Chapter 371 New Year’s Eve Treats (7)

When he opened his eyes again and came to the public kitchen the next day, Wen Mingtang was still in charge of the public kitchen alone. The uneasiness in his heart became more and more intense. The servants and minor officials in Dali Temple did not know what happened in Xianyang. Lin Fei, who was still cooking, didn't send Zhao You to get food all day yesterday, so Wen Mingtang didn't even have a chance to find out the news.

If it weren't for the fact that he still had to cook in the public kitchen for a few days and couldn't leave, Wen Mingtang would have rushed to Xianyang yesterday to inquire about the situation.

It was still quiet inside Dali Temple. Except for someone turning over her house, nothing happened.

The jailer named Tong Zhang indeed brought a basket of eggs and some dried beans to find Wen Mingtang. After lunch, Wen Mingtang marinated the eggs and dried beans.

After all this was done, Wen Mingtang couldn't sit still anymore. When he was about to leave Dali Temple to look for someone, Ji Caimai finally came back.

Looking at Ji Caimai, who was usually pretty well-dressed, with a dusty appearance and bloodshot eyes, he knew that the past two days were going to be bad.

Wen Mingtang opened his mouth to ask Ji Caimai what happened, but his words were blocked and he couldn't ask anything.

In the end, Ji Caimai nodded to her and said, "Send the snack box and the person away first!"

Adults are no different than children. They can cry when they want and laugh when they want. Even if they feel sad, they still have to brace themselves up and finish the things at hand.

Wen Mingtang naturally understood this truth, and did not ask Ji Caimai why he came back alone, why his nephew, Tangyuan, A Bing, and Liu Yuan, who had gone to Xianyang earlier, did not come back. He turned around and took the New Year's Eve snack boxes with several The handymen moved them out together, and then Ji Caimai sent them to the other party's house one by one according to the predetermined order.

Wen Mingtang also went with two servants and sent them to Yu Jijiu in the Imperial Academy.

After the students went on holiday, the Imperial College immediately became a lot empty. The school hall, which was usually crowded with people, was empty, but the courtyard where Yu Jijiu was staying was quite lively.

When Wen Mingtang and the helper walked in carrying the New Year's Eve snack box, they saw Yu Jijiu and his celebrity friends painting in front of a square stone table in the middle of the courtyard.

Among them were Wang and his favorite disciple Xunzhou.

Wang He is not good at painting, so he and Yu Jijiu, who is also not good at painting, are looking down at everyone painting.

From a distance, I saw a lot of red paintings on the stone table. Looking at the bright lanterns, firecrackers and other folk objects on the painting paper, I thought that the paintings everyone painted were related to the New Year.

Xunzhou, who was fishing behind Wang He, raised his head when he heard the sound of movement. When he saw Wen Mingtang, a hint of joy flashed across his face. He opened his mouth and mouthed "Sister Mingtang."

Wen Mingtang also gestured to him and called "Senior Brother Xun". Yu Jijiu in the compartment saw them, smiled and pointed to the empty stone case aside, and said, "Put it there!"

Several people walked over, put down the New Year's Eve snack box, then took the list, walked to Yu Jijiu and handed the list to Yu Jijiu to look at.

Yu Jijiu glanced at the New Year's Eve snack boxes. After seeing that the number of boxes was OK, he nodded "Yeah" and then said to Wang He who looked up: "I ordered a few boxes of snacks. Let's take one box back today. "

When Wang He heard this, he snorted and said disapprovingly: "I don't like snacks." After saying this, he immediately turned to Xunzhou and said, "Remember to pick up a box when you go back soon, don't forget it! "

Xunzhou nodded in agreement: he was already used to his teacher's incomprehensible words.

Since the New Year was approaching, Yu Jijiu also gave Wen Mingtang and two other servants a bunch of lucky coins each, and then said to them with a smile: "All the best in the new year!"

