I started with Dragon Elephant Prajna, and I pushed forward with my skill points.

Chapter 37 This is the real Beggars' Gang
Like most cities in Jiangnan, rivers form the inner and outer parts of Hangzhou and are the skeleton of the city's layout.

The residents living by the river and the reflections on the white walls create a refreshing picture full of waterside scenery.
A charming scene of small bridges, flowing water and spring boats carrying beautiful things.

At this time, Su Qing was standing on a small bridge.

There are at least eighty such ordinary bridges in Hangzhou.

Although it is small and exquisite, it is also built very solidly.

Not far away, a pair of grandparents and grandchildren were singing local opera in the soft Wu dialect, which Su Qing could not understand.

The only thing I understood was that the old man's singing voice was very vicissitudes of life.

The little girl was only fifteen or sixteen years old, and her singing was very sad, so it must be a tragedy.

Of course, they were not Old Man Tianji and Sun Xiaohong, but spies from the Western Factory.

Although Su Qing also wanted to get information, he did not approach them immediately.

Doing so may affect their ability to hide in the future.

They were packing up and about to leave.

There were more footsteps approaching.

"Who asked you to sing here? Have you paid the management fee?"

Su Qing was not surprised that someone came to collect management fees.

There are all kinds of people in Shuntian Prefecture, let alone Hangzhou.

What surprised him was that the people who collected the management fees were actually beggars.

When the spy took out twenty coins from the singing money and handed it over, Su Qing heard a ridiculous remark: "With this little money, you're giving it to a beggar!"

“These people had tattered clothes and matted hair.

The exposed skin was as dark as if it had just crawled out of a quagmire.

The stench that spread out attracted flies from nearby.

If not a beggar, what is it?"

Su Qing was puzzled.

Ding Baiying, who was standing by, suddenly spoke up: "Your Excellency has been staying in Shuntian Prefecture, and there are very few beggars in the capital.

I don't know much about beggars.

In the eyes of the gentleman, beggars can only survive by begging for food.

The process of begging should be that when you see a man, you should call out "Master, please be kind."

When you see a woman, you call her "Madam" or "Miss" out of kindness and say a few auspicious words to make a living.

Real beggars are not like this."

"What's that like?"

“Begging is a real profession.

Once a new store opens on the street, or there is a wedding or funeral, they will send out a large number of members to ask for tips.

The shopkeepers gave the tips and everyone was happy. They would then put up a sign at the door to indicate that "business is open" and other beggars would no longer beg from the shopkeepers.

If the shop owners or hosts of weddings and funerals do not pay, then groups of beggars will swarm in, and countless beggars will sit at the door of the shop, seriously affecting the business of the shop owners and hindering the weddings and funerals.

Some people even carried buckets filled with slop or feces.

They would throw slop or feces in shops or on the roads where weddings and funerals were held.

There was a time when some people were so annoyed with beggars that they recruited some thugs to drive them away.

As a result, a fire broke out in the tavern the next day.

This is just the extortion style among beggars.

Among the beggars, there is also a group that practices cutting and dismembering things.

In order to obtain more charity, they will take advantage of people's sympathy for the weak and use various cruel means to abuse children.

For example, they would deliberately break a child's hands and feet to make him lame; burn one of his eyes to make him blind; tear off his ears to make him deaf; and cut off his nose to make him have a tile nose.

Then, they would take their disabled children to beg on the streets, arousing people's sympathy and getting money.

This is what a real beggar is.”

Su Qing was speechless and deeply shocked. He had only one thought in his mind: "Is this still the same chivalrous Beggars' Gang?"

Suddenly, his eyes paused and fixed on a beggar in the corner of the street.

This man had an extremely ugly face, with twisted muscles on his face, several plasters on his face, and a high ridge on his back, making him look like a hunchback.

However, Su Qing saw a pair of bright eyes on that ugly face, and those were not the eyes of a beggar.

At the same time, his palms also looked very dark, but not as dry as a beggar's.

This person's identity as a beggar is obviously a disguise.

He is deliberately pretending to be a beggar. He is hiding his identity. Why is he hiding it?
"Lin Pingzhi?"

Su Qing called out tentatively.

He remembered the description in The Smiling, Proud Wanderer that Lin Pingzhi disguised himself as a hunchback in order to avoid being hunted down by Qingcheng.

In his hump, there was actually a package containing hidden money.

Anyone who is suddenly called by their real name will have a stress reaction, and Lin Pingzhi was no exception.

When his identity was exposed, he panicked and ran away immediately.

Ding Baiying was quick-witted and quick-handed. He immediately stood in front of him and showed him a token.

Seeing this, Lin Pingzhi breathed a sigh of relief.

Su Qing also sighed slightly, thinking that after searching for it everywhere, he finally got it without any effort.

At the same time, the grandfather and grandson from the Western Factory used most of their singing income to finally get rid of the beggars.

The beggars are happy now, but they will be in trouble soon.

It turned out that when the old man handed the money to the beggars, the erhu in his hand vibrated and a force was injected into the beggars.

Then the grandfather and grandson left without saying a word.

In an alley, Su Qing stopped a grandfather and his grandson who were singing for money.

A look of shock appeared on the old man's face. He didn't know where he was exposed, and his right hand instinctively grabbed the bow of the erhu.

The bow pole was clearly made of bamboo, but in this person's hands it seemed to have turned into a sword.

"You don't have to do this!"

As he spoke, Su Qing took out the Western Factory token.

After just one glance, the two of them immediately bowed respectfully: "Greetings, Master Su!"

"You know me?"

Su Qing was surprised.

"We have never met Mr. Su.

Just recently, a secret letter came from the capital, claiming that the person holding the secret order of the Western Factory was Mr. Su, the commander of the Jinyiwei.

Seeing the token is like seeing the Lord!"

"I see!"

Su Qing suddenly understood.

The old man took the initiative to speak: "I wonder why you are looking for us?"

"I want to know if there have been any incidents involving tax supervision in Liangzhe, or even in Nanzhili, Fujian, and Jiangxi recently!"

Since Jiangsu and Zhejiang border Fujian, Jiangxi and Nanzhili, the outsiders who died in the Tian family in Wanping County may have come from Jiangsu and Zhejiang, or from Nanzhili and Fujian and Jiangxi.

"This intelligence covers a wide range of topics and requires a large amount of information to be sorted out. Sir, please come with me back to the West Factory base."

Afterwards, under the leadership of the old man, everyone went through many twists and turns and came to a hidden courtyard.

A wooden whistle appeared in his hand. He blew it a few times and then jumped into the yard.

This is an abandoned courtyard overgrown with weeds. Most of the buildings have collapsed due to disrepair, wind erosion, rain erosion, ants and insects.

There was only a small stone house, huddled alone in a corner, with a tile roof with holes in it and sealed with wooden boards.

Entering the courtyard, Su Qing sensed two faint breaths hidden in the grass. They should be the secret sentries of the Western Factory.

Perhaps because of the old man's whistle, they did not stop Su Qing and others.

Soon, everyone arrived at the dilapidated stone house.

The stone house was empty and there was no place to rest.

However, there is another world underground.

Although it is underground, it is not dark or damp.

(End of this chapter)