Jinyiwei work report

The last rays of the setting sun sank toward the horizon, and Song Yingbai judged that it would be completely dark in less than two quarters of an hour.

Outside of this town, there is no place to stay in a radius of dozens of miles. Sleeping in the wild is too dangerous. You may be buried in yellow sand in your sleep, and there are wandering wild animals nearby.

So, there is nowhere to go but here.

Li Zhen thought the same way, and said cautiously: "...Go further in and take a look, slow down."

The wind blows the dust and blows the streets.

In the silence like a tomb, if it weren't for the wind, they might even be able to hear their own breathing clearly.

The horseshoes clicked, and soon, the two walked along the main street to a hotel door with flags hanging on them. They winked at each other and got off their horses one after another.

Li Zhen stepped forward, patted the door and asked, "Is anyone there?"

The door was evidently bolted from the inside and remained motionless.Li Zhen drew out his saber, inserted it along the crack of the door, and slashed downward, the latch inside broke with a sound.

Li Zhen kicked lightly with his foot, and the door creaked and slowly opened.

He walked in vigilantly, and saw that the tables, chairs and benches in the lobby were neatly arranged, and everything was normal except for no one.

Song Yingbai went in and wiped the table with his fingers, it was very clean.

That is to say, in fact, there are people living here, otherwise the door would not be inserted from the inside.

The two were thirsty and hungry, so they waited to enter the town to replenish their supplies, but unexpectedly they came to an empty town, and they couldn't even see a ghost.

Li Zhen looked around briefly, and finally set his eyes on a door on the back wall. A curtain was hung on the door to facilitate entry and exit. Not surprisingly, behind the curtain was the kitchen of the store.

The two approached quietly, and Li Zhen lifted the curtain with a knife. It was indeed a kitchen, with oil tanks, rice tanks and water tanks lined up, but there was no one here just like the outside.

Song Yingbai exchanged glances with Li Zhen, each tank was covered with a cover, and a corner of fabric was exposed under one of the covers.

Li Zhen said coldly: "No matter who you are, get out of the water tank immediately, or I will pierce the lid with a knife."

"...Don't...don't kill me..." The lid slowly opened, revealing the face of a young man, his eyes full of fear.

At this time, there was a noise at the door, and when Song Yingbai turned his head, he saw a sharp kitchen knife slashing at him, "Let go of my son!"

The technique was too clumsy, it looked like an ordinary person without any training, Song Yingbai dodged and kicked his abdomen, making him howl like a ghost and lose his attack power.

"Father—" the young man in the tank cried, "Don't kill my father."

"Stop howling, if you want to kill, kill yourself." Li Zhen said: "Who are you, why are you hiding and seeing no one, what's going on in this town, why are there no other people on the street?"

The young man swallowed his tears, "You don't know anything? I know, you are not with them. This is our shop. As for why we hide... We don't want to hide either, but Handi Yasha and the others said No one is allowed to show up before noon tomorrow night, and anyone who violates the law will be killed without mercy."

Dry land Yasha?It sounds like a second-grade middle school. The more remote the place, the more abundant this kind of underworld elements who can fight and form gangs. After all, they can't do it in big places. For the most part, the danger is great.

"Don't talk nonsense, because why are you not allowed to show up? Where did this so-called dry land Yaksha come from? Where is your government here?" Song Yingbai asked.

"Government? There is no establishment here. It used to be pretty good. In the spring of this year, five vicious big men came out of nowhere. They called themselves dry land yakshas. Life was not so easy, but in fact, it was okay. They just came here occasionally. Let's go, grab something, if you don't resist, they won't hurt anyone.

It’s just that a group of officials passed by yesterday. I don’t know why the two sides had a dispute. The officials killed a Yasha, and they also killed an official. Now the officials retreated to an inn. The dry land Yasha threatened to kill all the remaining officials and warned us. These ordinary people are not allowed to go out, otherwise they will be killed.Now every household who doesn't want to get involved is hiding. "

The government has nothing to do with the general public against the robbers.

After hearing these words, Li Zhen said, "What's delicious in your store? Hurry up, it's best to have whole sheep." Then, he opened the curtain and walked out.

