Suspect in Jinling

At night, in June, the summer cicadas are noisy, the stars hang brightly in the sky, and from time to time, the mist moves to cover, and then moves away, two tall and long-legged men are leaning side by side on a bar outside the Xiangfang of Fucheng Bridge Sturdy thorns, dressed in one black and one red, are talking together.

"Hey, just at this time, you help Duanduan, what's the situation now."

The red dress sniffled, reached out and took out a betel nut, and handed it over.The man in black casually took it and threw it in his mouth, but his eyes kept falling on the third-floor warehouse fifty steps away: "What situation do you want me to end?"

Behind the man in black is a group of 15 young guards from Yingtianfu. They are all wearing soap robes and round-neck official uniforms, and each of them is carrying a pair of heavy oak boards and a black iron chain. Bin took the lead and led, but he didn't see the saber-rattling when Xunri took people, but just stood silently with his head down.Sha Xiangyue stood a little further away, leaning against the wall at the street entrance, observing the movement outside the Xiangfang.

"That's the one who searched and searched," Jin Chizi said "tsk": "What is the size? How far will the above search to stop?"

Kuang Jian snorted softly, and said lightly: "Don't think about it, this thing won't stop for a month or two." She raised her chin as she spoke, and pointed to the house without lights, "They are also bold, choosing this place to hide .”

This is the nearest Xiangfang of Fucheng Bridge, which is in the southeast corner of Yingtian Mansion. Kuang Jian guessed the hiding place of these Taiping killers, and once suspected that they were near Dabaoen Temple, Dazhong Bridge and Huaiqing Bridge. It is located at the junction of the three sides of the Qinhuai River in the east of the city. There are a lot of foreign merchants living here. The flow of people is large, and the accent is mixed. It is easy to communicate and easy to hide. I never thought that people like the Xu family actually lived in Fucheng Bridge. Nearby, there are still such inconspicuous narrow dwellings.To the north of this place is the gathering place of nobles in the north of the city, and to the east is the garrison yamen and the imperial city. Every day the garrison yamen's personal soldiers patrol and change defenses must pass through this place, and this is also the beginning of daily investigations.

Kuang Jian thought to himself that this group of people from the Taiping Sect is really capable. The common people in this area will not cover up any suspicious person, but a dozen of them can hide silently for such a long time.

Jin Chizi: "It looks like this place was chosen by our head teacher. The nails are poisonous and the lights are dark, but it can't last for a long time. Without a local person to take them with them, they can't enter or retreat."

Now in Hecheng Dasuo, torches are erected at every alley entrance, surrounded by wooden fences, Jin Chizi glanced at his head, and saw several teams of guards in different colors rushing past, the sound of neat footsteps kicking in the night Rushing, there is a sense of panic for no reason.

Kuang Jian: "Then you, the headmaster, don't worry, just throw them here and make a dead chess."

"Hey, our headmaster..."

Jin Chizi complained, then glanced at the beautiful purple figure at the street corner, and asked Kuang Jian in a low voice: "What did Xiangyue say about our teacher?"

"He didn't say anything, he just said that he was a man of idle clouds and wild cranes, and he didn't often ask about the affairs of the church."

"Hey! That's right!" Jin Chizi laughed.

"Do you have another opinion?"

"What can I think?" Jin Chizi slapped his forehead wildly: "If you want me to say, our head teacher is a man of great ability, otherwise we wouldn't have been torn apart in the school back then, and he could still gather together. Let’s get up, but he really has no interest in teaching affairs these years... How should I put it, he is an old man, his thoughts are too deep, and ordinary people like me can’t see through it.”

The two chatted amicably for a while, when a vigorous black figure suddenly appeared fifty paces away, its sharp eyes looked around, and hurried towards Jin Chizi: "Second brother, I found out, the next Three families, all 13 people are there."

"Okay!" Jin Chizi stretched his long legs when he heard the words, and the tiger and leopard jumped up as if they had just woken up, moved their limbs left and right, and stood up straight, "Then I go to talk to them?"

Kuang Jian folded her arms motionlessly, still maintaining a relaxed posture leaning on the black thorn, "If there is an accident, you can mention me, he will always be afraid of the government people outside."

