Shanglin Night Snow

Under the dim starlight, a pale hand protruded from the shadows, moving forward inch by inch, about to touch the hem of the clothes blowing in the wind.

"Ghost—ah!" the owner of the hem of the clothes finally shouted, the voice was shrill and creepy.

The stiff legs and feet were no longer like his own, he couldn't even turn around and run, so he had to stumble backwards, his calf was suddenly entangled with something, and he staggered and fell down!Thinking that there is more evil than good, Xun Miao buried her knees deep in her hands: "Where are the ghosts and monsters who are playing tricks on me? If you dare to act recklessly, I will invite an expert to teach you not to be reborn!"

"Don't be afraid, he is human!" The voice came from the side, gentle and calm.

Xun Miao couldn't believe it easily, and didn't dare to raise his head, so he subconsciously grabbed the dog leash in his hand, tugged, and felt his calf tighten, and suddenly realized that it was this leash that tripped him with his legs wrapped around his legs!Thinking back to the human voice again——Yixi raised his head, and saw a familiar figure in front of him.The black dog Xifu wagged its tail and rubbed its head against the other's trousers, its flattery made people angry...

"Akai!" Calling forward, Xun Miao straightened the rope around his legs, trying to pull the black dog back.

"Are you not injured?" the predecessor asked lightly.

Move your waist and legs, luckily nothing happened.Xun Miao heaved a sigh of relief, and couldn't care less about the dog anymore. She got up and moved forward a few steps, and saw the "ghost hand" who had almost grabbed the hem of his clothes just now, and her heart skipped a beat: "Akai, ghost!"

"It's not a ghost, it's a human." He said again flatly.

"Human——" Xun Miao shook his head, unwilling to recall just now: under the dim starlight, the plain white clothes, unkempt hair covering the face, and pale ghost hands—could they be human? ?Shaking his head vigorously: "I don't believe it! Why are people so lonely?"

"This is a drowning woman..." Guo Xie hadn't finished speaking when he heard a slight groan coming from the ground.

Ghosts... don't they know how to groan|groan?With a thought, Xun Miao looked at the ground holding his breath.

Guo Kai was helping the "man" to sit up, when his long hair hung down, like a black snake wrapping around the rescuer's arms, making people shudder when he saw it.

"Cough-cough-cough-cough----" The rapid coughing sound entered my ears, Xun Miao was startled and took two steps back, after thinking about it again, she felt relieved: it really is a person! "She has fainted here for a while, in case of accidents, she should be sent to the hospital." Rubbing her chin, she suggested.

"No—don't go to the clinic!" It was easy to calm down, but the woman's voice was full of fear: "Send——take me back——back to Shao's Mansion!"

"Shao's mansion?" Xun Miao's thought just occurred to him, and he heard Guo Kai ask, "Is it the Shao Dianshuai's mansion that the lady is referring to?"

The woman said that she claimed to have been hijacked and harmed by gangsters, and almost died. Now she is afraid that the dry man is still nearby, so she dare not stay for a long time, and must leave as soon as possible.

Although the woman's mind does not seem to be clear, Guo and Xun would rather believe in this situation and act according to their words.

The woman is weak, not to mention walking, it is difficult to even stand up now, so Guo Kai had to temporarily put aside the red tape and carry her forward.Xun Miao followed behind with the dog, but his legs were trembling, his chest was beating loudly, and the sound of wind and insects was not as elegant and harmless as before. He dared to turn his head, and only focused on staring at the back of the predecessor, it seemed that only in this way could he move.

Fortunately, it was not until the third watch, and the nearby night market hadn't left, so the two rented a donkey cart in the market and walked to Shao's mansion instead.

Sitting in the car, Xun Miao had the opportunity to look at the troubled woman carefully in the dim light of the lantern: After being soaked in water for an unknown amount of time, her light yellow dress (at that time the starlight was dim, it looked like a (Xu Su) can still cover her body, but it is messy, her body is covered with grass blades, her skirt is full of mud, and her feet that are barely hidden in her skirt are not wearing shoes (Xun Miao only discovered it when she got into the car); The wet long hair was spread out, and it has been pulled back at this moment, revealing that pale but beautiful face.At this moment, she still has lingering fear, clutching her dress tightly with one hand, covering her chest with the other, drooping her eyelids and remaining silent, her face as frozen as ice.

