I'm watching the gate in the jail

It is said that this small port is located under the administration of Yongzhou Mansion, the Chief Secretary of Hunan Province. It turned out to be an ancient port by the Xiaoshui River, and it has been a place where Han officials have been mixed since ancient times.Although it is not very prosperous, it is also quiet and simple, without any major incidents.

Even the military disaster in Guangxi next door has been going on for so many years, and the flames of war have not been brought to them.

It's just that in the past few days, this small port has changed from the tranquility of the past, and has become wild.

In the past, the guides were only required for entering and exiting the city gates and staying in stores, but now they had to be taken out for inspection even when eating or buying something.

Each shop only deals with acquaintances. If a stranger comes here, they have to prove their identity - they are from a certain county, a certain state, a certain prefecture, a certain place, where they are from, what they do for a living, as a guarantor. Whoever it is, must show it one by one.

If you don't carry a guide with you, you may return empty-handed, and you won't be able to do business.Immediately, the staff in the store summoned the county government officers patrolling the street to authenticate in court.

Because most of the sailors, fellows, and guides are carried by their masters, they are not carried by themselves.If the owner can't find him for a while, he can't verify his identity on the spot.The yamen servants didn't say anything else, they first took it back to the county yamen, found a place to handcuff or squat, in short, circled it first, and then inspected it.

For locals who don't go out often, they naturally don't have a guide, so if they come into the store and want to buy some dry food, fruits and vegetables, that's not okay.

It is necessary to invite the head of the village, the head of the security, or at least the neighbors to come forward to testify that they are indeed local residents before they are allowed to go.

All of a sudden, Xiaogang's county government office was overcrowded, and people from all over the place were arrested, crowding the entire government office to the brim.

Among them were Han people, Yao people, and Miao people, and there were even sporadic merchants from foreign countries who came from Nanyue Kingdom, Jiaozhi Kingdom, and Lion Kingdom.As a result, the government office is full of chatter, wah, wah, and everyone who says anything.All of them were full of anger and complaints.

Seeing that the number of people arrested was greater than the number of officials and servants in the yamen, the pawns and master bookmakers were in a hurry.

The county lord was also at a loss as to whether he had paid homage to any god during the Chinese New Year, and why he encountered such absurd things as soon as the spring began.

"What do you mean, what does this have to do with the gods? It's not that 'Yijianmei' messed up and made everyone feel uneasy!"

The master book's beard is crooked.

In order to hunt down this "righteous thief, Yijian Mei", the Master Book Master didn't go home to sleep for five whole days.Boiled eagles seem to be in the yamen day and night, tired eyes are a little sunken.

Just after releasing a batch here, another batch of people were arrested and brought in over there. It's endless.

All kinds of local ruffians, prostitutes and thieves, and even the "black households" who alluded to tax evasion so many years ago have all been caught.Within five days, the number of thieves arrested by the guards exceeded the sum of the whole of last year.

But even so, there is no news of this "one cut plum" in Leng.

It is said that Guangdong, Guangxi and Hunan's major prefectures have issued documents for "one-cut plums" for more than a year.Except for the first one or two months, the local governments still pretended to deal with it, and said a few more words during interrogation at the gate of the city, and then they didn't take it as a matter at all.

There has always been a saying in the Yamen, which is called "the official has no three-day urgency".

Don't care about the emperor's side, how turbulent it is on the stage and pavilions, if it is implemented in specific prefectures and counties, it will have to be done layer by layer, slowly, all kinds of time and procedures.

After a while, maybe a few days later, when a new order comes, the previous edict will be withdrawn.This also saves the effort of laboring and mobilizing many people.Being a master saves worry, and doing poor work saves effort.

The arrest of this "one cut plum" is naturally the same reason.

In the beginning, this "Yijianmei" committed crimes in other places anyway, and there was no loss in the local area.As the saying goes, "everyone sweeps the snow before his own door", the loss of other families does not matter what he does.

The top and bottom of the government office didn't take it seriously, they just pasted the sea arrest document at the gate of the county government office, and it was done.

Who knew that a few days ago, this "one-cut plum" actually drifted to them.Not only that, but also stole the money from the guarding eunuch of Yongzhou Mansion, and cut off the things he wanted to buy.

The garrison eunuch should have worked up and down, and within a short period of time, the state government office, together with the chief secretary and the regiment army office, issued an order to urge the county government to immediately arrest the "one-cut plum" Apprehended and brought to justice.

To say that this kind of thing has happened in the past.Three or four departments work together, but as long as the thieves don't show up, wait two or three months, and the turmoil will pass, and everyone will still live slowly.

