Chapter 3 third chapter

They came to a big restaurant in the downtown area.A row of colorful lights hangs under the eaves of the tall building, and there are five big characters on the lights: "Four Seas Delicious Home".The emerald green window pavilion, the vermilion fence, and the tangy smell of fried shallots when the bead curtains are lifted. Di Gong and Qiao Tai ordered several dishes at this "Four Seas Delicious House", and poured a full dozen cups of vintage wine.After drinking and eating, he went out of the restaurant to pick up the fresh food in the bustling market. Di Gong especially liked to listen to the voices of the vendors selling local products.

Qiaotai suddenly whispered to Duke Di: "Pay attention, someone is following us!" "Did you see clearly?" Duke Di asked alertly. "Although I didn't look carefully, I have a special perception of this business, and I guessed it right every time. We might as well use a solution to kill him." They ducked into a dark porch, looked around, carefully checked every pedestrian in the street, and saw no one following them. Qiao Tai didn't give up: "He must be a cunning old master. Master, you go back to the inn first, and I will try to get in among the group of beggars in front to find out, and I will definitely bring that bastard to the inn to meet you." .”

Digong nodded.They squeezed through a group of ragged beggars, and Qiao Tai disappeared, while Di Gong crossed an alley at the corner, went onto the busy street, and hurried towards the Feihong Hotel. The waiter brought tea and two candles.Di Gong then sat down and sipped his tea slowly, thinking to himself, "It's unbelievable that there are people in Mouping County who are so interested in us, following and spying on us several times. There are gangsters in Penglai County who only want to fight with us." Against me, even wanting to kill me, how do they know that I am in Muping at the moment? Could it be that the secret of coming to Muping has leaked out, and the gangsters in Penglai actually instigated the gangs here to plot against me?" Di Gong He stroked his beard and thought hard.

With the sound of the door, Qiaotai barged in, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and said in frustration, "He slipped out of my hands again! Master, that person is none other than the one who came to spy on us today." Ugly, a one-eyed monkey. I saw him walking furtively, looking left and right. He seemed to be looking for someone. At that time, I was among the group of beggars. I bought a glass of wine and pretended to drink. When I saw clearly, he was about to go up and grab him. He also recognized me, and ran away like a rabbit in the blink of an eye, and I wanted to chase after him, but he was long gone.”

"What a cunning guy!" Duke Di said angrily, "but I still don't understand what he is looking at us for. Have you ever seen this guy in Penglai or somewhere?" Jotai shook his head.Said; "If I have seen such a strange appearance, I will never forget it for the rest of my life. I think that since he is entwined with us, maybe we will bump into him again when we go out. Hit him again. , I swear I will never let him go! Oh, sir, something happened here again! A woman was murdered. Master Teng may have a worse headache." "What did you say? Qiaotai." Duke Di asked in surprise, "What did you hear again?"

"Murder is indeed murder. Until now, only an old beggar and I know about it." Qiaotai said proudly. Di Gong couldn't wait: "What happened? We should report this to Teng County Magistrate as soon as possible." "Of course we have to relieve Master Teng's worries." Qiao Tai poured himself a cup of tea and said slowly. "The thing is this: After the one-eyed monkey slipped away, I went to the small wine stand to pay. As I was about to turn around and leave, a dirty old beggar sneaked up to me and asked if I A stranger, of course I admit that I am a stranger, and asked him what's the matter. He nodded and pulled me aside, and asked me if I wanted to buy some jewelry, saying that the price was very cheap. I thought I might as well check it out first Let alone any jewelry, he agreed to him. He took out a pair of beautiful earrings and two gold bracelets from his pocket, and said that he would only sell it for a tael of silver, and he would pay for it immediately. I know this old guy's jewelry It was stolen. At that time, I was thinking about whether to bring him here or send him directly to the Yamen. He saw that I was hesitant, thinking that I would not dare to buy it because of stolen goods. So he simply confessed: "Don't be afraid , there will be no mistake. I took these things from a female body, in the swamp outside the north gate. I am the only one who knows about it.'