Song Yingbai picked up the middle-aged man who had fallen on the ground and threw it to his son, then followed Li Zhen out of the kitchen, came to the lobby, sat opposite him, and put the saber aside, "The folk customs are tough, even the officials don't care In my eyes, however, it has nothing to do with us." It's time to eat, drink, and hurry

"This gang of Jiangyang thieves is not afraid of anyone except the defenders stationed."

Song Yingbai raised his eyebrows, they have come to the land of anarchy, and it must be more dangerous to go forward.

Soon, the rotten mutton was brought up, with a large plate, without fancy decorations and cooking techniques, just as coarse as the desert flying sand.

The wine was strong, Song Yingbai took a sip and put it aside.

He was so hungry that he panicked, and when he saw the delicious mutton, he couldn't help but feast on it.

After dinner, I went to the second floor and chose two guest rooms, each rested, and fell asleep after a day of exhaustion.

After waking up the next day, they packed their bags, and the two of them were about to leave and continue on their way. When they reached the stairs, the father and son of the store were whispering behind the counter, looking at them from time to time.

Song Yingbai was in charge of the checkout. He put his arm on the counter and asked with a smile, "What are you guys talking about? If it involves us, please speak up."

"I, we would like to persuade you two to wait another day. Yasha Handi said that the ban will not be lifted until midnight tonight. Don't think you can come in, but if you want to go out, I'm afraid it will not be so easy."

Song Yingbai looked at Li Zhen, and saw the corner of his mouth twitch, obviously not agreeing.

Song Yingbai slapped the broken silver on the counter, "There's no need to look for it, there will be a later date." He and Li Zhen went out one after another.

The street is the same as yesterday, there is no one in sight, and it is completely a dead city.

Song Yingbai said worriedly: "The people in this city are so scared, maybe those four villains are really capable."

"If you really have the ability, you won't make small troubles in this remote place. Besides, you have seen someone who is really capable. Do you need four people to go around the rivers and lakes together? They are all fighting alone, and they can bully the people and officials, right? "Li Zhen said: "Besides, the ban has a clear deadline, and everyone has the mentality of bearing it and letting go, and is willing to cooperate. After all, one thing more is worse than one thing less."

Song Yingbai thinks it makes sense, "Forcing no one to help the officials, forcing them into a corner." This is to engage in psychological terror and high pressure, making the officials feel that no one is willing to help them, and they can only wait for death.

If they can get rid of the officials, then they will become famous in the Tao, and when they hear the news, they will bow down and bow down, and those who are their younger brothers will surely flock to them.

But this has nothing to do with them, the important thing is to go their own way.

Unfortunately, there was no one in the market, and the idea of ​​buying camels fell through, but there is still a chance, and if you go further, you will come across a town.

There was no one on the street, and they were riding very fast. They were about to leave the town, but they saw a burly man holding a knife at the intersection, blocking their way.

Song Yingbai guessed that this person was one of the dry land yakshas.

"It's not time to leave yet." After he finished speaking, he raised his head suddenly, revealing the scar on his face, and said fiercely: "Go back, I told you to go back, do you hear me? Otherwise, I'll twist your heads off Urinal."

Li Zhen said impatiently: "Either get out of the way, or I will step over your corpse."

"Hey, boy, are you tired of living? You are really not afraid of death, and you don't inquire about us... ah——"

The blood spread around the corpse, Li Zhen let the horse's hoof pick a clean place to step on, and walked around.

Song Yingbai followed Li Zhen closely, crossed the position of the corpse, and only took two steps. He felt something different around him. Two figures jumped down in front of him. Before he could see clearly, a black shadow flew up behind him. Leaning back, lying on the horse's back, stabbing back with a knife in both hands at the same time, after screaming, another corpse was added on the ground.

There were two corpses lying on the ground, and the two "dry land yakshas" standing in front of them couldn't help backing off, "Who are you?"

How could Song Yingbai and Li Zhen answer, they just said: "Get out of the way."

The two opponents looked at each other, one had cold sweat on his forehead, and the other gritted his teeth, "Get off the horse and fight!" Today's face must be saved, otherwise there will be no way to mess around in this territory in the future.

Who cares about you, why accept your challenge, Song Yingbai thought.

At this time, the man with cold sweat dripping from his forehead took advantage of everyone's unpreparedness, turned around and ran away. Song Ying rolled his eyes and moved quickly, and immediately took the bow and arrow hanging from the saddle, and shot the man to the ground with one arrow.

