Zongwu: Aspiring to be the mastermind behind the scenes

Chapter 144: The Mystery of the Embroidery Thief, Absinthe and Water

The so-called Embroidery Thief was actually Jin Jiuling himself.

In fact, although Jin Jiuling was the chief constable of the Six Gates and held a high position of power, his salary was very low and was not enough for him to maintain a decent life.

Besides, Jin Jiuling himself is a person with very high requirements for enjoyment.

He won't drink if it's not first-class wine.

He won't wear anything that isn't first-rate.

If it's not first-class food, he won't eat it.

To maintain such a first-class life, his salary was simply a drop in the bucket, so secretly, he took advantage of his position to embezzle an unknown amount.

The reason why he resigned from the Six Gates was actually because of changes in the political situation.

The emperor began to take power and first took over the Ministry of Justice.

Now that it has been taken, it is natural to clean it up so that the Ministry of Justice can truly become a force in his hands.

The Six Gates is a department under the Ministry of Justice, so it is naturally within the scope of the cleanup.

Jin Jiuling felt the crisis, so he took the initiative to resign and save face for himself.

But he used all the gold and silver he embezzled for his own enjoyment. After resigning, he could no longer maintain his previous life, so he colluded with Er Niang from the Red Shoes Organization.

While secretly embezzling the money and property of the Red Shoes Organization, he also began to use the Red Shoes' intelligence to find the escort agencies and caravans transporting valuable goods, disguised himself as the Embroidery Thief, and carried out robbery.

However, as he committed too many crimes and the impact grew, Jin Jiuling felt that he was somewhat out of control and decided to retire.

He used Er Niang to frame the Red Shoes, and then found Lu Xiaofeng and cleverly led him to become hostile to the Red Shoes.

"But unfortunately, he thinks too highly of himself and underestimates others!"

Lu Xiaofeng finished a chicken leg in two bites and threw the bone away.

Wang!Wang!Wang!
Three dogs suddenly jumped out and one of them jumped up and bit the bone.

It didn't even fall to the ground.

The black cat lay on the side, watching the three stupid dogs fighting over the bone.

Xiaolongnu sat quietly on the side, holding the calico cat, her eyes distracted, obviously not caring what Lu Xiaofeng was saying.

Li Mochou was very interested in these stories. When she saw Lu Xiaofeng stop, she quickly asked, "What happened next?"

"Later... could you have hidden this little thing from me? Jin Jiuling's little tricks, let alone me, even the red shoes couldn't be hidden from him!"

Lu Xiaofeng continued to tell the story.

"Gongsun Da Niang, the leader of the Red Shoes, is also a heroic woman. Most importantly, she is a beauty beyond compare. You have no idea how beautiful she is. Even more rare is her extraordinary wisdom and strategy. She knew that there was a problem within her..."

As early as in Wudang Mountain, when Zhou Ming asked Yin Susu to join the Red Shoes, he said that Yin Susu would join as the second mother of the Red Shoes.

With Gongsun Lan's wisdom, although Zhou Ming did not say it explicitly, she definitely understood that there was a problem with her subordinate Er Niang.

In fact it is.

At that time, Er Niang had already begun to collude with Jin Jiuling, secretly embezzling organizational funds to provide for Jin Jiuling's expenses.

After Zhou Ming's reminder, Gongsun Da Niang had already discovered this, but she was still not sure who the other person was who was colluding with Er Niang.

However, the emergence of the Embroidery Thief allowed Gongsun Da Niang to determine her target.

In the original novel, Jin Jiuling's plan was to operate on both sides.

He himself misled Lu Xiaofeng, while on the other hand, Er Niang misled Gongsun Da Niang.

Only with the cooperation of both sides can Jin Jiuling's plan be completed.

But Lu Xiaofeng saw through the clues on his side, and on the other hand, Gongsun Da Niang had been suspicious and investigating from the very beginning.

As a result, the case of the Embroidery Thief did not develop to the extent described in the original novel. It was only when Lu Xiaofeng and Gongsun Da Niang met for the first time that Jin Jiuling's conspiracy was directly exposed.

If Lu Xiaofeng's current experience were written into a detective novel, it would be equivalent to the detective just collecting the basic character information, and the progress bar was only 30%, when suddenly a person popped up and directly told the detective most of the information, bringing the entire case to 90% in an instant.

The remaining ten percent is to solve the murderer.

This kind of story naturally cannot have any suspense, and will not be popular.

If it were put on the market, it would undoubtedly be a bad work.

Waiting to be scolded.

"So, on the surface, this case seems to be handled by you, but in fact it was handled by Gongsun Da Niang. It's just that her identity is mysterious and she doesn't want to show up, so you took the limelight, right?" Li Mochou said.

"puff!"

