It took the six of Huo Yuanji nearly two days to arrive at Bozhou Mansion.
At Tang Fengling's suggestion, they did not choose to alert the local government in Bozhou, but stayed at an inn called Dingshengju in the name of visiting friends.
The shopkeeper of Dingshengju is named Meng, and others call him "Boss Meng". He is a well-known wealthy businessman in Bozhou City, with countless restaurants and inns under his name.
"Sir, do you mean Mr. Liu?" Boss Meng, who was sitting behind the counter, looked at the handsome-looking man in front of him with some suspicion. This guest just moved in today. The six people asked for six upper rooms in total. You must know that the upper rooms in his Dingshengju are not cheap. This guest asked for six rooms at once, which made Boss Meng feel happy. He rose to become the God of Wealth, and he still answered all questions.
"Not bad." Huo Yuanji nodded and put a stack of banknotes on the table. "This is the room fee for the past few days. We will stay at your place for the past few days. If you don't have enough after that, ask me for it." .”
Boss Meng's eyes lit up, he stood up immediately, accepted the stack of banknotes, and asked with a smile: "Sir, you are so polite. I wonder what you want to know about Mr. Liu? I must know everything." "
Huo Yuanji smiled and said: "The shopkeeper is quick to say, in that case, let me tell you straight away, we were sent by the Xuandu Officials Department to inspect the political performance. Therefore, the former Governor Liu Kong is about to join the Officials Department as an official, so the Officials Department specially Send us to Bozhou to secretly investigate Liu Kong's political performance and official reputation here."
Boss Meng nodded when he heard this, then looked around, rolled his eyes slightly, looked at Huo Yuanji and smiled: "In other words, the guest officer is here to investigate Mr. Liu?"
Huo Yuanji nodded slightly, "Exactly."
At the same time, he also added in his heart, but it’s just that he wasn’t sent by the officials.
Boss Meng carefully looked at Huo Yuanji, thought for a long time, and then he seemed to have made up his mind and asked boldly: "Are you sure that Master Liu knows nothing at this time?"
Huo Yuanji frowned slightly. Seeing the shopkeeper's cautious look, he knew that he was in luck. The shopkeeper obviously knew something, but for safety reasons, he did not dare to tell others easily.
He nodded and said with certainty: "Of course." After all, Liu Kong's life or death was uncertain, and there was really no way he could know.
Boss Meng's eyes flickered for a few times, as if he was still a little worried. Finally, he looked at Empress Huo Yuanji again and again, and then said in a somewhat tentative tone: "If you can trust me, my lord, just follow me."
As a master of the Gang Qi separation level, Huo Yuanji was certainly not afraid of any tricks he would play, so he nodded and followed him away from the counter, all the way to the second floor of the lobby, to a private room near the northeast corner.
Boss Meng first invited Huo Yuanji in, and then carefully looked around outside the door. After making sure there was no problem, he gently closed the door and locked it. Then he smiled apologetically at Huo Yuanji, who was already sitting at the table waiting, "Sir, sir. It’s a joke, walls have ears, so be careful.”
Huo Yuanji didn't say anything. He had already seen that Boss Meng was a cautious person, so he asked, "What does the shopkeeper have to say? Can you tell me now?"
Boss Meng nodded, sat down, and while pouring a cup of tea for Huo Yuanji, he slowly said: "Your Excellency, if you want to ask about Mr. Liu's local political achievements and official reputation, I can give you an explanation. Mr. Liu's political achievements Regardless of the official reputation, it can be described in four words, it’s a complete mess.”
Huo Yuanji raised his eyebrows.
The Kowloon Government had previously investigated the Ministry of Personnel files regarding Liu Kong's official performance, and concluded that it was unsatisfactory. Although it could not be called good, it was not bad either.
But what I heard from Shopkeeper Meng now has nothing to do with Hao.
"how do I say this?"
"Liu Kong has been in Bozhou for three years. Corruption and bribery are commonplace, and almost all local merchants have been exploited by him." Boss Meng shook his head, "When he took office, he made it clear that merchants in Bozhou's territory would Every year, I intend to give him ten thousand taels of silver as a filial piety. If you disobey, you will be responsible for the consequences."
Huo Yuanji raised his eyebrows again, this must be Zai Ming's robbery...
"What will be the consequences?"
"The family is ruined!"
As soon as Boss Meng said these four words, Huo Yuanji's face suddenly darkened!
"Three years ago, the Li family in Bozhou was considered a big family with a name and a surname. There were more than a dozen cloth villages under their name. However, because they did not pay him filial piety in the first year, the three sons of the Li family got into lawsuits one after another. Master Liu asked for a bribe from the Li family's master. The Li family's master was convinced that his son was innocent and refused to obey. Therefore, Master Liu beheaded the third son of the Li family on the spot outside the court on the basis that the evidence of murder was conclusive. The Li family's business also suffered. It plummeted, and it wasn’t long before it was swallowed up by others.”
