Chapter 30 Chapter Twelve

Di Gong rode his horse and galloped west.Miss Zilan's words gave Di Gong a new clue to solve the problem. Before returning to the Yamen, he wanted to visit someone. Di Gong got off his horse in front of a big shop opposite the Confucius Temple.There is a signboard hanging on the door of the shop, with four large ancient seal characters on it: "Cangsong Mountain House" - under the ancient seal characters there are six small characters: "Antiques, Jewelry, Jade".The store was heavily guarded, with bars on the windows on the ground floor and a row of iron nails in front of the window sills upstairs.

Di Gong opened the door and went into the shop. A young guy hurriedly stepped forward to say hello with a smile on his face. "Your Majesty has business, please go upstairs to the accounting room to discuss. The shopkeeper just came back from the countryside, where a precious Han stele was dug up the day before yesterday." Dee went up the stairs through a row of tall antique cabinets in the shop.The counting room upstairs is spacious and bright, with a few tables and chairs, it is really neat.There is a faded golden landscape on the middle wall, and a large bookshelf stands under the west wall. There are many books, calligraphy and paintings piled up on the bookshelf.

Shopkeeper Yang sat behind the ebony desk, leaning against the grand master's chair, and was carefully admiring a large cinnabar red vase with a narrow neck.Seeing Mr. Di standing up in a hurry and gently placing the vase on the desk, he bowed and said he was negligent.While pulling out an ebony armchair from under the desk for Di Gong to sit on, he brewed a new cup of tea and handed it to Di Gong, then said: "Master Di really wants to see that ancient painting? I told you last night Having said that, I firmly believe that it is a rare treasure, and the title is "A Visit to Dai on a Snowy Night", come, Mr. Di will have some tea first."

Di Gong took off a round silk fan hanging on the wall, fanned it lightly, and said, "Master Yang, let's see that painting some other day. I'm passing by the house at the moment, so I'm going to visit you by the way. And ask for a letter." Shopkeeper Yang took a sip of tea and looked at Di Gong curiously. "To tell you the truth, shopkeeper Yang, I'm currently being overwhelmed by successive murders, and I'm out of my mind. You know Dong Mei and Mrs. Hu Po, and you may have heard that Xia Guang was also killed this morning." "Xia Guang?! No! I've never heard of it. Yes, I remembered the name. Someone told me earlier that an antique dealer named Xia Guang only hangs out with thieves and gangsters, doing some worthless business. Advise me not to buy the fakes he got. Could it be that he was killed by his cronies?"

Mr. Di heaved a long sigh, and said, "Xia Guang's death seems to be closely related to Dong Mei's and Hu Po's. Shopkeeper Yang, I am really standing against a wall at this moment, helpless. It is only because of this that I rashly ascended to the third rank." Bao Dian, I would like to ask you to tell us about some of your colleagues and customers, because these three cases are related to the antique business. I also hope that shopkeeper Yang will be righteous, and he will not hesitate to enlighten you, and save the official in a hurry." Shopkeeper Yang bowed deeply again, and said: "Master Di has an open mind to inquire. I, Yang Kangnian, are very honored, but I have long been out of right and wrong, and I don't care about things. Except for a few regular customers, I rarely I have never paid attention to anyone, let alone listen to the rumors in the streets and lanes, and never go to tea shops and taverns. My wife has been dead for ten years, and my two sons have already married and started a family in the south. I live alone in this world, only my antiques Be with me. Antiques are my life, the only sustenance I live on. I almost live the life of an ascetic monk. I don’t ask for food, I don’t ask for warmth, I don’t ask for others, and I don’t compete with the world. I see people I have a headache. You see, I don't even hire a maid. I don't have money. I'm afraid that the clumsy maid will get in the way and break my vase! During the day, there are clerks who take care of some accounts in the shop. Playing with the antiques collected in my half-life alone at night, no one bothers me anymore. I have been living like this for many years, and I am used to it. Don’t talk about things in the city. To be honest, I gradually become ignorant of things around me Stop asking."

"Shopkeeper Yang, what I'm interested in right now are some of your regular customers. For example, Dr. Bian Jiabian—what do you think of him?" Shopkeeper Yang slowly drank the tea in the teacup, moistened his throat and said: "Bian Jia, although he is a doctor, as the master knows, he also buys pearls, jade, especially pearls. Pearls can be used as medicine. Many doctors and pharmacists Everyone likes to collect a few pearls. But Bian Jia buys very few pearls, and he is very particular about his selection. He only chooses crystal clear and thorough collections. Guo Ming is different from his colleague Guo Ming in the medicine business. Guo Ming only buys expensive beads. He buys beads or antiques purely to make money. Whenever he has the opportunity, he resells them for huge profits. Guo Ming puts money as the most important thing. He is a very shrewd and selfish agent. Ke Yuanliang occasionally buys precious antiques from him at high prices. For example, once he bought a suanni bronze tripod from Guo Ming, he was cheated by Guo Ming. Gold ingots."

