Chapter 49 Who Wants to Take Over Suhetang
"Explain clearly, what exactly happened?" Xiao Yunzhan asked in a deep voice.
Ding Jin had just escaped when Jiang Yong ran into trouble; this could not possibly be a coincidence.
The bodyguard said, "I have been keeping an eye on Ding Jin's movements as you instructed."
After he escaped, his brothers thought that since Jiang Yong was Ding Jin's cousin, they might be able to find out where he was, so they went to Jiang Yong's house first.
But when they arrived at the place, they found the gate wide open, the courtyard inside and out in complete disarray, the tables and chairs in the main room overturned, the cabinet doors unable to be closed, and clothes and odds and ends scattered all over the ground.
It looks like it has been thoroughly searched.
My subordinate went in to investigate, and Jiang Yong and his wife, as well as his five-year-old son, were not in the house. It didn't seem like they left on their own; it seemed more like... they had been kidnapped.
The neighbor said that about half an hour before we went there, they heard noises in the yard, but then it became quiet.
Pei Lin's brows were furrowed tightly as he unconsciously held the pen upside down, tapping the file list absentmindedly.
"They came for Ding Jin."
Jiang Yong is Ding Jin's cousin, and he just took us to the Taihu Gang's headquarters.
Those people kidnapped him either to pry Ding Jin's whereabouts out of him, or they were afraid he would reveal too much about the Taihu Gang, so they simply wanted to silence him.
Xiao Yunzhan didn't reply, staring intently at the small circle he had drawn with cinnabar on the map of Yangdu. He hadn't had time to add the name of Liu's Pharmacy yet.
Ding Jin escaped, and Jiang Yong was kidnapped. If something goes wrong at Liu's Pharmacy, all the clues we managed to get from Zhu Qing will be lost.
He suddenly stood up and said to the guard in a deep voice, "Go and send a message to Li Rong immediately, and tell him to gather his men and go to Yangdu to detain everyone in Liu's Pharmacy. Don't let a single one escape."
Tell Li Rong to focus on checking their medical supplies records, correspondence, and especially their communication records with Suzhou. Find all of them.
"Don't be polite during the interrogation. Find out their connections with the Taihu Gang, who their superiors are, where the women they selected were taken, and if there's anything else we don't know."
The guard responded with a "Yes," and turned to leave. Pei Lin added a reminder: "Have Li Rong take more men with him. Don't let your guard down."
Liu's family has dared to control the trade of medicinal herbs for so long, there must be someone backing them up. Don't let those people take advantage of their local power to do something sneaky.
Also, pay close attention to the backyard or hidden storerooms during the search; they might contain ledgers or secret rooms where people are hiding.
The guard nodded and noted it down before hurrying out.
Xiao Yunzhan walked to the window and looked at the darkening sky outside, feeling a heavy weight in his heart.
Ding Jin ran away through the drainage ditch and is now hiding somewhere.
Jiang Yong was kidnapped, and there was no certainty as to whether he was dead or alive.
Liu's Pharmacy is located far away in Yangzhou, which truly shows that distant water cannot quench a nearby fire.
The situation in Suzhou was already a tangled mess, and just when things were starting to look a little clearer, it got even more complicated.
“Ding Jin must have escaped on his own.” Pei Lin walked to his side, his voice steady.
"If his superiors had arranged for him to escape earlier, Jiang Yong's house wouldn't have been ransacked like this; they could have just taken him away directly."
Therefore, if those people find Ding Jin now, they will definitely try to silence him.
He knows too much, whether it's about Liu's Pharmacy, the place where the woman is hidden, or perhaps other secrets. Keeping him around is a huge hidden danger.
Xiao Yunzhan hummed in agreement and turned to look at Pei Lin: "Now let's see who finds him first."
He paused, recalling Zhu Qing's earlier words, and frowned again: "And the people from Liu's Pharmacy said 'We don't need to go through this trouble anymore,' what exactly did they mean by that?"
Does "no more trouble" mean no more transporting those women through the Taihu Gang, or no more secretly delivering the medicine?
Pei Lin pondered for a while, then circled the area of the Suzhou pharmacy on the map.
"The key point is still the pharmacy."
Liu's shop was a pharmacy, while the Taihu gang did the dirty work; it was simply a division of labor.
If they say "no need to bother," it means either Liu's Group wants to take over the business in Suzhou themselves, such as opening a branch in Suzhou directly, without having to go through the Taihu Gang as a middleman.
Or perhaps they've found a new channel, such as using the Grand Canal, to transport people and poisons together, without having to go through two separate trips.
Or perhaps it's something we just couldn't think of right now.
"Regardless of the reason, we must first investigate the pharmacy matter thoroughly." Xiao Yunzhan turned around and walked back to his desk, raising his voice to ask, "Magistrate Zhou, have you found out who was in charge of the pharmacy documents?"
Zhou Wenbin's face showed a troubled expression, as if he were constipated. "Your Highness, Lord Pei, I have investigated the matter of the joint guarantee document between the heads of the pharmacies that you asked about."
But those people in the pharmacy are all as cunning as monkeys, slippery as can be.
My subordinates asked several familiar shopkeepers, and they all said they didn't know who was in charge. They only said that someone came with documents for them to sign, saying it was to help Shen Yizhi.
Everyone saw that they were all in the same industry, and considering that Shen Chengzhang had just passed away, they signed the papers.
Others said they couldn't remember because it had been so long; it was all a passing the buck, and no one was willing to tell the truth.
