In the alley of Zilai Street outside Dongzuo Gate, a man in straight white clothes slapped the courtyard door.
After waiting for a moment, the courtyard door creaked open, and an old woman appeared at the door. She looked at the man warily, "What do you want?"
The man said politely, "I am coming from Mr. Wu's house. I wonder if Wu Jiafeng still lives here?"
"Wu Jiafeng is indeed my son-in-law, but he has disappeared for a month." The old woman looked at the visitor warily, "You said you are from Mr. Wu's house, so how come I haven't seen you before?"
"I'm from Anqing, and I've been helping Mr. Wu manage some properties in Anqing. The whole Wu family is in Anqing now, because Tongcheng is not very stable, and some old servants can't come over to show their faces. The old man has been suffering a lot recently.
They are frightened and unwilling to return to Tongcheng. In addition, the house here is uninhabitable after a flood. The Wu family will probably move to Jinling. The old gentleman and several ladies do not have the familiar servants around them, so they say they are more considerate than before.
, I had to send my servant down to Tongcheng to handle this errand. The second lady specially asked me to find Wu Jiafeng and ask him if he would like to go to Jinling with the old gentleman."
"Then how do you know where I live?"
"The eldest lady told the little man where Yin Deng lived, and she called her at the head of Doujia Bridge. She went to Yin Deng's house first and brought some money to Yin Deng's wife. The Yin family's sister-in-law said that Wu could be found here.
Jia Feng, I will give it a try."
When the old woman heard this, she burst into tears, "I'm so sorry for Yin Deng. When I heard that Huang Wending and his gang were caught and pressed for the whereabouts of his family master, he would rather die than tell him, only to be beheaded by a thief more than thirty times."
The man sighed and said, "Who says it's not true? The old lady cried for several days after hearing this, saying that although Yin Deng was not born in the family, he came to the Wu Mansion at a very young age. She watched him grow up. He has always been loyal and did not succeed.
I wanted to end up like this. That’s why Mr. Wu said that Tongcheng was so sad that he decided to go to Jinling with his family."
The old woman heard clearly from the man that Yin Deng was indeed not a child born at home, but was sold to the Wu Mansion at the age of three. It was not much different from a child born at home. Not many people outside knew this. She relaxed at the moment
After being cautious, he wiped his tears and said, "Wu Jiafeng has been looking forward to the old man's return every day. Today he finally got a letter, but he is going to a foreign country. No matter how good Jinling is, it can't compare to his hometown."
"This little guy can't decide on this matter. Mr. Wu has already decided to leave. The trip will be completed when the little guy returns."
The old woman leaned on the doorframe and started to cry again, "The matchmaker deceived me that day. He only said that Wu Jiafeng's family was well-off, and it was only after they got married that he found out that he was a domestic slave. Now if we go to Jinling, what will happen to my daughter?"
I’m afraid I won’t see you again.”
The man cupped his hands and said, "Can you please come out and see Brother Wu? No matter whether you go to Jinling or not, I will be able to reply to the Second Madam if I get the letter."
The old woman rolled her eyes and looked at the man. Finally she shook her head and said, "I don't know where he is. I can give this husband a place to stay."
"That's unfortunate. I'm going back to Anqing tomorrow. If I can find him, I'll ask him to come to the Zhangjia Restaurant in Xiangyang Gate at noon tomorrow. My surname is Bai, and I'll stay in the room named Jia Feng for the time being.
If my brother can't make it tomorrow, then he will miss the Wu Mansion."
...
On the city wall to the south of Dongzuo Gate, Pang Yu poked his head out from behind a wall stack. From this position, he could just see the old woman's courtyard. He saw Jiang Fan standing in front of the door for a while and then leaving.
After the old woman closed the door, she went into the main room and stayed for a while, then came out and walked around the yard a few times, touching here and tidying up, wondering what she was busy with.
Ruan Jin's fawning voice came from beside him, "It's the news that the villain has inquired about. Someone saw Mr. Zheng at Wu Jiafeng and Yin He's house recently. He also said that he left with Wu Jiafeng. The villain
I think Wu Jiafeng’s mother-in-law must know where they are, and as long as he finds Wu Jiafeng, he can find Mr. Zheng.”