As long as the inspector and the inspector can't come, there is nothing to worry about.

The county master thought to himself, "Yijianmei", if you have any brains, you can find a place to hide in this period of time, and let the limelight pass.

In this way, hello, hello, hello, everyone, don't fight, and make money with harmony.

As for the guarding Eunuch Huang, he was really full, and he tossed everyone for a can of Dianhong worth 50 taels.

It can be seen that this father-in-law really doesn't have much vision.

It's just that the father-in-law is careless, but that "Yijianmei" seems to have lost his mind.Knowing that he is being hunted down, instead of avoiding the limelight, he commits crimes against the wind outside every day, as if deliberately mocking Eunuch Huang and the government officials, which is tolerable or unbearable.

"My lord, someone came to report again, saying that the house was stolen."

The head catcher Liang walked into the Yamen hall with a mournful face.

No matter how tired this old man is, he always sits in the county government office and handles the case.It's their servants who are really suffering!

Didn't they do the city tour, inspection, and investigation of the scene of the crime by themselves?

In the past few days, Lao Liang has made a hole in the new shoes he just put on during the Chinese New Year.

"Who is it this time?"

The master was lying on the back of the table, resting his hand on his forehead, and asked with a frown.

"It's the blacksmith shop at the east end of the city."

"What did 'Yijianmei' steal? Did it steal the bellows from the blacksmith's shop?"

the old man asked with a headache.

"He...he stole the old foot-binding cloth of a 60-year-old blacksmith. The daughter-in-law of the old lady helped her wash her feet last night, washed the foot-binding cloth and hung it in the yard. When the daughter-in-law opened the door this morning, she found The foot wrap is gone, and a five-petaled plum was painted on the screen wall of the yard... Isn't this the work of 'One Cut Plum'..."

After finishing speaking, Lao Liang, the head catcher, also had a look of dumbfounding, "Now the old lady is making a fuss. She has been innocent all her life, but she was defiled by the 'flower picker' when she was old, and she wanted to jump into the river. It's good to say , she was persuaded to come down by her son. I'm still crying now..."

"Yijianmei" is something wrong with you?You don’t even miss the old lady’s foot wraps, are you still human?

The county master shook his head frequently and moaned.

Speaking of the past, although "Yijianmei" often committed crimes when he was in other places, his targets were all rich or noble, and he never targeted Dousheng Xiaomin.

Not only that, but from time to time there are rumors that he will distribute the stolen property to the poor people free of charge, so he has the nickname of "The Righteous Robber Cuts the Plum".

When the ignorant women and children on the street, and the poor people mentioned his name, they would first say "righteousness" and then "steal".

As for the title of "Flower Picker Thief", most of them are ridiculed, because this person's business is a bit absurd and uninhibited.

So although he has stolen countless, his reputation among ordinary people is very good.

Even some young and inexperienced idlers, because they admired his "prestige", actually followed his example and did some things to rob rich families.

They are not "Yijianmei" deities, who have the ability to fly into the sky and escape from the earth.As a result, he was either imprisoned or exiled, with a miserable end.It is simply corrupting people's morale, which is very undesirable.

If he only preyed on wealthy households, that would be fine.

The county is poor, except for a port, most of it is mountainous.The largest landlords do not have a few acres of land.

The warehouse of the county government office was crumbling. When a typhoon came, water leaked inside and outside.According to the standards of the families that "Yijianmei" had attacked in the past, there were not many families in the whole county that were rich enough to fall into his eyes.

Unexpectedly, after he came to this county, he was uncharacteristically attacking ordinary people.

Not counting the 50 taels of silver stolen from eunuch Huang at the first time, he didn't even let go of the snacks, fruits and tea in the restaurant of the inn, as well as the large flower cloth on the passenger ship.

What's more, after eunuch Huang ordered the arrest.This "one cut plum" is like crazy.Within five days, crimes were committed again and again, and sometimes even several houses could be stolen in one night.

And the ones who stole are ordinary people.

Today, the foot wraps of the old lady in the blacksmith shop in Dongcheng City do not count.

Just three days ago, the chicken feeding bowl of Mrs. Liu's house by the well water in the south of the city was stolen.

Originally, the county master thought it was an antique, so "Yijianmei" took a fancy to it.

As a result, Mrs. Liu's son said that a bundle of firewood was exchanged for a widow when they went to the market a few years ago, and it was rough pottery.On the back there are four large characters of "Tianshun Year System".It's only been eight years since it was burnt to death, yet Yijianmei doesn't dislike it.

