The sharp corners of the lotus flowers in the courtyard of Kunning Palace in the Forbidden City suddenly appeared, attracting countless dragonflies to cling to them.

The breeze blows, the lotus leaves sway, and there are layers of green waves.

Emperor Wanli stood by the lotus pond, watching the dragonflies flying in the pond, feeling relaxed and happy.

Concubine Zheng, who was beside him, clung to him tightly, stretched out her hand and threw the bait into the pond, causing the fish to compete for food, which made the emperor laugh.

It took a long time to remember the abbot standing behind him with his hands down, and the governor's fellow governor Zheng Chengxian:

"Ai Qing, you have something to report to the palace today?"

"Returning to the emperor, there have been rumors in the court recently that Zhao Zhigao, the deputy minister of the cabinet, and Yang Chengyang, the minister of civil affairs, are colluding with each other to form cliques for personal gain and exclude dissidents. Even the chief minister, Shen Shixingshen, has become the target of their exclusion. Yes.

The ministers are quite complaining about this."

"Oh, ministers should be conscientious and dedicated to the benefit of the court and the people. If you only seek personal gain and ignore your duties as ministers, how can you live up to the love of the court and the expectations of the people?" The emperor said lightly.

"The emperor's instructions are correct!"

"If you don't use other instruments, just go down."

Zheng Chengxian seemed not satisfied with the emperor's reply and wanted to say more.

"Dad, please go back first. It's rare that the emperor has free time today, so don't bother him with trivial matters in the court!" Concubine Zheng said softly.

Zheng Chengxian bowed and exited.

The breeze picked up again, and Concubine Zheng seemed a little cold, and she leaned her soft body closer to the emperor's arms.

Du Wenlin and his party worked hard and arrived in Wuxi at noon the next day.

Wuxi is located on the shore of Taihu Lake, and the scenery is extremely beautiful. "Beyond the distant trees and sparse forests, half of the autumn mountains are covered with sunset." This poem is probably a true portrayal of Wuxi's beautiful scenery.

According to Meng Gang's idea, we walked directly through the city and went to the edge of Taihu Lake to hit the tip. However, after traveling all morning, everyone was hungry and coveted the reputation of Wuxi's beautiful scenery, so everyone suggested that we find a restaurant on the street.

While eating, enjoy the street view.

So, I found a street-facing restaurant, went up to the second floor, and occupied two tables by the window.

Business in the hotel is not very good today, and there are no other customers upstairs.

Du Wenlin said:

"You are all from the north, and I don't know much about the delicacies of Jiangnan. How about I order some food for you?"

Everyone applauded.

Du Wenlin smiled, turned around and hugged her.

As soon as I turned the stairs, I heard vague conversations coming from downstairs:

"As the altar master ordered, be careful of the factory dogs coming from the north these days. If you find any trace of them, you must report them immediately. Now they have arrived. Let's eat quickly and don't miss anything."

The conversation was actually not loud, and even the guests sitting at the table next to them could not hear it. Unfortunately, they met Du Wenlin.

Du Wenlin's heart skipped a beat, he stopped, and quietly stretched his head to look down.

Not far from the stairs, two people in gray clothes were eating. One was a young man in his twenties, and the other was a middle-aged man in his forties. There were two long knives beside them.

, he looks like a Jianghu person at first glance.

Du Wenlin made a quick decision and immediately retreated. When he got upstairs, he took off his coat and said to Zhang Qiang:

"Zhang Qiang, put on your casual clothes immediately and follow me out."

Then he hurriedly found some casual clothes from his luggage, and while changing, he said to Meng Gang, who had a surprised look on his face:

"There are two suspicious people downstairs and they will leave soon. Zhang Qiang and I will follow them, and you can arrange for someone to take care of them."

We are all experienced in the industry, so there is no need to ask any questions.

Meng Gang immediately arranged for several other people to also start changing their clothes.

In the blink of an eye, Zhang Qiang and Du Wenlin packed up, and Du Wenlin quietly came to the stairs and looked down.

The two people had already stood up and started to walk out the door.

Du Wenlin made a gesture, and Zhang Qiang followed him downstairs.

The streets are busier at noon, with people coming and going, rubbing shoulders.

The two men in gray clothes walked all the way to South Long Street, looking back as they walked, fearing that they would be followed by others.

In their impression, even if someone is following them, they are factory guards wearing brown clothes and can be recognized at a glance.

