Yan Shifan conspired with Wu Xuanfeng in the mansion for a long time. After an hour, he sent away the smiling Wu Xuanfeng. He looked at the sky, but ordered the servants to say,

"It's too late today, I won't go to the palace anymore. I'll go to the palace to see Your Majesty tomorrow!"

He said, pointing to the box on the table,

"Put away the things for me!"

"yes!"

Someone came over to put the box away.

That night, Yan's mansion opened the back door and sent people to the Southeast overnight, spreading the news that someone had already secretly investigated the affairs of the Jinyiwei and the Japanese pirates.

Pei He was wearing a night-mounted clothes and was hidden in the flowers under the small building. He carefully adjusted his breathing and slowed his heartbeat to the lowest point. His figure merged with the surrounding environment in the night. His whole person seemed to be like flowers, plants and trees, not at all noticed. Even when several masters in the building patrolled, they glanced at the flowers several times, but none of them noticed that there was still a person hidden here.

Pei He sat cross-legged among the flowers, listening quietly and observing, but he heard that outside the small building, several carriages were coming from time to time. Many of them were the guests who came to find the beauty while the night, and several groups of people were led into the building by those turtle slaves with high martial arts skills.

Among them is a scarred man with an extremely tall figure and strong muscles. You can tell at a glance that he is a trainer who has a strong horizontal kung fu. Such people usually practice extremely strongly and have a hard body. But there is only one thing that his voice under his feet when he walks is much heavier than that of ordinary people.

Pei He immediately became energetic when he saw him coming in. This man had a different appearance. He knew at a glance that he would not be an ordinary guest. He immediately raised his ears and listened carefully, trying to distinguish the footsteps of the man from the chaotic footsteps. Fortunately, the man's feet were heavy, and perhaps one foot had been injured, so the foot sound was light and heavy, which was easy to distinguish.

He heard the footsteps of the man enter the hall, but he went straight to the backyard without stopping. After walking for a while, he stopped and waited in place for a while. Then he heard the sound getting lighter and lighter, and finally disappeared!

Pei He immediately frowned,

He had also observed this small building on all sides, which was a wall on all sides. Among them, the building was built, and behind it was a garden. Could it be that the man would go upstairs? Could it be... going down?

A cold light flashed in Pei He's eyes.

"It seems... they built a secret room underground..."

Thinking of this, he quietly stood up from the flowers and flashed out like a ghost.

This room was surrounded by the backyard and wanted to find a place to enter around the backyard. There were only people patrolling nearby, and there were several breaths hidden in the yard, so there must be a master guarding it. Pei He looked around and found that it was very difficult to sneak in without knowing it. He stood there and thought about it, and quietly retreated into the darkness.

The next day, when Pei He stepped out of Hongyun Tower, he spread the news. His subordinates were able to do things well, but not long after, they found out the origin of the scarred man.

"Sir, this person's name is Hu Yuan. A big merchant from Ryukyu. His ancestral home is also in Quanzhou, Daqing. In his early years, his ancestors went to the sea to Ryukyu and fell down there. I heard that this person has a good relationship with the pirate King Zhi and Xu Hai..."

Pei He nodded when he heard this, but Jiang Yu was eager to try it out after hearing this.

"Sir, we have to take this person and then interrogate it carefully?"

Pei He looked at him and shook his head,

“No need…”

I am here to investigate the evidence of Yan Shifan's connection with the Japanese. This person has no social relationship with Yan Shifan. What should I do with him?

Thinking about it,

"This person has a friendship with the two thief leaders. I think he knows very well about the Japanese pirates. It's better to find a way to approach him..."

Then asked again,

"What do he like?"

Feng Yunkai responded,

"The roughness of this life is a gentleman, and he has some research on calligraphy and painting. He likes the same group of literati to gather together and appreciate antique calligraphy and painting!"

Pei He nodded when he heard this.

"Okay! It's good if you like it!"

As long as this person has likes and dislikes, he can take advantage of the opportunity!

It is said that smuggling is now popular in the southeast. There are countless merchants who secretly trade overseas, many of whom are like Hu Yuan. They were born in Daqing. When they were from his ancestors, they went out to sea to make a living, and then went back to Daqing to do business. Hu Yuan returned to Ningbo Prefecture this time and was naturally for the family business.

Since the maritime trade was found in the Central Plains, silk, tea and porcelain have been loved by many overseas countries. For these exquisite goods like miracles, those merchants traveled thousands of miles and went through hardships to exchange their own domestic gold and silver utensils, pearls, gems, agate crystals, carpet slaves, etc. for good things from this great Eastern country.

Before Daqing, various dynasties traded frequently with overseas trade. Only in this dynasty, there was a ban on Taizu. After that, emperors of all dynasties were also loose and tight. Until now, two hundred years have passed, the Japanese pirates have become more and more serious. Emperor Jiajing deeply hated the Japanese pirates, so he did the maritime ban of his ancestors. He did not allow him to go into the sea, and the people were not allowed to trade overseas. Only a few merchant ships such as Boni, Siam, Ancient Meat, Zhenla, Chameng, Sumada, Ceylon, Sulu, Guli, Ancient Meat, Java, Manta, Kezhi, Fusang, Ryukyu, and Korea can enter the Daqing sea area in the name of tribute.

