When expressing his stance, Hu Xiao's attitude was confident and he seemed to be sure that Huo Zhengyuan would be moved by his reward.
But in fact, Hu Xiao felt a little uneasy because he didn't know how valuable the information he had was. This was one of the reasons why Hu Xiao had concealed information from Huo Zhengyuan, Guo Min and others.
However, Huo Zhengyuan knew very well that the two factions Zhu Hejian and Zhou Shangjing were now fighting openly and secretly over the matter of digging embankments to divert floods, and they were fighting fiercely!
As long as Huo Zhengyuan can confirm the identity of the mastermind behind the scenes, or even take the opportunity to find some conclusive evidence, then he can completely control the outcome of this battle, and can even directly decide whether the crown prince will be abolished or established.
Therefore, the intelligence information Hu Xiao possesses is not only extremely valuable, but the price is far beyond Hu Xiao's imagination.
Because of the urgency of the situation, Huo Zhengyuan did not intend to play hard to get and take the opportunity to lower the price. Instead, he frowned and asked directly: "Then how sure are you that you can find the group of people who dug up the dam? Especially the two leaders?"
Seeing that Huo Zhengyuan began to care about his ability to fulfill his promise, Hu Xiao secretly breathed a sigh of relief, patted his chest and promised: "Although I can't say that I can definitely help Academician Huo find those who dug the dam, but there are eight
Ninety percent sure!"
Huo Zhengyuan didn't believe it at all: "Your men just saw the two leaders from a distance last night, and fought with a few of them this evening, but they have no idea of their identities, origins, and whereabouts.
Whereabouts, mission intention! How can we be 80 to 90% sure of finding them?"
Hu Xiao said with a smile: "Snakes have their own ways! Rats have their own ways! They are people who cannot see the light, and are best at avoiding your official search and attention. And we are also people who cannot see the light, but it is easier to find them."
to them."
Seeing that Huo Zhengyuan still didn't believe it, Hu Xiao looked helpless and explained in detail: "In short, because we and they both dare not see the light, many of our ideas are similar, such as how to hide our whereabouts.
For example, how to collect intelligence, how to deal with injuries and corpses, and how to hide and transport weapons... There is not much difference between us and them in these methods. As long as we apply ourselves to others, we can easily find their traces.
;
In addition, there are also local gangs in Nanjing, which are a group of gangsters who are idle, extorting money and traveling on business trips. These gangsters seem to be useless, but their eyesight is very good. They can provoke whom they can and cannot provoke.
It can be seen that if a group of strangers who cannot be messed with appear in Nanjing city recently, it will be easy to collect more information from them... Of course, in front of the officials, those gangsters must have something to hide.
, and only we can make them explain everything without reservation..."
At this point, in order to deepen his persuasiveness, Hu Xiao added: "In addition, there are various tracking methods, and Hu is very good at them! People in the light don't tell secrets, Mr. Huo
You should have guessed Mr. Hu’s true identity, yes! Mr. Hu is a Nanyang pirate! But what you don’t know, Mr. Huo, is that Mr. Hu is always responsible for enforcing family law among the pirate gangs!
If a pirate betrays the gang, embezzles the treasure and then absconds, Hu will be responsible for hunting him down! To this day, Hu has never failed when performing such tasks, even if the situation in various countries in Southeast Asia is complicated and the traitors are
There are many ways to escape and it is easy to hide your identity, but no one has ever escaped from Hu’s grasp!”
After Huo Zhengyuan's eyes flickered for a moment, he nodded and said: "Okay! In that case, as long as you find a way to find the group of people who dug up the dam for me, then I will help you avoid this storm and allow you to leave Nanjing smoothly!
"
Hu Xiao shook his head repeatedly and said: "No, no, no! You have misunderstood, Master Huo! What Hu means is that you help us escape from Nanjing City first, and after this period of limelight has passed, we will help you find
That group of people who dug up the embankment! Otherwise we could easily be exposed to the authorities’ arrests!”
Huo Zhengyuan also shook his head and said: "No! You first find the group of people who dug up the dam for me, and then I will help you leave Nanjing City! There is no room for negotiation on this matter! After this storm is over, the group
People may have fled Nanjing far away, so where can we find them?
What's more, for some things, it doesn't matter whether they are done or not, but what is most important is whether they are done at the right time! If the opportunity is completely missed, this transaction will not have much value to me!"
Hu Xiao frowned and said: "But... if this is the case, we will have to hide with Academician Huo all the time, and there will continue to be a risk of leaking our whereabouts! If the government finds out that you have been shielding us, Academician Huo, what will happen to you?
Yan is also a big trouble, right? So for everyone’s consideration, it’s better for us to leave Nanjing City first!”
