Ming Dynasty Detective 1546

Chapter 160 Yan Shifan: Pimp Alley is my home turf! (Third update)
"what?"

When Lu Bing returned with his eight elite warriors, he was dumbfounded after hearing this analysis.

Haiyue did not prejudge Zhou Shi'an's character as a treacherous traitor.

Instead, it combined descriptions from his colleague Pan Zi and testimony from his subordinate Lu Yuan, along with the other party's actions in the Ministry of Justice over the years, to form a picture of this person's life.

This "Mr. Iron Pen" must have held a strong sense of justice in his heart.

The fundamental reason why this person was willing to obey Li Yuanshe was that he could not tolerate wrongful convictions and lacked sufficient power to overturn the verdict.

Otherwise, his life as a clerk in the Ministry of Justice had not made him wealthy. His two sons were ill and disabled, and after their deaths, they could not continue their lineage. After leaving the capital, it was unknown how they were settled. There was really no need for such a person to obey a secret society for decades.

The Liyuan Society is not a secret religion like the White Lotus Sect. It may seem to have no faith, but its simple moral values ​​of good and evil are precisely its most unwavering beliefs.

But the appearance of poppy products before his death still challenged this belief.

Zhou Shi'an did not want to see Li Yuanshe use opium products to control the powerful and wealthy, but he could not stop it directly. Zhao Wenhua happened to be a fellow official in the Ministry of Justice, so he took advantage of him, ostensibly to cooperate, but in reality to obstruct him.

Haiyue didn't explain these distinctions of morality and evil in detail to Lu Bing. Lu Bing's stance was entirely from the perspective of imperial power; he deeply resented the Liyuan Society and couldn't accept this kind of thinking. He only needed to clarify the direction of their actions.

"Now there are two options."

"First, we'll send Lu Yuan to Anping Escort Agency to deliver a message, follow the clues, arrest the recipient, and uncover the true identity of 'Winged Fire Serpent'."

“If ‘Jingmu’ is really cooperating with ‘Winged Fire Serpent’ to promote ‘Hundred Flower Brew’, then this path can work, at least there is a chance to capture ‘Winged Fire Serpent’.”

“But if the list 'Jingmu Han' previously made really contained a threat, then if we send Lu Yuan to deliver the message, it will immediately alert 'Winged Fire Serpent,' and the result will inevitably be that we alert the enemy and completely sever this connection.”

"So another option is to temporarily abandon the Lu Yuan line and search for the true form of the 'Winged Fire Serpent' directly from the list provided by 'Jingmu Han'."

Lu Bing looked at the list and said in a deep voice, "But there are forty-three people on it, and most of them are from all walks of life. If we check them one by one, we may miss a good opportunity!"

"Not bad!"

Haiyue nodded: "So this is a difficult choice!"

Lu Bing gritted his teeth: "Mingwei, how much basis is there for your judgment?"

Haiyue said, "The current evidence is that Zhou Shi'an searched for wrongly accused criminals through case files, and the core members of the 'Liyuan Society' may have been selected in this way."

"At the same time, Zhao Wenhua was also guided by Zhou Shi'an to find a buyer who would rely on Baihua Wine from the case files. The identities of these two people may overlap!"

"Apart from that, it's all just my speculation..."

Lu Bing frowned, torn between his own thoughts and feelings.

He had finally managed to capture a member of the secret society and extract information that pointed to the core member, "Winged Fire Serpent." Once he got hold of "Winged Fire Serpent," he might be close to uprooting the entire secret society and wiping it out in one fell swoop. But now he had to wait again.
Any other Imperial Guard would probably have rushed out by now, but after much deliberation, Lu Bing finally asked, "Mingwei, how long will it take you to search for the true form of 'Winged Fire Serpent' based on the list?"

Haiyue had already made her judgment: "Whether it was the previous fight at the teahouse or Lu Yuan's sudden disappearance, as time goes by, the other members of the Liyuan Society will find that the risk of their companion being arrested will greatly increase, so we can't let it drag on!"

He paused for a moment, then gave a bold figure: "One day!"

Lu Bing was deeply moved.

Finding a possible Twenty-Eight Mansions from a list of forty-three people in just one day is practically a pipe dream.

Haiyue could have simply watched him take Lu Yuan to deliver the message. Even if they couldn't catch him in the end, capturing Lu Yuan would have been an unprecedented achievement. Why go through all that trouble?
Since the other party had chosen this path, Lu Bing had no more hesitation: "Mingwei, I'll wait for you for one day! You can use all my men as you see fit, but catching the thief is the priority!"

"it is good!"

Haiyue clasped her hands in a fist salute and stepped out.

This is the residence of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Previously, Yan Shifan and Zhao Wenhua were not involved in the specific arrest operations, so they waited in another room. Zhao Wenhua, in particular, was under guard.

The three of them reunited, and Haiyue succinctly explained the situation, spreading the list on the table: "It's impossible to screen all the buyers in just one day. Could you two give me some ideas on how to find this 'Winged Fire Serpent' who might be hiding among them?"

Yan Shifan almost blurted out, "Easy! Arrest all forty-three people and interrogate them!"

But since his father was now a semi-leader of the "pure stream" (a term referring to the corrupt and upright), he swallowed back these words, which didn't sound like something a positive person would say.

Besides, even if he doesn't say it, others will.

