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

Chapter 223 Disconnection
"Haha, three hundred taels of silver...you're selling me out for just this little bit of silver?" Zhu Shenzhui sneered and threw the confession in his hand onto the table.

It was clearly written in the confession that Liu Dayou accepted three hundred taels of silver from someone, and for this three hundred taels of silver, Liu Dayou sold the whereabouts of the caravan.

On the way from Daming to the grassland, Liu Dayou made marks according to the other party's request. No one noticed the mark, but it was this action that allowed the people behind the scenes to secretly keep an eye on the caravan, grasp their whereabouts, and take action at the most appropriate time.

As for who the person who paid the money was, Liu Dayou also explained that this person was a businessman he met when he was a clerk in the Liu family. According to Liu Dayou, this businessman found Liu Dayou just to learn about the caravan through him, especially the trade route on the grassland.

The merchant told Liu Dayou that business had been bad in recent years and he planned to take the risk and try his luck on the grassland. However, he had never been to the grassland and didn't know any Mongolians. On his first business trip, he wanted to get some information from Liu Dayou and begged Liu Dayou to leave signs to help him find the direction next time he went on a business trip so that he could travel across the grassland.

In this way, Liu Dayou, who received three hundred taels of silver, sold the whereabouts of the caravan, which led to the caravan being attacked on the grassland.

"When Liu Dayou confessed, he repeatedly said that he was deceived. It was not until the caravan was attacked that he realized what was going on." Jinyiwei Jia said on the side.

"Do you believe this?" Zhu Shenzhui asked back.

Jinyiweijia grinned and said, "I always believe what I see with my own eyes. What people say may be true or false..."

Zhu Shenzhu nodded. Jinyiwei Jia was right. It was hard to tell the truth from the falsehood of the so-called rhetoric, especially in this matter. Did Liu Dayou really think so in his heart?
It's not that Liu Dayou was lying. It was a fact that he accepted the three hundred taels of silver, and it was also a fact that he secretly made marks along the way. These have been proven. The whereabouts of the caravan were leaked from him. As for his explanation of being deceived, it was nothing more than an excuse, or it could be said that Liu Dayou was deceiving himself and using it to exonerate himself.

As an old man in the trading company and the deputy captain of the caravan, Liu Dayou must be aware of the importance of the caravan, and he must understand that the requirements put forward by the so-called merchants looking for him are so simple.

Three hundred taels of silver is no small amount. A clerk in a trading company cannot earn much silver in a year. Even for the deputy team leader Liu Dayou, it is not easy to earn so much silver.

But such a large sum of money was directly paid by a small businessman, and he used such a ridiculous reason to persuade Liu Dayou and asked him to help. If Liu Dayou was really an honest farmer who knew nothing, it would be fine, but he was an old man in the business and a deputy team leader who often traveled to the grasslands. How could he not know that there was something wrong?

Furthermore, the business has always had its own rules. Liu Dayou knew this, but he did it anyway. It was obvious that he was blinded by money and blinded by the benefits. The so-called being cheated was nothing more than an excuse for Liu Dayou to try to exonerate himself after he could no longer conceal the incident.

"Did the people he recruited go to investigate?"

"Of course we checked, but it was too late. The man Liu Dayou recruited was called Mu Changrui. Mu Changrui was just a small businessman in Daizhou. When the brothers went there, Mu Changrui and his family had disappeared. Even his shop was transferred more than two months ago, and his family's whereabouts are now unknown." Jinyiwei B answered on the side.

Frowning slightly, Zhu Shenzhui pondered, "Daizhou? Mu Changrui? He didn't know much about Daizhou, but he had heard of the Mu family in Daizhou. Back then, the Mu family was ruined by Liu Shancheng, the head of the Pingyang Liu family. The Mu family originally made a living by traveling on the grasslands, but later the eldest son of the Mu family disappeared inexplicably while traveling on the grasslands. It is said that he most likely died there. The second son of the Mu family was involved in a lawsuit and was beaten to death during the trial. When the old man of the Mu family heard the news, he was so angry that he died too. In this way, the Mu family, which was quite famous in Daizhou, was finished."

The businessman named Mu Changrui that Liu Dayou confessed to was from Daizhou. Could he have any relationship with the Mu family back then?
"This person is considered a distant relative of the Mu family. Although he also has the surname Mu, he is already five generations away from the family. He was not implicated in the previous incident of the Mu family. He is just an inconspicuous small businessman in Daizhou."

"What do you think of this person?" Zhu Shenzhui asked.

The two Jinyiwei exchanged glances, and Jinyiwei A said, "Based on the current evidence, it is certain that Liu Dayou accepted Mu Changrui's bribes and sold out the caravan's whereabouts. However, Mu Changrui's business in Daizhou is not big, he is just a small businessman."

"We have checked in Daizhou. With the scale of Mu Changrui's business, he can only make two or three hundred taels of silver a year at most. But Mu Changrui took out a full three hundred taels of silver to bribe Liu Dayou. This is really beyond Mu Changrui's financial resources and it doesn't make sense."

"You mean there's someone behind Mu Changrui?"

Jinyiweijia nodded: "That's for sure. With Mu Changrui's financial resources, it's impossible for him to use so much silver to bribe Liu Dayou. Moreover, not long after the caravan got into trouble, Mu Changrui and his family disappeared without a trace in Daizhou. No one knows where they went."

