Aoyama

Chapter 221 Knife

Beside the official road, Chen Ji stared blankly at the two unfamiliar figures. The two men were pulling an ox cart and following a large group of people into the Mengjin city gate, without noticing a burning gaze behind them.

The two escorts were strong, one tall and one short. The tall one was more lazy, like a veteran; the short one spoke in a deep voice and acted in a methodical manner.

Chen Ji had never seen the appearance of these two people before today, but he felt that they were very familiar.

To be precise, it was the way the other person spoke that made him feel particularly familiar.

Erdao and Pao Ge. These two people Chen Ji thought he would never see again in his life.

Now that each other's appearance has changed, Chen Ji cannot be sure whether his guess is correct. What if there really is someone in the world who speaks in the same style as Erdao?

But his desire to meet his old friend again in a foreign land made him want to catch up with him and find out what was going on.

But after taking a few steps, Chen Ji slowly stopped.

He stood in the cold wind and took a few deep breaths, letting the icy wind pour into his lungs. Only then did he sober up a little.

Chen Ji led Zao Zao by the hand, braved the cold wind and walked through the city gate to catch up with the two people. He smiled and asked, "Are you two escorts from the Liang Escort Agency?"

The tall escort turned to look at Chen Ji and said with a polite smile: "Yes, the two of us are working with Escort Leader Liang."

Chen Ji asked casually, "What are your names?"

The short escort wanted to answer but was pulled back by the tall escort.

The tall escort pulled the ox cart and introduced as he walked: "My dear sir, you can just call me Ah Da, and my brother's name is Ah Si. There are four cousins ​​in my family, I am the eldest and he is the fourth."

Ah Da looked Chen Ji up and down and asked, "Who are you?"

Chen Ji smiled and said, "I am the third child of the Chen family. Now that my elders have been transferred to the capital, we have moved our family to the capital. By the way, A Da and A Si are your nicknames, right? What are your real names?"

However, Ah Da's eyes flashed with a trace of vigilance, but he smiled and responded, "So you are the third son of the Chen family. I am so sorry. For small people like us in the quagmire, we can live longer if we are called by our nicknames. A fortune teller told my parents that we have low fates, and we may not be able to suppress it if we are called by our real names, so it is better not to mention it."

The more cautious the other party was, the more Chen Ji wanted to get to the bottom of it.

He walked with Zaozao by their hand and greeted them casually: "You two are escorts, so you must have been to many places, right? I haven't been far away much, I wonder if you can tell me some of your experiences in different places to broaden my horizons."

Ah Da's fingers suddenly clenched, "What do you want to hear, sir?"

Chen Ji smiled and asked, "First, tell me where you have been?"

Ah Da laughed and said, "We just came back from Runan. Why don't we tell you about Runan? Runan is a beautiful place surrounded by water. The county town is like a gourd ladle in a lake..."

Chen Ji suddenly asked, "Besides Runan, where else have you two been delivering escorts before?"

Ah Da and Ah Si looked at each other subconsciously, but Ah Da kept talking: "We went to Jincheng before to escort someone. The person we escorted was the second son of the Qiao family, a Shanxi merchant. It was a thrilling trip. There were mountains along the way, and there were many bandits. By the way, we also went to Jinling, and we were responsible for escorting the silver of Mr. Yao from Luocheng..."

Chen Ji became interested: "I haven't been to Jinling yet. I heard that the Qinhuai River there is full of singing girls, and at night there are fireworks and bright lights. Is it true?"

Ah Da was actually interested, "Of course! The Qinhuai River is very lively at night, with dense smoke from fires on both sides and many merchants. There are many tall and short buildings with golden powder. In the evening, there are restaurants and tea houses with singing and drinking. There are boats on the river. The bigger boats are called 'zoucang' and the smaller ones are called 'tengpeng'. There are bright corner lanterns on the boats, and women sit under the lanterns and play the pipa. The women have graceful figures, and their faces are covered with veils. It is difficult to see clearly from a distance... It's a pity that my brother and I are short of money, so we dare not ask them to row the boat over."

Chen Ji thought for a moment and asked curiously, "I heard that the Imperial College on the south bank of the Qinhuai River is very lively. Many students and scholars would pray before the imperial examinations. It is said to be very effective."

Ah Da glanced at him and said, "This gentleman must have remembered it wrongly. The Imperial College is on the north bank, not on the south bank."

Chen Ji exclaimed, "Did I remember it wrong? Is there a memorial archway with the words 'World Literature Fortune' in front of the Imperial College?"

Ah Da laughed: "My lord, you have a really bad memory. The memorial archway in front of the Imperial College is called 'The World's Literary Hub', not 'The World's Literary Fortune'!"

Ah Da talked incessantly and actually knew the Qinhuai River very well.

Chen Ji fell into deep thought, if Ah Da and Ah Si were really Er Dao and Pao Ge, they should have never been to Nanjing in person. How could they talk so convincingly?
Moreover, I set up two traps, but the other party was able to easily resolve them.