The Jin family and the Xu family in the Taiping Sect are at odds, and they beat life and death secretly before, so it would not be a good thing if there is a quarrel at this time.

Jin Chizi grinned sincerely when he heard the words, clenched his fist with his right hand, and thumped Kuang Jian's strong shoulder: "Kuang catcher, don't worry!"

Under the lamp, Chongli Street in the east of the city, the town government office.

A huge white leaflet was spread out on the table. There was no rendering on the rice paper, only outlines. It densely recorded the relationships of various characters and their itineraries in the past three months. Jiang Xingzheng stared at it intently, trying to find out clues.

Ever since Li Mengliang mentioned Jiang Xingzheng that day, he has shifted the focus of his investigation from external to internal investigations. It is related to all the news about Kuang Jian, official, private, open, and secret. Collect collages, the more you sort them out, the more frightened you become.He verified the news. At the beginning of April, Kuang Jian once went to the west of the city to meet a man named Jin. Whether this Jin is the leader of the Taiping Sect is uncertain for the time being, but the garrison yamen ordered a search for those who embroidered red lotus. People actually got the news in advance and spread it secretly, and the people under him were unharmed from beginning to end.

Reminiscent of the resignation of the fourth master and Ying Tianfu's ambiguous attitude towards the Taiping Sect, although Jiang Xingzheng has no conclusive evidence of the connection between officials and bandits, he has basically confirmed that Kuang Jian is indeed the umbrella of the Taiping Sect.

Jiang Xingzheng then took a look at Kuang Jian's whereabouts this month. As Li Mengliang said, this is a person who is very good at disguising himself. Many of his behaviors cannot be found suspicious at first glance. There is only one thing that makes Jiang Xingzheng keen. Feeling unusual: The Yellow Book.

Four days ago, Kuang Jian suddenly applied to the Sixth Ministry for access to the Houhu Yellow Book.

The yellow books are stored on five small islands in the back lake in the north of Jinling City. When Lord Hongwu decided to set up Jinling, all the nearby residents were moved out, and a heavily guarded restricted area in the lake was set aside. It has not been opened to the public for a hundred years. And this yellow book Nothing else, it is the most authoritative household registration records in the world. It is archived every six years. On weekdays, there are only fire-proof warehouse workers to take care of them. These records are not needed for government office work every ten days. Ordinary people are not interested in it. Kuang Jian At such a sensitive time, I have to go to Houhu to read the yellow book, what is the picture?

What's more, Ying Tianfu itself is the yamen with the best management of official documents. In Jinling, they directly manage Nanzhili and Jingping, a prefecture and eight counties. One point, because the management is meticulous and easy to find, if the government offices in Jinling cannot find the old files in a hurry, they will go to Yingtianfu to apply for a loan.What exactly did Kuang Jian want to check? Ying Tianfu's official document library is out of order, so he has to go to Houhu to check?

What's even more suspicious is that he didn't go by himself, and Sha Xiangyue was with him.

Jiang Xingzheng let out a long breath, stood up, and paced repeatedly in the duty room——

This person, Jiang Xingzheng, knew that last autumn, Pang Zhengying, who was his immediate boss at the time, had asked this person to repair the mansion for him. Yuyue also mentioned that this young craftsman was very good. He had also participated in the reconstruction of the three main halls in Beijing. Later, in Pang Zhengying's study, he followed Mr. Lu to witness how this master craftsman assisted Kuang Jian in solving the case. The relationship between the two people should have started at that time, and then there was a quarrel between the two people on the Qinhuai River in the Hu Ye case. Misunderstood, Kuang Jian arrested the master craftsman and released him the next day. When Jiang Xingzheng saw Sha Xiangyue again, he had already seen him and Kuang Jian making a couple opposite Hezhizhai... According to Xiao Liuzi It is said that this master killer lived with Kuang Jian after the Hu Ye case was solved, but at that time several leaders in the yamen mysteriously covered up for Kuang Jian, and there was a long period of conflict between them , good times and bad times, the evening of the night Master Yu was killed was finally coaxed and pierced the window paper, and then they lived together openly, and Kuang Jian no longer shy away from it...