"I want him to tell the whole story of how he found the woman's body. He said he had a hiding place in the bushes at the edge of the swamp, where he sometimes spent the night. He's going there to-night. At that time, I found the body of a young woman lying in the swamp, she seemed to be wearing some kind of red embroidered skirt, half of her body was hidden under the bushes, a dagger was pierced into her chest, the handle was still exposed Before, she was indeed dead. He touched the corpse for a long time but did not find any money, so he took off her earrings, took off her bracelet, and then ran away. The place is deserted at night, and there are few people. Walk around, maybe no one else has noticed yet. The old beggar said that they also have a guild, and all the money begged or stolen by each beggar has to be handed over to a leader of the guild called 'Parade Army', and then Received his share from him. The old guy was unwilling to hand over the jewelry, and wanted to find a stranger to sell it privately and swallow the money. It is easy for a stranger to deceive the eyes and ears of the platoon when he comes today and tomorrow. I won't take much risk. The old beggar is afraid of platooning..."

"Where is that old beggar now? Don't let him slip out of your hands too." Di Gong asked. Qiaotai scratched his head in embarrassment, and replied: "No, he can't slip away. But it's really pitiful that old guy looks half-starved. I questioned him back and forth, and I firmly believe that he has nothing to do with him. The corpse had nothing to do with it. I saw dried blood on the earring, so he wasn't lying when he said it was taken from a corpse. I understand what would happen if we sent the poor old beggar to the yamen. The officials will beat him half to death, even if they can't beat him to death, if they let him out, the 'platoon army' will never let him go cleanly. So I let him go and let him go. We will report this matter to Master Teng It was said that he had already escaped.”

Duke Di cast a reproachful glance at Qiao Tai, but he didn't seem to blame him for taking his own way.He said: "Of course you violate the rules of the government office, but I understand what you mean. It is impossible for an old beggar who is too poor to rush into the inner house of a noble lady, and a noble lady will not go out alone. There were many people in the sedan chair huddling around and serving. The old beggar said that there were no other people at that time, which is also true. Otherwise, he would never have dared to steal the body. The woman was obviously killed in another place, and the body was It was brought up and placed in the swamp. I don't think you made a big mistake in letting the beggar go, but in this kind of matter, a careless omission will miss the overall situation. Now we will report to the Yamen, Magistrate Teng The investigation will be started immediately after hearing the news. Human life is at stake, and there is no delay. Oh, by the way, show me those two jewelry."

Chotai reached into his sleeve and took out two earrings and a pair of gleaming gold bracelets and put them on the table. Di Gong glanced at it, praised it unconsciously, held it in his hand and admired it carefully for a while. On each of the earrings was a lotus flower made of silver, delicately coiled with gold threads, and six rubies embedded in the middle.The bracelet is made of pure gold and looks like a ring snake.The snake's eyes are a pair of emeralds, and there is a fierce light shining faintly under the candlelight. Duke Di played with it for a long time, stroked his beard slowly, and fell into deep thought.

Qiao Tai couldn't wait any longer, and urged, "Why don't you want to leave?" Di Gong picked up the jewelry and put it in his sleeve, and said, "Qiao Tai, it seems too early for us not to inform Teng Kan of this matter." Qiao Tai looked at Duke Di in amazement, and was about to ask why, when the door opened suddenly, and the one-eyed monkey came in, and said excitedly: "They have come to chase you, earlier than I thought. What yamen are you going to, don’t do anything stupid! The arrests have arrived at this hotel, and they are in the living room asking about your rooms! Don’t panic, I’ll help you escape, come, follow me!” Qiao Tai was about to start yelling, but Duke Di stopped him.Duke Di hesitated for a while, then said to the one-eyed monkey: "You lead the way!" They went out the door, and the one-eyed monkey quickly pulled them into a narrow corridor.He seemed to be very familiar with the layout of the inn, and he led them into a dark, musty-smelling corridor, and then opened a crumbling door, and came to an alley.They chose their way among the rubbish dumps, bypassed the back door of the inn’s kitchen, walked forward, then entered the back door of the big restaurant next door, came out from the noisy shop, and turned a few turns in the streets and alleys. , De Gong and the others had already lost their way. Arriving at a desolate and secluded side street, the one-eyed monkey finally stopped, pointed to the only lighted window at the end of the street and said to Duke Di: "That's the Phoenix Hotel, it's safest for you to stay there, please Tell the platoon army that Kunshan sent you here—we will meet again in the future.” Only then did Duke Di and Qiao Tai know that the name of this surreptitious one-eyed monkey was Kun Shan. Kun Shan turned around, brushed past Qiao Tai, and disappeared into the darkness after only a few steps.