Hua Bushi took the tea cup and took a sip carefully and said: "Although the carjacking was planned by my younger brother, it was not me but 'Tianchu' who attacked Gong Jia on Tianqiao Street."
Cao Muyun's expression changed and he said: "But the top killer organization in the world, Tianchu, do they have such courage?"
Hua Bushi said: "'Tianchu' kills only based on price and no matter the target. However, most of the targets of assassinations in the past were people in the world or wealthy gentry who did not have much connection with the government. I am a little surprised that they actually assassinated the prince this time."
Cao Muyun turned to Qiu Hengbo with a thoughtful look on his face.
Qiu Hengbo said: "The dozen assassins who attacked Gong Jia that day were killed on the spot by the Jin Yiwei. One of them was killed, and two others were injured. They did not escape quickly and committed suicide by taking poison. It is indeed a bit like the style of 'Heavenly Punishment'"
Cao Muyun said "Hmm" and said: "The identities of these three assassins have been found out and they are the guards of Prince Fu's Mansion. It seems that there is something fishy about them."
Hua Bushi said: "The reason why I intervened in this incident was to crack down on the 'Tianchu'. The person who robbed the carriage was an intermediary who was ordered by me to sneak into his organization. If Brother Cao is interested, we can cooperate once. That's fine." Once Prince Bao and the princess return safely, they can find out the mastermind behind this assassination operation and at the same time eliminate the 'Tianchu'. I don't know what my brother wants."
Cao Muyun's eyes flashed and he said: "It turns out that Brother Hua came here today to use the power of our Cao family to deal with the 'Tianchu'"
Hua Bushi smiled and said: "Cooperation between you and me is a matter of killing three birds with one stone and benefiting both sides. 'Tianchu' dares to openly attack the palace driver and assassinate the prince, which is also a disaster for the Ming Dynasty. Brother Cao has been ordered by the emperor to handle the case." I’m sure we won’t allow such killer organizations to exist.”[
Cao Muyun said: "This makes sense, but I don't know how Brother Hua wants to cooperate."
Hua Bushi said: "The little brother who cracked the case of 'Tianchu' had already made some arrangements, but the target of the assassination was actually the prince. To my surprise, it seems that we have to deal with more than just 'Tianchu' this time." It is also possible that the forces in the imperial court were involved, and it was only the younger brother who thought of using Brother Cao’s help."
He paused briefly and then said: "Brother Cao has been investigating the assassination of the prince for the past three days, but I don't know if he has found any clues."
Cao Muyun said: "In the past few days, I have gathered people from Jinyiwei and Dongchang to investigate the case. Although some clues have been found, most of them are not sure. No one has identified the three assassins who were killed. They were all guards of Prince Fu's palace. Prince Fu can't escape suspicion." Now the crown prince Zhu Yousong has been placed under house arrest until further evidence is found before handling."
"To say that the concubine Gongshu is suspected of assassinating the prince, there are also some of them. Among the princes of the current emperor, in addition to the prince Cixiang, there is also Cizhen, Cihuan is the daughter of Tianguifei. If Cixiang was stabbed to death, the most likely The person who may become the prince is Ci Zheng, and the person who will benefit the most is Concubine Tian. However, these are just speculations and it is now confirmed that Concubine Tian has won the favor of the Holy Emperor. Even the main palace Queen Zhou is also afraid of her. Mu Yun can only say these words. Can you tell Brother Hua?"
Since ancient times, the power struggle in the emperor's harem has been complicated and cruel. Even today, the struggle for power in the Ming Dynasty, which is extremely dangerous, has never stopped.
Hua Bushi said: "I don't understand the fight in the palace, and I don't know who will benefit the most from the death of the prince. But according to what Brother Cao thinks, are the assassins on Tianqiao Street that day really possible to assassinate the prince?"
Hearing this, Cao Muyun was slightly startled and said: "According to the situation of the fight on Tianqiao Street that day, the martial arts of the thirteen assassins were not weak. Among them, the strongest one was a man holding a giant machete. Two of them were guarding Gong Jia.
The famous Jin Yiwei commanders Lan Haochen and Lu Rong fought alone, and most of them were not the opponents of that person. The assassin's action plan was quite detailed and the attack was sharp. The other two concubines in the carriage accompanying the prince were all stabbed to death. If the prince
The car was not robbed and may have been stabbed.”
Hua Bushi said: "Brother Cao said there might be another reason."
Cao Muyun said: "To be honest, the name of the car the prince is riding in is the 'Xianglong Chariot'. It was specially made by a famous iron smelter from the south of the Yangtze River for the royal family to travel. It is made of fine steel and can be locked once it is locked from the inside."
It’s not easy to cut it open with the magic sword, so even if the assassin gets close to the prince’s chariot, it’s not easy to succeed.”
Hua Bushi said: "If the mastermind behind the scenes is a figure in the palace, how can he not know that Xianglongchaan is strong? And the manager of Tianqiu and dozens of masters from the 'Seven sects' and 'Yanjing Eight sects' are all on Tianqiao Street."
