Soon, they figured out Liu Ying's activities in Tongzhou.
He appeared in Tongzhou as a fortune teller who divined and read Feng Shui. He was said to be quite effective and very famous in the local area. Tongzhou has a wide range of contacts, and has friends in officialdom, shopping malls and in the world.
"Looking at fortune telling and feng shui? Have you ever ordered him?"
"I didn't dare to show up directly. Fortunately, his business was very good. I listened to his words in the crowd. It was not an omission. It was indeed the golden point of plum blossoms." Xiao Wu was slightly surprised.
Min Zhanlian said: "It's not surprising. The detectives in charge of the Zhenfu Division often have special skills, and they are very familiar with the tricks of the rivers and lakes."
Xiaowu went on to say that Liu Zhen had a foreign house in Tongzhou and raised a woman. Every time he came to Tongzhou, he always lived in the foreign house.
"...This woman was originally from the Lehu family. It is said that Liu Wei spent a lot of money to comb her hair. Even the house and expenses cost no less than a thousand taels of silver. They even hired an old couple to serve her."
Zhou Ruolan said: "There must be something wrong with this person!"
Min Zhanlian nodded: No matter how good he is by selling divination and reading Feng Shui, raising an outhouse may not be shocking, but grooming a girl from the Lehu family is beyond the reach of ordinary people - even if he worked for Jin Yiwei. Can't do it.
The abnormal consumption level means that he must have made black money, or is in urgent need of making more black money to fill the hole.
Desire is hard to fill. Min Zhanlian has been in the industry for fifteen years and has seen countless people fall for these four words. Speaking of which, if he hadn't been greedy for the high reward from the Nanwuliang Sect, he wouldn't have fallen into the hands of Taoist Master Fu.
When Liu Zhen was in Tongzhou, he sold divination in a teahouse. Therefore, it was difficult for Xiaowu and the others to keep an eye on someone specifically - for no other reason than that there were too many people Liu Zhen had seen and spoken to in one day, and the surveillance team simply could not follow them one by one.
"This slick guy is indeed an old Jianghu." Min Zhanlian thought to himself. When they met at a teahouse, the people who were following him could track down the people he had met. But if his tea-drinking colleagues were also selling divination, there would be countless people. And both parties can convey the message by secretly exchanging three-finger notes.
From this point of view, it would be very difficult to catch him by the tail in Tongzhou. In normal times, since he was on errands for important people in the capital, he was only staying in Tongzhou temporarily and would have to return to the capital sooner or later. As long as we can keep an eye on his traces in the capital, we won't be afraid of finding the big boss behind the scenes.
However, it has been more than half a month since Elder Leng was kidnapped, and there is no news at all. Now everyone's hopes are focused on Liu Yi. He has no time to wait for changes. He can only open a breakthrough from this clue as soon as possible!
After much thought, Min Zhanlian decided not to wait any longer and directly used "ask the God of Wealth" to ask for relevant information. It would be best if there is information about the whereabouts of Elder Leng; if not, use him as bait to capture the people who come to contact you, and then follow the clues.
"What if you don't say anything even to death?" Xiao Wu was a little worried, "He is from Jinyiwei."
"Impossible." Min Zhanlian smiled, "We have traveled around the world for many years, and we still have this ability. He has only been a royal guard, not a man of steel. Besides, in addition to giving him hardships, you can also give him sweetness. . These people are all blind to money."
The calculation was settled, Min Zhanlian immediately assigned his men, made a plan, and prepared to capture him.
Unexpectedly, the plan was decided upon, and news came from Xiao Wu again.
"Something happened at Liu Zheng's place!"
"What?!" Min Zhanlian suddenly became energetic. Only with change can there be opportunities.
"Last night, someone knocked on the door of Liu Zheng's residence. He seemed to be in a hurry."
In this time and space, people with some status would not come without telling them, and they would have to send someone to contact them in advance to set a date. Those who came directly to the door were either very good friends or had something urgent to do.
"What does the person look like?"
"A middle-aged man in his forties, dressed as if he were an attendant of a wealthy family. He seems to have traveled a long way."
"What about the accent?"
"It's not local, and it's not the accent of the capital. Speaking of it...it is somewhat similar to Cao Sheng."
"Yes, yes," Min Zhanlian said, "This is the accent of Beizhili. Please continue."
"After this man entered Liu's house, he never came out." Xiao Wu said, "Originally, this was nothing unusual, but early this morning, the person who arranged to monitor the house reported that Liu Wei's woman came out to buy it in person. Showing panic."
"Oh?" Min Zhanlian suddenly became interested. Women rarely show up in public. Although women from the Lehu family are not that particular, judging from the monitoring situation these days, at least when Liu Wei was in Tongzhou, she rarely went out. Things like purchasing are left to the old couple around you.
"It's just a matter of going out to buy it in person, but she actually went to the lime shop!"
"Lime Shop?!" Min Zhanlian's pupils suddenly shrank.
As the name suggests, a lime shop is a place where lime is sold. There are only two uses: one is to mix mortar to build walls when building a house, and the other is to put lime bags in the coffin during funerals to absorb water and prevent odor.
