Chapter 128 Again and Again

When the yamen servant heard that Ming Huachang was planning to help Ming Huazhang, he almost rolled his eyes and fainted. Ming Huazhang walked fast and almost bumped into Ren Yao and Jiang Ling when he went out.

Jiang Ling scooped up his arms, managed to steady himself, and asked in surprise, "Where are you going?"

Ming Huashang caught up from behind and said hurriedly, "It's a good thing you're here. We need to check on the people. Don't go in. Let's go now."

Jiang Ling was dragged away before he could react. His voice could be heard from a long distance away: "Wait, I haven't eaten yet!"

A young man in blue riding a horse was walking down the street, looking around all the time, with a hint of anxiety on his face. He saw someone waving at him from a roadside stall in the distance, and his body relaxed slightly, and his expression immediately became unhurried. He slowly got off the horse, walked leisurely to the front, and when he saw the stall, he was very disgusted: "Why are you here?"

Ming Huashang smiled and said, "Thank you, brother. You are here. We guessed that you haven't eaten yet, so we brought you some nard drink. It's still hot. Try it."

With Xie Jichuan's style, he would refuse to sit at a roadside stall, but the drinks on the table smelled good, so he reluctantly picked up his coat, put a towel under him and sat down.

Ming Huashang asked, "Brother Xie, the wontons here are really good, would you like to try some?"

Jiang Ling was sitting across the table, finishing a bowl of soup in gulps. Xie Jichuan showed obvious disdain on his face and said proudly, "No."

Ming Huazhang said calmly, "Don't be so proud. There are many things to do today. If you miss this place, you may not be able to eat."

Xie Jichuan remained disdainful and said lightly, "I'm not hungry."

Ming Huachang's eyes swam around, unsure whether to order something for Xie Jichuan. Ming Huazhang was not used to his bad habits at all, so he turned around and said to Ming Huachang, "Ignore him, let him starve."

Xie Jichuan took a sip of his pine drink and asked indifferently, "What are you doing here?"

"Investigating the case." Ming Huazhang said briefly, "Hei Hu is dead."

Xie Jichuan's pupils slightly raised, obviously a little surprised: "Dead?"

"Yes." Ming Huazhang exhaled, and said in a mocking tone, "What a coincidence he died. I originally thought that Heihu's testimony was not that important, but he died in just one night. I know those people in the prison. They can bully others by taking advantage of their power, but they don't have the courage to beat someone to death. I always feel that Heihu's case is not that simple. He must know something important."

Xie Jichuan asked: "Did he say anything?"

Ming Huashang took out the confession record and handed it to Xie Jichuan, saying, "He confessed before his death that he had been following the orders of Yan Jingcheng, the manager of Shengde Commercial Bank, for many years."

Xie Jichuan took the testimony, glanced at Shengde Pawnshop across the street, and understood a little: "So you came to find Yan Jingcheng?"

"Yes." Ming Huazhang sighed slightly and said, "But when we went to Yan's house, the servants of the Yan family said that Yan Jingcheng had gone out. We rushed to the pawn shop, but the guy inside said that Yan Jingcheng had not been here today. I originally planned to Go to the next shop, but Jiangling is too hungry, so he has to come here to eat first.”

Xie Jichuan looked away, and saw Jiang Ling eating with a red face, still not satisfied. Xie Jichuan looked away with disdain, and asked, "Could it be that he received the news and deliberately avoided us?"

"What is he hiding from?" Ming Huazhang tapped the table slowly, as if thinking about something. "He has been dominating in Chang'an for so many years, and I am just a newly appointed Shao Yin of Jingzhao Prefecture. Is there any need for him to hide from me? Or is it that Hei Hu's death is related to him, so he is hiding from me out of guilt?"

Xie Jichuan slowly sipped his sweet pine drink and said, "How about I report to the Crown Prince and ask him to dispatch more imperial guards from the Northern Court to search Yan's house and Yan Jingcheng's shops directly?"

Ming Huazhang shook his head slowly: "If he just happened to be away, it would be unreasonable for us to do this; if he is deliberately hiding something, we will only alert the enemy if we make such a big fuss."

