Placid Chang'an

Hu Zi lowered his head and remained silent for a while, then slowly raised his head, "Big brother, do you not believe me?"

Su Cen was stunned for a moment, looking into those eyes, her heart suddenly felt like a soft thorn pricked her.

Excessive precociousness makes people learn to observe words and emotions prematurely, and what is reflected in those eyes is the injury and alienation after being questioned.

Su Cen's heart softened, and he stretched out his hand to touch the person's head. The short and hard hair prickled his palm slightly itchy, and said softly, "I believe in you. I'm just worried about your safety, and I don't want you to suffer any more harm."

"That adult killed someone, I didn't lie to you." Huzi looked at Su Cen and said seriously, "I was afraid because of some other things, but I didn't lie."

"Aren't you going to tell me what you're afraid of?"

Hu Zi pursed his lips and thought for a while, then shook his head slightly.

"Okay, I see." Su Cen smiled at others, "Go back, no one can hurt you here, take care of Erya."

After Hu Zi returned to the room, Su Cen stood up and told the officer behind him, "Call people to search the mountain, and we must find Liang Fang."

After coming out of the room, Li Shi's attendants were waiting outside the door, asking him to go back for breakfast.

When eating, he was a little absent-minded, and the chopsticks for picking up vegetables almost reached into Li Shi's bowl. Li Shi raised his eyebrows: "Why, mine is especially delicious?"

It was only then that Su Cen realized that he had overstepped the rules, relying on Li Shi not being angry, instead of retreating, he made an inch of gouging out a chopstick in the human bowl, nodded after tasting it, "It's delicious."

Li Shi brought his own bowl to Su Cen, took Su Cen's bowl of rice that was full of scars, raised his eyes and said, "If you can't finish eating, you will be punished as a bully."

Su Cen finally regained his composure, lowered his head to eat seriously, the more he ate, the more he felt that Li Shi's bowl was indeed better than his own.

Unexpectedly, he stopped thinking wildly, and Li Shi asked, "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking about Liang Fang." Su Cen bit his chopsticks and raised his head. "How did he escape? I saw him enter the palace with my own eyes. After a stick of incense, there was no one there. The guards at each gate said I didn't see anyone, even if he could see the opportunity to escape over the wall, but there are disaster victims everywhere outside the palace, it doesn't make sense that he can avoid everyone's eyes and ears, right?"

Li Shi nodded: "It's a little abnormal."

"If Liang Fang doesn't have the ability to hide from the ground, I suspect he's still in the palace, hiding somewhere we can't find."

Li Shi paused with his chopsticks, and said, "Speak up if you have something to say."

Su Cen put down his chopsticks and squinted at the man, "I thought about it carefully, and in the whole palace, no one has searched your bedroom, my lord."

"It's so courageous." Li Shi put his chopsticks heavily on the table.

In all the years he has been working, no one has ever dared to say that his bedroom is going to be searched, and no one has ever dared to question him about hiding criminals.

Su Cen also put down his chopsticks in a timely manner, his buttocks were already in the air, and he forced himself to be calm: "I am also thinking about the safety of the prince..."

Li Shi threw his chopsticks before he finished speaking, and Su Cen jumped up and fled.

Seeing people running away like a rabbit, Li Shi restrained his momentum and pressed his eyebrows. This little fox is getting more and more difficult to deal with now.

Su Cen ran out of Li Shi's bedroom and gradually slowed down his pace, raised his lips and smiled, and secretly cursed "old fox". He wants to see how long this fox's tail can hide.

He wasn't full at first, and with the action just now, Su Cen rubbed his stomach and thought about it, and decided to find a place to continue eating.

The porridge shed had just passed the rush hour for receiving meals, and it was finally free. The person in charge of distributing had just sat down to eat a hot meal when Su Cen's uninvited presence interrupted his leisure.

"You eat, don't worry about me." Su Cen took the bowl by himself, filled the porridge, walked a few steps in and finally found a free table, leaned over and said to the person opposite: "I'm sitting here, don't you?" Don't mind."

The man raised his head, and it was Cao Ershu from Cao Village, who hurriedly stood up and bowed: "My lord, please."

"You can just call me Su Cen." Su Cen put down the bowl and sat down. After tasting the porridge, the taste was not bad. While eating, he chatted with Uncle Cao, "Why are you here?"

