Others don't know it, but Hua Bushi and Cao Muyun know very well that the city lord of Okura City, the master of "Wanjin Hall", Sima Zhufeng, whose pseudonym is "Ma Feng", has already died in Guangdong.
He lives in Nanquanzhuang, and the person who killed him was none other than Cao Muyun.
After a moment of silence, Hua Bushi said: "Thank you very much, Brother Zang, for your advice for us. However, I heard that the Lord of Sima City left Okura Island a few months ago and is not in the city now. How can we find him to serve as an advisor?"
host?"
Zang Dong said "Oh" and said: "Young Master Hua, if you don't tell me, I have forgotten that City Lord Sima is indeed not here now. But it doesn't matter. There are several elders in Wanjin Hall, and the deputy hall leader Xiong Bailing is also there.
In the city, they have always controlled the public security in Okura City. They cannot ignore the Mingyue Society's robbery."
※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※Things in this world are sometimes filled with strange coincidences.
Passing through the Luyuan Grand Canyon that day, on the way to Nan'ao Town, Sima Zhufeng lost all his martial arts skills and was chased by many people. He had to rely on the protection of the four major sects of Baidao in Guangdong. Every step of the way was thrilling, but in the end he failed.
He was able to escape being stabbed, but died under Cao Muyun's sword.
But now, in the Dacang City built by Sima Zhufeng, Cao Muyun is facing the same fate. He has also completely lost his martial arts, but he needs the protection of the Sima City Lord who was killed by him.
Sima Zhufeng is dead, so of course he can't protect anyone, but the "Wanjintang" he founded is still there, controlling everything in Okura City.
There is no government office in the city, and the "Wanjin Hall" is the government office. When Sima Zhufeng built Dacang City, he had already established city regulations. All merchants opening shops in Dacang City had to report to the "Wanjin Hall"
At the end of each year, profits and taxes must be paid according to the profit status, ranging from a few taels to hundreds of taels of silver.
Although "Baitian Tower" has not yet had time to pay the tax, when it was officially opened a few days ago, it had gone to the city lord's palace to report, so it should also be protected by "Wanjintang". Now "Mingyuehui" is bullying them.
Come and forcefully demand money, regardless of emotion or reason, "Wanjintang" should not ignore it.
After listening to Zang Dong's words, Hua Bushi and Cao Muyun agreed that they should go to the City Lord's Mansion. If they could get help from "Wan Jin Tang", the matter would naturally be solved.
The City Lord's Palace is also the main altar of "Manjindo". It is located in the center of Okura Castle at the intersection of Cross Street. It is a large and very magnificent building. It has blue bricks and green tiles and a vermilion gate. In terms of scale and grandeur, it is by no means comparable to the capital.
The palaces of princes and marquises in the imperial city are half a point away.
Outside the gate of the city lord's palace, there stood a row of more than ten sturdy gatekeepers, all wearing the same dark yellow uniforms, with leather armor on their shoulders, and long swords on their waists.
The guard soldiers were much more majestic.
The guard stopped Hua Bushi and Cao Muyun who came to see them, and passed them in. After a long time, a steward who called himself Xu came out and led the two people to the side hall.
Manager Xu was in his thirties. Judging from his dress, he did not have a high status in the "Wanjin Hall". After asking about the purpose of his visit, Manager Xu said that he had no authority to handle the matter and wanted to invite the deacons and elders in the sect.
Just come here, let Hua and Cao sit down in the hall for a while, then go into the inner hall to find someone.
This side hall is not too big, and the furniture in the room is very simple. Although it cannot be called shabby, it is obviously not a place to welcome distinguished guests. There is only a five-foot-long cursive calligraphy painting hanging on the wall. It's quite impressive.
There are four words written on the calligraphy, "Ten Thousand Gold Come Back". The handwriting is vigorous and powerful, and the pen is as bold as a sharp sword. On the cinnabar mark in the lower left corner of the calligraphy, the small inscription reads "Jiangnan Sima".
It turns out that this calligraphy was actually written by Sima Zhufeng himself! I think that after this Jiangnan swordsman obtained the treasure buried on Whale Swallowing Island by the ancient pirate king Tuoba Qingtian, he did not settle for pleasure, but determined to build a city. , it took fifteen years and treasures worth tens of thousands of dollars to build such a large city on this overseas desert island.
Now that this port mall on the ocean has been built, it has become a transit hub for ocean trade between the Ming Dynasty in China and Western countries. Every year, goods worth millions of silver taels are shipped from the mainland and sold and traded here. , and the "Wanjin Hall" led by Sima Zhufeng also obtained a large amount of wealth from it. The four words "Wanjin Come Back" precisely contain the life ambition and career of the city lord Sima Zhufeng.
Seeing this calligraphy, Hua Bushi recalled the scene of his acquaintance with Mr. Ma Da on the way to Nan'ao Town that day, and he couldn't help but feel a sense of sadness at the death of people.
