A knife in love

Chapter 51

Li Qiufeng and Yan Dufei heard him speak solemnly, their voices trembled slightly, and they knew that this disturbance was really serious.It’s just that Zhuang Hengyun had heard about An Luzhou’s first battle, and Yu Changyuan was always cunning. Both of them thought in their hearts: “[-]% of what this old thief said is probably false. Let’s see how you act.”

Yu Changyuan closed his eyes, opened them after a long while, and said in a deep voice: "This happened 12 years ago, which was the last year of the reign of the late Emperor Zhengde. The winter of that year was very long, until the In April, it was still snowing heavily in Wuzi. At that time, the old man lived in Fenyang, Shanxi, and hadn’t met the four later brothers. It’s just that the old man likes to make friends in the Jianghu, and he can be said to be a little famous in the Jianghu.

"Since the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Shanxi people have been proficient in trading and earning a living. Later, the Song Dynasty and the Daliao Dynasty fought. Shanxi happened to be on the border between the two countries. Although the two sides sometimes fought, they mostly traded at the border. Shanxi Human beings are shrewd, and profited from it, and gained a lot of benefits. Therefore, hundreds of years later, when it comes to buying low and selling high, Shanxi merchants are the first in the world. The old man grew up in Fenyang since he was a child. Although he practiced boxing Martial arts, but in terms of business minds, it is indeed not inferior to the four major families in Shanxi."

Li Qiufeng and Yan Dufei complimented Yu Changyuan a few words, and Li Qiufeng said in his heart: "No wonder you old thief is so good at calculating. It turns out that you grew up in the business field since you were a child, and you actually transferred this calculating skill to the world. Yes, you really deserve to be an old Xier."

Yu Changyuan said: "At that time, although I lived in the Jianghu, I also had my own Zhuangzi. I bought and sold some jewelry and jade on weekdays, and gradually gained some reputation in Fenyang City. In the end, even Qingcheng in Fenyang City The Wangfu and Yonghe Wangfu also often send people to the door, asking the old man to help them purchase some antique jewelry for the Wangfu.

"I remember that day was in mid-April, and the heavy snow had finally stopped after three days. The chief steward of Qingcheng Palace found me early in the morning and said that the prince had something important to discuss with me. I wondered if there was another I was asked to handle any big business, so I tidied up immediately, and then followed the big housekeeper to Prince Qingcheng's residence.

"At that time, I bought pearls and ancient jade in the south for Prince Qingcheng a few times, and I got acquainted with him in Prince Qingcheng's mansion. So I didn't think too much about it. I thought that the prince must have taken a fancy to some other jewelry and jade. Asked me to help him purchase. Unexpectedly, after arriving at Prince Qingcheng's mansion, he found that the guards were heavily guarded, which was completely different from the way I used to go. All the servants and soldiers who guarded the gate on weekdays were gone, and the guards who replaced them were all They are big men with big faces, wearing black gauze hats, red clothes, and armor outside..."

When Yu Changyuan said this, Li Qiufeng couldn't help but let out a "huh".Yan Dufei said: "Brother Li, what's wrong?"

Li Qiufeng said: "According to Master Yu, this attire is the attire of Jin Yiwei when he goes to Beijing on business. It's just that Jin Yiwei is the emperor's personal soldier, and he only accompany the emperor when he travels. He wears a flying fish suit and wears an embroidered spring knife. The attire mentioned by Zhuang Zhuang is for handling criminal cases. The guards in Prince Qingcheng's residence have been replaced by Jin Yiwei, so it may be a big deal."

Yu Changyuan smiled and said: "Brother Li has been working in Jinyiwei for a long time, so I can't learn to know people. If I knew these people were Jinyiwei back then, I'm afraid my legs would be weak from fright. When the late emperor was here, Jinyiwei was not like the court , that really holds the power of life and death. If he said he wanted to kill someone, he dragged him out of the street and beheaded him. It's not like after he ascended the throne today, he took back the power of Jin Yiwei to behead first and then play. Jin Yiwei was restrained everywhere. The authority of the late emperor when he was in power."

Li Qiufeng nodded and said: "During the late emperor's reign, Jinyiwei and Dongchang had great power, which is why Wang Zhiqian Ning's misfortune happened. After inheriting the great treasure, in view of this, Jinyiwei has decreed to abolish Jinyiwei's power to execute without authorization. , handed over to the Ministry of Criminal Justice and Jinyiwei to handle it together. The former commander of Jinyiwei, Lu Bing, was the old minister of Fandi when he was in Longqian. He has always been cautious. Since he became the throne, Lu Bing has been very strict with Jinyiwei. During the time of the first emperor, all the officials talked about it and changed their faces."

