The return of the son-in-law

Knowing that his wife was missing, Xu Lao Wu was shocked and wanted to rush out to find someone, but he didn't know where to start.

The first half of his life was quite smooth, but in the past few years since the death of his only son, he has aged rapidly, and he has long since lost the vigor of the past.

Xu Laowu really couldn't think of a way, so he knelt down towards Guo Zhan'an, choked up and said: "My lord, my lord, please let me be the master!"

Guo Zhanan winked, and Jia Huan on the side quickly stepped forward, helped Xu Laowu up, and comforted him: "Old man, don't worry, Mr. Guo will definitely help you."

Guo Zhan'an nodded, and took advantage of the situation: "Someone kidnapped your lady late at night, there must be some conspiracy. Mr. Xu, please think about it, who have conflicts with you among the people you usually come into contact with."

Xu Laowu had been a soldier for decades at least. After the initial panic passed, he understood that his top priority now was to find his wife, and it was useless to panic.

So, he clenched his fists tightly, suppressed the uneasiness in his heart, thought about it carefully, shook his head and said: "There will always be some bumps in the neighborhood, but it's not enough to kidnap my mother-in-law. There is nothing wrong with my family." Money, everyone in Xuzhou knows that they kidnapped my mother-in-law, and I can't pay much ransom."

Guo Zhan'an had long denied these possibilities, and he asked tentatively: "Could it be the enemy you provoked when you were the clerk?"

Xu Laowu was taken aback, and replied: "I entered the military camp when I was 13 years old. I started as a small soldier and worked as a clerk for 18 years. It can be said that I spent most of the first half of my life in the military camp. Everyone in the barracks is brothers, even if there is an occasional quarrel, it will pass quickly. Could it be, could it be the enemy I formed when I was the clerk?"

Jiang Yannian, on the other hand, denied Xu Laowu's conjecture: "The clerk is just a position to record things. The distribution of supplies is decided by the general and has nothing to do with you. When you are a soldier, you will always go home. Come on, think about it, if you had a conflict with someone when you went home, you didn't take it to heart, but they remembered it."

Guo Zhanan said on the side: "I have read the files of the lawsuit in this state, it says that you found out the undercover agent of Tatar in the military camp three years ago, and the other party was later sentenced to five horses, but did not mention the relatives of that person, do you know Does the other party have any relatives?"

Speaking of the past, Xu Laowu couldn't help but sigh: "The man only had one old woman in his family. It is said that his old woman was seriously ill, and there was no one to take care of her at home, and she couldn't afford a doctor at all, so she could only hang herself with the cheapest medicine. He was also very stubborn and unwilling to tell us. Later, I don’t know how Tata knew about it, so he actually sent someone to contact him secretly, and paid money and medicine to see a doctor for his old mother. It is because of this that he wholeheartedly worked for Tata.”

After Guo Zhanan heard this, he was very disdainful: "The country is hated and the family hates. For such a little favor, he sacrificed his life for Tatar. If he dies, it will be cheaper for him."

Old Fifth Xu sighed, and said, "How much is the monthly salary of an ordinary soldier of us? Fortunately, there are only a few such people. If everyone can be bought with a lot of money, Tatar's iron cavalry would have already driven him directly." Going south."

However, Jiang Yannian disagreed: "The monthly salary is fixed, even me, it's only one or two more than ordinary soldiers. If the family is in trouble, if you tell them, everyone can help him. You have to save face, and you can't help it." If you want a lining, how can there be such a good thing in the world. If you don't want to accept the help of your colleagues, Tatar's favor is fast, and you really deserve to die."

Xu Laowu waved his hand, and said: "The old lady of that man heard that her son was bought by Tatars because of herself, and was divided into five horses. She was very sad. The two adults must also know that Xuzhou has been infested by Tatars all year round. The people in the state hated Tatar very much, and they didn't care that the man's old lady was already in her sixties, and they broke into her house all day long, beating, scolding, smashing and robbing her. After a few days, the old man went with his son."

This thread ends here.