The last remaining man killed three companions in a short while, and knowing that he met an expert today, he threw the knife, knelt down and begged for mercy: "Two heroes, spare your life, I will leave here immediately, and never come back! Forgive me, forgive me."

"No!"

Before Li Zhen and Song Yingbai could speak, there was an angry shout from behind.

The two turned their heads and saw two men dressed as officials running towards this side, "Don't let him go!" After saying that, he threw the knife in his hand, and the dry land Yaksha who was kneeling on the ground saw this and dodged the throwing knife sideways , stood up, raised his knife and started fighting with the officials who came.

"Ah—" There was a scream, and one of the officials was stabbed firmly, with a big cut on his arm, and the other had no advantage, and was driven to run in circles.

"Hurry up!" The two officials said, "It's time to finish him!"

Li Zhen and Song Yingbai were quite speechless, but for the sake of eating the emperor's food, they drew a knife to completely finish the last dry land yaksha for him.

The two officials leaned together panting, and clasped their fists at Li Zhen and the others, "In short...thank you. Otherwise, we really don't know how to get out."

"It's nothing more than a little effort." Li Zhen and Song Yingbai didn't want to chat with the official, so they galloped forward and continued on their way.

Looking at the dead body on the ground, the two officials supported each other and walked towards a small inn nearby, knocked open the door, and the people inside quickly dragged them in: "Come in!"

"Boss Huang, we don't have to worry. Those four villains are all dead. It was done by two knights." The injured officer sat down holding his arms.

Sitting in the corner was a twelve or thirteen-year-old girl and a boy who was younger than him. Both of them were wearing shackles, watching what happened in front of them expressionlessly.

"It's the two of you. If you hadn't been escorted, you wouldn't have come to this place where the birds don't lay eggs and the bandits are rampant!" Another officer looked at the pair of siblings and said, "Even the officer dares to kill, what else is there?" People in this place dare not do it!"

The leader Huang Bantou said: "Okay, there are three of us left, and we will be arriving at our destination soon, let's hurry up."

"You guys, there is a man who had a good father but didn't enjoy the blessings. Once he was reduced from a rich son of Shangshu to a prisoner, tsk tsk tsk."

These two young prisoners are the children of Yu Yuxuan, Shangshu of the Ministry of War. His father ordered them to be executed last year. They were sentenced to exile, because it was already winter when the verdict was officially handed down, so the Ministry of Punishments delayed their departure until the summer of the following year. Escort.

The journey went smoothly, but they didn't want to encounter gangsters in this broken town. They even planned to kill the officials. Fortunately, they went out early this morning to inquire about the situation, and happened to meet two knights in the rivers and lakes and killed the four villains. Otherwise, the consequences will be disastrous.

"I don't regret being my father's daughter. I didn't before, and I won't in the future." Yu Xin said, her black and white eyes flashed with determination.

"Hey! You little girl has a lot of backbone, let's see if you can survive to the end. Your brother was exiled to the army, patrolling the border against spears, and you were a servant in the officer's mansion. Tsk tsk tsk those days."

"Don't bother with her, she is very unlucky. If she hadn't scolded those dry land yakshas during the meal, she wouldn't have caused this disaster!"

"That's right, I've long suspected that she did it on purpose and wanted us to die together." As he spoke, he rolled up his sleeves and was about to go up and beat someone up.

Huang Bantou slapped the table: "Enough, deal with the wound and leave!"

The other two guards had no choice but to shut up and obey orders obediently, they couldn't help muttering in their hearts, Captain Huang knew how to protect the Yu family siblings, but unfortunately their father died long ago, so they couldn't get any benefit.

-

Song Yingbai was afraid of the sun, and the veil around the hat was hanging down during the day.

"Don't say I look like a girl. I'm not afraid of getting tanned. It's just that when my face and neck get sunburned, I get red rashes, which are very painful."

Li Zhen smiled and said: "I didn't say anything, but the past few days have been really hard. Let me tell you some good news, the town in front of the map has our Jinyiwei's spies. This is a business shop, we will stay at his house tonight, the conditions are much better than post stations and inns."

There are countless spies like Jinyiwei and Dongchang who have been planted among the people, and there are people from all walks of life.

Some of them have official positions and carry out business with official titles. Their superficial identities are just a cover-up, but they are still bureaucrats in essence.

But there are also those who were originally civilians, but by chance, they were picked up by Jin Yiwei and developed into spies.

