Detective in the Red Chamber

It turned out that it was not the soldiers of the Inspectorate, but the soldiers of the Governor's Mansion.

Seeing those soldiers talking involuntarily, coming up to stretch out their hands to be torn apart, Cangzhou Mansion Counselor Xiang Yi blushed, and said angrily, "I have a clear conscience, and I have never been poked like some people." The sore spot is biting like a mad dog! Why did you go to some prison with you guys?!"

These words are clearly aimed at Zhou Ruqing!

Hearing this, Ge Yan's originally grinning face suddenly sank.

He stepped forward and pushed Xiang Yi back, cursing, "What are you, you dare to insult the master of Taiwan! I think the mastermind behind the scenes, even if it is not you, must be inseparable from you Relationship—someone, tie me up!"

"okay!"

Several officers and soldiers immediately untied the rope from their waists, stepped forward and pressed Xiang Yi's shoulders, and were about to tie him up!

"Stop! I'm the official of the imperial court! I'm a dignified fifth grade!" Xiang Yi struggled excitedly, "Without any real evidence, how dare you abuse this official by lynching?! Is there no king's law in this Jinmen mansion?! "

"Wang Fa?"

Ge Yan sneered, raised the horsewhip in his hand, and said sharply, "In this Jinmen Mansion, our Governor's Mansion is Wang Fa!"

As he said that, he swung the whip in his hand suddenly, and whipped it straight up.

Seeing that avoidance was inevitable, Xiang Yi had no choice but to lower his head to cover his face, preparing to resist the whip with the Tianling cover.

It's just that he grinned his teeth and waited for a long time, but the pain never came.

Xiang Yi looked up suspiciously, and saw the whip hanging in the air, being tightly clenched by a fist the size of a vinegar bowl!

Looking up along the fist, a young face with Chinese characters also came into view.

Xiang Yi couldn't help but blurted out, "Sun Zhizhong?!"

It was Sun Shaozong who stopped Ge Yan suddenly.

He didn't talk to Xiang Yi either, he just sneered at Ge Yan with a sullen face, "I don't know if what you said just now was your own idea, or Zhou Zhitai's idea?"

Ge Yan held the whip with both hands, and pulled it desperately, but it was as futile as a dragonfly shaking a tree.

He heard Sun Shaozong questioning him, and he let go of his horsewhip angrily, pulled out half of his waist knife with a clang, and said in a sly way, "Why, does Sun Zhizhong want to disobey the governor's order? If not, give it to me quickly." Get out of the way, or I, Ge Yan, will recognize you, but not this steel knife!"

Sun Shaozong pinched the horsewhip in his palm with his backhand, waved it like chasing flies, and said, "Since you are also following orders, you should withdraw first. If Mr. Xiang is not here, don't worry about it. I will ask you clearly."

"you……"

"What are you?"

Just as Ge Yan glared, Sun Shaozong condescendingly yelled, "I was ordered to assist in the investigation of this case with the General Secretary, so naturally I have the right to interrogate any suspect—why, do you want to disobey the Governor's order?"

This move used his own way to deal with his own body, but it choked Ge Yan enough, and stared at Sun Shaozong for a while, he finally stomped his feet and greeted, "Let's go!"

Seeing that Ge Yan led the people away in a desperate manner.

Only then did Xiang Yi get rid of the servant's support, approached awkwardly, and said a little embarrassedly, "It's really thanks to Mr. Sun who speaks uprightly, otherwise I'm afraid..."

"Hey~ I just went to the governor's mansion yesterday to speak out, hoping not to injure the lives of the people in Cangzhou indiscriminately, but who knows that it caused a prison disaster!"

"It's really chilling for the governor to act like this."

The West Kua Courtyard is different from the East Kua Courtyard, it is a quadrangle courtyard, there are at least three or four family members living in it, even though they dare not get close at this time, they are secretly spying in the corner.

Sun Shaozong hesitated for a while, and then said, "Master Xiang, in order to avoid such a thing from happening again, why don't you move to Dongkuayuan and live with me?"

Xiang Yi originally avoided him because he was afraid, but now he can't wait for his invitation.

While hastily agreeing, he couldn't help complaining in a low voice to the other accomplices of Xikuayuan, saying that they usually call themselves brothers and sisters, but now they don't even dare to 'inquire'.

While talking, the two of them went to Dongkua courtyard first. As for the luggage and so on, there were servants who were responsible for carrying it.

Seeing that there were no other people around, Sun Shaozong immediately grabbed Xiang Yi and asked, "Master Xiang, how many people under your command can you trust and do things?!"

Xiang Yi was taken aback for a moment, and then asked cautiously, "I don't know what Master Sun wants my people to do?"

"Naturally, it's to help me verify the inference in my heart, whether it's true or not!"

Chapter 248

"Fleeing?! You said that Zhou Ruqing is going to escape to the outside of Dazhou?!"

"That's right!"

The corrupt officials who are almost on the verge of extinction don't care about the steel knife around their necks, they only focus on plundering people's wealth, even blatantly destroying the court's laws and regulations, and they don't shy away from the eyes and ears of others...

