Detective Di Renjie: The Mysterious Dynasty

Chapter 384: Has there ever been a crouching tiger in Crouching Tiger Village?
The moon sets, the crows cry, and the morning light shines down, making the surface of Hongze Lake sparkle with myriad spots of light dancing, dazzling and brilliant.

Hongzepu is thirty miles north of Xuyi County and its original name was Pofujian.

In the 12th year of Sui Dynasty, Emperor Yang of Sui was on a tour to Jiangdu in the south. He passed by this place and it happened to be a long drought before a rain. The abundant rain caused the lake to overflow, so he named it "Hongze Pu". This is the origin of the famous Hongze Lake in later generations.

However, the Hongze Lake in the Tang Dynasty had not yet experienced the great change of the Yellow River changing its course to the Huai River, and its scale and water volume were smaller than those in later generations.

Despite this, Hongze Lake, with its superior geographical location connecting to the Huai River, has been the main route from Huaiyin to Haosi since the Han Dynasty. It is surrounded by villages, bridges, towns, markets, and post stations, and is crowded with merchants, making it extremely prosperous.

When the Grand Canal was built in the Sui Dynasty, Hongze benefited from the dividends of the times and ushered in unprecedented prosperity.

Unfortunately, the good times did not last long. During the past twenty years, the rise of Prince Ying of Yangzhou, the spread of the Iron Hand Group and its affiliated forces, and all kinds of unspeakable things dealt a heavy blow to business and travel in the area.

Recently, the Caohu Rebellion broke out again. The government’s two unsuccessful suppression attempts have resulted in obstruction of business travel. Whether it is the main channel of the canal or the branch waterways of Hongze Lake, not only have merchant ships disappeared, but even the fishermen’s fishing boats are hard to find.

Even today, there is only one speedboat sailing through the waves on this vast body of water, looking particularly lonely.

On the mast, a yellow flag with black letters reading "Hongtong" flutters in the wind, particularly eye-catching.

It was Hu Yun who followed Yuan Qi's strict order and did not dare to delay. After the meeting, he gathered the ten hall masters, drove a speedboat, took the water route, and set off for Xuyi Hongzepu overnight.

The ten hall masters are Bao Chong, Xiong Sha, Pi Xiu, Suanni, Gui Jie, Lang Ju, Chai Ze, Xie Zhu, Hu Wei, and Hou Qiang, plus Hu Yun, a total of eleven people.

At this moment, Hu Yun, Bao Chong and Xiong Sha stood at the bow, looking around, because the ship had left the main channel and entered a relatively remote harbor.

Looking up, you can only see dense reeds. Without the guidance of local people, it is difficult to pass through and it is easy to get lost.

This area is the sphere of influence of the local Wohu Village.

Wohu Manor is located 20 miles southeast of Wohu Town, facing Luanyun Mountain and backed by Hongze Lake. The manor covers an area of ​​100 hectares and is considered a very powerful local tyrant with a loud reputation. He has connections in both the black and white worlds and almost no one dares to mess with him.

Of course, the reason why Crouching Tiger Village has been able to grow to its current size is inseparable from the secret support and acquiescence of the Iron Hand Group.

The reason was that the apple of the eye of the owner of Wohu Manor was Yuan Qi's closed disciple, so she was naturally taken care of.

"How far is Wohu Village?" Xiong Sha raised his hand and looked into the distance, his tone revealing a bit of anxiety.

Hu Yun frowned. In fact, he had never been to Wohu Village and relied entirely on the boatman to lead the way.

He pondered for a moment and said, "Go a little further. When the people in the village see our flag, they will inform Junior Sister, and someone will come to greet us!"

Upon hearing this, Bao Chong nodded slightly to show his agreement, while Xiong Sha shook his head repeatedly.

The hall masters were angered by Yuan Qi and the tasks were tight, so they were of course very unhappy.
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Crouching Tiger Hall is located in the center of the village. It is built tall and majestically, with a golden plaque hanging in front of the door.

There were several flags fluttering in the wind hanging high in the hall. The tallest and largest one had the word "Ge" written in large gold-plated characters, which was the owner's surname.

Judging from the name alone, the owner of the manor is worthy of such a grand occasion, Ge Tianba.

In front of the Crouching Tiger Hall is a wide open space, several dozen feet in radius.

The owner of the manor, Ge Tianba, sat on a chair in the middle of the open space, with leaders of all sizes sitting on his left and right.

This is Ge Tianba leading his elite men from the land and water camps to perform martial arts.

A young man was brandishing two swords. His movements were so smooth that it was dizzying to watch.

The leaders, both big and small, burst into loud cheers from time to time.

Ge Tianba was dressed in a gorgeous brocade robe, sitting in the middle, stroking his long beard.

His old eyes sparkled with satisfaction and he nodded approvingly from time to time as the leaders cheered, showing both majesty and joy, yet also sophistication.