The strong wind destroys the blue, and the rain fades to red!Xun Miao sighed inwardly, he really didn't know who would have the heart to do that kind of cruelty to a weak woman.

In the middle of the night, they were traveling so fast that they almost didn't realize that the donkey cart had already stopped outside Shao's residence.

The woman thought she was better able to walk, so she got out of the car with Guo Kai's support, and Xun Miao led the dog and knocked on the door.Before the voices of people in the room arrived, there was a burst of dog barking first, which caused Xifu to keep barking.

The young man who answered the door saw the face outside, so he only opened the door a crack and questioned the guest.Xun Miao just reported his name and surname, when the dog barked again inside the door, he felt the dog's leash tightened, and saw that Xifu had squeezed in through the narrow door, but he wanted to go in, Xun Miao It's hard to pull even if you try your best.

At this moment, Guo Kai also came forward with the help of the woman.

"This..." The boy immediately rubbed his eyes when he saw the person coming, looking disbelieving, poked his head out a few inches, and then exclaimed happily: "Isn't this Mrs. Gu?" He opened the door and let in.

Before the two of them, Xun Miao had been dragged by Xifu and rushed in, only to see a yellow dog that was bigger than Xifu squatting not far away, looking up at it, barking twice from time to time, It seems to be deliberately provocative.Xifu ran forward like crazy, Xun Miao pulled at both ends of it, gradually unable to do what he wanted, but the yellow dog was leisurely and calm, seeing Xifu approaching, he got up, strolled inward for a while and sat down, licking his fur. Jing watched a man and a dog struggling to see not far away, but as soon as Xifu stopped, it raised its head and barked, as if mocking it, making it push forward.

This kind of bullying, but even the boy couldn't stand it anymore, he reprimanded a few times, and then saw the dog got up and ran away with his ears down, Xifu saw that he couldn't catch up, so he barked at his back and then quieted down. Xun Miao had to breathe a sigh of relief.

The young man led several people in.When they arrived at the courtyard, they met the old family members who came out to welcome them, and immediately ordered the servants to take the girl back to rest, and then invited Guo and Xun to serve tea in the inner hall.Guo Kai didn't intend to stay, but since the master's family had something to say, and Xun Miao was thirsty all the way, he wanted to go in and drink a cup of tea, so he didn't refuse.

Xun Miao was really thirsty, drank three cups of herbal tea in one go, put down the tea cups, and Shao Jingheng also arrived.The three of them exchanged greetings for a while, Guo Kai was about to say goodbye when he heard dogs barking outside the door.

Xun Miao went out to wait and see, but he saw that the yellow dog was chasing him, and he was tearing at the rope that tied Xifu. Chase away, not wanting to be too late, the yellow dog has already bitten the cloth rope, and the two dogs ran to the courtyard together, biting and playing, seeing Xun Miao chasing him, they both chased to the backyard.

He taught the yellow dog how to play since he entered the door, and at this moment he even encouraged Xifu to bully him together, Xun Miao was furious when he thought about it, and broke a branch to chase him.

"That's all! You can't catch up with it." Guo Kai went out and saw this scene, and stopped himself: "Let it go tonight, let's talk about it tomorrow." Turning to Shao Jingheng and cupping his hands: "It's getting late tonight, can you allow this beast Disturb it all night, tomorrow I will come to bring it back?"

Shao Jingheng thought he had nothing to do, and smiled: "Why bother you, I will teach someone to send him back to the house tomorrow."

Guo Kai was about to thank him, but was stopped by an angry voice beside him: "Don't bother, I will definitely capture this beast tonight! Just wait a moment, I will come when I go." , leaving only a broken voice echoing in the bleak night wind: "...competing with people...a gentleman is angry but not angry...animals bully others, which is tolerable or unbearable!"

Dogs barked and hooted, and crows cried several times.

Shao Jingheng recovered from his stupefaction, and turned his eyes to the man standing upright with his sleeves folded: "What's wrong with him?"

