Chapter 304 Prediction
The fifteenth day of the first lunar month has passed and the festive atmosphere is gone. The spring is still chilly and it is especially cold at dusk.
In the streets and alleys, whether it was a horse-drawn carriage, a donkey, or a pedestrian, they were basically all kinds of officials and clerks returning home from work. The cold was biting, and everyone was rushing home.
Xiaoliu was of medium height, wearing a linen jacket and carrying a load of needlework on his shoulder. He looked like a peddler walking around the streets, shouting as he walked, "Embroidery needles... embroidery needles..."
Smoke was rising from the kitchen, it was time for dinner. He put down his burden and stood at the entrance of the alley, with his hands in his sleeves, shouting and looking around.
In the alley, someone pushed a flatbed cart out. He was wearing a felt hat with the brim pressed down and was bent over. The sun had set and the sky was dim, so his face could not be seen clearly.
Xiaoliu took a look and saw that the man was of medium build, neither fat nor thin. He was pushing a flatbed cart with a swill bucket on it, which seemed to be full of swill, and walked straight out of the alley.
When passing by Xiaoliu, Xiaoliu stepped aside and continued to call out indifferently, "Embroidery needles... embroidery needles..."
As the middle-aged man who collected swill took a few steps, he glanced behind him and saw that the peddler saw the maid coming out and hurriedly came forward, "Young lady, do you want to sharpen something for embroidery?"
"It's still the same price for sharpening needles, right?"
"Yes, yes..." Xiao Liu was very attentive. He quickly took the embroidery needle from the young lady's hand, took out the grinding stone, dipped it in water and started to sharpen it immediately. While sharpening it, he asked, "Young lady, do you want a new needle?"
“Are there any sizes?”
“All…all…”
The middle-aged man who collected slop finally withdrew his gaze. This man was a peddler walking through the streets.
From the corner of his eye, Xiaoliu noticed that the other party had turned a corner. He narrowed his eyes, put away the grinding stone, and walked towards a house in the alley. In a blink of an eye, he arrived at a door and knocked on it. The doorman opened the door and asked, "Who are you looking for?"
Xiaoliu said nothing, pushed open the doorman's door and walked into the house.
The doorman was terrified. "Hey, hey, what do you want to do as a peddler? This is the residence of an official of the imperial court. If you break in without permission, you will be sent to jail."
"Is Lord Xue on duty?"
"This is not something you, a peddler, should ask."
Xiaoliu reached out and grabbed the doorman's throat, "Hurry up and tell me."
The concierge was so frightened that he quickly pointed to his master's study and said, "Just...just came back..."
Xiaoliu pushed the doorman's door open and hurried to Xue Changcheng's study. The door was open, but no one was inside. There were pens and ink scattered on the desk, and a book dropped on the ground. His eyebrows moved suddenly, as if the young master had guessed it right.
After leaving Xue's house, he quickly gave his secret signal and then followed the swill bucket.
Half a quarter of an hour later, Zhao Lan, who was waiting for news in the secret courtyard, finally got the news. Santai ran in happily, "Sir, you were right in your prediction. Lord Xue has been kidnapped."
Zhao Lan stood up suddenly and asked, "Has Xiaoliu caught up?"
Santai nodded happily, "This time, Xiaoliu passed by that man and left a strange smell on his flatbed truck. He followed the smell all the way."
"What direction?"
"Iron Tower."
Zhao Lan started walking, "Hurry up."
"Yes, young master."
The water system of Bianjing City was well developed. There were Cai River and Huimin River in the south, and two other rivers, Bian River and Guangji River, that ran through the city from east to west. The Bian River was located in the south of the city, and the Guangji River was in the north.
Gou has been hiding in Bianjing City for so long, and Zhao Lan and others have not found his whereabouts. He must have his own set of secret passages, and this secret passage is definitely not on any form of map of Bianjing City’s defense.
Where will it be?
Su Ruojin leaned against the cellar wall and listened to the dripping sound. It must be near a river. Which river could it be?
She checked from south to north, and first ruled out Cai River and Huimin River. Why did she rule out these two? Because she lived close to these two rivers and she was familiar with them. If she wanted to build a cellar near these two rivers and if there was a leakage, the place where they were should now be called a well, but now the wall was very dry, so it was impossible for these two rivers to be there.
Since Cai River and Huimin River are in line, the Bian River in the south of the city can also be ruled out, because she is also familiar with it. Then the only option is Guangji River that passes through the north of the imperial palace.
Guangji River...
Nearby are the Fengqiu Gate of the inner city, the royal Jinghua Garden, etc., which are inaccessible to ordinary people.
Thinking of this, Su Ruojin's heart paused. The newly built iron tower is near the Guangji River. It is said that the construction of the iron tower was often stopped due to various reasons. This iron tower, which was later called the No. 1 Tower, was called the "Iron Tower" by the people because it was made of brown glazed bricks all over, which looked like iron. In the past thousand years, it has experienced dozens of earthquakes, strong winds, and floods, but it still stands tall.
However, the time of construction has always been vague, and many experts and scholars have not found out the exact time of completion. Su Ruojin also knew some information about the tower because she heard gossip at Princess Yuehua's wedding.
A pagoda construction site that is constantly under construction. Because the pagoda itself is sacred and inviolable, apart from the craftsmen, few civilians set foot here.
What if someone named Gou took advantage of this loophole?
The more Su Ruojin speculated, the more possible it seemed to her. Unfortunately, there was no way to confirm it. Just when she felt that there was no light at all and her life or death was uncertain, Gou Chunwen appeared.
Just as she was worrying about whether he was going to kill her, his men moved very quickly. In a blink of an eye, they had her behind her back, gagged, and put in a sack, all in one breath.
“Hmm…”
She hadn't even struggled twice before she was hit on the back of her head with a club.
At the moment she fell into a coma, she thought that if she was not still useful, she believed that Gou Chunwen would have killed her.
When Yang Si Niang saw that her father dealt with Su Ruojin in just a few moves, she was so scared that she shrank into the corner.
One of the men asked, "Chief, is she still useful now? Do you want to..." kill her.
Gou Chunwen stood with his hands behind his back, looking down at the protective products produced by the mission with narrowed eyes.
Although Gou Chunwen was a rough and ruthless Liaoxia man, in order to integrate into the Dayin Dynasty, he learned Chinese culture from a young age and was well-read. There is a sentence in the book: Even a tiger will not eat its own cubs.
Not eating...
He retracted his gaze and turned around, "Don't kill them first, take them away together."
When Yang Si Niang heard this, her whole body went limp. It was a very cold day and she was soaked with sweat.
Just now, she saw the murderous intent in her father's eyes, and he really wanted to kill her.
On the way from Yulin to the capital, Yang Si Niang experienced a lot. She saw poor farmers or mountain people who drowned their children because they could not afford to raise them. So when Gou Chunwen wanted to kill her, she did not hate him to death.
I just sighed, what kind of fate is it to be killed by my father? Is this world really so cold and cruel?
Half an hour later, Zhao Lan and his team arrived at the iron tower that was under construction. Due to a shortage of stone materials, construction was suspended again today.
Santai immediately gathered all the craftsmen in one place and checked every corner again. When he found nothing, he came to Zhao Lan and said, "Master, you found nothing?"
Zhao Lan's face darkened.
Xiaoliu stepped forward, "There is a special smell I made on the construction site."
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