Jinghong Tower

Chapter 434: Wave goodbye without taking away a cloud

The person with the surname Zhu whom I clearly know is named Zhu Yun.

When the Zhou royal family was still in the capital and had not yet moved the capital, they strictly prohibited officials and their families from lending money at high interest. Once discovered, the offender would be demoted or fined, at the very least, or have their property confiscated and be exiled, at the worst.

But there is a saying in this world: "The sky is high and the emperor is far away."

All laws and regulations, once they are in a place where "the sky is high and the emperor is far away", become funny legends.

For example, in Fujian, anyone who lent money at high interest was either from an official background or from one of the four major families. Moreover, over the past few decades, anyone who could serve as an official in Fujian, even if he was not a descendant or retainer of the four major families at the beginning, would have an inseparable relationship with the four major families after a year or two.

Zhu Yun is a money lender.

However, most people who lend money at high interest rates are unwilling to do business with gamblers. Even the casino owners themselves are unwilling to do so, because those gamblers are often penniless and have nothing to pay off their debts.

Zhu Yun is different, he specializes in casino business.

Zhu Yun does not despise those gamblers who have already sold their wives and children and are left with only their lives. As long as the man is still alive, Zhu Yun will let him pay with his life.

It is often found that some people who have almost grown up in the casino disappear without a trace since some time.

These people have one thing in common, that is, they are all very poor, the kind of poor that only has one pair of pants.

They are all Zhu Yun's customers.

No one cares about their life or death. The thing that casinos are most lacking is gamblers, who rush in one after another like moths to a flame.

Mingming also knew one thing, that is, in the past two months, Master Jin and Zhu Yun had been in frequent contact.

It is almost certain that Mr. Jin asked Zhu Yun to help transfer the money.

Before this, Mingming had never doubted Zhu Yun's identity, because there would be people like Zhu Yun in every city, and Mingming came from the underworld, so he was not surprised by this.

But now, her superiors asked her to pay attention to people with the surname Zhu, and this Zhu family might be a family that is superior to the four major families.

I was clearly thinking about Young Master Jin's money.

That's a lot of money, but compared to the four major families, it's insignificant.

Mingming began to mention Zhu Yun in front of Mr. Jin intentionally or unintentionally, and Mr. Jin laughed: "Zhu Yun, that's a wonderful person, I like him very much."

Mingming is not the only one in Fuzhou, there are also helpers from the Jinyiwei outside the palace.

Soon, people outside the palace received the message sent by Mingming. They secretly followed Zhu Yun, but unfortunately, after following him for many days, they did not find anything suspicious.

And at this time, a major event happened in the court of Later Zhou.

The prince died young.

This is also the only child of Emperor Yonghe.

This child was born to the Queen in the second year after they came to Fuzhou. Unfortunately, the child had poor health since childhood and still could not speak or walk at the age of three.

While Jing Chongguang had people treat the prince's illness, he also forced Emperor Yonghe to continue to have children. Unfortunately, with so many women in the harem, none of them could conceive.

To this day, the child is still dead. Jing Chongguang originally wanted to continue hiding it, but a death is not so easy to conceal.

When the queen learned that she could not hold a funeral for her son with the honor of crown prince, she made a big fuss.

The movement on the Queen's side alarmed the other concubines. The Queen and the four concubines all came from four great families. Before the Queen had time to inform her natal family, the four concubines had already taken the lead and sent the news out of the palace.

People in the court and the country were talking about this matter, and ministers wrote to the emperor one after another, asking him to select beautiful concubines to fill his harem.

The emperor is still young, but he has only one child so far. What does this mean? It means that the women in the harem are useless!
Jing Chongguang also had this idea. If the emperor selected a concubine, he would make a lot of money.

Emperor Yonghe was very cooperative. If Jing Chongguang said he wanted to hold a beauty contest, then he did so. If Jing Chongguang said he wanted to clearly mark the price, then he did so.

But in exchange, he started going out of the palace to gamble again.

On this day, in the VIP room of the Bafanglaicai Casino, Master Jin and Mingming were waiting for a sea merchant who was said to be coming from Quanzhou. Of course, this sea merchant's biggest hobby was gambling.

But no matter how long they waited, there was still no sign of the merchants.

Whenever Young Master Jin travels, he always does it with great fanfare.

He never used cakes or tea from outside, and even the tea set was brought out from the palace.