Putting all these things together, others may not be able to see what Zhou Ruqing's intentions are because of the limitations of the times and the traditional concept that the homeland is hard to leave, but Sun Shaozong immediately thought of the word "fleeing".

After all, in the era he was in, fleeing corrupt officials was arguably the most common routine!

But in the face of the current mortal situation, if Zhou Ruqing and others want to survive, they may have to 'flee with the money'!

And because Jinmen Mansion is quite a distance from the land border, if you want to escape with a large amount of gold and silver, you can only choose the sea route.

That's why Sun Shaozong was on the pier just now, so he paid attention to the large ships that could go out to sea, hoping to find evidence of Zhou Ruqing's attempt to escape.

It's just that the number of sea-going ships exceeded Sun Shaozong's expectations.

However, he didn't dare to scare the snake right now, so he could only send someone to investigate secretly - but relying on the two subordinates and a young servant by his side, he didn't know when he would investigate.

If no clues were found, then Zhou Ruqing took people and fled to the sea first, and then tried to find those people's fat and people's anointing, but it would be as difficult as climbing the sky.

So on the way back, Sun Shaozong wondered where to find more people.

In fact, there are not no soldiers and horses that have been completed. In the local Dragon Guard Hundred Households, there are at least 40 to [-] people who can be sent by him.

But the problem is that Sun Shaozong has never even met Jia Shanyao, let alone his relationship with the Governor's Mansion - if Jia Shanyao himself is also involved, wouldn't asking him for help mean throwing himself into a trap?

He was in a dilemma, but happened to bump into Xiang Yi and was made things difficult for him. He also saw that he was upright and a bit bookish, and he had a grudge with the Governor's Mansion, so he came up with his idea.

Different from Sun Shaozong's habit of being light and simple, when traveling as an official these days, almost all of them are hugging each other, and Xiang Yi is naturally no exception.

The officials accompanying him, plus the servants he carried, numbered at least a dozen, and as long as half of them could be trusted, it would be enough.

It's just that after Sun Shaozong briefly analyzed his deduction with Xiang Yi, Xiang Yi shook his head like a rattle, "I can't do it, absolutely I can't do it! Those stupid people usually run around and can do it well." How dare you entrust them with such a big relationship right now? If the news is leaked, wouldn't Xiang become a sinner through the ages?!"

Immediately, he gritted his teeth again and said, "It's really impossible, so Xiang will disguise himself and go..."

"There's no need for that!"

Sun Shaozong hastily interrupted him. This man was a standard literati at first glance. He was indifferent to the five bodies and the four valleys. If he really wanted to go out to inquire about the news, he was afraid that people would find something wrong after he said a few words.

"Brother Xiang, in fact, there is no need to tell the people below about the joints. We just need to..."

Sun Shaozong explained a few words in this way, and Xiang Yi's eyes suddenly brightened.

He didn't bother to ask for Sun Shaozong's opinion, so he rushed to the door in a few steps, and greeted loudly, "Call me in, everyone, I have something to explain!"

Those officials and domestic servants all knew that he had just been wronged and was full of grievances and had nowhere to vent, so naturally they didn't dare to be negligent, and hurriedly rushed into the living room.

Sure enough, as Sun Shaozong guessed, there were as many as 15 people, old and young.

"Brother Xiang."

Sun Shaozong hurriedly reminded in a low voice, "Just find a few capable ones, there is no need to send them all out."

Only then did Xiang Yi suddenly realize that he hurriedly threw the usually stupid ones outside and continued to carry the luggage, and then said to the rest of the people, "I think you all know that now that the Governor's Mansion has nowhere to vent its anger, it's on us Cangzhou people." If you stay here in Jinmen Mansion, it's hard to say whether I can go back alive."

As soon as everyone heard this, they all rushed to comfort him.

But Xiang Yi waved his hand and said, "There is no need to say anything else, I just discussed it with Mr. Sun. Instead of staying here and waiting to die, it is better to find a way to leave here."

leave here?

Everyone was a little dumbfounded, and one of the subordinates boldly reminded, "My lord, according to the order of the Governor's Mansion, now this Jinmen can only enter but not exit..."

"Confused!"

Xiang Yi stared, and said angrily, "I can't wait to burn my eyebrows, how can we manage so much?"

After a pause, he slightly lowered his voice and said, "Besides, you have also seen the terrified appearance of the governor's mansion. Mr. Zhou may not be able to protect himself this time. As long as we can escape these few days, we don't have to worry about him pursuing it afterwards." !"

It made sense for everyone to hear this. Maybe they didn't know what the Governor's Mansion was like before, but just based on the behavior of arresting people and ransacking their homes randomly in the past two days, they would definitely not be able to please them in the future.

"Actually, the officer has already found out."

Sun Shaozong interjected in a timely manner, "Although there are patrol boats guarding the canals at both ends of the north and south, the direction of going to sea is not blocked. As long as we can find a boat willing to go to sea, it will be much easier to leave Jinmen."