Several people hurriedly went back to Yu Jijiu to say a few congratulations before leaving the Imperial College.

The people in the Yu Jijiu courtyard were harmonious and happy, but they were not brought back to Dali Temple. Back at Dali Temple, Wen Mingtang was busy preparing dinner for the evening.

After the evening meal, Ji Caimai handed over the public kitchen to the cleaning chores. He called Wen Mingtang to the courtyard of the public kitchen. Looking at Wen Mingtang's slightly guessing face, Ji Caimai sighed and said nothing. He said: "The two temple ministers are fine. Something happened to Lao Yuan... and he left."

Wen Mingtang felt a "thump" in her heart, but the two days of waiting and the inexplicable uneasiness on the day of Tang Yuan did not make her feel too surprised, but an inexplicable feeling of sadness came to her heart.

Tangyuan's mother fell ill shortly after giving birth to Tangyuan, and she died after a few years.

Since then, Lao Yuan has not renewed his relationship. It's not like there are no matchmakers for Lao Yuan. He has his own house in Chang'an and several acres of thin farmland outside the city. Although he is not very wealthy, it is not impossible to marry someone like Lao Yuan if he wants to renew his relationship.

I have never heard Lao Yuan mention the word "dead wife" on weekdays, but staying alone for so many years is far better than some people outside who talk about their dead wives and look affectionate, but then start renewing their relationship before the mourning period has passed. The people are much better.

Whether as a father or a husband, Lao Yuan has done an excellent job.

Now that something happened so suddenly, Wen Mingtang felt sorry for Lao Yuan's departure, but couldn't help but worry about Tang Yuan. Wen Mingtang has been born in two lives, and is an adult inside his shell, so he is better off.

But when the original owner entered the palace at the beginning of the year, the memory of hiding in bed and crying secretly in the middle of the night was still before her eyes.

Wen Mingtang sighed and asked Ji Caimai: "What happened? Lin Shaoqing once said that at noon on the day Tangyuan and the others left, a letter came from Xianyang, saying that everything went well."

"Shortly after sending the letter, a group of them stayed at the Xianyang County Government Office. The government offices in Xianyang County Government Office and other places were closed, and all three meals were delivered from outside." Ji Caimai said, "They were originally going to ask for I left after eating the lunch, but the person who came to deliver the lunch turned out to be..."

…

…

The government office in Xianyang County was burned to a shambles.

Many people were outside the county government office, lamenting that half of the wall of the government office had been burned down: "In broad daylight, those masked villains trapped the adults in the government office with the intention of burning them to death. It's really terrible." It’s so hateful!”

"Isn't that right?" Someone answered, sighed and said, "I was still doing the accounting in the shop when I heard someone outside exclaiming. When I came out, I saw someone carrying a bucket who wanted to put out the fire. He was chopped down to the ground by those evil men, and the yamen was in flames!"

"This was not done secretly by a small group of gangsters, but an open murder of an official of the imperial court!" The people who were lamenting at first were still a little frightened when talking about the situation that day, "If a team of escorts hadn't passed by later, I'm afraid..." Halfway through, they saw the group of bodyguards and a few young officials walking out of the yamen with half of the wall collapsed. The sighing people hurriedly pointed at the group of people and said, "Well, that team of bodyguards saw something wrong and immediately Bringing up the knife, the people in the yamen were able to rush out..."

The escorts who were mentioned by the people were talking to Lin Fei, Liu Yuan, and Bai Zhu about their journey here: "Originally, I wouldn't have arrived in Xianyang that day, but the employer gave me more money. I'm in a hurry to get some New Year's goods, so I'll arrive in Xianyang soon." Having said this, he couldn't help but sigh, "It's a coincidence that we happened to encounter such evil deeds. It shows that God cannot bear to see evil people so rampant!"

Lin Fei nodded in response, but then asked the escorts in front of him: "May I ask some of you, who is the employer of this escort?"