"This matter has touched my brain." Pang Yu has been quite satisfied with Ruan Jin these days. These fast players are all local gangsters in Tongcheng. There were many young men in the fast class in the past, and the entire fast class was extremely unorganized. After Pang Yu took over,
Only some people were retained, and some useful helpers were turned into regular employees. And relying on the power given by Yang Fangqian, it was stated that everyone might be removed if they were incompetent.
As a result, the most active people now are the helpers, which also put a lot of pressure on Kuaishou before.
While observing the yard, he said, "If Mr. Zheng is caught, please ask Brother Ruan to serve as the captain of the second team and take care of the market from Chaoyang Gate, Dongzuo Gate to Qingfeng City."
Ruan Jin shuddered. The east and south are the most prosperous places in Tongcheng. At this time, he couldn't help but burst into tears of gratitude to Pang Yu, "Thank you for your support, class leader. I will definitely work hard for the class leader in the future. But it's a stall in Dongshi. Bet
It is always in charge of the affairs, and it may be difficult for villains to interfere."
Pang Yu said calmly, "That was in the past. Your Majesty promised to hand over Dongshi to Kuaiban. There are many gambling stalls, inns, stalls, and pawn shops in Dongshi. They used to be controlled by those domestic slaves. First, Huang Wending and others
Later, it was Mr. Zheng’s group. Now the power of the two groups has disappeared, and the gentry has died down. We all have to take over, but we are not going to be quick to do whatever they want, but we have to set good rules for them..."
Ruan Jin suddenly interrupted, "Board leader, that old woman has gone out."
Pang Yu took a closer look and saw that the old woman had indeed opened the courtyard door and glanced at both ends, as if to confirm that no one was watching her.
The old woman hurriedly locked the door and turned north into Zilai Street at the entrance of the alley.
Pang Yu smiled and said, "Sure enough, she can't help but go to report the news. Let's follow her."
...
The west end of Daughter Street outside Yimin Gate is close to the Xiangu Well. It is said that this Xiangu Well is the place where He Xiangu became an immortal. Therefore, the water in the well is sweet and refreshing. Those who go to Longmian Mountain to collect firewood and sell it in the city must come here.
Stop and drink water.
Because Yiminmen is not an official street, it is much desolate even outside the city. After Daughter Street, you will find the entrance to the mountain road. It is already at the end of the streets and alleys in the outer city, and there are few people coming and going, so it seems a bit deserted.
The old woman appeared at the intersection of Daughter Street and hurried to a small courtyard at the west end. There was no brass ring on the door of the courtyard, so the old woman slapped it hard several times with her hand.
There was a figure shaking in the crack of the door. After the person saw the old woman through the crack of the door, he opened the door with a creak.
"Mom, why are you here again?" The person who opened the door was a middle-aged woman. She said with some dissatisfaction, "The city is in chaos, and you are still walking around."
The old woman entered the house without saying a word. Two men came out of the main room in the courtyard. One of them was Mr. Zheng. Seeing the old woman walking in a hurry, he also came to the courtyard to see what was going on.
The old woman rolled her eyes at Mr. Zheng, pulled her daughter over and whispered, "You don't have a good face to say good things to you. Mr. Wu will not go back to Tongcheng. The second lady asked someone from Anqing to bring you a husband."
Follow me to Jinling."
The woman's face lit up, "I'm just waiting for news from the Wu family. I know the second lady won't forget us, but how can we go to Anqing?"
"That man is at Zhang's Restaurant in Xiangyang Gate. He will leave tomorrow afternoon, so you should go early."
Mr. Zheng came over and interrupted and asked, "Who is that person's name? How did he find you?"
The old woman didn't have a good look on Mr. Zheng and didn't even look at him. She just said, "He is helping the eldest lady bring some money to Yin Deng's family. Yin Deng's wife told him where he lives. He said his surname is Bai."
