Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 222 Murderous Intention

Ashitemur's information was correct. A few days after Zhu Shenzhui arrived at the tribe, Ligdan Khan's order to gather troops reached the tribe.

After receiving the order, Ashil Temur respectfully accepted the order from Ligdan Khan. Seeing this, the messenger smiled, praised Ashil Temur in the name of the Khan, and urged him to send troops as soon as possible and not to waste time.

After delivering the order, the visitor did not delay in the tribe, refused Ashe Timur's request to stay, and left in a hurry. This situation had never happened before, not to mention that after receiving the order, he was commended in the name of the Khan.

This seems normal, but it is not. Ashi Temur knew very well that this time, Aldan Khan's gathering of troops was probably not just for the purpose of fighting, but he also wanted to test the various tribes. If he refused the Khan's request, perhaps what would happen next would be different.

Since the Khan's order had arrived, Ashe Temur, who had been prepared for a long time, was ready to send troops. This time, the person leading the troops was still his eldest son and heir, that is, Hadan Bater.

The day before the expedition, Ashi Temur called Hadan Bater over. The father and son talked for a long time before Hadan Bater left the tent. The next morning, Hadan Bater, Burigude and others left the tribe with two thousand elite cavalry. The entire army traveled lightly and headed towards the Chahar headquarters.

After Hadanbaatar and his men left, the tribe was shrouded in a shadow, and no one knew what the outcome of this expedition would be. Ashi Temur could only pray for the blessing of Changshengtian, hoping that Hadanbaatar and his men would return safely.

Zhu Shenzhu stayed in the tribe for ten days, and soon after Hadanbaatar left, he was also going back to Daming. There were still many things going on in Daming, and this time he personally led the team to lure out the people who attacked the caravan last time and have a good fight on the grassland, but who would have thought that the journey was smooth and nothing happened.

It has been more than a month since he was released, and it will take some time to go back. Counting the days, Xu Jingqiu will give birth soon. Zhu Shenzui promised her that he would go back to accompany her as soon as possible, so although he is reluctant to leave Tana and Tengger, Zhu Shenzui still has to return to Daming as soon as possible.

On the night before leaving, Zhu Shenzhui once again made love with Tana. After finishing, he looked at his son and then at Tana, who looked like a peach blossom beside him. Zhu Shenzhui's heart was full of tenderness. The next day, when he left as scheduled, he reluctantly said goodbye to Tana and the child, and promised to return as soon as possible next spring. Only then did he embark on the return journey under Tana's farewell gaze.

On the way back, Zhu Shencui and others remained vigilant, but nothing happened. It took several days to travel safely, and when they entered the Great Wall, everything was normal.

"Strange..." Zhu Shenzhui wondered, could it be that the bandits who attacked the caravan last time were really bandits? Was it just an accident?
If someone was targeting him, why was the process so smooth this time? Was he wrong? Was it not what he imagined? For a moment, Zhu Shenzhui began to doubt his own judgment, and even wondered if he had been too sensitive.

When he returned to Pingyang City and met Kang Youfu who came to greet him, the news Kang Youfu brought made Zhu Shenzhui's originally good mood suddenly become even worse, and his whole face became gloomy.

The caravan was handed over to Hu Lin, who was asked to go to the merchant company to take over. Zhu Shenzui left the caravan first and went to a place in the city with Kang Youfu. This place was an inconspicuous courtyard located in a relatively remote area of ​​the city. It was a property mortgaged by the pawnshop last year. Later, it expired and became a dead pawn, so it was owned by the merchant company.

When they got there, Kang Youfu knocked on the door twice. After a while, the door to the backyard opened a crack, and a man looked out from inside. Seeing that it was Zhu Shenzhui outside, the man opened the door and invited Zhu Shenzhui into the yard.

Zhu Shenzhui stepped into the yard, and the person who opened the door closed it casually.

"What about people?"

"Sixth Master, he is locked up in the woodshed at the back." the man replied.

This man was dressed in ordinary clothes and looked inconspicuous, but his identity was not simple. He was a Jinyiwei expert sent by Zhou Anmin to Pingyang to investigate the case. In addition to him, there was another person. Both of them were placed in the company by Zhu Shenzhui. In name, they were hired by the company, but in fact they were responsible for the important task of investigating the case.

Zhu Shenzhu nodded and followed the man to the woodshed. After a while, they arrived at the woodshed in the backyard. The woodshed looked inconspicuous from the outside, but when he knocked on the door and another Jinyiwei opened it from the inside and invited them in, Zhu Shenzhu realized that the woodshed was almost a prison cell.

There was a large iron cage in the area inside the room, which was locked with iron chains and locks. Inside, a person was lying with a bloody face and no one could see him clearly. It was unknown whether he was dead or alive.

In addition to this iron cage, there were some torture instruments in the woodshed. The black and brown stains on these instruments were not sure if it was blood or something else. They looked eerie and scary. Moreover, the entire woodshed had been reinforced and was well sealed. No matter how loudly people shouted inside, the sound could not be heard outside.