Huo Zhengyuan shook his head again and sneered: "Do you know how many people there are in Nanjing City? Do you know how high my status is and how influential I am?"
Hu Xiao shook his head blankly.
Although he is cunning and vicious, he is just a desperado and does not have much knowledge.
He knew that Nanjing City was the largest city in the Ming Dynasty, far exceeding other cities in East and Southeast Asia. However, he naturally did not know the details of the specific size of Nanjing City and the population within the city.
He also knew that Huo Zhengyuan was a great scholar of the Ming Dynasty, and he was also an envoy to the southeast with unclear powers and responsibilities. He also had Zhao Junchen, a powerful official in the temple, as his backer. Therefore, Huo Zhengyuan must be a very important figure, but how powerful was Huo Zhengyuan's status?
He also didn't know the details.
Huo Zhengyuan said slowly: "Nanjing is the largest and most populous city in our country, even larger than Beijing, with a permanent population of over one million!
Therefore, even if the Nanjing government and the Nanjing garrison want to impose martial law throughout the city, the martial law will not last long; at the same time, even if the Nanjing government and the Nanjing garrison are searching the entire city, they want to arrest people among millions of people.
Finding your whereabouts is like finding a needle in a haystack!"
Later, Huo Zhengyuan showed his pride and said: "As for me... Let's put it this way, I may have no say in whether Nanjing City can restore stability from the chaos, but the situation in Nanjing City suddenly got out of control and chaos broke out.
Elephant, I can operate it easily!
And now, I am clearly telling you that by tomorrow, there will be merchants going on strike, river workers going on strike, and students going on strike in Nanjing! By that time, the Nanjing government will be in a hurry, and they will be unable to do what they want during martial law raids! Again
With my protection, you don’t have to worry about being pursued by the Nanjing government. As long as I insist that you are my guards who have been with me for many years, no one will dare to investigate you!"
In fact, things are far from as easy as what Huo Zhengyuan said.
If Zhu Hejian and Zhou Shangjing were not in Nanjing, Huo Zhengyuan would be confident and confident. But now Zhu Hejian and Zhou Shangjing are in Nanjing. As long as they support the Nanjing government and the Nanjing defenders, the people around Huo Zhengyuan will still be affected.
Strict interrogation and detailed investigation.
Therefore, Huo Zhengyuan is undoubtedly taking a huge risk by keeping Hu Xiao and others by his side.
But Hu Xiao and others have the ability to find the mastermind behind the demolition of the dam for Huo Zhengyuan, and as long as they find this mastermind, Huo Zhengyuan will have the ability to determine the situation in Nanjing, and can even directly influence the important matter of abolishing the crown prince!
Faced with such a huge temptation, even Huo Zhengyuan couldn't help but be tempted, and he was willing to take risks!
Not long ago, when Huo Zhengyuan went to Zhanyuan for a banquet, he had promised the seventh prince Zhu Hejian that he would try to maintain the stability of the situation in Nanjing and also promised that the "United Shipping Company" would not take the opportunity to cause trouble.
But now, in order to be just in case, to reduce the risk as much as possible, divert the attention of the Nanjing government, and reduce the intensity of the Nanjing defenders' arrests, Huo Zhengyuan has made a resolute decision to still implement the original plan tomorrow and instruct the "United Shipping Company" to cause trouble, even if
He did not hesitate to break his promise and contract with Zhu Hejian!
And Huo Zhengyuan is not worried that Zhu Hejian will hold a grudge for breaking his promise and breaking the contract - if Huo Zhengyuan's prediction is correct, Zhu Hejian would also like Nanjing to be in chaos at this time!
According to Huo Zhengyuan's speculation, Zhu Hejian was most likely the mastermind behind the demolition of the embankment and the flooding of Huangzhuang.
Therefore, after the situation in Nanjing City is chaotic, Zhu Hejian can also find more opportunities to cover those who dug up the dams to escape from Nanjing City!
Of course, when those who dug up the dam escaped and fled, it was Huo Zhengyuan's best time to catch their tail.
There is no need to talk about Huo Zhengyuan's wishful thinking, but after hearing this, Hu Xiao was not willing to trust Huo Zhengyuan's guarantee. He was a cautious person who cherished his life and would never put himself in danger at any time.
Therefore, Hu Xiao still insisted on his position and shook his head: "No, we must leave Nanjing City first, and then we can search for those who dug the dam for Academician Huo! Academician Huo, you don't have to worry that we can't find them.
If nothing else happens, those people are now trying to escape from Nanjing City, so as long as we can escape outside the city first, we can wait outside the city and still find their traces in time!"
As he spoke, Hu Xiao had a cold expression and was completely unwilling to give in.
At the same time, the pirates under Hu Xiao also shook the knives in their hands, directly expressing their threats.
