Ming Dynasty Detective 1546

Chapter 92 Yan Shifan's Reasoning (Part )
"I understand!"

On the way to the overpass, Yan Shifan's eyes flashed. He calmed down and thought about the case again, then suddenly spoke.

Haiyue turned her head and looked over.

Yan Shifan said, "I was so anxious just now, I only wanted to bring disgrace to Guo Xun, but I didn't consider how Guo Xun would retaliate if the scandal we inferred was false, and Zhao Qilang was not the illegitimate son of the Marquis' wife! Given the tyranny of the Marquis Wuding, he would definitely bring this to His Majesty and torture the person who exposed it to death! By then, we would be in the wrong, and even the headmaster would be unable to defend us...hiss!"

Speaking of this, he was a little frightened: "That was a close call!"

When nobles violate the "Great Ming Law" and harm the people, they will not be severely punished. Not to mention being held high and then let down easily, they often don't even get held high.

But the opposite is not the case.

In the 23rd year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang specially created the crime of "slandering meritorious officials", stipulating that "anyone who falsely speaks of the secret affairs of meritorious officials shall be executed by slow slicing, and their family members shall be exiled 3,000 miles away."

This crime has special historical significance. Later, during the Yongle period, the censor Chen Ying was executed for "slandering meritorious officials" and his property was confiscated. This man was a thug used by Zhu Di to persecute the remaining ministers of Jianwen. He impeached dozens of people, and all of them were convicted because of his reports. When the remaining ministers in the court were almost cleared out, Zhu Di killed him too, and "the world was very happy about it."

With the support of legitimate laws, Guo Xun beat Yan Shifan to death, and Yan Song did not dare to say a word, because it was his son who was wrong first, making up rumors and slandering a marquis. Jiajing would be more biased towards the new nobles and dislike them father and son.

Of course, Guo Xun didn't want to exchange his own reputation for the life of a small person, so he would definitely think about how to clear up the rumors early on, and then the city's kite squad could be used.

"If the 'Kite Squad' was prepared in advance, then it's most likely Guo Xun behind the scenes!"

Yan Shifan gnashed his teeth and said, "This is a deliberate ambush to kill us!"

Haiyue shook her head secretly.

The reasoning of this young priest is logically sound, but he thinks too highly of himself.

What is Guo Xun’s current status?
He is now undoubtedly the number one among the nobles. In a few years, he will be promoted to Duke Yiguo, in charge of the Beijing camp and intervene in the border towns, becoming the actual number one in the army.

It is ridiculous that such a top official would risk damaging his own reputation to frame two investigators, even if it is not necessarily aimed at them.

The key point is that Guo Xun is by no means a simple-minded warrior. Although he is arrogant and domineering with his private soldiers, he can advance and retreat freely. As soon as Lu Bing appears, he immediately leads his men to evacuate, which shows that he is not blinded by anger.

"There's something strange about this case..."

Of course, there was no need to tell Yan Shifan about these thoughts for the time being. Hai Yue just nodded slightly, with a serious expression, and walked forward.

"arrive!"

Compared to the two people, one was trembling with fear, and the other was pondering the case, Xiaochuan was jumping up and down in front, but he was very happy. At the end, he even laughed and said, "Gentlemen, please look! That is the performance of the Han family team!"

boom!
After turning a corner, the two of them could already feel a clear wave of people coming towards them.

The overpass was crowded with people, and the shouts of vendors of all kinds echoed one after another. Accompanied by the sound of a gong, a resounding voice pierced through the clamor: "Dear audience, those who have money can show their support with money, and those who don't can show their support with their presence!"

The three looked in the direction of the sound and saw a man in a gray cloth shorts standing in the middle of the field. He was thin and had bright eyes. There were four or five circles of spectators around him.

Seeing that the audience was in place, the man took out three shiny throwing knives from his arms, spun them in his hands, and then pointed them at a tall wooden rake not far away.

The height of the wooden rake was set just right, so it was impossible to accidentally injure anyone, allowing everyone to watch with peace of mind. Then the man shouted loudly, and with a flick of his wrist, the throwing knives all hit the wooden target, right in the center.

There were a few scattered cheers from the crowd, but regular customers knew that this was just the beginning.

Sure enough, the man took out a thick red silk from his waist, blindfolded himself, turned around, showed it to those around him, and then threw three flying knives in succession.

Ding!Ding!Ding!
With three crisp sounds, the flying knives were nailed on the target in a triangular shape, just surrounding the previous three.

The crowd erupted in cheers, and someone shouted, "Dragon flip! Dragon flip!"

"I'm showing off my shame!"

The man laughed heartily, and without taking off the red silk, he stretched his arms and legs on the spot. With a flick of his wrist, he grasped three more throwing knives, then jumped on the spot and turned over three times in the air, shooting out a throwing knife with each turn.

Whoosh!Whoosh!Whoosh!
When the three flying knives formed a triangular shape again, surrounding the six knives in the center and forming a pleasing pattern, the reward money fell into the basin with a ding-dong sound, and the tourists from other places who came to Beijing were all stunned.

"it is good!!"

The layman watched the excitement, while the expert saw the trick. Hai Yue couldn't help but applaud and admire, took out the purse from her waist and threw dozens of coins over.

It is not the Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival or other festivals now, and performances such as swallowing knives and spitting fire, and large-scale puppet shows are not suitable to be performed near the overpass. They should be held at temple fairs.