Even if Bei Duanxuan rushes to rescue the chariot, even if those assassins can attack the prince's chariot, they won't have time to cut open the chariot, so there is no chance of success at all."
"And I remember that at that time, General Manager Qiu and other experts from various factions were on the arena on the north side of Tianqiao Street. They rushed to the rescue because they heard someone shouting that the Holy Driver was assassinated. That cry was also quite strange."
Qiu Hengbo said: "What Mr. Hua said is reasonable. If he hadn't heard the assassin's cry, Qiu would not have rushed there so quickly. Afterwards, I also looked for the person who shouted and spread the rumors, but I couldn't find him."
Cao Muyun's expression changed and he said: "Brother Hua means that the other party did not really want to kill the prince but had other purposes in planning this assassination."
Hua Bushi said: "As far as I know, the thirteen killers of Tianchu did follow Prince Fu's chariot into Beijing, but they only paid for a guard commander in Prince Fu's palace after entering Beijing.
They did not take action immediately but stayed in the Yiyuan Inn for five days. They ate, drank and had fun in the city every day. They were going to carry out such an important assassination operation, but it is a bit puzzling that the rule of 'Tianchu' was so relaxed." [
Cao Muyun said: "If we don't restrain those killers and let them show up in the city, then someone will know that they are the guards of Prince Fu's palace. Could it be that their purpose is to put the blame on Prince Fu?"
King Fu Zhu Changxun was the richest vassal king at that time and an important figure in the "Five Kings Party". Not long ago, Wen Tiren, the chief minister of the cabinet, was dismissed and executed. If King Fu falls again, the "Five Kings Party" will suffer heavy losses. From now on, it will be difficult to compete with the "Eastern Party".
The pattern of competition between the three parties in the imperial court will be broken.
The prince is young, even if he ascends the throne and inherits the throne in the future, it will be a long time ago. Killing him now is of too much significance, but it would be more valuable to assassinate the prince to achieve the purpose of framing the feudal king.
Hua Bushi said: "Mr. Qiu, do you still remember why we went to Tianqiao Street that day?"
Qiu Hengbo said: "Fan Dongli of the 'Xiandu Sect' made arrogant remarks to challenge the masters of the four sects. We came to Tianqiao Street just to compete with him."
Hua Bushi said: "The ability that Fan Dongli showed that day is certainly extraordinary, but from my point of view, it is impossible for him to stand a chance of winning against the four of you masters by himself. This person is challenging and speaking so arrogantly, as if he has already relied on him."
"
"The other party must have planned and arranged every step of their actions. If it weren't for Fan Dongli's challenge, there wouldn't be so many masters gathering on Tianqiao Street. And if someone shouted that the Holy Emperor was assassinated, Chief Qiu, they wouldn't rush to the rescue so quickly." The assassins sent by Zhu' to participate in the assassination are all top-notch assassins. If there were not these variables, even if they could not assassinate the prince, they would still be able to escape unscathed, so the purpose of framing King Fu would not be achieved."
Cao Muyun turned his eyes and said, "Where is Manager Qiu Fan Dongli now?"
Qiu Hengbo said: "After the incident that day, the Jin Yiwei detained the head of the 'Eight Sects of Yanjing' but did not take into account that Fan Dongli of the 'Xiandu Sect' had already taken the ugly woman Pei Niang out of the city and returned to Tongzhou. The altar has gone"
Cao Muyun said: "Quickly order the Jinyi guards to go to Tongzhou to arrest these two people."
Qiu Hengbo should claim that he walked downstairs and left
After Qiu Hengbo left, Cao Muyun looked at Hua Bushi and said: "The situation that I have found out about this case has been made clear. Brother Hua, can you tell the prince and princess where they are now? What plan have you arranged to deal with the sky?" punish'"
Hua Bushi smiled slightly and said: "Of course Hua Bushi will not hide what Brother Cao asked, and if this matter is to proceed, we must rely on the strength of the Cao family."
As he spoke, the young master stood up and walked to a map of Beizhili hanging on the wall and said: "They are here now."
His right hand clicked on the map, which was Human City, 260 miles northeast of the capital.
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There are many kinds of markets in Human City
There are grain mills that specialize in trading bulk grains, grocery shops that buy and sell cloth, porcelain, ironware and other goods, and markets that trade medicinal materials, wool, animal skins and other northern specialties.
There is a semi-open-air market on the street in the north of the city, surrounded by a fence about ten feet high. The tall wooden roof covered with linoleum is much wider than other ordinary markets. The big pillar in front of the market Hanging on it is a black flag about ten feet long, embroidered with a line in Manchu translated into Chinese as "Black Sheep Fang"
In terms of scale, Heishengfang can be ranked among the top five among all the markets in Human City. Therefore, the name implies that the main goods traded here are livestock.
Cattle, sheep, horses, camels, and other livestock species produced on the grasslands outside the customs can be found in this city. In addition to these four-legged livestock, there is also a two-legged animal slave, which is also an important commodity here in addition to its value. There is not much difference between buying and selling slaves and buying and selling cattle and sheep.
The Black Shelves House was originally the largest slave market in the city.