Chapter 33 chapter Ten

While Di Gong left Puyang for Juancheng, Tao Gan began to investigate the ins and outs of Mrs. Liang.Mrs. Liang's house is also on Banyue Street, so Tao Gan first went to visit Jia Gao Zhengming in the workshop. After Gao Zhengming entertained Tao Gan with wine and dinner, he took out a thick household registration booklet.Registered on the household registration: Liang Ouyang, sixty-eight years old; eldest grandson Liang Kefa, thirty years old. ——They came to settle in Puyang two years ago.When Mrs. Liang logged in, she also indicated that Liang Kefa was a scholar. Gao Zhengming said: "Although Liang Kefa is said to be thirty years old, he looks like a man in his early twenties. After they moved to live in Banyue Street, they saw that he did not study, did not do business, and did not earn a living. , just wandering around in the three streets and six markets. He most often went to Shuibeimen and Shengming Temple, and he was seen wandering along the bank of the small river in Xicheng several times.

"About a month later, Mrs. Liang suddenly came to tell me that her grandson hadn't come home for two days. She was worried that something happened to Liang Ke. I sent people to search for several days, but I didn't see any message from Liang Ke. The old lady Liang would cry to the lobby of the state government office and ask Master Feng to make the decision for her. She said that her grandson must have been killed by a wealthy Guangzhou businessman named Lin Fan. She was afraid that her words would be unfounded, and she had presented many The lawsuit of that year testified. She said that the Lin and Liang families in Guangzhou had feuded for generations and were sworn to death. Her whole family had been murdered by Lin Fan, and now Lin Fan secretly murdered her only grandson. With an emotional expression, he burst into tears, but Master Feng refused to accept the case due to insufficient evidence.

"Now Mrs. Liang lives alone in a dilapidated small house, with only one old maid serving her. She is old and has repeatedly failed to win lawsuits. She is filled with grief and shame, resentment and depression, and her spirits are starting to go out of order. Liang Ke disappeared. The matter is still pending. Some people say that Liang Kefa may have accidentally slipped and fell into the river and drowned. Didn’t he often wander along the river bank in the West City?” Tao Gan nodded his thanks, bid farewell to Gao Zhengming, and went straight to Banyue Street to find Mrs. Liang's house.

Mrs. Liang's small house is located in a sparsely populated alley. It is narrow and dark, and the surroundings are quiet. No one has been around for a long time. Tao Gan saw it right, so he went into the house and knocked three times on a white wood door.The chaimen creaked open, and an old woman with white hair and wrinkled face poked out.He shouted: "Guest officer, don't knock on the door if you have nothing to do!" Tao Gan asked politely, "I wonder if Mrs. Liang is at home?" The old woman looked at Tao Gan's long unpleasant face for a while, and then replied: "I'm sick. I won't see you!" She said, closing the door tightly with a "bang".

Tao Gan was shut out, feeling very unhappy.After thinking about it, looking at the old maid's behavior, I can see that Mrs. Liang's whereabouts are not without exception.Could it be that while they are lying to the Yamen, they are doing shady things in secret.This area is deserted, and it is a good place for criminal activities.Now she had no intention of showing up, and she had no choice but to admit that she was unlucky, thinking that she might as well go to Lin Fan's house to try her luck. Tao Gan had long memorized the address of Lin Fan's family, but it took him a lot of trouble to finally find it, and he turned through many winding alleys along the way.Lin Fan's mansion is spacious and deep, with a majestic and simple carved brick gatehouse, and the black lacquered gate and whitewashed walls on both sides have been completely renovated.The bronze ornaments on the gate are shining in the sunlight, and a pair of stone lions at the gate bared their teeth, which is daunting.Tao Gan noticed that the right side of the Lin house was connected to the high wall of the neighboring courtyard, while the left side was a rubble field.

Immediately opposite Lin's house was a small vegetable stall with an arbor.Tao Gan leaned forward to strike up a conversation with the stall owner. "Business manager, the business is pretty good. The two big families on the opposite side. There are thirty or fifty people. The vegetables you eat are always your exclusive business, right?" The stall owner pursed his lips and sighed: "Oh, what the guest officer doesn't know is that the house is empty and has not been lived in for many years. There are people in the other house. The owner's surname is Lin, but he is from Guangzhou. What he said It’s like singing, he doesn’t understand a word. They never talk to me. Mr. Lin has a farm outside the city, and fresh fruits and vegetables are brought in baskets and baskets every ten or eight days. ——I Where can I earn a penny from them?"

Tao Gan said with a smile: "I am a framer from Guangzhou. I don't know if Mr. Lin has some ancient paintings and screens to be exposed." The stall owner said: "Then you might as well give it a try, they are very enthusiastic when they hear the Cantonese dialect. None of the peddlers and artisans walking around here have ever entered the Lin's house." Tao Gan nodded, then staggered to the front of Lin Fan's mansion and walked up the steps, knocking lightly on the gate twice.After a while, the door opened, revealing a face with a pointed head and shrunken cheeks.

