The road to Liujiazhuang was quiet and peaceful. Just after leaving the city gate, Chen Ping heard a few more footsteps outside the carriage.
He opened the curtain and looked back, seeing several gang members silently following behind the car.
"Did something happen?" Chen Ping couldn't help but ask.
"It's okay. It's just that Ling Shu went to Liujiazhuang yesterday and was sent away by the hall master." The second hall master replied.
Chen Ping pretended to have just learned about this and looked surprised, "What is he here for?"
The second hall master did not say anything clearly, but only said: "To be more specific, you can discuss it in detail when Mr. Chen meets the hall master."
Chen Ping didn't ask any more questions. He closed his eyes and leaned against the wall of the compartment, his mind spinning.
It seems that Cao Lei invited him over because he wanted to clarify the entanglement. It just so happened that Chen Ping also wanted to know what Cao Lei thought of Ling Shu. If it can be explained directly, after all, the reason for seeking cooperation at a high price was to use Jiulong Hall to investigate Ling Shu.
Technical.
After a while, when they arrived at Liujiazhuang, the hall was brightly lit, and Cao Lei pointed at the food on the table and said.
"My little friend, sit down and let's chat while we eat."
Chen Ping took a step forward, folded his hands and bowed deeply before taking his seat.
Cao Lei waved his hand and asked everyone to leave, leaving only the two of them sitting across from each other in the hall.
"To be honest, I have investigated a lot of things about you." He said while taking a bite of food.
"What did the hall master find out?" Chen Ping asked calmly.
The four eyes of the old man and the young man faced each other, and there was actually the same profound meaning in their eyes.
"I lived in Nanxi Village, Qingsong Town, Yongshun County, and studied under the arithmetic master Ye Wenchang of Huating Academy. In the 8th year of the Apocalypse, Ye Wenchang accidentally fell into the water due to a flood. Later, because the imperial court reprimanded the official document, everyone said that Ye Wenchang helped the emperor to commit evil. In the 11th year of the Apocalypse,
He enrolled in Jiangxia Academy and studied under Zhao Wenhe. Later he searched for water, dug wells, and drove away locusts. Everyone knows these things. I wonder if what I said is right?"
"Wrong."
"Oh? What's wrong? I'd like to hear the details."
"In the eighth year of the Apocalypse, the dam of Yongshun County burst. The court said that the magistrate Wang was embezzling black money and money. Everyone accused my mentor of helping the emperor to commit crimes. In fact, it was purely a rumor! They were falsely accused and framed, and the dam was deliberately damaged by thieves. Twenty
People were buried in the flood, and their innocent souls are still weeping and wailing to this day!"
Although many years have passed, Chen Ping can't help but get a little emotional every time he mentions it. It's hard to calm down.
"Being murdered? Do you have evidence?" Cao Lei frowned, he didn't expect there to be such a secret.
Chen Ping looked directly into Cao Lei's eyes and asked seriously: "What does Hall Master Cao think of Ling Shu?"
"Ling Shu? He is just a profit-seeking villain. He relied on his connections with some government officials to suppress and exploit small wine shops... Do you think it was Ling Shu who killed your teacher?"
Chen Ping didn't answer immediately, but just ate a few bites of food silently, without Cao Lei urging him.
"At least it has something to do with him." He said after a long time.
"How do you say this?" Cao Lei asked.
"Because of a record book. The owner of that record book is named Liu Bi."
"The groom of the former prefect Qi Hongming?" Cao Lei reacted and his eyes widened, "Qi Hongming was also involved?"
"The evidence that framed Magistrate Wang back then was given by Qi Hongming to the Supervising Censor, and his relationship with Ling Shu was unusual. Hall Master Cao should also know that every time the Ling's Trading Company transports goods, there will be illicit salt in it, right? You
Do you know why?"
"Businessmen pursue profits, and private salt profits are huge. Ling Shu is not the only one who does this." The goods taken over by Jiulongtang are more or less entrained, and it has long been used to it.
