The days when I ransacked the house in Jinyiwei

Chang Feng got straight to the point and asked Hu Shangren: "What clues do you have?"

Hu Shangren replied, "My Lord, the one who assassinated Madam Sun from your mansion was a forklift from Cuihonglou at Tongzhou Wharf, nicknamed Yu Nangbizi. He has been hiding in the first large courtyard at the east end of Pitiao Hutong in the south of the city for the past few days."

The so-called "kangcha" is, in layman's terms, a thug who looks after the place in a brothel.

Chang Feng asked: "Does this Yu Nangbizi have a deep hatred for my Chang family, or is he being instructed by someone?"

Hu Shangren replied: "I was instructed by someone."

Chang Feng asked again: "How did you get this clue?"

Hu Shangren knelt down and bowed: "Master Chang, I cannot tell you how I got this information. I cannot let the person who provided the clue get involved."

Basha said angrily, "How dare a mere strongman not tell the truth in front of Lord Chang and even try to cover up his mistakes?"

Chang Feng waved his hand and said, "Don't scold him. It is indeed very disloyal to expose the person who provided the clue. He is a righteous man."

Chang Feng understands Hu Shangren very well. At the end of Chenghua, Chang Feng participated in the preservation of the crown prince and searched for the letter box in the residence of Minister Cai. At that time, the old cripple told him under coercion that the leader of the Miaoshou Sect was the prostitute Sai Tanghong. Chang Feng never told anyone about the old cripple's betrayal of Sai Tanghong.

Chang Feng winked at Basha. Basha understood and said, "My Lord, I will go to Pi Tiao Hutong first."

After Basha left, Chang Feng took out three thousand taels of silver note and said, "This is the reward offered by the two marquises of the Zhang family. Three thousand taels for a clue. Whether Basha catches Yu Nangbizi or not, and whether Yu Nangbizi is an assassin or not, these three thousand taels are yours."

Hu Shangren said, "My Lord, I don't want the reward."

Chang Feng asked: "Oh? What do you want?"

Hu Shangren replied, "If the Ba clerk can catch Yu Nangbizi and confirm his identity as an assassin, and then catch the mastermind behind the scenes, I beg the old marquis to assign me the job of a spy in another province."

Chang Feng was a little surprised: "You don't want the three thousand taels of silver, and you don't want to be promoted, you just want to be an informant in another province?"

Hu Shangren replied: "I dare to ask the old marquis to reward me with an assignment to Jixi County, Huizhou Prefecture, Nanzhili."

Chang Feng was very interested in Hu Shangren: "Oh? Tell me, why is it there?"

Hu Shangren answered truthfully, "My Lord, Jixi is my hometown. Since ancient times, people have been divided into four classes: scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans. My family has been doing business for generations, so we are not short of money. But an official, even a seventh-rank county magistrate, can destroy a merchant family with just one word. My father spent a huge amount of money to buy me a Jinyiwei official position so that the family can have someone to rely on."

Chang Feng laughed and said, "Did you buy your position as a strongman? You are honest. Since you have joined the Jinyiwei and become a member of the government, you should hope to be promoted step by step. There are opportunities for promotion everywhere in the capital. Why do you want to go back to Jixi?"

Hu Shangren replied, "My Lord, the capital is full of opportunities for promotion. It is also full of dangers of losing your head. Especially in the Jinyiwei Yamen. You have been in the Jinyiwei for decades, so you should know better than me that the Jinyiwei's mission is like dancing on the edge of a knife."

Chang Feng was stunned. He had said the same thing to Chang Po Nu more than ten years ago.

Hu Shangren added: "I just want to return to my hometown as a Jinyiwei strongman. First, I can stay away from the capital, which is a den of trouble. Second, as an official, I can protect my family's local property. I am not making progress. I just want to be a wealthy man who is kind and generous in my hometown."

Chang Feng praised, "You live a very clear life. Well, I promise you. Oh, by the way, do you have any children?"

Hu Shangren replied: "I have one son."