Ming Huashang then took over the conversation and said, "If he really wanted to hide from the government, with so many people informing us, we would not be able to find him faster than he hides. Let's change the angle. What if he is a guest?"

Ming Huazhang's eyebrows moved slightly, and he understood what she meant: "You mean..."

Ming Huashang nodded: "Make a feint to the east and attack the west, besiege Wei to save Zhao."

Jiang Ling was eating a snack when he suddenly felt something heavy on his body. He looked up blankly and found that the four people at the table were looking at him for some reason.

·

West Market, Shengde Pharmacy.

The clerk was keeping accounts when he suddenly saw a group of three people walking in. The leader was a handsome young man with red lips and white teeth, holding a fan inlaid with gold and jade. Behind him followed two women, one cute and lovely, the other heroic and dashing, their gestures were comparable to those of young ladies from wealthy families, but at this moment they followed the young man respectfully, saying gently: "Young man, please go slowly, be careful when you step down the stairs."

The waiter's eyes lit up immediately. To be able to afford such a generous maid, the visitor must be a wealthy and noble person. The waiter immediately smiled and greeted him cordially: "Sir, what brings you to our shop?"

Jiang Ling held his chin high, fanning his folding fan slowly, and couldn't help complaining in his heart, why fan in such a cold weather? Even if you really want to pretend, can you change to a paper fan? Going out on the street with a big gold and jade fan to bully men and women is too vulgar, they really don't do that.

Ming Huashang saw that Jiang Ling had been silent for a long time, so she spoke for him, "This is the prince of the Marquis of Jiang'an. He heard that your Shengde Pharmacy has a miraculous medicine, so he came to take a look. Whatever medicine you have in your store that can prolong life, please bring it all out. Money is not a problem, but you must not humiliate our prince's filial piety."

When the waiter heard that it was the son of the Marquis's mansion, he immediately nodded and said, "Yes. Please wait a moment, my lord. I will go get the medicine right away."

The news of the prince of Jiang'an Marquis's mansion spreading quickly throughout the pharmacy, and all the employees came, gathered around Jiang Ling, and introduced various ganoderma and immortal herbs. Jiang Ling fanned around with the handle of his fan and asked critically, "Is that all?"

Ren Yao looked at Jiang Ling's arrogant expression and had to use all his strength to hold back his eyes. Ming Huashang, however, was very into the role and exaggerated, "How dare you, a small shop, fool the prince! Call your shopkeeper out. He actually avoided the visit of the prince Jiang. Does he look down on our Jiang'an Marquis Mansion?"

Jiang Ling waved his golden fan and nodded slowly, but in his heart he was cursing these "loyal" teammates.

Reputation is not his own, so he doesn't feel bad about ruining it. It was like this the last time he went to the brothel, and it was the same this time when he came to the drugstore. Whenever he did something embarrassing, they would push him out.

It is such a blessing for him to know them!

The employees were shocked by Ming Huashang's sudden change of attitude. A person who looked like a manager hurriedly said, "Prince Jiang, please calm down. We dare not fool you. What do you want? I will send someone to find it and deliver it to you in person at the Marquis of Jiang'an's mansion."

When Jiang Ling heard that he was going to come again, he thought to himself that he should say goodbye as soon as possible. Not to irritate his father again was his greatest filial piety. Jiang Ling closed his fan with great dignity and said coldly, "Who do you think you are? How dare you talk to me? I have never been treated so badly in my life. What about your shopkeeper? Do you want me to invite him?"

The manager's face froze. He whispered something to the waiter, then smiled and said to Jiang Ling, "It was our negligence. The shopkeeper went to another shop today and happened to be absent. Please wait a moment, my lord. I will go and invite the shopkeeper."

"Even if you dare not, you will." Jiang Ling condescended to answer, glancing at the people in the medicine hall, "Could it be that you intend to let this prince stand here?"

The steward woke up from a dream and quickly asked the waiter to serve tea to Jiang Ling. A group of people surrounded Jiang Ling and walked to the VIP room. Jiang Ling was indeed a playboy who had been raised as a spoiled child. He acted like a young master and ordered everyone around, even his two "maids". "What are you doing? Can't you see that I am hot? Fan me."

