Chapter 41 Cash
"Disappeared for more than a month, yet still wandering around outside Suzhou?" Pei Zhiwei felt that this was somewhat illogical.
"This is really strange. Is she the only one hiding nearby, or are all the abducted girls here? If they wanted to move them, they would have done it already. Why leave them until now?"
Lin Acui was lured away for more than a month. If it was simply to silence her, why wait so long?
Could there have been some unexpected change in the middle?
Or are these abducted women being kept nearby and abused? Was it just her turn last night?
Everyone felt that this situation was very unreasonable.
Gu Boheng even asked aloud, "Yeah, why not hurry up and move it, just to wait for the authorities to arrest us..."
"Lord Zhou! Lord Zhou! It's urgent!" A hurried shout from the alley entrance interrupted him.
The crowd looked in the direction of the sound and saw Zhao Laoshuan, the magistrate of the west ward, leading a man in a gray cloth short shirt, being stopped at the entrance of the alley by the yamen runners. He was waving his hand vigorously, trying to attract their attention.
The man also looked anxious.
Zhou Wenbin: "Let them in."
Zhao Laoshuan and the man rushed over.
"Sir, this is Jiang Yong from our neighborhood. I just remembered something this morning that's related to that medicinal wine, so I didn't dare delay and brought him to see you right away."
Zhou Wenbin's eyebrows were almost touching. The murder case was still unsolved, and could something have happened to the medicinal wine?
"What is it? Speak quickly."
Jiang Yong: "Lord Zhou, it's...it's about Suhetang's Guben wine."
Yesterday, the officials went door-to-door to notify us of the recall. I... I had just returned from the gambling den and was still half asleep. I didn't remember that I had bought three bottles a few days ago and given two to my cousin.
"You gave it to my cousin?" Zhou Wenbin thought he had misheard, but seeing Jiang Yong nodding repeatedly, a nameless anger began to rise within him.
Impatiently, as if shooing away a fly, she said, "Then go ask your cousin for it back. Why bother coming all the way to me for something so small?"
"No, sir!" Jiang Yong quickly explained.
"My cousin is no ordinary person. He is Ding Jin of the Taihu Gang. He has many brothers under his command and knows some kung fu."
I'm afraid... I'm afraid there's something wrong with that medicinal wine. If he drinks it and goes crazy like Manager Shen, how am I supposed to control him? Even if I send an ordinary constable, I'm afraid..."
"The Taihu Gang?" Zhou Wenbin's eyebrows finally met.
How did this get involved with the Taihu Gang?
It should be noted that the Taihu Gang has a reputation outside the city and controls several docks along Taihu Lake. Although they have not committed any major crimes, their men are all ruthless and unruly, and the government usually does not want to confront them directly.
He looked at Xiao Yunzhan, his eyes filled with a clear plea for help.
This matter involves gangs; a county magistrate like him can't make the decision.
Xiao Yunzhan didn't give a definite answer immediately, but instead asked Jiang Yong, "Where does your cousin live? How long does it take to get there from Xumen?"
“Go south from Xumen, follow the official road, and it’s less than an hour on horseback. There’s a branch of the Taihu Gang there; he usually stays there,” Jiang Yong quickly replied, afraid of getting into trouble if he spoke too slowly.
Zhou Wenbin was about to have the head constable take a few men and go with Jiang Yong.
Xiao Yunzhan spoke first.
“I’ll go with you. Ding Jin knows kung fu; if he really goes crazy, these constables might not be able to handle him.”
Pei Zhiwei: "I'll go too. The reed marshes outside the city aren't far from there, so we can go see if we can find any clues."
She was still thinking about the reeds on Lin Acui's body and wanted to go along the river to take a look.
Even though the torrential rain might have washed away all traces, I still feel uneasy if I don't go and check; you never know, I might make an unexpected discovery.
Xiao Yunzhan was not surprised that Pei Zhiwei suggested going together.
After spending these days together, he knew Pei Zhiwei's investigative style; she wouldn't be satisfied until she had personally verified the facts.
Upon seeing this, Zhou Wenbin quickly called over the head constable and ordered him to bring four capable constables to go with him.
Gu Boheng originally wanted to go too, but then he thought that as the governor of Suzhou, if he really got into a conflict with the Taihu Gang, it would be difficult to handle the situation.
He then stayed in the city to oversee the follow-up investigations into the missing persons cases.
Pei Lin returned to the princess's residence to organize the previous files, hoping to find more connections from the information on the missing persons.
Xiao Yunzhan and his group dared not delay for a moment and rode their horses out of Xumen.
About an hour later, a village appeared ahead. There were two wooden pillars at the entrance of the village, with the three characters "Taihu Gang" carved on them. They looked quite old.
The two guards at the gate, carrying swords, immediately placed their hands on the hilts of their swords when they saw them riding over, very alert.
"It's me, Jiang Yong! I'm looking for my cousin Ding Jin!" Jiang Yong quickly reined in his horse.
"It's urgent, go and inform them immediately!"
The guards looked them up and down, and when they saw that Xiao Yunzhan and Pei Zhiwei were well-dressed and had several officers with them, their expressions tightened even more.
One of them exchanged a glance with the other and said, "You stay here and keep watch, I'll go report."
After saying that, he quickly ran into the yard.
The remaining guards kept their eyes on them, and couldn't help but ask, "Are you government officials? What are you doing here?"