It's a pity that I didn't expect that someone would change clothes and follow me in such a short period of time.

The two stopped in front of a door facing the street and knocked on the door. After the door opened, the two stepped into the courtyard and the door immediately closed again.

Du Wenlin strolled by the door and saw "Ren Mansion" written in big red characters on the door.

The altar leader Ren that the two people mentioned just now should be the owner of this family.

After finding a tea shop at the corner of the street, Du Wenlin and Zhang Qiang went in and ordered a pot of tea. While drinking tea, they chatted with the boss.

"The weather this year seems to be hotter than in previous years. My uncle's tea business should also be better than in previous years?" Du Wenlin said in his hometown dialect.

"Where is it? From the accent, the guy should be from Suzhou, and he should know something about our business. In fact, there are almost only a few regular customers who drink tea every day. It doesn't matter if it's windy or rainy, you can still come here.

.We can’t make much money from a small business like ours. It would be good to earn a coffin when we get old!”

Du Wenlin smiled and mouthed towards the "Ren Mansion" not far away:

"What kind of business is that company in? Judging from the size of his family, he should be a big boss, right?"

The boss wiped the table and replied:

"You are talking about the Ren family, right? His family is an ancestral family, and the older generation has money. It is a family that made its fortune in the silk and satin business."

"Oh, let me tell you, it looks like a wealthy family. Is Mr. Ren still in the silk and satin business now?"

"We are still doing it, so we can't throw away the ancestral business. There are several branches in Wuxi city."

"Oh, such a big boss is usually very busy. Do you come here for tea?"

"Here. He even came this morning." The face of the tea shop owner was full of pride for such a big boss to visit him often.

"A rich person has a lot of relatives, so he must have a lot of relatives and friends in his family. People often come to the house. If they pass by your place and sit down to have a cup of tea, wouldn't your business also benefit from it?" Du Wenlin said flatteringly.

"There are quite a few people here, but not many people come to drink tea."

Du Wenlin ordered another plate of spiced beans and chatted with the boss while eating the beans.

The door of "Ren's Mansion" opened again, and the two men in gray clothes with knives looked over and hurriedly walked out.

Du Wenlin and Zhang Qiang also quietly followed back.

The two men in gray returned to the original restaurant, walked to the counter, pointed upstairs and asked the boss what they were talking about.

At this time, there were many people in the house and it was noisy. Du Wenlin was far away and could not hear what they said clearly.

He was probably inquiring about the movements of the factory guards upstairs.

Then, they sat down and seemed not to leave for the time being.

Du Wenlin looked back and saw two companions in casual clothes standing in a corner not far away. He called them back and went up to the second floor together.

Du Wenlin whispered to Meng Gang what he heard on the stairs and the situation he had just followed.

Meng Gang asked everyone to change back into factory uniforms and then go downstairs together. Everyone got on their horses and drove out of the city.

After leaving the city, Meng Gang said to everyone:

"Let's go directly to Suzhou."

Du Wenlin asked:

"What should we do here?"

Meng Gang looked back and said with a smile:

"Our whereabouts have been exposed, and we will only be under their surveillance here. We will fight back when we get to Suzhou."

Everyone suddenly understood and admired Meng Gang's wit.

The journey from Wuxi to Suzhou is less than a hundred miles, and everyone has arrived in Suzhou in the evening.

The group of people walked around the city several times, and after confirming that no one was following them, they found a small, remote inn to stay.

"Everyone rest for the night, and we will fight back tomorrow." Meng Gang ordered.

Early the next morning, everyone changed into casual clothes, divided their work, and agreed on a contact code and location. In pairs, they came from Suzhou to Wuxi one after another.

Du Wenlin and Zhang Qiang were in a group, and they were the first group to leave first.

In less than half a moment, the two of them arrived at the South Gate of Wuxi, found a large carriage shop to store their horses, and walked into the city.

Du Wenlin wore a silk blue shirt and held a folding fan in his hand, looking like a rich man.

Zhang Qiang, wearing a green hat and a small hat, followed behind him with a sword.

The two of them came to the vicinity of "Ren's Mansion", found a small restaurant, ordered two side dishes and a pot of rice wine, and sipped the wine while monitoring the gate of "Ren's Mansion".

Near noon, four people, three men and one woman, walked into the restaurant. One of them, a rough man, shouted to the boss to serve wine and food.
To be continued...