I arrived in the capital with a small amount of money, spent some money, and soon found out about Liu Xiaobian.
Liu Xiaobian's errand in Nanyuan is to go on an errand every five days and stay in the garden for five days, and this happens again and again. The day his body was found was not the day he went to work. This man is a bachelor. Except for his sister and brother-in-law who look after him, he has no other relatives. He is often away from home for ten days, so the neighbors are not surprised.
Relying on his brother-in-law's influence, Liu Xiaozhen was very popular in Luocheng, and his friends from all over the world wanted to give him a favor. Because of this, he acted wildly and irrationally, and both ordinary people and friends in the world had a very bad impression of him. Naturally, I don’t have many friends. I have a few fair-weather friends who hang out with him when I have money, but they break up when I have no money.
In addition to his sister, brother-in-law, and other relatives, there was only a prostitute with a half-open door on the banks of the Luocheng River. Her nickname was Jiulixiang, and she was his old sweetheart. Xiao Qian pretended to be a fragrance seeker and found Jiuli Xiang. He lied that he was Liu Xiaobian's friend and was entrusted by him during his lifetime to send his best friend two taels of silver.
Jiulixiang was doubtful because Liu Xiaozhen had few friends and had a lot of debts outside. How could such a loving and righteous friend suddenly appear? But even if she had money to take, she didn't bother to worry about it. Xiao Qian immediately called for food and drinks, talked with her over wine, and after a few cups of yellow soup, Jiuli Xiang told her everything about Liu Xiaobian.
Most of these things are meaningless. But Xiaoqian learned several important things from her mouth.
The first is that Liu Xiaozhen has been working as an errand in Nanyuan for half a year. In the first two months, he expressed his unwillingness to do it many times and even slipped out from time to time. Jiulixiang persuaded him several times. Unexpectedly, starting from September, he suddenly became very energetic. Not only did he go on time every time he came on duty, but he also never slipped or slipped.
So positive, naturally because money can communicate with the gods. Jiulixiang said that Liu Xiaozhen's job was not a serious official job, but just a helper. Naturally, there is no salary. As for the money and "filial piety" intercepted from embezzlement every month, you can't get a few pieces of money. In addition, the eunuchs who are housed in Nanyuan gather in groups and form cliques, which is not easy to mess with. This obviously does not appeal much to Liu Xiaobian, who has always been idle, eating, drinking, whoring and gambling.
But starting from September, he suddenly became wealthy. Not only did he pay off all his debts, but he also gave Jiulixiang a ring and earrings. Give her one tael of silver every month for food and drink.
"One tael of silver a month can only be obtained by a big shop owner in a big shop in the inner city. The servant also felt strange, where did he get all this money. I also asked him, but he only said that he met a noble person to support him, and his current job is profitable. too much."
"Oh, where did he get the noble man to support him like this? Nanyuan is a cold yamen."
"No one can say otherwise. Several eunuchs in charge of Nanyuan often come to our place. They are just eunuchs, but they also show off and say that they are wearing imperial flying fish clothes - I don't care if you are a salted fish in flying fish clothes. When it comes to money, he picks it up." Jiulixiang complained, "So I said I didn't believe it. The damn guy said he was not the eunuch in charge of Nanyuan. I asked him again, but he refused to say more and just said he was a eunuch. "
This was a very important clue. Since the person who supported Liu Xiaobian was a eunuch, he must be related to the kidnapping of Leng Ningyun. He was probably the one who instigated Liu Xiaobian to team up with Wu Yanluo to rob.
"The eunuchs who work in Nanyuan are all 'black' eunuchs in the palace. They lost their power and were sent to this deserted garden. How can they be considered noble people."
"He didn't say that he didn't say that he didn't have power, and the slave didn't know, but he was really rich. Ever since he met this noble man, he always had several taels of silver on him, eating, drinking and having fun everywhere, stuffing it into some dog hole! "
Jiulixiang's words were quite resentful, and the implication was that there was probably a woman outside Liu Xiaobian.
This is not what Xiao Qian cares about. What he cares about most is who Liu Xiaobian's noble person is. He remembered that Third Master Qin had asked the eunuchs in the palace to arrange errands for him in Nanyuan, so he asked who this person was and whether he had heard Liu Xiaozhu talk about it.
Jiulixiang said that she had never heard him mention it. She only knew that he was a powerful eunuch in the palace.
"What's his last name?"
"I haven't heard him say it, but the third master has a good relationship with an eunuch named Cao in the palace. The two of them often interact with each other, so they probably joined his disciples."
At this point, Jiulixiang's jade mountain was about to collapse, and her drunken eyebrows were about to drip with water. She said in a sweet voice: "It's a beautiful day, why are you saying such meaningless words? Come on..."
Xiaoqian rested at Jiulixiang for one night, and the next day he put down a couple of silver and left quietly. He met with Min Zhanlian and reported the information obtained.
"...I think it would be better to make Nanyuan a key reconnaissance target - this garden is a big place and there are very few people. It can completely hide people."
