Lin Gao Qiming

Zhong Yan didn't speak, and pointed to a bottle of Guoshi Wushuang on the wine table.Everyone was shocked, knowing that what Zhong Yan was referring to was definitely not the meaning of the wine itself, but the meaning behind this Guoshi Wushuang.

"I just came to the yamen to report that there was news of instability in the Delong Bank today, and I heard that the shopkeeper disappeared. The exchange business with Guangdong was stopped in the afternoon," Zhong Yi paused and continued: "Tomorrow there will be a long line at Delong Qianzhuangkou, and the housekeepers will be busy for a while."

"He is a living person, how come he disappeared in broad daylight?"

"Could it be hiding?"

"At the time, Delong almost closed the door, and he only disappeared for a few days. Now it's calm, why is there no one?"

"It's hard to say..."

There were different opinions for a while, and everyone was puzzled.When the news of the fall of Guangzhou came, news of the destabilization of the Delong Bank also came out, which once triggered a run on the bank.Shuntian Mansion had to send people to protect and maintain order.But it didn't take long for the uneasy atmosphere to dissipate.At that time, Zhong Yin had not been appointed as the governor of Shuntian Fu, but it was probably heard that because the bank involved too many high-ranking officials, especially eunuchs in the palace, it ended up being nothing.

At the beginning of Zhong Yin's tenure as governor of Shuntian Mansion, he also paid a lot of attention to this bank, but Delong's behavior has always been low-key and rigorous. Except for visiting customers' homes, the shopkeeper seldom goes out on weekdays. , I can't even hear a word in it.

An important duty of Shuntian Prefecture is to maintain local law and order.After a long time, Zhong Yin saw that there was no change in them, and there was no order from the court, so he gradually stopped paying attention.Unexpectedly, such a case suddenly appeared!
Needless to say, his desk will be filled with posts asking him to help "investigate" this matter tomorrow - not only him, but also Wucheng Bingmasi, Dongchang, Jinyiwei...anything related to the capital's arrest, robbery and law and order The yamen will probably receive it.If the matter is not handled properly, the emperor will probably be alarmed.

Thinking of this, Zhong Yan didn't want to drink any more, and told his subordinates and friends to "continue to have fun", but he quietly left Liuquanju with his congregation, and returned to the Yamen of Shuntian Mansion by sedan chair.

When the clerk on duty saw Fu Yin came back suddenly, he hurriedly got up to greet him.Zhong Yan looked at the objects on the table, his face became more serious, and he didn't talk nonsense, and asked, "Is Master Liu in Tuifu?"

The clerk said: "Master Liu had already gone home when he woke up..."

"You immediately send someone to Mr. Liu's house and say that I will ask him to go back to the yamen right away."

The scribe didn't dare to neglect, so he hurriedly responded.The friend who was in charge of the criminal name beside Zhong Yin said: "Master, it's almost three o'clock now, and there is still time to talk about something in the morning. Why call Master Liu here in the middle of the night. This ignorant person can't handle the case..."

"No, this matter must be arranged before dawn." Zhong Yi whispered, "there are too many gods in the capital, and a shopkeeper Leng disappeared. I don't know how many people will be involved. There will probably be many people tonight. People can’t sleep—you bring him here, and I’ll ask him in person.”

What made him return to the Yamen immediately was not the rumor of Delong's instability, but a more unexpected news.This news confirmed the rumors of Condensed Cloud's disappearance to some extent.

But after a while, the yamen servant brought the reporter over.Zhong Yin saw that the visitor looked poor, he was dressed in short brown linen cloth and a quail dress, but he was covered with a sheepskin vest, and his calves were wrapped in sheepskin leggings—this attire had traveled a long way coachman.

"What's your name?" Zhong Yin asked.

The coachman was stupefied: he had never entered such a large yamen. At this moment, in the dark hall, there were lights like beans, and an official in red robe and crown belt sat in the middle, like a city god in a temple. The soul flew away.Kneeling on the ground, trembling, unable to utter a word.The yamen servant next to him was kicked and asked him to answer.

"Don't frighten him and tell him to answer calmly." Zhong Yan instructed the yamen servant, and then asked, "I am the Governor of Shuntian Prefecture. You have a case to report today, so don't delay it!"

"Yes, yes," the coachman finally came to his senses.Busily reported: "The young one's name is Jiang Quanwang, and he drives a car for a living. Last night, the young one went to Haidian to pick up goods. When it was getting dark, four or five miles away from Xizhimen, I encountered robbers robbing the road... ..."

To say that robbery was not about robbing him, but that a cart in front of him was robbed by bandits. Although the twilight was low and it was hard to see clearly, the sound of fighting could still be discerned.

Naturally, Jiang Quanwang didn't dare to go any further—fortunately, he was an empty car, and he was able to steer nimbly. He immediately drove the mule off the road and took shelter in the cemetery beside the road.

"... After a while, I heard a team of horses galloping past on the main road. The direction was heading northwest. After they passed by, I drove the car back."

After walking less than two miles, they saw an overturned carriage on the side of the road.