Fortunately, Guo Zhanan and Jiang Yannian had already put their suspicious eyes on Shi Guogan before. After all, according to their analysis, those who smashed Xu Laowu's shop were not ordinary gangsters, and there must be a big man behind them, and This big man also has the ability to order the soldiers guarding the city gate to let people out in the middle of the night.In this Xuzhou, the only person who can do this is Zhizhou Shi Guogan.

And this Shi Guogan belonged to the fourth prince, and the fourth prince seemed to order his cronies to be greedy for the military salary to support his own private soldiers, and Xu Laowu was a clerk in the military camp back then, and had contact with the military salary.

Thus, Shi Guogan and Xu Laowu, two seemingly irrelevant people, had some kind of connection indistinctly.

However, it was just Jiang Yannian's guess that the group of gangsters had taken Xu Laowu's wife out of the city, and guessing alone was not enough to prove Shi Guogan's suspicion.

Therefore, Guo Zhan'an called Lai Fuquan and asked him to go to Jiang Yannian's men immediately, and then divide the troops into two groups. The two groups went out from the two city gates, looking for traces of the carriage along the way—although Xu Lao Wu's wife was kidnapped Walking, but you will definitely struggle, it is too unsafe to put on a horse, and the efficiency of walking on foot is too low.Moreover, these two methods have the risk of being discovered by others, and only if they are locked in a carriage or hidden in a cart carrying goods, will they not arouse others' suspicion.

Fuquan didn't ask too much, he did what his young master ordered, and immediately took orders.

Guo Zhanan asked Jia Huan to take care of Xu Laowu again, and he promised again and again that he would find Xu Laowu's wife for Xu Laowu.Afterwards, he and Jiang Yannian changed their clothes and hurried to the restaurant under the Jiang family's name.

There are all kinds of people coming and going in the restaurant, and it is very likely that important news will be revealed unintentionally during the conversation.Whether it's the gangsters right now, or the gangsters at night, Guo Zhan'an doesn't know.When he first arrived in Xuzhou, he only had a few confidants around him, each of whom had their own tasks. He was worried about the rest, so he could only go to the restaurant and wait for the rabbit.

This time, he and Jiang Yannian did not go to the second floor anymore. He and Jiang Yannian specially changed into blue clothes of the same material, and pretended to be two business travelers passing by. A small dish of peanuts.

Although Xuzhou is harassed by Tatars from time to time, many businessmen are still keen to come to Xuzhou to make a fortune, because Xuzhou is not rich in supplies and there are rare goods to live in.If it weren't for the imperial court's order, among other things, the price of medicinal materials alone would have increased many times.

Therefore, two strangers suddenly appeared in the restaurant, and no one cared. A few of them saw Guo Zhanan and Jiang Yannian's extraordinary appearance, so they took a second look, and then went on chatting among themselves.

This matter cannot be rushed, Guo Zhan'an and Jiang Yannian held their tempers, and while tasting wine and food, they pretended to communicate in low voices, but in fact they were listening to all directions and seeing all directions.

It was also lucky for two people. After a while, there was a person who probably had two liang of yellow soup. He became more courageous and stammered: "You, do you know that yesterday, last night, someone left the city without permission!"

There was an uproar.

In order to prevent Tatars from getting in, Xuzhou strictly enforced the curfew.Last night, one was because of Guo Zhan'an's identity, and the other was because Xu Laowu's former colleagues were among the patrolling soldiers, so he was not pursued.Otherwise, Huo Yu and Wu Xin would have been arrested long ago.

The drunk man's friend said falsely: "You can't talk when you're drunk, what are you talking about! All right, I'll take you home to sober up."

Drunk people are the ones who don’t want to hear, let alone say that he is drunk. He is not happy at the moment, and says everything like pouring beans: “You, you, I tell you, you, you don’t believe me! Yesterday I, I It’s too late to go back, originally, yes, I didn’t want to go back, but, the mother-in-law at home, the mother-in-law has a big temper, if I, if I don’t go back, I will be killed the next day! So, I, I followed the wall and the side, and walked quietly towards the house, only to see a horse and a carriage leaving the city in the middle of the night."

Guo Zhan'an and Jiang Yannian looked at each other, the carriage leaving the city gate in the middle of the night was in line with their guess.