But now it is not as good as it was back then. Nowadays, commerce is developed along the southeast coast. Every family in Suzhou and Hangzhou can hear the sound of looms. Everyone can grow mulberry trees and silkworms, and weave silk. These things are made and sold to the mainland. Most of them are sold to overseas by smuggled merchants at sea to earn a large amount of silver.

Merchants like Hu Yuan rely on their overseas locations but their ancestral homes are in the Central Plains and have not broken off contact with Daqing. He himself also believes that he is a native of Daqing. This is a convenient way to start a smuggling business. It is smooth sailing. Speaking of which, it is not difficult to make a deal. It is just that they come to Daqing to find the merchant who is willing to ship, buy goods for money, and then use their own ship to send them to the sea, find a place to trade with those overseas merchants, and make a difference from it!

It is not difficult to buy or sell goods. Daqing's things are good and cheap. Overseas merchants are stupid and have a lot of money. They are easy to buy and sell. The most difficult thing is to get things out. They also need to guard against pirates who are like locusts at any time. These gangs are made up of Japanese ronin, warriors and the southeast coast. They are composed of bandits who go into the sea for many years. They are composed of bandits who go to sea for the surnames. Therefore, Hu Yuan's biggest headache is to deal with these people. Fortunately, his ancestors went to sea early and have been engaged in business at sea for many years, and have some friendship with the two major bandit capitals.

However, the Daqing Navy, who should have been the most afraid of by these smuggling merchants, have long been useless and no longer taken seriously by these people!

"What are you afraid of a bunch of waste we raise with money?"

Hu Yuan himself has a caravan of not too big and small, and has raised dozens of escorts who are skilled and good at naval battles. He has been in this business for some time and is well-known in the circle.

After years of accumulation, he has become very rich. He has housed land in Ningbo, Suhang, and Songjiang Prefecture. In the past few days, he has invited many literati and scholars in his Ningbo Prefecture's house. Everyone has drunk and visited prostitutes, and evaluated antique calligraphy and painting, which makes him very happy. Although Hu Yuan felt that although he was born a barbarian, his achievements in calligraphy and painting were not inferior to those of the poor scholars who had been here for ten years.

Hu Yuan was leaning on the chest of the beautiful maid behind him, and his head was comfortable between the two towering mountains, but he stared at the words in front of him and asked,

"How much silver does Brother Wenshan earn this painting?"

The man, known as Brother Wenshan, was thin and had a sparse goatee. At this time, he was also pillowing on the thigh of a beautiful maid. While drinking, he proudly stretched out a finger and said,

"One thousand taels of silver!"

Hu Yuanwen nodded repeatedly,

"It turns out that good luck... This Fangyuan Temple record was written by Mi Fu in his early years. Although it is not as famous as he did in his later years, it has a rigorous structure, a tight official position, a square and a natural layout, and a worth of one thousand taels of silver. Who sold this? I wonder if there are other masterpieces by Mi Fu, but are you willing to give up?"

Brother Wenshan smiled,

"This is a playboy from the capital. He was eating, drinking and having fun in Ningbo Mansion. The expenses were too great, so he sent the painting to the pawnshop I opened to be a dead end. The shopkeeper in my cabinet said that the boy seemed to have good goods in his hand, and the words Mi Fu were just the worst among them!"

"Oh...is it?"

Hu Yuan immediately came in an interest, pushed away the beautiful maid behind him and sat upright and asked,

"Can you know where this person is and what is his origin?"

Brother Wenshan answered,

"I am a child of the You family in Yin County. I followed me to the capital in my early years. I came back to attend the funeral these days, but I was scattered and had to come out to sleep in the willows during the funeral period. The family always soaked in Hongyun Tower, spending a lot of money on the brand of hibiscus. You may be able to find it when you go to search!"

Hu Yuan was overjoyed when he heard this.

"So it's in Hongyun Tower, okay... I'm familiar with the madam in Hongyun Tower. It's just right to ask her to introduce her!"

That night, You Chenguang was leaning against the window and listening to Furong's delicate song, but he looked bored and threw the empty wine glass in his hand.

"I have already played all the fun things in Ningbo Mansion, and there is nothing strange about it compared to the capital. I will go to Suhang for two days to take a look..."

Furongjiao paused when she heard the sound of the pipa in her hand, looked up at him with resentment.

"Young Master is really cruel to leave Jiaojiao?"

You Chenguang reached out to pinch her face and said with a smile,

"How can you...I can't bear to part with Master?"

Furong's big eyes were filled with tears, and she said with a trembling voice,

"A couple has been kind to you for a hundred days overnight. I have been married to my grandson for many days. Isn't the grandson reluctant to part with me?"

You Chenguang laughed,
Chapter completed!