Lu Xiaofeng suddenly made a sound of vomiting blood, similar to Zhou Ming's before.

It’s just that Zhou Ming was just playing.

Lu Xiaofeng really felt a pang of heartache.

Lies don't hurt, truth is the knife.

Since entering the martial arts world, Lu Xiaofeng has always been known for his intelligence. He has used his little brain to help countless people solve their problems.

Especially after Zhou Ming's "The Detective Lu Xiaofeng" was published, Lu Xiaofeng became the most famous detective in the world.

Lu Xiaofeng is also proud of this identity.

But to some extent, he can be said to be trapped by this reputation.

This time, the case of the Embroidery Thief caused a sensation in the world, but in fact, he was only involved in the early stage, and then Gongsun Da Niang jumped out and chattered away, directly bringing the progress bar to 90%.

It can be said that he did not play much role in this case.

But as Li Mochou said, the Red Shoes were a secret organization and it was impossible for them to show up casually. As a result, he had to bear all the blame.

That's why he responded to Li Mochou's words.

The Lu Xiaofeng of the past would not be like this.

Although he cares about things like reputation, he will never change himself because of it.

However, he has changed at this moment.

Zhou Ming keenly noticed this change.

But he wasn't going to say much.

With Lu Xiaofeng's ability to self-regulate, it's likely that in a few days, he will once again become the free and easy Lu Xiaofeng he used to be.

It would be better to take this opportunity to tease him a little.

"I understand!" Zhou Ming said, "The reason you praised Madam Gongsun so much just now was to indirectly elevate yourself.

After all, it's true that you didn't contribute much to this incident. But if Gongsun Da Niang is a wise person, then relatively speaking, it won't damage your own reputation."

Lu Xiaofeng's face darkened. "What the hell! What are you talking about? Do I need to elevate others to stabilize my own reputation? Who am I? Lu Xiaofeng!"

"Okay, okay, let's just assume that's not what you meant." Zhou Ming smiled and said, "But, how are you going to face Miss Xue?"

"Miss Xue? Are you talking about Xue Bing? What does this have to do with her?"

"Of course it's related. You two are in love with each other. If she knew that you actually praised another woman like this, I wonder how sad she would be?"

Lu Xiaofeng's eyes were dazed for a moment: "Tsk! Is that all? I, the great Lu Xiaofeng, just praised other beautiful girls a few times, and I'm still afraid of her?"

"That's good."

Zhou Ming suddenly looked up and looked behind Lu Xiaofeng with a smile: "Miss Xue, did you hear everything?" Lu Xiaofeng suddenly felt a chill on her back and quickly turned around to look.

The yellow flowers and jade trees compete with each other for splendor.

The garden view is breathtaking.

But he didn't see Xue Bing at all.

"Hahaha……"

Zhou Ming and Li Mochou laughed mercilessly together, and even Xiaolongnu, who was sitting next to them, couldn't help but smile.

"Ha ha……"

Lu Xiaofeng turned around, laughed awkwardly twice, and then focused on the food on the table, no longer paying attention to Zhou Ming.

After having a good meal and a good drink, Lu Xiaofeng hesitated for a moment, then pretended to be casual and asked, "Are we going to Purple Gold Mountain tomorrow?"

"Don't go."

"Not going?" Lu Xiaofeng was stunned. "Not to mention how rare this duel is, just considering our relationship with Ximen, we should go."

Zhou Mingdao: "Normally, that's the case, but I'm also a swordsman, so I won't go."

Lu Xiaofeng was confused: "Because you are a swordsman, you have to go to watch the battle. After hearing the news, countless swordsmen in the world rushed to the capital at all costs. Why don't you, a swordsman, go?"

Zhou Mingdao said, "Among the swordsmen who came here, are there any Second Flower or Third Flower Grandmasters?"

"That's...very little."

"Everyone's path is different, and this is reflected in their swords. Perhaps Ximen Chuxue and Ye Gucheng are both extremely outstanding swordsmen, and their duel is bound to be extremely exciting.

But for a swordsman, the most suitable path is always his own, not someone else's. As the saying goes, once you've seen the ocean, all other waters are but puddles. After witnessing the world's finest and most dazzling sword paths, it's easy to waver in your own pursuits.

So, I’m not going!”

Lu Xiaofeng couldn't help but reveal a look of disdain: "If someone else said this, I would believe it, but you? Do you have such a thing as swordsmanship? I'm afraid you don't even have a sword?"

"Hey! Are you looking down on me? I just found a really nice sword recently. Let me show it to you."

"Where is it?" Lu Xiaofeng looked around but didn't see any sword near Zhou Ming. He couldn't help but sneer, "You don't even have your own sword with you, and you have the nerve to call yourself a swordsman?"

"Haha, this sword of mine is special. You'll understand when you see it."