Is it really just a coincidence?

Or maybe Brother Pao was very thoughtful, and although he was a stranger, he made up for the loopholes in his identity in order not to be exposed? Wasn't it also to conceal his identity when he checked the files of the Secret Service before?

No.

This Ah Da has revealed his flaws.

Unlike later generations, when everyone could read and write, at that time, few people could read and write, and most people were illiterate. For example, in the profession of escort, if one out of ten escorts could read and write, it was good enough.

When Ah Da described the Qinhuai River earlier, he was very literary, as if he was reciting a text. He was even able to remember the Tianxia Wenshu Archway. Could this be the knowledge of an ordinary escort?
There is definitely something wrong with A Da and A Si!

Chen Ji wanted to ask directly, "Are you Er Dao? Are you Pao Ge?"
But what about the end? Before his death in the previous life, Pao Ge had sympathized with him and regretted meeting him too late. But if Chen Ji regarded Pao Ge as a good person because of this, he would be very wrong.

It was precisely because of Pao Ge's bad reputation in the underworld that he chose him to become a key link in his plan.

This man was a Sanda athlete in his early years. He was sentenced to prison for killing someone in a black boxing match. After he was released from prison, he followed a gangster to run a loan shark business. He was good at violent debt collection and was arrested six or seven times. Later, he became a gangster himself.

If such a person knew Chen Ji's true identity, there was no telling what would happen.

While he was thinking, he saw the convoy stopped at Mengjin Post Station. Liang Biaotou waved his arms in the sunset and shouted, "Don't just stand there. Drive all the carriages into the backyard and take turns to eat a hot meal. We will stay in the woodshed and the cowshed tonight to look after the good things for the boss!"

Seeing this, Ah Da turned to Chen Ji and said with a smile, "Third Master, we have to get busy. If you want to hear anything else, you can come find us after you are done."

Chen Ji bowed and said, "Thank you both for your help."

Ah Da and Ah Si lowered their heads and went into the backyard. Ah Si asked in a low voice, "Brother, didn't you say that all officials and nobles are bad people? I think this young man is quite good."

Ah Da's eyes were solemn. "Those who seek to get to the bottom of things are definitely not concerned... I'm just afraid that the truth has been exposed. I wonder where we let ourselves go?"

Ah Si asked in a low voice: "Should we get rid of him?"

Ah Da scratched his eyebrows helplessly: "I told you long ago that you should stop fighting and killing people every day and behave yourself first!"

Ah Si looked back at his butt and felt embarrassed.

Ah Da sighed, "I was just talking about a metaphor!"

Ah Si asked: "What should we do now?"

Ada didn't answer.

He stood in the backyard, looking outside with deep eyes.

……

……

All the post stations in the Ning Dynasty were government-run and were one of the largest military institutions, specializing in post stations, stations, and shops.

The so-called "post station" uses "postal tokens" to verify identities, entertain guests, and arrange transportation of materials and personnel.

The so-called "station" is to verify the identity by using the "Military Fire Ticket" and the "Secret Service Fire Card" to transmit important urgent documents and military intelligence. This is for military use only.

The so-called "shop" was the normal place for official documents to be delivered, which was managed by the county magistrate and the prefect.

The scale of Mengjin Posthouse was beyond Chen Ji's imagination. It was far larger than any other inn. Even a dozen inns combined were not as big as it. For example, the most famous Jimingshan Posthouse in Ning Dynasty was even called Posthouse City, which was definitely a small city.

As the sky gradually darkened, Chen Ji settled Xiaoman here and immediately went out to the backyard where the ox cart was parked. However, he smelled the odor of cow dung and walked around the cow cart for a long time, but he could not find any trace of A Da and A Si.

He called to the escort leader Liang: "Captain, where are Ah Da and Ah Si?"

Liang Biaotou was stunned for a moment: "Third Master, who are Ah Da and Ah Si?"

Chen Ji's heart sank, and he whispered, "They are the two people in your escort team who often travel together. One is tall, the other is short. One of them speaks and acts in a very methodical manner. Do you have any impression of them?"

Liang Biaotou's expression changed: "Sir, why did you ask them...did they offend you?"

Chen Ji shook his head: "No, I just got along well with them on the road today, and I want to hear them talk about their experiences in other places."

Liang Biaotou breathed a sigh of relief: "Is that so... Then I will help you find them."

After that, he opened his voice and asked, "Knife? Punch?"

After shouting for a while, no one responded.

Liang Biaotou grabbed a bodyguard and asked: "Have you seen the knife and the punch?"

The escort was slurping a bowl of buckwheat noodles. He swallowed a mouthful of noodles and pointed at the gate with his chopsticks: "They said they were going out to buy some wine."

Liang Biaotou asked, "How long have you been gone?"

The escort recalled, "Oh, I think he's been gone for an hour. It wasn't even dark when he left. How come he hasn't come back yet?"

Chen Ji looked out at the night outside the courtyard and hesitated for a long time...ran away?!

(End of this chapter)