Except for stealing

Chapter 11

When Shen Yiqing woke up again, he was already on the bed. He half-opened his eyes in a daze, turned over and looked at the table. Under the warm light, Pei Yan was packing up the files, his voice was very soft.

He was very sleepy, and his voice was a little soft: "Pei Yan, have you finished reading?"

Pei Yan paused, put down the things in his hands, and asked softly: "Have you had a nightmare again?"

Shen Yiqing shook her head: "No, just a little thirsty."

Pei Yan poured water for him, took it to the bedside, and told him, "Get up and drink water."

Shen Yiqing closed her eyes again just now, but she didn't open them after hearing the words, and half got up with her arms on the bed.

He heard Pei Yan chuckle, and then the porcelain cup pressed his lips.

Shen Yiqing opened his mouth and drank two sips to moisten his throat, but he was a little sober. When he opened his eyes, he saw Pei Yan looking at him, those beautiful eyes were full of quiet tenderness.

Shen Yiqing's heart trembled, and he whispered: "What time is it?"

Pei Yan replied: "The time has passed."

The night is silent, and the insects outside the window have stopped.

Shen Yiqing sat up on the bed and said, "Haven't you finished watching it yet? Let me help you."

Pei Yan put his arms around his waist, easily hugged him onto her lap, looked at his eyes that were sober, and teased, "You can fall asleep after watching for a quarter of an hour, why don't you just lie on the bed and sleep?" .”

Shen Yiqing puffed up her cheeks, and was about to refute him, but Pei Yan put a stick on his lips, and said softly: "I've finished reading, you can go to sleep."

Shen Yiqing looked into his eyes, which were bloodshot.

He called him softly: "Pei Yan."

Pei Yan closed her sour eyes, lazily rubbed on his cheek, and replied in a low voice.

Shen Yiqing whispered, "Do you like doing these?"

Pei Yan said "hmm" again.

Shen Yiqing's eyes were a little blank, and he continued: "These days I always feel that you seem to be a different person, and I'm not used to it."

Pei Yan: "..."

He opened his eyes, leaned back slightly, held Shen Yiqing's face with both hands, narrowed his eyes slightly, and said a little domineeringly: "Don't be unaccustomed."

Shen Yiqing was amused by him, rubbed his face like kneading dough, and spoke a little vaguely: "Got it."

He cupped Pei Yan's face back, pinching it back like him with a vengeful heart.

The two just pinched back and forth for a while, and laughed together.

Shen Yiqing avoided his hand and said, "Go to sleep."

Pei Yan hugged him and put him back on the bed, untied his belt, and blamed himself: "You told me to wake you up."

Shen Yiqing yawned as soon as he touched the pillow, and said, "I sleep fast."

As soon as the words fell, when she turned over, Shen Yiqing had already fallen asleep.

Pei Yan couldn't help laughing, hung up his clothes, turned off the lights, and lay down beside Shen Yiqing.

He closed his eyes for a while, and after a while, he turned sideways, put his arms around Shen Yiqing's waist, and fell asleep.

It did rain on the second day, but it was not heavy. It was misty, like smoke and mist, and with the occasional passing wind, it made people's bodies wet.

Shen Yiqing dozed off against Pei Yan, and only woke up a little after leaving the city.

It was still a little cold in the morning, and the tip of his nose was freezing cold, and he asked, "How long will it take to arrive?"

Pei Yan looked down at him: "Are you awake?"

Shen Yiqing: "Well, is it almost there?"

Pei Yan: "It will take another hour."

Shen Yiqing said "oh", moved a little, and moved her sore waist a little.

Pei Yan was careful, and realized that he was uncomfortable, so he controlled the rein with one hand, and stroked his narrow waist with the other, kneading him with moderate strength.

Shen Yiqing enjoyed it for a while, then suddenly laughed.

"Pei Yan, if a girl gets your favor like this, she will definitely love you badly."

Pei Yan pursed her lips, and was about to tease him, when he heard him say again: "You are already past the age of weak crowns, why haven't you heard about your marriage?"