Rubbing his nose and shrugging his shoulders, Guo Kai was neither surprised nor surprised: "Eating too many melon seeds, let's get heartburn."

"Oh——" The listener nodded as if he had realized something, and slowly said four words: "Irritability leads to anger!" Qian Yi pondered: "The sky is dry and the things are dry, no matter what you eat or what you want, you should be in moderation. "

"Yes!" Guo Kai agreed.

A moment of silence.

"General Guo recently led a surprise attack on Guiyun Valley and wiped out thousands of thieves and bandits," the man said again, but the subject had already changed, "From this point of view, the general has won the trust and appreciation of the officials, and his promotion is just around the corner. !"

"The Commander-in-Chief is absurd." When it came to this matter, Guo Kai was humble, "Thinking about the fact that there are only a few thousand thieves in the area, there is no need to mobilize the army, so I entrusted this task to my subordinates. At that time, I had few enemies and the thieves Most of them are newly recruited soldiers, and Guo was lucky enough to live up to his reputation, so he dared not ask for a reward."

"The general is too modest." The man smiled and did not make any further comments.

Guo Kai waited and watched for a while, but the waiting person still disappeared.Hesitating for a while, he spoke slowly: "The Commander-in-Chief knows that King Jia has been in trouble recently, and he is quite decadent?"

The man nodded: "I've heard it." He glanced at the speaker: "Why did General Guo mention this?"

Sighing resentfully, Guo Xie showed embarrassment: "Actually, I want to ask the commander-in-chief to visit King Jia in his spare time. Guo has been trying to persuade and persuade him these days, but it has little effect. By Wang Jia's side, he should be able to listen to your words."

After pondering for a while, Shao Jingheng smiled as if he had discovered the mystery: "General Guo's intention is to retreat from the body, but he will throw away this futile thing?"

Guo Kai smiled wryly, and did not deny it: "The commander-in-chief's heart is like a mirror, and I dare not lie to you, so let's not say that I, a foreigner, had a relationship with King Jia that was not in line with the clan rules, but the case of Zhou Qi has not been solved yet, and rumors inside and outside are mostly pointing at me. Conspiracy, in this situation, if I continue to have no taboos with King Jia, wouldn't it be just an excuse?"

Strolling down the steps in silence, Shao Jingheng looked far away and sighed softly: "There are so many annoying things in the world, and you have to see them by yourself, otherwise it will be futile for others to comfort you. If King Jia really understands Buddhist principles, he will be able to see through them. Otherwise, there is nothing anyone can do to help—" Looking back: "If the general is in trouble, you might as well ask for your resignation directly, and it will not make things difficult for you."

Eyebrows frowned slightly, before Guo Kai could answer, he heard footsteps coming from around the corner.

After a while, a person appeared in the light under the eaves.

Guo Kai was stunned at a glance: there were several long cracks on the visitor's clothes, and the stains were clearly visible under the dim light. Two or three stumps were interspersed in the hair, and the disheveled hair fell down on the front of the forehead and half covered the eyes.

"What's the matter?" He took a step forward and asked in surprise, "Been bitten?" Then he saw that there was no blood on his body, so he knew that there was no serious problem.

The visitor didn't stop, his eyes were blank: "This beast fled into the flowers and trees. I can't find it when it gets dark. I'll come back tomorrow!" Passing by Shao Jingheng's side, he made a shallow bow and walked away as if no one was there.

Only then did Guo Kai show a little bit of blushing, and bid farewell to his master.

Shao Jingheng sent the two of them out all the way, and when he reached the door, he called Guo Kai: "Today Shao owes General Guo a favor, and I will repay it in pictures in the future. If the general needs Shao to contribute, it will not hinder justice and morality. It can be said bluntly that Shao will do his best to fulfill his promise!"

Guo Kai accepted it generously.

Watching the two of them's car disappear into the night, Shao Jingheng walked back into the gate, and saw a little servant girl approaching him, "Madam Gu wants to see your husband, so she is in a hurry to tell you."

Shao Jingheng was a little surprised: "Didn't you tell her to rest first? We'll talk about things tomorrow."