Zhou Ming said this and led Lu Xiaofeng to his own martial arts training ground.

He had been to this place before, but today he saw an additional stone carving here.

But it was a person kneeling on the ground with his head bowed, holding out in his hands a red long sword, lying on his hands.

Zhou Ming stretched out his hand and said, "Come, try this magic sword of mine!"

Lu Xiaofeng didn't feel strange, and reached out to grab the hilt of the sword, wanting to pick it up, but when he exerted force, he found that the sword was extremely heavy.

His expression changed slightly, and then he mobilized his true energy. It seemed as if he had a thousand pounds of divine power in his hand, but the sword weighed several thousand pounds.

He still couldn't move.

Lu Xiaofeng released his hand. "I thought a divine weapon like the Ice Soul Sword was extremely rare, but I never expected there would be another one in the world! What kind of sword is this?"

"Changhong Sword!"

Lu Xiaofeng's heart sank.

He couldn't help but recall what happened after he and Gongsun Da Niang teamed up to deal with Jin Jiuling.

Under the light of the attic, three beautiful faces were reflected.

Gongsun Da Niang leaned against the back of the chair, looking lazy, but her eyes revealed a cold murderous intent.

Er Niang was lying on the ground. There were no scars on her body, but her face was pale and she looked weak.

Her dantian had been destroyed and she had lost all her martial arts skills.

"Auntie... please forgive me. I know I was wrong... Considering how much I've done for the organization over the years, please let me go..."

Er Niang pleaded bitterly: "My martial arts skills have been wasted. I will no longer pose any threat to you. Please let me go..."

"Second Mother," Gongsun Da Niang said, "I've given you opportunities before. Over the past few months, I've given you at least five chances to turn back. Unfortunately, you didn't seize them once."

"I was confused and stupid. I really know I was wrong... Auntie! I really know I was wrong!"

"You don't know you're wrong, you just know you're scared!"

Madam Gongsun's tone was extremely cold: "Do it!"

"No! No!" Er Niang shook her head and shouted, but a dark shadow had already enveloped her.

Looking up, she saw that beautiful yet unfamiliar face, which was the last thing she saw in her life.

Blood drips and flowers wither.

Yin Susu drew her sword, her face expressionless.

"very good!"

Madam Gongsun nodded and said, "From now on, you are the Second Madam of the Red Shoes Organization."

"Okay, ma'am."

"You don't have to call me Auntie. You're different from them. You're a peripheral member of the organization and you're going to join it in the future. So, just call me by my code name."

"Okay, absinthe."

At this moment, it seemed as if a wind was blowing, causing the branches outside the building to sway.

Madam Gongsun glanced sideways and said, "Alright, go down."

"Yes."

After Yin Susu left, Madam Gongsun stood up, opened the window, and looked at the figure hidden in the tree outside. She smiled and said, "The famous detective Lu Xiaofeng is spying outside my building. Could it be that he wants to be a thief?"

Lu Xiaofeng jumped into the pavilion and looked at Madam Gongsun: "Absinthe?"

"Did you hear everything?"

Lu Xiaofeng said, "I've heard that organization only invites leaders of powerful factions to join. I didn't expect that even a secret organization like Red Shoes, with only seven or eight members, would be of interest to them."

Gongsun Da Niang smiled and said, "What the organization values ​​is not just the size of the power."

"Then what do you like about Mu Dao Ren?"

"Are you trying to get information about the organization from me?"

"That's not what I meant." Lu Xiaofeng said quickly. After a few seconds of silence, he continued, "This organization... isn't a good group..."

"Hahaha... I thought you, Lu Xiaofeng, would say something shocking, but I didn't expect... it would be such a shocking statement!" Aunt Gongsun sneered, "So what do you think of me as a good person? Or are all members of my Red Shoes organization good people?

Then I want to ask you, you have so many friends, are they all good people? Is the Snake King, the overlord of the Yangcheng Black Street, a good person? Is the Embroidery Thief Jin Jiuling a good person? Is Huo Xiu, the owner of the Qingyi Tower, a good person? And that Prime Minister... In short, none of the friends around you are good people. How dare you come to advise me?"

The first half of the sentence left Lu Xiaofeng speechless, but the information revealed in the second half made Lu Xiaofeng immediately stop caring about this matter.

"You just wanted to say the Prime Minister's adopted son, right?"

"Did I say that?"

"The examples you just cited were all friends of mine. So, the phrase 'the Prime Minister' must be referring to another friend of mine... What happened to Zhou Ming? He spends his days sightseeing and enjoying himself. It seems he doesn't do anything special, does he?"

Lu Xiaofeng asked doubtfully, "Why do you think he is on par with the Snake King, Huo Xiu, and Jin Jiuling?"

(End of this chapter)