Di Gongdao: "I met Guo Ming, his family opened a big raw medicine in the capital." "But he often travels, and he will come to Puyang at least once a month, but his visits are extremely secret, and most people don't know about it." "Why?" Duke Di asked alertly. Shopkeeper Yang smiled, and replied seriously: "Because Guo Ming also supplies raw medicinal materials to Bian Jia's colleagues in Puyang. Bian Jia is still kept in the dark about this, so every time he comes to Puyang, he keeps quiet." Di Gong asked again: "Do you know where Guo Ming often delays when he comes to Puyang?"

"Whenever he comes back to Puyang, he either stays on the boat, or stays at the Eight Immortals Inn in the west city. Master Di, the Eight Immortals Inn is a dilapidated, simple inn with low rent." Di Gongdao: "I know this Eight Immortals Hotel. Guo Ming loves money like his life, so he must be a very stingy person." "In Guo Ming's opinion, silver is life. What kind of antiques, beads, ginseng, and deer antler does he recognize? As long as he makes money, it is the most important thing. There is a big difference between him and Mr. Ke. Mr. Ke As long as the antiques are his favorite, he will never hesitate to pay any price, even if the family property is ruined, he will be willing, of course, he has plenty of silver."

Shopkeeper Yang pondered for a moment, then continued: "As for myself, I am more or less between Ke and Guo. My business is buying and selling. Of course I have to make money to make a living, but I often go crazy. I cherish an antique with great care and collect it carefully. I would not sell it even if others offered a huge price. As I got older, my habit became worse. In the past, I loved to watch Mr. Ke's works For those exquisite antique jade wares in my collection, I would go to Ke’s mansion at least every five or six days. But in the past three or four years, Mr. Ke kindly invited me to go to his place only once, and it was only in the antique collection room. I wandered in and out without taking a single step. Later, I simply stopped going to the Kefu. I was jealous, and I was afraid to see his collections—this kind of jealousy made me even more withdrawn, and antiques sometimes annoyed me.”

He shook his head with a bleak smile on his face.Suddenly he asked Di Gongdao: "Master, have you found any clues to Dong Mei's murder? It's the young drummer on the Bian Jia No. 9 ship." Di Gong smiled and said: "There is no clue yet. Anyone in the chaotic Baiyuqiao Hotel can put poison in his wine cup. Should we still talk about Ke Yuanliang! I often hear people say that he has an extraordinary appreciation for antiques. I think He also has a discerning eye in choosing his wife. Although his wife Jin Lian has been ill for four years, she is still a stunning woman. I happened to meet her last night. As for his concubine Hu Po, she is even more graceful and charming. Fairy on Earth."