A mess of thoughts was torn back and forth in Jiang Xingzheng's mind. It seemed that there was nothing suspicious about the line he had sorted out, but his intuition felt that there were suspicious things everywhere. What made him more vigilant was: Jiaojiao knew how to kill Xiangyue, and it was long before she went to Yingtian Mansion.

Jiang Xingzheng turned around twice anxiously, a very bold conjecture crashed into his thoughts, and then burned into a bright ball of anger that hit his chest - he didn't want to believe it, but countless information spontaneously connected the cause and effect It took root firmly in his mind and made him restless.

……why?

He asked himself again and again: The Taiping Sect has been a disaster for the common people for a long time, and as a police officer, why did Kuang Jian associate with such despicable and cruel people? !

The more Jiang Xingzheng thought about it, the more annoyed he became, and finally opened the door and stepped out to breathe. Tonight there are stars and moons, but most of them are covered by clouds. He walks along the back-shaped corridor to the vertical flower door, and strides past the double-eaved wing room, the signing room, and the recording room. The room, the brightly lit duty office, went all the way to the front hall, and then slowly calmed down... Just as I was thinking about the space, suddenly there was a rush of footsteps behind me, Jiang Xingzheng turned around, saw that it was the little six, and couldn't help asking: " What's the fuss about?"

Little Six quickly ran over and said in a low voice: "This subordinate just came from Jiangdong Gate. A team of 300 people entered the city with a secret order. This subordinate feels something is wrong, so I came here to report to Mr. Li."

Jiang Xingzheng didn't show his face, but his heart was shocked:

Jinling City closed the city at night with the sound of drums, and the thirteen gates of the outer city had no reason to open unless the highest officer issued a warrant. An army came in. This was a major event involving the city defense!

"Which army?"

"It's the Zhejiang Army under the Marquis of Ningyang."

Jiang Xingzheng's heart was shocked again: that was a division of the army who had made great achievements in the northwest and then transferred to the Zhejiang region!Outside Jinling City, there are Xiaoling Guards in the south and Longjiang Naval Division in the north. The garrison Yamen, Bingmasi, Thirteen Guards, and Yingtian Mansion in Jinling's inner city are also quite powerful. It doesn't matter who is mobilizing troops. Directly invite a country's killer weapon to Jinling City?Li Xian?Tang Guan?Or...the Li Mengliang in the family who can even invite imperial edicts?The man said that he would only stay in Jinling for a month, and he looked confident. Could it be that he had already planned it?

Little Six looked at Jiang Xingzheng's cloudy face, took a step closer, and said quietly: "Baihu, aren't you looking for Kuangtou? When I came over from the west of the city just now, I saw Kuangtou leading a group of people out. Ying Tianfu seems to have a secret operation tonight..."

Jiang Xingzheng opened his eyes wide and stared at the little six, as if responding to the uneasiness in his heart, another hurried footstep came from the back hall: "Jiang Baihu! Master Li sent an order that there will be changes tonight, all People gather!"

Jiang Xingzheng's heart trembled, and he immediately turned around and said solemnly: "Yes! Here we come!"

With a "click", the two wooden yokes placed the head in the middle, and the wooden gap closed with a "click"!

Immediately afterwards, heavy iron chains wrapped around the raised hands on the wooden shackles, and locked the lock heart.

"The wooden yoke is a false buckle, you can break free at any time, the lock is real, and the police patrol the streets for inspection-let me say it first, we will take Jian'anfang and Taiping Bridge on this way, and my brother and I will send you to the west of the city to worship the Tao Bridge, for the rest of the road, you can ask for blessings." Kuang Jian glanced around beside the bridge, her voice calm and unwavering.

Kuang Jian did not have the authority to send people out of the city at night, but it was still possible to bring these dangerous elements from the city to the west of the city.

The killers of the Taiping Sect lost a lot, five were killed, two were arrested, and only these thirteen remained. The leader, Xu Shi, and Kuang Jian were somewhat different from what Kuang Jian had expected. He was a stocky little man with rough and dark skin. There is a big mole on the face, it looks ugly at first glance, but the eyes are big and deep, even if you raise your head when looking at people, you can't restrain the direct light.