There was an unpleasant smell in the air, which smelled like blood, excrement, and sweat. Zhu Shenzhui frowned as soon as he entered the door.

"Sixth Master, this is for you." The Jinyiwei who brought them into the house quickly handed a sachet to Zhu Shenzhui, and asked him to put it under his nose to smell it, which could neutralize the smell. Zhu Shenzhui took it and put it under his nose to smell it. Suddenly, a smell of sandalwood mixed with borneol and other medicines entered his nostrils, which diluted the smell in the room and made his breathing smoother.

Another Jinyiwei brought a stool and asked Zhu Shenzhui to sit down. Zhu Shenzhui nodded and sat down. Kang Youfu stood on one side, and on the other side were two Jinyiwei.

"Is the person still alive?" Zhu Shenzhui asked, looking at the bloody figure in the iron cage.

"Don't worry, Sixth Master. We brothers know the severity of our actions. We will make sure he doesn't die." Jinyiwei Jia laughed.

"Please tell me the specific situation in detail." Zhu Shenzhu continued.

Jinyiwei A immediately began to report to Zhu Shenzhui, and he was the main report of the whole process, and another Jinyiwei B supplemented it. The two did not beat around the bush and directly talked about the process of investigating the case and how they found the problem with this person, including the process of secretly catching him and interrogating him.

A moment later, when they finished their story, Zhu Shenzhui finally understood the whole story.

I have to admit that these two Jinyiwei are really good at investigating cases. With only a few clues, they found out that there was something wrong with this person in just over a month. Moreover, this problem was real, and they discussed it with Kang Youfu before taking action. They also made special arrangements when arresting the person. Now this news is blocked and has not been leaked at all. Even Ma Shizhou does not know about it.

The man locked in the cage is from the trading company and a subordinate of Ma Shizhou's caravan. His name is Liu Dayou, and he can be considered an old man in the trading company.

Liu Dayou used to be a clerk in the Liu family shop in Pingyang. After the Liu family went bankrupt, the Liu family's salt shop was handed over to Zhu Shenzhui. Zhu Shenzhui then appointed Kang Youfu as the shopkeeper, thus establishing Hengtong Trading Company.

After Hengtong Trading Company was established, it began to develop rapidly in Pingyang City. Liu Dayou joined the company at that time. After all, Liu Dayou had worked as a clerk in the Liu family for many years before, and was considered an experienced trader. In addition, Kang Youfu knew Liu Dayou, and there was a shortage of people when recruiting at that time. Liu Dayou, who had always been honest, joined the company and became a member of Hengtong.

After joining the trading company, Liu Dayou worked efficiently and was sensible, and soon gained trust. After that, Zhu Shenzhu opened up the trade route to the grassland and began to establish a caravan to trade with the grassland.

When the caravan was first established, Liu Dayou was transferred into the caravan because of his good abilities. He had been following Ma Shizhou's sidekick and had been working diligently on the grassland for more than a year. Ma Shizhou was very satisfied with Liu Dayou's performance. When the accident happened, Liu Dayou was already the deputy captain of the caravan, which meant he was the second most important person in the caravan after Ma Shizhou.

Zhu Shenzui treated the caravan members very well. Because the caravans took quite a while to travel to the grassland each time and there were certain risks involved, the caravan members' daily wages were much higher than those of ordinary merchant shop assistants. In addition, they received special "allowances" for each business trip, so the total amount of money was quite high.

In theory, Liu Dayou has become the deputy captain of the caravan through his own efforts, and can be regarded as the second in command of the caravan. His income is two or three times that of ordinary caravan clerks, and much more than that of the clerks in the trading company. These incomes can make Liu Dayou live a good life. In addition, since he entered the trading company and joined the caravan, Liu Dayou has been conscientious and hard-working, and has never encountered any problems. Especially this time when the caravan was attacked, Liu Dayou also fought back hard. In the fierce battle between the brothers of the caravan and the horse bandits, he was even seriously injured in the process of the battle.

No matter how you look at it, this honest and capable Liu Dayou could not be the one who betrayed the caravan, let alone the guy who was suspected of betraying his own people. However, the investigation by the two Jinyiwei overturned this point and confirmed that Liu Dayou was the spy in the caravan, especially the leak of the route information from the caravan’s departure to the attack on the grassland, which was all done by Liu Dayou in secret.

"Have you confessed everything?" Zhu Shenzhui asked coldly.

"Yes! When we, the Jinyiwei, take action, there is no one in this world who will not be recruited." Jinyiwei B replied calmly. Although his voice was very flat, a hint of pride could be heard from his words.

"After being beaten like this, you were tortured into confessing, right?" Zhu Shenzhui asked back.

"Sixth Master, this is his confession, please take a look." The Jinyiwei Jia seemed to have known that this question would come, and immediately handed over a confession.

Zhu Shenzhui reached out to take it and immediately began to read it in the candlelight beside him. Who would have thought that after just a few glances his face turned dark and his expression became cold as ice. After he finished reading, he closed his statement and when he looked at the cage again, there was a strong murderous intent in his eyes.

(End of this chapter)