Shopkeeper Yang shook the grand teacher's chair uneasily, and said after a long while: "What Master Di said is that Mr. Ke's eyes really never missed anything. When Mrs. Hu Po was a little girl in the old Dong's house, Mr. Ke had Juyan bought her at a high price, taught her how to read and write, taught her what dresses to wear, how to dress herself up, and what kind of lead powder and rouge to choose. Mr. Ke personally bought earrings, necklaces and other jewelry for her. It took less than a year Miss Amber took on a completely new look, with a very different appearance. She was graceful and elegant, and her rhyme was extraordinary. It can be said that she has the appearance of sinking fish and wild goose, and the appearance of shameful flowers. On the bed, dying. And Miss Amber was brutally murdered under the moonlight in the wilderness, which makes people want to shed two lines of sympathetic tears. She is so beautiful, she really is." Shopkeeper Yang sighed frequently, and pondered for a while. Di Gongdao: "The ancients said that famous ones are rare, and it seems that stunning beauties are also public ones. It is really ominous to have too many. People are jealous, and heaven is jealous." Shopkeeper Yang nodded in understanding.He looked at Di Gong silently for a long while, and suddenly said: "Master Di, I might as well tell you in private, Ke Yuanliang has a different pattern, and he was named Ridock. He should not have got the two beauties, Jinlian and Huber. I have nothing to do with the master. Listen, one day, Ke Yuanliang showed me a pure and transparent Persian glass bowl. It was really a priceless treasure, and he bought it from Fan Ke with huge sums of money. But I found a flaw the size of a mung bean on the bottom of the glass bowl, I pointed it out to him with a smile, and said, "It's a pity, it's a pity, gold is not pure, and this rare treasure has such a flaw.Ke Yuanliang snatched the glass bowl from my hand, looked at it carefully, the color changed drastically, and smashed it to the ground viciously. — A sin, sir, a sin indeed. " Di Gong was stunned, and said: "If it was Guo Ming, he would not be so hasty, and Bian Jia would not do this either. Oh, I vaguely heard that although Bian Jia is dignified and dignified, he is a kind A true wanderer, a person with bad character. Of course, he is very cautious in his behavior, after all, he is afraid of people's eyes and ears." "No, sir, I've never heard that he went to those three tiles and two houses, Flower Street and Willow Lane. But if he really went to that kind of place, no one would blame him, because everyone knows that his wife is ugly and fierce, I don't have children, and I don't allow him to take care of children. Bian Jia is upright and follows the rules. I really doubt how he manages the family's internal affairs so that there are no disturbances." "I also heard that Bian Jia's money is poor, and his money is very tight." Di Gong said again. Shopkeeper Yang glanced at Di Gong and frowned. "Money is poor? No way. But he still owes me a lot of money. I don't believe he will be in trouble. He is a meticulous and prudent businessman, and he is skilled in medicine. He is a wealthy businessman in Puyang City. They all asked him to see a doctor and get medicine——he was also the one who diagnosed and cured Madam Ke’s golden lotus disease.” Duke Di nodded, took the last sip of tea, looked curiously at the tea cup as thin as a chicken shell in his hand, put it back on the table, and slowly stroked his neat black beard, Said: "Treasurer Yang, let me ask you one more question, what do you think of the famous theft of the Royal Pearl? I heard that the Royal Pearl was stolen from the harem a hundred years ago, and it is still missing. I don't know what you heard. What an interesting rumour.” Shopkeeper Yang was slightly surprised, and replied: "The palace was searched for seven days and seven nights, but there was no sign of it. I think that the imperial bead must have been hidden by the empress herself. She secretly hid the imperial bead. Use this opportunity to punish the emperor's favorite concubines, and finally tortured them to death. The palace is like the sea, and there have been countless human tragedies in the palace walls of the Golden Gate. Besides, even if an outsider stole it boldly, it will never be stolen. If you dare to show your eyes, let alone get out, and you are at the risk of beheading, why bother?" Di Gong asked: "'If this imperial bead is really stolen out of the palace by outsiders, is it really impossible to sell it?" "Of course, there is absolutely no way. Within the four seas, among the Kyushu, who would dare to do this business? But... However, if the pearl thief and Persia, Daqin, Dashi, etc. who live in Guangzhou, Quanzhou and other coastal areas If there is contact with the guest fan hall, then he can sell this imperial bead to them and get a huge amount of money. If so, that imperial bead would have gone abroad to a distant country. The one and only way to sell the imperial pearls can earn a lot of gold and silver without taking too many risks and incurring dire consequences." Di Gong nodded frequently, as if he had realized something.Suddenly he asked again: "Treasurer Yang, have you ever been to the Temple of the White Lady in the mandala forest?" Shopkeeper Yang lowered his head, pondered for a moment, and replied: "My lord, I have wanted to pay my respects several times, but the long-cherished wish has not been fulfilled because the dense mandala grove has long since lost its way. Being superstitious about the White Lady, trespassing without authorization often brings unforeseen disasters. However, my lord, although I have never seen the temple, I do have a book, which contains a detailed description of the temple." Shopkeeper Yang stood up and went to the bookshelf to take out a book and handed it to Di Gong, saying: "This book was engraved by one of the master's predecessors, and it has been for decades." Di Gong took the book, flipped through it, and passed it back to shopkeeper Yang: "I also have the same book in my yamen, and the description of the statue of the White Lady is very detailed in the book." "What the master said is true. Why don't I want to see the statue with my own eyes?" Shopkeeper Yang's eyes flashed with fascination, and a slight blush appeared on his gray cheeks. "I heard that the statue is a relic of the Han Dynasty. Together with its pedestal, it was carved from a whole block of white jade. There is an altar in front of the statue. Blood is sprinkled to sacrifice to the statue of the White Lady. Of course this is a custom in the past. Can the master repair the mandala grove now, and then raise funds to rebuild the temple? The ruins and the destruction of the temple are angry. Recently, there have been repeated ominous omens. Seeing that the disaster is coming. The local people must be happy when they hear that the temple is going to be rebuilt, and they all serve volunteers. Master, this is an ancient temple of the Han Dynasty. , if it is completely rebuilt and the incense is revived, it will be enough to become a historic site in Puyang City. The master followed the people's sentiments and made a beautiful deed, which is also a major event to change customs, so why not do it?" Hearing this, Duke Di claimed repeatedly: "This is really a sincere suggestion, and I will consider it carefully. But I don't like that the temple is filled with the incense of adultery again, which is against the teachings of the saints. Oh, Shopkeeper Yang, I have to take my leave as I am still waiting for my promotion in the yamen." Shopkeeper Yang said: "It's a coincidence. The people involved in these murder cases are all my regular customers. I think I should go to the yamen to watch the trial at this moment. If necessary, I can stand up and reveal the truth to be a witness for the master."