But this was not enough, so Jiang Yannian winked, and the waiter at the side saw him, took the opportunity of serving wine, leaned over to the table, and asked with a smile: "Maybe I misread it? The gates of the city are closed, how can there be any carriage to get out?"

Sure enough, the drunk man couldn't stand the excitement, he stretched his neck and said, "I'm not mistaken! And, besides that person beside the carriage, he doesn't look like a good person at first sight!"

Xiao Er made it clear that he wanted to see him embarrassing, and asked, "Oh? How is it?"

The drunk man said: "The man looks as usual, but there are two obvious scratches on his hands. I also heard what he said, sir, sir, he ordered to go to the mountain to solve something."

Jiang Yannian's expression changed, and he asked in a low voice, "Kill to kill."

Guo Zhanan also looked serious. If the carriage was really Xu Lao Wu's wife, and the gangsters kidnapped her and didn't send her a ransom threat for a long time, this person might be in danger.

The friend of the drunk man heard this and knew that something was wrong, so he quickly covered the drunk man's mouth, slapped the money on the table, and said anxiously, "Let's go, don't talk about it!"

After the people left, Guo Zhan'an and Jiang Yannian pretended to pay and leave, but they turned around half a circle and entered through the small door at the back of the restaurant. The shopkeeper and the waiter were already waiting there.

There is no basis for his words, and Guo Zhan'an still has a trace of doubt in his heart: "It's so dark at night, how can he see the scratches on the opponent's arm clearly?"

The shopkeeper said: "That man is one of the best hunters in our Xuzhou, especially his eyes, which are really night vision objects, there is no fake at all."

Jiang Yannian said: "Whether he sees the scratches on his hands or not, the carriage is definitely unmistakable."

Guo Zhan'an nodded and said: "Then you spread the matter slowly in the past two days, don't add anyone's name, just say that someone saw a carriage leaving the city gate in the middle of the night, and don't say anything about the rest. , let other people add oil and vinegar, and develop on their own.”

Things were just as Guo Zhanan expected, but within a day, the news of the carriage leaving the city in the middle of the night spread throughout most of Xuzhou City.Common people like strange stories, so in just one day, several versions were developed.

Some said it was a monster's carriage, and the souls of the defenders were bewitched to leave the city. The carriage was full of souls and half souls of ordinary people in Xuzhou.

Some also said that this was the carriage of a high-ranking official in Xuzhou, and that the carriage was occupied by an undisciplined lady who was pregnant before marriage, so she had to go out of the city to give birth at night.

Some also said that it was Tata's carriage. Three years ago, after the death of the young man who was collaborating with the enemy and treason, Tata trained his own spies. A few days ago, Tata sneaked into Xuzhou, and he went back secretly last night.

The rumors intensified and spread wider and wider, but no matter which version it was, the spearhead was directed at the soldiers who guarded the city that night.

Some ordinary people couldn't hold back, especially when they heard the rumors of Tatar's spies. They were afraid that Tatar would attack the city one day in their sleep, so they ran to ask the soldiers guarding the city.

The people of Xuzhou are tough, and many of the soldiers are young people who were born and raised in Xuzhou. Facing the inquiries of the elders whom they have met since childhood, they are really hard to explain.

And Fuquanna also got news. Five miles away from the south gate, they found traces of a carriage on the road leading to the deep mountain.

Because almost no one will go into the deep mountains, the road has long been abandoned, and it is covered with various weeds. Many of these weeds have been run over by wheels, and there are still some car marks on the soil, which are very fresh. God left.

After hearing this, Guo Zhan'an knew in his heart that if the carriage was really Xu Lao Wu's wife, it would be a disaster.And Xu Lao Wu has been in a hurry because of his wife's disappearance these two days, and all the problems he suffered from when he was a soldier in the past have all come to him together. If it weren't for Jia Huan's persuasion, he might still be dragging his sick body to find his wife's whereabouts.

Right now, Old Fifth Xu couldn't bear such a blow.Guo Zhan'an thought for a while, let Jia Huan take care of the house, and take care of Xu Laowu by the way, and gave Huo Yu a lot of homework, so that he would not have to follow and see scenes that he shouldn't see.

After finishing all the arrangements, Guo Zhanan asked Fuquan to lead the way, and went out of the city to the mountains.