Before the constable could speak, Xiao Yunzhan said first, "Come over and ask Ding Jin a few questions about Suhetang's medicinal wine. Nothing else."
Upon hearing this, the guard, though not removing his hand from the hilt of his sword, relaxed considerably.
A short while later, a man came out from inside.
The man was probably in his thirties. His black sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, revealing his muscular forearms. He had a bit of stubble on his face and sharp eyes, clearly someone who had spent a lot of time traveling.
This person was none other than Ding Jin.
Ding Jin stopped at the entrance of the manor and looked at Jiang Yong with some confusion: "A-Yong? What brings you here? And with so many people?"
"Cousin! Don't drink those two bottles of tonic wine I gave you a few days ago!"
Manager Shen of Suhetang went mad and attacked people after drinking this wine, and later died!
The government notified us of the recall last night, so I came to inform you right away!
When Ding Jin heard the words "Gubenjiu" (a type of liquor), a fierce glint flashed in his eyes, but it disappeared in an instant, so fast that it was almost impossible to catch.
He patted Jiang Yong on the shoulder and said with a smile, "What's the panic? I drank that wine and didn't feel any problem. The medicine worked just the same as before, and I slept much better at night."
Pei Zhiwei stood beside Xiao Yunzhan, keeping a close eye on Ding Jin's reaction.
She had clearly seen the fierce look in his eyes just now, and couldn't help but feel puzzled.
He said there was nothing wrong with the alcohol, so why did he react that way when he heard the news?
Looking at him more closely, I realized that he was very contradictory.
His face was unnaturally pale, but his cheeks were flushed, as if he had some kind of internal heat problem.
Despite spending most of his time by Taihu Lake, his skin should be moisturized, but his face was dry and flaky, and his hair was brittle and yellowish; he didn't look like someone who was frequently exposed to water.
Xiao Yunzhan: "Chief Ding, the Guben Wine has been found to have problems."
Shen Chengzhang, the owner of Suhetang, died after drinking poisoned Gubenjiu (a type of medicinal wine).
For safety's sake, please hand over the remaining wine so we can take it back to the government office for inspection.
Ding Jin's smile froze for a moment, then returned to normal, and he nodded: "Since the government has made a request, I will go and get it now."
After saying that, he turned and went into the courtyard. A little while later, he came out carrying a rough earthenware wine bottle and handed it to Jiang Yong.
"This is the only bottle left; we just finished the other one yesterday."
Jiang Yong took the bottle, examined the label from all angles, and only after confirming that it was Suhetang's Gubenjiu (a type of liquor) did he carefully put it away.
Seeing that there was nothing amiss, Xiao Yunzhan said, "In that case, we won't disturb you any longer. If there is any need later, we will ask Chief Ding for your cooperation."
Ding Jin clasped his hands in a fist salute and watched them leave. Only when the carriage disappeared at the end of the official road did the smile on his face slowly fade, but the gloom in his eyes grew even stronger.
On her way back, Pei Zhiwei made a special detour to the reed marshes outside the city, dismounted, and walked into the reeds to take a closer look.
Just as she expected, last night's torrential rain did wash everything away, leaving nothing behind.
She felt a little disappointed, but not surprised.
After all, the power of a rainstorm is so great that it would be a miracle if it could even leave a trace.
It was already afternoon when they returned to Xumen.
On the way, Jiang Yong kept saying, "Luckily, my cousin is alright, otherwise I wouldn't be able to bear the responsibility."
The constables were also whispering about the Taihu Gang, saying that although Ding Jin didn't have a good reputation, he seemed quite cooperative today, like a rather composed leader.
Pei Zhiwei didn't participate in their discussion. She was still pondering the contradictions in Ding Jin's behavior. The more she thought about it, the stranger it seemed, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what was wrong, so she could only keep it to herself for the time being.
Xiao Yunzhan first had someone send the recovered medicinal wine to Chen Wu for examination to see if it contained any cold food powder, and then he returned to the princess's residence with Pei Zhiwei.
Before she could even have a sip of tea in the flower hall of the princess's residence, Zhou Wenbin rushed in after her, holding a roll of paper in his hand. His expression was somewhat complicated, as if he had something important to report.
"Your Highness! Lady Pei! That's wonderful, you're back too!" He handed over the paper in his hand.
"The autopsy report from Coroner Chen is out, and there's also some news about Shen Yizhi that I need to tell you."
Pei Lin took the autopsy report and examined it carefully.
The autopsy report was detailed, but it was basically consistent with the preliminary findings of the coroner, Chen.
Xiao Yunzhan: "What happened to Shen Yizhi?"
Zhou Wenbin: "We investigated Shen Yizhi's recent whereabouts and found that he lost a lot of money at the gambling den a while ago and owed the casino 300 taels of silver. The casino people have been urging him to pay back the debt every day, but he has not been able to pay it back."
Strangely, on the morning of Shen Chengzhang's death, he suddenly paid off all his debts and gambled all day at the casino, spending lavishly.
Upon hearing this, Pei Zhiwei's heart skipped a beat.
Zhou Wenbin added, "We asked the people at the casino, and they said that when Shen Yizhi returned the money, he used cash, which was wrapped in a black cloth."
When someone asked him where the money came from, he said it was from his family.
But everyone in Suzhou knows that Manager Shen won't give his stepson a single extra penny, for fear that he'll gamble it away again.
Where did he get three hundred taels of silver?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com