Chapter 24 second quarter

A few days later, Mao Qi concentrated on the matter at hand for the time being.This spring, there were frequent burglaries in the area from Fuyuki Town to Naka Town, and he was busy investigating these cases.In addition, there was such a strange thing as someone scribbling on the hall of the Sarue Shrine and knocking down several tombstones. The Temple Magistrate asked Mr. Kana to investigate, so Moshichi also had to help.For Shigeru Shichi and the others, this is a busy spring. Even so, when heading to Nakacho, Moshichi made a detour to the Aioiya Main Shop.At that time, Quan San was walking with him. Quan San not only saw the large scale of Aioi House, but also found that the prices of some retail items in the store were extremely expensive, so he blinked repeatedly.When Moshichi told him what he heard from Miyoshiya Hanjiro, Quan San, who was usually gentle, looked up to the sky and laughed.

"Well, boss, no matter how much time Hanjiro is given, he won't write down what happened so far and give it to you." "You think so too?" "Well. For Hanjiro, as long as Nagasuke recovers, people will stop talking about it. Also, I heard that Miyoshiya hired a ronin as a bodyguard." As Quan San said, when the Sarue Shrine incident was resolved and Moshichi took a breath and began to think about Miyoshiya, Hanjiro remained silent.For the sake of caution, Mao Qi also told the helpers of Miyoshi House that those who beat up Ridao might hang around the shop to confirm the results, and if they found a stranger, they would report it immediately, but there was no news.

"What a headache. Do we have to do our own investigation in the first place?" Mao Qi thought for a while, and then went to the back of Jingxin Temple to find a newspaper peddler with a good business, and asked him to keep the source of the news secret and write an extra news about Ridao being attacked.This newspaper peddler usually helps Mao Qi with this kind of help, but this time he agreed without saying a word.In the afternoon of that day, not only Fukagawa, our office, but also the street across from Okawa was filled with news of Mr. Hidichi being robbed. "It turns out Ridao is more widely known than I thought."

After the news went public, Maoqi was very surprised by the upsurge of public opinion caused by the news, and the head lady smiled and said: "I heard that there are people from far away from the Hachioji looking for that child's help." Although Miyoshiya sent someone to blame Maoqi and questioned whether the person who exposed the news was the leader, Maoqi deliberately pretended to be garlic.He asked the helper sent by Miyoshi House about Ridao's recent situation, and the other party said that he could finally talk and drink porridge.That being the case, Mao Qi plans to visit again in the near future.He also wanted to ask the Japanese people what they thought about the attack.

However, before that, Moshichi visited Kajiya first.Although Kajiya is a boat rental hotel on the surface, it is actually a lair of gangsters who control the Fukagawa area. Moshichi believes that as long as he gets online with the owner of Kajiya, Katsuzo, he can at least find out the person who hired someone to attack Hidori. "I don't need the boss to go in person, right? I'll go and talk to the errand runner first." Despite Quan San's persuasion, Mao Qi still wanted to talk to Sheng Zang directly.That's because there is still the matter of the boss.Mao Qi was really concerned about the relationship between the unidentified boss and Katsuzo.

The boss is the owner of a tofu skin sushi stall by the Fugang Bridge. He not only serves delicious food to the guests, but also whenever Maoqi’s case encounters a bottleneck, the boss will provide Maoqi’s advice to break the deadlock without any trace. He seemed to be a samurai before, but his parentage could never be guessed.It's just that, connecting all kinds of things together, he seems to know Katsuzo—no, even blood relationship.If this is the case, then it will be impossible. Even if you can't directly ask Shengzang about this matter, as long as you can talk to him alone, you may be able to learn some information.Moshichi has been waiting for this opportunity.

Moshichi strolled to Kajiya, but before he could clearly see the distance of the words on the lamp hanging in front of the shop, the young men under Katsuzo flocked to him. "The weather is fine, are you going out for a walk too?" In the river in front of Kajiya, two small boats are tied, shaking gently in the spring water.On the surface, these young men are boatmen, but their palms do not have calluses from rowing oars, and their faces are white and moist and not tanned. "Where is the boss going?" "I've come to see your boss. Is he there?" The men winked at each other from time to time.

"The boss happens to have guests." "Then I'll wait for him." Maoqi walked straight to Kajiya. "Give me a room and bring wine. Even if I drink a glass of flower-appreciating wine during the day, I shouldn't be condemned by God." "Sorry, unfortunately the rooms are full." Moshichi looked up at the open latticed paper window on the second floor of Kajiya, where quilts were drying in the sun. "Just that room." "There are guests in that room too." One of the young men raised his mouth and smiled. "Do guests come here to dry quilts?"

When Maoqi left this sentence and was about to enter Kajiya, these men blocked his way. "Wanting to enter Kajiya with a catch stick on his waist, the boss is too careless." Mao Qi shook her head with a smile and said, "I'm not here to catch Shengzang. I'm looking for him if I have something to do, and I'm asking him if I have anything to do." There's no need to hide it anyway.Maoqi explained Ridao to the men surrounding him. "Beating children is the scum of men. Don't you think? Letting that kind of person come and go in Fukagawa's territory, won't Kajiya's reputation be ruined?"