Seeing this situation, Huo Zhengyuan was a little helpless, and he also thought that what Hu Xiao said made sense, so he finally compromised and said: "Let's do this, get the pen and ink! Didn't your brothers see with their own eyes the two people who led the excavation of the dam?
? Let him tell the story in detail, and let me describe the specific appearance of those two people! Then I will find a way to arrange for you to leave Nanjing City."
As a bachelor of the imperial court, Huo Zhengyuan had always been talented and a well-known master of painting both in the government and outside the country. He was best at depicting characters. He once painted a portrait for Emperor Deqing, which greatly satisfied Emperor Deqing.
Seeing that Huo Zhengyuan finally compromised, Hu Xiao was overjoyed and hurriedly called out: "Yan Laosan, go quickly and get pens, inks, paper and inkstones. Tall Eyes, please tell Academician Huo the appearance and characteristics of the two leaders in detail."
Under Hu Xiao's shouts, Gao Dayan walked up to Huo Zhengyuan and explained carefully: "Those who dug up the dam were led by two people. They were a stout, scarred man in his forties.
, and a young scholar with extraordinary temperament and good looks..."
Just as Gao Dayan was describing, another pirate had already brought in pen, ink, paper and inkstone, and Huo Zhengyuan started painting himself.
In this way, based on Gao Dayan's detailed description and constant revision, Huo Zhengyuan spent most of an hour and discarded more than twenty drafts, and finally drew the two leading people described by Gao Dayan.
Huo Zhengyuan indeed has extraordinary painting skills. Although the characters he paints cannot be said to be lifelike, they are 80% similar to them.
Seeing the two portraits that Huo Zhengyuan finally completed, Gao Dayan nodded repeatedly and said: "Yes! Yes! What you drew really looks like! That's what those two people look like!"
After hearing this, both Huo Zhengyuan and Hu Xiao's expressions changed slightly.
Afterwards, Huo Zhengyuan stared closely at the portrait of the young scholar, and Hu Xiao stared closely at the portrait of the scarred man. Both of them had expressions that were changing.
When Huo Zhengyuan was painting the portrait of this young scholar, he vaguely felt that the appearance and temperament of this young scholar were very familiar to him.
And now after the portrait was drawn, Huo Zhengyuan was finally shocked to find out - wasn't this young scholar none other than Lu De, the most talented man in Jiangnan who he had met several times?
As for Hu Xiao, after seeing the portrait of the scarred man, he was even more horrified!
Gao Dayan had long described the image of this scar-faced man to Hu Xiao, but Hu Xiao had never sketched the actual appearance of this scar-faced man in his mind.
At this time, Hu Xiao was shocked to discover that this scarred man was clearly Jiang Xiao, the third among the "Eight Xiao Xiaos" who was betrayed by him back then!
But... wasn't Jiang Xiao publicly beheaded by the government a long time ago? Why is he still alive? And he is doing well and has become an important leader of a secret organization, with a large number of murderers at his disposal?
The most important thing is...did Jiang Xiao find out about his appearance in Nanjing City? In today's fighting, the reason why Jiang Xiao's thugs were secretly following us was because Jiang Xiao had already discovered him.
, want to take the opportunity to take revenge on yourself?
All in all, after seeing these two portraits, both Huo Zhengyuan and Hu Xiao quickly changed their minds and completely reversed their previous positions.
For Huo Zhengyuan, as long as it is confirmed that Lu De is one of the leaders who dug up the dam, the rest of the matter will be easy to investigate, and it will be easy to follow the clues from Lu De to find the person behind the scenes, so there is no need to
We need help from Hu Xiao and others again.
Under such circumstances, forcing Hu Xiao and others to stay with him would definitely bring endless risks. Naturally, he wanted to send Hu Xiao and others out of Nanjing as soon as possible.
Hu Xiao was the complete opposite. When he discovered that Jiang Xiao had not been beheaded by the government, he had become the leader of a secret organization with at least a hundred highly skilled warriors under his command, and he might have discovered that Jiang Xiao
After he was sharpening his sword and wanted to take revenge on himself, he no longer dared to leave Nanjing at will!
Today, those criminals who are secretly tracking the pirates under Hu Xiao and fighting with them are definitely only a very small part of the many criminals under Jiang Xiao.
If the guess is correct, Jiang Xiao himself is leading more murderers to hide outside Nanjing City and has not yet entered Nanjing City.
However, the pirates under Hu Xiao only numbered about ten, and they were no match at all.
Under such circumstances, if Hu Xiao left Nanjing at will, he might be blocked by Jiang Xiao on the way!
When that time comes, Jiang Xiao will never let Hu Xiao go!
