Late at night, the sound of silk and bamboo in the Jiaofang Division has stopped, and only the faint hum of Guan Baojie can be heard in various small courtyards.
Suddenly, a black shadow flashed out of the darkness and quietly sneaked into our alley.
The servant on night duty in the alley raised his head in a daze, and when he saw that there was no one there, he continued to doze against the corner.
In a small courtyard, black shadows flashed silently, the oil lamps in the corridor flickered on and off, and the shadows were reflected on the walls, stretching and twisting as the firelight swayed, like struggling ghosts.
From the back room of the small courtyard, faint sounds of heavy breathing could be heard from time to time.
A middle-aged man with a rough face is working hard to pass on life.
It was the hot and early summer at this time, and the oil paper windows were opened in the house for ventilation.
A black shadow fell into the house from the open window. Through the moonlight shining in through the window, one could vaguely tell that the black shadow turned out to be a strange translucent creature.
This domestic cat-sized creature glanced at the man and woman on the bed with their smart eyes, revealing a look of human disdain.
Then he jumped up from the ground.
Suddenly, the middle-aged man who was working hard stopped the mechanical activities.
The disheveled young lady lying on the bed saw that the other party had made no movement, so she thought she wanted to change positions.
As a result, when he opened his eyes, he saw the man on top of him. His pupils were glazed over, his face looked frightened, and a bloody line spread out from his neck.
The little lady was about to scream in fear, but was knocked unconscious by a black shadow's paw.
In Chu Ge's small courtyard.
Chu Ge, who had already rested, suddenly opened his eyes.
Now, with the improvement of his strength, the scope of his immortality field has expanded dozens of times, and can cover the entire alley of our company.
The field of immortality is extremely sensitive to life energy. A life form as vigorous as a middle-aged man of the seventh grade martial artist suddenly lost his vitality. This was very clear to Chu Ge's perception.
"died?"
Someone actually sneaked into the Jiaofang Division to kill people.
Chu Ge concentrated on the feeling.
In the perception, where the life force disappears, in addition to the life breath of ordinary people, there is also a very strange life energy.
This energy is definitely not emitted by humans, and is very different from beasts.
However, judging from the energy intensity, it should only be at the level of innateness.
Chu Ge was not prepared to meddle in other people's affairs. After all, everything on the main body's side must be safe.
In this capital, there are many assassinations due to various reasons, and I don't want to get involved without reason.
In an inn not far from Jiaofangsi, a black shadow jumped out of the window and jumped into the arms of a girl in green.
The girl stroked the black shadow in her arms and said softly:
"Everything goes well. This kind of task is a piece of cake."
Next to the girl, a young man who looked about seventeen or eighteen years old grinned and said: "Isn't it simple enough? As long as the money is enough."
The girl in green brushed her right hand over the strange creature in her arms. The translucent creature actually turned into a shadow and disappeared into the girl's body.
The girl said: "Daoming, I'm hungry. You made some money and you want to buy me chicken drumsticks."
The young man fondly touched the girl's long dark green hair and said:
"Okay, okay, I'm going to get you the chicken legs now."
...
Early morning of the second day.
A belated scream broke the silence of Jiaofangsi.
Some of the guests who stayed overnight complained about which family's animal it was. It was so merciless so early in the morning.
Then he looked at the little lady sleeping next to him, and started to move again.
But soon, the news spread.
A member of the Yongwei camp was assassinated in Jiaofangsi last night.
The Yongwei Battalion is the elite division of the imperial army in Dali. It protects the imperial city and is the emperor's personal army.
Now that a member of a hundred households was assassinated, it immediately attracted the attention of all parties.
It's not about how noble a Baihu's status is, but about trying to figure out why the other person was assassinated.
In connection with the recent fire in the palace, are there any connections between the two?
Soon, the men from the Ministry of Punishment surrounded the Jiaofang Division.
All the guests last night were not allowed to leave, and they had to pass the review one by one.
To be able to kill a martial artist at the peak of acquired skills silently, he must at least be an innate master. All he needs to do is check the strength of everyone in the Jiaofang Division last night.
All innate masters will be brought to the prison of the Criminal Department for interrogation.
Although the other party is likely to leave after killing the person, of course it is better to catch him by mistake than let him go at this time.
Chu Ge, who was standing far away from the Jiaofang Division, breathed a sigh of relief silently. The Ministry of Punishment screened not only guests, but also prostitutes, servants, officials, etc. within the Jiaofang Division, all of whom were subject to inspection.
Fortunately, after I discovered something was wrong last night, I quietly left the Jiaofang Division to avoid trouble.
Chu Ge, who had already suffered a loss when he was implicated in watching the excitement, did not want to suffer a second time.
However, those who died last night were actually hundreds of households from the Forbidden Army.
It must be related to the fire case. After listening to his speculation, the Ministry of Justice changed the suspect. Perhaps the other party was afraid of being exposed and began to silence some unsafe secrets.
If I had followed the killer last night, I might have gained something.
But safety comes first. Who knows if there is a hidden master on the killer's side.
I won't take risks for this.
If something like this happens, the Jiaofang Department will probably be deserted for several days.
...
Canal waterway.
Ships of all sizes sailed on the river, including official ships, but most of them were cargo ships.
At any time, water transport is an extremely important way to transport materials. Only when water transport is developed can it promote commerce and trade and benefit workers and farmers.
Dali has obviously put a lot of effort into its waterways. It has dug several grand canals that run from east to west, north to south, and there are countless tributaries. Only then has Dali become as prosperous as it is today.
On the deck, Chu Ge and others were taking a breath outside.
Yang Wenyi looked at the ships sailing on the surrounding river and said: "During the Qian and Yuan Dynasties, Prime Minister Lin's party controlled the government, and corruption was rampant in various places. The water transportation became a fragrant steamed bun in the eyes of many people. Officials set up a canal.
There are many customs checks, and passing ships have to pay customs duties every time they pass through the customs."
"Even in the end, small merchants had no profit at all, and they had to rely on large chambers of commerce controlled by officials to purchase their goods at low prices."
"Since the supplies are in the hands of these large chambers of commerce, the prices have naturally been driven up, causing the people to suffer miserably."
Chu Ge didn't know much about this. He didn't expect this short-sighted shooter to be so concerned about people's livelihood.
However, judging from the surrounding situation.
After Lin Xiang was eradicated, Emperor Qianyuan fled.
King Zhenbei and Emperor Shunde vigorously punished corruption, which restored vitality to Dali's water transportation.
After all, Dali's luck is greatly reduced now, and there are internal and external troubles. If it is allowed to be corroded by moths again, I am afraid that the country will really be in danger of subjugation.