Second Uncle Cao said: "The people here are representatives of the country gentry from all over the country, and they are all famous people, in order to ensure the fairness of the distribution process. There are few people in Cao Village, but there is a person. They let me come here because they saw that my old man was free. .”

"You are too modest," Su Cen said, "You are the village head of Cao Village, which is what everyone expects."

"Cao Village has long since disappeared, why are you talking about the village chief?" Second Uncle Cao took out the cigarette stick from behind, and knocked it on the corner of the table, "Why do you think you came here?"

It's hard for Su Cen to say that he was kicked out because he didn't have enough to eat, so he just smiled and said, "Know the people's sentiments."

The two chatted for a while, talking about the resettlement situation of the villagers in Cao Village, and naturally they talked about Huzi and Erya. Su Cen followed the pipe in Uncle Cao's hand, and the pipe and mouthpiece were all yellow. It is made of copper, and the tobacco rod is yellow rosewood, with a layer of oily skin on it, and it is shiny, and it can be seen that it has been used for many years.

What Su Cen noticed was the bag containing the tobacco leaves. There were two little figures embroidered on it. They were crooked and the stitches were uneven, but one had a thorn head and the other had a pigtail. It could be seen that they were Huzi and Erya.

The heavy tobacco rod and the jumping pouch looked a bit out of place. Su Cen pointed it out and asked, "Is this embroidered by Er Ya?"

Second Uncle Cao looked at it and smiled: "That doll was embroidered for me when I first learned to be a female celebrity. Once it is tied up, I won't be allowed to take it off."

Su Cen thought about the little girl climbing up the wall and climbing trees, following the tiger like a tomboy every day, and couldn't help laughing: "I can't see that she has learned from female celebrities."

"That's how I embroidered it," Second Uncle Cao weighed in on the cigarette bag, amused, "All ten fingers are pricked and swollen, and I never touch needlework again."

Su Cen followed suit with a smile, the rising sun hit the side face, the fine pores were clearly visible, the browbones were straight, and the corners of the eyes were slightly curved, quite eye-catching.Second Uncle Cao was stunned for a moment, and then gradually smiled. This person is no longer the young man who shared troubles with them back then. There is a gap like a moat between them, so they may not have the capital to talk and laugh together.

Su Cen seemed to have seen through his thoughts, her smile faded away, she drank the porridge slowly, and said in a neutral tone: "Someone drugged the two children here yesterday."

Uncle Cao looked unsurprised and nodded, "I did it."

"why?"

Second Uncle Cao took down the cigarette pouch with the little figure embroidered on it, took out two tobacco leaves, and while filling it, he replied: "The two dolls were frightened, I want them to have a good sleep." After a pause, he continued: "If you talk too much, you will lose, and I don't want them to get into trouble."

Su Cen nodded, expressing his understanding. There is a common saying in the folks, "You can't go to the government if you are born, and you can't go to hell if you die." Many people don't like dealing with the government.

"The two dolls have no father and no mother. They grew up together dependent on each other. Being stubborn is a little bit stubborn. I did a lot of stupid things in Cao Village before, but they were not evil." Uncle Cao stretched out his pipe to the stove and lit it. "I hope the adults don't care about them if they cause trouble to the adults."

"No trouble," Su Cen shook his head and said, "They help me solve the case, and I will naturally protect their safety..."

Uncle Cao shook his head and interrupted him, "Huzi is more mature, but he is still a child after all. Sometimes he speaks and does things inappropriately, and adults take care of him. Erya is just a straight-hearted person, she doesn't have much scheming, and she can tell what's on her mind from her face. If the two dolls can live together in the future, that's fine, but if it's someone else, I'm afraid she will be bullied in the future."

"What's the matter?" Su Cen frowned. He had no reason to feel that Uncle Cao seemed to be explaining the funeral, and there was something vaguely about to appear, but he couldn't catch it for a while.

"I'm old," Second Uncle Cao took a long puff of his cigarette, "I haven't lived for a few years, I'm afraid I can't see them grow up, Cao Village has saved the life of the adults, I want to ask the old man to ask for favors , can you help me take care of the two dolls in the future."

Su Cen looked into those eyes, and seemed to be in a state of twilight for a moment, and after a while, he suddenly nodded.

The wrinkles on Uncle Cao's face stretched out, he smiled with relief, and walked out of the porridge shed slowly with his cigarette stick in his hand.

