Lady Zhao

Chapter 69

The little girl told the story out of breath with a crying voice. The group of bullies who asked for money not only ransacked the house, but they didn't think it was enough. They wanted to sell their mother and daughter to a brothel to pay off their debts. They begged to stop him, but they beat him to death with sticks.

"I was caught and bit the man's hand. They beat me with a stick. My mother hugged the man and told me to run. I... I escaped, but my mother woo woo woo..." It seemed Thinking of the scene at that time, Nagumo shivered and cried even more sadly.She was afraid that the bad guys would catch up and didn't dare to turn back. She ran while crying, but she followed the direction of Engong's house, and she fainted from exhaustion when she was at the door.

Zhao Yuanli immediately ordered Zhao Zhong to prepare a carriage after hearing this, and the little girl huddled in Zhao Wenwan's arms showing great dependence, so he had to take the two of them to go together.

In the dilapidated farmhouse between the suburbs of Beijing, you can see the situation inside at a glance. There are two people lying across the yard. The one lying on his back has a sick face, bulging eyes, and a piece of navy blue cloth tightly clutched in his hand. It looked extremely unwilling, and the surrounding sundries were scattered all over the place, mixed with blood, and devastated.

Zhao Yuanli, who got out of the carriage first, watched this scene, and told Zhao Wenwan not to come down with a tight voice. The latter heard something wrong with the elder brother's voice, guessed something, covered the eyes of the little girl, and opened the curtain on the carriage by himself. , even if he was prepared, he was shocked by the scene in front of him, took a deep breath, and felt that the little girl wanted to grab his hand to see, so he hurriedly lowered the curtain and comforted her softly.

Zhao Zhong went to check the breath of the two people on the ground, and shook his head when he came back.Someone from the same village opened the door and peeked at Zhao Yuanli to arrange money for the family's funeral. He felt that he was not a bad person, and he had some friendship with the family on weekdays, so he came out quickly He said, "Nan Yunniang was taken away, and it was Chunhualou who was yelling, my son is kind, please save people quickly."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Yuanli immediately got into the carriage, followed by Zhao Zhong, the little girl in the carriage held Zhao Wenwan's hand tightly, with tears in the corners of her eyes, trying not to cry, her cold and trembling little hand betrayed her fear at the moment .Zhao Wenwan held it back, secretly praying that the little girl's mother would be able to wait.

Chunhua Building is located at the end of Hua Lane, and the people who come and go are people of all schools and schools, and there are also many street hooligans hanging around in the clear sky and daylight. The glamorous carriage at the door feels quite fresh.

Zhao Zhong naturally didn't want the two masters to show their faces here, so he took the brunt of the brunt and asked the bustard who came up to him about the situation of the newly sent girl. It seemed that he was here to smash the scene, so he immediately changed his face and called for thugs to drive him out.Zhao Zhong expected this would be the case, so he hurriedly revealed the sign of the Duke's Mansion, the thugs were a little scruples, and there was a stalemate, neither backing down.

"Let me tell you, little brother, although this slave's house is for trading in skins and meat, we still keep our duty, and we will never do things like forcing people into prostitution. Don't talk nonsense about wronging people." The bustard fiddled with the bright red Koujia, laughing. It's quite amorous.

"Then call out all the girls here."

"You..." The bustard didn't expect to be tempted by the last elm bump, so she made a dark face, not easy to get angry, and asked the girls to stand away in front of him one by one. "Look, take a good look."

The girls in front of him were all gorgeous, which almost dazzled Zhao Zhong. How could he recognize the little girl's mother? After returning to the side of the carriage with a sullen and rosy face to ask for instructions, he saw Zhao Yuanli holding the little girl calmly. hands together out of the carriage.

The bustard suddenly lost her voice when she saw this magnificent man, even the eyes of the girls in the building lit up a little, they were all elated, they stared at him closely, and there were endless discussions.

The guards of the Zhao family dutifully protected Zhao Yuanli. The latter glanced down at Nanyun. Nanyun looked anxiously around and shook his head in disappointment. His eyes were red and he looked like he was about to cry again.

Zhao Yuanli patted her head reassuringly, she was taken captive, how could she put it on the bright side, since the bustard refused to cooperate, he didn't intend to treat her politely, took out the sixth prince's token and said coldly, " I suspect that the imperial court is hiding inside, search for me."

The people brought here had to be taken care of by Zhao Yuanli, and they rushed into the Chunhua Building immediately after giving orders. The bustard couldn't cope, her expression changed, and she hurriedly followed to the backyard.Zhao Yuanli guarded Nan Yun and followed closely behind. Seeing that the bustard was staring nervously at the small room on the right, she had someone forcefully knock on the door.