Seeing that Mingming was getting impatient, Young Master Jin made tea for her personally in order to make her smile.

The people of Fujian are extremely particular about drinking tea. All the women in the Yonghe Emperor's harem, without exception, were masters of the tea art. Emperor Yonghe watched them make tea every day and learned the art over and over again.

"Come, try my cooking." Young Master Jin had a smile in his eyes, and his smile was innocent, like a child waiting for praise.

As Mr. Jin's confidante, Miss Mingming will certainly not let him down.

The tea tasted bitter but sweet. It was a small cup but I drank it in one gulp.

Young Master Jin smiled and shook his head: "You are drinking like a cow, wasting my good tea."

Mingming rolled his eyes: "I am a rough person, it's not the first day you know this."

Young Master Jin laughed loudly: "If you are a rough man, you must be the most wonderful rough man in the world."

Mingming was about to say "You're too kind," but before she could say it, she suddenly realized something was wrong.

She couldn't make any sound.

She looked at Young Master Jin, who was grinning with his eight teeth showing, like a carefree child.

But she knew clearly that she had been tricked!

Not only was she unable to speak, she didn't even have the strength to raise her hands.

She stared at Master Jin without blinking. Master Jin lowered his voice and said to her in a gentle tone, "Don't be afraid. This is not poison. It won't kill you. Besides, I've reserved this room. No one, whether that sea merchant or the people in the gambling house, can come in. You are very safe here. You are so cute. How could I bear to hurt you? Don't worry. After three hours, the effect of the drug will wear off and you can go anywhere."

Mingming was still looking at him, eyes full of disbelief.

She was an experienced spy, but this time, she failed.

Young Master Jin sighed and said, "I guess you were sent from the capital. If you can see He Ran, please tell her for me that if my brother is still alive, he must be killed, otherwise leaving him behind will cause trouble.

I am tired of being an emperor. I would rather feed pigs than be an emperor.

But it's hard for others to say, my brother has been brought up as a playboy, and he might even want to be an emperor for fun." Young Master Jin stood up and walked to the shrine against the wall.

Not every gambling house has a VIP room, but those that have one have a shrine. The first thing gamblers do when they come in is to burn incense to the deity, praying for good luck and good fortune in gambling.

But now, Young Master Jin has moved the shrine away.

Unfortunately, I couldn't move, so I couldn't turn around and see Young Master Jin taking great effort to move the shrine.

He felt a little tired, and suddenly he thought of Mingming. Mingming must be skilled in martial arts, so she would be able to move the shrine easily.

He walked up to Mingming and reached out to touch the top of Mingming's head: "I really like you. It would be great if we could meet at another time or place.

Alas, I am leaving here and will never come back. If you go back without accomplishing anything, will you be punished?

Forget it, I'll tell you a secret so you can report back.

Didn't you ask me if I knew who my father was?

I said he was a guard, but I was lying to you.

His surname is Zhu, which is a big surname. The ancestors of the Zhu family were also princes. So Jing Laosan and I are not only descendants of Emperor Taizu, but also members of the Zhu family.

Listen, this is so scary. I knew I would be scared to death, so I had to leave, otherwise my life would be over. My mother is so cruel. She not only hates Emperor Taizong, she also hates the entire Zhou family.

Haha, before I knew you, I met the Eight-Faced Guanyin who rescued my mother in the gambling house. Only then did I know how I came to be. Haha, my mother gave birth to me on purpose. She gave birth to us to make us rebel. Jing Chongguang was tricked by my mother and thought he was very smart. "

After Master Jin finished speaking, he suddenly bent down and kissed Mingming on the lips. Then he turned and walked towards the secret door hidden behind the shrine.

Three hours later, Mingming also walked into the secret door, passed through a short secret passage, and came to another door. When he pushed the door open, he reached the back alley of the gambling house.

Anyone who does shady business will have such a secret door so that they can escape quickly when their enemies come.

Young Master Jin owns shares in this gambling house and is one of the owners, so it is not difficult for him to know where the secret door is.

Mingming did not return to the palace, she went to the Jinyiwei liaison office in Fuzhou.
Although Emperor Yonghe often ran out of the palace, he never spent the night outside or stayed in the casino all night long. However, a god-like figure like Master Jin could only have others cooperate with his schedule, and he would not gamble all night like other gamblers.
And tonight, until three o'clock in the morning, Emperor Yonghe still hadn't returned to the palace.

