It was rainy in early summer by the Xizi River, and in the twilight, a drizzle of poplar flowers fell.

Pu Feng, a rugged man wearing a black silk shirt, his hair tied with a straw rope, and a pair of open-toed straw sandals, sat in a small shop that was famous for selling fried pancakes and also ran a tea business, slowly eating a meal.

Zhangyou cake.

A middle-aged man in blue shirt who looked like a bookkeeper came in holding a black oilcloth umbrella, nodded to him, and sat down in front of him.

"The other party accepted it, but spread the word, saying that the three thousand taels were the compensation for Mr. Zhu's business for Old Man Mo, and he wanted to apologize." The middle-aged man in blue shirt who looked like a bookkeeper had a lifeless face and was minding his own business.

He took a piece of fried cake and ate it, and at the same time whispered without any emotion.

"This is too tough. That's three thousand taels, not thirty taels." Pu Feng frowned and said quietly: "What did he think of Zhuang Ju'an's stab?"

The middle-aged man in blue shirt who looked like a cashier still said lifelessly: "Zhuang Juan said that he is a ruthless character. He didn't even frown. He must have seen blood and dead people... Zhuang Juan also said that the other party didn't even say much.

, it doesn’t feel like he has just come out as an official, but rather like he has been an experienced police officer who has been hunting down big thieves for five or six years.”

The middle-aged man in blue shirt who looked like a cashier nodded, "Okay, then let Lu Fengniang go tomorrow?"

Pu Feng nodded.

The middle-aged man in blue shirt who looked like a cashier walked out grabbing half of an uneaten fried pancake and asked softly, "How is Mr. Zhang doing?"

When he asked this question, his face, which had always been as lifeless as the dusk on the riverside, actually showed a hint of real concern.

Pu Feng glanced at his back and said, "It's very bad."

The middle-aged man in blue shirt who looked like a cashier stopped asking any more questions, shrank his neck, and prepared to walk into the drizzle.

"I have the opportunity to send some of the wind from Yingoufang to Mr. Xiaolin's ears."

At this moment, Pu Feng said softly, and then murmured to himself: "If you want to make Donggang Town cleaner, it depends on whether you have the courage and ability to remove the real black water.

Wash it off."

Pu Feng, who has no reputation in Donggang Town, is actually one of the most capable backbones of Master Zhu Fourth. He has a rough appearance but has a speech and delicate thoughts that are completely inconsistent with his appearance. He is like a hidden person in Xizi Jiangzhong.

Snakehead fish in the mud and sand usually don't show waves, but for shrimps and crabs, it is actually very dangerous.

But he didn't know that the middle-aged man in blue shirt who was supposed to be as loyal to Fourth Master Zhu as he was, after eating half a pancake in the rain, he walked into an ordinary wine shop in another alley.

Then this middle-aged man in blue shirt who looked like a cashier held a dripping umbrella under his arm, opened a hanging curtain in the restaurant, and walked to the back seat.

Facing the people in the private seats covered by bamboo curtains, the lifeless middle-aged man in blue shirt said simply and directly: "Second Master Zhang is in very bad health. Fourth Master Zhu and Pu Feng have already wanted to take advantage of this gust of wind.

"

"Okay, I didn't expect that something interesting happened during the two days I came here." A young man's laughter came from inside, "We'll see what happens tomorrow... If there is really something to this arrest, then we

Turn around and let the wind blow you."

…

…

"Sir, you may have gone too far."

In a corridor by the river, Du Weiqing looked at Lin Xi with a sad face and said: "These three thousand taels are not a small amount for Mr. Zhu. I don't know if those black oils under his hands will be exposed to the sun."

How long will it take to earn back so much money? If my lord, you accept it secretly without saying a word, and give him real benefits in the future, whether the three thousand taels are used to scare the lord, or to really bribe the lord, he and

Those under him will still think it is worth it, but if you directly say that these three thousand taels are used to compensate that old man Mo, this is equivalent to directly saying that Fourth Master Zhu surrendered to your hands and bowed his head. This is to them

For these people, any more than three thousand taels is unacceptable."