Su Cen chased after Uncle Cao's back until he disappeared, and after a while he stopped his gaze and continued to drink porridge. When he raised his head and saw a handful of cigarette ash on the corner of the table, his heart twitched a few times for no reason.

In the afternoon, the sky changed without warning, thick dark clouds accumulated, and slowly pressed down from the distant horizon to the top of Qifeng Mountain.The mountain rain was about to come and the wind filled the building, and the evil wind from the mountain blew in gusts. The window screens and curtains in the palace were flying all over the sky, and the windows that were finally closed were rustling.

It's going to be another downpour.

The people in the palace couldn't help feeling tense. It had finally cleared up for a few days, and the flood was about to recede. They didn't know how many days it would take, and they didn't know when the days of being displaced would end.

Officials are busy looking for rocks everywhere, and they are built high to block the periphery of the palace. They are most afraid of flash floods on the mountain. Although the location of the palace has been chosen to avoid ravines and streams as much as possible, they have to make sufficient preparations , will not be helpless at that time.

Su Cen patrolled around with Li Shi, making sure that everything inside and outside was safe, and then he appeased the people and stabilized their hearts.The strong wind blew the clothes flying, and seeing the heavy rain was coming, Li Shi asked Su Cen to retreat first.

Prince Ning wanted to be with the people, Su Cen naturally refused to leave, stood stubbornly in the wind and looked at him, his eyelids could not be opened, but those eyes seemed to be nailed to him, refusing to move away a cent.

Before the first drop of rain fell, Li Shi involuntarily put his robe on Su Cen's head, pushed him back, and ordered the guards around him to send him away.

Su Cen watched helplessly as Li Shi's figure disappeared into the heavy rain. The guards on the side didn't want to force him, but they didn't let him take a step forward.Su Cen gave the figure a hard gouged look, then turned and walked away.

Su Cen didn't go back to Li Shi's bedroom, nor did he go back to his own room, but went straight to the study. He always felt that something was about to come out, but he missed that thread to connect all the clues.Since Li Shi refused to take a rest, he didn't want to stay in the empty room alone, so he might as well come over and collect the evidence.

As a result, Su Cen was annoyed as soon as the door was opened, a window near the desk was left open, books and papers were blown everywhere, and a lot of rain also came in, making a mess everywhere.

The servant on duty in the study was called in to reprimand him, and the servant whispered, "I'm obviously closed", and when he looked up at the stern face of the adult, he didn't dare to get angry.

Su Cen closed the window and tidied up the study room with a cold face. Apart from some useless miscellaneous books, there were also the evidences brought by Huang Mian that day, otherwise he wouldn't have been so anxious to get angry.

The servant squatted by the window in some embarrassment, "My lord, this one seems... to be broken."

"What's broken?" Su Cen frowned and went over, and saw at a glance that this was the document Xuzhou used to hand over the 50 taels. Because it was wet by the rain near the window, the ink on the paper was smudged, and the connection between the words and the official seal was even blurred. There is a break.

Su Cen frowned. This is the most important piece of evidence. Now that I can't even pick it up, how can I use it?

There is no other way but to dry it in place first, and then see if there is a way to repair it.

"Go get the candles." Su Cen frowned.

The servant felt extremely guilty, quickly found the candle, wanted to make amends, squatted down and was about to lean on it, but Su Cen took the candle and waved him away.

The height of the flame should be appropriate, not only to borrow the temperature of the flame, but not to ignite the paper, but also to be careful not to let the wax oil drip on the paper. This is a delicate job, and he is not at ease if it is entrusted to others.

Su Cen carefully half-kneeled on the ground waiting to dry, using the light of the fire to consider the damaged area, and originally wanted to see if there was a way to repair it, but he never thought that he could see some tricks after looking at it.

"Ah Chun!" Su Cen called a servant, handed over the candle, and lay down on the ground, almost looking at the thin paper.

After a while, Su Cen stretched out his hand and moved lightly, from the broken part to peel off another layer of thin paper.The paper wasn't broken, but the two layers were glued together, and when the glue hydrated, it separated.

"How could this be?" Ah Chun also stared wide-eyed, unable to imagine how the two pieces of paper are seamlessly connected together.

"I see." Su Cen stood up with the thin paper in his palm, "I know what happened to the 50 taels, and I also know where the 10 taels went."

There was a sudden clear applause behind him, "Master Su is still so smart after so many days."

Su Cen turned around sharply, his heart stopped, "Song Fan..."