Ming Dynasty Detective 1546

Chapter 181 Done
In September, the skies over the outskirts of Beijing are high and the clouds are light.

The backyard of Liang Jinglun's residence was nestled in a golden ginkgo forest, but a commotion was emanating from beneath the trees.

Six burly guards sat around with their shirts open, while a pile of glistening roast chicken and braised beef sat on the stone table, and several jars of aged Shaoxing wine were nearly empty.

"Third Brother, we've finally collected the water bills for this month. Those few families in the south initially tried to renege on their payments, but the brothers poured three buckets of swill into their warehouses..."

"Your methods are too refined. If it were me, I would have thrown a dead child into their well long ago!"

"Third Brother, things are different now than before, shouldn't we charge less?"

"Hmph! Scared? If you're scared, why didn't you obey the master's orders and return to Jiangnan directly? Why did you continue to follow the young master? Isn't it all just to make some money to feed your third concubine?"

The burly head of the guards, gnawing on a chicken leg, dripping oil from his chin onto his clothes, lectured his men: "The more critical the moment, the less we can back down! Reduce the fees? If we show the slightest weakness, we won't collect a single penny of the water money!"

"Yes! Third Brother is right!"

The guards responded in unison.

The head guard sensed their insincerity, his face turned cold, and his voice was like a dull knife scraping bone: "I think you've all been living too comfortably these past few years, and you've all forgotten your roots! Wang Scarface, when you killed the entire family of thirteen silk shopkeepers in Cangzhou, were you in the same cowardly state?"

The guard, who was supposed to feed the third concubine, shrank back and gave a dry laugh.

The head guard pointed at the remaining men with his finger: "Back then, eleven of us brothers broke into the salt warehouse at night, causing chaos and making a scene. We were so powerful. Now there are only six left. Money String, you're rolling in fat now. Do you still remember your amazing skill of using the water-splitting thorn to stab people's Achilles tendons?"

The chubby nurse, his face flushed, reached for his waist but found nothing. He sheepishly leaned closer and said, "Third Brother, don't be angry with your younger brothers! It's our fault!"

The leader sneered, "Angry? I'm afraid I won't be able to be angry with you for long! There are more skilled men in the shipping industry than just us brothers. They come from all over the country and have more blood on their hands than we have. Now that they no longer have those officials backing them up, do they think they can continue to live comfortably? Just watch, it's time to risk your lives. And you've been used to enjoying yourselves. How much of your old skills do you still have?"

As he spoke, he drew the sword from his waist and hurled it at a cassia tree not far away!

Swish!
This was originally a gesture of protest, but as the head of the guards made the movement, the hairs on his body stood on end, and he looked up sharply: "Oh no!"

Suddenly, the tree canopy burst open, and a dark figure swooped down like an eagle hunting a rabbit, wielding a sword with the force of splitting a mountain.

In the nick of time, the head guard didn't even have time to dodge. He suddenly pulled the fat guard beside him and rushed towards the flashing blade.

Swish!
And so, a greasy head flew off, crashing into a tree trunk and spraying blood. He finally gained a chance to catch his breath, rolled backward, and went to find his weapon.

But he was soon horrified to discover that there was more than one person who had made the move.

Almost simultaneously, five figures burst into the courtyard from different directions. Caught off guard, the brothers scrambled and crawled, desperately trying to avoid the attack. In just a few moves, one of them swung his iron rod, smashing a man's skull and causing it to cave in.

'The Embroidered Uniform Guard?'

The head of the guards' eyes were bloodshot. Even though they had more than one life on their hands, this ruthless killing style still made him feel uneasy. The key was that he was knowledgeable and instantly recognized the other party's identity.

He had been tougher on ordinary people than anyone else, but upon discovering that it was the Imperial Guards who had stormed into the courtyard, he turned and ran into the inner courtyard without a word, shouting as he ran, "There—"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than two more figures swooped down from the eaves.

Haiyue personally took charge, but instead of showing off by rushing to the front line, she followed behind the experienced Imperial Guards, with Lu Bing standing shoulder to shoulder with her.

And so, it was they who pounced down, one on the left and one on the right, working in perfect coordination.

Lu Bing spun in mid-air, his blade flashing like a bolt of lightning. The guard leader, who was instinctively defending, groaned and stumbled back. Blood spurted from his arms as he tried to block, and his defensive stance was broken. Taking advantage of this opening, Hai Yue's long staff, like a blue dragon raising its head, accurately struck the opponent's throat.

"Crack!"

The head of the guards glared with eyes as big as copper bells, his fierce expression filled with resentment and despair. His burly body swayed and he collapsed.

Lu Bing then delivered another kick to his temple, confirming that he was beyond dead, before turning back to the battle below the tree and saying in a deep voice, "Leave two alive!"

Before long, in a corner of the backyard, two blood-soaked guards were thrown in front of Haiyue and Lu Bing: "Where is Yan Shifan imprisoned?"

"I...I don't know..."

"Interrogate them separately. Kill those who don't know, and spare their lives if they do!"

"In the inner courtyard! In the inner courtyard!!"

Soon, the location was found out, and even the number of guards near the inner residence was known.

As it turned out, the number of guards inside the house was not as large as one might imagine.

According to the guards, it was Liang Zhou, the former owner of "Wantong Shipping Company," who, after learning of the changes in the officialdom, planned to transfer all his men back to his base in Jiangnan.

