I

  Chapter 4 004 [Killing and stealing goods]

   Ma Wu didn't understand what he meant, and answered honestly: "Master Hou lives in Wharf West Street."

  Zhao Han continued to inquire: "Is that the old den of your Lotus Society?"

  Ma Wu shook his head: "The old house of the Lotus Society is in South Street, just under the city wall. In the past, when there was a flood, a section of the north city wall collapsed, and many houses were also destroyed. The brothers of the Lotus Society lived in dilapidated houses."

  Zhao Han asked again: "How many people are there in Lord Hou's family?"

  Ma Wu said: "Only his family."

  Zhao Han said unhappily: "I'm asking you, how many people are there in Lord Hou's family? How many are men, how many are women, how many are old people and children! Is there a guardian?"

"There is no nursing home, only a woman who cooks." Ma Wu thought for a while, counting his fingers and said, "There is Lord Hou, his two wives, and how many children. Are the children three? Or four? ? Or maybe five."

  The situation has been ascertained, and it seems that we can give it a go.

   "Stand up and take me there!" Zhao Han scolded.

   "Where are you going?" Ma Wu was a little confused.

  Zhao Han said: "Go to Lord Hou's house!"

  Boom!

  The thunder is louder, the lightning is brighter, and the rain is heavier.

  When they came to West Street, brother and sister Zhao Han were soaked through.

   "This is the one." Ma Wu pointed to the courtyard door.

  Zhao Han ordered: "Look more clearly!"

   Ma Wu took a closer look, he has night blindness, how can he see clearly? He just fooled around and said, "I won't admit my mistake even if I close my eyes. Little ancestor, I brought the place, can you let me go?"

  Zhao Han tore off the guy's belt, tied his hands and feet, then tore a rag to gag his mouth, stuffed it under the eaves of the door, and said to his sister, "Wait until I come out, don't wander around!"

  Zhao Zhenfang nodded and said, "Second brother, I know."

  The courtyard wall is not high, but it is very slippery after being exposed to the rain. Zhao Han is young and short, so he failed several times and finally gave up climbing the wall.

  He went back to check the courtyard door, and found that the gap in the door was narrow. If he wanted to push the latch inside, he had to use a very thin blade to insert it.

  The scene was a bit embarrassing, Zhao Han made up his mind to kill, but he couldn't even enter the courtyard wall of other people's houses.

  Drenched by the heavy rain, Zhao Han's thinking became more and more calm as the icy rain slapped his cheeks. He searched carefully around the base of the wall, trying to find the low part of the courtyard wall, walked back and forth more than ten times, and saw a small hole not far from the threshold!

   This thing is called a dog hole, cats and dogs can come in and out, but the real function is to drain water.

  At this moment, the rainwater accumulated in the courtyard is rapidly flowing out from the dog hole.

  The hole is so narrow that adults cannot pass through it, but children can.

  The dog hole is a vertical rectangle. Zhao Han tried it, but found that he couldn't get in if he lay on his stomach. So, he lay on his side and rubbed in again, the height and width were just right.

  The stagnant water gushing out of the dog hole made it difficult for Zhao Han to open his eyes and breathe, and was almost stuck there halfway, unable to move.

   After finally getting in, the sleeves were scratched, and the arms were also scratched and bleeding.

   This is a small courtyard house with only the main house (north house) and east and west wing rooms, and no inverted house (south house).

  There is a big tree in the courtyard and a large stone water tank.

  Zhao Han ran quickly to the eaves of the north house, pierced a frame of paper on the door lattice, and lay there quietly waiting for the lightning.

  Lightning came again, and Zhao Han could barely see the situation inside the house with the faint light.

  There were tables, chairs and benches inside, obviously not a bedroom, but the main room of an ancient folk house, so he immediately turned and walked to the next room.

   He also punctured the window paper of the house on the left. Zhao Han listened closely, and there was a faint snoring sound coming from inside.

  The child's arm is small, just enough to reach into the window lattice, and Zhao Han quickly touched the window latch inside. However, because he was too short, he had to push up with his fingertips, and within a few pushes, the wooden bolt fell off.