Lin Xi turned her head slightly, looked at Du Weiqing and Liang Sansi, and then looked at the rows of stilt houses along the river looming in the rain and fog in the distance. She smiled slightly and asked: "Du Weiqing, Liang Sansi, do you know why I only let

You two lead the way, but don't let others lead the way?"

Du Weiqing, whose temples were stained with frost, and Liang Sansi, who was in his prime, were both stunned and couldn't help but glance at each other.

"I don't know." Du Weiqing quickly shook his head.

"I let you lead the way because you have the courage." Lin Xi glanced at him and said calmly: "When I asked Xu Jianling and Liu Tong about it, you should have known that Xu Jianling had completely offended me. If it were any other person,

, for fear of being implicated in the boss's anger, naturally he could say as little as possible, but you still dared to speak out and made many explanations. You had the courage and said so much, just to help Xu Jianling and remind me.

Don't be too impulsive, so my judgment is that you are an honest person."

After a slight pause, Lin Xi turned to look at Liang Sansi and continued: "As for you, Liang Sansi, I can see that you are dissatisfied with both Xu Jianling and Liu Tong, and I can't see any dissatisfaction with me from your eyes.

A lot of dissatisfaction is just worry and suspicion. So you should be a righteous person, but your position is too low and you know that you can't change anything."

Looking at the two people who were stunned and silent, Lin Xi then said slowly: "Actually, I have never had much concept of superiority and inferiority, but I'm afraid you don't dare to treat me as a friend. The easiest thing for you to understand is naturally that no matter whether you are a formal person or not,

A junior official of the tenth rank or a senior official of the first rank always needs some confidants. I know almost nothing about Donggang Town, and I need someone to help me find out some information and tell me some connections, otherwise it will be a waste of knowledge.

How much strength."

"Sir, to be honest, I can already conclude that you are not that kind of bookworm who doesn't understand things." Du Weiqing hesitated slightly and said with a wry smile: "But my lord really wants to take care of all the injustices around Donggang Town.

The rank of arrester is really too small."

Lin Xi was not angry, but smiled slightly and said: "Of course I understand that you have doubts, but do you dare to take a gamble?"

"A gamble?" Du Weiqing and Liang Sansi looked at each other, not knowing what Lin Xi meant.

"I want you to help me wholeheartedly." Lin Xi laughed, looked at the two of them, and said: "I have also seen the relevant records of the two of you. Your family background can only be considered average in this Donggang Town.

, so even if there is some oil and water, most of it will probably be taken away by some people above, and you can only make up for it. Anyway, you can show a bad attitude toward me on the surface, but secretly you really help me, and you can't help me.

It shouldn't have any impact, but I can guarantee that in the future, both of you may not only have me as the arrester. How about you, do you dare to take a gamble?"

"Sir, since you have strong bones, even if there is no benefit, I, Liang Sansi, will definitely fight to the death." Liang Sansi took a deep breath and looked at Lin Xi and said.

Du Weiqing smiled bitterly and said: "Sir, you are honest, but it really gave me some confidence. Of course I will accept this unfair bet."

Lin Xi's eyes flashed with a look of appreciation, and she smiled slightly and said: "In that case, please take me to the small building that Fourth Master Zhu wants first, and I will ask the old man surnamed Mo if he can rent it.

My room."

"What?"

Du Weiqing and Liang Sansi were surprised at the same time, "Sir, don't you live in Zhulan Lane?"

According to the laws of Yunqin, local officials have public residences according to their official ranks. They will exchange them when they are promoted or resign. If they are damaged, they must repair them by themselves. Most of the public residences in Donggang Town are located in Zhulan Lane.

There are sergeants patrolling, which is the safest, and it is easy to cultivate relationships with other officials. Generally, officials will move to other mansions unless they have a large family and cannot accommodate them. But Lin Xi is alone, and she really wants to go to that small building.

Renting, this intention is also very obvious.

Lin Xi smiled slightly and said: "Although Fourth Master Zhu claims to be somewhat measured in his actions, even if he doesn't embarrass me right away, I'm afraid he will embarrass others, especially the foreigner Wang Buping. Moreover, people like Fourth Master Zhu are very interested in Mr. Mo's small apartment.

Since I miss the building so much, I think the view from that small building must be excellent."