Pei Yan's subordinates paused, and their tone was a bit strange: "You want me to get married?"

Shen Yiqing said slowly: "I said I hope you are well, and you will become an official. If I said that I want you to get married, will you also go to get married?"

"No," Pei Yan muffled, "I don't listen to everything you say."

He was not happy, but Shen Yiqing smiled even more happily, turned his head and said: "Then what if I get married?"

Pei Yan: "..."

Pei Yan pinched his waist unconsciously, stared at him with a frown, and asked, "Do you want to get married?"

"Or your parents want you to marry?"

"Can you not get married?"

These three questions were asked almost without gaps, Shen Yiqing's eyes were shining like a little fox, and said: "If I really get married, how will you treat me?"

Pei Yan looked forward, with the corners of his eyes and lips drooping slightly, and said in a muffled voice, "What else can I do? You think I haven't thought about it? Drink for three days and three nights until you're very drunk, and when you wake up Pack your bags and go wandering around the rivers and lakes, and when ten or twenty years have passed and you can let go, I might come back and be a godfather to your child."

It was originally a joke, but Shen Yiqing suddenly felt pain in his heart, his nose was a little sore, but his mouth was unforgiving, and he said with disgust: "Can't you go to snatch a kiss?"

Pei Yan: "Your eldest brother is a general, and no one can influence your marriage. At home, your parents and sisters dote on you, so I'm afraid you will be wronged in the slightest. If you get married, you must be willing. Since you are willing, How could I do something that offends you?"

A gust of wind blew the foggy rain curtain onto Shen Yiqing's cheeks and into his eyes. It was obviously cold, but his eye sockets were a little bit astringent.

He turned his head, the mountain road in front of him was filled with mist, and the green grass and trees were covered in a haze. He blinked and said softly: "Don't pinch it, it's time to green."

Only then did Pei Yan come to his senses, let go of his hand quickly, and said nervously, "Does it hurt? Yiqing, do you feel pain?"

Shen Yiqing shook his head and said, "It doesn't hurt."

Although he said it didn't hurt, Pei Yan still carefully placed his palm on his waist and rubbed it lightly.

The two fell silent, and only the sound of horseshoes was heard on the mountain path.

After a long time, Shen Yiqing snorted softly and said, "Can you put it down in ten or twenty years?"

Pei Yan reacted for a while before he understood the meaning of these words, put his arms around his chest, pretending to be dissatisfied and said: "You are a bit cruel, you are already married and have children, do you still want me to think about being buried?"

Shen Yiqing raised his chin, and said proudly: "Yes, I want you to think about it until you die."

Pei Yan laughed softly, and responded neatly: "Then I'll listen to you."

Shen Yiqing didn't know what to say.

After a while, he raised his hand, took hold of the hand that was holding him, and put it in the palm of his hand.

His fingertips were slightly cold and warmed up after a while.

Bee Village is named after beekeeping.

There are about [-] or [-] households here, and every household raises bees. The harvest is good, and there are fertile fields, so the people don't have to worry about food and clothing.

The village is surrounded by mountains and rivers, with beautiful scenery.

Turning across the mountain road, I saw fog above the mountain village from a distance.

At this time, the night has stopped, the sun emerges from the tumbling and changing clouds, and sprinkles over the vegetation and villages in the mountains, and the fog gradually fades.

Shen Yiqing got a little hot, took off his coir raincoat, looked around, and said, "It's really a good place."

At the gate of the village, Pei Yan tied the horse and said, "Go to Lu's house first."

The Lu family was the one that lost their only son. According to the file records, the two quickly found that family.

At this time, after the new rain, the roads in the village were a bit muddy, water accumulated at the gate of Lu’s house, and weeds grew messily on both sides, which was already tall. , only some old colors remain on it, and there are still white banners hanging on the door, which looks very decayed.

Shen Yiqing glanced across the door one by one, sighed, and said, "It's really pitiful."