"What if there are still private iron mines?" Chen Ping asked again.
"Iron ore! The government sends officials to supervise the mining. Private mining of iron ore is a serious crime! I'm afraid Ling Shu is not that courageous."
"But those twenty lives in Yongshun County were due to a private iron mine, and Ling Shu was behind the whole incident!"
Chen Ping's voice sounded like thunder. Cao Lei's face suddenly darkened when he heard it, and he even lost consciousness. He murmured: "My son also went to Yongshun County back then."
"What is he doing in Yongshun County? Does he know Huang Liu?" Chen Ping's breathing changed slightly and he asked eagerly.
Cao Lei remained silent for a long time, his eyes becoming more complicated.
"Is he helping people transport goods from Yongshun County?" Chen Ping asked.
"Yes. But if it's not Huang Liu you're talking about, I don't know." Cao Lei nodded weakly.
Cao Huowang is familiar with Ling Shu, and he picks up cargo in Yongshun County. So what does he transport, needless to say.
After a long time, Cao Lei finally spoke again.
"Huo Wang has had ideas since he was a child and has many friends in the world. Later... later I found out that he mobilized people in the gang to help transport goods. I asked him what he was transporting, and he told me to leave it alone."
"What happened next?"
"Later, I don't know who instigated him, and he actually took some people out to work alone. I'm old and can't control him. So I don't know much about him."
"I would like to ask, when was the young hall master killed?" Chen Ping always felt that something was wrong.
"In July of the eighth year of Tianqi, he said that he was going to transport a batch of goods to the north. How could he know where he would go... If I had stopped him at that time, I would have left him alone." Cao Lei didn't say any more and slammed his hands on his knees.
Twice.
"In May of that year, the county official died, and the teacher died. In July, the court issued an official document of accountability, and in the same month, the young hall leader was killed while transporting goods north. How could this... be such a coincidence?"
After looking at the entire timeline, it turns out that the time of Cao Huowang's death was too strange, and it was also in the north, and it was related to Ling Shu.
Cao Lei suddenly raised his head, looked at Chen Ping and asked word for word: "You mean my son's death was not an accident? Ling Shu killed him?!!!"
"I just think there are too many coincidences here. Was the young hall master's last business arranged by Ling Shu?" Chen Ping was not in a hurry to make a conclusion.
"I don't know. He didn't tell me anything. I only know that his last shipment was from Mizhou. He was attacked and killed by robbers in Lucheng County. All the goods were lost. When his body was returned, he was covered in blood.
It was blood. I was so distraught at the time that I took people to Lucheng County to find the murderer. I stayed there for half a year but found nothing!"
"That should be right. Hall Master Cao, my clue is that before his death, Huang Liu, the owner of a private mine in Yongshun County, once revealed that all the iron ore mined was shipped to Lucheng County in Michigan.
"Huang Liu was killed, the private mine was exposed, Qi Hongming framed him, and the location where the young hall leader was killed, all signs indicate that these are all related." At this time, Chen Ping expressed his opinion.
"Huo Wang's death was not an accident? It was not a robbery...it was Ling Shu who did it!!!" Cao Lei's expression gradually changed from dazed to ferocious, and he suddenly turned around and left quickly.
.
Chen Ping didn't react for a while, still wondering what Cao Lei was doing, when he saw him walking out of the back hall carrying a long knife.
"I'm going to chop him down right now! Avenge my son!!!" Cao Lei shouted as he rushed outside.
Chen Ping was so frightened that he hugged Cao Lei at waist level and hurriedly tried to persuade him: "Palace Master Cao, please calm down first! We have no evidence, everything is just conjecture."
"What evidence do you want! I thought Huo Wang's death was very strange back then. Now it seems that it must have been done by that beast Ling Shu. Let him pay with blood today!" Cao Lei seemed to have lost his mind and dragged Chen Ping towards him.
Before.
"If it is as we thought, what should Qi Hongming do? Will Hall Master Cao also go to the capital and kill the court ministers?!"