Like what Li Zhen mentioned, Song Yingbai judged that he should have an official title, otherwise Li Zhen would not know him because of his position.

"Pan Baihu has been operating here for more than ten years, and a steady stream of information has been sent to the capital. Don't worry, he is trustworthy."

Song Yingbai got excited when he heard this, swiped his horsewhip, and ran towards the town ahead. Li Zhen looked at his back with a smile and followed.

Galloping on the vast expanse of sand, Song Yingbai looked at the magnificent and heroic scenery, feeling happy from the bottom of his heart.

Before dark, the two drove into a town, which was also more prosperous than the one they had stayed in before.

In the evening, there were still bustling crowds on the road, and the wine shops were noisy, and groups of drinkers could be seen everywhere on the road.

After inquiring around casually, I found Pan Baihu's family, because he is so famous in the town, he is basically the richest man, and everyone knows about him.

Song Yingbai listened, and a passer-by said, "Master Pan from the Kaiyin Building? Turn left in the alley ahead, and the one with the largest gate is his home."

He is a ruthless person who dares to open a silver house in such a place.

The Pan family is extravagant and occupies a huge area. In such a frontier land, they built a completely Central Plains-style building complex with black-painted gates. As soon as you approach, you can hear the fierce dogs barking at the gate.

Li Zhen went up to pat the door open, said something to the door, probably a code word, the door ran away quickly, and soon, a tall and mighty middle-aged man walked out with a vigorous walk.

Seeing Li Zhen, he was both surprised and excited.

As soon as Song Yingbai led the horse into the gate, two young men came to lead the horse and took it down to feed it.

They walked together with Pan Baihu to a study room and turned away the maids in the room. Pan Baihu twisted the mechanism on the wall to reveal a secret room. He lit a candle and went in, lit up all the lamps and candles inside, Li Zhen and Song Yingbai nodded.

The three of them entered the secret room together. This secret room is not big, but it can be seen that it was built with great care. It is built of stones and is indestructible.

Pan Baihu closed the door of the darkroom first, then opened the hem of his clothes to Li Zhen, knelt down and kowtowed, and clasped his fists respectfully and said, "The humble Pan Yuetai pays homage to Master Li." After speaking, he turned his attention to Song Yingbai again, probably Considering whether to salute him as well.

Li Zhen said: "This is Song Baihu, they are all from our own family, so you don't need to be too polite." He helped him up, "I'm here to do something, I might stay with you for a day, you just make some preparations .”

"Don't worry, my lord." Pan Yuetai got up and said, "My lord has come from a long way, so I must be well prepared and let you have a good rest."

Li Zhen said, "Is there any important news recently?"

"Since the opening of the exchange market, the Tartars have stopped a lot, and I haven't heard any news that they plan to attack."

Li Zhen nodded, motioning for him to continue, while Song Yingbai was listening quietly.

"The thousand households of the frontier garrison have been replaced by Shi Biao's." Pan Yuetai frowned and said, "Shi Biao is the chief assistant, and it just so happens that Yuxuan's children are going to be sent here recently, and there may be inextricable connections between them .”

Yu Yuxuan, as Minister of the Ministry of War, was killed by the eunuch Cao and the first assistant. The first assistant replaced the important officials in the exile with his own people.

At the same time, Li Zhen and Song Yingbai thought about the guards they met in the last town. Could it be that they were escorting the children of the Yu family?

Li Zhen said: "I see, have you found out about the whereabouts of the Dongchang fans here recently?"

Pan Yuetai said: "Not yet, but I have told people to pay attention, and if you find Fanzi, let me know immediately."

The two children of the Yu family were missed by Shoufu and Dongchang at the same time, and they would definitely not live long, unless they went out of customs and ran outside the ruled area of ​​​​the dynasty.

After explaining the news, Pan Yuetai took Li Zhen and Song Yingbai to dinner.

Although it was not a good idea to eat and sleep in the open along the way, most of the time he just had a bite. At this time, Song Yingbai once again ate the exquisite dishes cooked by the chef, and he felt a sense of happiness spontaneously.

After dinner, Pan Yuetai arranged the best two rooms for them, and sent a few maids to wait on them, and retreated.

Song Yingbai took a shower, yawned, lay down on the bed, rubbing his face against the smooth satin fabric of the quilt, "I can finally have a good sleep."