A capable woman sitting on Ge Tianba's left sneered and secretly complained in her heart: "Embroidered pillow, it looks good but is useless!"

She is Ge Tianba's eldest daughter, Ge Yayun, also known as Aunt Yun.

Looking around, everyone in the village was like a ninja, praising each other. Yun Gu felt no ripples in her heart, just bored, and even felt ashamed of being born in Wohu Village.

But since she hadn't been home for many years and her father was vain, she had nothing to do and had to do what she wanted.

At this time, the man in the field had just completed a set of double-sword exercises, put away his swords and stood up, his breathing steady.

Ge Tianba stood up and shouted, "Good, great swordsmanship!"

All the leaders followed suit and cheered in unison: "Well done! He is worthy of being the best master in our Crouching Tiger Village!" "Brother, Sixth Brother's swordplay is really amazing. I think he is the best swordsman in the world!" Another person praised loudly.

The young man sheathed his two swords and said, "Brother, I will show you my ugliness."

Although he looked like he was making a fool of himself, he did not show any modesty at all and looked very proud of himself.

At this time, an older leader on Ge Tianba's right stood up and said, "Brother, Sixth Brother is worthy of the name of Ghost Head Knife. I'm afraid that in this Crouching Tiger Manor, only the eldest daughter can rival him!"

These words actually praised Yun Gu and were obviously meant to flatter Ge Tianba, and he felt quite useful listening to them.

He turned to look at Yun Gu: "What do you think, Yayun? My Crouching Tiger Village is strong and powerful. Daddy will definitely help you avenge those mud-legged bastards!"

Yun Gu curled her lips and had nothing to say to this group of ignorant and ignorant people.

However, Deng Tong, who was known as the Ghost-Headed Knife, felt a little disdainful when he heard the leader mention that Yun Gu could rival him.

In his opinion, Yun Gu and that guy named Lu had suffered a great loss when dealing with a few troublemakers from the canal, which was really shameful.

From this perspective, the so-called masters of the Iron Hand Group are nothing but people who have gained fame for nothing.

Maybe there are a few with considerable strength among them, but they are at most on par with me!
He acted like a big brother, his eyes revealing arrogance: "Master, please be at ease. Just for Xiaoqing's sake, I will wipe out those ignorant people who are enemies of Crouching Tiger Manor as soon as you give the order!"

However, when Ge Tianba heard this, he was not only unhappy, but his smile froze.

Deng Tong had long wanted to marry his daughter Xiaoqing, and was very attentive. His words implied that he was working for Crouching Tiger Manor out of Xiaoqing's favor.

This made Ge Tianba a little unhappy, as he attached great importance to his elder brother's style and majesty.

Deng Tong's behavior was obviously not tactful enough.

What's more, Ge Tianba has only two daughters. Ge Yayun lives in the Iron Hand Group headquarters in Yangzhou, while the younger daughter Ge Yaqing is always by his side.

Whoever can marry Ge Yaqing as a son-in-law will naturally be able to inherit the foundation of Wohu Manor.

It seems that Deng Tong had great ambitions!

Thinking of this, Ge Tianba stopped stroking his beard, and looked at Deng Tong with a bit more scrutiny in his eyes.

At this moment, the housekeeper Ge Biao came hurriedly, walked behind Ge Tianba, and reported softly: "Master!"

Ge Tianba turned around, looking puzzled: "What's the matter?"

"The second young lady is missing!" Ge Biao said in a low voice.

Before Ge Tianba could react, Yun Gu beside him was already extremely anxious.

Although she and Xiaoqing were rarely together, they were blood-related sisters after all. Naturally, she was worried when she heard that her sister was missing.

Although Ge Tianba frowned, he did not seem overly anxious: "Running away from home again?"

The word "again" is used very appropriately. Xiaoqing is a simple and stubborn girl who is incompatible with the rough men in the village.

Deng Tong's pursuit of her made her even more tired, so she often threatened to run away from home.

Unfortunately, Wohu Village was too powerful, and Xiaoqing lacked the courage to leave home, so she was always found quickly and "respectfully invited" back to the village.

This situation happened frequently, sometimes even three or five times a month, but Xiaoqing returned safely every time, so Ge ​​Tianba was used to it and didn't care much about it.

Ge Biao was also familiar with this and quickly replied, "Yes, we have arranged for someone to look for it!"

Yun Gu didn't know much about her sister's situation, nor did she understand the twists and turns.

Seeing her father being so careless, she couldn't help but feel a little indignant: "No, I have to go find Xiaoqing myself!"

But before he finished his words, a long and drawn-out "Report——" was heard into the Crouching Tiger Hall.

A farmhand ran over and half-knelt to report: "Master! There is a speedboat approaching outside the farm, with the flag of 'Hongtong' flying on it!"

Ge Tianba and Yun Gu were delighted and surprised when they heard this. They could no longer care about Xiaoqing for the time being and hurriedly led their men to prepare to go out to meet them.

(End of this chapter)