"The Wu family has some family property in Anqing, but I have never heard of anyone named Bai living in Anqing. He can tell me clearly where the Wu family lives in Anqing and what kind of family property the Wu family has in Anqing."
?”
After Mr. Zheng asked, the old woman did not answer him, because the old woman did not think of asking these things at that time, and did not want to talk to Mr. Zheng. Both Mr. Zheng and Wu Jiafeng were slaves of the Wu family.
They have always had a close relationship, and thanks to the Wu family's family background, they have a good status in the city, and the mother-in-law also enjoys the blessings.
This time, Mr. Zheng's murder caused a huge disaster. Not only did the Wu family suffer, the old woman's daughter and son-in-law could no longer stay in Tongcheng. Naturally, the old woman wanted to put the blame on Mr. Zheng's head.
Mr. Zheng had no choice but to wink at Wu Jiafeng who was standing next to him. Wu Jiafeng coughed and asked his mother-in-law, "Then what does he look like?"
"Oh, I can't say it. I just look polite and don't have the virtue to beat people to death at every turn."
Wu Jiafeng coughed dryly. His mother-in-law was almost cursing in a roundabout way. He took a peek and saw that Mr. Zheng's face was indeed not that good.
Mr. Zheng frowned. He had also relaxed his guard recently. Before, he was afraid of both the Yamen and Huang Wending's group. Finding him would be detrimental to him, so he was very careful.
The Yamen had been pursuing Mr. Zheng at that time, so he hid in the Wu family's house and quickly took advantage of the Wu family. When the mob burned the Wu family's courtyard that night, he knew that he could no longer rely on the Wu family's cover, so he fled at night to the Wu family, where he was familiar with.
In Jiafeng's home, he changed his residence two or three times in a month, and finally arrived here. This is a house owned by Wu Jiafeng's wife's uncle. The place is relatively remote and does not attract attention. During the civil unrest, it did not endanger Daughter Street.
.Another advantage is that it is very close to the mountainous area. When it is really dangerous, you can enter the mountain quickly. He is most satisfied with it and has never changed it again.
Because he deliberately hid his whereabouts and rarely left home, he relied on Wu Jiafeng's daughter-in-law to buy all his daily necessities. At that time, the mob and the government were fighting with each other and there was no time to pursue him, so he successfully evaded the pursuit of both parties.
After Huang Wending was executed, he felt that the danger had been reduced a lot, so he began to go out and contact his former party members and accomplices. As long as the Wu family returned to Tongcheng, he could make a comeback. Unexpectedly, the news came that the Wu family was going to Nanjing.
But the origin of that person was still a bit weird. Mr. Zheng decided to continue asking at the risk of getting in trouble, because this matter was very important to him and he had to confirm it clearly. If the Wu family really wanted to leave, he also planned to follow the Wu family.
Going to other places is a good way to get away from Tongcheng, a place of right and wrong.
Just as Mr. Zheng raised his hand towards the old woman, he heard a loud "bang".
The two door leaves were violently knocked open, and the door latch split into two parts instantly, and then five or six figures rushed into the courtyard holding long and short sticks.
Several people in the courtyard were stunned for a moment. Wu Jiafeng's daughter-in-law suddenly let out a scream. Mr. Zheng only stayed for a moment. When he heard the scream, he immediately reacted, kicked the woman on the back, and pushed the woman towards the woman.
Several people rushed towards him.
Those few people had no time to distinguish, and when they greeted her with a few sticks, the woman immediately fell to the ground. Mr. Zheng took advantage of this delay, pulled Wu Jiafeng and rushed into the door.
A voice from behind shouted, "Catch Mr. Zheng! He has entered the house!"
Those people were chasing after each other to enter the house, but the door was too narrow. The first man took a long stick, and by accident, the stick got stuck on the door frame. He changed the direction twice but failed to adjust it properly.
People were blocking the door.
"The short stick goes in the house, the long stick guards the outside!"
Before he finished speaking, there was a loud shout from inside, and a waist knife was slashed towards the door. Several people blocking the door screamed and backed away. Mr. Zheng and Wu Jiafeng slashed all the way out with their waist swords, and took advantage of the victory to get close to the few people.