Pei Yan stepped forward, pulled up the copper ring embedded in the door, and knocked on the door.

Soon there was a sound from inside, the sound of someone walking, and then a slightly weak male voice came out: "Who?"

The two looked at each other, Pei Yan said: "We are sent by the government to re-investigate the disappearance of Lu Mao."

Soon, a rush of footsteps approached, and the door creaked open.

Standing inside the door was a middle-aged man in a state of embarrassment. The beard on his face seemed to have not been taken care of for a long time, and his eyes were bloodshot.

He looked around the two of them suspiciously, and said with a vigilant expression: "Are you really from the government?"

A hoarse female voice came from the courtyard, shouting: "Husband, who is here?"

Shen Yiqing looked through the gap and saw a woman coming out of the door.

The man turned his head and said, "It's from the government."

The woman asked in surprise: "The government?"

The man looked at the two of them, turned sideways, and said in a calm tone, "Come in."

"I thought you didn't care about this?"

The man poured water for the two, lowered his head and put the blackened pot on the table.

"I've said it all, my kid must have been killed by the Jia family, but you just don't believe me."

Pei Yan didn't drink the water, but asked instead: "I wonder if I can tell you more about the day the child was lost?"

The man didn't trust them, and taunted them coldly: "I said you can control it? Before the government's arrest came over quickly, I said that the Lu family killed my son, but they didn't believe it at all, and said that my son ran away by himself. ,joke."

Pei Yan: "..."

Pei Yan: "Be safe and don't be impatient, we came here to re-investigate this case."

The man said nothing.The woman stood behind the man, wiping her tears with a handkerchief.

After Shen Yiqing came in, he took a look around the courtyard. It was a small courtyard, and the house was only big enough for the family of three. The half-cut firewood was piled up in the courtyard. Because the courtyard was not big, it looked a bit messy.On the beams at the entrance, there are bacon and garlic in strings, neatly braided, which shows the dexterity of the hostess.

The hostess was pale at this time, her lips were dry and bloodstained, her eyes were swollen badly, and she didn't know how long she had been crying.

The woman said: "That day was an ordinary day. My husband and I went out to do some work. Maoer went to play with the village children early in the morning. He often went out to the wild, but nothing happened since he was a child, and we didn't care about it. "

After she said a few words, she was choked with sobs and couldn't speak. She just wiped her tears.

The man continued. He lowered his head, couldn't see his expression clearly, and spoke as if he was chewing on hatred, bleeding between the lines.

"That day we waited until sunset and he didn't come back, so we went door to door looking for him. How did we know that his playmates came home at noon, saying that Mao'er had gone back early, and that's when we knew something happened."

He clenched his fists so hard that his knuckles turned white, and he began to gasp because of the excitement. Seeing that the muscles on his face were trembling, Shen Yiqing pushed the water in front of him to his hand.

The man didn't drink any water, so he slowed down and continued: "The two of us looked everywhere, but we couldn't find it. We also looked for the village chief, and called the whole village to go up the mountain to look for it, but we couldn't find it at all. They said the child He fell into the water and was washed away by the water, but I know he is very afraid of the water, he had an accident near the water, he dare not go near the water, Maoer is such a good boy..."

He raised his head suddenly, and stared straight at it with scarlet eyes: "It's the Jia family, it's his family who did it. When I came to the door, Jia Ping was standing at the door. He was still laughing and told me that he deserved it if he died." , so what if he killed it, that's what he said, and everyone heard it."

Shen Yiqing raised her eyebrows lightly, and said, "Do you have a grudge against the Jia family?"

The man was silent, Shen Yiqing looked at the woman, but saw her eyes dodging.

The man suddenly picked up the bowl of water on the table and slammed it on the ground. The sound of the cracking made the woman stop crying in fright.

His face was fierce, and his tone was cold: "My Maoer is not alive or dead right now. Are you here to avenge Maoer or to interrogate him? If you want to catch the murderer, go and arrest Jia Ping and chop him up." head."