Just as I was about to turn off the lights and go to sleep, I suddenly heard someone knocking on the door, very soft and rhythmic.

After all, Song Yingbai didn't like to make loud noises when he was in someone else's house, so he went down to the door, stood sideways with a dagger in his hand, and said in a low voice, "Who?"

"Master asked me to bring a message..." A gentle female voice sounded like a maid's voice.

Song Yingbai opened the door a little, and by the light of the lantern outside the door, he saw a woman's pretty face. He lowered his vigilance, "What did Master Pan ask you to bring?"

"He said... ah..." The woman's feet were soft, as if she had knocked on the threshold, she threw herself forward and broke into the house.

She knelt in front of Song Yingbai, rubbed her snow-white ankle, and said delicately: "I fell, it hurts so much, help me up, please?" She stretched out her hand, her skin was fair, and Sai Xue bullied Shuang.

"..." Song Yingbai sighed helplessly in his heart, I said old girl, although the frontier is unrestrained, you have to be similar, besides, don't you think this kind of trick is a bit outdated?No idea.

"You sprained your ankle, don't move around, I'll call someone to take you to see a doctor."

"Don't—" the woman grabbed Song Yingbai's trousers and begged, "My father will kill me if he finds out."

"Your father is Pan Yuetai?"

The woman nodded tearfully.

"You know your father will kill you, and you still do it?"

"If I don't do that, my father will kill me too. I can see that you are my father's honored guest. Please, please save me. Just say that I stayed in your room tonight. Tomorrow you will be with me." He asked for me, and he will give it. I swear, I will serve you like a cow and a horse for the rest of my life."

"But my family has no shortage of servants." Song Yingbai said: "I can't agree to your request. I'll count to three. You'd better get up and go out by yourself, otherwise I won't be polite to you."

Could it be that she had an affair with others and was pregnant, afraid that his father would kill her, and knowing that they were her father's distinguished guests, she wanted to throw the blame on him.

The woman said with tears: "...I know what you're thinking, it's not like that, I'm still perfect, really, you can keep me..."

"What are you doing?"

Song Yingbai saw Li Zhen leaning against the door frame with his arms around his shoulders, and looked at them expressionlessly.

"She came to deliver tea, sprained her ankle, and is about to leave." Song Yingbai urged: "Did you see? Someone is here, let's go."

Li Zhen looked at the woman and asked Song Yingbai, "She wants to climb into your bed?"

It's not easy for women in this era, Song Yingbai can be more or less considerate, and doesn't want to make it too ugly.Besides, admitting that she wanted to climb the bed, he couldn't get away with it, and immediately refuted the rumor: "It's nothing, she's just here to deliver tea."

"What about the tea cup and tray?" Li Zhen said.

"..." What are you so preoccupied with? I don't believe you can't see that I'm looking for a step down, so I have to expose it? !

At this time, Li Zhen walked up to Song Yingbai, put his arm on his shoulder, and said to the woman, "He doesn't like women."

The woman is shocked.

Song Yingbai was even more shocked.

Li Zhen then pointed to herself, "I don't like it either."

The woman was shocked again, then lowered her head, stood up from the ground, cried and laughed, "God is going to kill me..." Turned around and ran out.

The corner of Song Yingbai's mouth twitched, and he said to Li Zhen: "Don't you hate being misrepresented as a broken sleeve? And pouring dirty water on yourself? What should I do if she speaks out?"

"The pass will be passed on. Does anyone here know us except Lao Pan? Besides, even if Lao Pan misunderstood, he will never say a word." Li Zhen said: "And this is the most effective way, don't you If you like a woman, it's useless for her to pester you, I don't like women, lest she come back to pester me, kill two birds with one stone, and prevent future troubles."

Seeing him smiling, Song Yingbai stared at him feebly without any regrets.

Li Zhen laughed and said, "I know why you are so angry, because if it gets out, others will think that I am a husband and you are a lady."

Song Yingbai really wanted to hit someone, so he rubbed his knuckles, "Say it again?"

Li Zhen had had enough fun, "Okay, I'll apologize to you, don't be angry. It's getting late, have a good rest, and don't open the door if anyone knocks." After the thoughtful instruction, she exited the door.

Song Yingbai closed the door, leaning against the door and angrily thinking, damn it, Li Zhen is really familiar with him.