Ming Huashang was stunned for a moment before she realized Jiang Ling was talking about her. Ren Yaoliang glanced at Jiang Ling, smiled and took the fan and said, "I'm stronger than her, I'll do it."

Jiang Ling saw Ren Yao holding the fan and felt an inexplicable headache. He was really worried that Ren Yao would hit the back of his head with the fan. He raised his nose and snorted, "You are clumsy, there is no need for you, let her do it. You come to serve tea, you really have no eyesight at all."

Ren Yao clenched his fist and wanted to punch him on the nose. Ming Huashang smiled and held Ren Yao's hand, saying softly: "Sister, let me do it. You go and serve tea to the prince."

Jiang Ling heard something sinister in Ming Huashang's soft and weak tone.

In the VIP room, Jiang Ling was like a star, shouting and yelling, kicking Ren Yao with his left hand and stepping on Ming Huachang with his right hand, looking very glorious. No one noticed that two black shadows fell from nowhere. Ming Huazhang made a gesture to Xie Jichuan: "You search the front, I'll search the back."

Xie Jichuan nodded, followed the wall, and fled quickly like a shadow. The manager and the staff were attracted by Jiang Ling, and there was no one to watch over the backyard. Ming Huazhang moved swiftly and easily, stepping on the blind spots all the way and sneaking into the warehouse.

There was a chain hanging on the warehouse, but this level of lock was useless to Ming Huazhang. He pulled out a piece of wire from his wrist guard, pulled it through the eye of the lock a few times, and the copper lock opened with a click.

Ming Huazhang held the bottom of the lock with one hand, gently pushed the door open a little, stepped inside sideways, and then the door closed again. From the outside, the position of the chain remained unchanged. It was hard to imagine that someone had just entered.

The warehouse was filled with various medicinal materials and medicine-making tools. It looked like an ordinary pharmacy, but Ming Huazhang didn't believe it was just that. He blew up a fire stick, held it between his teeth, and searched quickly and silently among the shelves.

He rummaged around for a while and noticed a box that looked tattered but not dusty at all. Ming Huazhang approached slowly and carefully inserted his dagger along the gap. Judging from the feel, there should be papers inside.

Ming Huazhang knew in his heart that this seemingly abandoned box was actually the most important thing in the warehouse. He immediately took out the tools to open the lock. This lock was much more sophisticated than the copper lock on the warehouse door. Ming Huazhang listened carefully to the position of the lock core and suddenly exerted his strength with his fingers. A barely audible click came from the darkness, and the lock opened.

Ming Huazhang opened the box in the light of the fire, and as he expected, it contained the black market account books. Ming Huazhang scanned them a few times, and after confirming that there was no problem, he stuffed the books into his sleeves and replaced them with new blank books to ensure that the height and weight remained the same. Unless they opened them for inspection, they would not be able to find that the things inside had been replaced.

Jiang Ling was acting arrogantly in front, ordering Ren Yao and Ming Huashang around. He felt a little embarrassed, and finally, a familiar bird call came from outside.

The three of them all understood the meaning of the code. Jiang Ling continued to maintain his arrogant and frivolous personality, and said angrily: "It's been a long time since we've waited, why hasn't your shopkeeper come yet?"

The steward was also having a headache, so he smiled and explained, "In the past, the shopkeeper was always on patrol in the pharmacy. Today, I don't know what happened. I went to the places where the shopkeeper usually went, but I couldn't find him. Maybe he was stuck with other things. If the prince has any instructions, please tell me. I will tell the shopkeeper when I come back."

Given Yan Jingcheng's concern for the rich and powerful, it's impossible for him not to know who Jiang Ling is. Jiang Ling has been here for so long, but Yan Jingcheng hasn't shown up yet, which is really unusual.

Ming Huashang secretly tugged at Jiang Ling's clothes. Jiang Ling understood and said unhappily, "Forget it. I'll come again next time. It's really bad luck."