In the damp room piled with firewood lay a thin woman with a white silk wrapped around her neck, lying lifeless on the cold ground.The first time Nanyun saw it, he rushed over immediately, crying for his mother to wake up, his crying appearance was moving.

Bustard shivered for a moment when she saw Zhao Yuanli's gaze, her face turned ashen, and she explained hoarsely, "Yesterday... I brought it over yesterday, and I served it with delicious food... But in the middle of the night, I didn't think about opening myself and hanged myself." .”

"Rui Niang, what about people, the boss asked us to deal with it." A ruffian voice came from not far away, and several young people who looked like bastards walked in. When they saw the battle inside, they immediately turned around. Head away, so that Zhao Yuanli's eyes and hands were all buckled.

Rui Niang said inwardly, she asked Zhou Long's people to take care of the aftermath, and it happened to be right at this time, sooner or later, and she didn't even dare to look at it.

"Who is your boss?" Zhao Yuanli asked with deep eyes, staring at the one who spoke earlier.

"No...no one." The bastard pretended to be dazed, and then realized that his words were criticized, so he hurriedly explained, "Isn't it the officials who deal with chickens, ducks and fishes?"

Zhao Yuanli's eyes fell on the tooth marks on his palm, the skin was bitten open and bloodshot, seeing the teeth shaped like a child, he called Nan Yun to come over and recognize them.As soon as Nanyun saw someone, he went up and beat him like crazy, saying murderer, scoundrel.

It is undoubtedly the person who committed the murder at Nan Yun's house yesterday.

The bastard didn't expect that the little girl would come back after running away, and even moved the rescuers who looked very powerful, and his heart was agitated.

"If you honestly tell me who your boss is, I can save you some flesh and blood." Zhao Yuanli waited for his defenses to break before he opened his mouth, "Or the loyalty of the rivers and lakes, you take the place of that one, Three lives, I’m afraid I still can’t figure it out.”

Hunzi was hesitant, but when he heard the latter part of the sentence, he avoided the disadvantages and said, "No, it wasn't me. The one who killed the man was the boss, Zhou Long, the second head of Hengchang Casino."

A gleam flashed across Zhao Yuanli's eyes, and he ordered his subordinates to turn these people back to the government, and then send Nan Yun's mother's body back to Nan Yun's house. Wan went back in a carriage first, and hired two others, saying that he would go back after finishing the matter.

Zhao Wenwan, who stayed in the carriage and listened to the neighbors talking about the situation inside, felt sorry and knew that it was not appropriate for her to show up, so she was escorted back home by two guards.

The two left Chunhua Building one after another, and someone reported a letter to Zhou Long. After hearing this, the latter couldn't sit still, and cursed a few times. After calming down, he whispered to his confidant to dismiss He hurried away, and went out the door with a gloomy face.

He was working for people, and he didn't think of a life lawsuit. If he wanted to blame the old man and the sick man, he couldn't help being beaten, and he died. It's really fucking unlucky.Zhou Long thought that Zhao Yuanli, the younger one, had not only ruined his business, but also had a deadly rivalry with his customers. Hmph, it was so hard that he didn't dare to meddle in other people's business!
The carriage was driving slowly, Zhao Wenwan sat in it, his right eyelid twitched abruptly twice, he lifted the curtains and took a look, he turned the corner of the alley and was not far from the Duke's Mansion, somehow reminded him of the red-clothed and white horse in the script, the guard of honor leading the way I can't help but feel a little bit in a trance.

The accident happened at that moment, and seven or eight well-dressed men suddenly jumped out of the blind spot, charging up with knives and sticks in their hands.No matter how fast the two guards reacted, they were caught off guard and got hit a few times before throwing themselves into the battle.

Zhao Wenwan, who was so close to death for the first time since crossing, pulled the only available cushion against his chest, fearing that a knife would stab him in, so he didn't dare to go out rashly, the panic in his heart deepened.

The sound of weapons being exchanged outside became chaotic. Zhao Wenwan in the carriage forced himself to calm down and heard something was wrong. How powerful were the two guards in his mansion to last so long?Holding a cushion to protect him one foot away, he secretly raised the corner of the door curtain. Just as he was about to look, a silver light flashed and came straight towards the door. Zhao Wenwan was so shocked that he had no time to back away, and saw a navy blue figure coming down. , Through the door curtain, I was pushed inside by a force, only to hear the muffled sound of the sword blade sinking into the flesh outside, and the blood seeped through the curtain and dripped down.

The rope holding the horse was cut off, and the horse ran away in fright.