This cart is neither a flatbed cart for pulling goods and carrying people, nor a "musle cart" hired by ordinary people to travel long distances, but a four-wheeled "Australian" carriage that has only become popular in recent years.Because of its comfortable ride and beautiful appearance, this kind of carriage quickly became popular in the homes of big families in the capital, and some car dealers also bought this kind of carriage to provide car hire services.

In short, people who ride in an Australian carriage are either rich or expensive, so Jiang Quanwang has evil thoughts, wanting to see if there is anything else in the carriage that can be picked up.Immediately got out of the car and touched it.

"...there were four corpses inside and outside the car, the ground was covered with blood, and the sword was left behind." Jiang Quanwang was still in shock when he said this.He rummaged around in the car and on the corpse, and managed to get him some small items and a few taels of silver.

At first, I thought it was a small fortune, but when I entered Xizhimen, the soldiers at the gate saw blood stains on my clothes, and they were immediately detained.After some torture, he arrived at Shuntian Mansion.

"...Master! Master! This man can't be killed by a little one! The little one searched the body without being obsessed with money, but he didn't do anything!!!!"

Jiang Quanwang repeatedly kowtowed and begged for mercy.He had already suffered a lot at the gate of the city, and he was scared to pee when he was caught in the Yamen of Shuntian Mansion—if the murder of these four people was caught on his head, it would be impossible for him to recover his head!
Zhong Yin ignored him, and only asked Master Xing, "Did Wanping County go to the site to investigate?"

"When this person entered the city and was arrested, the city gate was almost closed..."

Once the gate of the capital city is closed, no one can open the door key to enter and exit unless there is a special order, so the on-site inspection can only wait until tomorrow morning.

There are pedestrians on the main road early in the morning, and people and cars on the official road.These days the poor are very courageous. When seeing a carriage overturned, nine out of ten they will go to "catch something" like Jiang Quanwang did. He goes too late, and the carriage might be gone.

At this time, someone came to report, and Liu Tuiguan came.Zhong Yin ordered the yamen servants to take Jiang Quanwang into prison, and told the master:

"Go to the prison and ask him carefully. From the beginning to the end, don't let go of a single bit."

"Yes, the students will go now."

The master took the order to leave, and Liu Yike, the pusher of the Shuntian Mansion, has already arrived.

Liu Tuiguan was woken up from the bed in the middle of the night, and he was already full of anger.Although Tui Guan is a subordinate of Fu Yin, both of them are officials ordered by the court, and there is no distinction between superiority and inferiority, so they come here with a different face.He muttered: "What's the matter, I have to do it in the middle of the night!"

However, Zhong Yin was known for being "upright and upright", and Liu Tuiguan did not dare to touch this bad luck.After seeing Li Zhongyi hastily, he was not polite to him, and introduced the current situation to him.

After hearing this, Liu Yike became more and more dissatisfied.This kind of case of robbing and killing pedestrians and carriages is nothing new now. Although the capital is the most benign place of Ming Dynasty, the law and order is actually not good.Not to mention the official roads outside the city, even in the city and even in the Royal Garden, cases of robbery and murder are not uncommon.

Nine out of ten of these cases, the murderer could not be found. Even Zhong Yin, who was always known for his honesty and integrity, did not fundamentally turn the situation around after he took office, but only slightly improved the situation.

"Fu Yin means..."

"As soon as the gate of the city is opened tomorrow, you will take people to investigate the scene." Zhong Yi said, "This case is of great importance, and I am afraid that the emperor will also ask."

After Zhong Yin said this, Liu Yike woke up.Said: "Who is involved in this case?"

"Deron's cold shopkeeper."

"It's him?!" Only now did Liu Yike realize the seriousness of the matter. This Delong was not only involved with the Kun thief, but also with many bigwigs in the Beijing Palace.If something happened to this person, there might be an earthquake in the capital in no time.He hurriedly asked: "This shopkeeper Leng..."

Zhong Yin took a coarse cloth bundle, opened it and spread it on the table.Inside were the sporadic things that Jiang Quanwang collected from the victims.A few pieces of silver, a portable ink box, an abacus, a stack of pregnant papers, a small tin medicine box... most of them are things that people carry with them when they go out to do errands.Open the small medicine box, but inside is a small ox horn badge.It is engraved with obscure bird seal script.Zhong Yan recognized it, it was actually the word "cloud".

Zhong Yin had seen this secret code before - it was exactly what Ning Yun Yun used with him.In addition to the words "Delong Bank" on both the ink cartridge and the abacus, it was concluded that not only Delong's people were in the robbed carriage, but it was also related to Condensation Cloud.

Just because of this, it cannot be concluded that something happened to Condensed Cloud, but judging from the discovery of this secret seal, it is very likely that Leng was on the carriage.

"This ox horn chapter is the secret key of Shopkeeper Leng, and he always carries it with him on weekdays."

"So..." Liu Yike said.

"That's right," Zhong Yin nodded. "The situation is still unclear. I want your brother to go to the scene to investigate. I'll send someone to Delong to investigate. If the shopkeeper Leng is safe and sound, that would be great. Otherwise, I'm afraid you and I will both have a headache."

"I'll go at dawn." Liu Yike responded immediately without any reluctance just now, "I'll take all the veterans in the fast class with me."