I don't know if these men have wavered, and the circle around Maoqi has become a little chaotic.Moshichi planned to break through the siege from that gap, but at this moment, Katsuzo himself appeared, and he walked down the stairs of Kajiya slowly. "It's really annoying flies." He stared at Maoqi and said this.He was naked from the upper body, showing his fat belly. "Did you hear that? This saves me a lot to say." "The child who danced to the gods has nothing to do with me." Maoqi laughed. "It looks like you're getting acupuncture."

Katsuzo's broad shoulders were covered with burnt wormwood.A masseur's crutch was erected at the door of Kajiya. "Is there any discomfort? Maybe you have to ask Mr. Ridao to treat your illness for you some other day." "What a poor fellow." "You can pick me a hundred times. But, as I said just now, can you really ignore the guy who beats the child until he can't walk in your territory?" Katsuzo stared at Moshichi with those three white eyes. "I can't let the catcher into my room here." "I didn't come to drink with you either." If the two of them can drink together, it should be easier to solve the mystery of the vendor owner. "As long as I can get the business to your ears, that's fine. How about it, are you willing to accept it?" Sheng Zang looked at those men.They probably only need to make a gesture from Katsuzo, and they will rush towards Moshichi.But Sheng Zangwen did not move, and then said in a low and hoarse voice: "I'm not looking for someone because of your request, but because the site is ruined like this, I will lose face." Maoqi was very happy. "Any excuse is fine." Mao Qi also warned that if you find those who beat up Ridao, don't conflict with them, but report first. "When I'm done here, you can punish them as severely as you want." Katsuzo went upstairs lumberingly again, and Maoqi also walked back.In fact, Mao Qi didn't wear a catch stick on his waist, but he didn't have time to talk about it. Soon, it will be the time when the cherry blossoms are in full bloom.Katsuzo still hasn't brought any news.The matter was not resolved, and even the wine was tasteless, just when Maoqi was thinking that he might not be able to enjoy the flowers this year, a visitor came to the house. It turned out that the clues came uninvited.Please newspaper peddler really works.The visitor, a young woman, said she knew who the man was in relation to the attack on Lord Ridao. The woman's name is Axia, and she is eighteen years old.Although she is petite, she seems to be a competitive girl. She came to visit Maoqi alone without any stage fright.She said that she originally planned to tell Mr. Ridao, but she thought that there should be no time to pay attention to her, so she found out the residence of the local head of the police while walking. "I am the daughter of Iseya, Minagawacho, Kanda." Although Axia was wearing coarse cloth clothes, they were very clean. She put her knees together and put her hands on the tatami to say hello, and then said: "Iseya is a big shop, a miso wholesaler. I've been there for five years." "It seems to be a shop with strict discipline." Mao Qi said with a smile. "You don't have to be so cautious, please sit down as you please." A Xia nodded and said "yes", her back was still straight, her expression was very serious.You can tell that she is an honest girl at first glance, but the eyes look tired and have dark circles, which makes people feel distressed. "You also asked Ridao to help you do it?" "No. I asked him to find someone." She asks Ridou to help find her fiancé, who also works in Iseya, named Seiichi. "Master Ridou's reputation has also spread to the Kanda area. I think he can help me find Seiichi." According to her, although Seiichi is a servant of Iseya, he is not a clerk or shopkeeper, but mainly a male servant who sells his labor. "If that person had a higher status in the shop, the boss and the proprietress might object to our matter, but both of us are handymen, and when we asked the boss to let us get married, the boss immediately agreed, and the boss also served as the boss. Our guarantor allowed us to move into the courtyard. If it goes well, we should have already married and lived together by now." However-- "Exactly one month ago, Qingyi suddenly disappeared." He worked all day, had dinner, then went to the bathhouse and never came back. Mao Qi asked: "When you go out, do you prepare any bathing utensils?" Asha didn't answer very clearly. "I was in the kitchen at the time, and I only heard Qing come back as soon as he said he was going. After that, I also asked the people in the shop, but everyone didn't know much about it." Ordinary dormitory helpers have almost no time for themselves, and even when they are ordered to go out to do errands, they still run back and forth.The time I can go out by myself is probably the time after work is over and before going to bed.So he said that going to the bathhouse might be just an excuse, but he was going somewhere else. "Did you come back late after saying you were going to the bathhouse before?" "Probably not. As the boss said, Iseya is very strict." "Did Mr. Qingyi say that he plans to meet someone somewhere one day?" A Xia immediately nodded and said, "Yes. After he officially decided to marry me, he often talked about it." He didn't say who it was, but he once said to himself vigorously: (Once I have a family, I'm a decent man. I'm going to meet that guy anyway and tell him about it.) "Did he look happy then?" "It... always sounded like he was angry to me, so I didn't dare to ask who it was. I felt a