Zhao Wenwan was so frightened that he hit the back of his head on the bottom of the carriage and was dazed for a moment. He guessed that he must have been rescued, and the feeling was still familiar. Then the curtain of the carriage was raised, and Fang Zimo had a look on his face. A worried look appeared in front of him, followed by many Beicheng Imperial Guards.

"Fang... son?"

"Is Miss Zhao all right?"

Zhao Wenwan shook his head, seeing that the sword in his hand was still stained with blood, and then looking at the two or three perpetrators who fell outside, he naturally connected the rescuer with him, "Thank you, Mr. Fang, for saving your life. "

Fang Zimo looked at her pale face, and the two guards were also injured, so he left someone behind to deal with the aftermath, and he planned to personally help her back home.

Zhao Wenwan wanted to say no, but he didn't expect his legs to be weak, relying on Fang Zimo to support him carefully so as not to fall and lose face, his face was embarrassing, so he didn't refuse anymore, and walked to the house together.

Not far from the corner, bright red blood dripped down a pair of knuckle-boned hands, but the man stared at the scene in front of him as if he didn't feel anything, his eyes were like eagles, dark and fierce.

"Master, you hurried back to Beijing before you recovered from your wounds, and you blocked Miss Zhao's sword, you should go back to the mansion for treatment." Gu Jingxing's confidant looked at the stubborn look on the master's face, and persuaded him.People say that the sixth prince has a good face, but they don't know that such assassinations, large and small, have been accompanied for many years, which is not extremely dangerous, but the people who returned to Beijing this time insisted on taking a look at Dingguo's mansion, why, no matter how clear but.

But they wanted to avoid people's eyes and ears, and they couldn't reveal their whereabouts for the time being. Seeing the imperial guards approaching, Gu Jingxing finally felt relieved and took advantage of the chaos to hide, and instead let Fang Zimo from the patrol battalion pass by to pick up a ready-made bargain.

Gu Jingxing's blood-stained fist hit the wall hard, and he closed his eyes as if weary, "Let's go."

It was night, the wind was bitterly cold, a gust of strong wind mixed with wind and snow blew across the streets, not far away was the mansion of Yipin Anyuanhou, in front of the gate of the vermilion lacquer and golden ring, two red lanterns suddenly Bright and suddenly extinguished.The policeman knocked on the door with an official document in his hand and called for someone, "I was ordered to arrest the suspect Wang Bowen. The criminal involved three lives in Caofang Temple. Please open the door, Lord Hou."

Just after the police here finished speaking, a man in armor who looked like a soldier was also holding a token, knocking on the door and shouting, his momentum was much stronger, "I was ordered to arrest the prisoner Wang Bowen, who ordered Zhou Long and others to assassinate the third-rank county lord Zhao The eldest daughter, Zhou Long has already confessed and asked Lord Hou to open the door.

The two of them were not too tired, shouting outside over and over again.

But the vermilion lacquered door was still tightly closed, and there was no movement.

The fire was shining around the door, and two rows of guards in neat clothes stood in front of the door, holding torches, and the burning thunderbolts rattled. Among the two rows of guards, one row was the patrol battalion led by Fang Zimo, and the other row The government officials and others led by Zhao Yuanli and Jingzhaofu Yin.

Fang Zimo supported the exquisitely scabbard Qinglong saber, a slanted figure appeared under the firelight, his deep eyes were filled with displeasure, and his thick eyebrows were slightly frowned, obviously impatient, waiting for the sword to come out. Sheath, a long white and slender hand stretched out from the cloak to stop it, the gold silk embroidery thread on the cuff was faintly visible, Zhao Yuanli was in no mood, and said: "Brother Fang, wait a minute, this is a first-class marquis after all." government."

Fang Zimo said sternly: "If Marquis An Yuan refuses to hand it over, I can bring people in to arrest the criminal."

"You also said that it was the Holy Majesty's oral order. Although the grandmother led the family sister to report the matter to the Queen Mother, which alarmed the Holy Majesty, the Holy Majesty did not issue an edict. It must be to save some face for Marquis Anyuan. We should obey it. Your Majesty's meaning." Zhao Yuanli then raised the corners of his mouth slightly, "But no matter what, in the end, Wang Bowen will not escape this disaster tonight, why should Brother Fang be in such a hurry."

Fang Zimo nodded slightly, expressing his understanding. He straightened his body again, straightened his back, and looked forward together with Zhao Yuanli.

