After all the farce, Zhao Hongrun was finally able to calm down and think deeply about the things behind the assassination.
But before that, he winked at Shen Yu and pursed his lips at Chen Xiao, who was looking around.
Shen Yu understood and walked out of the inn. When he came back, he already had a rope in his hand.
He walked up to Chen Xiao, shook the rope in his hand, and said, "Reach out your hand."
Chen Xiao was stunned for a moment, then looked at the rope in Shen Yu's hand, and said with a shocked expression: "You want to tie me up again? I just helped you!"
"Stop talking nonsense!...Don't forget, you are also suspected of assassinating the young master."
Shen Yu tied Chen Xiao's hands without saying a word. However, Chen Xiao did not resist this time. Perhaps because he did not want to bear the stigma of "collaborating with thieves to assassinate King Su", he folded his hands obediently and allowed Shen Yu to tie him up. However, he was still cursing and complaining, probably because he felt that Zhao Hongrun and others were repaying kindness with enmity.
Seeing Chen Xiao sitting on the ground sulking, Zhao Hongrun shook his head slightly, turned around and ordered: "Shen Yu, go and check this inn with a few people to see if you can get some food and drinks that are not poisoned... …Mi Rui, are you okay over there?”
Mi Rui, who was collecting the toxin just now, turned around and said, "Okay."
"Then you go with them."
"oh."
Under Shen Yu's command, Gao Kuo and Zhong Zhao went to search the rooms on the second floor of the inn, while Mu Qing followed Mi Rui to the kitchen on the first floor to see if they could get some fresh food.
The remaining Zongwei continued their work, arranging the corpses on the ground on one side of the inn, and then checked their belongings, hoping to find some clues.
But it is a pity that there is nothing on these people that can identify themselves. Even the body of the shop owner who Zhao Hongrun had placed his hope in, there is nothing.
At this moment, Mu Qing shouted from the kitchen: "Sir, there are still a few corpses here."
Zhao Hongrun heard the sound and walked to the kitchen, only to find that there were several corpses abandoned casually in the vegetable field outside the back door of the kitchen. Judging from their clothes, they might be the real owners of the inn, a group of about forty years old. A couple of several years old, and three guys in their teens and twenties.
Mi Jiang, who was following Zhao Hongrun, stepped forward to inspect the corpses, then turned back and said to the former: "They have been dead for at least a day or two."
"A day or two? In other words, these people started preparing to assassinate me a day or two ago?"
Zhao Hongrun frowned. You must know that a day or two ago, they had just got off the merchant ship of the Ministry of Revenue because of Oona. However, how could these thieves be able to grasp their whereabouts so accurately?
There is only one explanation. Someone on the cargo ship belonging to the warehouse department under the jurisdiction of the household department tipped off the gang of thieves.
"It's so powerful..."
Zhao Hongrun muttered, then summoned Zongwei He Miao and Zhu Gui, and ordered them to find a place to bury the couple and the three boys. After all, Zhao Hongrun had an inescapable role in the death of these five people. .
After giving the instructions, Zhao Hongrun returned to the lobby of the inn again. He pulled up a long bench, crossed his arms and looked at the corpses neatly arranged against the wall, thoughtfully.
The leader of these thieves was undoubtedly the assassin who pretended to be the shopkeeper. Although this man committed suicide by taking poison after barely speaking to Zhao Hongrun for a few words, Zhao Hongrun still vaguely discovered a few strange things.
First of all, it is the discipline of this group of thieves.
You must know that since Chen Xiao joined the battle, the situation in the melee between the two sides has gradually tilted towards the Zongwei. Logically speaking, when these thieves saw that the situation was not good, they should choose to retreat.
However, none of the thieves escaped.
Secondly, at the last moment, when only the "shopkeeper" and two other thieves were left, the "shopkeeper" saw that the assassination failed, so he stabbed one of the thieves to death with the sword in his hand, and the other thieves
Seeing this, he actually asked the former in a questioning tone, "What are you going to do?"
Does this mean that they are not actually superiors and subordinates?
Once again, when the "shopkeeper" said, "Do you think I can leave?...It's time to fulfill the pre-arranged matters," the only remaining thief actually chose to commit suicide.
"The agreed upon matter...?"
Zhao Hongrun muttered something to himself, and suddenly asked Lu Mu and others who were still searching the corpse: "Lu Mu, do those thieves have those wax pills with poison inside them? It's the one where the man pretending to be the shopkeeper took poison and committed suicide.
Plant wax pills.”
Lu Mu shook his head and said: "I haven't found it yet. It seems that only the thief pretending to be the shop owner has it."
"That's it..."
Zhao Hongrun's eyes continued to look astonished.
Because logically speaking, this group of thieves should all have wax pills that contain poison, unless...
Unless this group of thieves is actually not from the same group.
Thinking of this, Zhao Hongrun frowned and asked: "Shen Yu, have you ever heard of... well, a group of assassins who specialize in killing people and can be hired."
Shen Yu thought for a while and asked doubtfully: "Hidden thief?"
Zhao Hongrun was stunned when he heard this, and asked in shock: "'Hidden Thief'? What is that?"
