"Tell me everything that happened before and after the young gang leader disappeared!" He Zan sat in the main hall and said in a deep voice. Although He Zan's tone was not very stern, everyone in the audience felt numb in their hearts and secretly complained.
The leader of the Southern Gang in the capital was a tall, fat, gray-haired old man in his early fifties who had followed He Zan for more than 20 years. At this time, he stood up from his seat, bowed and replied, "Gang leader, this subordinate really deserves to be punished. Die! On the fourteenth day of the first lunar month, my subordinates received a summons from the gang leader and learned that the young gang leader would be coming to the hall for business, so he prepared all the daily necessities in advance. At about 2:40 noon on the 21st day of the first lunar month, the young gang leader and his party of five arrived at the hall. The subordinates placed the young gang leader and four attendants in Tianxiang Nuan Pavilion and arranged for ten servants and maids to serve them. Early the next morning, the young gang leader and his entourage were about to go out. The subordinates were worried about the safety of the young gang leader and wanted to send brothers from the hall to protect them. The young gang leader was furious after hearing this, and his subordinates did not dare to say anything. But after all, the capital was not Chuzhou, and his subordinates could not rest assured, so they sent six people to follow him quietly. That day, the subordinates did not dare to pay attention to him, so they stayed in the hall Waiting for the young gang leader, they finally came back at 3:00 pm. When the young gang leader saw his subordinates, he became furious, scolded me for looking down on him, and said that he had killed the six brothers whom his subordinates arranged to secretly protect him."
He Zan had been listening quietly. As for this, he cursed bitterly, "This bastard!" The Southern Gang was founded by He Zan and his father He Ruwo. In the past twenty years, they have gone through many hardships and crises. Little did he know that he, the only son of a young man, would do something like this behind his back that would alienate the brothers in the gang. He was extremely stupid. The tall, fat, gray-haired old man paused for a while, then saw that the gang leader was speechless, and continued, "I can't argue with the young gang leader, but since then, I really didn't dare to send anyone to follow him. After a few days, the young master The leader of the gang goes out early and comes back late every day. As for what he did during the period, he neither told his subordinates, nor did they dare to ask. However, it was only on the twenty-seventh of this month that shopkeepers came to the hall one after another to ask for their accounts. . The subordinates inquired and found out that the young gang leader owed money on credit, so he paid it back one by one. These are the debt notes that the subordinates got." After saying that, he took out a fold of bills from the pocket of his coat. He walked to He Zan, bowed and handed it over.
He Zan took these bills and read them one by one. There were more than a dozen of them, including Xinyue Tower, Qingshui Tower, Ruiyun Tower, Baolaifang, Cailai Casino, and Gu's Trading Company. Each of them was signed by He Hengyue, and the amount of money owed ranged from five to sixty taels. The largest one was the Baolaifang bill, which was 3,730 taels. "Bastard!" He Zan slapped his palm on the table, obviously very angry. Fortunately, this palm strike did not use internal energy, otherwise the wooden table would not be able to take shape and stand upright. According to Dahua's unified purchasing law, rice in Dahua currently only costs 16 cents per catty. One tael of silver can buy more than 150 catties of rice, which is a full-month ration for a family of five. He Hengyue had only been in the capital for more than ten days, and she actually owed more than 11,000 taels of silver, which cost more than 3,000 people from the Southern Gang three to four months. This is how He Zan is not angry.
Seeing He Zan getting angry, everyone had fearful expressions on their faces, but they couldn't help but feel relieved. They all thought, "But the young gang leader himself can't blame us for the trouble he caused." He Zan suppressed his anger and asked again in a cold voice, "Have these bills been cashed? Have you found any discrepancies?" The tall, fat, gray-haired old man replied, "Xunyue Tower and Qingshui Tower are famous brothels in the capital. These are Ruiyun Tower is one of the most famous restaurants and restaurants in the city. Baolaifang and Cailai Casino are all engaged in gambling business. This Gu's Trading Company is a jade shop run by the Gu family in Ruozhou. My subordinates went to check it personally and found that the receipts are indeed correct. .”
