In the wide tent, the red-burned honeycomb coal emitted amazing heat. A pot of snow water that had just been put on was boiling. The brass-made kettle made of water made a sob whimpering sound.

Fan Yong carried the wooden handles on the brass pot and soaked the tea carefully. The tea leaves were good tea, but the tea set was just a large stone pottery bowl with no cover bowl. The brewed one looked like the most ordinary big bowl of tea in a small town.

Seeing the tea leaves in the bowl fluttering and swirling in the boiling water, Fan Xiu'an said to himself, "When I was a teenager, I had two brothers on it, both of whom were born. They should have inherited the Fan family's industry more than me, so I knew since I was a child that the Fan family's industry did not have my share. If you want to live like a person in the future, you must have the ability to settle down."

"At the age of thirteen, I followed my family's caravan to go shopping, starting from the bottom of the apprentice. No one thought I was the third young master of the Fan family, but I was just a guy named A'an. At that time, I would enjoy drinking a bowl of hot tea in winter."

Gao Jin sat quietly opposite Fan Xiu'an, listening to the big shopkeeper of the Suide Merchant Gang talking about his experience when he was a teenager. They walked very quickly. When the snow and snow were at the peak in the afternoon, they left the east gate of Shenmu Fort. At this time, the official road was covered by wind and snow. Although the team either rode horses or took a car, the speed was still not fast.

After heavy snow fell, northern Shaanxi was covered in the wilderness. As soon as the sun fell, I could no longer rush to go, so I could only camp on the spot. After Gao Jin and his friends and servants made the defense of the camp, they were invited by Fan Xiu'an.

"I started from Suidezhou and followed the caravans around the world, from an ordinary guy to a manager, and then to a shopkeeper, until I was twenty-three years old, I had my own caravan. At that time, my elder brother and second brother had several caravans under my command, and they were in charge of most of the Fan family's industries."

Gao Jin listened patiently. In winter, when the sun sets, it is a long night. He has enough time to listen to Fan Xiu'an's story. He was a general teacher who had been a teacher in the border area for several years and also taught himself psychology. During his teaching career in those years, he had provided psychological counseling for many students, so he knew how to listen.

Fan Xiu'an could feel that Gao Jin's listening was not pretending to be a pretentious gesture, but really listening to his words with all his heart, so he gradually relaxed, "Ayong, you go down first!"

"Yes, Master."

Fan Yong respectfully withdrew from the tent. He knew that what his master was going to say next was not something he could hear, but it was the first time he had seen the master talk about so much about himself with someone.

"Ten years ago, in Suidezhou, the Xue family and our Fan family were grain merchants. They had always had a tacit understanding in the past. After all, once the two families fought, they would end up losing both sides and would only make others get a bargain."

"Originally, our two families were in peace, but the backer of the Xue family suddenly fell down and lost their support in the official position. So my father decided to annex the Xue family, but on the contrary, he asked me to marry the Xue family's youngest daughter to stabilize the Xue family..."

Gao Jin could not have imagined that Fan Xiu'an's deceased father was so cruel. While asking his son to marry the Xue family, he secretly arranged to deal with the Xue family, and always kept the Xue family in the dark. It was not until the Xue family took the initiative to ask for help from the Fan family that finally showed their fangs and took away the Xue family's property.

"At that time, I personally dealt with the beginning and end of the Xue family. All thirty-seven people in the Xue family were poisoned by horse thieves outside the city. As for my wife, she later died of sadness because of hearing the news."

Looking at Fan Xiu'an who looked extremely calm when he said this, Gao Jin's eyes finally fell on his hand holding the tea bowl. The slightly trembling tea in the bowl showed that Fan Xiu'an's heart was not calm, so he lowered his voice and asked softly, "What about it later?"

"After that, my father suddenly announced that I would inherit the Fan family's property and designate me to be the next generation of heads of the family." Fan Xiu'an laughed self-deprecatingly, "At that time, everyone in the family said that I was cruel and ruthless, and exchanged my wife's family's life for the position of the head of the family. My two brothers were even more dissatisfied. As a result, not only were all the property they had taken away, but they were also under house arrest."

"Before my father died, I asked me to treat my two brothers well and protect them as wealthy idle people for life."

As Fan Xiu'an said, his expression gradually became ferocious, and his tone was still calm, "I agreed, but I didn't do it. I poisoned them with poisonous wine."

"Brother Gao, do you think that someone who kills my brother like me is extremely guilty?"

"Brother Fan must have something else to do?"

Looking at Fan Xiu'an who was a little crazy, Gao Jin frowned and said, "He didn't believe that a smart person like Fan Xiu'an would kill his brother for no reason."

"There is no secret, but they shouldn't have made the decision for me and killed the Xue family's daughter. No matter what, she is my wife. Even if she dies, she can only die at my hands."

Hearing Fan Xiu'an's words, Gao Jin understood why Fan Xiu'an's murderous intent was to kill his brother.

"Brother Gao, I tell you all this, just want you to know that as long as it is the person I, Fan Xiu'an, want to kill, no matter who he is, he will die!"