In comparison, although the Nanjing government is also pursuing him with all its strength, Hu Xiao still thinks that it is safer for him to continue hiding with Huo Zhengyuan!
In a certain respect, Hu Xiao's fear of Jiang Xiao was far greater than his fear of the Ming Dynasty officials!
Among the "Eight Owls in the World" back then, Jiang Xiao was the most powerful and ruthless in his methods. The reason why the "Eight Owls in the World" are notorious is largely because of Jiang Xiao's lack of taboos in doing things.
No room left!
If caught by the Ming Dynasty officials, Hu Xiao would die at most, but if he was caught by Jiang Xiao, then Hu Xiao would be desperate for death!
What's more, as long as Hu Xiao hides next to Huo Zhengyuan, he can introduce Jiang Xiao into Nanjing City, and then use Huo Zhengyuan to mobilize the power of the government to kill Jiang Xiao and all the dead soldiers under Jiang Xiao's command, and avoid future troubles forever!
Otherwise, after discovering the news that Jiang Xiao is still alive in the world, if Jiang Xiao cannot be killed, then Hu Xiao will never sleep well in the future!
In this way, as more information became clear, both Huo Zhengyuan and Hu Xiao changed their minds and dramatically changed their positions.
After Huo Zhengyuan carefully observed the portrait, he became more and more convinced that the young scholar in the portrait was Lu De, so he turned around and said: "Very good! Now that I have these two portraits, I will immediately find a way to arrange for you to leave Nanjing!"
"
But Hu Xiao shook his head repeatedly and said: "No, no, no! Hu suddenly felt that what Academician Huo said was reasonable. There is actually no danger in Nanjing City. I'd better help you find these people who dug up the dam first, and then
It’s better to leave Nanjing City!”
Huo Zhengyuan was keenly aware of the uncontrollable panic in Hu Xiao's expression, and when he saw Hu Xiao's wolf eyes staring closely at the portrait of the scarred man, he immediately guessed part of the truth and suddenly asked: "You
Do you know this scarred man?"
After Hu Xiao hesitated for a moment, he thought that he no longer had to conceal his identity.
Huo Zhengyuan already knew about the killings of his brothers, and also knew about his identity as a pirate. Under such circumstances, if Huo Zhengyuan knew that he was one of the "Eight Owls in the World", he would definitely have more lice than itching.
any difference.
So, Hu Xiao took a deep breath and said slowly: "I hope that Academician Huo knows that in fact Hu's real name is not Hu Youyi, but Hu Xiao! As for the scarred man in the portrait, his name is Jiang Xiao
…”
Afterwards, Hu Xiao told in detail his past experiences with Jiang Xiao. However, in front of all the pirates under his command, he naturally concealed his betrayal and betrayal of the other seven Xiao. Instead, he told the story of Jiang Xiao and Jiang Xiao.
In addition, the Seven Xiaos had a conflict, so they betrayed the seven sworn brothers. Unexpectedly, they were also arrested by the government, while Hu Xiao himself was lucky enough to escape overseas.
After listening to Hu Xiao's story, Huo Zhengyuan couldn't help but take a deep breath and asked: "You mean...this middle-aged scarred man was originally a death row prisoner arrested by the government many years ago.
He should have been beheaded by the imperial court, but for some reason he is still alive?"
Hu Xiao's expression was solemn and he nodded: "This person is definitely a disaster when he lives in the world! This person is violent and cruel in nature. I don't know how many people have died at his hands over the years! Therefore, even if it is for those innocent people who died tragically,
Man, I will definitely try my best to help Academician Huo get rid of this beast!"
Huo Zhengyuan was thoughtful and whispered to himself: "What an unexpected gain..."
Although Hu Xiao's statement was hypocritical, it also reminded Huo Zhengyuan and made him think of more things!
Over the years, many people must have died tragically at the hands of Jiang Xiao and his thugs!
But these tragedies have never attracted the attention of the court!
This situation means that Jiang Xiao has been hiding in secret, eradicating dissidents for a big shot, and this big shot is secretly manipulating the situation, trying to divert the focus of the government and the public, so that these tragedies will not arouse the suspicion of the government and the public.
In other words, this big shot has been secretly raising dead soldiers and forming a dead warrior organization, and Jiang Xiao is the leader of this dead warrior organization. Considering the time of Jiang Xiao's beheading, this dead warrior organization has been around since June 7th.
Already existed years ago!
Recalling the series of mysteries that had occurred in the imperial court in recent years, such as the murder of the former crown prince and grand master He Ming, Huo Zhengyuan suddenly had a clear understanding in his heart.
Then, Huo Zhengyuan discovered that he seemed to have unintentionally discovered more secrets about the seventh prince Zhu Hejian, and had vaguely guessed the next plan of Zhou Shangjing and Song Chengren.