long moon smiles in the sky

Chapter 34 Tour, many anecdotes on the way

From Kaifeng to Yingchangfu, there are farmlands on both sides of the road, but this day is a sunny day, the trees are sprouting green shoots, the breeze is blowing, and the birds are singing and the flowers are fragrant.

The four of them trust their horses, but there are only three horses. Gongsun is a bit awkward sitting in front of Pang Tong. After all, he is not very familiar with him. He wants to sit behind Zhan Zhao and look up...

"Cat, why don't you go to the farm and get some sweet potatoes?" Bai Yutang suggested.

"Why?" Zhan Zhao glanced at the farmland Bai Yutang pointed at.

"Have you roasted wine tonight?" Bai Yutang laughed.

Zhan Zhao glanced at Bai Yutang, "We arrived at Yingchang Mansion before dark, so we are staying at an inn, why are you sleeping in the wilderness? You still want to go to the inn to roast sweet potatoes?" Bai Yutang was disappointed, "Nothing."

While talking, Huifeng moved closer to Yan Shanyue, the two horses rubbed their necks affectionately, Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao were walking side by side, Gongsun looked at Yuanyuan and shook his head, still Just sit down.

After another journey, we came to a relatively open road, and the farmland on both sides turned into woods.

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao chatted as they walked, although they were bickering all the time, from outsiders' eyes, they still seemed very close.

Pang Tong deliberately slowed down the horse's speed from behind, so as not to disturb them. Seeing that Gongsun was just looking around idly, he asked, "Are you tired? Do you need to rest for a while?"

Gongsun shook his head and did not speak.

Pang Tong saw that he was silent, so he also shut up and said nothing, but he was holding the horse's rein with one hand, but now he stretched out the other hand to grab the rope, so Gongsun seemed to be caught by the horse. Trapped in Pang Tong's arms.

Gongsun was a little uncomfortable, and looked back at Pang Tong, who pretended not to see him, and just smiled at him indifferently.

……

"Yutang, the Wantong Escort Bureau that destroyed the gate is just outside Yingchang Mansion." Zhan Zhao looked at it with a map, and said to Bai Yutang, "The Escort Bureau was originally built outside the city gate, but now it has become It's in ruins."

Bai Yutang looked at the picture and asked, "We have arrived at Yingchang Mansion, let's go there first."

Zhan Zhao nodded and put away the drawings.

At this time, it was almost noon, and there was a farm tea house not far ahead, for passers-by to have a meal and rest, and there was a post station next to it for drinking horses.

When Zhan Zhao and the others arrived at the gate of the teahouse, they got off their horses. After Pang Tong got off his horse, he was going to help Gongsun.

Pang Tong withdrew his hand, and Gongsun dismounted, but the shape of the horse stool of this war horse is different from that of ordinary horses. How could Gongsun know this, but he stepped on nothing... and fell off the horse directly, and was picked up by Pang Tong. It's right.

While Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were tying their horses, they turned around and saw Pang Tong standing there with Gongsun in his arms. They were puzzled and looked at each other—what's the matter?

"Cat, what do you eat?" Bai Yutang had sharp eyes and saw many people eating fresh boiled corn, so he asked Zhan Zhao, "Would you like corn? It looks so fresh!"

The clerk had already come out to welcome him, and when he heard Bai Yutang's words, he smiled at them, "Guests, this corn is grown in our own field, it's very fresh, glutinous and sweet, who are you, how about some?" "

Bai Yutang nodded, "Give each of us two, is there anything else to eat?"

"Yes, they are all wild vegetables from the farm, and the newly made sauced beef is also a must!" The waiter graciously led everyone into the teahouse.

Zhan Zhao saw Gongsun walking towards him angrily, and asked in puzzlement, "Sir, why do you look so ugly?"

Gongsun gave Zhan Zhao a hard look, "You, you know about mice, which caused me to be hugged by a stranger."

Zhan Zhao was taken aback for a moment, then turned around, and saw Pang Tong following in with his head down, with a smile on his lips...

Several people sat down, drinking tea and eating corn.

Zhan Zhao knew he was wrong, so he peeled a piece of corn for Gongsun, carefully removed the beard, and handed it over. It happened that Pang Tong also handed one over to Gongsun.

Gongsun was stunned, which one should I pick?Just as he was going to get it from Zhan Zhao, Zhan Zhao saw that Pang Tong had also handed it over. After all, he was a guest, so he couldn't seem too extravagant, so he handed the corn to Bai Yutang next to him.

Bai Yutang glanced at Zhan Zhao inexplicably, and then at the corn in his hand. The two looked at each other... After that, they exchanged corn, then lowered their heads and began to chew.

Pang Tong watched from the side and laughed. Gongsun had no choice but to take the corn from Pang Tong's hand, and gave Zhan Zhao a hard look as he gnawed it.

Zhan Zhao felt aggrieved, looked at Bai Yutang—what are you doing sir?

Bai Yutang stretched out his hand and scratched his head——ah, it's all in silence. "

Zhan Zhao frowned—what text are you pulling?

Bai Yutang raised his face——grandfather is very talented.

Zhan Zhao laughed—bad character!

They looked at each other again—lowered their heads, and gnawed the corn as if they were each other.

……

Soon, a buddy came up with sauced beef and a few plates of wild vegetables, and served tea to Bai Yutang and the others. Zhan Zhao pretended to ask casually, "Man, why is this place tens of miles ahead so cloudy?"

"Heh..." The buddy gasped in shock, and quickly waved his hands, "Young master, don't mention it...it's impossible to say."