The steward sent Jiang Ling away with many thanks. Jiang Ling walked down the street with a swaggering step, and the two maids followed him timidly. As soon as he left the sight of Shengde Pharmacy, Jiang Ling's knees went weak, and he immediately turned around to fan the two "maids": "My two sisters, I have worked hard for you just now. You know, for the mission, I have to act like this... Actually, I don't want to do this."

Jiang Ling's eyes were as round, black, and innocent as a dog's, and he looked extremely sincere. Ren Yao sneered twice and slowly pinched his fingers: "You mean, you are wronged by us serving you?"

"I'm not wronged." Jiang Ling shook his head and said seriously, "If you are willing, I can do it with all my might...ah!"

Ming Huazhang and Xie Jichuan jumped down from the tree and turned a blind eye to the atrocities not far away. Even Ming Huachang looked unconcerned and asked, "How is it? Did you gain anything?"

Ming Huazhang nodded and took out a few account books from his sleeves: "These should be their black market account books. Time is limited, so I haven't taken a close look yet."

Ming Huashang quickly took it, flipped through a few pages, and frowned, "What are these?"

There were no numbers or words on the account book, but some hooks and circles, which made Ming Huachang confused. She tried to guess for a while, but was still confused. She looked up and saw Xie Jichuan standing by with his hands folded. She suddenly had an idea and handed the account book to Xie Jichuan in a flattering manner: "Master Xie, Brother Xie, please take a look."

Xie Jichuan reluctantly took the account book, looked at it for a while, and said, "This must be a set of jargon they created. They use agreed symbols to record the type of medicinal materials, the year, and the amount of money deposited."

Yan Jingcheng needed the account book to manage his accounts, but he couldn't leave any evidence to himself, so he came up with this idea. Even if the account book accidentally fell into the hands of others, nothing would be leaked. Ming Huashang asked expectantly, "Can it be cracked?"

Xie Jichuan turned to the next page, read two lines, and closed it carelessly: "It's not that difficult, it will take some time to figure it out. I have other things to do, and I don't have time to waste..."

Upon hearing this, Ming Huachang immediately pushed the account book into Xie Jichuan's hands and said admiringly, "Brother Xie, you are really amazing. You have an idea after just a few glances! I can only trust such a complicated account book if it is produced by you. I will trouble you from now on."

Ming Huazhang glanced at Ming Huashang leisurely, and said nothing with his hands behind his back. Xie Jichuan didn't want to do such a time-wasting thing, but he gradually lost himself in Ming Huashang's repeated "Thank you, brother, you are so awesome", and for some reason he took the account book: "Okay, since you are in such a difficult situation, I will help you once."

Ming Huazhang stood aside and flicked his sleeves, but still said nothing. After Ming Huachang had given a round of flattery, he finally realized that the atmosphere seemed a little off.

She blinked her eyes, and for some reason she didn't dare to talk to Ming Huazhang. Ming Huachang laughed dryly, and finally remembered Jiang Ling who had been beaten up for a long time, and pulled Jiang Ling out to liven up the atmosphere: "Sister Ren, the mission is urgent, please forgive him this time. Jiang Ling has already behaved so badly, but Yan Jingcheng still hasn't shown up. This doesn't fit his style."

Jiang Ling frowned, very dissatisfied with this description: "How can you talk like that? Isn't that what you asked for? I haven't blamed you for ruining my reputation."

Ming Huazhang told himself that the overall situation was more important, and he suppressed his displeasure, saying, "There are two explanations. One, he already knew that this was a trap, so he refused to enter the jar, which means that someone in Jingzhao Prefecture must have informed him. The other is, as the manager said, he was distracted by other things, and the people in the pharmacy really couldn't find him."

Ming Huashang frowned, expressing her confusion: "For a man who is so obsessed with fame and money, what could be more important than establishing a connection with the Marquis of Jiang'an's mansion?"

Ming Huazhang was about to say something when suddenly there was a loud noise behind him. People on the street started to scream and turned around to look towards the source of the sound.

Ming Huazhang's face changed quickly, and he rushed to the main street. Ming Huachang followed him closely, and when he looked up, he saw a black smoke rising from outside the city, stretching across the blue sky like a crack.

Chang'an, the third explosion occurred.