The notice from the government office caused a sensation in Yangzhou City. To be precise, it was the 300 taels of silver that ignited the enthusiasm of the people. Men, women, young and old all talked about the matters on the notice with enthusiasm. As long as the information from those people in Guanzhong were provided, they could get 300 taels of silver.

After the enthusiastic exposure of the people, a group of people who were related to Guanzhong were taken away by public and soldiers, including those who had been to Guanzhong, those who married a woman from Guanzhong and those who married a daughter to Guanzhong, etc. As long as those who were related to Guanzhong were all arrested and imprisoned in Yangzhou Prefecture. [..com]

In the evening, Tan Zong played chess with Shi Shi at home. Tan Zong originally thought that he could easily defeat Shi Shi, but who would have thought that Shi Shi would do his best to make the battle fall into a deadlock.

"Brother, the imperial envoy sent someone to come and ask you to come." Just as the two were in a difficult situation, Zheng Hu walked into the room and said to him.

"Click the chess first, come back and then put it off." Tan Zong stood up and stretched, smiled and ordered Shi Shi, and left with Zheng Hu.

Shi Shi looked at the chess game and smiled slightly. She had been learning Go and chess under the guidance of her father since she was five years old. Although Tan Zong's chess skills were good, they were not her opponent. Shi Shi has been giving in to Tan Zong, which put the chess game in a delicate state of balance.

When Tan Zong walked into a wing room in the Yangzhou Prefecture Prison, Zhou Dunran was finishing his meal, and Tong Shiqing bowed and stood beside him.

Tong Shiqing did not disappoint Tan Zong. He sifted through the prison guards, learned about some of the situation through the prison guards and the prison guards' families, and finally found out the prison guards who leaked the news.

The prisoner began to refuse to admit it, so Tong Shiqing sentenced him to a great punishment. After a contest, the prisoner who could not bear it was obediently revealed the truth:

About half a month ago, he lost money in the casino and borrowed a strange man's gambling bill of fifty taels of silver. As a result, the strange man not only did not ask him for the fifty taels of silver, but also gave him fifty taels of silver. The price was to let him tell him the situation of "Hou Dehai" every day.

Although the prison guard thought that the stranger's move was very suspicious, he had the handle in the other party's hands, and he felt that it was not a big deal to just reveal the situation of "Hou Dehai", so he agreed to the other party and told the stranger privately about the situation of "Hou Dehai" according to the other party's request, and then intermittently received nearly 100 taels of silver from the other party's benefit fee.

The morning before yesterday, the stranger found the prison guard and asked him to pay close attention to "Hou Dehai". If any accident happened in the prison, he would immediately notify him and he would be in the tavern opposite the prison.

After "Hou Dehai"'s head was cut off, the jailer finally knew that the matter was getting worse. In order to avoid being implicated, he went to the tavern using the excuse of buying wine and told the stranger the news, hoping that the stranger would leave quickly and never show up again, so that no one would know what he had done before.

It was his move to buy wine that aroused Tong Shiqing's alertness. However, Tong Shiqing did not move the prison guard at first, but went to the tavern to learn about it. He learned that a man with a distant man stayed in the tavern on the day of the incident and did not leave until the prison guard bought the drink.

Tong Shiqing knew that the jailer was fond of gambling, so he inquired about his recent words and deeds and financial situation from the rest of the jailer. After learning that his money was suddenly more generous than before, he suspected that the jailer was framed in the casino and was then bribed. Then he reported it to Zhou Dunran and asked Zhou Dunran to send someone to the jailer's home to search.

When the soldiers found more than 100 taels of white silver buried underground under a big tree in the backyard, Tong Shiqing was punished.

The jailer knew that what he did was a dead end, so he insisted that the money was won by him little by little from the casino. Tong Shiqing would not believe his nonsense. After spending a lot of energy, he finally forced him to speak.

"Young Master Huang, let's go and have a look." After dinner, Zhou Dunran took a few sips of tea, nodded to Tan Zong, stood up and walked out.

Tan Zong bowed to Zhou Dunran and followed him quietly. The two of them came to the forcibly room under Tong Shiqing's guidance.

A man with skin and flesh on the torture instrument was tied to the torture instrument. The man's upper clothes had been stripped off and his lower body was wearing the jailer's pants.

Unlike Zhou Dunran's criminal law that causes life to be worse than death, Tong Shiqing's purpose is to get useful confessions and dare not punish the person who is punished to death. Therefore, the method adopted is to let the person who is punished suffer some flesh and blood.

