In the small noodle stall at Midnight East Market, in front of the shiny wooden table, Chen Ji lowered his head and took the hot beef noodles into his mouth, leaving the only two pieces of beef in the noodle bowl until the end.

Jin Zhu sat across from the wooden table and said with emotion: "You and Tianma are really two completely different personalities. He will always eat the beef in the bowl first, regardless of whether the white noodles at the back still taste. You have a personality like this."

Suitable for Jianghu, because your life is not happy enough."

Chen Ji made a sound and finished eating the noodles. He put the last piece of beef into his mouth, and then looked at the half bowl of beef noodles left in front of Jin Zhu: "Didn't Mr. Jin Zhu say that when he was young, he liked beef noodles the most?

?”

"But I'm no longer young," Jin Zhu said with a smile: "After the event is completed, I will also invite you to eat at Yingxian Tower. You can eat whatever you want."

"No, simple meals are enough."

The golden pig gradually stopped smiling: "I have finished eating my noodles and my body has warmed up. Now tell me, what did you write on the note you gave Liu Mingming?"

Chen Ji wiped his mouth with the back of his hand: "I made an appointment with him to meet under the Peony Bridge at dawn."

The Golden Pig was confused: "What are you asking him to do?"

Chen Ji said calmly: "Ask him if he has any connections with Jingchao spies."

Golden Pig: "..."

Chen Ji laughed, got up and walked out: "You're kidding, how could I ask someone directly for their identity? Come on, sir, we have to get to Peony Bridge before dawn."

Outside the noodle stall, an old man was walking towards me carrying a pole. Two wooden boxes were hung on the poles, one behind the other. On the wooden boxes were placed a pair of thin wooden masks with images of monkeys, pigs, etc. carved on the masks.

Rabbits and sheep are lifelike.

A group of children gathered around the pole, holding their parents' hands and wanting to buy a mask, but their parents stopped them.

Chen Ji stepped forward and picked up two masks: "Old man, how do you sell the masks?"

The old man put down his pole and responded with a smile: "Twenty cents each."

Chen Ji took two, a rabbit and a sheep, but the golden pig held his wrist.

The golden pig gave himself a cow noodle, and gave Chen Ji a tiger noodle: "Wearing a rabbit or a sheep is unlucky. Wear a tiger for good luck. I wish you a meteoric rise as soon as possible and take over the position of the sick tiger."

.”

Chen Ji asked doubtfully: "Master Jinzhu is really not afraid that I will seek revenge from you after I become the top three? A few hours ago, you hung me on the roof."

"When you reach that position, you will naturally understand that benefits are eternal," Golden Pig patted Chen Ji's shoulder and teased: "Master Chen Ji, please spare my life when the time comes. I will be of use to you, let's go."

Chen Ji turned around and glanced at the still brilliant Yingxian Tower in the distance, then turned and walked into the night.

…

…

At Yin time, it was still dark.

The lights were on in a courtyard next to the Peony Bridge. A boy carrying a lantern hurriedly passed through the moon gate in the courtyard, came to the door of a bedroom and called out: "Second Master, Second Master, it's time."

A voice came from the room: "I know."

In the deep house, two beautiful concubines in silk pajamas opened the curtains of the Babu bed from the left and right.

Liu Mingming got out of bed and opened his arms, letting his concubine put the clothes on him. He calmly asked outside the door: "Have the three guests from Yanshi arrived yet?"

"Reply to the Second Master, we have arrived and they are waiting by the carriage."

Liu Mingming dressed neatly and walked out of the door calmly.

When he crossed the threshold, he said lightly: "Reward."

The young man took out two ingots of gold from his purse and threw them on the floor in the house. The two concubines hurriedly knelt in front of the door and watched Liu Mingming leave.

When he came to the door, Liu Mingming bowed his hands to the three worshipers of the Liu family: "You three have worked hard today, and someone will send your reward to your residence tomorrow."

A thin old man smiled dryly, with a cinnabar-painted mountain flower ghost money hanging on a red string around his waist: "You are welcome, sir. This is your duty. I have told you, I must protect you."

Liu Mingming smiled and asked, "How is my father doing lately?"

The old man replied: "Elder Ge has been guarding Ding You in the ancestral cemetery and has never come out."

Since the founding of the Ning Dynasty, if a court official's parents die while he is in office, he must resign and return to his ancestral home to serve his parents for twenty-seven months.

During this period, you have to eat, live, and sleep in front of your parents' graves. You are not allowed to drink alcohol, bathe, shave your head, or change clothes.

Now Liu Gun has resigned from the post of Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs and is living in a cottage in the Liu family's ancestral mausoleum.

Liu Mingming said nonchalantly: "You three, since you have come to work with me, just settle down in the city. It is enough for me to have Mr. Feng guarding my father's side."

Beside, a muscular man whispered: "As ordered..."

Liu Mingming looked at the man in front of him and asked with a smile: "Brother Xu Shen, after you two came back from the border army, did you miss the scenery of the border town?"

The man named Xu Shen raised his hand and said: "Bianzhen is very miserable. We sleep in the open air every day, and we are waiting for the day. How can we be as comfortable as in Luo City. I must also thank Mr. Ge for his respect for us two brothers and giving us a bite of food."

