陈洛找到一个孤零零的仆人,躲在阴影中,迅速抓住仆人的脖子,一只手将他抬进了灌木丛中.速度如此之快,以至于仆人甚至来不及反应.当他回过神来时,他的眼神还是有些迷茫.
但下一秒,当看到陈洛凶狠而威胁的目光时,仆人顿时浑身发抖.
但下一秒,当看到陈洛凶狠而威胁的目光时,仆人顿时浑身发抖.
"爷爷,饶了我吧,求你饶了我!"
陈洛一松开手,仆人立刻跪倒在地,头接连快速地砸在地上.从他的动作来看,他显然最近经常被抓获,并且已经变得相当熟练.但这是意料之中的.青雅县此刻一片混乱,到处都是士兵抓捕"叛军".那些无法生存的人自然会尝试从源头寻找食物.
"我问你一件事."
陈洛踢了他一脚,示意他起身说话.
"青雅县县长在哪里?"
"在温暖的秋亭里!从这里直走,你会看到一个圆形的大门——这就是它所在的地方.
仆人没有一秒钟的犹豫,就把他的主人卖掉了.看来他甚至害怕陈洛找不到地方,所以他仔细描述了三扇门的样子.
察觉到路线后,陈洛抬起右手,将仆人打昏,将他扔进了附近的灌木丛中.然后他又抓了两个人,用同样的方法询问他们,收到了同样的信息.
确认没有失误后,他控制住自己的动作,轻轻地朝着暖秋阁跃去.
暖秋阁是后宅的一个小庭院.
它的布局与四合院非常相似,中央是正殿,两侧是侧室,中间是一个小庭院.有一个圆形的花盆,里面长着一些观赏植物——陈洛不认识它们,但在他看来,它们看起来像狐尾草.
"那个混蛋范太霸道了!他利用青崖县的资源做生意,却只给我这点钱!他把我当作什么,一个乞丐?
一个愤怒的声音从房间里传来.
"为什么还要对他这样的人生气呢,大人?那个范家伙不过是个粗俗的武者——这是他人生的巅峰.除了金钱,他还能追求什么呢?但是你,我的主人,是不同的.只要这件事处理好,谁知道呢?它甚至可能让你有机会被授予头衔或被任命为高级官员.
另一个声音响起——听起来像是领主身边值得信赖的顾问.
"我当然明白其中的道理.只是我无法吞下这份愤怒.
第一个声音的语气明显缓和了下来.
"如果大人真的放不下这事,也许我们可以试试其他方法.我们可以..."
砰!!
话还没说完,附近的窗户就被砸开了,一个人影像幽灵一样溜了进来.窗户上碎木头和撕裂的纸张散落一地.
闯入者没有浪费一个字——他抓住了扬声器的喉咙,猛烈地扭动它.
随着一声尖锐的噼啪声,刚才还在说话的顾问沉默了下来,他的脖子向后猛地一缩.
他杀错人了吗?
陈洛看了一眼手中的身影,眉头微微皱起.
他是循着声音进来的,但没想到最后会勒死一个顾问.幸运的是,对方没有逃脱,如果需要的话,他可以再次杀人.
"你是谁?!"
县长 Lou 的脸上充满了恐惧,他后退了一步.
他遇到过很多凶猛的土匪,但这是他第一次遇到直奔血腥而来的人.
难道他是来杀我的吗?我还剩下那么多银子...
陈洛无意在他身上浪费时间.他是一个总是直截了当的人.
With a single flick of his hand, the dead advisor was tossed aside like garbage. His body collided with the furniture, rolling off to one side, knocking over two teapots that had been brewed on the table, spilling them all over.
These useless fools, who couldn't even fight, Chen Luo couldn't be bothered to collect their "brains." These two weaklings were actually scheming against the imperial expert? If it weren't for the protection of the imperial laws, they wouldn't even have ten lives to pay for their reckless actions.
Sensing the killing intent radiating from Chen Luo, Magistrate Lou had already backed into the corner. As he saw Chen Luo approaching, he opened his mouth, ready to beg for mercy.
"Good man..."
Before the words could leave his mouth, Magistrate Lou felt a blur before his eyes, and then lost sight of the figure before him. The next instant, a sharp pain pierced through his chest, and then his body shot straight into the air.
With a dull thud, Magistrate Lou's rotund body slammed into the back wall, his eyes wide open in shock, a trickle of blood sliding down from the corner of his mouth.
"Calling me a good man won't help."
Withdrawing his bloodstained hand, Chen Luo's gaze flickered with a trace of disappointment.
He had initially thought Magistrate Lou possessed some martial skill, but it turned out he was truly just an ordinary scholar.
The body slid down the wall, leaving a horrifying streak of blood behind.
After killing the man, Chen Luo glanced around the room, his gaze finally settling on the table. There, a money pouch was brimming, filled entirely with one-thousand-tael banknotes. A quick estimate suggested there were at least a hundred thousand taels!
So much money?!
Chen Luo was also somewhat stunned.
This was no small sum. An ordinary person might never see so much money in their entire life.
Recalling the conversation he had overheard before entering, he immediately understood where the money had come from. It was most likely sent by that General Fan, meant to "bribe" the beggars.
"So much money, and it's just to bribe beggars? Which beggars are making this much? Why didn't you tell me?"
Chen Luo had gained a new perspective on the money concept of people like County Magistrate Lou and his group.
He took a few steps forward and tucked the money pouch into his chest. The banknotes inside were all unregistered; naturally, people like County Magistrate Lou wouldn't use registered banknotes for such dealings.
After collecting the money, Chen Luo glanced at the door.
There had been quite a commotion earlier, yet no one had come in. This showed the kind of authority Magistrate Lou had. His servants were too scared to meddle with their master's affairs; they didn't dare to listen or ask questions. Another powerful aura also showed no signs of moving—perhaps they hadn't heard the noise, or maybe they simply didn't want to get involved.
With this, Chen Luo no longer felt in a hurry to leave.
His junior sister hadn't been found yet, and he had come in, taken some money—how could he explain that?
His gaze swept around the room and then fixed on the bookshelf at the back.
Chen Luo walked over to the bookshelf, opened it, and picked up a book to flip through. It was about romantic tales of wind, flowers, snow, and the moon, but it held no value. Skipping that one, Chen Luo flipped through several more. Unfortunately, most of them were ordinary books read by scholars.
Chen Luo then walked to the second bookshelf, took down a few books from it.
This shelf was filled entirely with account ledgers.
The records were extremely detailed, documenting the income and expenses of various departments in Qingya County, along with evidence of bribery accepted by important officials. In the context of Qingya County's officialdom, these could fetch quite a bit of money. But to Chen Luo, these things were no different from scrap paper.
The third one. The fourth one.
Chen Luo walked all the way to the last bookshelf and finally discovered something different.
"What is this?"
He flipped open the outermost book that was blocking it and took out a wooden box from the hidden compartment inside. The box was secured with a copper lock.
"Could it be some treasure?"
Chen Luo's spirits were immediately lifted.
Without saying another word, he channeled his inner energy into his fingers and squeezed with force.
With a 'crack' sound, the copper lock snapped apart.
"Letters?"
Chen Luo felt a bit disappointed at what was inside the box. It wasn't a treasure, nor a martial arts manual, but a stack of thick letters.
Chen Luo quickly skimmed through a few of them and soon caught an important name.
Prince Ning!