Shen Yu shrugged and said: "As the name suggests, they are 'thieves who hide their whereabouts'... It is said that as long as they can afford the reward, these hidden thieves can do anything for you." At this point, he seemed to have realized something.
He asked seriously: "Master, do you suspect these people are hired thieves?"
"I just have this feeling..." Zhao Hongrun frowned and took a long breath, then frowned and asked: "Shen Yu, tell me everything you know about the 'hidden thief'."
"Yes." Shen Yu nodded, and then told: "The humble position was mentioned one day when I was still in the Zongfu... It is said that hundreds of years ago, our great Wei Dynasty conquered Liang, and after Zheng and other countries, there were
Some Liang and Zheng people had a grudge against the Wei Dynasty and repeatedly caused rebellions by gathering crowds. Therefore, the late king sent troops to encircle and suppress them. However, those people were no match for the elite soldiers of the Wei Dynasty and fled to the mountains of Yuyang, Shiqiu, Yangxia and other places to save money.
The power of the Wei Dynasty continues to fight... The hidden thieves at that time were said to specialize in assassinating princes, nobles, and local officials appointed by the previous kings. They had aroused the anger of the previous kings several times and sent people to encircle and suppress them many times. It was a pity that once the thieves were discovered
The troops sent by the imperial court to encircle and suppress people hid in the mountains and disappeared, so that the troops sent to encircle and suppress people often returned without success."
After a pause, Shen Yu continued to narrate: "But gradually, in the past hundred years, those hidden thieves no longer have any hostility towards me, the Wei Dynasty. It may be that the descendants of Liang and Zheng Gu have almost all died.
Maybe... Generally speaking, they are on good terms with the imperial court, so logically speaking, it is impossible for them to gather a group of people to assassinate someone of the Young Master's status."
"Why?" Zhao Hongrun asked in confusion.
"Because in addition to being employed by others, they also have their own livelihoods... For example, in places such as Yangyang and Yangxia, inns like this one set up in the wilderness are most likely opened by the hermits. , if the imperial court is angered and the imperial court sends troops to encircle and suppress them, these people will also suffer heavy losses."
"Huh? Is there any industry left?" Zhao Hongrun felt a little incredible, frowning and asked: "And the imperial court actually turned a blind eye to these people?"
After hearing this, Shen Yu shook his head and said: "I don't know about this. Maybe the imperial court thinks it is difficult to exterminate these people... But I heard that Fenxing fortress has a good relationship with the hidden thieves in Yang. It is said that Xu General Yin used to hire thieves from Yang City and regularly gave them money to monitor the situation in Chu. As you know, at that time, the relationship between our great Wei and Xiong Tuo, Lord of Chu Yangcheng, was still very serious. Nervous."
"I said that Xiong Tuo spent ten years and failed to conquer Fenxing Fortress, but actually..."
Zhao Hongrun felt incredible.
After thinking for a while, he pointed to the corpses and asked: "Then where are these people from? Can you tell them apart?"
"This..." Shen Yu smiled bitterly: "Although I heard that the hidden thieves have some methods to identify each other, but...I am afraid that only the hidden thieves will know this."
Zhao Hongrun nodded, then raised his hand and pointed at the body of the man pretending to be the shopkeeper, and asked: "Among the hidden thieves, will anyone hide poison so that they can commit suicide by taking it when their deeds are exposed?"
"I've never heard of this..." Shen Yu thought for a moment, pointed at the body of the thief who committed suicide and said, "Generally speaking, people would have killed themselves with a knife like this person to avoid being caught. Arrive and be tortured.”
"Looking at it this way, these are really two groups of people..."
Zhao Hongrun glanced at the corpses and thought to himself: There are various signs that the man pretending to be the shop owner should be the mastermind who hired these thieves... Well, he should be the mastermind's subordinate, and the rest, but They are just some thieves hired to assassinate me. In other words, if I can capture the "shopkeeper", I should be able to force out some secrets...
"What a pity! What a pity!"
Standing up, Zhao Hongrun walked to the body of the man pretending to be the shopkeeper again and looked at the latter carefully.
He really couldn't figure it out. He couldn't figure out what grudge or grudge he had against the forces behind this man. Why did these people hire thieves to assassinate him?
Zhao Hongrun thought about it carefully for a long time, but he did not expect that he had done anything that would arouse the murderous intention of some people.
Even the domestic aristocratic forces who were most dissatisfied with him this time because of the Sanchuan incident should have dissipated as Zhao Hongrun negotiated the Sanchuan incident with King Chengling and others.
"Wait a minute... Before leaving Daliang, Uncle Liu Wang once asked me if I had offended anyone besides Zong Wei. In other words, Uncle Liu Wang should have known something..."
Zhao Hongrun thought for a while and felt it was necessary to write a letter and send someone to Daliang after arriving in Shangshui County to tell the Sixth Uncle Zhao Yuanli about the matter and ask what was going on.
But before that, Zhao Hongrun thought it would be better to go to Shangshui as soon as possible. After all, Shangshui County was his territory.