Huo Yuanji's fists clenched suddenly, and the veins on his beautiful hands were looming.
"Is there such a thing?"
"More than that. Almost every merchant in Bozhou City has been extorted by him in this way, and most of them just lost money to avoid disaster. Among them, there are inevitably those who were wronged like the Li family master, and there are also those who are convinced. As long as he gives some money, Mr. Liu can judge the black ones as white and the white ones as black." Boss Meng shook his head and sighed.
Huo Yuanji felt a little angry when he heard this.
But he was not an impulsive person after all, so he looked at Boss Meng and continued to ask: "Don't any of you dare to go to the Ministry of Personnel to sue him?"
Boss Meng shook his head and said: "Master Li, after his son died, he wanted to go to the capital to report. However, before he left Bozhou, he was stopped and severely injured by the Yamen servants of Bozhou Prefecture. After he came back, he was not alive. It didn't take long for him to die. Since then, a team of officers and soldiers have often been stationed at the border of Bozhou to intercept people going to the capital and ask for tolls."
When Huo Yuanji heard this, his anger rose to the sky.
This Liu Kong was simply the overlord of Bozhou and did not take the imperial court seriously at all.
"Okay, thank you for informing me, shopkeeper." Huo Yuanji stood up from his seat, "Please keep these matters quiet for the time being. We may need the shopkeeper's help to testify in the future."
When he heard that he was about to testify, Boss Meng shook his head quickly.
"Sir, don't come to me for this kind of thing. I will only tell you the truth. You should find another way to testify."
Huo Yuanji knew that with his character he would not easily agree to testify, so he smiled and said: "To tell you the truth, I am not an official of the Ministry of Punishment, but the arrester of Jiulong Mansion. Liu Kong is in Xuandu City He was murdered, and I am here to investigate the truth of this case."
"Jiulong Mansion? Is it the Jiulong Mansion where Chen Gong's son is in charge?" Boss Meng opened his eyes wide and asked.
When Huo Yuanji arrived, he didn't expect that Boss Meng actually knew about Jiulong Mansion. He nodded, "Exactly."
Boss Meng's expression changed instantly. He looked at Huo Yuanjia, thought for a while and asked, "My lord said that Lord Liu was killed in the capital, but is it true?"
"It's absolutely true!" Huo Yuanji nodded heavily. Although Liu Kong is only missing at this stage, judging from Min Lin's past experience, it is only a matter of time before he dies. Especially after hearing about his deeds in Bozhou where he was domineering and causing trouble, Huo Yuanji hoped that the Gyeonggi Prefecture would find him more slowly and let the beast die.
This was not in line with his status as an official, but before he was an official, he was still a young and famous hero. When he encountered this kind of moth, he did not take action himself, which was the greatest mercy.
Boss Meng was stunned for a moment after hearing Huo Yuanji's words. Immediately, there was a slight light of joy in his eyes, and he said to himself to the sky, "Old man, did you hear that? That beast is dead, you can rest in peace now." Yes."
Huo Yuanji looked at him with light shining in his eyes.
He was still wondering how Boss Meng, with his prudent and self-protective character, would risk telling the truth to a stranger he had never met before, but now he understood.
"Shopkeeper, how many evil things did Liu Kong do in Bozhou? Please help gather those victims. I will go to the Bozhou government office first to investigate all the case files in the past three years to see if he has How many unjust, false and wrongful convictions are there under my hands?"
Boss Meng nodded when he heard this.
He chose Mingzhe to protect himself because he was afraid of Liu Kong's revenge. Now that Liu Kong was dead, he naturally had nothing to fear.
Huo Yuanji nodded, opened the door at random and left. When he returned to the lobby, he saw that Tang Fengling and Yu Feifei had almost eaten, and Yan Zun and the other three saints had long since disappeared.
"Where are grandpa and the others?"
"Going for a walk on the street." Tang Fengling said with a smile. She finally let Bing Wang and Yan Zun take the master who was a serious disciple away for a walk, and she finally felt a lot more relaxed.
Huo Yuanji nodded and said, "That's right. Are you full? If so, we'll go to Bozhou Government Office."
The two women nodded, but they didn't understand why they suddenly wanted to go to the government office? Didn't we agree to conduct a private investigation now?
"Let's go first. I'll tell you on the way."
The two women followed and left. On the way, Huo Yuanji told them what Boss Meng said about Liu Kong's actions in Bozhou. After hearing this, the two women were equally indignant and wished Liu Kong would die in the hands of the murderer.
