Chapter 2716: The Capital (Part 72)

After arriving in the capital, Little Qian spent some money and quickly uncovered everything there was to know about Liu Xiaobian.

Liu Xiaobian worked at Nanyuan on a five-day rotation—five days on duty, then five days off. The day his body was discovered fell outside his duty period. He was a bachelor with no relatives besides his sister and brother-in-law to look after him. Since he often stayed away from home for ten days at a stretch, his neighbors thought nothing of his absence.

Thanks to his brother-in-law's influence, Liu Xiaobian enjoyed an easy life in the outer city. People from all walks of life had to give him face. This led to wild, reckless behavior that earned him a poor reputation among both ordinary citizens and Jianghu folk alike. Naturally, he had no real friends—only a few fair-weather drinking companions who gathered around when he had money and vanished when he didn't.

If he had any family beyond his sister and brother-in-law, it was only a half-door prostitute by the riverside in the outer city, a woman with the stage name "Jiulixiang"—Nine Miles of Fragrance—his old sweetheart. Little Qian posed as a pleasure-seeker and sought her out. He claimed to be a friend of Liu Xiaobian, sent before his death to deliver two taels of silver to his sweetheart.

Jiulixiang was skeptical. Liu Xiaobian had practically no friends and plenty of debts—how could such a loyal companion suddenly appear? But with silver on offer, she wasn't about to quibble. Little Qian ordered wine and food, and they chatted over drinks. After a few cups, Jiulixiang told him everything she knew about Liu Xiaobian.

Most of it was meaningless, but from her, Little Qian gleaned several crucial details.

First, Liu Xiaobian had been working at Nanyuan for half a year. During the first two months, he frequently expressed a desire to quit and would often sneak away from his post. Jiulixiang had advised him against it several times. But starting in September, his attitude changed completely. Not only did he show up on time for every shift, he never slacked off again.

Such sudden enthusiasm could only mean one thing: money. Jiulixiang explained that Liu Xiaobian's position wasn't an official government post—just a hanger-on role with no real salary. The monthly embezzled grain and money, plus whatever "tribute" he could squeeze out, didn't amount to much. Besides, the castrated men housed in Nanyuan formed cliques and factions and weren't easy to deal with. For someone like Liu Xiaobian, accustomed to idling and gambling, the work held little appeal.

But starting in September, he suddenly became flush with money. He paid off his debts everywhere and gave Jiulixiang a ring and earrings. Every month, he handed her one tael of silver for spending money.

"One tael a month as pocket money—that's what a senior clerk at a big shop in the inner city would earn. I thought it strange too, wondered where he got all that money. When I asked, he just said he'd met a benefactor who was helping him, and his job had become very lucrative."

"A benefactor? Who would help him like that? Nanyuan is a backwater."

"Exactly. Several managing eunuchs from Nanyuan also visit our place. They're eunuchs, but they still put on airs—claiming they wear the imperially bestowed 'Flying Fish' robes. I don't care if it's flying fish or salted fish; when it comes to money, they're stingy as can be," Jiulixiang complained. "So I told him I didn't believe it. That dead ghost swore it wasn't the managing eunuchs of Nanyuan. When I pressed him, he wouldn't say more—only that it was some eunuch."

This was a crucial lead. If the benefactor helping Liu Xiaobian was a eunuch, he must be connected to the Leng Ningyun kidnapping case. The one who directed Liu Xiaobian to join Martial Yama in the robbery was most likely this same person.

"The eunuchs working at Nanyuan are all 'black' eunuchs from the palace—those who fell out of favor and were banished to that desolate garden. How could any of them be called a benefactor?"

"Whether he's in favor or not, he never said, and I don't know. But the money was real enough. Ever since he met this 'benefactor,' he always had several taels of silver on him, eating, drinking, and carousing everywhere—who knows which dog hole he crawled into!"

Jiulixiang's words carried resentment, implying that Liu Xiaobian probably had other women on the side.

That wasn't Little Qian's concern. What mattered most was the identity of Liu Xiaobian's benefactor. He recalled that Third Master Qin had arranged the Nanyuan job for Liu Xiaobian through a palace eunuch, so he asked whether Liu Xiaobian had ever mentioned who that person was.