Shen Yiqing and Pei Yan looked at each other and stood up.

Pei Yan said: "Then let's take our leave first."

The man turned and went back to the house without saying a word, and the woman escorted them out.

"Mao'er has been obedient and obedient since he was a child, and he is the heart of the women. I beg you to find him back," the woman said tremblingly, "Even if he can't come back...the body is fine."

The second half of the sentence was so low that it was almost inaudible.

Pei Yan said: "Please rest assured."

Holding on to the two doors, the woman nodded feebly.

The moment the door was about to close, Shen Yiqing pretended to be casual and said: "The meat hanging on the beam looks good, where did you buy it?"

The woman was stunned, turned her head to look, and said: "It was given by the neighbor... If you want to eat, you can take it."

Shen Yiqing shook his head and said, "Thank you, no need."

At this moment, the fog has dissipated, the sun shines softly on the village, the shiny raindrops slide from the leaves, the fragrance of vegetation and soil is refreshing, and a group of bright yellow ducklings lined up and writhed past them. With the peony flowers released by Bian Sheng, the bee village after the rain is like a paradise.

Pei Yan said: "What do you ask the bacon for?"

Shen Yiqing shook her head and said, "It's just strange."

Pei Yan: "What's wrong?"

Shen Yiqing lowered his eyes, thinking quietly, before he could speak, something bumped into him suddenly.

He looked down, and saw a lone little duck bumping into his feet and circling him dazedly. With its two webs flapping very fast, with a pair of bright yellow wings, it ran staggeringly all the way, chasing after the wind. He climbed up to the group of ducks in front, then folded his wings, and followed in a serious manner at the end of the team.

The crisp cry of the little duck gradually faded away, and Shen Yiqing, who had never seen a duck when she was a child, felt a little itchy looking at the bright yellow ball: "Pei Yan, grab one and take it home."

Pei Yan: "..."

Pei Yan suppressed a smile, and said in disapproval: "This is raised in someone else's house, how can you just arrest it?"

Shen Yiqing was a little disappointed, so she heard Pei Yan say again: "When I get back to Chang'an, I'll pick you a nice one."

While speaking, he had already arrived at the door of the village chief's house in Feng Village. When the two arrived, he was about to go out. After knowing Pei Yan's identity, he quickly invited the two into the yard and asked his wife to pour tea.

"So I came here for the case of the Lu family," the village head sighed, with a regretful expression on his face, and said, "That child... is also a pity."

Pei Yan said: "Just now when he came out of Lu's house, he said conclusively that Jia Ping from the same village killed him."

The village chief's wife just came out of the house, heard them talking, snorted, and said: "His Lu family has done all the unconscionable things, the child died young, it is God's reward, what is it to do with people?"

Shen Yiqing and Pei Yan looked at each other, and they both saw the surprise in each other's eyes.

The village chief scolded: "What do you know about a woman, go back to the house!"

The village chief's wife is a pungent person, she gave the village chief a sideways look, and said, "They deserve it!"

After speaking, he pinched his waist and went back to the house cursing.

The village head was really ashamed and apologized to the two, and then said: "Jia Ping did not do it. On the day Lu Maodiu, his father brought the Lu family Manchus to Jia Ping's house and said that he would search for people in his house. I managed to stop him, I personally searched his house, even the pigsty in the cellar, but there was no one."

Shen Yiqing: "But I heard that Jia Ping himself said that he killed Lu Mao that day, and that you heard it too."

The village head sighed and said: "Lu Mao's father said that when he met everyone, probably because he was in a daze. I was afraid that they would fight that day, so I stayed there all the time. I didn't hear that sentence at all. It's not just me, except Lu Mao's father. , no one has heard of it, not to mention that Jia Ping is such an honest person who doesn't even talk back when he is bullied on weekdays, how could he do such a thing?"

Pei Yan picked up the teacup, put it to his lips, and said, "Then why did he insist that it was Jia Ping and not someone else?"