However, Hua Bushi didn't have much thought to express his emotions, and soon became anxious. He and Cao Muyun came to the City Lord's Mansion not to appreciate the calligraphy treasures, but to seek help from "Wanjintang". That Xu The steward led them into the hall and disappeared without a trace. The stick of incense in the incense burner had been burned, but he had not returned yet.
Cao Muyun is even more anxious than Hua Bushi. Time is running out now. Luo Gen and the "Ming Yue Hui" will come to the door in three days, and the "Baitian Tower" will be occupied by them. Now they have to do something in the city lord's mansion. Spending half a day is not the answer.
Cao Muyun stood up from his chair, walked to the door, and said to a servant of the City Lord's Mansion who was guarding the door: "Why didn't Manager Xu come out when he went in to look for someone? We have been waiting for a long time. When you arrive, How about we go look for him in the inner hall?"
But the servant said: "I'm sorry, according to the rules of the city lord's palace, our servants are not allowed to enter the inner hall. The person you want to see is probably busy with business, so I think you should wait in the room."
Cao Muyun frowned. He didn't expect that although the city lord's palace was not a government palace, it was more pretentious than the government yamen. It was so difficult to meet an elder. In fact, in various yamen of the Ming Dynasty, the officials, big and small, spoke in an official tone. Procrastination in making decisions is ten times better, but Cao Muyun has a distinguished status, and no one has ever dared to speak official terms in front of him.
Hua Bushi stepped forward with an apologetic smile on his face and said: "Brother, we are anxiously waiting here. You have nothing to do if you stay here anyway. Why don't you go in and help us take a look? Just ask Let Manager Xu find out if he has found the person and let him know when he comes back, and we will all accept your kindness."
As he spoke, he took out a piece of silver worth two taels from his pocket and stuffed it into the servant's hand.
After taking the silver, the servant suddenly smiled and said, "Young masters, don't be anxious. I'm just going to stay here for a while. I'll go to the back hall and take a look."
Just now, he said that it was a rule of the city lord's palace that servants could not enter the inner hall. In a moment, he had thrown this rule behind him, and his attitude towards Hua Bushi was also very different. It seems that money can make the world go round.
, this sentence can be applied everywhere.
The servant happily left the side hall and walked through the corridor into the back hall. Not long after, he came out again, but his face turned into a gloomy one.
"This little brother, is the steward Xu in the back hall?" Hua Bushi asked.
"Hey, don't mention it! Steward Xu is inside. It's just that the deacons and elders of this hall are very busy and don't have time to come out to meet you. If you two young masters have something urgent, please go back first, otherwise you'd better wait patiently!" said the servant.
If the elders of the "Wanjin Hall" were really busy with their affairs and had no time to see guests, it would be normal. However, Hua Bushi saw that the servant's face was depressed and not angry at all. He thought he had gone in and received a scolding, but his heart was moved.
.
The waiter just went in to take a look at the guest's request. This was a normal thing, so why did he look so unlucky, but when he came out, he was so perfunctory and refused to explain the reason. It seems that the matter is not that simple. With this big man
The young master judged that it was probably because the elder of the "Wanjin Hall" deliberately refused to come out to meet him, so he scolded the servant who ran in and caused trouble.
Hua Bushi and Cao Muyun looked at each other and knew that they both had the same suspicion. He took out another piece of broken silver weighing 20 to 30 pounds, handed it to the servant, and said, "Thank you for your hard work, brother."
, this little money is not considered as respect, so I will give it to my brother as tea money!"
Although the servant was greedy for money, he hesitated and refused to accept it at this time, saying: "Young Master, please don't embarrass me, I won't go in to look for anyone again!"
Hua Bushi said: "Don't worry, little brother, just take the money. I just want to ask you a few words to get some news. I won't let you go in and get scolded again."
After hearing this, the servant took the silver and mumbled, "How do you know, Master, that the young one just went in and got scolded?"
Hua Bushi did not answer, but asked: "Brother, I just went in, did you see the deacons and elders of your sect inside?"
The servant said: "Yes, Manager Xu and Elder Deng Ran and Deng are both inside, talking about things. Hey, if I knew that the two young masters came to sue the Mingyue Club for the third master He's case, I would definitely advise you
Go back as soon as possible so that you don't have to go in and find someone for you, and you won't have to get scolded by Elder Deng in vain."
Hua Bushi said: "Oh? Is He Xilou of the Mingyue Society so powerful that even the elders of your hall are afraid of him?"
The servant said: "I'm not afraid of him. Do you know the relationship between Mr. He and Elder Deng?"
Hua Bushi asked: "What is the relationship?"
The servant brought his mouth closer and whispered: "He is Elder Deng's sworn brother! Not only Elder Deng, but Xiong Bailing, the deputy head of our 'Wanjin Hall', is also a brother who worships with them!"
After hearing this, Hua Bushi and Cao Muyun were both surprised.
The "Ming Yue Hui" is domineering in Okura City and dares to blatantly come to blackmail. It must be relying on something. It is not that Hua Bushi has never thought about it before. But he did not expect that the backstage of He Xilou turned out to be "
Deng Ran, the deacon elder of Wanjin Hall, and Xiong Bailing, the deputy hall master.