"exactly!"

Xiang Yi added, "It's better to be a large ship, because besides Mr. Sun and I, there are two colleagues who also intend to leave together. I'm afraid it is difficult for ordinary small boats to accommodate so many people."

"You don't have to ask one by one."

Sun Shaozong said again, "People in this city are panicking now, and no one knows if they will be the next one to be ransacked. According to my deduction, there must be a sea merchant who has thought of a place with us!"

"So you just need to find out, those big ships in the past two days have bought supplies for going to sea, and it is enough to report back."

The two explained clearly in a few words, and promised a lot of money to pay each other. Only then did they call the three under Sun Shaozong and send them out to inquire about the news.

When the people in the living room were all dispersed, Xiang Yi suddenly collapsed on the grand teacher's chair as if he had collapsed, panting heavily.

After a long time, he finally regained his strength, but asked nervously, "Master Sun, can we really hide the truth from the Governor's Mansion if we do this?"

"It's not that easy to completely fool the past, that's why we have to release fake news." Sun Shaozong spread his hands and said, "I'm going back to attend my brother's wedding, but you were almost caught in prison, and you were eager to leave the place of right and wrong. It's all within reason."

"And if Governor Zhou really intends to flee, he won't dare to delay for too long—I think it will be the next day at most, which is already the limit."

"In this way, even if we escape tomorrow, there will be no time to go to the capital to call for reinforcements."

"So even if the Governor's Mansion gets the news, it should ignore our 'insignificant little thoughts', and naturally it will not startle the snake."

When Sun Shaozong said this, seeing that Xiang Yi had completely relaxed, he laughed again, "Of course, this is just my own speculation. If Governor Zhou is vigilant enough..."

He stopped talking halfway.

Xiang Yi immediately raised his heart to his throat, and asked, "If Zhou Ruqing was vigilant enough, what would happen?!"

"If Governor Zhou is vigilant enough, I'm afraid I can only go all the way from here to the Governor's Mansion and capture him alive!"

As Sun Shaozong spoke, he burst out laughing.

Xiang Yi thought he was joking, so he laughed too.

Chapter 249 Sharp turn down

The tradition in the old bureaucratic system has always been to handle public affairs and private affairs specially. What's more, this time not only promised a heavy reward, but also related to Xiang Yi's life.

Therefore, a few officials and a group of domestic servants are trying their best to dig around.

The people were thrown out in the morning, and before noon, news came back one after another.

First of all, after some investigations, it was discovered that someone had hoarded in private, a large amount of materials needed to go to sea, and even bought a considerable amount of pickles and food.

It's just that the whereabouts of these materials are still unknown at the moment.

In addition, Sun Shaozong said before that those sea merchants were all in danger, but he just found a reason casually. Who knows that he really said it-nearly half of the homes of the wealthy gentry who were ransacked in recent days were businessmen. maritime trade.

Although Jinmen Mansion is indeed located by the sea, its main economic lifeline still relies on inland river transportation. It can be said that out of ten people who make their fortunes by shipping, it is impossible to find one or two who take the sea route.

Therefore, this ratio appears to be extremely abnormal.

Sun Shaozong hurriedly ordered people to follow this line, and made an in-depth investigation. It turned out that not only the homes of the gentry were ransacked, but also many of the stewards and crew who had been at sea all year round were thrown into the prison. .

However, because the matter of a group of mud legs is far less eye-catching than the arrest of the gentry and gentlemen, so there were not many rumors before.

But following this line, we found out about the yamen of the procuratorate and procuratorate, but got another news, saying that just after noon, the soldiers and horses of the standard department sent all the sailors in the prison, together with the family members and maidservants of the noble gentry, to the prison. Went to the Governor's Palace.

Hearing the news, Sun Shaozong's face showed a serious look, and he asked in a deep voice, "Among those women, are there any elders?"

The servant of the Xiang family who came to report was obviously also a standard gossip party, and he was quite clear about these details.

Yu Shi hurriedly said vividly, "I've heard people say that most of the hundred and ten are young ladies who are juicy and beautiful, and occasionally there are a few middle-aged and young ladies who still have charm. As for the old ones, they are half None of them were seen."

it is as expected!

This week, Ruqing's work is really one after another, and she will never waste any "resources"!

When the servant was sent away, Xiang Yi couldn't help but wondered, "Those sailors are fine. What's the use of getting a group of women there at this moment?"

Sun Shaozong was silent for a while, and then sneered, "Of course it's used as a vote!"

All these sailors were unwilling, and now Zhou Ruqing can suppress it by relying on his official authority, but once at sea, he, the treasonous governor, may not be stronger than a salted fish in the eyes of the sailors!

Therefore, some methods must be used in advance to force these sailors to have no home and can only be tied to him—and those women who were escorted to the Governor's Mansion are obviously the 'means' prepared by Zhou Ruqing.

Regardless of whether they voluntarily touched the bodies of these gentry's family members, or even killed a few more people, the sailors could only obediently flee overseas with Zhou Ruqing.

"Nominations?"