Records of the Cattle and Horses of Chang'an

Chapter 246: The Sound of Hoofbeats at Midnight

Even after Jiang Shangxian finished her bath, no one from the Cui Mansion came to deliver the letter, so she had no choice but to go home disappointedly in her slippers. She didn't know what dishes would be served at the palace banquet tonight, but as a father, she would definitely be more generous than a daughter, so the food would definitely be better than the last time Princess Changle hosted a party.

Hey...Yiyi...she...is greedy...

Xiao Jiang closed her eyes and did oral care with a homemade horsehair toothbrush. Her stomach rumbled from time to time, but she was stubborn and refused to get up to eat again. She didn't want to brush her teeth again, so she had to comfort herself with feudal superstition: if you eat in the middle of the night, after you fall asleep, small insects will crawl into your stomach through your snoring mouth!

As she was doing this mental preparation, the hungry Xiao Jiang finally dozed off and was about to fall asleep when she was startled by the sound of horse hooves outside. She opened her eyes and was stunned for two seconds before she reacted and quickly got up and put on her clothes. Only then did she hear the sound of many horse hooves outside.

Xiongba, who had fallen asleep in the yard, was also tapping his hooves restlessly. She looked towards the gate and saw the light on in the gatehouse. That was where Lao Fan lived.

But she couldn't see him, and Jiang Shangxian felt uneasy. She glanced at the rest of the room, and saw that no lights were on, obviously he was fast asleep.

"Miss Jiang." Old Fan's voice came from the darkness. His voice was very soft, and it was obvious that he was suppressing his voice.

Following the sound, she saw a dark shadow on the wall waving at her. With the help of moonlight and dim light, she realized that the man was Lao Fan.

Jiang Shangxian didn't dare to speak immediately. He ran over carefully and asked quietly until he reached the wall: "What happened?"

Old Fan did not say anything. She only heard the sound of horse hooves getting closer and closer outside, as well as the light of torches. She felt her breathing become heavier. She waited quietly for a long time, not knowing how long it was. The sound of horse hooves gradually faded away, and the light of the torches gradually became farther away. Only then did Old Fan jump down from the top of the wall lightly.

"Ms. Jiang, I told you to come in, why did you come here?" Old Fan was very puzzled. This young lady was too brave. This ordinary young lady in the dark would have been hiding in the house and was too scared to come out.

Jiang Shangxian: .....

No, it was too dark, she thought Lao Fan was waving at her to come over!

"What happened?" Let's skip this topic. It's better to be brave than to have poor eyesight.

The two men kept their voices low as they spoke: "It's Qifei from the Jinwu Guard. I don't know what happened. Why are so many people dispatched in the middle of the night..." (The Jinwu Guard's soldiers are called Qifei)

Old Fan rarely showed a serious expression: "I'm afraid someone is going to be in trouble."

"Jinwu Guard?"

This answer wasn't surprising. Only the Sixteen Guards could be out riding horses in the middle of the night. "Did you see who was leading the group? Was it the General of the Household?"

Old Fan shook his head. "I didn't see his face clearly, but judging by his figure, he shouldn't be a General of the Imperial Guard. He's fine with us. Young lady, you should go back and get some rest. It's cold at night."

"Well, you should go to bed early. Even if anything happens, you will know tomorrow morning." Jiang Shangxian nodded and did not continue standing outside and talking to him.

Lao Fan's voice was faintly heard behind him, carried by the breeze: "With Lao Fan here, Miss Jiang can sleep peacefully. Jiulang said..."

After returning to the house, Jiang Shangxian drank a large glass of cold water before he felt a little better. His stomach felt gurgling, so he sighed, sat on the toilet, filled it with water, and then climbed back into bed and covered himself with the quilt.

Closing her eyes, her mind wandered again.

Old Fan said they were from the Jinwu Guard, but she hadn't heard of any case in the Dali Temple requiring the Jinwu Guard's help. What could it be? So many people had died last year, and she was a little stressed. Seeing the Jinwu Guards made her feel like someone was going to die.

Why....

Let her think about what else the Jinwu Guards are responsible for, besides patrolling the Imperial Palace and Chang'an City day and night, and serving as ceremonial guards and escorts when Erfeng goes out?

Oh! And the power to arrest and detain suspects, and to supervise the execution of prisoners on death row... Yeah, and to secretly investigate officials and maintain public order...

No, secretly investigate all officials!

She suddenly opened her eyes. It was the middle of the night, and the Dali Temple didn't want to help, so the task of arresting the suspect could be crossed out. There was no public order to maintain in the middle of the night, so the only thing left was to secretly investigate the officials!

Who are you investigating? Who's so unlucky? Can this be called a covert investigation? This is an open investigation, right?!

Jiang Shangxian was once again thankful that his family was just ordinary people. After confirming that this matter had nothing to do with his family, Xiao Jiang fell asleep again with a lot of gossip in his mind.

The next day, Xiao Jiang rode his Xiongba to Lexianlou. As soon as he entered, he found that the guys were all gathered together, whispering something. The expressions on their faces were exactly the same as those of the uncles and aunts at the village entrance: solemn, gossipy, and serious...

What are you waiting for? Jiang Shangxian ran to the backyard. Right now, she really needed Zhou Ying, the little trumpet, to give her an entertainment report!

"Xiao Zhou! Xiao Zhou!" Jiang Shangxian tapped excitedly.

"Hey! Master! I'm here!" Zhou Ying excitedly raised his head and dropped the work in his hands and started walking.

The master and disciple met successfully!

"What happened outside? What are the guys talking about so early in the morning? The sound was so quiet that I couldn't hear it even with my ears perked up!" Jiang Shangxian went straight to the point. The sound of horse hooves in the middle of the night last night made her dream that she had washed the horse's butt all night, and she almost fainted from exhaustion.

Why didn't she think in her dreams that there were so many horse butts lined up waiting for her to wash!

Zhou Ying stretched out two fingers and grabbed a small piece of her clothes at her elbow and walked in. He didn't stop until he reached the back. He looked around with a sly look, and successfully earned a pair of roll of eyes from his eldest and third brothers. Then he whispered, "Master, I heard that someone died in the palace last night."

Ouch!

Jiang Shangxian's breathing stopped for a moment, his lower teeth and jaw shifting forward in shock. "Is this true? How can you possibly have information about what's going on in the palace?"

Isn't that incredible? This guy is so well-informed, isn't it a bit of a waste of his talent to be working as a chef? It's a shame he didn't go undercover in northern Myanmar.

Zhou Ying felt that his master looked at him strangely, a bit admiring, but also as if he had some evil intentions...

Seeing that he was hesitant to continue, Jiang Shangxian became anxious and slapped him on the arm: "Just say it, why are you keeping us in suspense?"

"Hey! Hey!" Zhou Ying came back to his senses and suspected that he might have seen it wrong. What could his master plan for him?

"I heard that His Majesty held a banquet in the palace last night, and someone was killed in public because of the prophecy in the city!" Zhou Ying's face was still filled with uncontrollable fear when he said this.

Jiang Shangxian's face was also filled with solemnity, his mouth slightly opened: "Do you know who was... killed?"