"Fan Xian'an, who is the leader of the Fanji Store in Shenmu County, is my uncle's traitor and a dog that is not even as good as an illegitimate child. However, this time he dares to tamper with the food I assigned. There must be someone behind him, maybe it's my two good nephews."

Gao Jin was not interested in the grudges and hatreds in the Fan family's mansion. He was as elegant as a gentleman on the surface, but he was cunning and cruel. His ambitiousness was his impression of Fan Xiu'an. But he didn't expect that Fan Xiu'an would tell him all his secrets about his secrets. He didn't believe that Fan Xiu'an would treat him as a friend who trusted him to life and death.

"Brother Gao, when I go to Shenmu County, what I want to deal with is not Fan Xian'an, but those rats who are secretly daring to plot against me."

"Brother Fan, since you are so honest, I will tell the truth. I will help you clean up your door. I have no choice but to do anything about it, but if it involves the Shenmuwei... I would like to forgive you. I am sorry that I can do nothing and I can't help it."

Before leaving, Gao Jin, who was reminded by Liu Xun, had already figured it out on the way. If he just went to the Fan Ji business in Shenmu County to help Fan Xiu'an kill Fan Xian'an to establish his power, it would be just a family matter of the Fan family. But if it involves the interests of the Shangguans in Shenmuwei, he would have to think twice before he could do it.

Gao Jin was not afraid of killing people, but killing people also depends on the place. In the Ming Dynasty, the imperial power did not go to the countryside. To put it bluntly, the kingly law was only within the city, and outside the city were local tyrants, local gentry and so-called green forest forces in the rivers and lakes were maintaining rules and order.

Shenmu County is exactly where there are kingly laws, not to mention that Gao Jin has offended Xu Tong, the Shangguan in Shenmu Fort, and does not want to offend Shenmu Weili again because of Fan Xiu'an.

It seemed that he had expected Gao Jin's choice, but Fan Xiu'an laughed, "Don't worry, Brother Gao, I will deal with the Shenmuwei properly, and I will never make it difficult for me to do it."

"Just have this sentence from Brother Fan."

"By the way, it's getting late. I'll go out for a patrol. Brother Fan will have a break earlier."

Gao Jin stood up and said goodbye. Who knows the true or false stories that Fan Xiu'an told him, he will not believe them all. Since his father and uncles died, Gao Jin will no longer believe in any outsiders.

When he walked out of the tent, the cold wind outside blew Gao Jin's face and was shocked. He had been in the tent for too long just now, which made him feel lazy. Looking at Fan Yong who had been guarding outside the tent, Gao Jin ordered, "Although the coal stove is easy to use, remember to ventilate. Brother Fan's place has burned a little too much."

"Yes, Grandpa."

After hearing this, Fan Yong quickly lifted a thin slit of the tent to breathe inside. At this time, Gao Jin had already walked into the darkness in the distance and could not see him.

...

The wind and snow were getting weaker. Although there was a fire in the camp, it seemed small and faint, as if it would go out at any time. On a large cart outside the camp, Chen Sheng held the bow and half-squinted his eyes, paying attention to the movements around him. He heard the sound of footsteps, he stretched out and looked at Gao Jin who was walking behind him.

"Second brother, do we really want to help the Fan's surname?"

Chen Sheng frowned. Although Fan Xiu'an had a friendship with them, Chen Sheng was still a little nervous about going to Shenmu County to kill people. He was not Wang Douyang and the others. He felt that it was no big deal to run to the county town to kill someone. There were Wang Laws and Rules there, and Shenmu Wei was also in the county. Only these people could not cause any storm.

"You have any concerns?"

Gao Jin looked at Chen Sheng with encouragement, and then said in a deep voice, "If you have any concerns, tell me?"

"Yes, second brother."

Chen Sheng nodded and expressed his concerns, "The county town is not as wild as in the wild. We will do it at that time. What if Fan's surnamed Fan destroys the bridge across the river? And what if Fan Xian'an has the courage to do this kind of food exchange, he is afraid that he will be involved in the Shenmuwei. Will we offend him in this way..."

"A Sheng, I'm very happy that you can think of so many things."

Gao Jin smiled. He was really happy. Chen Sheng, Wang Dou Yang Dayan and the others were his most trusted companions besides Mulan, but there were too few people who could use their brains like Chen Sheng. Chen Sheng could think of these key points, which was enough to take over Gubei Village instead of him or stand alone in another place.

"We have the final say whether the knife is in our hands. The knife is right in front of our necks. The shopkeeper Fan just now has already told me that he will settle the relationship between Shenmuwei."

Gao Jin and Chen Sheng had a brief relationship. At present, Chen Sheng is the only one among his companions who is worth discussing major issues and entrusting the details. Wang Dou and Yang Dayan still lacked the opportunity. If they were not, they would never think as far as Chen Sheng.

"You will go back to the tent later. Be sure to make it clear to Adou and Big Eyes. When you arrive in Shenmu County, you must not act impulsively. Even if you do something, don't take any action. I say you can only kill you!"

"I understand, second brother, I will explain it to them clearly."
Chapter completed!