Volume 2: The Capital, I’m Back Chapter 67: The Sound of Death
Rolling up the brothel, the east wind is warm, and the poplar flowers are fluttering in the sunny day. The orchid sleeves are fading, the silk curtains are lifted, and the embroidered pillows are moving around.
Although it was Zhu Qizhen's first time to come to a brothel, he acted calmly and sat aside, looking at the woman in front of him with a smile.
She has fair skin and a pretty complexion. Although she is not as stunningly beautiful as Queen Qian, she has a unique charm.
Especially a pair of charming eyes, full of affection, every frown and smile, which is captivating.
"You look unfamiliar, you don't come here often, right?"
"Girl, you have good eyesight!"
Zhu Qizhen smiled and said, "I am from Taiyuan Prefecture. I studied for a few years, but I found that I am not good at studying. I just want to inherit the family business and do some business."
"Oh?" Miss Gu Xi poured a cup of tea and handed it over, saying calmly, "What kind of business does your family run?"
Zhu Qizhen took the teacup and drank it all, then said, "Open the warehouse and move the goods!"
Gu Xi poured another cup of tea and said, "These days, with all the chaos and war, business must be difficult, right?"
"You don't know this!" Zhu Qizhen smiled mysteriously and said, "The more war there is, the more prosperous the business will be!"
Gu Xi raised her hand to tidy up the messy hair on her temples and said softly, "Let's not talk about this anymore. I'll sing a song for you. What song do you want to hear?"
"Whatever the girl sings, I will listen to it!"
Gu Xi smiled, her eyes full of tenderness, and picked up the pipa to play.
After listening to a few songs in succession, seeing that it was getting late, Zhu Qizhen stood up and said, "I have a business appointment tonight, and I will talk to you about love and romance tomorrow."
Miss Gu Xi stood up, bowed, and said, "I am waiting for you, sir!"
Coming out of Tingyu Pavilion, Yuan Bin asked, "Your Majesty, what did you find?"
"There's something wrong with that woman!"
"How did the Emperor find out?"
"The smell of powder on her body is very unique, which at least means that she has been to the crime scene!"
"Your Majesty!" Yuan Bin suddenly became nervous and whispered, "There's someone following us!"
Zhu Qizhen said calmly: "Let him come, let's find a place to eat first!"
Fan Zhong was puzzled and said, "Your Majesty, it's getting late, it's time to return to the palace!"
"You can't go back now. Let's talk after dinner!"
The three of them strolled back to Dingxianglou. Zhu Qizhen remembered that the donkey meat here was good, so he walked in.
Yuan Bin arrived at the private room on the second floor with familiarity, slowly walked to the window and looked down.
"Your Majesty, it's the one in gray clothes who has followed us all the way from Tingyu Pavilion."
"He didn't come up?"
"I waited at the door for a while and then left."
"Follow him, there's a big fish behind him!"
"yes!"
Yuan Bin turned around and went downstairs. Fan Zhong asked in confusion, "Your Majesty, since that woman is suspicious, why don't you let the Jinyiwei arrest her directly?"
"It's not that simple!" Zhu Qizhen took a sip of the tea bowl and said thoughtfully, "I have a feeling that there must be some unknown organization hidden behind this person. If we act rashly, it is likely to alert the enemy. I want to catch them all in one fell swoop!"
Fan Zhong scratched his head and said, "It's just a robbery case, it's not that complicated, right?"
"Think about it, they dared to kill people and rob goods in the capital, and they were able to hide such a large amount of goods overnight. There must be many people involved. Moreover, there is one thing I still can't figure out, why did they choose these two people to attack?"
"Maybe... there's some grudge?"
"Do you remember what those two people said when we were having dinner here yesterday?"
Fan Zhong nodded and said, "From what they said, it seems that they are doing business with the Mongols?"
At this time, Yuan Bin hurried back and said, "Your Majesty, I have made all the arrangements and will have the result tomorrow."
Zhu Qizhen suddenly asked, "Is it possible that they specifically targeted these unscrupulous merchants? Because the business behind these people is shameful, even if something goes wrong, they dare not make it public... By the way, has the warehouse station reported the case?"
Yuan Bin thought about it and said, "It seems not!"
"Investigate!" Zhu Qizhen seemed to have discovered something. "Investigate the person behind that warehouse. There must be something wrong!"
Yuan Bin nodded and said, "I understand!"
At this time, the waiter's voice came from the stairs: "Donkey meat with five-spice sauce, braised donkey intestines, stir-fried donkey kidneys, donkey penis and wolfberry soup. Sir, your dishes are ready. Please enjoy!"
After arranging the dishes, the waiter turned and went downstairs.
Zhu Qizhen looked at Yuan Bin, then at Fan Zhong, and asked, "Who ordered the dishes?"
The two looked at each other and tried to think, who ordered the dish just now?
Yuan Bin looked at the dishes on the table and asked cautiously, "Your Majesty, is there anything wrong with this dish?"
Zhu Qizhen picked up a piece of kidney and put it in his mouth, chewing it and saying, "Kidney and whip soup, who are you looking down on?"
Yuan Bin: …
Fan Zhong: ...
After returning to the palace, Zhu Qizhen thought about it over and over again, and always felt that this matter was of no trivial matter. Such a clean and neat method of committing the crime must be backed by an extremely strict organization.
"Wynn!"
Huai En was making tea and quickly replied, "The servant is here!"
"Announce that the commander of the Juesheng Guard, Yang Zhicong, enter the palace!"
Huai En's expression was stern. Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, there has always been an extremely secretive organization, which is even more mysterious than the Jinyiwei.
This is a mysterious team composed entirely of deaf-mutes, the Juesheng Guard!
Unlike the Jinyiwei, the Jueshengwei did not have a separate office or special official uniforms, but were scattered all over the people, connected by their own unique internal communication methods. Their commanders had the right to deliver secret memorials directly to the emperor, and as long as the memorials were stamped with the Jueshengwei seal, no one except the emperor himself had the right to open them.
Therefore, except for a very small number of people who knew about it, no one else knew about the existence of such a team.
It was already late, but the Meridian Gate was still open, and the commander of the imperial guards, Fan Zhong, was personally guarding outside the gate.
Under the cover of night, Huai En hurried over with a young man in his twenties.
Fan Zhong took a look at the man. He was wearing a coarse cloth shirt and looked no different from ordinary people. If he was on the street, no one would even look at him. Little did they know that this man was the fourth commander of Jueshengwei.
Yang Zhicong made a gesture, Fan Zhong nodded, and took the two of them into the palace.
Because the existence of the Juesheng Guard is extremely secretive, in order to prevent the news from leaking out, these people do not wear badges and only communicate with hand gestures.
The lights were on in the imperial study, and Zhu Qizhen had been waiting for a long time.
"Your Majesty, the people have arrived!"
After Fan Zhong finished speaking, he took the initiative to step out and closed the door.
Huai En knew that the Emperor must have a secret message for summoning Jue Sheng Wei, so he waited outside obediently.
However, he felt itchy in his heart. As a close attendant to the emperor, he knew nothing else except serving tea and water every day.
Today, the Imperial Household Department has undergone a major reshuffle. Wang Zhen and his cronies have all been purged. Jin Ying is getting older. I am fortunate to serve the emperor, and my future is limitless. However, seeing the emperor working hard every day, I know nothing about it. Should I take the initiative to do something to help the emperor share some of the burden?
Thinking of this, he looked at Fan Zhong beside him carefully and asked, "General Fan, the emperor has been..."
"Hmm?" Fan Zhong glared at him and said unhappily, "Don't ask questions you shouldn't ask!"
"Yes Yes……"