The maidservant replied: "The doctor came to see just now and said that the lady is fine, but she is frightened and disturbed, and she can't rest at the moment, so it's better to let her pour out all her thoughts, so that she can live in peace."

Shao Jingheng thought about it, so he ordered the little maid to go first, and called the servant who was close to him to give a few instructions, and then went to Gu Lian's secluded place.

As soon as you enter the door, there is a faint smell of cigarettes: the woman in plain clothes is kneeling in front of the Buddhist altar on the table, looking pious.Knowing that she was thanking the gods and Buddhas for his protection to escape from the tiger's mouth, Shao Jingheng understood himself and stood quietly waiting.

After a while, the woman got up after saluting.Turning around and seeing the person coming, he didn't say a word, just blessed his body lightly, then he was helped by the maidservant to the table, carefully opened a wooden box, stepped back two steps and prostrated himself on the ground, after half an hour of salutation, but it was difficult to stand up crookedly , Shao Jingheng hurriedly helped her up and sat down, and the little maid brought her a soup and ordered her to take it, only then did she feel relieved.

The woman was ashamed: "The younger sister survived the catastrophe and was eager to thank God for the blessing and the protection of the dead parents. Therefore, I neglected my brother. I hope you will forgive me."

Shao Jingheng said a few words of relief, his eyes swept over the wooden box, and he looked puzzled: "This is..."

The woman carefully took out the contents of the box, but it was a pair of sapphire earrings and a jade rabbit for children to play with.

"This..." Shao Jingheng's eyes moved, staring at one of them thoughtfully.

"This jade pendant is the only relic of my mother." The woman caressed the earring with affectionate eyes, and carefully picked up the jade rabbit. "This is what my father brought back to me when he returned home from the northwest to visit relatives. It is from the army. A gift from a friend as a birthday present for me. I was very happy at that time. After the accident in my family, I was lucky enough to keep these two things. Side! Nowadays, it has become a habit to take out offerings to worship every New Year's day or the anniversary of the death of parents' birthdays."

"So..." Shao Jingheng took the jade rabbit, and the dusty past came to his mind: At that time, the Northwest had not yet fought, and he met Gu Chaoshan when he was new to the army.In the new year of that year, the two drank together. Gu Chaoshan said that he would go home to visit relatives the next day. The little jade rabbit was exquisite and cute, so he bought it as a gift. Gu Chaoshan was overjoyed, and said that he would bring his daughter to visit him someday, but who knows that this promise will never be fulfilled—that time, it will be Gu Chaoshan's last trip to the south , is also the last time to reunite with the family...

The dead are gone, the living are like this.

Carefully putting the jade rabbit back, Shao Jingheng sneered at the woman Wen Yue: "Since it is a relic of your parents, you must keep it carefully."

Seeing her nodding: "Little sister is always like this!"

"That's good." Shao Jingheng said while sitting beside her, and seeing that his mood had calmed down, he returned to the subject: "You want to see me now, do you want to talk about the robbery?"

Nodding her head, the woman's eyes flickered, she still looked shocked.After concentrating for a moment, he spoke slowly.

"That day I heard that Caijinxuan had newly purchased a batch of colored threads, and Fang Qiao's embroidery thread was not much left. Although it was late in the evening, it was sunny and hot in May, and it was only at sunset that the evening wind blows cool, so I brought I asked Juxiang, a maidservant, to go out to buy thread. On the street of Fuqiao, Juxiang bumped into a silver-haired old woman for some reason. The old lady was inconvenient in her legs and feet, and it was even more difficult to walk after the fall, so she begged me to take her home. I had no choice but to help her with Juxiang. After walking for a quarter of an hour, I turned into an alley, and the old woman said When we arrived, I took the two of us into the room for a small sit down. I just took a sip of tea, and I didn't know anything about it for a while. When I woke up, I was already in a dark room. I'm a little worried because I don't see Ju Xiang." After a pause, worry flashed in his eyes, "I haven't seen Ju Xiang yet, is she okay?"

Shao Jingheng nodded: "Ju Xiang didn't drink tea, she left the gangsters in that courtyard after instructing her to knock her unconscious, she was found that night, and she is currently recovering from her injuries."