   "Dang Dang!"

  The window latch rolled to the ground and made a loud noise, scaring Zhao Han into hiding quickly.

  The people in the house didn't wake up, they just turned over.

  Zhao Han carefully opened the window sash, climbed into the room through the window, and tiptoed to the bed.

  There was only one man on the bed, and the long beard under his chin could be vaguely seen.

  Zhao Han felt a little wrong, because he learned from Ma Wu that the "Hou Ye" family has one wife and one concubine, and it is common sense that one should not sleep alone.

  He put the point of a spear against the man's throat, and put his hand on his mouth and nose.

   Soon, the man had difficulty breathing and woke up with his eyes open. He subconsciously struggled in panic, his neck hurt from the spear point, and he didn't dare to move around in fear, fearing that his throat would be punctured.

   "Don't shout, just beat the bed twice with your feet if you are obedient." Zhao Han whispered.

   "Bang bang!"

  The man hurriedly raised his foot and beat the bed with his heel.

   Zhao Han let go slowly and asked, "What's your name? How old are you?"

  After the man was able to speak, he did not answer the question, but begged in panic: "Heroic man, spare your life, heroic man, spare your life!"

  Zhao Han pressed down the tip of the spear and asked again: "What's your name? How old are you?"

   Now he was finally honest, and replied, "My name is Zhang Chuncai, and I am fifty-one this year."

   Sure enough, I found the wrong person!

  Zhao Han made up a random name: "Where is Li Jianguo's house?"

   "What Li Jianguo?" Zhang Chuncai said confusedly, "I don't know him. There is no one named Li Jianguo around here."

  Zhao Han finally smiled: "Very well, you didn't just point me to a place to send me away. Where does Lord Hou live?"

   "Master Hou?" Zhang Chuncai reacted suddenly, and said quickly, "The hero is looking for Deng Gui, the beggar? He doesn't live here, and he has to go two more places to the east."

  Zhao Han was afraid that he would go wrong again, and asked, "How do you recognize the courtyard wall of Deng Gui's house?"

  Zhang Chuncai thought carefully and said, "His shop head is a lion, and mine is a bat head."

   "What is the shop head?" Zhao Han asked a naive question.

  Zhang Chuncai was taken aback for a moment: "The shop head is used to hang door knockers."

  Zhao Han asked again: "Is there anything else?"

  Zhang Chuncai thought about it again and said, "My dog's hole is square, but his dog's hole is round."

  Zhao Han asked again: "Where are the clothes you changed?"

  Zhang Chuncai said, "It's beside the bed."

   Zhao Han touched a pile of clothes, first tied his hands behind his back with his trouser belt, and then randomly stuffed a ball of rags into his mouth.

   "Mmmmmmm!"

  Zhang Chuncai struggled hard, but it was a gag, his own foot wrap.

  Zhao Han didn't leave immediately, but stayed in the house and rummaged through the cabinets. After a while, he found a weapon—scissors!

  He returned to the bed, cut Zhang Chuncai's clothes into many slender strips, and twisted them into several ropes. He tied the cloth rope to the bamboo spear, tied the scissors around his waist, and swaggered open the door to go out.

  Ma Wu was tied under the eaves of the door, making noises from time to time, hoping that Zhao Zhenfang could untie him.

  The little girl ignored her and curled up under the eaves, half of her body was blown by the wind and rain.

   "Gah!"

  The gate of the courtyard opened suddenly, and Zhao Zhenfang said in surprise: "Second brother!"

   "Don't talk, don't run around, wait for me to come back." Zhao Han urged.

   "Yes." Zhao Zhenfang nodded obediently.

  Zhao Han walked up to Ma Wu again, kicked it without warning, then pulled out the gag and asked, "Is the dog hole in Lord Hou's house square or round?"

   Ma Wu said confusedly: "Round...round?"

  Zhao Han pointed the scissors at the man's throat: "Ask again, the square one is still round!"

