a sigh of relief. He suddenly felt that something was not quite right in him, and the long sword that he had been carrying behind his back was gone. Since he practiced the sword, the master gave him this sword, and then he has been following him ever since. Although he didn't know how to use a sword, looking at the more and more gaps in the blade, he would also know that it was not a good sword. Later, he deliberately paid attention to the fact that in the blacksmith shops in Dazhou City, the same style of sword was only sold for four taels of silver.

"I'm going to look for my sword. ”

"Don't use your broken sword, so as not to take it out on the rivers and lakes in the future and embarrass people. Speaking of which, I also practiced swordsmanship when I was a child, but the second dog next door always said that my wooden stick was pierced like an earthworm, and then I stopped practicing. Actually, I think it will make the sword very chic, I don't know how you can make a sword with this wood. How did you do it?"

Ye Li didn't notice the flaw in the shepherd's words, his sword was always wrapped in cloth, how did he know that he was carrying a broken sword? I don't know why, there is always a magic in the words that this young man asks, and people can't help but answer.

"Chopping wood. Chop that mountain of firewood, and cut it like this for more than ten years, and you will do the same. ”