The Southern Gang surrendered to Prince Yi's Mansion, and He Zan naturally informed He Hengyue. During the conversation between father and son, He Hengyue took the initiative to ask for help from King Yi to contact the Nan Gang's private salt business. He Zan thought that his son was almost thirty years old after all, and although his martial arts skills were mediocre, he would eventually take over his mantle, so he agreed with his idea. If you are worried that something might happen to him, you can send four martial arts masters from the gang to accompany you to protect him. How did you know that this bastard was wandering around brothels and casinos in the capital these days, and he was arrogant. He Zan was angry in his heart. He looked at the tall, fat, gray-haired old man and asked coldly, "Hall Master Cui, have these stores been investigated? Has the young gang leader ever had a conflict with them?"
Cui Fang guessed that the gang leader must blame himself for not reporting everything here in time. He complained secretly and quickly replied, "The young gang leader went out at chenshi on the first day of this month and never came back. Before that, the young gang leader stayed out three times. The subordinates saw that the young gang leader had not returned that day, and did not think much about it. It was not until the night of the third day of the lunar month that the young gang leader had not returned. The subordinates realized that something was wrong, and hurriedly sent their brothers to look for them everywhere. After searching for four or five days, they found nothing. The young gang leader has never been found. Since the matter is serious, we have to summon the gang leader. In the past thirteen days, the subordinates and other 320 people have searched all over the capital and outside, especially near the stores where these outstanding orders are located. These stores belong to Everyone has been checked, except for Ruiyun Tower, all the others are ordinary traders." Cui sent the flying pigeon to He Zan on the eighth day of February. He Zan received the letter three days later, and hurried over the next day. He Hengyue has been missing for 13 days. He Zan naturally knew that Cui Fang was not wrong, but his only son had been missing for many days, and he was extremely anxious. He always felt angry when he looked at him. At this time, after listening to him talking a lot, I realized that he was afraid in his heart. He was trying to excuse himself intentionally or unintentionally, and he raised his eyebrows and asked, "What's unusual about Ruiyun Tower?"
Cui Fangxin felt uneasy and replied, "Gang leader, the boss of Ruiyun Tower is nothing at all. He is just a member of the Prince's Palace."
"Prince Jaw's Mansion?" He Zan's heart tightened, his face became darker, and he thought to himself, "The matter that I discussed with His Highness Prince Yi is indeed harmful to Prince Jaw. Is it possible that he would actually operate on my son?" Thinking of this, His hands were clenched into fists, making a squeaking sound. "The young gang leader had a conflict with them?" He Zan asked.
"Looking from the debt list, the young gang leader dined at Ruiyun Tower five times in the three days from the 25th to the 27th of the first lunar month, and received 262 taels of food on credit. My subordinate asked someone to inquire, and at noon on the 29th of the first lunar month, The young gang leader dined at Ruiyun Tower as usual and ordered some dishes. However, when paying the bill after the meal, they refused to give credit and insisted on giving cash. The young gang leader seemed to have insufficient silver, so the waiter in the restaurant called the waiter. The hall came to be a director. But for some reason, the two of them got into a stalemate and started fighting. It seemed that the young master suffered a bit." Cui Fang said carefully.
"Who made the first move?" He Zan asked again, with a stern look on his face.
"My subordinate is incompetent and has never inquired about it." Cui Fang replied nervously with cold sweat dripping down his back and forehead.
"Then where did the young gang leader go on the morning of the first day of this month?" He Zan asked again.
After hearing this, Cui Fang hurriedly knelt down on the ground with a sad look on his face. He kept kowtowing and said nervously, "I am incompetent. I am incompetent. I have investigated in many ways, but I have never found anything." There is a cry.
He Zan sighed heavily and said, "Go and contact the people from Zhaixing Pavilion and tell them that the Southern Gang has offered 50,000 taels of silver and ask them to find the young gang leader." After saying this, he slowly closed his eyes and added softly, "Live or die, no matter what."