The most pitiful victim was Wu Xiaoman, the son of Wu Dalang who was carrying the burden at the port.

Wu Xiaoman is only six years old, and his mouth is full of tooth decay because of eating sweets.Her mother is always in charge of him, not allowing him to eat too much.

But his grandma couldn't help his grandson's love for her grandson, so she specially bought him a pack of zongzi candies on the road the day before yesterday.The old lady only ate two for him that day, and put the extra in the cabinet at home, thinking about eating it slowly later.

As a result, the next day, little friend Wu Xiaoman begged grandma to open the cabinet to find candy.

Who ever thought that the candy could not be found, only a note was thrown in the cabinet, and a plum blossom was drawn on the note.The kid who watched it burst into tears on the spot with a "wow".

This plum-cut plum actually didn't even let the children's zongzi candy go.

Sure enough, it is as "sweet as life" as in the legend.

Yijianmei committed crimes again and again in this county, but no one had ever seen him.

The sufferers have different opinions. Some say that he is a tall man who can climb over any wall.Some said that he was as thin as a monkey and could squeeze through any narrow door.

Others said that he was actually a woman, and she was quite pretty. The government officials only questioned men in the streets and alleys, so they couldn't find out.

In short, no one knows where this "Yijianmei" is, what his height is, and what he looks like... Except for the "sweet craving", there are no reliable clues.

"'Yijianmei' ah 'Yijianmei', you really killed the master."

The county magistrate wants to cry but has no tears.

"Please, run away to another county and harm others. Otherwise, the master will have no hope of getting promoted, and this old life will be accounted for here."

"Master Yang, is this... a little too much?"

Seeing the ball of white cloth that Yang Xiuxian took out from his night clothes, Mr. Xiaowan couldn't bear to look directly and turned his head away.

"Although we are trying to frame 'Yijianmei' and force him to appear as soon as possible, why don't you even let go of the old lady's foot wrap?"

Qiu Zijin covered his nose with his sleeve, pointed to the old foot wrap thrown on the ground and said.

"What are you covering, it's all washed clean."

Yang Xiuxian sat on the bench and poured himself a glass of water.

After running for half the night, I only stole one thing. This place is really poor.

"What about the high meeting?"

He looked around the room, but did not see Gao Hui.

"I'm going to buy candied haws. I'm going to sneak them to the Wu family at the port tonight and compensate the children there."

Wanda rubbed his nose with some guilty conscience, "The zongzi candy was eaten by me and Qiu Zijin. There is no other way, so I had to buy something else and bring it back... His mother can't find out yet."

It turned out that in the past five days, the earth-shaking disturbances in this small port were not caused by "Yijianmei" at all, but by this group of "Beijing Undercover Squad".

In order to catch the "Yijianmei", Yang Xiuxian and Gao Hui put on dark clothes every night for the past few days and went to the people's homes to steal.

After all, they are officials with a bottom line, and they will not really steal the money or food that others depend on for survival.

I had no choice but to look for this kind of messy and trivial things to start with.

What chicken food bowls, rolling pins, wooden fish from the monks in the temple, and sugar from children...everywhere they passed, chickens and dogs jumped and cursed.

Anyway, it was to discredit "Yijianmei" and force him out of the dark, so they stopped talking about "wude".

Of course, they will think of a way to return the things secretly, so they can't really let others suffer.

"Master Yang, we've been arguing for so long, why 'Yijianmei' still doesn't show up, isn't he too calm?"

If I was so humiliated by others, why don't I find them to fight for my life?

Wanda tilted her head, and the unruly hair on her head also tilted.

"Don't worry, he might be watching us somewhere."

Yang Xiuxian couldn't bear it anymore, he stretched out his hand and stroked Wanda's head, pressing down his stupid hair.

"Don't mention the other cases, but the eunuch Huang is spreading the "Yi Jian Mei" sweetness everywhere, he should know that the "behind the scene" is our group. After all, he only left us a note, and it was forged by Xiaoqiu A copy came out, and now it is in Huang Ren's hands."

The note that "Yijianmei" put in the food box was torn up by Wanda that day.The one Eunuch Huang saw later was forged by Qiu Zijin according to his brushwork.

Not to mention that one, in the past few days, the plum blossoms they painted on the walls of each house were all guided by Qiu Zijin.

It can be said that even if the strokes of the petals, the rise of the leaves, and the direction of the branches are not exactly the same as those in "Yijianmei" painting, they can still be roughly similar.

Qiu Zijin, a university bully, is still very useful at critical moments.

"That is!"

