Chapter 48 Deputy Hall Master
The side hall on the west side of the princess's residence was temporarily converted into a courtroom.
Xiao Yunzhan, sitting at the head of the table, tried hard to suppress the irritation in his heart and didn't move for a long time.
Zhou Wenbin led the yamen runners to interrogate the Taihu Gang members; judging by the time, they should have news by now.
Below, Pei Lin is compiling a list of missing women.
After he finished organizing, he checked the existing list of women that the yamen runners had brought him.
No matter how you calculate it, there are still seven missing, and the first one circled is Sun Qiao'er.
"Your Highness! Lord Pei! We've found out!" Zhou Wenbin strode in with two constables.
"Your Highness, those few have confessed! Among the Taihu Gang's branches, the most skilled driver is the deputy branch leader, Zhu Qing!"
He was born and raised in Suzhou. He grew up running around the city and could count alleys where horse-drawn carriages could pass and where stone blocks were hidden around corners with his eyes closed!
They also said that every time the gang needed to "deliver something," it was Zhu Qing who drove the carriage there!
As for what was given as a gift, they didn't dare ask too much. They only knew that every time Zhu Qing came back, Ding Jin would talk to him alone for a long time..."
"Bring Zhu Qing here."
Xiao Yunzhan gestured with his chin toward the guards waiting outside the door, "Go and keep watch. No one is allowed to approach. No matter who comes, stop them first."
The guard responded with "Yes!" and turned to stand guard outside the hall.
Seeing this, Zhou Wenbin quickly waved to the constables: "Go to the woodshed and fetch Zhu Qing! Be careful, don't let him try anything funny!"
The constables left to carry out their orders, and the side hall fell silent for a moment.
Pei Lin looked at Xiao Yunzhan: "Zhu Qing is the deputy hall master and also in charge of the gang's carriages. Most of the women that Ding Jin kidnapped were transported to the secret passage by him."
"Hmm." Xiao Yunzhan responded. This Zhu Qing looked like the deputy hall master in charge of miscellaneous affairs, but there were probably a lot of things going on behind the scenes.
Before long, the constables brought the person over.
"Kneel down!" The bailiff shoved him, and Zhu Qing staggered and fell to his knees, his knees hitting the floor tiles with a "thud," but he didn't dare to utter a sound of pain.
He slowly raised his head, forcing a fawning smile: "This humble subject, Zhu Qing, greets Your Highness and Lord Pei."
Xiao Yunzhan simply looked at him quietly: "You are the deputy leader of the Taihu Gang. You should know some details about the despicable things you've done, right?"
Zhu Qing's smile froze for a moment, then collapsed, and she put on an innocent look.
"Your Highness, you have wronged this humble subject!"
Ding Jin is the head of the hall, and he never consults with ordinary people when he does things!
"I'm just a lowly handyman, only in charge of feeding and drinking the brothers in the gang, I don't know anything else!"
As he spoke, he kowtowed to the ground.
"Take those girls for example. I only heard about it later. Ding Jin hid them in a secret passage and wouldn't even let the brothers in the gang get close. How could I dare to ask any questions?"
Xiao Yunzhan had anticipated that he would say that.
He picked up the teacup on the table and took a sip. "You think that if you just stay silent, someone will come to your rescue?"
Zhu Qing stiffened, his eyes darting around, but he remained defiant: "Your Highness, what are you saying? This humble subject doesn't understand..."
"Don't understand? You're the deputy leader of the Taihu Gang. You dare say you haven't been involved in anything Ding Jin did?"
Everyone in the gang has been confessed. On the day of the Cold Clothes Festival, it was you who drove a horse-drawn carriage and kidnapped a girl in a narrow alley in the west of the city, locking her up with the other women who had been lured there for "recruitment".
Do you remember that girl who had a tiny black mole, about the size of a grain of rice, under her left eyebrow?
Upon hearing this, Zhu Qing's face drained of color instantly. Her lips trembled as she tried to say something, but couldn't utter a single word for a long time.
He had indeed held onto a sliver of hope, thinking that as long as he didn't confess and the authorities had no concrete evidence, those who had tipped him off might find a way to save him, since he knew quite a bit.
But now that even the kidnapping during the Cold Clothes Festival has been exposed, what else is the government unaware of?
Seeing his reaction, Xiao Yunzhan knew that he was about to collapse.
"Do you think the higher-ups will come to rescue you?"
But think about it, now that you're in my hands, do you think they'd dare to come?
They'll just think that you'll confess everything sooner or later, and rather than risk being implicated to save you, it's better to let you die here and avoid further trouble.
Zhu Qing's forehead began to bead with cold sweat, which trickled down her cheeks.
He clenched his fists, still clinging to the last glimmer of hope that perhaps the higher-ups would remember his past contributions and let him wait a little longer; maybe things would turn around.
Seeing this, Pei Lin looked at him with amusement.
"Zhu Qing, the people who interrogated your brothers just now weren't just Zhou Wenbin."
Do you think your superiors know that your brothers have already betrayed you?
"Guess again, are they figuring out how to save you right now, or how to shut you up forever?"
These words seemed to drain all the strength from Zhu Qing. His shoulders slumped, and when he looked up, his eyes were filled with panic, his voice trembling with tears: "I'll talk... I'll tell you everything..."
Xiao Yunzhan didn't speak, but nodded, signaling him to continue.
Zhu Qing swallowed hard, his voice trembling: "We...we abducted those women, and either that night or the next night, someone would come to pick them up."
Each time someone came to pick them up, it was a stranger, wearing a straw hat so their faces were obscured.