The village chief's mouth was lifted, he raised his hand to wipe his sweat, and said hesitantly, "This..."

"I'll tell you if you don't!" The village head's wife, Yuemo, hid behind the door and listened for a while, but seeing him hesitating now, she was so angry that she couldn't help making a sound.

She strode out, dragged a stool to sit down, and said, "Jia Ping is an honest man. I have never seen such an honest man. He can't fight back when he is beaten or scolded. The whole family is cowardly. Yilongtian has been occupied by Lu Laoqi for more than ten years and has not been able to return, and the only son of the family has been bullied by Lu Laoqi and his son, and I feel distressed when I see that child who is as thin as a cat several times."

The village head reprimanded: "What are you talking about with adults?"

Pei Yan was about to say "no problem", when the village chief's wife raised her eyebrows, her eyes widened, she pointed at the village chief's nose and said angrily, "Why did I marry you, a wimp like you? You dare not offend the Lu family, I dare! Let me hear you speak, and be careful not to cut your tongue out."

Pei Yan: "..."

Shen Yiqing: "..."

The village chief shrank his neck and grinned at the two of them in shame, but he really didn't speak.

Shen Yiqing poured a cup of tea for the village chief's wife, and said, "It means that the Lu family is very powerful?"

"It's not great," said the village chief's wife, "it's just that there are too many people. This village was originally named Lu, and our foreign surnames all moved here. If anything happens, the Lu family will bully us. Outsiders, isn’t that the case with Jia’s family, they are honest, but they were bullied until their family was ruined and their son’s grave was dug up.”

Shen Yiqing was taken aback, and said, "This...how much hatred is this?"

The village head's wife sneered: "The Lu family didn't mention a word to the government before. They only said that Jia Ping killed Lu Mao, but he didn't say why so many people in the village are only suspicious of Jia Ping."

Shen Yiqing: "Why?"

The village head's wife slapped the table down, startling the village head beside her. She gritted her teeth and said, "Of course it's because Lu Mao killed Jia Ping's only son."

Shen Yiqing: "..."

Pei Yan said: "Is there a reporter?"

The eyes of the village chief's wife were a little red: "No, Jia Ping was almost insane at that time, and he was holding his son's body to report to the police. The Lu family blocked him at home and beat him half to death. The silver, said it was to pay for his son's life, threw it away and left."

Shen Yiqing clenched her knuckles slightly, and said, "What happened next?"

"It's strange to say that the Lu family was afraid that he would report to the officials secretly, so they guarded the door of his house for a month. Jia Ping recovered from his injury, and he didn't report to the officials again these years."

Pei Yan: "How many years?"

Seeing that his wife was thinking about it, the village chief coughed lightly, and said, "It's been three years. That year, the child was only six years old, and Lu Mao was eight years old."

From the narration of the village chief and his wife, the two learned the whole picture of the hatred in the past three years.

Lu Mao relied on his father being a well-known bully in the village, and he often bullied the children in the same village, especially the child of Jia Ping's family who had the worst relationship with his family - Jia Xiaoshi.

As the village head's wife said, it is common for him to be beaten black and blue, but this child is sensible and never tells his father, only that he fell.He didn't mention Jia Ping, he also knew that he had visited Lu Laoqi several times, and fought him several times desperately for his son, but he was no match for Lu Laoqi.

Jia Ping's wife is gentle and virtuous. Every time she sees the two of them squatting in the yard with injuries and playing together, she feels distressed. She says that she will move when she has saved enough money. Jia Xiaotu is very happy and looks forward to saving more money every day. For some money, I went up the mountain to gather some common herbs and came back.

But the money was about to be saved. That day, Jia Ping's wife still smiled and told the village chief's wife that they were going to move out. At noon, Jia Xiaotu was gone.

At noon, Jia Xiaotu came down from the mountain, carrying a small bamboo basket, and was about to go home for dinner, but was stopped by Lu Mao and a group of bullies.

Jia Xiaotu wanted to run away, but was dragged to the river by a group of bullies.