Xiaoqiu felt at ease after being praised, raised his neck and said, "Don't talk about the little 'Yijianmei' mark. In this world, no matter who's calligraphy handwriting, as long as I, Qiu Zijin, can imitate it."

Wanda thought that your skills are amazing. If I had a friend like you in my "last life" when I was young, I wouldn't be afraid of my parents' signature if I failed the exam.

"Speaking of which, what does the 'One Cut Plum' look like? After he is tricked by us, I must take a good look at him. Then give him two old punches!"

When Wanda thought of the box of dim sum made with so much painstaking efforts, she became angry and raised her fist and said viciously.

"If I'm not wrong, that 'Yijianmei' probably has the ability to change his appearance and change his body shape. That's why he was able to escape layers of pursuit. So far no one has been able to tell what he looks like."

Yang Xiuxian said with certainty.

"'Disguise'? Is there really a 'disguise' technique in this world?"

When Wanda heard this sentence, his mouth opened wide.

Isn't it nonsense in martial arts novels about disguise and so on, there are actually people in this world who can disguise themselves?

"How not?"

Qiu Zijin shook his head and quoted the scriptures, "Do you know the 'Mr. Wujiao' Zuo Ci of the Three Kingdoms? He once transformed into a sheep and escaped the pursuit of Cao Cao. In the Song Dynasty, there was a thief called 'Song Sigong', It is because of the superb disguise technique, plus the ability to change his appearance at will, that he easily escaped the pursuit of the government. These are all clearly recorded in the book."

Wanda shook her head, and said modestly that I am semi-literate, and I have never read the books you mentioned, so I am really sorry.

"It's not as miraculous as Xiao Qiu said. Ordinary people can do it after training. There are even people in Jinyiwei who are proficient in this technique."

Seeing that he was stupefied by Qiu Zijin, Yang Xiuxian was afraid that he really believed in the bookworm's evil, so he hurriedly explained.

"The so-called 'changing appearance' is actually using rouge powder, flour, or even egg white and paste to remove and smooth out the obvious moles, spots, and wrinkles on the face. Or stick a beard, or dye it black As long as the hair is changed a little, it will be different from the portrait described in the sea arrest document."

"As for changing body shape, it is actually able to imitate the walking and talking of old people, women, and even disabled people. If you add a little bit of ventriloquist and bone shrinking skills, it will be a very remarkable 'disguise'."

Yang Xiuxian paused, "I guess, these 'one cut plums' can do it well. That's why they can come and go freely around Huguang."

Speaking of it, he is also a "talent". He is really "a beautiful woman, but why is she a thief"...

"No matter what happened in the past. This time, let's make sure that he comes and goes, and we hold the fox's tail!"

Yang Xiuxian looked at Wanda's angry and cute face, smiled and raised three fingers, "In three days at the earliest, he will definitely come to our door and argue with us."

At that time, it will be "catch the turtle in the urn" and "catch it with your hands".

Before waiting for three days, that night, Qiu Zijin hugged his pillow and slept soundly. Suddenly, he felt the urge to urinate, so he rolled over and got out of bed, and went to the place where the toilet was placed behind the bed to solve it.

After draining the water, he cleaned his hands with the basin by the corner, hugged the pillow and went to bed again in a daze.

Suddenly something feels wrong.

It seems that something is missing.

The room was dark, and there was no light on, only the moonlight coming in from the half-open window, which illuminated the room so that you couldn't see your fingers.

Qiu Zijin first wiped it on himself, and then groped around on the bed.

Something is wrong, really something is wrong, something that should be quite big is missing.Feeling a little empty...

Suddenly, the corners of his slender eyes opened, and he pointed to the fresh red plum blossom imprint painted on the edge of the window, unable to express his feelings for a long time.

But something is missing!

He patted the inside of the bed heavily, feeling the residual warmth on it.

The "so big" one on the bed, Mrs. Xiaowan in our family, the newly appointed Mrs. Zhenfu of Beizhen Fusi——No!See!up!

Master Wan was stolen by "Yijianmei"!

"It turns out that 'Yijianmei', the 'flower picker', really knows how to 'steal people'..."

Qiu Zijin wanted to cry but said without tears.

The moonlight is bright and clear, shining on the country road.

It is already the season for sowing rice. I haven't felt it in the city yet, but I can smell the fragrance of rice when I walk in the countryside.

This rice fragrance should be said to be one of the best fragrances in the world, with faint sandalwood, clear and faint, if there is nothing like it.

Wanda woke up amidst the aroma of rice. He blinked twice and realized that he was actually walking.

Not only can you see the soil on the ground, but you can even see frogs that were startled by their footsteps and jumped into the rice field with a "cuckoo".