The woman's brows relaxed, and she said to herself: "I was locked in that dark room for a long time, I guess someone brought breakfast at dawn, and I recognized it as the old lady who often came to the mansion. Carpenter!"

"The gardener?" Shao Jingheng's expression turned cold: "It really is him!"

The woman was surprised: "Listening to what my brother said, you have already suspected him?"

Shao Jingheng frowned: "This is not important, but why did he kidnap you?"

The woman raised her eyebrows: "He only asked my elder brother who he was in contact with on weekdays and where he had been recently, and asked him if he had seen Hu people before, whether he had mentioned the Northwest Army to me, and what he said about returning to Yungu. He didn't know what to say, and he didn't know what to say, but he thought I was deliberately hiding it, turned around and left, and never showed up again, and there was no food or water. Blindfolded and gagged, I was taken out to a carriage. It was already night, and I got off the boat after walking for a while. Only then did I take off the cloth from my eyes and mouth, and I sat in front of a white beardless man. , and immediately asked the question that the gardener asked again, I still don't know, the man didn't say much, ordered the left and right to take me out of the cabin, I knew that he wanted to commit murder, and wanted to let others rape him , it would be better to break it by yourself, so I took the opportunity to rush to the side of the boat and jumped off, and after struggling a lot, I was lucky enough to cling to a piece of driftwood. I had no choice but to drift with the current. Later, when the water rushed to the shore, I was exhausted, and passed out there until I was rescued."

After a few words, the woman looked more and more tired.Shao Jingheng didn't ask any more questions, so he could only comfort him and then left.

It was four o'clock, came out of Gu Lian's secluded residence, Shao Jingheng did not rush back to the house to rest, but went forward to return to the hall, there was a man in black waiting there.

After briefly recounting what Gu Lianyou said, Shao Jingheng asked: "I ordered you to trace the identity of the gardener, is there any progress now?"

The man in black was terrified: "On the day Miss Gu disappeared, I ordered people to search all over the city, but I didn't find the figure of the gardener, and I don't know where he lives. I am still looking for it now."

Shao Jingheng knew that the gangster dared to rob people openly, so he was prepared for it, so he had no choice but to ask him to step up the investigation.

The man in black took the order, and boldly speculated: "Madam Gu was kidnapped, could the culprit be Peng Xuliang's accomplices?"

Shao Jingheng also had this suspicion at first, so he took two steps, but then he warned: "You must also pay attention to the movements of the Imperial City Secretary!"

The other nodded, and then asked: "The identity of Mrs. Gu, is it still going to be thoroughly investigated?"

Shao Jingheng shook his head: "This matter can be put on hold for now, now the most important thing is to thoroughly investigate the robbery case of Gu E!"

After receiving the order, the man in black took out a wax pill from his sleeve and presented it: "There is another matter. We found a disguised barbarian in the city tonight, and he carried this with him."

Shao Jingheng's eyes lit up, and he reached out to take it. Seeing that the wax pill had melted a small hole, he pulled out a thin yellow paper with a few numbers on it, but Shao Jingheng stared at it for a long time before asking: "This letter, do you know To whom is it sent?"

The person on the other side whispered: "We followed this barbarian around the city in the middle of the night, and finally stopped in front of Mr. Ding Zhibai's mansion. Before he knocked on the door, we caught him!"

There was a long silence.

"Ding-zhi-bai!" Shao Jingheng paused every word, crumpled the paper into a ball and clenched it into his fist, sat down and meditated for a while, "I want someone to rewrite a book with this handwriting according to my intention, and find a trustworthy Hu He still went to the Ding Mansion with people on his body, and revealed the news to the Imperial City Secretary, so that the Imperial City Secretary would get all the stolen goods on the spot in the Ding Mansion! On the other hand, it is better to interrogate the barbarian who delivered the letter. Even if there is nothing, tomorrow night At the second watch, we must also send people to the woods on the south side of Qingyue Nunnery outside the city, and anyone who shows up, regardless of Han or Hu, should be arrested!"

"Yes!" The man in black responded with crossed hands.