Someone saw that scene that day. It was a fool in the village. Although he was insane, he was kind-hearted. He saw Lu Mao and others push Jia Xiaotu down the river from a distance, and when he surfaced, he threw stones at him. , Later, it changed from a stone to a stone that a child could hardly move. He laughed and threw it on the skinny child. The child tried to hide, but the river was still gradually stained red.

The other children were afraid and didn't dare to do anything, but Lu Mao was not afraid. He stepped on Jia Xiaotu who had tried his best to surface, and stepped down hard to prevent him from surfacing.

When the fool ran over to drive them away with wooden sticks, a group of children broke up and ran away.

At that time, the river was already dyed red, and Jia Xiaotu did not come up again.

He went into the water to fish it, and when he came up he was dead.

The idiot didn't know what "death" was, but thought Jia Xiaotu had fallen asleep, and carried him back home.

After telling the story with the limited vocabulary of his six-year-old mind, Jia Ping's wife fainted directly.

After waking up, all he could do was hug Jia Xiaotu's corpse to coax him to open his eyes, as if he was already stupid.

Jia Ping snatched the corpse and went to report to the officials, but was stopped by Lu's family as soon as he went out, and was almost beaten to death.

Shen Yiqing's eyes were reddish, and he said coldly: "There is no law!"

He slapped the table hard and said angrily, "It's full of evil!"

Just now the two couples also said that Lu Mao is a good boy, such a good boy.

His hands were numb from the shock, and he said coldly, "I hope that Lu Mao was killed by Jia Ping."

Pei Yan patted him on the shoulder softly, and called him in a low voice: "Yiqing."

Shen Yiqing looked at the village chief's wife and said, "Since he has been dead for three years, why dig Jia Xiaotu's grave? Could it be that killing people is not enough, but also making people feel uneasy about dying?"

The wife of the village chief wiped her tears and said, "Lao Qifei said that Jia Ping buried Lu Mao with his son, so he insisted on digging Xiaotu's grave. The grave was thrown away, and Xiaotu had rotted away. The coffin There is only Xiaotu's body in here, how can there be Lu Mao? They really think that everyone in the world is as shameless as them."

"At that time, many people in the village had gone. Seeing that there was no son of his own, Mr. Lu viciously dragged out Xiaotu's corpse curled up in the coffin, and smashed the child's bones to pieces. Unable to let go of his hatred, he chopped off the child's bones before leading him away.

Xiaotu's mother went out for the first time in three years, and I was shocked for a long time when I saw her that day. She used to be very good-looking, and she loved to talk and laugh. When I saw her that day, her hair was half gray, and her figure Withered, with a thin face and protruding eyes, he doesn't look like a living person at all. The village head's wife said: "She didn't cry or make a fuss, she just stared at the scattered bones, and there was no life in her eyes." "

Shen Yiqing was spoiled and brought up since she was a child, and was blessed by her parents, brothers and elder sisters. She has never heard of such a thing, such a shocking thing.

With red eyes, he turned to look at Pei Yan: "It's not written in these files."

The wife of the village chief sneered and said, "Does Lu Laoqi dare to say it? If he tells it, Lu Mao will really come back alive, and he will go to prison, not to mention that you think those officials will seriously investigate the case? Can they come? It’s been burning incense all the way.”

The village chief covered his lips and coughed, and elbowed her. Only then did she realize that the two people in front of her were also members of the government, and her face turned pale with fright.

Pei Yan shook his head and said: "I am from the government, but not from the Wuling County government. We are from Chang'an."

The village head's wife breathed a sigh of relief, and said, "The officials from Chang'an must deal with these stupid officials well."

No one knows better than the common people how the officials of a place are.

Shen Yiqing thought of the magistrate who was worth a piece of gold, and said, "Where do you start with this?"

Regardless of the village chief's obstruction, the village head's wife stood up, pinched her waist and said mockingly: "The Qingtian yamen opens to the south, don't come in if you have a reason and don't have money."