He was stunned for a while, and finally he was sure that he was not dreaming, nor was he sleepwalking in a sleepy state, but was being carried by someone and walking briskly.

"Hey? What's going on? Who are you?"

Because the stomach was pressed against the shoulders, it was really uncomfortable, Wanda struggled and twisted twice.

"let me go!"

He slapped the man on the back hard.

"Don't move, don't talk too much!"

The person who was carrying him didn't expect him to wake up so quickly, and began to struggle continuously. He simply cut a hand knife on the back of his neck, which made his neck crooked and passed out again.

When Wanda woke up again, she found herself lying in a closed room.

There was no light in the house, and the doors and windows were closed tightly.

He touched the bed under him, and the bed was fairly clean, without any stickiness or unpleasant smell.

Turning your ears sideways, you can only hear the chirping of insects outside, and the occasional two croaking of frogs, but no human voice or footsteps.

He rubbed his neck, which was sore from being hacked, and cursed inwardly for how cruel he was.

It seems that the man who was carrying him just now is eighty or nine times out of ten the thief "Yijianmei".Yang Xiuxian's guess was right, this guy finally couldn't bear their slander and humiliation, he came here to ask for an explanation.

If this is the case, this should be "Yijianmei"'s den of thieves, at least where he temporarily lives.He was just caught here, neither bound nor tortured, it seems that this guy still doesn't know what to do with him...

Thinking of this, Wanda was no longer nervous.

It sounded so quiet outside, it should still be night.The quilt under him was dry and warm, and he reached out to touch it, and there was a folded quilt.

He pulled the quilt over, rolled it around his body, and fell asleep soundly.

"Son, child, wake up, wake up..."

Confused, Wanda heard someone calling him.

Not only that, the shoulder was pushed twice.

"Sleep for a while... just a little while."

Wanda covered her head under the quilt, somewhat confused about the situation.

The quilt was really comfortable, much drier and warmer than the damp bedding in the port inn, and he couldn't help but want to sleep a little longer.

"Don't sleep, kid, it's already sun-ridden."

The person who pushed him was an old woman in her fifties, wearing a coarse cloth green shirt with several patches on her body, and a simple bun on her head with a wooden hairpin.Seeing Wanda, she was still reluctant to get up, so she lightly slapped her buttocks twice with her hands in a funny way.

"……Well?"

Wanda was stunned for a moment, blinked twice, and finally remembered that he was resisted by "Yijianmei" to come here last night.

Be careless! Be careless!Sleeping so comfortably in a den of thieves.

Wanda threw off the quilt, jumped to the ground, and reached out to grab the old woman.

According to Yang Xiuxian, this old lady must have changed her appearance "a plum cut".Don't think that pretending to be an old woman can make the sharp-eyed Lord Xiao Wan feel sympathetic.

Wanda firmly grasped the old lady's right arm and let out a cry of pain.

Then I saw the young man in front of me put his whole face in front of her eyes, rolling his big flexible eyes, staring desperately as if he wanted to see her face like a flower look.

"Oh, you child, what are you looking at?"

The old lady's left hand, which was still movable, touched her wrinkled old face embarrassingly, and said in a low voice, "Nurse is old now, and she is not as beautiful as when she was young, and she is not afraid of people's eyes. But you The beautiful child looks at me, and Mammy will still feel shy..."

"No powder, no rouge...the eyebrows are painted, but the wrinkles and skin are real."

Wanda tilted her head, and even moved her hands, wanting to touch the old lady's chin, to see if she could pull off a human skin mask just like in a martial arts movie.

"Ah, you child! Mammy is so old, you still tease me."

Finally, the old lady couldn't take it anymore, she patted Wanda's hand and rolled her eyes at him.

"Why is the friend of 'Xiaoqian' so unruly. He said that you were working outside with him and missed the time to go home from the city, so you wanted to borrow my room to sleep for the night. The nanny kindly woke you up, and you still flirted with me My old lady."

After speaking, the old lady stood up, put her hands on her hips, and said rudely to Wanda, "Get up when you wake up, Xiaoqian has been waiting outside for a long time."

Now Wanda can finally see that this old lady is a "genuine" old lady, not some man's disguise.

He smiled at her a little embarrassedly and scratched his head.

Who is "Little Thousand"?

He walked out the door, the sun was just right outside, a man wearing a bamboo hat, with a piece of thatch in his mouth, was squatting at the door bored.

Seeing Wanda come out, the man spat out the grass in his mouth with a "poof", stood up, and smiled evilly at Wanda.

"Oh, you're awake... Shopkeeper Wan?"