After about a cup of tea, the gate suddenly opened, Marquis Anyuan stood in the center of the main gate in a brown robe, behind him were soldiers holding torches in the wind and snow, and it was dark at a glance. Most of the Xungui mansions have mansion soldiers, especially the Hou mansion. According to the system, they can support [-] to [-] mansion soldiers to guard the home. This formation seems to have called all the mansion soldiers over. Let people take their son away.

Everyone knows that the Anyuan Hou Wang family, this Hou Ye only has Wang Bowen, the eldest son, and it is human nature to protect his shortcomings.

Marquis Anyuan was in the officialdom, and he had a kind of aura on his body. If they were allowed to shout outside the mansion like this for a whole night, there would be a joke about him in Beijing the next day. He was cowardly and dare not Responding, but if he is allowed to take away his son like this, he is afraid that he will never return, so he has to send the government soldiers, and when the time is delayed, he does not believe that the two of them dare to do anything to a first-rank Marquis, and he will enter the palace when the time is over. I beg the emperor to show mercy.

"I don't know that Young General Fang and Young Master Zhao are here, so I'm not far away from welcoming you." Marquis Anyuan said politely with a smile on his face, and stood at the gate of the mansion asking who was going to cause trouble.

Fang Zimo just wanted to stand up, but Zhao Yuanli stopped him again. This time it was their Zhao family and Wang family's grievances, and they didn't want Fang Zimo to be involved too much. The Holy One ordered to come and arrest the prisoner Wang Bowen."

"What evidence do you have that the child committed the crime?" Marquis An Yuan said intentionally, his eyes frightening.

Zhao Yuanli was not afraid of his expression, and replied to him, "If Lord Hou wants to listen at this time, you might as well explain it clearly. Lord Hou cares about the country, so he must not know about the affairs of the inner house. Pregnancy ruined my reputation, she was exposed on the spot because of her ambiguity, and turned over to the government for careful questioning, but the content of her confession has a great relationship with your son."

"The woman used to be the son's personal maid, Minglan, and was later sent out of the mansion for the crime of seducing the master. Wang Bowen placed her in a house in the outer suburbs. The house was confiscated by the son's private loan. Ming Lan knew the inside story, and wrote down her crimes in black and white, privately lending money by the sons of officials is not allowed by the law of the country!"

"Of course, if Lord Hou thinks that the confession of a woman of unknown origin is not enough to explain anything, then let's talk about the murder case of Caofang Temple in detail. Zhou Long, the second head of Hengchang Casino, killed a father and son three days ago, and Forced her into prostitution, causing her wife to hang herself to death, leaving behind a daughter to come to Jingzhao Mansion Yin to report the murder case, followed the clues to find Zhou Long who killed the person, and this person even sent someone to assassinate me during the day, accidentally hurt my sister , after being arrested, he kept saying that he had no grievances or enmities with me, and that he was doing things for your son."

"Instigated Zhou Long to murder the county lord, assassinate the officials who were entrusted by the imperial court, and privately release money and debts. Is there anything that Hou Ye doesn't understand?"

Marquis An Yuan was silent for a moment, but there was a trace of sweat on his forehead. Just now he reprimanded Wang Bowen in the study and asked about the situation. According to Wang Bowen, Minglan in the prison has been taken care of and will not confess.As for the money lending that Wang Bowen explained, the money was not in his account, and outsiders couldn't find out the accounts, so naturally there was no evidence, let alone the assassination. He thought it was not a big deal, but Zhao Yuanli's words shocked him .

Just now seeing Zhao Yuanli speaking so frankly, he actually had a plan in his mind. Everything happened suddenly, and Marquis An Yuan was also a little confused, so he couldn't stand up now, "This...is just a false accusation made by some villains. word……"

Zhao Yuanli smiled lightly, and ordered the yamen guard to escort a person out suddenly. As soon as the person saw An Yuanhou, he called his uncle for help, crying for his father and mother, so he was in a panic, but An Yuanhou couldn't remember who this person was.

Zhao Yuanli continued: "This man's name is Wang Jin, and he is a relative of Marquis Anyuan who is about three thousand miles away from you. He does a small business in the capital. You don't know him, but this man has close contacts with your son. The family is connected. The cloth shop has been in the red for three years, but its owner invested in a lot of land, and there are countless gold and silver treasures in the bank account, so I am afraid it was obtained by crooked methods?"

Without Zhao Yuanli's further words, Wang Jin was so frightened that he couldn't stop shouting beside him, "The money doesn't belong to me. My cousin asked me to do it. I don't even know where the money came from? Please!" Lord, let me go, let me go."

Marquis Anyuan turned pale with shock, irrefutable.

Zhao Yuanli's voice was raised a little bit, quite dignified, "Also ask Lord Hou to make way for me to go in."