  Ma Wu said in a crying voice: "I remember... I can't remember clearly."

   "Is this really Lord Hou's house?" Zhao Han asked again.

  Ma Wu was terrified to death, and said honestly: "I don't know, I have a bird blindfolded, and I can't see clearly at night."

"Useless things!"

   Zhao Han cursed in a low voice, gagged his mouth again, and continued to explore the nearby houses.

  According to Zhang Chuncai, Zhao Han quickly found the target. The door knocker was a lion, and the dog hole was round.

   But this dog hole was too small for Zhao Han to get in. He could only go back to find his sister, let Zhao Zhenfang go through the dog hole in the rain, and then unlock the door for him from inside.

  Both brothers and sisters entered the yard, so Zhao Han simply took the younger sister to the porch to shelter from the rain.

  Come to the main room, repeat the same trick, Zhao Han reached into the window lattice with his hand, but this time he used a cloth rope to tie the knot. He tied the window latch with a noose to prevent the window latch from falling to the ground, and he opened the window silently to enter the main bedroom.

  There were three people sleeping on the bed, one big and two young.

  In summer, without covering the quilt, by the low light, it is clear at a glance that it is a woman and two children.

  Zhao Han pressed the scissors against the woman's throat, covered her mouth and nose to wake her up and said, "If you dare to call out, I will kill your son!"

  The woman was so shocked that she lost her voice and trembled.

  Zhao Han let go of one hand, and said in a low voice, "Where is Deng Gui? Tell me!"

  The woman trembled and said, "Yes...in the east chamber."

  Zhao Han said: "I only want money, not human life, honestly turn over and let me be tied up!"

  The woman did not dare to disobey, turned over and lay on her stomach, with her hands on her lower back.

  The cloth rope prepared by Zhao Han came in handy, binding the woman's hands and feet, and stuffing her mouth tightly.

   Quickly came to the outside of the East Wing, Zhao Han quietly entered through the window.

  Guo saw two people lying on the bed, a man and a woman, the man must be Hou Ye Deng Gui.

  The two of them seemed to have had a "fierce battle", and now they were all sleeping naked, and Deng Gui slept on his back, snoring loudly.

  Zhao Han stood in front of the bed, hesitated for a few seconds, and poked with scissors.

   Don't hesitate to do big things, otherwise you will suffer from it. Zhao Han didn't have the capital, so he had to fight back and forth with the opponent, and he had no chance of winning even a frontal conflict, so he had to take the initiative to solve the problem once and for all!

  The scissors pierced his throat, Deng Gui woke up suddenly from the pain, and subconsciously covered his neck.

  He wanted to yell, but the blood poured into his throat, which turned into a continuous cough instead. This man grabbed Zhao Han's wrist, pushed the scissors up with all his strength, and kicked the bed with both feet indiscriminately, begging for help.

  The woman next to him was his concubine, and she said in a dream in a daze: "Master, stop making trouble, haven't you bothered enough?"

   "No...cough cough cough..."

  Deng Gui spit out only one syllable, and then it turned into a coughing sound again, coughing and coughing out a mouthful of blood.

   As for its neck, the blood gushing out has flowed down and dyed a large mat.

  Finally, Deng Gui's struggle became weaker and weaker, his arms drooped and his whole body twitched.

   This villain, who was entrenched in the port area of ​​Tianjin, specializing in begging, part-time stealing, and occasionally abducting and trafficking children, died without knowing why. He didn't even know who killed him.

  Maybe there was too much movement, the concubine next to her finally woke up.

   She rubbed her eyes in a daze and sat up, yawning and saying, "What's the smell? It's very fishy."

  Zhao Han was so frightened that he jumped onto the head of the bed, covered his mouth from behind, held the scissors against his throat, and said in a low voice, "Don't shout!"

  The little concubine was completely awake, she nodded in horror and said, "Oh, oh, oh!"

  Zhao Han let go slowly.

"what!"

  As soon as he let go of his hand, the concubine cried out, Zhao Han hurriedly covered it again, and poked it down with the scissors.

