What happened in Chang'an City was deliberately concealed. Li Dalang and others got some news at the inn while they were still on the road half a month later.
"Boss, what should we do? Do you still want to follow?"
Li Dalang lit the message left by the bad guy with a candle, and only after it was completely burned did he say Wang Dangdao, Gao Haiping and the remaining dozen brothers in the room said: "The news only said that the Gao family was imprisoned for treason, but it did not say which other family was involved in the Gao family's rebellion.
Either the Shen family had something to do with the Gao family, and the Gao family had not confessed to the Shen family;
Or the Shen family had already left a way out for themselves, and they were not afraid.
There is no news from above and the mission has not been cancelled, so we will continue to follow.
We’ll have a look when we get to Jiangnan, and we’ll talk about it then. "
Li Dalang made the right decision, and everyone convinced him. After arranging their respective tasks for everyone, Li Dalang still told the three people who were out watching: "Be careful. Life is important, write down what you see first. "
Li Dalang has been following the Shen family's caravan these days. He didn't notice that Shen Fangming looked a little bit scared. Everything was normal, as if the Shen family had not received the news that the Gao family's entire family had been imprisoned. .
“Weird, weird. ”
No matter how strange it felt in my heart, the task of their team was just to follow and follow up, and to communicate with bad people at any time and pass on information.
So, when Li Dalang did not receive other tasks from his superiors, he still tried his best to do the task at hand.
As we get closer and closer to Jiangnan, the water vapor is getting more and more abundant. When Li Dalang got up early in the morning, he felt the humidity in the air and really felt uncomfortable.
I lived in Chang'an for more than ten years and got used to the climate there. Later I went to Border Pass and stayed in Shule for nearly a year. My body had not adapted to the dry climate, so I came to Duoshui again. Jiangnan.
Li Dalang looked at the mist on the distant mountain peaks and felt that it was indeed like water and soil on one side.
"Boss, the boatman told us to go early, so we can wait at the dock."
Yes, after entering the Jiangnan East Road, waterways extend in all directions, and the Shen family caravan is ready to transfer. The waterway flows down the river.
Fortunately, there are still two other merchants who have been following the Shen family caravan and plan to take the water route. Otherwise, it would be a bit awkward for Li Dalang and his group to continue to follow.
I drove the car to the dock smoothly and loaded boxes of goods onto the ship. After Li Dalang paid for the laborers and settled the bill, he sat on the bow of the ship and chatted with the boatman.
First they chatted about the daily life, and then Li Dalang asked, seemingly unintentionally, about the Shen family on the big boat in front: "I see it's not just our boat that is following the Shen family. ?
The Shen family won't allow us to follow, right?
Will you evict people? ”
After the boatman threw the rope in his hand to his Dalang, he sat down next to Li Dalang. Li Dalang handed over a water bag from his waist. The boatman waved his hand, and Li Dalang insisted on passing it over. Li said: "It's just some thin wine, and there are some deadbeats along the way.
This is the first time for our team to take this waterway, and we hope that the boatman will take care of us. "
Li Dalang's words have reached this point. The boatman can't refuse anymore, so he accepts the wine in the water bag.
Opening the stopper of the water bag, the boatman lowered his head and sniffed, and smiled happily: "It's Zhou Ji's pear blossom white. Hehe, I have accepted the favor of my boss."
The boatman is a rule-abiding person, but he just smells After a few clicks, the stopper was inserted. Seeing Li Dalang's confusion, the boatman explained with a smile: "It's estimated that we will be able to pass in half an hour, so we can't miss anything by drinking.
The boss gave us good wine. Now that you have some free time, let me have a good taste.”
After receiving the good wine from Li Dalang, Li Dalang always complimented the boatman, so the boatman started talking to Li Dalang. "Don't worry, boss, the Shen family will definitely not chase us retail investors who are following behind.
When sailing on the water, it is naturally best to have a large number of people. After all, these are serious business people.
If something happens, we can take care of each other.
And by following the fleet of such a large merchant, we can also get some cheap ones, which is good for both parties. ”
Li Dalang chatted with the boatman for a while, and then he got in line smoothly and arrived at his own house in order. Then he sailed out of the dock and went down the river.
Continuously. After staying on the water for two days and three nights, the boat finally arrived at a larger pier called Shiliu Bay in the middle of the third day.
"Boss, the front is Shiliuwan. Let's take a look, boss, should we follow the Shen family's merchant ship and continue down there, or continue down?"
Li Dalang naturally said that he would stop with the Shen family. .
And this Sixteenth Bay is also the contact point that the superiors told Li Dalang earlier, so Li Dalang naturally wanted to stop here.
In the name of going ashore to sell and purchase goods, Li Dalang left half of the people on the boat and took the other half ashore.
“Don’t worry, boss, the young man and his boys will definitely guard the ship together with the boss’s crew.
Furthermore, these sixteen bays are safe with the Du Family Army present. ”
After being handed over by the boatman, Li Dalang went to find the address mentioned before.
Of course, the manpower brought out on the road were also assigned tasks by Li Dalang. They should keep an eye on Shen The caravan continued to follow, and Li Dalang only took Wang Daring to the contact point.
He found a grain store on Bishui Street and entered it. After saying a code word to the receptionist, he was led into the backyard. Son.
After handing over the recently obtained information, the old man with gray hair sitting opposite Li Dalang gave Li Dalang an envelope with a wax seal on it.
"It contains the new mission given to you by the superiors. You can read it after you return to the ship."
After that, the old man served tea to see off the guests.
Li Dalang was also unambiguous. He glanced at the wax seal and put it on his chest. Then he cupped his hands in front of the old man and left the grain shop with Wang Daring.
After the two left the grain store, they went to buy some local specialty goods before hiring a car and waiting at the street corner to follow the brothers and returned to Shiliu Bay together.
The boatman took his two sons to help Li Dalang and the others load the newly purchased goods onto the ship. Li Dalang knew how to be a good man, and signaled Wang Bingdao to hand over an oil paper bag: "I heard it on the street. The roasted chicken here is so delicious, I will stay with the boatman for the rest of my life.”
"Hey, it's Yu Ji's roast chicken. Thank you so much, boss.
Don't worry, boss, I will row this boat well."
I stayed in the small room in the cabin, Gao Haiping and Wang Dadan stood around for a while before settling at the door. Li Dalang inside took out the letter in his arms and tore open the wax seal. There was only one page inside.
After reading the content on the paper, Li Dalang's face immediately became solemn. He raised his hand and poured the water from the tea cup onto the page. He watched the ink on it blur out and couldn't see it at all. After figuring out what he was writing, he reached out and crumpled the tea-soaked paper into a ball and threw it into the river. (End of this chapter)