For Shen Hao, the imperial city does not feel strange, and it is far from a place he has "little contact with".
The six people brought from Fengli City, including Wang Yiming, now have little room to move. Not only the officials from the Ministry of Justice were watching them as if they were on guard against thieves, but even Prince Shou's Mansion blatantly sent people to watch and detect their movements.
After the tightening, Wang Yiming and others seemed to be less active. Except for beating drums, they would still go to the Ministry of Justice to urge new files, and all other actions stopped. Even the investigation into Xiang Guang sank.
These were all deliberate arrangements by Shen Hao.
The purpose of standing out in the past was to create tension. Now that both sides have clearly shown their intention to counterpress, they naturally have to restrain themselves and "play dead", leaving the situation to Pinpoint and Maimang.
But it’s not like doing nothing. In fact, after arriving in the imperial city, Shen Hao was not the only one who directed the actions, including Wang Yiming and the other six. Not mobilizing people from Fengri City and not borrowing people from Jingxi Town is not asking Shen Hao to be powerful, but showing others that his "power is limited". This is also consistent with his status as being "transferred".
But in fact, the reason why Shen Hao is no stranger to the Imperial City is because the tentacles of the Blackwater Project have long been extended here.
The cowardly vagrants and beggars on the street, the laborers and pickets waiting for work outside the carriages, and even some who only come out in the early morning and drive door to door to collect night fragrance...not to mention every day. One, at least one or two out of ten have been eroded by the four tribes under Wang Jian's command.
As the imperial city was the core of the Jing Dynasty, the Blackwater Project naturally regarded it as an absolute key plan. Not to mention that the Xu sisters had penetrated into the backyard of the high-ranking officials of the Jing Dynasty, but the spooky spies on the street also gave Shen Hao many possibilities that others could not detect when he wanted to investigate certain things.
For example, if we want to find out the cause of Qin Xiuyuan's death, the inevitable thing is to determine whether he died from swallowing poison disguised as "gum" as Shen Hao judged. If so, what kind of poison was it? Who poisoned him?
On the day he came to the imperial city, one of his subordinates Shen Hao brought with him went to the candy shop in the night market to ask. The question was blatant, which not only sent a signal to the Prince Shou Palace and the Major Case Department of the Ministry of Punishment, but also to the man who killed Qin Xiuyuan behind the scenes. People release signals.
Shoot some grass and be surprised to see where the poisonous snake hiding in the grass will run.
The ones responsible for keeping an eye on the "grass" are the four eyeliners who have been deployed on the street early.
Shen Hao personally contacted Wang Jian about this part of the informant, and did not let anyone, including Wang Yiming, know about it, nor did he directly contact those informants.
The Fourth Department is the firebreak between Wang Jian and the Blackwater Plan, and the Impermanence Department controlled by Zhang Liao is also the countermeasure in the firebreak. The purpose is to isolate the relationship between Xuanqing Guard and various outside spies and spies.
When Shen Hao first arrived in the Imperial City and visited the crime scene, he received the first-hand news from Wang Jian on Qianliyin.
About the current situation of the Qin family.
It is said that the Qin family is currently in a panic. The head of the family has made it clear that they have drawn a clear line with the people in the third room. Not only has the business been completely cut off, but also the relationship has also adopted a "no contact until death" attitude. At least on the surface it seems that the Qin family is ready to "exterminate relatives for righteousness".
However, the news that came one after another later proved that the lotus connection was actually still connected. At least Qin Xiuyuan's daughter Qin Xiangyu was not "implicated" and did not even appear in the Qin family's third-bedroom residence. Instead, she stayed directly in the Qin family's eldest residence as before and continued to live her life as a direct daughter.
It seems like the Qin family is doing one thing in front of others and another behind their backs. Not only did he want to cut ties with Qin Xiuyuan, an "unworthy descendant," but he also didn't want to give up Qin Xiuyuan's daughter, Qin Xiangyu, who could be the bait to catch a rich husband. This is preparation for "taking both responsibility and standing". It seems that the Qin family's ambition has not been reduced by half because of Qin Xiuyuan's death.
In addition, Qin Yurou, the eldest daughter of the Qin family, who has always been the focus of Shen Hao's attention, did not show any changes as he thought. She still did not leave the door or took a step forward. What was remarkable was that she only went to the harem to pay respects to the queen, and her life was very ordinary.
It's a pity that the Qin family is full of old people, and the latest handyman was recruited more than two years ago. The Blackwater Project failed to penetrate into the Qin Mansion, and no news about the Qin Mansion could be obtained.
We only have some superficial knowledge from Qin Wenhe's expression when he comes in and out of the Qin Mansion every day, and from the gossips of the handymen and servants who go out in the Qin Mansion. He couldn't dig anything deep, but he could tell that everyone in the Qin family was on guard, and his tone was much stricter than usual.
After Shen Hao saw the crime scene and determined the direction of the investigation, the informants in the imperial city immediately launched fragmentary information exploration under the arrangement of the fourth department. The main targets are those stores selling sweets.
Xiangtang, this is the closest clue to the murder context besides Qin Xiuyuan's body.
Just like the information brought by the subordinate Shen Hao asked before, "big shots" like Qin Xiuyuan were very famous in the Xiangtang Shop circle. It's not that Qin Xiuyuan can eat as many gums as he wants, but that the owner and shopkeeper of the store will take the initiative to spread the word. For example: The third master of the Qin family said that the magnolia-flavored gum here tastes the most authentic...
In addition, Shen Hao also learned from the information collected by these informants that there was a "bottle circle" of upper-class circles in the imperial city.
Shen Hao had heard of the poetry circle, horse racing circle, wine country circle, etc. before. This was the first time he heard of the bottle circle, but it did not prevent him from understanding what kind of circle it was from the literal meaning.
Bottle circle started to be popular among the upper class during the Jingjiu Dynasty. They are all people with status, and most people can't afford the expensive and non-essential candy. And what’s the point of just eating? Wouldn't it be better for everyone to take this opportunity to form a small circle and use the gum as an opportunity to get together to communicate, exchange business, and deepen our friendship?
As a result, the storage carrier for sugar, that is, the bottle, became another circle among the upper-class people in the imperial city.
Shen Hao would not underestimate these strange-sounding circles. Many people tried their best to dig into them, not just for the name of the circle, but for their personal connections.
Qin Xiuyuan owns a purple jade gum bottle made by a group of beasts. It is a sculpture by a famous artist. This is the only one in the imperial city. It is worth thousands of gold and is very popular. It is said that someone who doubled the money tried to part with Qin Xiuyuan but was rejected. It is precisely because of this bottle that Qin Xiuyuan is very famous in the circle, and the taste of the gum is also known to many people.
These were all tricked out bit by bit by the informants of the Blackwater Project from the mouths of the handymen, unloaders, and waiters at the sugar shop.
Although it is only fragmentary information, after the splicing and inference of the four parts, there is still some progress.