Zhang Hua was the last one to lock Xu's family, and he was overwhelmed by this little man the whole time. After the locks and keys were collected and put into Jin Chizi's hands, the little man swaggered around the wooden shackle and iron lock, like a criminal The heavy weapon is like a toy to him, and his eyes are gloomy from Zhang Hua's face to Kuang Jian's face, and then to Jin Chizi's face——

"It seems that the second child, you really have a good relationship with the government, no wonder you have such confidence."

Jin Chizi didn't take it seriously, put the thirteen keys into the palm of his hand, pressed Xu's wooden yoke affectionately, and then pressed down hard.

"The most important thing is to survive in this world. Who cares who you make friends with? Don't you think so?"

That Mrs. Xu was resentful, under the low eaves, she was still a little unconvinced, but she heard a "bang" in her ear, and Kuang Jian came over and smashed an iron ruler on the wooden yoke, interrupting the conversation between the two impatiently.

"Take back your arrogance, and remember that you are the thieves caught in Xi County." He waved his hands towards his subordinates, and shouted in the night: "Let's go!"

The guards are well-trained. Hearing this, they quickly adjusted to a line formation, each guarding a criminal. Cheng Dabin and Zhang Hua each carried a wind lamp to lead the way, and Jin Chizi put on a black dress in a decent manner. , Sha Xiangyue silently leaned against Kuang Jian, and pushed back with Jin Chizi.

If someone is overlooking Jinling City at this time, they will find that the 35 people who set off from Fucheng Bridge are a rather strange team. Thirteen criminals are wearing shackles and swaggeringly. As if facing a formidable enemy, he walked out in a long line, with three tall and imposing figures attached to his tail, looking as eye-catching as he could.

Walking through Jian'an Square is the shortest road directly through Chongdao Bridge. This road passes through Zhongcheng Bingmasi, where the patrols are the strictest. Now Hecheng Dasuo Taiping Church, you can see a team of soldiers and two cavalry teams after two streets , The clear and clean footsteps were sonorous and powerful, and they passed through from a distance. When the leader saw the team, he blocked it and asked sharply which yamen it was from?Why travel at night?Zhang Hua was so nervous that the pores of his body shrank. Every time he saw a group of people, he couldn't help but raise the city iron sign first, and announced his family name loudly, saying that behind him was Qiang Liang, a bandit who was going to be handed over to Lin County. Yingtianfu Prison was full. , I want to send it out at night!

On the quiet and gloomy street, patrols stopped one after another, Zhang Hua's palms were sweating, and he passed Jian'an Square. Suddenly there was a low hissing laugh from the prisoner: "Hey, look, that little guard is so scared that he wants to pee his pants!" They played with the iron chains in their hands, and all the iron rings that rubbed against each other made rattling noises. Have any fear!

Zhang Hua walked in front, his heart that was about to break suddenly burst into flames!

"Don't look back!" Cheng Dabin beside him suddenly shouted.

The Chongdao Bridge in the west of the city was already in sight, Zhang Hua gritted his teeth and looked at the stopped flames, swallowed his anger and said: "Brother Cheng!...Who are these people!" Today, a dozen of their brothers are leading a secret mission, but the name is different. It is clear, but it is really escorted, but this tiger and wolf is not on the wooden shackles!

"Do not ask!"

Deeply, Cheng Dabin drank again, Fangzheng's jaw was tense, and he said viciously to the front: "Everyone obeys orders tonight and does what you are supposed to do!"

"Chirp - chirp!"

The frantic fluttering of the birds' wings came from far and near, and they came at a very fast speed, rushing in from the window like a prey, and slammed into the window sill!The man in black put away the magnet in his hand, grabbed the bird and took out the note, and took three big steps in two steps towards the gate of the value room: "The coiled snake has come out of the bridge, passed the Zhongcheng Bingmasi, Jian'anfang , is now approaching the west of the city!"

In the duty room, the middle-aged man standing in the command position was not wearing an official uniform, and his body was slightly bowed facing the map of the entire west of the city. Inside the room, there were all black men——

"The collection was sudden today."

The man opened his mouth and glanced at the subordinates who were waiting for a week in the room. His voice was rare and solemn: "In order to prevent leaks, from now on, no one is allowed to leave this place without orders, and is not allowed to contact the outside world—Jin Chizi, Xu Yu, Zhu Shi, Taiping Sect More than [-] important leaders, big and small, will be wiped out in the west of the city tonight!"