Pei Lin slammed his pen down heavily. "We can't wait any longer."
The people in the pharmacy refused to talk about it, either because they had received bribes or because they were afraid of offending someone.
Now that Jiang Yong is kidnapped and Ding Jin is on the run, if this drags on, and if Shen Chengzhang's death is indeed connected to Liu's Pharmacy, Shen Yizhi might also be silenced.
He was key to the poisoning of Shen Chengzhang; if he dies, the connection with Su Hetang will be completely severed.
Xiao Yunzhan nodded and immediately sent someone to fetch Shen Yizhi from the prison.
Shen Yizhi had been locked up for several days, and his hair was a mess, but his eyes still showed a defiant spirit. He deliberately stuck out his neck and held his head high, refusing to bow his head in the slightest.
“Shen Yizhi,” Xiao Yunzhan sat at the head of the table, his gaze fixed on him, his tone flat, “Confess honestly whether you were responsible for your father Shen Chengzhang’s death.”
Shen Yizhi scoffed and spat on the ground.
"What do you mean I did it? My father was poisoned, what does that have to do with me?"
Don't try to frame me!
"I'm the victim here! My father is dead, Suhetang has been shut down, and now you've forcibly imprisoned me. You just want to take over my Suhetang, and you're deliberately persecuting me like this!"
"You've been wronged?" Xiao Yunzhan wasn't angry; he simply called out to the door, beckoning the old doctor to come in.
The old doctor walked in, his eyes filled with anger as he looked at Shen Yizhi.
“Shen Yizhi, did you steal ginseng from Suhetang the other day?”
The ginseng you stole was a wild ginseng that the shopkeeper had specially kept for treating Old Madam Zhang in the west of the city. You were caught red-handed by the shopkeeper, who chased you out with a broom. You even cursed the shopkeeper, saying, "You old bastard, I'll make you pay sooner or later."
Who in all the pharmacies in Suzhou doesn't know about this?
I've practically watched you grow up, and although I knew you were useless, I never imagined you'd be a patricide!
Shen Yizhi's face paled for a moment, but he forced himself to remain calm: "I was just confused for a moment! Everyone has times when they're short of money."
How can it be considered stealing my own things?
Besides, I didn't even manage to steal it!
Besides, what does this have to do with my father's death?
“You didn’t manage to steal it, but you said you would kill your father.” Xiao Yunzhan then had the dancers from Yihonglou brought in.
When the dancer saw Shen Yizhi, a hint of fear flashed in her eyes, but she still forced herself to speak: "On the night of the fifteenth of last month, you brought a few cronies to Yihonglou to drink."
Late into the night, someone casually remarked, "Your dad's business's been doing well lately, how come you still have gambling debts?" You immediately slammed your fist on the table and yelled, "That old bastard's blocking my path to wealth! I'll kill him sooner or later, and Suhetang will be mine!"
I heard that clearly, and there were several girls present who can testify to it!
Shen Yizhi's lips trembled, and cold sweat began to bead on his forehead. "I was just talking nonsense because I was drunk! Don't take it seriously! You can't convict me based on a few words of nonsense!"
"Nonsense? Then what about you buying Hanshi San from Yihonglou?" Xiao Yunzhan's voice deepened, and he had the madam brought in.
The madam flicked her handkerchief, swayed her hips as she walked up to Shen Yizhi, her face full of disdain: "Young Master Shen, that's not a very nice thing to say."
You bought quite a few Cold Food Powders from me.
Didn't I tell you back then, 'If this stuff isn't controlled properly, it can kill people'? And you gritted your teeth and said, 'It would be better if you died.'
How could you forget what I said?
Shen Yizhi's face turned completely pale. He knelt on the ground, trembling all over, but still refused to admit it. "I...I bought the Cold Food Powder for my own use! It has nothing to do with my father!"
"For your own use? If you really were using it for yourself, the amount you got from the madam would be enough to kill you eight hundred times over."
"I see you didn't keep it for yourself, you used it to pay off your gambling debts." Pei Lin picked up the gambling den's testimony and slammed it in front of Shen Yizhi.
"The people at the gambling den said that on the morning your father died, you paid back three hundred taels of silver."
You owed the gambling den three months' worth of debt, and you couldn't even afford the interest. How did you suddenly come up with three hundred taels?
Where did this money come from? Did someone make you kill your father, and this three hundred taels is your reward?
He suddenly raised his head, his eyes filled with panic, his lips moved but he couldn't utter a single word.
Xiao Yunzhan looked at him, his tone cold: "Shen Yizhi, based on these witnesses and evidence, it's more than enough to convict you of patricide."
If you confess honestly, you might get a lighter sentence.
But if you insist on persisting, according to the laws of the Great Liang Dynasty, patricide is punishable by death by a thousand cuts.
Don't say I didn't give you a chance to speak later.
Shen Yizhi remained silent.
Pei Lin used the inkstone as a gavel, slamming it heavily on the table with a loud "bang," and demanded, "Speak! Who wants to take over Suhetang's business?"
Who was it that got the pharmacy staff to sign that joint guarantee document for you?
Did someone order you to kill Shen Chengzhang?
Startled by the sudden loud noise, Shen Yizhi squatted down on the ground, covered his head with his hands, and began to sob.
He cried for a long time before he calmed down a little, but he still sobbed, "It was...it was Wang Huai'an, the head of the medicine shop! He made me kill my father!"
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