The palace sent people out to look for him, and as soon as they came out, they heard that the Bafanglaicai Casino had been closed.

After arriving, they found out that the entourage and guards who followed Emperor Yonghe out of the palace did not see Emperor Yonghe leave the VIP room until dark. They were worried that their master had gambled too late and delayed his return to the palace, so they bravely went in to urge him, but the room was empty and there was a secret door on the wall that was closed from the outside.

Emperor Yonghe and Miss Mingming are both gone.

The person was lost in the Bafanglaicai Casino, so the guards naturally went to ask them for the person. After the casino was closed, they found out that the owner of the casino had been replaced at some point.

The current boss is Young Master Jin!

Yes, before Young Master Jin was just a shareholder, but now he is the sole owner. He has bought this gambling house and it belongs to him alone.

Jing Chongguang had already gone to bed. When he heard the news, he didn't even wear socks. He put on his boots barefoot and went out.

"It was that bitch. She must have taken His Majesty away!"

At this moment, Jing Chongguang thought of Min Man!

It was later discovered that Min Man was taken away by a young eunuch named Yuan Xiaodong, and that Yuan Xiaodong later served He Ran.

History repeats itself. He Ran succeeded once and then did it again a second time.

She sent people to kidnap an emperor, and now she is targeting Emperor Yonghe.

That Mingming must have been sent by He Ran.

She used her beauty to seduce the young emperor, and then when they were alone, she knocked the emperor unconscious and took him away quietly.

"Block the docks and close the city gates. Not just Fuzhou, but all the docks in Fujian!"

After giving the order, Jing Chongguang was stunned. He must have been confused because of his anxiety.

What's the point of just closing the pier? As long as it's by the sea, you can still escape by boat even without a pier.

According to the guards, it took four hours from the time Emperor Yonghe brought Mingming into the VIP room until the guards went in to look for him. If you include the time it took to seal off the gambling house, it would be nearly five hours.

In five hours, even if you don't ride a horse or take a sedan chair, you would have already walked out of Fuzhou city just by relying on your own two legs!
The gambling house is located in the market, and the palace is looking for people on a large scale. It would be a joke to try to hide it.

The next morning, people on the streets of Fuzhou were talking about two things.

First, the famous Mr. Jin is the current emperor;
Second, the emperor is missing!

How did the emperor get lost?

It is said that she was abducted by the beautiful gambling god, Miss Golden Butt Mingming.

The beautiful gambling goddess is also very famous, but only people in major gambling houses have seen her. Ordinary people who abide by the law have never seen her.

But this does not limit people's imagination.

So when the imperial court's arrest warrant was posted, everyone began to question this portrait.

Although the woman in the portrait was a beauty, she was just a beauty, and was far from the stunningly beautiful and enchanting beauty they had imagined.

When Ruyan came in, she saw Mingming eating with great relish.

Mingming was holding a glass of wine in his left hand and a big chicken leg in his right hand, and his mouth was greasy. Ruyan shook her head when she saw it.

"Tsk tsk tsk, you look like this, the little emperor must be blind to be kidnapped by you."

Mingming: "So he left me behind and ran away. At least that shows he's not blind."

Ruyan laughed and said, "You can stay here for now. I can afford one chicken a day."

Mingming said angrily: "Don't worry, when the higher-ups give the order, whether I go to die or go back to die, I will not stay with you anymore."

It was only when she actually came here that she realized that the people who had been cooperating with her all along were not the Jinyiwei, but the people from Jinghong Tower.

There is no Jinghong Tower in Fuzhou City. Ruyan and her four younger brothers and sisters came from Hangzhou. The five of them stayed here for as long as Mingming had stayed in Fuzhou.

Hearing Mingming say this, Ruyan snorted coldly: "Why? Jinyiwei is so great that they look down on people from Jinghong Tower. If you have the guts, walk out of here right now. Anyway, the whole Fujian area is looking for you. More than a dozen women who look like golden butts have been caught today. If you get out, everyone will be happy, and no more innocent women will be harmed."

He ignored her and focused on eating the chicken leg.

After finishing a chicken leg, she wiped her mouth with a handkerchief and said to Ruyan, "Don't worry, those women will be released soon. This is the territory of the four major families, not Jing Chongguang's. The four major families will not let him arrest people at will."