Liu Zheng's mansion shows no signs of needing repairs from the outside, and no carpenters or masons have come in or out recently. Obviously not for house repairs.
Could it be that Liu Yi is dead? !
If you die of a sudden illness, even if you are in the guest place, you have to ask a local funeral shop to conduct a simple funeral, and then bury the person in the coffin. There is no rule of burying the person immediately after death. Besides, the coffin is not even sent. What to buy lime for?
"Did you ask?"
"Yes, the man said that my wife's house needs to be repaired and asked them to send some lime there that day."
"Did she go to the masons afterwards?"
"No, I bought lime and went back in a panic. Since then, the door has been closed, no one comes in or out, and even Liu Zhen is nowhere to be seen."
"Tell everyone to keep watching." Min Zhanlian was very excited and glanced at Zhou Ruolan, "Ruolan, what do you think happened inside?"
Zhou Ruolan smiled slightly: "It goes without saying. Someone died inside! There was probably blood spattered on the wall. I just don't know who died. I guess it was the guest who visited in a hurry. Oh, by the way, maybe Liu Zheng won’t be able to sell divination for a while.”
"You mean Liu Zheng was injured?" Xiao Wu didn't believe it.
"If he wasn't injured, why would he ask a woman to come out to do things?" Zhou Ruolan said, "Something must have happened. Liu Ying couldn't get out himself, and he couldn't trust the mother-in-law and his wife who were serving him, so he asked the woman to come out."
"If you get injured, don't you call a doctor or buy medicine for red wounds?"
"Since he is a member of the Jinyiwei family, how can he not have red wound medicine with him? Besides, if he needs to buy lime, it must have not been processed on site."
Min Zhanlian thought about it carefully and found that Zhou Ruolan's speculation was not unreasonable. He thought for a while and said: "Well, it's a long night and a lot of dreams. Let's go visit him tonight and see what kind of medicine is sold in the gourd!"
Liu Zheng's house is not in Tongzhou City, but in Guanxiang outside the city, close to the canal dock.
This place is close to Tongzhoucang. Most of them lived in the residences of officials who worked in Caoyun and Tongzhou Cangzhong. They were neither rich nor humble, had convenient transportation, and were quiet in the middle of the hustle and bustle. It was an ideal place for people like Liu Zheng. The house is built of gray bricks, and its front door is inconspicuous in the streets.
Xiaowu's team has been monitoring the house 24 hours a day, so there is no chance of an ambush. After the second update, Min Zhanlian's team climbed over the wall and entered. Effortlessly, he controlled the old couple in the concierge.
After a brief interrogation, the old couple confessed that they were the only two servants in the mansion, and there was no one else. "Master and Mrs." are resting in the main room.
The two of them immediately climbed onto the pillar and stretched themselves to the top of the room. One person holds a crossbow, and the other person holds a sharp blade.
The crossbow is a ratchet compound crossbow specially made by Lingao. It has a charging spring and a built-in roller magazine that contains eight short arrows. It can be fired four times with one winding. Four crossbow bolts are mounted in magazines. Although the size limits the range to only 25 meters, it is enough for urban special operations.
Xiao Wu climbed up the wall, threw a handful of loose powder, and a bright silk thread immediately appeared behind the hanging flower door.
Although you can't see it, there must be a copper bell hanging on the other end of the silk thread. Whenever someone opens the door, the bell will ring.
He squatted on the wall and just looked at the courtyard silently. His night vision is excellent. Ever since he started eating this bowl of rice with Master, Master would often buy him liver, fish and shrimp to eat, and would often take him out to "do work" at night, so he developed a pair of "night eyes" over the years.
With a little dim light, he saw a path under the wall of the yard. Although it was dark, the colors had distinct shades. From his experience, he probably knew that the paving was gravel or shell fragments. It makes a sound when someone steps on it.
He grabbed the wall with both hands and quietly came down against the wall, with only the toes of his feet touching the ground. After he stabilized his body, he held on to the wall and moved little by little under the hanging flower door. He found the copper bell, held the tongue of the bell and cut the thread.
He took out a small bottle from the treasure bag at his waist and quickly injected grease into the door latch and door hinge to prevent it from making a squeaking sound when it was started. Only then did the hanging flower door open, and everyone filed in.
The main room in the courtyard has a lamp like a bean, and there is a medicinal fragrance in the air.
Just as his men were about to rush into the main room, Min Zhanlian raised his hand to pause and signaled everyone to guard the doors and windows of the side room. After waiting for a while, Min Zhanlian raised his hand and threw a stone at the corridor of the main room.
At this time, everything was silent, and the sound of stones hitting the steps was very loud. I could only hear a woman in the main room trembling: "Who is it?!"
At this moment, the three team members who were guarding the door of the west wing had broken through the door and window and rushed into the wing like tigers attacking prey. Not long after, two bamboo whistles were heard from the side room: Success!
Immediately, other team members broke into the main room and the east wing.
There were two bamboo whistles in the main room, but only one in the east wing.
According to the agreement, two sounds meant that the enemy was captured, and one meant that there was no one.
Min Zhanlian made no move and remained alert. After a while, a bamboo whistle came from the direction of the backyard, and he breathed out slightly. Whispered: "Let's go!"
(End of chapter)
