The three of them arrived at the door of the banquet hall and stood still. Welcome banners were hung in the hall on the second floor, and two rows of flower baskets and flowers were neatly placed in front of the door.
Lu Ming turned around and looked up, only to see a man in a long robe and mandarin jacket walking over, followed by two attendants. Yan Hongdao was standing next to him, cupping his fists and saluting, and said happily: "Mr. Zheng, it's great that you can come, Peng."
The peppercorns are shining, the peppercorns are shining."
Lu Ming was surprised and said: "Isn't this Zheng Xiaoxu and Zheng Yilao? It's really rare that he is here too."
Zheng Xiaoxu was a high-ranking official in the former Qing Dynasty. He once served as the inspector and chief envoy of a province, and he could be regarded as a feudal official.
For more than two thousand years, China's feudal dynasties have experienced hundreds of dynasty changes, large and small, and few have been without war. The decline of the Qing Dynasty and the establishment of the Republic of China have become examples of very few peaceful transitions.
Dynasties change and wars occur frequently. In the end, it is the people who suffer. This is a truth that remains unchanged through the ages.
Since the fall of the Qing Dynasty did not trigger a war, Qing officials did not suffer too much impact after the Qing emperor abdicated. Those who could be used continued to serve in local governments, while the older ones returned to their hometowns to retire.
Zheng Xiaoxu abdicated his official position after the Qing Dynasty, and lived in seclusion in Shanghai. He was known as the old man of the former Qing Dynasty, which was a very fashionable title at the time.
Zheng Yilao not only had a high official rank in the previous dynasty, but was also a famous figure in the cultural world and a veteran in the calligraphy world. Among social sages, only a few people such as the famous Liang Qichao could compare with him.
He started his calligraphy career from Yan Liusu, and then studied Wei Bei, becoming a giant in calligraphy in the late Qing Dynasty.
After Zheng Yilao lived in seclusion in Shanghai, he rarely appeared in public. Lu Ming met him at a banquet at the Sheng family before studying abroad. Six or seven years had passed, but his image was quite special and deeply memorable.
Mr. Zheng Yi made a living by selling calligraphy in Shanghai. A word worth a thousand gold is not a metaphor for him, but a reality. Spending a lot of money to buy his calligraphy requires someone to recommend him. He calls it "asking for calligraphy treasures".
Therefore, although Zheng Yilao lives in seclusion, he is also a top figure in Shanghai's celebrity circles.
Sheng Di was also surprised when he saw Zheng Xiaoxu. He had the same reaction as Lu Ming, not expecting him to be there.
Lu Ming walked to Yan Xiaohui and said with a smile: "Uncle Yan is so proud that he can even invite the god Zheng Yi to come out."
Yan Xiaohui obviously didn't expect it, and said with a wry smile: "It may not be because the Yan family has great reputation. He may come here for our Lord Fan. If you don't believe me, look down."
When Lu Ming heard this, he became vigilant. Zheng Xiaoxu was tired of staying in Shanghai and wanted to go east to Japan. What was he going to do? Selling calligraphy? His calligraphy was also a rare commodity in Japan.
Things may not be that simple. It is said that Zheng Xiaoxu was very interested in the Japanese business in Northeast China and even made a special trip to investigate.
Having said that, although Sino-Japanese relations are not harmonious, it is normal for Chinese people to live in Japan and for Japanese people to settle in China, but it is not so normal when it comes to Zheng Xiaoxu.
There is nothing wrong with Zheng Xiaoxu, an old man from the former Qing Dynasty, being interested in Japanese people, but it always makes people feel weird.
Lu Ming felt that the atmosphere today was a little strange. First of all, Sheng Di's appearance was an accident. In addition, Mr. Zheng Yi came to visit. People who shouldn't be there appear in places where they shouldn't be. There must be a monster among them.
This seems to be a hint that there is an ulterior secret hidden in Honjo Shige's trip to Shanghai. What secret is it?
