"According to Mr. Xu Zhai, Hu Kangzhi has returned to Beijing from other places."
Cui Yi stood at the bottom of the steps and raised his hand to Ye Yongjia to report.
"You should be more cautious when doing things," Ye Yongjia gently brushed the railing with his hand, "ask Xu Zhai to find out again, what kind of errand did Hu Kangzhi do?"
"My subordinate asked about it, and Xu Zhai said that it is a secret and it is really difficult to know. But I saw that he often comes in and out of the house, as if he is very busy, so there should be something inside."
"Then we can only fight again," Ye Yongjia sighed, "But we don't have the power to investigate without authorization. How can we catch him?"
Cui Yi said: "Hu Kangzhi is an official of the central government after all. Once he is arrested, he will definitely be alerted. And most of his confidants are servants in the house and have no power. Maybe he can attack these people."
"There has to be an excuse."
"This is easy to handle. These people often hang out in the market, so they don't have to worry about finding any dirt."
Ye Yongjia was overjoyed and ordered him to handle the matter quickly and report back immediately if there was any progress.
Cui Yi had also been among the people in his early years, so he was well-connected around the capital. Within a few days, he gathered a few old friends to ask about the anecdotes of Hu Kang's house. During the chat, I learned that there was a guest in Hu's house named Ding Chang. Because he owed a lot of money in a foreign country, he fled to Hu Kangzhi to make a living, hoping to avoid the limelight.
Cui Yi was very interested, and then asked this man what his status was in the Hu Mansion, and everyone said: "He often goes to restaurants and gets very drunk. When he is drunk, he talks about how he entered the palace and how he summoned people for his master. Once he even showed us an official seal, which shocked the brothers."
After hearing this, Cui Yi sneered a few times, then took out twenty taels of silver and scattered it on the table: "Please do me a small favor."
"You are an official now. Why are you so reserved? Just tell me."
"Is there a special place to lock people up? It needs to be hidden. My punishment department can't do it."
"There is a ruined temple at the entrance of the village outside the city. It is surrounded by overgrown weeds and there is basically no one around."
Cui Yi nodded with satisfaction, divided the money in half among the people, and sent them all away. He quickly returned to the Ministry of Punishment, dispatched officials, and prepared to kidnap Ding Chang.
Following Hu Kangzhi's order, Ding Changzheng went to the East Palace to handle matters. When everything was in order, it was almost evening. He walked back home as usual and walked into a dark alley.
Suddenly, there was the sound of chaotic footsteps behind him, which made him break out in cold sweat. He turned around suddenly, but saw no one. Just when he was frightened, several strong figures rushed to his right and grabbed him.
"You boy, you turned out to be hiding in the capital to avoid debts!" The yamen servant's eyes were like bells, and his saliva was sprayed on his face.
"who are you?"
"Don't you know the rich man Yu who lent you the money?"
Ding Chang suddenly changed his expression and shouted loudly: "I am different now. I am a guest of Master Hu! If you dare to do this, be careful of the whole family suffering!"
"Fuck you, come with us if you don't pay back the money!" After saying that, he put shackles on his hands, covered his eyes with blue cloth, stuffed him into the carriage, and drove out of the city.
"Let him have a good look."
With just one command, the green cloth in front of Ding Chang's eyes was gently taken off. He opened his eyes and saw that he was in an empty room. The surroundings were covered with dust and the walls were old and looked like they were about to collapse. Same as going down.
"Where...where is this?" He shrank his neck and asked uneasily.
"You don't need to worry about where this is," the officer said, standing in front of him with one foot on the table. "We won't kill you. As long as you meet our requirements, we will let you go immediately."
Ding Chang kowtowed hurriedly and begged: "Masters, please do well. Don't think I am from the Hu family. I really don't have much money!"
"If you don't have money, you can exchange it for information." The person next to him fanned the flames.
"What kind of information?"
The yamen servant responded: "We heard that your master was once placed under Lan Yuan's command and drafted a list of denouncers with six or seven people. Have you seen those people?"
Ding Chang thought for a moment and replied: "Mr. Hu is very friendly with them. He often invites them to his house for drinks. Of course I have met him a few times, but unfortunately I can't remember a name. The day after tomorrow happens to be Mrs. Hu's birthday, and I want to buy a banquet. , they will also come.”
The officer asked: "Are you sure all those people will come to the banquet?"
Ding Chang hesitated for a moment: "Absolutely. After all, Lan Yuan has been sent to prison, and they are all afraid of being involved. If they get together like this, they can take care of each other if something happens."
The yamen servant secretly made a note in his mind and asked: "Who is the new guest at your place?"
"It's a king with a different surname, named Wan Heshun."
"Wan Heshun?" The officer frowned, and his heart began to beat suddenly, "Don't talk nonsense! This person has been guarding Jianghuai, how could he abandon his military power and come to Beijing alone!"
Ding Chang looked confused, pointed to his ear and said: "I heard it really clearly, and there was absolutely no mistake in a word! Just looking at the style, he doesn't look like an ordinary person. But... I don't know what he is doing." The purpose of the trip.”
Realizing the seriousness of the problem, the government officials temporarily suspended the interrogation and discussed urgently: only two people were left here to guard the situation, and the others went back to report the news.
Ding Chang panicked now, crawled forward four or five steps, grabbed someone's trouser leg, and shouted with all his strength: "You have made an agreement with me, and you will let me go after I explain! Why don't you follow the preamble?"
The two guards who were guarding the Yamen were furious and drew their swords to force him to retreat: "Hasn't the situation changed? If you dare to talk too much, you may have your head chopped off!"
Ding Chang had no choice but to beat the ground and cry bitterly, complaining against heaven and earth.
"The news is not good..."
After hearing Cui Yi's report, Ye Yongjia hit his thigh several times, leaned back, and sighed.
"I really can't figure it out," Cui Yi said, shaking his head. "Why did Wan Heshun run to the capital in good condition? Why did he still do it secretly? What kind of tricks is Chen Dang doing? Why don't you... present this matter to the emperor first?"
"No," Ye Yongjia said in a very decisive tone, "What if this is false news deliberately spread by Chen Dang? We have to be on guard. Now we can only succeed if we respond to the ever-changing changes by remaining unchanged and getting rid of all distracting thoughts. In other words : The road leads to darkness."
Cui Yi smacked his lips: "Then... I'll do what you want. Continue to use Ding Chang and deceive Hu Kang again."
"How do you want to cheat?" Ye Yongjia sat up.
"Since those people are going to the banquet, we will..." At this point, Cui Yi suddenly covered his mouth and whispered in Ye Yongjia's ear for a while.
Ye Yongjia's eyes gradually widened and his eyebrows knitted together: "If you do this, won't it more easily cause shock to the court?"
Cui Yi's eyes were firm: "With Wan Heshun as a factor, we have to hurry up. When the time comes, as long as the case is closed within twelve hours, we guarantee that there will be no problems!"