Several people couldn't move their long sticks, and they lost their advantage for a moment. Mr. Zheng injured two of them with a random slash.
The few people who made the surprise attack were panicked and retreated continuously. Two of them even lost their sticks and were about to be driven out of the yard by Mr. Zheng.
Mr. Zheng knew that these people were from the yamen and were here to bring him to justice. He had no choice but to rush out and escape to Longmian Mountain. As long as he entered the mountain, it was impossible for the yamen to catch him.
The fighting power of the yamen servants was still familiar. Seeing these people abandoning their armor, Mr. Zheng could rush out of the courtyard as long as he tried harder. He slashed at the yamen servant who was last in order to force him.
Back off.
Suddenly there was a sound of wind behind him, as if someone was swinging a stick very fast, and then Wu Jiafeng screamed. When Mr. Zheng looked back in a hurry, he saw a strong man standing on the side, holding a red-headed water and fire stick, pointing towards the ground.
Wu Jiafeng smashed it down again, and the water-fire stick hit Wu Jiafeng's shoulder blade with a muffled sound. Wu Jiafeng made no sound immediately.
Old Zheng was so stunned that he and Wu Jiafeng rushed out of the house. They only looked at the few people in front of them and did not notice that there was a strong man next to them. Now he was alone and had to rush out of the yard to survive.
The strong man raised the stick and was about to hit it at Mr. Zheng. At this time, Mr. Zheng realized that the strong man was using the stick in an unorganized manner. When he raised the stick, the door opened wide. If it was a one-on-one fight, Mr. Zheng was not afraid of him.
, this person is just very strong, and he does not use a flexible white wax pole, but a water and fire stick made of heavy wood. Although it is a bit bulky, if it is hit, it can break the muscles and bones of the person.
Mr. Zheng did not dare to quarrel with this person and continued to chase and attack the people at the door. However, after a short delay, those people also breathed a sigh of relief. After pulling away from each other, the sticks gained the upper hand, and five or six sticks were still in chaos.
After beating him wildly, Mr. Zheng could not move forward, but he was beaten back steadily. In the panic, a stick hit him in the middle of the back. Mr. Zheng was so painful that his whole body stagnated, and the waist knife fell to the ground. For a moment, it was difficult to move his hands and feet.
When a group of people saw that Mr. Zheng had dropped his knife, they swarmed forward without fear. Mr. Zheng fell to the ground within a few blows. Long sticks and short sticks fell like raindrops. Mr. Zheng instantly lost his ability to resist.
"Stop! I'm going to live." Pang Yu kicked and cursed at a few fast guys, "Your mother beat one of eight people and almost made them run away. Isn't it embarrassing? How did you arrest people in the past?
Come down and give me a good practice."
The group of people stopped, and two people suddenly fell down with blood stains on their bodies. They were obviously injured. Pang Yu took a quick look and saw that they were all minor injuries on their hands and feet. They were not serious.
The Kuaiban guys are very good at market tricks, and they are all good at spying, tracking, and deception, but their professionalism cannot be complimented. Apart from breaking the door just now, the other aspects were useless. They were basically wearing soap uniforms.
Ordinary people do seem to need more training.
Pang Yu raised his head and said to the strong man, "Xu Lengzi has shown great bravery and will be promoted to team deputy tomorrow."
Xu Lengzi was one of the fast players he recruited. In the past, Xu Lengzi was not even a helper. He only knew how to help people on the eight-character wall every day. He used his rough skin and thick flesh to grab business without following the rules. He often argued with other agents.
After a fight, even though there were more enemies than one, he was defeated, so he was recruited by Pang Yu into the fast class. Although he was not very smart, he also knew that being a yamen servant was much better than being a substitute. Hearing this, he grinned and said, "Get it."
It's more comfortable to hit someone with a stick than to be hit with a stick."
Pang Yu ignored him, grabbed Mr. Zheng's hair, "Grab Mr. Zheng, get on the carriage, and parade him all the way back to the Yamen. Let the people of Tongcheng see the power of our fast class, and then I will personally interrogate him."