Long Night

"who?"

Merlin was more alert than Tan Linshuang and the others thought. The three of them were discovered by him just by approaching the window. It can be seen that it was wise for Ri and Ye not to show up rashly before. Otherwise, he would most likely be scared to flee with his men overnight. At that time, they would have to spend a lot of effort to find them, and they might even be found by Tan Mozhu's men first.

Tan Linshuang has been investigating secretly for many years, and this time he is closest to bringing down Tan Mozhu. It is not an exaggeration to say that he is only one step away, because he speculates that Merlin must have more evidence in his hands than he does.

So, he suppressed his excitement, moved closer to the window, and said in a low voice, "Mr. Mei, it's me, Tan Linshuang."

"Tan..." Upon hearing this word, Tan Linshuang could clearly feel the atmosphere in the room suddenly become tense.

Then, he calmly explained: "I came to discuss cooperation with Mr. Mei."

"What cooperation?" Merlin quickly calmed down, but his guard against Tan Linshuang did not weaken at all.

Tan Linshuang said in a deep voice, "Let's work together to expose Tan Mozhu's deeds to the public and make him and the forces behind him receive the punishment they deserve!"

Merlin fell silent suddenly.

Tan Linshuang knew that he must be trying to figure out whether what he said was from the heart or a test.

"Mr. Mei, perhaps you know more about Tan Mozhu's dirty deeds over the years than I do, but you don't know the hatred between him and me."

"you……"

Merlin hesitated. He knew that the uncle and nephew were not close, but hatred...

"He killed my parents." Tan Linshuang said bluntly.

"My parents didn't die in an accident. He bribed the coachman to cause the carriage to fall off a cliff. I've already found that coachman and have him under control."

"Over the years, I have pretended to be sick and sent people to spread rumors that I would not live to be a man of age. This was to confuse him so that I could secretly plan and avenge my parents."

"But even if I endured humiliation for years and grew stronger step by step, I couldn't stop his expansion. Right now, she has the support of the prefect behind her. I wouldn't dare to take action unless I was sure of victory, because I may only have one chance."

"And when I learned that you were the one who rescued those three women, I knew my chance had come!"

"Mr. Mei, you probably want him to be brought to justice, right? Otherwise, even if you can rescue those children, you still can't protect them."

"If I can find you, then Tan Mozhu's people can definitely find you too."

Squeak——

As soon as he finished speaking, the tightly closed window was pushed open a crack, revealing Merlin's vigilant face. "Does Mingyan know about these things?"

Tan Linshuang nodded, "Except for the fact that I came to see you tonight, I already know everything else."

"You shouldn't have dragged her into this!" Merlin scolded.

Tan Linshuang said frankly: "From the day she married me, she has shared my glory and disgrace, and my safety and danger."

Merlin sighed, "Come in and talk."

Tan Linshuang bowed and nodded, turned around and ordered to guard the front and back day and night, then walked towards the door. The door was already open, but there was still only a crack.

This house is located in the backyard of a tavern, which is in the most prosperous area of ​​Huadengfang. No one would normally think that this would be the best hiding place.

After entering the house, Tan Linshuang found that only Meilin was there. Uncle Lin and the three girls were nowhere to be seen. He guessed that the four people must have hidden in the inner room.

This is good, as it will make it easier for him to have a private conversation with Merlin.

"Mr. Mei, besides those three girls, have you ever rescued other children?" Tan Linshuang went straight to the point.

Merlin pondered for a moment, then lowered his eyes and said, "There was one."

"It was because of her that I learned about the secret dealings between your Tan family, the orphanage, and Yunlian."

"It's not Tan..." Tan Linshuang wanted to explain that this was not done by the Tan family, but the behavior of Tan Mozhu alone, but when she thought of her grandmother who knew the truth, she finally gave up.

"Is the other party safe now?"

Merlin picked up the teapot and poured a cup of tea for each of them. "She has been dead for many years."

"She is my late wife."

"What?"

Tan Linshuang's hands, which were stretched out to take the teacup, suddenly stopped in mid-air, with a look of surprise on her face.

Meilin raised his hand, motioning him to take the teacup, and continued, "She was also sold to Yunlian. On the way, one of the thugs escorting her suddenly became attracted to her beauty. He took advantage of everyone's sleep at night and carried her to the woods to rape her. My father happened to have passed away, so I took a shortcut and passed by there at night, and rescued her in time."

"Afterwards, when I learned the truth, I lied to her and said she was my new wife to keep her auspicious. Perhaps Tan Mozhu's power wasn't strong enough at the time, so I never found her whereabouts."

"After three years of mourning, we officially married. Unfortunately... she developed a chronic illness while in the orphanage, and within five years of our marriage, she passed away."

"It's not a pity. I'm sure these five years are very precious to her." Tan Linshuang comforted.

"Maybe..." Merlin took a sip of his tea.

Tan Linshuang then asked, "Back then, you accidentally saved Madam Mei. What about this time? Is it... someone secretly helping you?"

Meilin admitted: "Someone did pass on information to me, telling me where to rescue people and when the best time to act would be."

"You bribed Tan Mozhu's people?" Tan Linshuang asked in surprise.