Tao Gan asked in Cantonese: "I've been a frame mounter for decades, and I learned my craft from Guangzhou. I don't know if there are calligraphy and painting strip screens in your house that need to be mounted." Tao Gan made a living by cheating in the rivers and lakes in his early years, so he knew a little about all three religions and nine streams, and because he had been to Guangzhou and Chaozhou, he could make do with many dialects in Lingnan. As expected, Cantonese dialect was effective, and the butler put on a smiling face and let Tao Gan enter the gate.Said: "Wait for me to report to the manager to see if there is any work for you." After finishing speaking, he hurried to the inner courtyard with his feet lifted.

Tao Gan saw that the flower borders and trees in the front yard of Lin's house were neatly trimmed, and the houses and pavilions were newly painted.However, Tao Gan found that there was no one moving around in Ruo Da's house, nor did he hear anyone talking, so he couldn't help feeling suspicious.He was about to turn around the corridor and look through the small window, but he saw a short, dark fat man approaching him vigorously.Wearing a thin black silk jacket and white silk baggy trousers.Tao Gan understood that this person was the manager of the Lin residence. The fat guy looked at Tao Gan, and shouted, "Get out of here! There are no calligraphy and painting frames here!" He spoke Mandarin, but it was obviously a Cantonese voice.

Tao Gan bowed and apologized, and exited the gate embarrassingly.Just after going down three steps, the black painted door was closed with a "bang" behind it, and the pair of copper rings on the door shook and jingled. Tao Gan endured the bad luck, and thought that he might simply take a detour around the north gate to see Lin Fan's farm next to the canal.I hope to find some clues about Lin Fan.After leaving the north gate, he asked passers-by along the way, there were very few people in Guangzhou in Puyang, so he knew the direction just by asking. Lin Fan's farm was opened up next to the canal, extending about two or three miles to the northeast.On the bank of the canal is a neat row of warehouses, behind which yellow leaves reveal the roof ridges and chimneys of the farmhouses.A large sailboat was docked at the pier, and three farmers were carrying straw bales to the boat.Tao Gan looked carefully and saw nothing suspicious, so he hurried back to the city.

Tao Gan ordered a jiaojiu and two dishes in a small restaurant in the street market, and ate for an hour.I waited until dusk fell, but I paid the bill and left the shop, and slowly turned back to Lin Fan's mansion.At this time, the small vegetable stall on the opposite side closed early. He quietly approached the rubble field on the left side of the Lin residence.It turned out that this was also a big house, but it gradually fell into disrepair and collapsed because no one lived in it for a long time.Tao Gan walked along the side of the rubble yard near the courtyard wall of Lin's house. Sure enough, he found a pile of broken bricks under the wall.He wiped his palms, lightly stepped on the broken bricks and turned over to the wall.He chose a suitable angle to peep at the movement in Lin's courtyard. The inner courtyard of Lin's house was as desolate as a cemetery, and there was no one walking around for a long time.Except for a little candlelight flickering from the sill windows of that row of houses.Almost an empty house. ——It is the busiest and busiest scene when ordinary people light up the lights at this moment. Tao Gan watched for a long time, but saw no movement, lost interest, and jumped down.Unexpectedly, he was stepping on the pile of broken bricks, and with a "crash", he fell to the ground, hurt his knee, and tore his robe. ——At this time, black clouds were covering the moon, and it was dark all around. He held his breath, curled up in the pile of broken bricks, and looked around vigilantly.At this time, he vaguely realized that someone was watching him.He stretched his ears and listened for a while, but there was no sign of anyone moving except for the sound of the wind, so he boldly walked out. The moon broke through the clouds again, shining brightly.Tao Ganmeng noticed two shadows flickering behind him.He thought, outnumbered, the best policy is to go.Just out of the rubble.He saw two masked men chasing him.Tao Gan was so frightened that his hair stood on end, as if cold water had been poured on his back, he turned around and ran back, while the two big men hurriedly chased after him.When Tao Gan turned the corner, he forked into a dead end. Just as he turned his head and wanted to back out, two masked men blocked his way. Tao Gan shouted: "You two good men, you have something to say." The two big men didn't answer, one of them stepped forward and threw a punch, Tao Gan had sharp eyes and quickly dodged.The other grabbed Tao Gan's skinny monkey-like arm, and twisted his back violently.While Tao Gan was struggling, he peeked at the villain, and behind the veil, he saw only a pair of fierce eyes.Tao Gan understood: It's over! ——These two must have been sent by Lin Fan to take his life! Although Tao Gan exerted all his strength, how could he move?A big man tore open Tao Gan's robe, and pulled out a gleaming dagger from his waist.Tao Gan yelled: "Help!" Thinking that his life was really going to die tonight, all the ups and downs came to his heart, and tears fell from his eyes. Suddenly, there was only a "Dang beep", and the dagger in the big man's hand fell to the ground.The two gangsters left him and fled.A person sprang out from the darkness, as mighty as a god, only heard him shout, and started to chase after him.