As expected, Zhao Wenhua's eyes lit up, disregarding the favor of selling wine: "Since everyone above is a suspect, we must not let anyone slip through our fingers. Let the Embroidered Uniform Guards take them all to the imperial prison and interrogate them carefully!"

Hai Yue knew very well that if his operation failed, the Embroidered Uniform Guard would definitely do the same thing afterward, but he didn't think this method would work: "This list was given to Lu Yuan by Zhou Shi'an before his death. If the true form of 'Winged Fire Serpent' is on it, do you think this person will remain indifferent and just obediently watch the risk of exposure continue?" Zhao Wenhua was stunned: "But this person is already on the list! What can we do?"

"Idiot! Use a skinned substitute!"

Yan Shifan immediately reacted and sneered, "You just went through the case yourself. Hao Shi was able to escape death by using a skinning substitute, and the two Zhangs were able to be implicated by officials using the skinning substitute method. Why can't this 'Winged Fire Serpent' find a substitute? What if he gets imprisoned by the Embroidered Uniform Guard and a substitute takes his place?"

Zhao Wenhua was puzzled: "Hao faked her death, and the two Zhangs were really executed. How can this 'Winged Fire Serpent' be a substitute if it's still alive?"

"Have you forgotten that these buyers are all patients?"

Yan Shifan's thinking was clear: "Being tormented by illness and not seeing outsiders for a long time, it's only natural that their appearance would change. If the Embroidered Uniform Guard were to arrest all forty-three people and interrogate them in the imperial prison, they would still miss their true identities, which would be a real pity!"

Zhao Wenhua was speechless.

Haiyue nodded slightly: "Donglou is right. Following this line of thought, we should choose a buyer who has gradually faded from public view."

"The first ones we can rule out are the clerks and runners of the Six Ministries."

Yan Shifan's eyes darted around as he thought: "'Jingmu Han' Zhou Shi'an was originally a clerk in the Ministry of Justice. It's very unlikely that 'Yi Huo She' is also a clerk. Besides, even if the clerks in the Six Ministries are chronically ill, they can't be replaced at will unless they resign. It can't be changed!"

Haiyue picked up her pen and crossed out more than a dozen clerks from the Six Ministries.

The list was instantly reduced by a third.

Yan Shifan then looked at Zhao Wenhua: "Which buyers need to make their presence known?"

Zhao Wenhua composed himself and began to list the details: "Sun Heihu is in charge of the South Prison, which requires frequent contact with prisoners and cannot be replaced; the head of the Longchang Escort Agency mainly handles the escort of Shanxi merchants' money exchange, and he personally escorts goods every time, so he cannot be replaced; Jin Biao, the owner of Jubaolou, always appears at the gambling den, and although his health is already very poor, he still personally runs the gambling den..."

He would say one, and Haiyue would check it off.

Soon, the list was reduced by another third.

Zhao Wenhua watched with growing apprehension, fearing he would be held responsible later: "Chief, isn't this a bit hasty? There are some things I'm not entirely sure about..."

"It doesn't matter!"

Haiyue said calmly, "Be bold in your selection. Time is of the essence, so avoid hesitation!"

Yan Shifan then looked at the remaining people: "Where are Master Bai, Master Sai, and Master Wei from Baishuntang? You even sold the brokers from the brokerage firm; you are truly greedy to the extreme!"

Zhao Wenhua thought for a moment and said, "These people really can't be confirmed! Although they started out as brokers, Baishuntang has long been a top-notch trading place in the capital, specializing in the sale of stolen goods and the buying and selling of servants. It is said that they also collude with the Embroidered Uniform Guard to buy antiques and paintings from officials who have had their homes confiscated at low prices and then resell them to wealthy merchants in Jiangnan at high prices..."

Yan Shifan thought of the two Zhangs' house being confiscated and clicked his tongue: "They've made a fortune, they're already rich men, no wonder they can afford your 'Hundred Flowers Wine'."

"It was the traitors of the Liyuan Society who used me. I have nothing to do with Baihua Wine anymore!"

Zhao Wenhua denied it repeatedly, and then said to Haiyue, "The three leaders of Baishuntang are sworn brothers, but they have long been at odds with each other. I think that if 'Winged Fire Serpent' is one of them, even if he keeps a low profile, he cannot hide it from the other two."

"Then check it off!"

Haiyue wrote with a flourish, repeating the process several times, until the list dwindled to just four people.

Looking at the last four people, Zhao Wenhua dared not continue the screening, finding each one suspicious.

Yan Shifan was somewhat surprised when he saw two of them: "Qian Jinbao from Jingu Pavilion and Aunt Sun from Shuiyun Pavilion? Aren't they both from the brothels in Pitiao Hutong? Right next to Biyutang..."

At this point, he realized he had let something slip and quickly coughed lightly to cover it up, saying, "Mingwei, do you remember? When we were investigating the Imperial Academy case, we went to the Jade Hall. Afterwards, to make sure I didn't miss any clues, I revisited those places repeatedly..."

Zhao Wenhua glanced sideways.

To be able to describe frequenting brothels in such a grand and respectable way, it seems I still need to work on my thick skin.

Haiyue also looked at Yan Shifan, and suddenly realized that his hobby could actually come in handy: "Won't going to Donglou arouse suspicion?"

"of course not!"

Yan Shifan patted his chest confidently: "Going there is like coming home for me!"

Even amidst her busy schedule, Haiyue couldn't help but think about Yan Song's reaction to those words, and smiled slightly: "In that case, let's start the investigation with these two suspects!"

(End of this chapter)