Sheng Di's excuse of taking care of the family's face is totally unjustifiable. If it is just because of face issues, Sheng Youde's failure to show up is already a loss of face.
In any case, Sheng Di cannot represent Sheng Youde. His coming here will make people feel that the Sheng family looks down on the Yan family. It would be better not to send a junior to come. After all, Du Yuesheng, Huang Huangrong and other big names are not present.
.
At this time, the banquet hall was filled with people wearing black suits. These people looked serious. They looked like waiters, but in fact they were all bodyguards.
Lu Ming kept scanning the faces of these bodyguards, trying to find the person who besieged him at Tongren Hospital that day. Unfortunately, he only heard the sound that day and did not see the person at all. Later, he could not find out from the self-reports of those kidnapped.
Determine the person's face and size.
"Are you looking for someone?" Yan Xiaohui kept staring at Lu Ming and asked when he saw his eyes wandering.
"I was wondering if the people who besieged us that day were hiding among these men in black." Lu Ming lowered his eyes and smiled.
"You didn't see the person, how could you recognize him? You have clairvoyance." Yan Xiaohui said angrily.
"Sister, please don't fall in love with him. He is a famous woman." Sheng Di said with a smile.
"I want you to take care of it. By the way, why haven't you seen Sister Ziyuan recently?" Yan Xiaohui said with a blushing face.
"She, she has been in a bad mood recently and went on a trip to relax." A look of sadness suddenly appeared on Sheng Di's face.
Although Ziyuan had a big fight with him before leaving and wanted to cancel the engagement, he still loved Ziyuan and hoped to see her and try his best to restore their relationship.
He also didn't believe that Ziyuan could really be so decisive that she would not hesitate to ruin the engagement and even cut off all relations with him because of a trivial matter.
At this moment, I suddenly heard a shout outside: "There is an assassin, catch the assassin quickly!"
Although he was shouting in Chinese, he had a strong Japanese accent.
Lu Ming's heart trembled. Could it be that the person who arranged for An Gonggen to come in was discovered? This was too sloppy. He had already been exposed before he even did anything.
The people in the hall became agitated for a moment, and he hurriedly stopped in front of Yan Xiaohui. Although An Gonggen knew him, the person he arranged did not know him. If he saw him, he might give him a shot without saying a word.
That would be extremely unlucky.
"How could there be an assassin?" Yan Xiaohui was also a little scared.
"Let's hide quickly and wait until they catch the assassin." Sheng Di looked around in panic for a hiding place.
It's still unclear what happened, so Lu Ming naturally wouldn't take any action. Besides, the number of bodyguards on site was only 80 or not. Even if An Gonggen's people were discovered, Lu Ming wouldn't be able to show off as a hero.
Yan Xiaohui took them into the empty room again and locked the door from the inside.
Yan Xiaohui looked at Lu Ming and smiled bitterly. Why did this scene look like a reenactment of Tongren Hospital?
They were also hiding in an empty room that day, with assassins outside. If Yuan Mingzhu hadn't arrived with someone, they would have almost died.
"There can't be an assassin. No one can come in without an invitation." Yan Xiaohui was still thinking about what went wrong.
"That's not entirely true. I didn't need an invitation when I came in." Lu Ming said.
"Me too, I didn't even look at my invitation," Sheng Di said.
"You came in with someone from the Japanese Consulate. Of course you didn't need an invitation. Who doesn't recognize Brother Sheng Shi's car on the beach? That's why you didn't check your invitation. Others don't get this treatment." Yan Xiaohui reasoned carefully.
Although Lu Ming had doubts and it was inconvenient to check again, it was more reliable to follow the crowd at this time. Any slightest performance would definitely attract the attention of the Japanese and cause trouble to Yan Xiaohui.
It's better to be still than to move at this moment.
Lu Ming concluded that there must have been an accident, otherwise with An Gonggen's plan, the assassination method would not have been so clumsy.