However, the young master Liang Jinglun was obsessed with a kind of medicinal wine in the capital and made various excuses to stay here and refused to go back. After his father urged him to return to the capital repeatedly without success, he transferred a large number of his subordinates away.

Therefore, this seemingly heavily guarded mansion actually only had 30% of its usual number of guards. It was only because of its former fierce power that it did not show any fear to outsiders.

"I thought it was a den of dragons and tigers, but it turned out to be just a small nest. They even dared to kidnap a candidate for the imperial examination. Liang Jinglun must have gone mad from taking drugs!"

"Let's split up!" Haiyue and Lu Bing discussed briefly and decided to split into two groups.

Haiyue led Hong Qi and Zhou Wu to the inner courtyard to rescue Yan Shifan, while Lu Bing led the rest of the men straight to Liang Jinglun's location, aiming to capture the leader first.

"The Embroidered Uniform Guard is on duty; anyone who obstructs their path will be killed without mercy!"

Since the guards inside did not have a numerical advantage, Lu Bing simply gave a sharp shout and led four elite guards like tigers into a flock of sheep, charging in.

On the other side, Haiyue rushed into the inner courtyard. Zhou Wu and Hong Qi rushed out from the left and right, respectively, even faster than him. The former swept his iron ruler, smashing a man's skull and causing it to cave in. The latter was even more ferocious, grabbing the heads of two servants and slamming them together. The cracking sound of bones breaking was enough to make one's teeth ache.

The two men were also blinded by rage, and anyone who dared to block their way, whether a genuine resister or someone terrified, was to be killed without hesitation.

Haiyue didn't have that kind of ruthlessness, but she also dared not leave anyone alive at this time. If it was just a facade and they stabbed her in the back, the consequences would be unimaginable. It's safe to say that those still in the house at this point are unlikely to be innocent.

They charged forward, fighting their way to the house they had been told to go to earlier.

Haiyue kicked open the door and rushed inside. She saw a familiar figure curled up on the ground, struggling to break free from the ropes. From a distance, she could smell an indescribable odor emanating from the figure.

"East Building!"

"Mingwei... Mingwei!"

Yan Shifan was initially shocked.

I had planned so many survival strategies, but suddenly a miracle happened, and I didn't even need to take a hiding place.
He was immediately overjoyed.

His eyes were red-rimmed, and he suddenly broke free of the ropes, rushing over excitedly: "Mingwei!!"

Haiyue subtly stepped aside. Close friends are close friends, but some contact is better avoided. She immediately said, "This place is not safe to stay for long. Let's go outside and talk!"

"Good! Good!"

Yan Shifan nodded repeatedly, but hesitated for a moment when he looked at the broken rope on the ground: "There are two benefactors here who helped me. I want to rescue them as well!"

"Oh?"

Haiyue, on the contrary, felt somewhat relieved.

It must be said that Yan Shifan was not as cold-hearted as Zhao Wenhua. If it were Zhao Wenhua, he would never have spoken up for others at this time.

However, after hearing the other party's description, Haiyue was also somewhat surprised: "Yun Shao? The female runner-up from Biyu Hall? What's she doing here?"

Yan Shifan's eyes sparkled with joy: "This is fate! If it weren't for her, Liang Jinglun would have tortured me this morning. How could I have met Mingwei so safely?"

Haiyue glanced at him.

To be honest, due to the negligence of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, they didn't even know the original address of the spy Sun Liu. By the time the next day had passed, Haiyue had already prepared herself for the worst, and was even mentally prepared for a version where he had one eye or a limp.

But now, apart from its overpowering odor, it's perfectly healthy and lively, which is incredibly lucky.

No wonder Yan Shifan couldn't forget the two women who had helped him in his life-or-death situation. Haiyue nodded and asked, "Where are they?"

"They're in the inner quarters. Yun Shao and Chu Rou should be able to protect themselves. We'll have to trouble Ming Wei and the brothers from the Embroidered Uniform Guard to rescue them!"

Yan Shifan recognized Hong Qi and Zhou Wu as Lu Bing's confidants, and thought that Hai Yue had even used her connections with the Embroidered Uniform Guard to save him. He was extremely grateful and didn't forget to clasp his hands in greeting to the two of them.

"Let's go!"

With the hostages rescued and the thieves' resistance negligible, the next step was to clean up the mess.

Yan Shifan followed behind Haiyue and the other two, glancing left and right, afraid of seeing Yun Shao and Chu Rou's corpses lying in a pool of blood.

"Young Master Yan—!!"

Just as he had searched most of the inner courtyard and his anxiety reached its peak, a heavenly voice drifted over, and two beautiful figures rushed over.

"Yun Shao—Chu Rou—!!"

Yan Shifan opened his arms, and the three of them embraced tightly, showing no disgust towards each other.

Lu Bing, covered in blood, dragged out a man who looked like a dead dog, and he and Hai Yue stared at each other in bewilderment.

After learning the whole story, he didn't care about Yun Shao's identity. Instead, he admired the true friendship shown in times of trouble: "To risk her life to lend a helping hand in a den of thieves, such a woman is truly loyal and righteous. This kid has actually turned misfortune into blessing!"

"A loss may turn out to be a blessing in disguise."

Haiyue smiled and said, "The rescue is a great success. We can report to the palace now. His Majesty and Minister Yan are waiting for our news!"

(End of this chapter)