  Zhao Han's first time to commit murder, he was very nervous. He didn't want to kill this concubine at first, but he was stimulated by the other party's shouts, so he panicked and killed him together!

   "Hoohoo!"

  Zhao Han sat on his knees between the two corpses, panting like a bellows, and he was very tired at the moment.

  Moreover, he was in a trance, as if his murderous behavior was like sleepwalking, and he did such violent and murderous things by coincidence.

   "Hoo..."

  Zhao Han let out a foul breath and forced himself to calm down.

   Don't blame me.

   Yes, don't blame me!

  This man wanted to catch himself and his sister, and broke his leg to make a begging tool, but he just resisted in advance. Moreover, this person has committed many evils, killing him is to eliminate harm for the people, and he has made merits even though he has done nothing wrong!

   Wiping off the blood on his hands, Zhao Han returned to the main bedroom again, tore off the rag from the woman's mouth, and asked, "Where is Deng Gui's money?"

  The woman said in horror: "I don't know."

  Zhao Han asked viciously, "If you don't tell me, I'll kill your son!"

  The woman quickly said, "There is a brick in the corner near the bed, and the money is hidden in it."

  Zhao Han touched a loose green brick in the corner, pried it out with scissors, and there was indeed a money bag inside.

   "So much?" Zhao Han asked.

  There are only some scattered silver taels in the money bag, which can add up to ten taels of silver at most.

The woman quickly explained: "There are really so many, and they have to be managed from top to bottom. Officials, officials, and generals, who can't feed enough? Lord Hou is begging for a living at the dock, and he brings in money every month." , 50% go to the tribute guards and the Cao army, the remaining 30% go to the officials, and only 20% belong to me. There are five children in my family, four of them are studying, and the repairs and pens, inks, papers and inkstones also cost money."

  Zhao Han didn't believe it, and said, "Twenty percent is still a lot, right?"

The woman said: "Master Hou wanted to find a family background. He just gave away a few hundred taels a few days ago, saying that he could get a government job at the pier. There is really only so much money left in the family. I still have some copper coins under my pillow. "

   "Unlucky!"

  Zhao Han not only took away the money, but also took away several sets of children's clothes, and even took away the two pairs of children's shoes in front of the bed.

   "What is this?" Zhao Han touched a knife and ax on the table.

  The woman replied, "Fire sickle."

  Zhao Han stuffed the scythe into his arms and blocked the woman's mouth.

  Fumbled again, found the woman's dressing table, and put away all the jewelry. Before leaving, he found a comb and a pair of grate. He thought of the messy hair of the little sister, so he took the comb and the grate with him.

   It was still raining heavily at the moment, Zhao Han took his sister out and found Ma Wu not far next door. He untied Ma Wu's rope and said, "Go by yourself, Lord Hou was killed by me. You led the way. I am the main criminal and you are the accessory. Do you know what that means?"

   Ma Wu was shocked, and quickly replied: "I don't know anything."

   "Smart." Zhao Han praised.

  Ma Wu regained his freedom and immediately ran away in a panic.

  Zhao Han took his sister's hand and ran all the way to the city wall in the rain. He didn't dare to hang out in the dock area because Deng Gui was covered by someone above him.

  As for recruiting beggar gangs, don’t talk nonsense, you must manage officials and generals, and you must compete with other beggars for territory. If Zhao Han was an adult, he might still be able to play around, but he is only a ten-year-old boy now.

  The north city wall of Tianjin collapsed tens of feet, and it has not been repaired for 20 years.

  The two brothers and sisters waded through the muddy water, climbed in from the gap in the city wall, and came to Tianjin City quietly.

(PS: Many thanks to the leader of Ziyizi for the reward, and also thank you Yanhan Wuxin, Bright Moon Sword Flying, Longxiang Shengteng, Heroes Hollywood, etc. for their support. After the new book is on the shelves, one leader will add two updates, Save it for now, don't update it too quickly before it goes on the shelves.)

  (end of this chapter)