Rui Hegui

People's hearts are immeasurable, and desires are boundless.

As long as there are laws and regulations to regulate commerce, there will be a black market. In recent years, local officials in the Southwest Territory have been cheating, and the forces of all parties are chaotic. In Ningzhou, natural disasters and man-made disasters have coexisted, and the people are in dire straits. Tu Yuan has long been eyeing it. out.

After the Ningzhou case ended, Tian Guang went to serve as the magistrate of Ningzhou, and carried out a major exchange of blood for the Ningzhou government. With the assistance of Yan Chang and Xu Ming, many black markets were closed. The black market works quite well—except for this black market in Zi Town, fifty miles west of Xiangyuan City.

This black market has a long history and existed as early as 20 years ago.

At the beginning, the black market was not in Zi Town, but only existed inside Tuyuan. It was just an ordinary Tuyuan merchant organization, used to sell private salt and medicinal materials from Daxu, and then sold it to the people of Tuyuan. Not involved in military affairs, Da Xu turned a blind eye to this.

Until 15 years ago, when the Fan family army's treason case happened, Emperor Jianning devoted himself to punishing Fanwangchi's family and had no time to think about other things. Undercurrents surged in the southwest border. Many boundaries are but a step away.

In the second year, that is, Jianning 56, Han Wenyun had already shaken the power of the court, and it was too late for Emperor Jianning to regret it. Looking at the six ministries in the three provinces, there were abandoned ones, stalled stalls, and institutions that still had real power Most of the government offices and yamen are out of their control.

This is still the case in Kyoto, and the local government has no spare power.

As a result, this two-handed black market in Zi Town grew rapidly, and it grew countless branches towards Daxu's interior. It has developed to this day, and has involved many transactions prohibited by Daxu, such as salt and iron, horses, and private silver.

The road to Zizhen is not easy to walk, and there are many swamps and fog barriers. It is not an exaggeration to say that it has eighteen bends.

In fact, there is a convenient waterway, which is specially used to transport goods in the black market, but that waterway exists in the complex water network composed of rivers and rivers in the southwest border, and is covered by complex terrain. No one knows except the people in the black market How did that waterway go?

Therefore, Chu Bandit, Zhao Liangyue and his group not only pretended to be ignorant of water routes, but also chose the most difficult land route—after all, their current identities were from Gyeonggi to a strange frontier, desperate to make a fortune The sons of merchants.

It was already afternoon when the two arrived at Zi Town in a luxury carriage.

Yan Chang first stopped at a rouge shop, rolled up his sleeves with the peddler, and handed over a token.

The peddler was tall and burly, with a scar on the right side of his cheek, he did not look like a rouge salesman at all.

I saw the peddler skillfully stroking the lines of the keepsake with his fingertips in his sleeves, looking up at the group of people, with a faint smile on his face, but it was not half friendly, and there were a few weird and creepy ones, as if to remind the group of people Man, this is not a friendly place.

Faced with the peddler's scrutiny, Chu Bandit took a step forward, showing displeasure on his face, "Why, do you have any opinions?"

The peddler looked at Yan Chang and frowned slightly.

Yan Chang hurriedly stopped Chu Bandit back, and said with a smile: "Young Master He, we naturally have our rules here. You are a distinguished guest from the capital, but you have to follow the rules when you go to the countryside, right? Big things matter, big things matter."

After finishing speaking, Yan Chang apologized to the peddler again, and said in a low voice: "No wonder, no wonder, the sons from Jingji are so virtuous, but don't we still have to do business? Don't worry, you see, they are too old to throw fire. Minus, I checked, at least it's worth this."

As Yan Chang spoke, he made gestures between the connecting cuffs, and the peddler frowned slightly, then turned around and gave Yan Chang a special wooden sign.

Zi Town is located in a remote place, surrounded by many swamps and poisonous miasma, it is not a livable place, half of the town is deserted, a little desolate, most of the people coming and going in the town are rushing to the black market to gather here. There are not many families who live here.

Yan Chang led the crowd to the north, and all he saw along the way were all kinds of merchants, among them were many Tuyuan merchants, some in different clothes gathered to whisper to each other, some drove slaves and whipped tigers, some The one who watched the crowd independently from the sidelines - when everyone passed by Chu Gui and Zhao Liangyue, they would turn their heads for an extra look.

Chu Bandit looked impatient, as if he was about to get angry, while Zhao Liangyue acted as the stable and forbearing younger brother, smiling and nodding at the passers-by, while stopping his elder brother who seemed to be ready to punch anyone who didn't like him at any time.

The destination is an inn.