They would also give us women they had abducted from other places, and have us sell them to brothels or human traffickers for some money..."
"If you can abduct people in large numbers, why do you still need to kidnap individuals when there are many people?" Pei Lin pressed.
Zhu Qing sighed, a hint of helplessness on his face: "Those women who were lured in in large numbers all had ordinary looks, and the people above didn't think much of them."
They said they needed to find some good-looking girls, so Ding Jin told us to kidnap a couple of outstanding-looking girls during the holidays when there were many people.
However, we dared not touch those dressed in finery, fearing that their families might be powerful and that it would ultimately offend the Dragon King Temple...
We just heard a few days ago that they caused a huge disaster during the Cold Clothes Festival, actually kidnapping people from the princess's residence!
When the higher-ups found out about this, they beat Ding Jin severely. He was furious for days after he came back and drank every day…
"He also beat a woman to death?" Xiao Yunzhan asked suddenly, recalling the body of Lin Acui that had been discovered earlier.
Zhu Qing nodded, "Yes... The night before last, Ding Jin either drank too much or inhaled too much cold food powder, and while he was messing around with a girl, he lost his temper and killed her."
We threw the body into the river that very night, but to our utter surprise, the body floated back into the city and was discovered by the authorities…”
"Why haven't the abducted women been moved out for so long?"
According to Zhu Qing, in the past, the transfer would be carried out on the same night or the next day, but this time it was delayed for two or three months.
Zhu Qing shook his head: "We don't know either!"
Ding Jin was even more anxious than we were, urging the higher-ups every day, but they just told us to wait and they would notify us when they had news.
It wasn't until recently, when the person who came to pick out good-looking women arrived, that Ding Jin was told that there was infighting among the higher-ups, making it inconvenient to do anything lately.
We then realized that the infighting had prevented them from evacuating in time…
"Who are these people who came to pick people?" Xiao Yunzhan's gaze tightened.
Zhu Qing frowned and thought for a long time before speaking: "I really don't know who he is! Every time he comes, he follows behind the people from Yangdu Liu's Pharmacy and doesn't say much."
As for the people at Liu's Pharmacy, they would give Ding Jin a batch of Cold Food Powder and Delightful Grass, as well as some other prohibited drugs.
Ding Jin would secretly keep some of it and sell it to brothels to get money for himself.
Some of the remaining alluring herbs were left at the hall for later use in abducting women.
The other part was secretly sold to boatmen, who then smuggled it out to other places…
Xiao Yunzhan's heart skipped a beat. Yangdu Liu's Pharmacy? How could this shop be connected with the Taihu Gang?
They also sold Cold Food Powder and Delightful Grass, both of which are strictly controlled medicinal materials by the government and ordinary pharmacies dare not touch them.
He recalled that when he investigated Suhetang, Yu Haijing had said that "only registered pharmacists can sell the herb 'charming grass'," so it seemed that Liu's Pharmacy must be something special.
"What else do you know?" Xiao Yunzhan pressed, his gaze fixed on Zhu Qing's face, not missing a single subtle expression.
Zhu Qing thought for a moment and then suddenly said, "I remember the people from Liu's Pharmacy said that we won't have to go through this trouble anymore."
When Ding Jin asked him what he meant by that, the man didn't explain in detail, only saying that he would know in time..."
"Anything else?" Pei Lin pressed, clearly feeling there was more to the story.
Zhu Qing tried hard to recall: "I also heard Ding Jin say that the people on our side also have to listen to the orders from Yangdu."
As for who those people in Yangdu are, and what they do specifically, I really have no idea… Ding Jin never told me, and I didn’t dare to ask.”
Xiao Yunzhan and Pei Lin exchanged a glance, both seeing the understanding in each other's eyes.
The human trafficking network is larger than they imagined.
Suzhou was just one of the strongholds; the real core was probably in Yangzhou.
And Liu's Pharmacy was likely a key link in this network responsible for supplying the poison.
"The Liu Family Pharmacy you mentioned, do the people who come each time have any distinctive features? For example, their voices or their clothing?" Xiao Yunzhan wanted to dig out more clues.
Zhu Qing shook his head, a troubled look on his face: "They were all wearing dark clothes and straw hats, and they spoke in very low voices, so I couldn't tell anything from them."
The only thing we're sure of is that the people who come are different each time, as if they're deliberately trying to prevent us from remembering their faces..."
"Do you still remember what the man who picked out the women looked like?"
"I remember, I remember, it's always been him who comes to choose people, it hasn't changed," Zhu Qing replied eagerly.
Xiao Yunzhan picked up his paintbrush and, based on Zhu Qing's description, drew the man's appearance, then showed it to him.
"Could it be this person?"
Zhu Qing's eyes widened in surprise as she looked at Xiao Yunzhan and then at the portrait in his hand.
"So alike! It's so alike! It's him!"
Xiao Yunzhan didn't ask any more questions; that was about all Zhu Qing knew.
He ordered his guards, "Take him away and keep a close eye on him. Don't let him have any contact with other gang members."
The guard responded and led Zhu Qing outside.
As Zhu Qing reached the door, she suddenly stopped, turned to look at Xiao Yunzhan, and her voice was full of pleading.
"Your Highness... I've already said it, could you... could you please not sentence me to death? I have an elderly mother at home who needs my support..."
"Your Highness, Lord Pei." Zhu Qing was interrupted by a hurried guard before he could finish speaking.
"Ding Jin's cousin, Jiang Yong... something happened to Jiang Yong's family."
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