Tiger Owl

Chapter 251: Initial clues emerge
Li Qun led his men out and soon witnessed a bloody scene: a man lay on the ground, a bamboo pole piercing his chest, blood splattering everywhere, and a collapsed shed nearby.

Li Qun looked around and immediately understood. There was a bamboo shed right below the window at the end of the corridor. The man jumped out of the window in a panic, which collapsed the bamboo shed. Unfortunately for him, a bamboo pole pierced his chest.

The subordinate stepped forward to check, then turned back and said, "Sir, he's dead!"

Li Qun immediately ordered, "Cut open his stomach and see if he swallowed any notes."

Two of his men were responsible for disposing of the body, while Li Qun led two other men back to the inn to thoroughly search the deceased's room.

The room was clean and tidy. Apart from a wooden box under the bed, there was no other luggage. Li Qun opened the wooden box and was immediately startled. It was full of gold ingots, each ingot weighing ten taels. There were fifty ingots in total, which was five hundred taels of gold. This was a fortune that ordinary people could not accumulate over several generations.

Aside from the gold ingots, there was no other luggage. Li Qun felt around in the lining of the suitcase and found two travel permits: one for entering Yidao County and the other for disembarking at Chaisang Wharf. The date on the disembarkation permit was today.

Li Qun immediately understood that this person had actually come to Chaisang by boat and disembarked at the Chaisang dock this morning, but he had also prepared a travel permit for entering the country from Yidao County.

Li Qun then ordered his men to search thoroughly. He got up and went outside, asking the shopkeeper, "When did this person arrive?"

"I arrived this morning. After registering, I noticed a problem with the travel permit and immediately reported it."

"Has he gone out since he arrived?"

"No, he ordered a meal and a bucket of hot water, and stayed in the room the whole time."

Li Qun nodded. "We can't tell anyone about this. We need to keep the guys quiet too. If anyone asks, just say it was an accident."

"I understand!"

Li Qun went downstairs and ran into his subordinate. He handed him a neatly folded piece of paper with bite marks on it.

"There were no clues on him. They found this in his mouth, before he could swallow it."

Li Qun returned to the Internal Security Bureau with the body and the gold.

Before long, Wang Xiaoman rushed over upon hearing the news.

The body was wrapped in a tattered mat and placed in the corner of the room. On the table was a wooden box filled with gold, along with two travel permits and a note.

Wang Xiaoman examined the two travel permits carefully and compared them. Upon closer inspection, she could tell the difference: the one for entering Yidao was a fake travel permit. It looked very similar, but the details were different.

It's understandable that merchants landing in Chaisang are strictly inspected, but those coming from Wuling County are subject to more lenient checks, so a fake travel permit was made.

Wang Xiaoman put down the travel permit, picked up the note, which only had two lines of text: Jichun Pharmacy on Nan'an Street, and another line below: "Unexpected events can happen at any time."

Li Qun said from the side, "This person is actually a transporter who came to Chaisang to deliver gold. 'Unexpected events may occur' should be the password."

Wang Xiaoman nodded, "Let's keep the news under wraps first. I'll go report to Marquis Chu."

Wang Xiaoman immediately went to the general's mansion, and soon Gan Ning summoned her.

Wang Xiaoman reported the situation, and Gan Ning asked, "Has the background of Jichun Pharmacy been investigated?"

"I've already checked. It's a 30-year-old pharmacy, but the owner passed away last year, and the pharmacy was sold to a pharmaceutical merchant from the north."

"You mean to say that this Jichun Pharmacy is Cao Cao's intelligence point?"

"I cannot be sure, but it is highly suspicious."

Gan Ning nodded. "Find a bold and meticulous subordinate to impersonate the deceased and continue delivering the gold."

"I understand!"

Nan'an Street is located in the south of the city and runs east to west. There are several pharmacies on this street. Jichun Pharmacy is not the largest, but it has a very good reputation and people come to buy medicine and see a doctor in an endless stream.

In the evening, a man in his thirties came to Jichun Pharmacy. It was Li Qun, carrying a heavy wooden box.

Stepping into the pharmacy, the lobby was rather dimly lit, perhaps because it was about to close. There weren't many patients, and several doctors were taking patients' pulses. "Who are you looking for?" a clerk asked as he approached.

"I need to speak with your manager; it's important."

Li Qun knew that the dead man was just a deliveryman and couldn't possibly know anything.

A short while later, a short, stout middle-aged man stepped forward. "I am the shopkeeper. What do you need me for?"

Li Qun leaned forward and whispered, "The weather can change unexpectedly!"

The shopkeeper's expression changed, and he looked to both sides. "Come with me!"

The shopkeeper led Li Qun to the backyard and then said to him, "People are subject to unpredictable fortune and misfortune. Where are the things?"

Li Qun put the box on the ground. "It's all here!"

The shopkeeper lifted the box; it was very heavy, probably what he wanted.

"You wait!"

The shopkeeper carried the box into the room and slammed the door shut.

Before long, the shopkeeper came out with a big smile and handed him a copper ring, saying, "Take this back and report!"

The shopkeeper gave him another five taels of silver. "This is for your travel expenses back. Hurry up and go out through the south gate. The city gates are about to close."

Li Qun accepted the copper ring and the silver coins, bowed, and left. He acted very professionally, not asking a single question.

The next morning, several county yamen runners arrived and asked, "Is your manager here?"

The middle-aged, short, stout shopkeeper quickly clasped his hands in greeting and said, "My name is Wang Yao, and I am the owner of the pharmacy."

The head constable held up the arrest warrant, saying, "You're coming with us!"

Wang Yao was startled. He quickly took out a few small pieces of silver and stuffed them into the head constable's hand, then cautiously asked, "Excuse me, what happened?"

The head constable, having received his bribe, smiled and said, "It's nothing serious. A patient has complained that his condition worsened after taking your medicine, and the magistrate has asked Master Wang to come and confront him."

Wang Yao breathed a sigh of relief. Being complained about by patients was a common occurrence and easy to deal with. What evidence did the other party have to say that the worsening of the condition was due to the medication?

Wang Yao gave an instruction to the shop assistant and then followed the yamen runner to the county yamen. As soon as he entered the yamen, a clerk led him inside, saying, "Let's have a confrontation in the inner hall!"

Upon entering the inner hall, he saw a man with his hands behind his back. He was taken aback for a moment, as several guards had already cut off his escape route. The man opposite him slowly turned around and smiled, "Master Wang, how have you been?"

Wang Yao was immediately stunned. The guard official in front of him was the same person who had delivered the gold to him the previous evening.

"Ruined!"

Wang Yao's legs went weak, and he collapsed to the ground.

Soon, Wang Yao confessed honestly that he was an intelligence scout for Cao Cao's army, sent to Chaisang to establish an intelligence post. They set up a pigeon messenger station outside the south city to collect various intelligence and send it to Xuchang.

The firearms technology data from last time was something he bought at great expense.

"You got five hundred taels of gold this time, are you planning something big again?" Li Qun pressed.

"We want to obtain intelligence on the Western Chu army's troop deployment north of the Yangtze River."

"Who are you trying to bribe?" Li Qun pressed.

"Yes, it is Zheng Zhao, the military advisor."

(End of this chapter)