Although the man looked bloody, he was not hurt. He was still awake and looked at Zhou Dunran and Tan Zong who were walking over with horror.

"Sir, please spare me. I was confused for a moment and fell into the trap of the other party." The man's Adam's apple squirmed and begged for mercy to Zhou Dunran.

"Do you know that your behavior is undoubtedly a complicity of the murderer. It is even more serious than killing "Hou Dehai". Not only will you be beheaded, but your family will be searched and exterminated!" Zhou Dunran walked to the man expressionlessly and looked at him coldly.

"The young one is not their accomplice. The young one really doesn't know that they want to kill 'Hou Dehai'. If they know that they do this, they will not inform them of the news even if they beat them to death." The man's face turned green and he quickly defended himself. His emotions became anxious. His body twisted uneasy, shaking the shackles on his hands loudly.

Although he had expected the serious consequences, if he was judged as accomplice, he would be punished more severely than the prison guard who cut off the head of "Hou Dehai". After all, the prison guard made a helpless move under threat from the other party, and his behavior was indeed suspected of being incompatible with the flow.

"If I had known today, why should I be there?" Zhou Dunran sneered when he heard this, "Your only chance now is to pay the merits and help the government find the stranger, otherwise you would have to wait for death here."

"Sir, sir, if you see that person again, you will definitely recognize him." The man immediately said loudly when he heard this.

"If you say this, you can't provide any clues to the other party?" Zhou Dunran stared at the man, with a cold smile on his lips, and asked slowly.

"Big... Sir, the young one really doesn't know his background, but he remembers his appearance." The man's cold sweat flowed down his cheeks in an instant. He knew that if he could not provide some information that touched Zhou Dunran, then he might have to wait to die in prison.

"Take him down and take care of him alone, and don't contact anyone." Zhou Dunran stared at the sweaty man for a while, and waved his hands at the soldiers beside him.

The two soldiers immediately walked forward, opened the shackles on the man's hands and feet, and dragged his arms away.

"Since the other party has shown up, he will naturally hide, and it may be difficult to find him." After returning to the wing room, Zhou Dunran frowned and looked at Tan Zong, with almost no hope for finding a stranger who contacted the man.

"If you guess correctly, those kidnappers and those who inquire about the news should be in the same group. As long as the kidnapper is found, the guy who came to inquire about the news will naturally surface." Tan Zong smiled slightly, sat down on the chair, and replied with a smile.

"But those people are elusive and I don't know when they will be able to find them." Zhou Dunran put down his teacup and looked a little solemn. The longer the matter was delayed, the worse the impact it caused.

"Now the people in Yangzhou City are all the eyes and ears of the government. It is really not that easy for them to hide quietly." Tan Zong looked at Zhou Dunran with a smile, "Even if they hide well, there will always be a time when they are secrets."

Zhou Dunran nodded when he heard this, and his eyes looked at Tan Zong couldn't help but feel a little admiration: I can still be calm at this time. This Mr. Huang is indeed not an ordinary person. No wonder the officials gave him full responsibility for the affairs of Yangzhou Prefecture.

Although Zhou Dunran has been struggling in the officialdom for many years and has rich experience in life, he can't help but become confused after being killed by "Hou Dehai". After all, he was an imperial criminal appointed by the government and had a great relationship. He really could not bear this serious consequence, and he did not have Tan Zong's vague and free and easy manner.

Zhou Dunran would never have thought that in Tan Zong's eyes, "Hou Dehai" was just a cover, and his real goal was Bi Shijie, the boss of the salt tax department, one of the three major yamen in Yangzhou Prefecture.

The power of the people is undoubtedly huge, far better than the secret spies that the court had put in great painstaking efforts and energy into arranging. At noon the next day, when Tan Zong was having dinner with Shi Shi at home, Zhou Dunran suddenly sent someone to invite him.

It was lunch time. Tan Zong knew that if it were not important, Zhou Dunran would not come to disturb him rashly, so he didn't have to eat and rushed to the prison with Zheng Hu and others.

Walking into the wing room where Zhou Dunran was, Tan Zong was surprised to find that in addition to Zhou Dunran, there was also a middle-aged man dressed in a civilian manner, standing there crampedly.

"Tell Mr. Huang what you know." Zhou Dunran nodded slightly to Tan Zong and said to the middle-aged man.