Liu Mingming smiled: "In the future, you will understand that there are only advantages and no disadvantages to following my Liu family."

The old man quickly smiled flatteringly: "I understand, I understand."

Liu Mingming nodded with satisfaction: "This house will be yours to live in from now on, and the people inside will be rewarded to you. Those dozen Yangzhou thin horses were all bought for hundreds of taels of silver."

"Thank you, Master!"

The coachman opened the carriage door curtain, and Liu Mingming bent down and got into the carriage.

The three worshipers did not get into the carriage. The old man followed the carriage with small steps like an old lady with bound feet. Although the steps were small, they could still keep up with the speed of the carriage.

The two brothers Xu Shen strode in front of the carriage, like two giant spirits clearing the way for the carriage.

When they reached the Peony Bridge, the three of them suddenly stopped.

The old man leaned against the carriage window and whispered: "Second Master, we have arrived. The people are not under the bridge, but on the bridge."

Liu Mingming was sitting in the car. He calmly opened the gap in the curtains and looked around. He saw two people wearing masks in the middle of the bridge, looking at them coldly at the end of the bridge.

One person wears an ox on his face, and the other person wears a tiger on his face.

The peony stone arch bridge is about thirty feet long, with a total of twenty-four holes, which can accommodate two carriages running parallelly.

The old man beside the car winked at the Xu Shen brothers. The next moment, Xu Shen and Xu Chu jumped onto the stone railings on both sides of the arch bridge and approached the bridge step by step.

The old man rubbed the scarlet mountain flower ghost money around his waist and walked slowly on the bridge. The three of them were in tacit understanding, and they stopped slowly only when they were only ten steps away from the cow and the tiger on the bridge.

Liu Mingming got out of the car, walked behind the old man, and looked at the mask from a distance.

The golden pig behind the cow face narrowed his eyes. He looked at the mountain flower ghost money on the old man's waist, then turned to look at the strange tattoos on the necks of the two strong men, and his whole body tensed up.

Jinzhu glanced at Chen Ji quietly. He didn't know what Chen Ji wrote on the note, but he actually summoned two long-lost killers from Bian Town.

Could it be that Chen Ji has sold himself out and wants to set up an ambush with the Liu family to surround him?

No, Chen Ji's hands are very calm, and his hands are courageous. If his hands don't tremble, he has peace of mind.

Chen Ji is very calm.

But Jin Zhu still doesn't know why Chen Ji is so calm.

Under the moonlight, no one on either side spoke, and the bridge became increasingly solemn.

Slowly, the fog in the autumn morning began to rise, and the sky in the distance gradually became brighter.

Just when Jin Zhu was about to open his mouth to smooth things over, he heard Chen Ji calmly ask: "Your Liu family did not handle the situation cleanly when smuggling firearms from the craftsman's supervision, leaked the news, and ruined our big event. What should we do about this matter?"

Forget it? The boss has arrived at Kaifeng Mansion and planned to come to Luo City for a meeting today. Why are you asking me to explain to the boss now?"

Golden Pig: Huh?!

Boss?

meeting?

Jin Zhu's pupils behind the wooden cow mask suddenly shrank, and he almost subconsciously wanted to leave Chen Ji here and run away alone.

At this moment, he finally understood that Chen Ji was going to directly pretend to be the Military Intelligence Department of Jing Dynasty to contact the Liu family.

Where is this case being handled?

This is obviously gambling on life!

Jinzhu is not a fool either. He already understands that Chen Ji wants to bet that after the siege of Hongyi Lane, the Jingchao Military Intelligence Department did not dare to go out and move around for the time being. Under the whole city's search, they did not dare to contact the Liu family.

Taking advantage of this gap, they could pretend to be members of the Military Intelligence Department of Jing Dynasty, lead the Liu family step by step into the trap, and take the initiative to hand over the incriminating evidence!

But this matter is like walking a tightrope. If the Jingchao Military Intelligence Department and the Liu family still keep in touch, if there is any special agreement code between the Jingchao Military Intelligence Department and the Liu family... If there is a slight discrepancy, the two of them will explain it here today.

.

A madman who takes the wrong approach!

While he was thinking about it, Liu Mingming narrowed his eyes slightly when he heard Chen Ji's question: "Tang is the supervisor? I don't understand what you are talking about."

Chen Ji said calmly: "Don't waste any more time."

Liu Mingming sneered: "I, the Liu family, abide by the law. If your Majesty invites me here today just to say these incomprehensible words, I will take two of them and send them to the Secret Intelligence Department as Jing Dynasty traitors."

Chen Ji asked calmly: "On the day Yunyang and Jiaotu opened the coffin, Mr. Liu killed his grandfather and conspired to kill his ancestors. How could he be a man of justice and abide by the law? If we hadn't reminded him that day, Mr. Liu would have been a prisoner."

Jin Zhu was startled. He listened to Chen Ji talking, but it didn't look like he was acting at all. If Meng Ji hadn't tried Chen Ji himself, he almost thought there was really a Jing Dynasty spy standing next to him. He must be a Sicao at least.
To be continued...