Although Nanyuan is outside the city, it is close to the capital. It is a royal garden, with a high status, and no idlers are allowed to enter. However, it has been abandoned for a long time and its management is lax. As long as an acquaintance leads the way, you can enter and exit freely. Even without acquaintances, there are plenty of places for walls to collapse. Its interior area is vast, densely covered with lakes and swamps, and has lush vegetation, maintaining its original state.
Both Min Zhanlian and He Liansheng knew this was a good place to hide tickets. But the problem is also big. The area of temples and gardens in various places in the capital is quite large, and the area of Nanyuan is second to none. It has a circumference of 120 miles, which is much larger than the capital. Looking for someone without clear clues is like looking for a needle in a haystack.
"It's not like you don't know that Nanyuan is huge. There are only a few of us. Even if we include He Liansheng's people, it would take at least a month to go through Nanyuan." Min Zhanlian frowned, " Nanyuan is a line, go and check it out. Let's see what else Qin Sanye can do - especially the eunuch Cao who introduced Liu Xiaozhu's errands. It's best to know his background. .”
Xiao Wu arrived in Tongzhou and began to investigate the origins of Liu Wei. But this person's background is quite mysterious. Although he travels to Tongzhou and Tianjin in the capital all year round, no one knows which master he works for. This person has a very strict tone and never mentions anything about his master's family. He spends money generously and acts decisively. He maintains a good relationship with officials and officials. Although he does not have a "turf" and does not do "business", he is a "big man" level figure in the scene. Xiao Wu and his two men were busy for two or three days and found nothing.
Seeing that the situation was difficult, Xiao Wu was afraid that continuing to inquire would arouse Liu Zheng's alert, so he asked his men to stop inquiring and only keep an eye on Liu Zheng's woman's residence and pay attention to her actions at all times.
After two or three days, Xiao Wu discovered something strange. Liu Zheng's activities in Tongzhou are actually not mysterious. He just goes to four or five teahouses every day to meet and chat with different people. Although he couldn't hear what they said specifically, he saw that most of these people were local gangsters from Tongzhou, and sometimes there were people from Tianjin.
Such frequent meetings confirmed Min Zhanlian's guess to a certain extent.
In this case, Shopkeeper Leng may not be in the capital. He may be hiding in Tongzhou, Tianjin or even Zhangjiawan. Xiaowu thought. After all, these people are not unfamiliar with making false claims in the East and attacking in the West. This can explain why He Liansheng spent a lot of manpower and material resources in the capital but got nothing.
But based on these alone, it is not possible to confirm that Liu Zheng is a member of the kidnapping gang, because there are similar needs for other black businesses.
If he were an ordinary person, he could use his snitch skills to sneak into the outer house to find out. This mansion is his base for activities in the Tongzhou area, so there must be something important stored there. However, this person was born as a factory guard and had been wandering around the world for many years. His comings and goings would inevitably leave traces and only arouse suspicion. And this is not the theft of gold and silver treasures or a specific item. It would be inconvenient to search for clues in the house at night.
Just as the investigation in Tongzhou reached a deadlock, a rather sudden news came from Luocheng: Qin Erlang was dead.
This Qin Erlang is the brother of Qin Sanye, the land tiger in Luocheng. It's just that this brother is doing a serious business. He travels between Zhangjiakou and Tongzhou every year, selling imported goods. He was not a wealthy businessman, but he was from a well-to-do family.
Doing export business requires dealing with the Mongols, local yamen, and garrison officers and soldiers. Ever since the imperial court and the Donglu came to war, foreign export business has actually become "illegal." Selling over long distances is very risky, so Qin Erlang is no ordinary businessman. Not only does he have a group of thugs, he also has a lot of kung fu. He is also considered a figure in the Beijing area.
Such a well-known figure died inexplicably in the moat north of the capital city. When he picked it up, he found that he had been strangled to death. The most terrifying thing was that the tongue in Qin Erlang's mouth had been cut out alive.
The warning is very obvious in this way. The news immediately attracted Li Rufeng's attention. The person who killed Qin Erlang must be a member of the kidnapping group. The reason is simply that he came here specifically to report that he had encountered Leng Ningyun on the road in Haidian, a suburb of Beijing. The kidnappers probably used this to intimidate all relevant insiders.
It's just that it was almost ten days ago that Qin Erlang came to report. The gangster wanted to kill someone as a warning, so why did he wait until now to take action? Li Rufeng was quite confused. It was not a secret that Qin Erlang came to report the whereabouts of Shopkeeper Leng. Qin Erlang himself had no intention of concealing it.
Could it be that Qin Erlang had mastered some secret that led to his death?
The most strange thing is Mr. Qin. This squatter in Luocheng cried bitterly in the mourning hall and vowed to catch the murderer and avenge him. However, after he came back, he did nothing. He didn't even go to the teahouse and stayed at home every day. , said to the outside world that it was because he was "overly sad and sick."
"Xiaoqian, now you have to work harder on Mr. Qin." Min Zhanlian said, "There must be something wrong with him!"
(End of chapter)