It is actually quite difficult to perform such a simple yet gorgeous program in a limited venue, and it also shows the superb skill of knife throwing.

At the same time, at the tea stalls nearby, storytellers in long blue cloth gowns were telling stories with great enthusiasm.

In front of each person was a square table with a wake-up block and a folding fan on it. The audience surrounding them was no less numerous than those watching a circus.

"It is said that Wu Song arrived at the foot of Jingyang Ridge and saw a wine flag waving with the words 'Three bowls and you're not over the hill'... Snap!"

The storyteller slapped the wake-up stick and said in a loud voice, "Wu Song drank eighteen bowls of wine in a row, picked up his whistle stick and went to the post!"

When talking about Wu Song fighting the tiger, the man suddenly stood up, the folding fan in his hand turned into a whistle stick, and with a turn, it seemed as if he was really fighting with the tiger. The audience held their breath until the storyteller finished the story in an immersive voice and shouted, "The big tiger died instantly after being hit by this stick!" Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and burst into thunderous applause.

Yan Shifan also listened with great interest: "Water Margin is really exciting! Hey! This was promoted by that Wu Dinghou!"

Although Guo Xun was fierce and domineering, he was also good at poetry and prose. He was enthusiastic about compiling documents about his family's deeds and editing and publishing popular literary works. The best of them were "Water Margin" and "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". It can be said that he had a very good vision. He picked two of the four great classics, and the Wuding edition of "Water Margin" became the ancestor of the popular edition in later generations.

Guo Xun mixed a lot of personal opinions into it, but it is undeniable that he did upgrade the vernacular books that originally belonged to the handwritten literature of the market into large-scale printed products, promoting the development of popular novels from subculture to mainstream.

In the market, Water Margin and Romance of the Three Kingdoms are enduringly popular. Storytellers like to tell them and audiences love to listen to them.

Ogawa and the other two got a general idea of ​​the hustle and bustle on the overpass, and led them through the crowd towards an alley.

This seemed to be the backstage of a circus troupe, with many props placed inside. There were also street performers walking around, occasionally looking over with scrutiny, but I didn't stop them.

The three of them reached the end of the alley and saw a high platform. Some were standing, some were sitting, and some were lying. There was a group of people around, and each of them seemed to have special skills.

A man stood in the audience with his hands behind his back, seemingly commenting.

The man was about forty years old, with a thin face and sharp eyes. The most striking thing was the scar on the right side of his face, which looked very much like the mark left by the sharp claws of a hawk.

This is the owner of the "Yiaozi Class", Han Yaozi.

Seeing a young boy leading a group of people walking towards them with a clear purpose, Han Yaozi turned around, first looking at Haiyue and Yan Shifan, then at the young boy, and suddenly stared: "Yan Xiaochuan? Is your brother really back?"

Xiaochuan clasped his fists and grinned, "Boss Han, long time no see. My brother sends his regards!"

"Humph!"

Anger flashed across Han Yaozi's face, and he said indifferently, "Give him my regards too! What's the matter with you bringing these two Imperial College students here?"

Yan Shifan asked curiously, "Do you know us?"

Han Yaozi understood. "The Imperial Academy students who outsmarted the Marquis of Wuding yesterday were you two, right? Hai Shisanlang from Qionghai, Master Yan, son of Minister Yan of the Ministry of Rites, and Han Jin from the market. My greetings!"

Although he said he was polite, he just clasped his fists casually with a nonchalant attitude, and his tone contained a sense of confidence and pride.

I have to say, Haiyue was indeed surprised.

Yesterday, Zhao Chen died, and Guo Xun led his private soldiers to cause chaos in the Imperial College. Later, Gui E showed up. It wasn't a huge uproar in the whole city, but it was indeed a big disturbance. Han Yaozi, a well-informed commoner, couldn't have been unaware of it.

But when I recognized them both at a glance, I was a little surprised.

There were no photos in this era, and the portraits were severely distorted. How could the other party determine their identities so accurately?

But with a glance out of the corner of her eye, Haiyue had an idea.

First of all, the two men did not change their clothes and were still dressed like students of the Imperial Academy. Secondly, the bruises on Yan Shifan's face had not yet subsided. This feature was very obvious and was enough to serve as a key reference. Combined with the description of his age and appearance, and the eyesight of these old hands, there was a basis for judging his identity.

Yan Shifan was sensitive. When the other party's eyes just fell on his wound, he immediately became angry and said with gritted teeth: "No need to be so polite!"

Han Yaozi saw that this person was unhappy, but there was a hint of disdain on the corner of his mouth.

Do you think you are the son of the Prime Minister of the Cabinet? The Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites is indeed a third-rank official, but in the capital, he is just a civil servant without much real power. What can he do to a local tyrant like him?

On the contrary, it was Hai Yue, this out-of-towner who had caused such a stir in the capital in such a short period of time, and now mixed up with the Yan Xiu brothers who had also returned to the capital, that was more worthy of attention...

'This man is very arrogant!'

Facing the other party's confident gaze and contempt, Hai Yue no longer took things step by step. She stared directly into Han Yaozi's eyes and said directly, "How is the negotiation going with the Marquis' Mansion?"

"Ok?"

Han Yaozi's eyes flashed with brilliance and his expression changed immediately.

(End of this chapter)