Four silent three watches of the night,

The moonlight rises high and the sun is low.

Under the oil-paper bamboo window, there is a square mahogany table.

On the square mahogany table, there is a red candle that shimmers.

The night breeze came from outside the window, swaying the orange candle flame, blowing the white clothes.

Slightly cool, but not cold.

Wang Manxiu, who was sitting at the table, leaned slightly sideways and raised his eyes to look at the crescent pond in the courtyard.

The pond is not far away, only about twenty paces from the house, and the pond is not large, and the crescent moon is only three or five feet long.

In the pond, there are lotus water lilies, a little ripple, the reflection of the stars, and a pavilion near the water.

It is a scene of the mirror.

But there are also clear insect cries, adding some earthly breath to this ethereal scene.

Just now, when the old steward walked to the place where the white-clothed party walked to the place where he was staying, Wang Manxiu, who was impatient with loneliness, chatted with the old steward about some fireworks. The old steward is also an old-fashioned and enthusiastic person, who could have dealt with the cumbersome topics of the past perfunctorily with a few greetings, but he answered all the questions he had.

The old steward's surname is Huang, although he is already in the ear, but he is not the eldest in the family - Mr. Yin is five or six years older than him. Lao Huangyuan is a homeless orphan in the desert of the Western Regions, living by begging along the streets, living a wandering life with no meals. It is precisely because of this that Lao Huang has not had much expectation of life since he was a child, and feels that it is a great blessing to be able to eat a full meal. But when he was drifting with the tide by chance, he bumped into the head of the Yin family who went out to do things, and was brought back to the house. Although Lao Huang, who was still young at that time, had not read books and poems, as a native of the Western Regions, he knew more or less the path of some Qimen people, and he was ready to be called a 'furnace ding' or a 'dead man'.

But he never thought that since Lao Huang came to this Yin family, he was arranged by the old master to do this work, and he has done it until today, which is worthy of fifty years, not to mention the dead man of the furnace, he has not even touched the sword once. Lao Huang also asked the old master why he couldn't practice swords and learn Qimen like everyone else. At that time, the old man in the patched robe would always smile and pat his head, saying 'everyone has a life'.

Yes, the old head of the Yin family at that time was wearing a patched robe.

Speaking of which, in the Qimen family, there are usually three ways to make money on the table.

First, rely on the reputation of the family and the strength of the master in the family to collect money. In other words, it is to go door-to-door to collect 'peace money'. However, unlike those bandits and ruffians who can only find some oil and water from small merchants, hawkers and small people, the Qimen family's 'peace money' has received from the rich and noble, and even the government has protected their heads in the Western Regions. After all, unlike the martial arts people who are only good at dancing knives and guns, the masters in the Qimen, but in the real sense, they have cut off more than 100 skulls in a snap of their fingers. And if these hundred-man enemies open their mouths to ask for some silver taels, then probably no one will dare to disobey. However, although this financial path is the most stable and efficient, it is also the most qualified required. And now in the Western Regions, the Qimen family, where the 'Three Saints and Seven Heroes' are located, can rely on it to make money.

Second, relying on secular industry to accumulate wealth. As the name suggests, it is to purchase various industries, and to make money from agriculture, industry, and commerce. However, this financial road is obviously a little far from the identity of the people in Qimen. Although when he was a merchant or a farmer, he could rely on his own Qimen or his family's name to deter other wealthy merchants and make profits. But those wealthy merchants, if they know each other, have basically been protected by the Qimen family, who operated the first financial route. And in this way, it will become a life-and-death dispute.

The third is the dart nursing home. This path of wealth is mostly chosen by those Xuanshi who know some strange doors but have no family background. The so-called dart guard, literally, refers to making money for the court or private dart bureau, or going to other Qimen or rich mansions to be a famous guest who eats and drinks. Approximately, it can be regarded as signing a deed of sale.