Yu Changyuan said: "That day I saw that all the guards in the palace had been changed. Although I felt a little strange in my heart, I didn't ask any more questions. When the butler brought me to the Yin'an Hall where the prince received guests, the prince had already arrived in the hall. , was talking to a person. This person was wearing a green cloth shirt. He was over 30 years old. He looked like a teacher of a private school in the country. At that time, I thought it was a new guest invited by the prince, but I didn't take it to heart.

"After seeing Prince Qingcheng, the prince nodded to the man in Tsing Yi, and said: 'This is Yu Changyuan, if you have something to say, just talk to him.' After speaking, he turned into the back hall and left. The man in Tsing Yi The man laughed and said, "Mr. Yu, it's really hard to see you in Fenyang City." I don't know who this person is, but seeing that the prince is very polite to him, I don't dare to be abrupt, so I hurried Meet him. This man has no pretensions, but although his eyes are always squinted, but when he opens them occasionally, the eyes are full of light. We are all practitioners, so we naturally know that only those with strong martial arts can So deep inside.

"The man in Tsing Yi chatted with me for a few words, and suddenly said: 'Mr. Yu went to Yuyao Lin's house in September last year, right?' I was startled at the time, my hand couldn't help shaking, and the teacup in my hand fell to the ground immediately. , and fell to pieces in an instant. The man in Tsing Yi smiled and said: "Mr. Yu, the cup you dropped was made in the official kiln of the Song Dynasty. It is no less than 1000 taels of silver. You will have to pay it to the prince later."

"I don't care about the official kiln or not. I just feel a chill from the bottom of my feet to the top of my head. My hands are trembling and I can't even speak. The man in Tsing Yi continued: 'Last May, Mr. Yu I went to Xiangyang again. It was a coincidence. As soon as Mr. Yu arrived in Xiangyang, the Qin family, the richest family in the city, was stolen, and a pair of Nine Dragons jade cups disappeared. I heard that the old man of the Qin family was very angry because he lost his ancestral jade cup. He vomited blood and died the next day.’

"I'm ashamed to say that I'm walking around in the rivers and lakes. Thanks to all my friends in the rivers and lakes, I gave the old man a nickname with the word "Xia". If you don’t have silver, you can’t even think about it. After 30 or 5 years in the rivers and lakes, I understand a truth: if you want to be a hero, you must have money. Therefore, besides Zhuangzi’s harvest, I also secretly I have done some business with no capital. It’s just that the old man only picks those who are rich and unkind, and never embarrasses the ordinary people. The Lin family in Yuyao is a local big landlord. They have thousands of acres of fertile land in their family. I happened to pass by that day, so I went to Lin's family that night, took thousands of taels of silver from his family, and took away the "Nine Tripod Incense Burner" handed down by the Lin family. As for the Qin family in Xiangyang City, someone bid [-] taels for his family's Nine Dragon Jade Cups. At that time, the old man was worried about a sum of money, so he accepted the business. The Qin family hired several experts to protect the courtyard. With three points of luck, the old man finally got the pair of Nine Dragon Jade Cups stolen out.

"It's just that the old man has always acted cautiously, and has always been a loner. He is confident that no one else will know about these transactions. But hearing what the man in Tsing Yi said, it was like he followed the old man back then, and the old man almost fell to the ground in fright. The man in Tsing Yi saw that I was panic-stricken, so he just smiled and said: "Mr. Yu, don't be afraid. If I wanted to arrest you, I would have tied you up and sent you to the government." The matter has already been known by this person, so we have to see what he has to say.

"At that moment I said to the man in Tsing Yi: 'Since Your Excellency already knows these things, Yu wants to ask Your Excellency what to do? Kongkong?” I was startled, that Ma Kongkong is a well-known tomb robber in the Jianghu. I have done several business transactions with him and helped him sell stolen goods. It’s just that according to the crimes established by the Daming Law, tomb robbery is a crime. It's a capital offense, I wanted to deny it to death, but after thinking about it, this man in Tsing Yi seems to have a plan in his mind, I'm afraid he already knew about these things, if I continue to deceive, this man might send me away in a fit of anger Officer, I am not afraid of death alone, but the whole family will be implicated by me. Thinking about this, I admit that I have a lot of friendship with Ma Kongkong.

"The man in Tsing Yi asked me the names of several people. These people are all well-known figures in the Jianghu, both white and underworld, and have contacts with the old man. The man in Tsing Yi seemed quite satisfied when he saw that I no longer concealed it. , said to me: "Mr. Yu is worthy of being a smart person. Since everyone is a smart person, you might as well speak up. I came to you this time to ask you to do something for me. If the matter is done, Yu Mr.'s previous affairs can be written off, and there are great benefits. I just don't know if Mr. Yu is interested in helping?

"I thought to myself: 'You are clearly threatening me to help you with something, and you want to say it so nicely.' But even though I thought this way in my heart, I couldn't say it on the surface, so I said: 'If you have something to say, just say it. That is, Yu went through fire and water, willing to be driven away.'”

(End of this chapter)