Du Weiqing knew that Lin Xi had thought very carefully, so he did not dissuade him. He just led the way and explained: "That small building is very good. There were two masters in the ancestors of the Mo family, and this small building passed down is very good."

Artistic conception. Not only is the entire small building made of nanmu, but also a large beam in the middle is made of huanghuali wood. There is also a small platform courtyard built with stones near the river, facing the open river view, and there is a hill on the opposite bank of the river.

, there are apricot blossom trees all over it. When the apricot blossoms are in bloom, the view from that platform is really great. Many civil servants have left calligraphy treasures there. It is said that Fourth Master Zhu had already bid 4,500 taels, but Mr. Mo was a little shy.

Literary people have a bad temper, and they say that even renting a room or two would ruin the literary atmosphere in the building for people like Fourth Master Zhu. I guess it was this sentence that completely pissed off Fourth Master Zhu."

Lin Xi nodded and asked calmly: "To be fair, what do you think of people like Fourth Master Zhu?"

"The people under him are arrogant and fierce, and they do a lot of hurtful things." Du Weiqing pondered for a moment and said cautiously, fearing that some of his words might give Lin Xi some wrong judgment: "But usually he rarely provokes

The townspeople are the kind of bullies who only steal business in the river. So this time he forced himself to take over the building where Old Man Mo lives. Many people felt that Old Man Mo’s words hurt him."

"Is there anyone above him?" Lin Xi smiled and asked.

Du Weiqing shook his head and said: "Probably not. Mr. Zhang has said before that they don't sit in a boat with one or two people, so it is most likely to capsize with those one or two people. The meaning of this sentence is that everyone is very familiar with it.

It is clear that the Xizi River is always there, but the big ship inside is not always there. Those officials are like running water and can flow away at any time or collapse. It is precisely because of this clear distinction that so many officials in Donggang Town and above have changed over the years.

Yes, but they are still the ones in charge of Hei Youzi and Stone Rat here."

"Sir, what Xu Jianling said before was not complete." At this time, Liang Sansi intervened: "The second master Zhang and the fourth master Zhu are not only in charge of Heiyouzi and Shishu in Donggang Town, but also the people in Tongmu Town upstream to us.

Most of the black oil seeds and stone rats in Donggang Town.”

"It doesn't matter how many Heiyouzi and Stone Rats are. What matters is how many truly powerful people there are." Lin Xi glanced at Liang Sansi and asked in a serious voice, "Are there any practitioners among them?"

"Practitioner? Could it be..." Liang Sansi and Du Weiqing were both startled, and their eyes were all focused on Lin Xi.

Lin Xi looked calm and could not see any clues.

"It is said that Mr. Zhang is a practitioner, and I don't know about the rest." Du Weiqing took a deep breath and spoke slowly, but a cold feeling in his heart kept spreading in his body. Like

Naturally, he could not connect Lin Xi with the students of the three major colleges of the empire with such an ordinary spy. He just thought that it would be too unimaginable if Lin Xi was already a practitioner at such a young age.

"Are there practitioners?" Lin Xi frowned slightly and glanced at Du Weiqing: "Tell me about the specific situation in Donggang Town."

Du Weiqing nodded and said: "According to our rules for so many years, Donggang Town is generally divided into seventeen lanes, one port and three major cities."

"Seventeen alleys refer to the seventeen alleys closest to the river. The closer our Donggang Town is to the river, the denser the houses and shops are, the more they overlap, the more complex the people. One port is Dadonggang in the east, where most of the

Goods are loaded and unloaded there, and merchant ships from various companies are also parked there. The three major markets are the fish market, the North-South Goods Market and the Riverside Night Market."

"Apart from these places, they are all the residences of some old residents of Donggang Town. Except for some rare cases of adultery and unequal separation of brothers, there is usually nothing going on."

"Among these people from various religions, in addition to Mr. Zhu and others who are in charge of labor and sand and gravel business, there is also Fatty Xu who is in charge of the fish market. Many of these people are from the fish farmers and fish traders on the river.

Dare to use the knife, and swing the harpoon very accurately. Most of the gambling places in the North-South Merchant Market and Donggang Town are under the control of Mr. Ning. Mr. Ning has Fan Jinya who specializes in lending money, that is, loan sharking in the casino.
To be continued...