Bai Yutang was puzzled, and looked up at him, "Why can't you say that?"

"Uh." The man said in a low voice, "Are you all foreigners? There are many people who died in front of you."

"Why did the person die?" Pang Tong asked, "Is it a thief or a bandit?"

"Hmm..." The man waved his hand and said, "That family, called Wantong Escort Bureau, used to be very prosperous, but it was only a few years ago. I don't know why, but it disappeared overnight."

"Miemen?" Gongsun pretended to be surprised to look at the guy, "Did you offend someone or did you have a strange disease?"

"I don't know about that." The man shrugged helplessly, "The local government also said that it was the work of bandits, and later they wiped out a lot of bandit nests. But in that place, too many people died and it was too dark. So now the wild grass grows, and the original appearance is no longer visible, and most people dare not stay in that area."

"Oh." Bai Yutang nodded, stuffed a strange-looking vegetable with chopsticks into his mouth, and raised his eyebrows, "Cat! It's wonderful!"

Zhan Zhao also picked up a chopstick and tasted it, then asked the buddy with a smile, "Boy, what kind of dish is this? I've never seen it before."

"Oh, this is actually a kind of medicinal material." The man said proudly, "There is a long on the mountain in our area, and the name is rat medicine."

"Ahem..." Bai Yutang choked on a mouthful of vegetables, and coughed while beating his chest.

Zhan Zhao suppressed a smile and asked the shopkeeper, "Why did you choose such a name? Can't mice be eaten?"

"Oh, no, this rat poison does not mean that mice will die after eating it. On the contrary, this herb is quite useful for mice, so it has another nickname, it is called Cutting Kitten."

"Pfft..." Bai Yutang, who finally finished coughing, sprayed a sip of tea all over the floor, and Gongsun and Pang Tong also coughed.

The corner of Zhan Zhao's mouth twitched, looking at the buddy, "What kind of herbal medicine is this, why did it get such a name?"

The man replied, "Oh, generally, if a mouse takes this medicine, it will grow some long black hairs on its body. This kind of hair is poisonous. If the kitten catches the mouse, if it accidentally bites the black hair, Then it will be poisoned to death, so it is called cutting the kitten.”

"Oh..." Zhan Zhao nodded with a half-smile, holding his cup and casting a blank glance at Bai Yutang, who was eating food hard.

Seeing how many people were eating happily, the guy asked, "You guys, do you know how to gossip in the Book of Changes? I said, how can you see the yin energy?"

"It's true that I know a little bit." Gongsun smiled at the guy and asked, "It seems that there is a place with a particularly dark atmosphere in this Yingchang mansion."

The buddy slapped his thigh, "It's so accurate! Yes! There is a Wanyou Bank in it, and it was burned down by a fire not long ago."

"Who is the magistrate of this Yingchang Mansion?" Bai Yutang finished gnawing a corn, stretched out his hand to take the second one, and asked the buddy, "How big is Yingchang Mansion? When was there such a ridiculous case?"

"Hehe... Isn't Lord Qingtian Bao in charge of Kaifeng Mansion? Demons and evil spirits naturally don't dare to cause trouble, so what if you offend Wenquxing?" The man shook his head with emotion, "Master Zhou Lan is just an ordinary person, and he himself has been raped by evil spirits." Trouble, what kind of demons do you care about?"

"What?" Zhan Zhao became interested, "Is Zhou Lan the magistrate of the prefect's yamen?"

"No." The man nodded.

"Why is he possessed by a demon?" Bai Yutang asked curiously.

The clerk looked around and said in a low voice, "That's all I said, and that's all you listened to. You can't go out and make public!" Zhan Zhao and the others looked at each other and nodded.

"Master Zhou Lan, in the past few years, several relatives have died in the family." The man whispered, "It was the old mother before, then the old father, and then the youngest son. The first two years were the wife, and now I am ashamed. He looks haggard, not to mention being in charge, I think he can't even eat."

"So serious?" Zhan Zhao frowned, "How can such a terminally ill person manage a state capital? Why not dismiss him and let him recover from his illness, and then send other officials here?"

"The local bullies don't want it." The waiter waved his hand helplessly, "There are a few bullies in Yingchang Mansion, all of whom have some background, and they are doing anything wrong in the area of ​​Yingchang. I have taught them a lesson so that they can behave themselves and stop bullying the poor people. At that time, the Yingchang Mansion was indeed in a peaceful and prosperous period, but it was a pity that the good times did not last long. It is now in full swing. Because I am very satisfied with the situation where Zhou Lan has the heart to manage but is unable to manage, those bullies even paid money to clear the way, so that they should try not to expose Zhou Lan's affairs, and let him be a county here with peace of mind. Ling, it's better to die, so that they can be invincible all the time."

Zhan Zhao frowned when he heard that, "There are such villains at the foot of Tianxi around Kaifeng?"

"Sigh, those bullies are not things anymore." The man shook his head, "Usually fight and rob, strong men and women do all sorts of crimes, the people of Yingchang Mansion really have had enough of them."

"Yingchang Mansion is so close to Feng Mansion." Gongsun asked suddenly, "Why didn't you just send someone to Kaifeng Mansion to redress your grievances? Lord Bao will naturally give you justice."

"Well... we also thought about it, but at the very beginning, the few people who were going to Kaifeng to file a complaint all died on the road strangely, and their family members were also affected by disasters, and one died every once in a while. It is said that this It is a punishment against the sky, so everyone dare not complain.

Bai Yutang nodded, exchanged glances with Zhan Zhao, and said to the clerk, "Tell us the names of those bullies."