little scared." However, the only clue that can be found is this enigmatic sentence.Axia begged the consent of the owner and his wife of the Ise house, and searched all possible places without sleep or food, but there was still no clear whereabouts. "That's why you found Shangri Dao?" A Xia has a little savings.She went to Miyoshi House with the determination to spend all her savings, but she was rejected at first.It is said that the money on Axia's body is not even half of the basic compensation. But Asha had no other choice.She rushed to Sanhao House every day, knelt in front of the entrance and begged, and finally the Japanese Taoist came out, saying that Axia was very poor and willing to help her with her spirit vision.The reason why Axia respectfully called him "Master Ridao" seemed to be based on the kindness at that time. "Master Ridou asked me to bring Qingyi's belongings or other things." So A-Xia brought Qingyi's clothes over there.Ridao stared at the clothes and said almost immediately: "It's very pitiful, this person is dead." Asha's voice became hoarse when he said this.Maybe it's sad.Her lips, suppressing sobs, were twisted like clumsy stitches. "He said that when he saw that Qingyi was seriously injured, he probably died, but the location is not clear yet. However, he asked me to keep the clothes and plan to take a closer look." A few days later, Ridao sent someone over.A-Xia hurried to Miyoshi House, Ridao said that he "saw" Qingyi's place. "He said that in a certain family's house in Fukagawa, there was a tall weeping cherry tree that was very rare in Edo in the wide yard of the house. Seiichi was injured or killed there, and his body was buried under the weeping cherry tree. under." Relying on the clue of weeping cherry blossoms, Axia tried her best to find Shenchuan.Although Iseya is strictly managed, it is also full of love. The owner and his wife are very sympathetic to A Xia, not only let her go out to look for it, but also let a servant accompany A Xia to look for it.However, a deadline of half a month was set.The boss and his wife said that if you can't find it in half a month, then give up. However, A Xia's persistence moved the heavens.Just when the deadline was approaching, I finally found a house with tall weeping cherry blossoms in the yard. "It's the home of a landlord named Kakuda in Shiwanping, Shenchuan." Oh... Moshichi responded like this.Speaking of the 100,000-square-meter corner field, it is a big landlord.The owner's name is indeed Kakuda Nanaemon, and he should be about the same age as Moshichi, but the other party's family property is something Moshichi can't earn in his entire life. A Xia visits Kakuda's house.Naturally, no one paid any attention to her.As far as the other party is concerned, the sudden appearance of a frenzied young woman is probably also very embarrassing. "However, as soon as I said Seiichi's name, the other party's expression seemed to shrink back. It was the daughter of the Kakuda family who came out to greet her, but her expression did change." Because of this, Axia was even more unwilling to give up and went every day.As a result, one day, the host Shichiemon came to the back door of the kitchen in person, drove Asha away roughly, and threw a few grains of gold to Asha, telling her to go back. Probably because of unwillingness, tears welled up, and Ah Xia held back with her chin tucked in.She continued firmly, her mouth trembling. "I yelled back at him, saying that I would never give up. Qingyi and I have no relatives, and both of us are orphans. Before working here, both of us worked very hard, and finally made it to this point. For me Said, Qingyi is my only family member, and for Qingyi, I am also his only family member. So I said, it is absolutely impossible to ignore this.” As if Shichiemon was right in front of her eyes, Asha shouted at the top of her voice. "At that time, I also told the other party that it was thanks to Master Ridao's vision to find this place. I said, I know that Qingyi is buried under the weeping cherry tree." Ah Xia's unyielding eyes finally shed tears.According to what Asha witnessed with his own eyes, the soil under the trunk of the weeping cherry tree was indeed just dug. "What about after that?" Mao Qi urged gently. "Has it been half a month?" "Not at all. As the boss said, the deadline has come. I was determined to quit my job, but my boss scolded me." The owner of Ise House dissuaded A-Xia, saying that he didn't know if Hidou's words were reliable. It was really unreasonable to place a bet on an unsure thing and insist on accusations of murder on others. No matter why Qingyi disappeared, If he is still alive, he will come back one day. If he doesn't come back, just treat him as that kind of man and give up. "So, you think Kakuda Nanacheemon hired someone to attack Hidori?" Asha's eyes lit up.It was not tears, but a flash from the heart, as sharp as a sword blade. "Of course. Kakuda and the others definitely didn't want Himichi-sama to show his supernatural powers again, so they did such cruel things." Mochi crossed her arms with her hands.He understood Asha's point of view very well, and he also thought it was very reasonable.It seems Kakuda Nanaimon is suspicious.If he hadn't done anything wrong, he probably wouldn't have treated A-Xia so rudely and thoughtlessly. He could explain well and persuade A-Xia to go back, but he threw money to A-Xia like throwing food to a dog, trying to put She drove away, Maoqi was very concerned about this.Mao Qi thought to himself, in short, today I heard news worth a trip of 100,000 ping.