Chang Feng picked up the pen: "What's your son's name?"

Hu Shangren replied: "My son's name is Zongxian."

Chang Feng asked, "Which two characters?" Hu Shangren replied, "Zong (ancestor) and Xian (criminal law)."

Chang Feng wrote the three characters "Hu Zongxian" on the paper and said, "Not only will I guarantee you a lifelong official position, I will also reward your son with a position in the Imperial Guard. This will allow you to protect your family's property for two generations."

Hu Shangren kowtowed and said, "Thank you for your kindness, old Lord. But my son is very smart. He can read "The Analects" and "The Doctrine of the Mean" by heart at the age of eight. I hope he can take the imperial examination and seek an official position."

Chang Feng sighed: "Alas. You are very similar to me. Back then, I also disliked the bloody smell of the brocade clothes on my body, which is why I asked Po Nu to take the imperial examination."

Half an hour later, Basha walked into the lobby with a middle-aged man with a big red nose, small eyes, and slightly curly hair.

Basha pointed at the man and said, "Master Chang, this man is Yu Nangbizi."

Chang Feng still used the old Jinyiwei method to handle cases: torture first, then interrogate.

Yu Nangbizi was not a tough guy. After two minor tortures, he confessed everything: he owed a gambling debt a month ago. To pay off the debt, he took on the task of assassinating Xu Ling.

Chang Feng asked: "Who instructed you to do this?"

Yu Nangbizi replied: "There is a person in charge of the Ministry of Rites named Zhang Zhongming."

Chang Feng asked, "What task did he assign to you?"

Yu Nangbizi replied, "Yes. We agreed on the price at Zuimenglou in the capital. He gave me three hundred taels of silver."

Basha couldn't help but curse, "The granddaughter-in-law of the Marquis, the daughter of the Duke, only gave three hundred taels of silver for assassinating such a distinguished person?"

Yu Nangbizi replied, "That man is a poor official. He can only take out three hundred taels. Three hundred taels is a large sum for me. I was forced into a corner by my creditors, so I took this risk."

Chang Feng looked at Yu Nangbi suspiciously: "How could a sixth-rank official of the imperial court who hired a killer to kill someone personally come forward to make a deal with the assassin?"

Yu Nangbizi replied: "That Zhang looks like someone who has become stupid because of reading too much. He is not a smart person."

Chang Feng muttered to himself: "Zhang Zhongming, why does this name sound so familiar? Basha, go to the file room and check this person's file."

Basha took the order and left. Not long after, he returned to the hall and said, "Master Chang, Zhang Zhongming is the son of Zhang Wei, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue at the beginning of the Hongzhi reign."

Chang Feng was stunned: "It turns out he is his son!"

In the warehouse case in the third year of Hongzhi's reign, Chang Feng found out that the main culprit was Zhang Wei, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

At that time, Emperor Hongzhi had just been emperor for three years. The court was not stable. Because Zhang Wei had a deep background, dealing with him openly would cause a major case and affect the court. Therefore, Chang Feng secretly executed Zhang Wei. He reported that "bandits were robbing the capital, and they broke into the residence of Zhang Wei, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue, at night. Zhang Wei was killed and his property was looted."

Because it was a secret trial, the court not only did not pursue Zhang Wei's guilt, but granted him a lavish funeral. His family was saved, and his eldest son Zhang Zhongming was able to retain his title as a scholar.

Zhang Zhongming passed the imperial examinations and was promoted to be a county magistrate for three terms. He was later promoted to be the director of the Ministry of Rites, where he worked for five years.

Zhang Zhongming and Chang Feng had a grudge for killing their father. To avenge his father, he hired someone to murder Chang Feng's pregnant granddaughter-in-law, in order to end the Chang family's lineage. This seemed reasonable.

However, Chang Feng vaguely felt that things were not that simple.

Chang Feng ordered Basha: "Go to the Ministry of Rites and invite that Zhang to come to the Jinyiwei." (End of this chapter)