roccoschili Chapter 141: Reunion
Chapter 141: Reunion
In Yuxi County, the county magistrate heard that several sons of the Minister of Rites had come to the county, so he specially sent people to the inn where Xiao Mingli and others were staying to invite them to his mansion.
"You three gentlemen came to my Yuxi County without sending anyone to inform us. If we have not provided you with a good reception, please forgive us."
The magistrate of Yuxi County ordered someone to serve tea. Xiao Mingli, who was sitting below, replied politely,
"You are too polite, County Magistrate Yang. We are only staying in Yuxi County for a while, so we dare not bother you."
Xiao Mingli bowed with both hands and thought to himself that this matter must be kept secret before the Water Dragon Star Sword is brought back, otherwise it might attract the covetousness of people with ulterior motives.
Xiao Mingxu was losing his spirit. He sent people to search the forest where the cave was inside and out. All the movable stones were moved away, but there was still no trace of Jiang Tunan.
Then the biggest possibility is that Jiang Tunan was buried deeper.
If this is possible, Jiang Tunan's chances of survival will be even smaller.
"It would be great if you can stay for a few days. Why don't you stay at Yang's house? It will definitely be more comfortable than an inn."
County Magistrate Yang was unwilling to miss this opportunity to curry favor with an official in the capital. He had long heard that Xiao Mingli was a handsome man who served as the Secretary of the Honglu Temple. His father was the Minister of Rites in the court, and his uncle was the Minister of Punishments. If he could curry favor with either of them, his future official career would be smoother.
"Whatever. It doesn't matter where you live."
Xiao Mingxu was a little impatient. He just wanted to leave and find Jiang Tunan.
Even though she might...
Xiao Mingrui saw what Xiao Mingxu was thinking, and was about to say a few words of comfort, but he was stunned when his eyes glanced at the tea table in front of him.
"Can I ask Magistrate Yang where this candlestick came from?"
County Magistrate Yang was a little confused at first, but then he remembered that the candlestick seemed to be something he had taken out of the bag of the female spy.
At that time, I just saw that the candlestick was exquisitely made and made of high-quality materials, and thought that there were so many evidences in the package, so I secretly withheld it. I didn't expect that it would be noticed by the young master of the Xiao family today.
Magistrate Yang pretended to be calm and answered,
"My wife bought this candlestick from some foreign merchants some time ago. Could it be that Fourth Young Master Xiao also likes this candlestick?"
Xiao Mingrui concealed his inner excitement and glanced at County Magistrate Yang with a cold look.
"I advise the county magistrate to tell the truth, otherwise the crime of having an affair with Dayin is a serious one, especially since so many things have happened recently."
Just this one sentence made County Magistrate Yang a little panicked. Although Xiao Mingrui was the son of the Minister of Rites, he did not hold any official position, so County Magistrate Yang was not afraid of this young boy.
But the problem was that his brother Xiao Mingli was also there. Xiao Mingli was a real official in Beijing. If Xiao Mingli reported this to the capital, he would be finished.
"This...I found this in the bag of a big Yin spy yesterday. I...I just thought this candlestick was beautiful, so I secretly kept it...I..."
Before County Magistrate Yang could finish his words, Xiao Mingrui interrupted him urgently.
"What does the big Yin spy look like?"
County Magistrate Yang wiped the sweat off his forehead with his sleeve.
"The spy was a girl, probably over 15 years old, and she was very skinny..."
County Magistrate Yang seemed to be trying hard to recall.
"Oh, by the way, it seems she also has an injury on her back."
Xiao Mingrui's breathing stopped for a moment, and a flash of joy appeared in his eyes.
Seeing Xiao Mingrui's reaction, Xiao Mingxu seemed to have guessed something, so he asked,
"Where is the spy now?"
Magistrate Yang answered truthfully,
"He was escorted to Beijing this morning along with other prisoners."
Xiao Mingxu immediately stood up and was about to run out, but he saw a servant from the county magistrate's mansion running in hurriedly.
"Sir! It's bad! The prison van has been hijacked!"
The teacup in County Magistrate Yang's hand fell.
"What did you say?!"
The servant had a sad face.
"Someone from the county government just reported that a group of bandits suddenly appeared on the way to the prison and kidnapped all the prisoners on the prison van!"
County Magistrate Yang stumbled back a few steps. Ah! His special merit!
Xiao Mingxu held the boy down and asked anxiously,
"And the girl in the prison van?"
The servant looked as if it was a matter of course.
"Of course they were all kidnapped together..."
Xiao Mingxu hammered hard on the pillar next to him, and he was almost there! But before he could say anything, he heard the sound of tea spilling.
He looked to the side, but saw that Xiao Mingrui was no longer there. He looked towards the door again, only to see the corner of Xiao Mingrui's clothes disappearing around the corner.
Xiao Mingxu: This kid walks quite fast.
At this point, Xiao Mingli had already understood what was going on, so he continued to ask County Magistrate Yang,
"Did the girl tell me her identity?"
Looking at the reactions of the three people, County Magistrate Yang understood that he probably caught the wrong person.
That girl must be from some family in Kyoto, otherwise why would these three gentlemen be so concerned and anxious.
"That girl did say she had relatives in Kyoto..."
"Then why did you lock her up?"
Xiao Mingxu was angry. He didn't dare to imagine what Jiang Tunan had experienced in the past few days. County Magistrate Yang had just said that Jiang Tunan had an injury on his back, and he didn't know if it was caused by being hit by a rock in the cave.
"Mingxu, calm down."
Although Xiao Mingli said so, his eyes looking at the county magistrate were filled with coldness.
"It's really easy to be Magistrate Yang."
When County Magistrate Yang heard this, he was so frightened that he immediately knelt down and apologized.
"Please forgive me, Lord Temple Secretary."
Xiao Mingxu sneered in his heart. Now he knows to call him "Sir Temple Secretary", but just now he kept calling him "Young Master Xiao". This guy probably thinks that his brothers are all useless trash and really thinks that he can't see what he is thinking.
"Well, since there are bandits causing trouble near Yuxi County, we should wipe them out as soon as possible and bring peace back to Yuxi County."
Xiao Mingli spoke calmly, but his tone clearly did not admit of rejection.
"Please forgive me, sir. It's not that I don't want to, but the bandits from Wushi Village have been entrenched in Wuming Mountain for many years. The imperial court has sent troops to suppress them many times but to no avail."
County Magistrate Yang regretted his decision to do so. He thought these guys were just young boys. After all, he was already in his early forties. He certainly didn't want to bow and nod respectfully to a young boy.
But I didn't expect that these people were so difficult to fool, and I suffered a big setback this time.
Xiao Mingli and Xiao Mingxu looked at each other and said nothing.
We really can't rush into suppressing bandits.
On the other side, Shitou was still cursing with the constable on the ground, but Jiang Tunan took this opportunity to sneak to the side of the constable's car.
She remembered that Village Chief Sun said that there was a special antidote in the bundle, which should be able to detoxify her.
After finding the antidote, Jiang Tunan hid beside the car and secretly took it, then hid the beautiful dagger in his clothes.
Just after finishing everything, a voice suddenly came from behind.
"What are you doing?"