In addition to these three financial routes that can be put on the table, there are many financial roads that cannot be seen: such as killing people and stealing goods, robbing houses and houses, robbing tombs and touching gold...... And so on and so forth. If you can put down the high shelves of the people in the Qimen and do these jobs, it will be very handy for them - of course, the people of Limin, or the ancestors, have fallen into blood mold.

The Yin family is not a Qimen family, and they have never produced the 'Three Saints and Seven Heroes', so they naturally can't take the first financial road. It is precisely because he has not walked the first financial road, and the old family owner is not a person who can put down the high shelf, so he does not have the principal to take the second financial road. As a result, the Yin family of the old owner's generation all earned money by guarding the home for the darts. But this financial road, to put it mildly, is just being able to support his family. In addition, when you travel every day, how can there be a reason that the wind and sand do not stick to your clothes...... It's good to get into trouble with ordinary people, but if you get into trouble with people in Qimen, it's a lot of money.

Hearing this, Wang Manxiu couldn't help but be curious: "Old steward, when did the Yin family become as prosperous and wealthy as it is today?"

The old steward smiled, wiped his face, and said softly: "If the old servant remembers correctly, he should have been five years ago." ”

Five years ago, a major war broke out between the northern military forces and the southern Yonghua and the frontier.

Wang Manxiu remembered.

It began with the army of 600,000 led by the eight generals of the army to the south, and finally the Yonghua Xiangguo and the general led the 400,000 troops to reject the north.

The old steward explained that at that time, the head of the Yin family, that is, Mr. Yin Bingyin, did not sit back and watch because the Western Regions were located outside the frontier. Mr. Yin united several well-known Qimen families, formed a Qimen team of hundreds of people, led by the second son Yin Zheng, rushed to the battlefield, and made great contributions to Yonghuaguo to win the battle. Since then, the Yin family has been friendly with the Yonghua Kingdom, not only getting the privilege of being able to enter and leave the territory of Yonghua at will without paying customs duties or papers, but also receiving many rewards of gold and silver. It is precisely since this incident that the Yin family has become so wealthy until today.

A cold night breeze blew through the window, extinguishing the flickering candle.

Bai Yi smiled faintly, got up, took off the bamboo fork pole with the wooden window, waved his hand lightly to the yellow dragonfly parked on the window railing, and closed the window.

The window is covered with white bamboo paper coated with tung oil, which is not only not afraid of wind and rain, but also has a lot more light than ordinary base paper - since it is midnight like this time, there is still a faint moonlight that can enter through the window, hazy, as if there is nothing.

Wang Manxiu turned around and looked at the furnishings in the room.

The house is not large, and it can be seen that it was built when it was not wealthy, and the furnishings are gorgeous, so you can understand that it was newly added in the past two years.

In front of the white wall, there is a bed of iron pear wood carved shelf, a bed embroidered green bamboo cotton silk quilt, and a pair of dark gold poplar wood pillows.

They are all valuable furniture.

Wang Manxiu walked to the bedside table, took out four things from his white clothes, and put them on the table in turn.

A letter, a bag of money, a jade dagger, and an ingot.

The letter paper is smooth, the money bag is shriveled, the jade dagger is cold, and the ingots are golden.

He blinked, and couldn't help but look sideways to the south, only to see a white oil-paper window that had been closed.

By this time, you should have rested. ’

He pursed his lips slightly and smiled faintly.

Wang Manxiu turned around and walked to the locked iron suitcase, glanced at the sheep fur coat that had been placed on it by the old steward, reached out to untie his belt, and took off his white robe, revealing the white undershirt underneath—it seemed that he really liked this color.

After gently dusting off the cheongsa, it was folded into a square and placed on the side of the coat.

Then, sitting on the edge of the bed, bending down to take off the inner and outer clothes, burrowing into the cotton silk quilt, pillowing on the poplar cushion, and lying flat and closed.

It's when you fall asleep.

A fresh breeze came from nowhere, blowing open the door of the house.