"Young Master, the young Zhang Laowu, is a vegetable seller at the market and often delivers vegetables to the rich family's mansions." The middle-aged man smiled and nodded and said to Tan Zong, "One morning about three years ago, Xiaodi went to deliver vegetables to Gong's mansion in the east of the city. He accidentally hit a servant in the mansion. The servant slapped Xiaodi in the face and left cursed. Xiaodi heard it very clearly at the time. He was speaking Guanzhong dialect, but when Xiaodi saw him again, he whispered a Jiangnan accent."

Zhang Laowu didn't care at that time. Because more than three years have passed, he had long forgotten about this trivial matter. After the government office posted a notice, he didn't remember it for a while.

It was not until this morning that he went to Gong's house to deliver vegetables, and accidentally saw the servant who beat him three years ago. He remembered what happened back then. After thinking for a long time, the government office reported to the official.

Zhou Dunhai believed that it was only the locals in Yangzhou City, so the person responsible for receiving the whistleblowers was the confidants he brought from Beijing. The confidants felt that the news was extremely important, so they reported it to Zhou Dunhai. Zhou Dunhai felt something was wrong in Gong's mansion and immediately asked someone to notify Tan Zong.

"Gong Mansion!" After Zhang Laowu finished speaking, Tan Zong frowned slightly and turned to Zhou Dunhai, "I know that this Gong Mansion, Mr. Gong is one of the best medicinal materials merchants in Yangzhou City. Because he is gentle, kind and generous, and often gives medicine for free, he is called "Gong Da Shanren". He has a very good relationship with all forces in Yangzhou City. He is a guest of honor for Lord Lu, Lord Bi and others."

"Last time to raise funds, Mr. Gong donated 1,500 taels to the people of Suzhou Prefecture, second only to the amount donated by the presidents of the Grain Merchants Chamber of Commerce and the Salt Merchants Chamber of Commerce." Then, Tan Zong added and smiled at Zhou Dunhai, "If the kidnappers have any relationship with him, then this person must be a traitor and scheming guy, who is so hiding that he is seamless."

"Zhang Laowu, this matter is of great importance. If you frame Mr. Gong, I will definitely punish you severely!" Zhou Dunhai glared at him and warned Zhang Laowu sternly.

Before Tan Zong came, Zhou Dunhai had already learned about the situation of the Gong Mansion and knew that Mr. Gong was very close to him. He not only had a good relationship with Lord Lu and others from Yangzhou Prefecture, but also had close contacts with officials from Nanjing Prefecture. If he acted rashly, he would fall into a passive position once he could not find out anything. He would definitely be used by those in the capital in the future and be labeled as "using power" and "disturbing the people".

"I swear to the sky that I really heard that man fucked the Guanzhong accent." Zhang Laowu was frightened by Tan Zong, and knelt on the ground with a thump, with big beads of sweat oozing out of his forehead.

"The imperial envoy, I think what he said is true." Tan Zong glanced at Zhang Laowu who was intimidating and terrified, and looked at Zhou Dunran, "Extraordinary times, extraordinary means. What I mean is to immediately send troops to seal the Gong Mansion and catch him off guard. Some clues will definitely be found."

"Yeah!" Since all the affairs of Yangzhou Prefecture are controlled by Tan Zong, Zhou Dunran naturally has to follow Tan Zong's wishes. He nodded and shouted outside the door, "Let Lord Han of the City Defense Force come."

More than an hour later, in the surprised gaze of the people, Song Ming led more than 200 soldiers from the city defense army to surrounded Gong Mansion, and all the people in Gong Mansion were concentrated in the hall.

With the order from Song Ming, the soldiers carried out a carpet-style search in Gong Mansion, rummaging through boxes and cabinets, and checking every corner.

"What are you doing?" The Gong Mansion was instantly smoky by the soldiers. In the hall, Mr. Gong looked at Song Ming, who was sitting on the chair with a big golden sword expressionless face. "Although Gong Mou is just a slut, thanks to the care of all the adults in Nanjing Mansion, he is definitely not a mermaid person!"

"Mr. Gong, I'm really sorry. This is an order issued by the imperial envoy. We just implement it." Seeing that Mr. Gong carried out of Nanjing Prefecture to suppress him, Song Ming replied with a smile. Compared with the imperial envoy, the officials in Nanjing Prefecture were not enough to see it.
Chapter completed!