The inn is the largest in the town, and it is one of the few that are still open. There is no plaque, no name, but anyone who wants to enter the black market here, from all walks of life, from all walks of life, will gather here.

Different from the welcome waiter standing in front of the usual inn, there are three fierce warriors standing in front of this inn, with dark skin, weathered brows and eyes, and moon-shaped scimitars around their waists.

Yan Chang handed the wooden sign in his hand to one of the warriors, the warrior knew the authenticity with just one look, he cupped his fists and bowed to the group of people, and then called a boy to lead them in.

This little boy, like Dong Chan, has been practicing martial arts since he was a child, and he is exquisite and well-versed, and he is used to observing words and expressions, so he was specially trained to be a receptionist.

From the entrance to the three rooms on the east side of the second floor, the little boy briefly explained the rules of the inn, and then handed Chu Bandit a booklet, specifically entrusting him: "If you break the rules, you will be punished yourself, and the Emperor Xu is also inevitable. "

Such arrogant and disobedient words, but Xiaotong said it as a matter of course, as if it has always been like this, and it is not strange to be used to it.

Before the group could ask any questions, the little fairy left after finishing her speech.

According to the rules, they were not allowed to stay outside the room for a long time, so the group of people entered a room first, and You Bai and Jing Mo stood behind the door holding swords on the left and right.

It was getting dark outside, and the room was not very bright. Yan Chang took out a fire pocket and lit a lamp, saying: "My lords, this inn is a black market."

"Using the inn as a black market?" Zhao Liangyue was stunned for a moment, thought for a moment, and asked Yan Chang, "Is it possible to be so rampant?"

In the black market, there will always be some means to deceive people, and it is unheard of to directly use the largest inn in Zizhen as a black market place, and conduct large-scale transactions here. This shows that Zizhen is already completely owned by the other party. Everything is under their control.

"It has always been rampant. Although Mr. Tian sent people to test it several times, they all failed." Yan Chang said, "This black market is like a tide. When the government comes to investigate, the tide recedes into the dark, and it is just a black market. You can’t find anything in a humble inn in a remote border town, but when the monthly trading day comes, the tide will come up, and all the dirty and sinful transactions will swarm in.”

Bandit Chu tapped the edge of the table with his fingers, and said, "It seems that the black market is well aware of the actions of the surrounding government offices."

Jing Mo said at the gate: "My lord, Youbai just mentioned to me that the rouge peddler and the martial artist at the gate are the same as the Xizuo I met in Ningzhou that day, and they will hide their aura as martial arts practitioners."

Zhao Liangyue said: "It seems to be from Ye Yuan."

Bandit Chu nodded, and together with Zhao Liangyue and Yan Chang, they listed the local government offices that might have problems around them, deliberated one by one, and finally settled on three places:

"Laizhou City, Xiangyuan City, Huandu."

Zhao Liangyue flicked his fingers on the map he brought with him, frowned slightly, and said, "But it's just a rough guess, after all, Kriti often likes to make dangerous and strange moves."

Ever since they discovered Ye Yuan behind the Ningzhou case, they have formally dealt with Kriti. No one knows better than them how difficult Kriti is to deal with. She is extremely cunning and clever. In the dark, like a poisonous snake waiting for the moment, its thoughts are always unpredictable.

Bandit Chu understood Zhao Liangyue's meaning, thought for a while, and asked Yan Chang: "Where is the former residence of Eunuch Cao mentioned earlier, but Xiangyuan City?"

Yan Chang shook his head and said, "No, it's right here."

Chu Bandit and Zhao Liangyue were both taken aback when they heard the words, and looked at each other with doubts on their faces.

Cao Liu, father-in-law Cao, is an old man in the palace of the first empress. After the treason case and the death of the first empress, he has been dormant as Miao Lao, and then suddenly decided to go south to Xiangyuan City to find evidence of the old case.

What made him go south suddenly, and in a hurry?

How did he find this inn, and what does this black market have to do with the old case?

Then did he leave the key to breaking the game?

Clues and mysteries are intertwined in a mess.

Bandit Chu looked at Yan Chang and said, "Tell me about all the known experiences of Eunuch Cao at this stage, in detail."

Yan Chang nodded slightly, first sighed, and then tidied up a little, carefully telling the story of the piece together.

Cao Liu went south in the spring of the seventh year of Ping Chong, and he was still Miao Lao.

He left very suddenly, and when people who knew him in the capital noticed, he had already left the capital and arrived in Laizhou alone.

For a long time after that, there has been no news.