"No, no!" Merlin shook his head. "He's an old servant from the orphanage. He'd run into my wife on the street before, but he kept quiet. Not long ago, he came to me and said he was dying, and his children had already left Xuzhou Prefecture, leaving them with nothing to worry about. He hoped I could save those three poor children, just like I saved my wife."

"He also gave me the evidence he had collected over the years."

"What kind of evidence? But the account book?" Tan Linshuang asked anxiously.

Merlin didn't answer, but put down the teacup, stood up and walked into the inner room.

In less than an incense stick of time, he came out with a book that looked like an account book.

The booklet was very thick, and the strings connecting it looked like they had been repeatedly untied and tied. The paper was yellowed and had signs of being eaten by insects.

Tan Linshuang took it carefully, flipped through it gently, and her eyes gradually widened, emitting an uncontrollable excitement.

"This is strong evidence that Tan Mozhu and his gang are trafficking people!"

"Do you really want to go to the government office to report Tan Mozhu and the others?" Meilin asked with a frown.

"Yes!" Tan Linshuang nodded without hesitation.

"According to the provisions of our Ming Dynasty Law, those who kidnap and sell people can be sentenced to death by hanging, and accomplices can be exiled three thousand miles away. It is a serious crime, and even their families will be punished." Merlin reminded.

Tan Linshuang's eyes were sharp, "Of course I know. When the time comes, I will donate some of my land and property to the court to protect the rest of my family from being implicated."

"Besides, I want to accuse Tan Mozhu of more than just this one crime."

"What else did they do?" Merlin asked in surprise.

Tan Linshuang took a deep breath and told him about Tan Mozhu's murder of a pregnant woman. "I guess his next target is most likely Mingyan."

"Asshole!" Merlin slammed his hand on the table.

…

"A Tao, what time is it?"

Zhao Mingyan suddenly woke up and turned around, but there was still no one next to her, so she had to wake up A Tao who was sleeping in the side room.

"Madam, it's almost five o'clock in the morning." A Tao responded quickly.

It’s already five o’clock in the morning?

Zhao Mingyan frowned slightly, "Is your young master not back yet?"

"I'll go and take a look."

A Tao quickly got up from the bed, put on her coat, and went to Tan Linshuang's study first. Finding no one inside, she went to the back door.

She also felt it was strange, "It's already this hour, why hasn't the young master returned yet?"

"Is there any accident?"

The more she thought about it, the more worried she became, and the bigger her steps became...

"How long until the morning bell rings?"

"It will probably take about another stick of incense."

At this time, Tan Linshuang had disguised himself as a waiter in a tavern. Together with Ri Ye, who was dressed in the same way, they were waiting at the back door of the tavern, holding a cart with five large wine jars on it. They were waiting for the morning bell to ring and the road to be opened, so that they could push the five wine jars containing Merlin and the others away.

The tavern owner was also waiting nearby, listening to the noise outside while pacing anxiously.

After talking with Merlin, Tan Linshuang felt that this place could not be used as a long-term hiding place, in case they left, Tan Mozhu's people would come looking for them. He immediately decided to change the hiding place as soon as the curfew was over.

Boom——

At three in the morning, the morning bell rang. The tavern owner, Ma, hurriedly opened the back door and pretended to remind everyone, "Be careful on the road, don't break the wine jar!"

"Yes!" Tan Linshuang also bowed and nodded in a pretentious manner, and then pushed the cart on the road with Riye.

The five people huddled in the wine jar, not daring to breathe, and their bodies swayed up and down with the swaying of the cart.

The morning market in Huadengfang has opened, and small vendors have been busy coming out to the streets. No one pays attention to Tan Linshuang and the others.

The morning mist was hazy and they moved slowly.

Ah Ye was a little hungry. To distract herself, she said to Ah Ri, who was on the other side of the cart, "My house is not big. With so many people crammed in, there might not be enough room. I can only accommodate two or three people in one room."

After some thought, Tan Linshuang decided to let Merlin and the others hide with Aye for the time being.

A Ye's residence is very close to the Tan Mansion. It is a courtyard purchased privately by Tan Linshuang. The people living around it are either rich or noble, and ordinary people dare not enter at will.

And Aye usually regards herself as a skinny horse kept outside the mansion of some powerful person, which makes people stop at her residence.

Since it is a canary, the cage will naturally not be big.

Ah Ri nodded and said, "I'll squeeze in with Uncle Lin."

"Uncle Lin has to take care of Mr. Mei. Please squeeze in with me. My bed is big enough." Aye said seriously.

Ari stumbled and hurried to steady the cart.

But the cart still shook a little because of his movement, making the five people in the wine jar even more nervous.

"Do you want to break the wine jar? Watch the road carefully. If the wine jar gets bumped into anything, you will be whipped when you get back." Aye said with a stern face as if it were true.

Ari was speechless.

Stealing a glance at his obviously flushed face, Ah Ye curled his lips in triumph and continued to tease him: "The boss's whip is specially used to hit the buttocks... Ah Tong!"

Hearing the name, the other two stopped at the same time and saw Atong walking towards them through the thick fog.

Ah Ye said worriedly, "This guy has always had sharp eyes. Will he recognize the young master?"