Chapter 111 The wicked will be punished by the wicked.
Pei Zhiwei looked back and forth between the wall of the governor's mansion and the old tree, his fingertips brushing against the shallow marks at the base of the wall.
He then squatted down to compare the footprints in the mud, and finally took out a piece of Xuan paper from the brocade bag and carefully made a rubbing of the imprint.
She stood up, her brow still furrowed, and shook her head at the people who had gathered around: "Besides these footprints, there are no other clues."
After saying that, he turned to Zhang Xuren, his tone somewhat urgent: "Lord Zhang, since you received the wooden box, the manor has not received anything else."
Was there not any note or anything like that?
Zhang Xuren then snapped out of his panic and quickly turned to ask the servant behind him. After receiving the reply that there was "nothing there," his face fell: "When I opened the wooden box, I was so scared that I threw it out immediately."
Once I realized what was happening, I quickly told them to retrieve my son's hand and the gemstone.
No notes or anything like that were found.
Pei Zhiwei looked at both ends of the street. At this time of day, there would usually be a constant stream of vendors calling out their wares, but now the street was deserted, with only the hurried figures of officials and constables. Even the passersby were being driven far away.
She couldn't help but sigh: "In ordinary kidnapping cases, the worst thing is to make a big fuss about it."
The kidnappers wanted a ransom or blackmail, not to escalate the situation.
"If you conduct such a city-wide manhunt, what if it provokes him...?"
The rest of the sentence was left unsaid, but everyone understood that this would make Zhang Xiao's situation even more dangerous.
The color drained from Zhang Xuren's face instantly, and his lips trembled as he said, "I... when I saw that hand, my mind went completely blank!"
They only thought it was Xie Ji who was reporting them, so they sent people to surround Yaoguang Garden and search along the way.
I really didn't expect this...
I never expected it to be anyone else!
As he spoke, his voice trembled with sobs. He looked nothing like a governor; he was just a helpless old father whose son had been kidnapped.
Xiao Yunzhan stepped forward, his gaze falling on the rubbing in Pei Zhiwei's hand: "Have you found anything?"
Pei Zhiwei handed over the rubbing paper, "Look at the size of this footprint and the pressure marks on the sole of the foot. It was left by Ding Jin."
"Ding Jin?" Zhang Xuren suddenly raised his voice, as if he had heard something unbelievable.
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
Pei Zhiwei frowned: "Why is Lord Zhang so certain?"
Zhang Xuren did not answer, but struggled to climb onto the horse.
He was already obese, and now he was so flustered that his hands and feet went weak. He missed the stirrups several times, and finally, with the help of his servants, he clumsily flipped onto the horse's back.
Before anyone could react, he suddenly spurred the horse, pulled on the reins, and the horse neighed and charged forward.
"Hey! Where are you going?" Xie Ji tried to stop him, but only managed to grab empty air.
A hint of annoyance flashed in Xiao Yunzhan's eyes as he mounted his horse and said, "Follow me."
Pei Zhiwei and Xie Ji followed closely behind, while the people from the governor's mansion behind them were in complete chaos, stumbling and falling as they caught up.
After the horse had been running for about 15 minutes, it gradually veered off the main street and headed towards the dilapidated area in the southeast of the city.
Most of the houses here have incomplete roofs, the courtyard walls have collapsed, and the roads are overgrown with weeds.
Zhang Xuren's horse slowed down in front of a courtyard gate.
Before the horse had come to a complete stop, he jumped off its back, but his joints couldn't support his large body to make such agile movements.
He landed hard as soon as he hit the ground, but he seemed oblivious to the pain. Without stopping for a moment, he scrambled and crawled into the yard, calling out, "Xiao'er! Xiao'er!"
The crowd rushed into the courtyard, where they found waist-high weeds and only a dilapidated mud-brick house standing in the middle.
Pushing open the door, the room was empty, except for a hard bed that was about to fall apart, a broken table with a missing corner, and a crooked chair.
A dark stain was stuck on the corner of the table, extending all the way to the floor, a shocking sight.
Pei Zhiwei quickly stepped forward, bent down, dipped her fingertip in the dark mark, smelled it, and rubbed it. It was dried blood.
She stood up and said, "Judging from these bloodstains, they must have dried for about four hours."
"Did you hide Ding Jin here? Is he one of your men?" Pei Zhiwei turned to ask Zhang Xuren, but the other man seemed not to hear her and frantically searched the room.
They searched everywhere, under the bed and under the table.
Seeing him like this, Xie Ji stepped forward and grabbed his arm: "This house is clean enough to be seen at a glance, don't look around aimlessly!"
Since Ding Jin dared to kidnap Zhang Xiao, he must have moved him long ago!
If you don't clarify your relationship with Ding Jin, next time you might not just get a hand!
These words were like a bucket of cold water, instantly calming Zhang Xuren down.
"yes……
When Ding Jin came to Yangzhou from Suzhou, I hid him, moving him to three or four different places, just in case you found him.
I haven't seen him since you came to Yangdu; all I've heard from him are messages from his subordinates...
I really don't know why he tied Xiao'er up!
"Does Zhang Xiao know about Ding Jin's existence?" Pei Zhiwei pressed.
Zhang Xuren stammered, "I... I didn't tell him."
But he always wanted to do something to prove himself, so...
I don't know if he noticed.
Pei Zhiwei glanced around the room. Although the floor wasn't perfectly smooth, there were no signs of a struggle or drag marks.
“Although Zhang Xiao’s kung fu is not as good as Ding Jin’s, if he really fought here, there would be no way there would be no trace of it.”
She went outside and carefully examined the yard. Soon she found several wheel tracks in the weeds, which were traces of a wheelbarrow.