It wasn't until Yan Chang finally had the opportunity to enter the black market in Zi Town that he discovered Miao Lao, but it was too late, Miao Lao had already died of illness.After more inquiries, Yan Chang learned that Mr. Miao was always taken by Xiao Ji by the shopkeeper here, and then gouged out his eyes, and locked him in the inn for a long time for banquet performances.

The people here are extremely vigilant, but Mr. Miao's identity was not discovered until his death. The shopkeeper after his death searched his residence inside and outside just in case, and then inspected the clothes of the corpse one by one, and then sent them to the buried.

"I remember that room is in the backyard, the third one in the northwest, and there is a locust tree outside." Yan Chang thought for a while, and then said, "Usually at the end of the day, people in the backyard get up to work, and there are no people in the house, while the guests in front They usually haven’t woken up yet, so about half an hour is spent searching.”

Chu Bandit nodded slightly, and briefly arranged for Jingmo to search the next day, and then sorted out the information obtained today with Zhao Liangyue and Yan Chang.

Zhao Liangyue said: "The waterway used for transportation is very important, but according to what Lord Yan said, even if you can follow the people from the black market to that waterway, you will be blindfolded and placed in the cabin, making it difficult to check the waterway. nearby environment, or leave a mark."

Bandit Chu tapped his fingers, and after a while, he said: "I can only let it go first, and find out who controls the black market."

"Exactly." Yan Chang said, "Three days later, there will be a black market once a month, and it will be the beginning of spring, when the main vendors and customers will come, and there should be a lot of 'goods' in their hands, which are complicated. , It is difficult to start, and it is almost impossible to spread the investigation in a large area. If you want to conduct a search on the black market, you must know the people behind it in advance."

Having said that, Bandit Chu raised his hand and asked Jing Mo to bring over a small cloth cage that Yan Chang had brought over.

Jing Mo put it on the table, and lifted the covering, inside was a black unicorn with a whole body - this kind of flower pigeon was raised by Xing Shuo to deliver letters at the earliest time, and later because the Xing commander thought it was not good-looking, it was replaced with a snow pigeon But I'm still used to raising a few to deliver letters at night.This one was given to Yan Chang by Xing Shuo when he left the border of Ningzhou. Yan Chang used it a few times and liked it very much.

After Jing Mo polished the ink, Bandit Chu took the paper, picked up a pen and wrote three lines of code words, then tied it to Hei Qilin's leg, and let Jing Mo fly away.

Afterwards, the group entered three rooms to rest according to the previous allocation.

After a while, two little boys came in to deliver food.

According to the rules, you shouldn't talk to visitors, but one of the boys seemed to like Zhao Liangyue very much, so he went to get a pot of good wine and brought it up. He also said a few thoughtful words to Zhao Liangyue, and specially reminded him that he will be there in three days. On the black market, beware of wind and cold.

Without waiting for Zhao Liangyue to reply, Xiaotong bowed to him, and quickly left.

Chu bandit half-closed his peach blossom eyes, glanced at the door, then at the pot of good wine, and said with a smile: "If Xilin is a woman, the person who proposes marriage will probably break through the threshold of the house."

Zhao Liangyue sighed lightly, and said: "Brother, don't make fun of me. If this is an ordinary inn, I can accept it with pleasure, but this is Zizhen, and every smiling face has a conspiracy."

"That's right." Bandit Chu leaned closer to Zhao Liangyue, looked straight at him, and said, "Of course it's for the beauty of the fifth young master of the He family."

With the close distance, those peach blossom eyes are always romantic, Zhao Liangyue lowered his head involuntarily, and picked up the jug for inspection.

"There's nothing wrong with the jug, it's probably because of the wine."

Chu Bandit picked up a cup and handed it to Zhao Liangyue, Zhao Liangyue poured some for him, and then Chu Bandit took a silver needle and put it in.

After waiting for a while, the silver needle did not turn black. Bandit Chu picked up the cup to observe the color carefully, then smelled the smell, and said: "It seems to be a drug. This drug comes from Tu Yuan. It is colorless and tasteless, but It has a slight impact on the taste and aroma of wine, and most people can't detect it."

Zhao Liangyue frowned slightly, and said: "I just heard the movement outside, it seems that many rooms have been given an extra jug of wine."

"It should be that visitors who come infrequently will get such a pot of wine." Chu Bandit thought for a while, and said, "When we came in, the boy said that the rules of the inn should not be broken, and one of their many rules is that after the late Xu hour , unless invited by the shopkeeper, don’t come out of the room.”

Zhao Liangyue said: "It seems that tonight, the shopkeeper and some of the guests will organize an event separately."

Chu Bandit nodded slightly, and said, "Don't worry, Xi Lin, Yan Chang will definitely take the opportunity to check, but I don't know how much we can find."