Marquis Anyuan didn't see any movement for a long time, and stood there without saying a word, his face darkened by the flames.Zhao Yuanli and Fang Zimo looked at each other. Fang Zimo gave an order, and the guards from the patrol battalion outside the door rushed in. Fang Zimo took the lead, and when he came to the door, he met An Yuanhou, and said coldly without a trace of warmth in his voice: " Your Majesty allows me to offend today."

Marquis Anyuan was a little unbelievable, the Holy Majesty Xu Zhao Yuanli intervened, and he even issued a verbal order to allow him to forcibly break into the mansion to arrest people. Seeing his intentions, he retreated dejectedly. Fang Zimo got up with his sword and went straight to the garden. The guards He raised his sword and followed, and no one dared to stop him all the way.

Wang Bowen was detained and cursed, and when he saw An Yuanhou kept shouting beside him: "Daddy, save me."

An Yuanhou's face flushed red, he couldn't hold back his hands, and slapped him, "You rebellious son, how dare you do such a rebellious thing."

Wang Bowen was stunned by the slap, his hands were tightly clasped by a burly guard, unable to struggle, he just stared at Zhao Yuanli with wide eyes of hatred, "Zhao Yuanli, it is clear that you framed me because of personal grievances!"

"Oh? Zhou Long sent people to assassinate me because I framed you?" Zhao Yuanli asked in a flat tone. "Zhou Long has explained your matter carefully, and if you have anything to say, go to court."

Wang Bowen paused for a while because of the name, and then looked at his father's eyes that hated iron and steel. After thinking about it for a while, he guessed that Zhou Long must be smart and wanted to teach Zhao Yuanli a lesson. Now, thinking of the parties involved, Wang Bowen said with a heart, "I don't know Zhou Long and Zhang Long at all. At the feet of the emperor, red lips and white teeth can mess up and wrong people!"

Wang Bowen's daughter-in-law, Mrs. Chen, came out with the arrested officers and soldiers in a hurry, huddled on the sidelines, holding a handkerchief, biting the corners of her lips tightly, showing a trace of paleness.

"If you want people not to know unless you do nothing yourself, please, Mr. Wang." Zhao Yuanli took Wang Bowen away with his usual indifference.

Entered the government office, went through the formalities, and was also imprisoned, but the treatment was slightly better. In the open space of three or four cells, Wang Bowen was pushed into one of them, and he faced the cloud outside the cell door with a gloomy expression. The windy Zhao Yuanli.

"I really didn't expect there to be such a novel way of meeting between you and me." Zhao Yuanli twitched the corner of his mouth lightly, revealing a slight smile, which had nothing to do with grievances.

"Zhao Yuanli, don't get complacent too early, I will go out sooner or later!" Wang Bowen deliberately straightened his back to maintain his demeanor, gritted his teeth and looked at him deeply.

"Get out? Minglan's confession can indeed allow you to take advantage of loopholes, but Zhou Long is not that short-sighted woman. What he confessed...you are afraid that you will spend your entire life in prison."

Wang Bowen's heart tightened when he heard the words. Zhou Long was born as a gangster in the market, and he didn't get up early without profit. If he really had other thoughts, he might not leave something behind.

Zhao Yuanli noticed his slightly changed expression, the corners of his mouth curled indistinctly, and he said as usual, "Zhou Long has already admitted that you are behind the scenes, three lives, oh, maybe more, and those private debts... This matter has already alarmed the Holy One, and the Holy One ordered a strict investigation, and Zhou Long, who was involved in the case, will bear the brunt of being executed, does the prince feel sad when the rabbit dies?"

The hand under Wang Bowen's sleeve clenched his fist, and his heart trembled. If the sage...he must be a pawn, no, he must protect himself. For a moment, only this thought remained in his mind, thinking of the hint he gave Chen before leaving, hold on Confused, "Zhao Yuanli, you hate what I did before, so you deliberately created such a character to slander me. I have never heard of Zhou Long. He must be a vicious person who kills people and lends money. He was asked to be beheaded." What a pity."

There was a slight movement in another cell across the wall, which quickly disappeared into nothingness.

Zhao Yuanli averted his gaze from there, and fell back on Wang Bowen. He suppressed that little smile, and left with a word that the prince is really cold-blooded and left.

Afterwards, Zhou Long, who was tightly tied up with a cloth ball in his mouth, was brought out, with a resentful expression on his face, Zhao Zhong took the cloth ball in his mouth, and the man said with a sinister face, "I'm begging, my place is indeed There are a few records left, which can prove that there is a direct relationship with Wang Bowen! Everything he did was ordered by him!"

(End of this chapter)