Having said this, Jinyiwei Jia paused and continued: "In my opinion, there are only two possibilities for the disappearance of Mu Changrui and his family. The first is that after learning about the grassland incident, he was afraid that he would be traced back to him, so he made plans to run away with his family. As for the second possibility, it is that the person behind him took action..." As he spoke, Jinyiwei Jia raised his right hand and made a knife-cutting gesture, the meaning of which was self-evident.

Zhu Shenzhui felt that Jinyiwei's statement was correct, and his judgment was also Zhu Shenzhui's judgment. Liu Dayou was just a pawn used by Mu Changrui to grasp the whereabouts of the caravan and find an opportunity to take action.

As for Mu Changrui himself, he is definitely not the real mastermind behind the scenes. After all, Mu Changrui is just an ordinary small businessman. He does not have the financial resources to bribe Liu Dayou, nor does he have the ability to do such a thing. Like Liu Dayou, Mu Changrui is also a pawn. After the grassland incident, Mu Changrui is useless. Once Liu Dayou finds Mu Changrui, then Mu Changrui can be used to find out who is behind it.

In this case, the real mastermind behind the scenes would definitely not sit idly by and watch such a situation happen, and would definitely take necessary measures. Either directly silencing them or hiding Mu Changrui's family is possible, and Zhu Shenzhui and the two Jinyiwei believed that the former was more likely, because only the dead could truly keep secrets, and only when Mu Changrui's family completely disappeared from this world, this clue would be completely cut off.

But who was the person behind Mu Changrui? And who instructed him to do this? Zhu Shenzhui fell into deep thought for a moment.

"We still need to investigate Mu Changrui to find out who is behind him and where he has gone."

The two Jinyiwei nodded and said, "Don't worry, Sixth Master. We understand. However, Sixth Master, Mu Changrui's family is missing. It may not be easy to investigate further. We cannot guarantee whether we can find out the truth or not."

Zhu Shenzhui smiled and said, "It's not easy for you to find out this far. Mu Changrui should do his best to find out as much as he can. It's good if you can find out something. If you can't find anything, I won't blame you."

As soon as these words came out, the two Jinyiwei breathed a sigh of relief. These two people were Zhou Anmin's direct subordinates, and of course they knew the relationship between Zhu Shenzhui and Zhou Anmin. Zhou Anmin had explained to them in detail that as long as they could satisfy Zhu Shenzhui, they would be rewarded heavily after the task was completed.

Zhou Anmin's current position as deputy captain has been promoted to captain, making him the real head of the Jinyiwei Captain's Office. They dared not disobey the orders of their superior, and Zhou Anmin made it so clear that if they still didn't understand the importance of this matter, then all these years in Jinyiwei would be in vain.

Zhu Shenzhu asked them to investigate the person behind Mu Changrui. The two Jinyiwei knew that it would be very difficult to investigate if the clues were broken. They could investigate, but what if they couldn't find out and Zhu Shenzhu was angry with them? If they said something unfavorable to Zhou Anmin, how could they survive in Jinyiwei in the future?
Zhu Shencui's words put their minds at ease, and they immediately patted their chests and promised that they would do their best to handle the matter and inform Zhu Shencui as soon as they had any news.

After saying this, Zhu Shenzhui stood up and prepared to leave. The smell in the woodshed was really bad. Even with the sachet, it was unbearable after a long time.

Before he left, two Jinyiwei asked what to do with Liu Dayou. At this time, Zhu Shenzui looked at Liu Dayou in the iron cage again. After one look, an expression of disgust appeared on his face. He lightly said something and told the two Jinyiwei to let them deal with Liu Dayou as they pleased. After that, he turned around and left the woodshed.

After leaving the woodshed, Zhu Shenzhui arrived in the yard. The fresh air outside felt much more comfortable than the smell in the woodshed.

"Sixth Master!"

After entering here, he followed Zhu Shenzhui to the woodshed. Kang Youfu, who had been accompanying him all the way from the woodshed, suddenly knelt down in front of Zhu Shenzhui.

"Why?"

"Sixth Master, I failed to judge people and hired the wrong person, which led to such a big incident. I apologize to you, Sixth Master..." Kang Youfu knelt on the ground and lowered his head.

After looking at him, Zhu Shenzhui suddenly laughed. He stepped forward and helped Kang Youfu up. "Youfu, how can you be blamed for this? Liu Dayou is Liu Dayou. His affairs have nothing to do with you. Although you recruited Liu Dayou into the company, you are not a worm in his stomach, right? Besides, we recruited you according to the rules, and there is nothing wrong with it."

"After the caravan was in trouble, you responded properly and did nothing wrong. Besides, you were the one who took the initiative to remind me of the internal investigation of the caravan. As for the fact that it was eventually linked to Liu Dayou, how could it be related to you? Well, now that the matter has been investigated, it's over. Do your work well and attentively in the future. Do you understand?"

Kang Youfu was secretly moved and couldn't help shedding tears. He understood what Zhu Shenzhui said and knew that Zhu Shenzhui still trusted him. Thinking about Liu Dayou's matter, Kang Youfu couldn't help but grit his teeth. He had used the wrong person, which led to such consequences. He should learn from this in the future!

(End of this chapter)