She followed the trail until she reached the main street, where the trail disappeared and was hidden among the traces of passersby.
Zhang Xuren followed closely behind her, his tone filled with urgency: "Have you found any trace of Xiao'er?"
"Ding Jin must have transported them away in a wheelbarrow." Pei Zhiwei frowned and muttered to herself, "Could they have left the city?"
“Impossible.” Xiao Yunzhan said, “Since last night, Cui Yanwu has strengthened the control of all city gates, and strict checks are required for entering and leaving the city.”
Pei Zhiwei's heart skipped a beat. Last night, they took advantage of the fire in Xinluo Ward to conduct a thorough investigation. Cui Yanwu must have anticipated that Zhang Xuren would send someone out of the city to deliver a message, so he blocked the city gate in advance.
So, Cui Yanwu might also have sent people to keep an eye on the Zhang residence, and perhaps he could find some clues.
She leaned closer to Xiao Yunzhan and whispered a few words.
Xiao Yunzhan nodded slightly after listening.
Pei Zhiwei then turned to Zhang Xuren: "Is there anything else about Ding Jin that you haven't told me?"
You'd better think this through for Zhang Xiao's sake!
Zhang Xuren racked his brains, but could only shake his head: "I really can't remember..."
He only asked for money and a hiding place; he didn't mention anything else to me!
Seeing his bewildered state, Pei Zhiwei had no choice but to be blunt: "Now you have two options."
First, you can continue to have the officials search the entire city. If you're lucky, you might find him, but more likely, you'll only find Zhang Xiao's corpse.
Second, withdraw all officials and servants. We will return to the Zhang residence with you and await Ding Jin's next move.
Zhang Xuren was stunned for a moment, then nodded repeatedly: "Retreat! Retreat immediately!"
He was about to mount the horse, but he couldn't even get his foot on the stirrups properly, and he failed to get on after three attempts.
Xiao Yunzhan grew impatient and glared at the servants of the governor's mansion behind him: "Can't you see your master acting like this?"
"Hurry up and help!"
The servants then realized what was happening and hurriedly helped Zhang Xuren onto his horse.
But after the horse had only taken a few steps, Zhang Xuren began to sway precariously and nearly fell off several times. Xiao Yunzhan quickly called out, "He can't ride a horse like this. Go and get a carriage!"
Send someone to notify the officers conducting the search to withdraw!
The servants hurriedly responded and ran away. Xie Ji leaned close to Pei Zhiwei and whispered, "We just raided Xinluo Hall yesterday, and now we estimate that there's a whole basketful of evidence against Zhang Xuren in Yaoguang Garden."
Zhang Xiao is no good either; he bullies men and women all day long and has definitely done a lot of awful things.
Previously, it was his father, the governor, who kept him in check, but now that Zhang Xuren has fallen from power, the government only needs to investigate slightly to ensure he doesn't escape the death penalty.
Why should we bother saving them?
Pei Zhiwei sighed, her gaze falling on the empty street in the distance: "I know there's not a single good person in the Zhang family, but before the government convicts them, they are still officials and commoners of Daliang."
My dad always said, "When something like this happens, don't overthink it. First, pull the person back from the brink of death. Right and wrong will be judged in court."
She stopped abruptly as soon as she finished speaking. The Zhang family! Jiang Yong!
She rushed forward and stopped Zhang Xuren, who was about to get into the carriage. "I'm asking you, did Zhang Chengye order Zhang Mo to torture Jiang Yong's family and then kill them all?"
Zhang Xuren's expression changed drastically, and his eyes widened suddenly.
Immediately afterwards, his eyes rolled back, his body fell backward, and he fainted.
Pei Zhiwei and Xiao Yunzhan exchanged a glance, and both knew the answer in their hearts—it must be true.
Xie Ji was also stunned, and pulled Pei Zhiwei aside to ask, "Who is Jiang Yong? What does he have to do with this?"
“Jiang Yong is Ding Jin’s cousin, and he also has a five-year-old child.” Pei Zhiwei’s voice was somewhat heavy.
Xie Ji instantly became furious: "Why should we save these beasts?"
How can you face Jiang Yong's family?
Pei Zhiwei felt a tightness in her chest and remained silent, her lips pressed tightly together.
Seeing that Xie Ji was venting his anger on her, Xiao Yunzhan assumed that Pei Zhiwei felt wronged and reached out to pull Xie Ji away.
Pei Zhiwei: "Then consider it saving a beast."
As long as the government hasn't executed them, they will remain beasts of the Great Liang.
She glanced at Xie Ji and whispered, "If you really can't get over it, go back to Yaoguang Garden and help my father organize the evidence."
Xie Ji took a few deep breaths and gritted his teeth: "I'll go with you!"
I want to see how these wicked people are tortured by other wicked people!
Pei Zhiwei didn't say anything more, but she was puzzled. Ding Jin had been hidden away by Zhang Xuren and had only been in contact with Zhang Xuren's people. How did he know about Jiang Yong's family?
Xiao Yunzhan seemed to see through her thoughts and said softly, "It's not certain yet that Ding Jin kidnapped Zhang Xiao for Jiang Yong's sake."
The two men looked at Zhang Xuren, who was surrounded by servants, and kept pinching his philtrum and fanning him, but he still didn't wake up.
Pei Zhiwei frowned: "He can't go on like this. We need to find a doctor to accompany him. If something happens on the way, it will be even more troublesome."
Just then, the sound of rapid hoofbeats came from afar.
A government official rode up at breakneck speed. Before the horse had even stopped, he jumped off, clutching a wooden box in his hands, and cried out, his face ashen, "Oh no! We've received another wooden box!"
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