Jiulixiang said she'd never heard him speak of it—only knew it was some powerful eunuch in the palace.

"What's his surname?"

"He never said. But Third Master Qin is close to a eunuch surnamed Cao. They often interact. It was probably through his connections."

By this point, Jiulixiang was tipsy to the point of collapse. Her bleary eyes seemed to drip water as she cooed, "With such a lovely evening, why talk about such boring things? Come..."

Little Qian spent the night at Jiulixiang's. The next day, he quietly left a tael of silver and slipped away. He met up with Min Zhanlian and reported the intelligence he had gathered.

"...I think we should make Nanyuan our priority target for investigation. The garden is enormous but sparsely populated. It's entirely possible someone could be hidden there."

Though Nanyuan lay outside the city, it sat right beside the capital. As a royal garden, its status was exalted, and ordinary people weren't permitted inside. Yet it had been neglected for so long that management had grown lax. With a guide familiar with the grounds, one could come and go freely. Even without a guide, there were many places where the walls had crumbled. Inside, the grounds stretched vast, dotted with lakes and marshes, thick with vegetation, and remained in a near-primitive state.

Both Min Zhanlian and Heliansheng recognized this as an ideal place to hide a hostage. But its very size was also the problem. The altars, temples, and gardens in the capital all covered large areas, and Nanyuan's territory was second to none—its perimeter wall stretched 120 li, many times larger than the capital itself. Without a clear lead, searching for someone inside would be like hunting for a needle in the ocean.

"You know as well as I do that Nanyuan is boundless. We have so few people. Even with Heliansheng's men added, it would take at least a month to sweep through the place." Min Zhanlian frowned. "Nanyuan is one thread. Go investigate it. Also see what else you can squeeze out of Third Master Qin—especially this Eunuch Cao who arranged Liu Xiaobian's position. See if you can dig into his background."

Little Five arrived in Tongzhou and began investigating Liu Sha's origins. But this man's background proved quite mysterious. Although he traveled frequently between the capital, Tongzhou, and Tianjin, no one knew whose master he actually served. His lips were sealed tight; he never breathed a word about his employer. He spent money generously, acted decisively, and maintained good relationships with both officialdom and the Jianghu. Though he held no "territory" and conducted no "business," he was nonetheless a "big shot" on the scene. Little Five and his two subordinates worked for two or three days but came up empty.

Seeing the difficulty of the situation, Little Five feared that continued inquiries would alert Liu Sha. He ordered his subordinates to stop asking questions and simply keep watch on the residence of Liu Sha's woman, monitoring his movements at all times.

After two or three days, Little Five noticed something unusual. Liu Sha's activities in Tongzhou weren't actually mysterious at all. Every day, he visited four or five teahouses to meet and chat with different people. Though Little Five couldn't hear exactly what they discussed, the people Liu Sha met were mostly local ruffians from Tongzhou; occasionally, there were also men from Tianjin.

This frequent meeting with various contacts to some extent confirmed Min Zhanlian's guess.

If this was the case, Manager Leng might not even be in the capital—perhaps hidden in Tongzhou, Tianjin, or even Zhangjiawan, Little Five thought. After all, misdirection was nothing new to these people. This would explain why Heliansheng had expended so much manpower and resources in the capital yet found nothing.

But this alone wasn't enough to confirm that Liu Sha belonged to the kidnapping gang, because other illicit trades required similar arrangements.

Were this an ordinary person, Little Five could use his flying-thief skills to infiltrate the mistress's house and search for clues. This residence served as Liu Sha's base of operations in the Tongzhou area; there must be something important stored within. But Liu Sha came from an Imperial Guard background and had spent years in the Jianghu. Any infiltration would surely leave traces and arouse suspicion. Besides, this wasn't about stealing gold, silver, or any specific item; searching for clues in the dark of night would prove inconvenient.

Just as the investigation in Tongzhou reached an impasse, startling news arrived from the outer city: Second Master Qin was dead.

This Second Master Qin was the clan brother of Third Master Qin, the sitting tiger of the outer city. Unlike his younger brother, the elder ran a legitimate business, traveling between Zhangjiakou and Tongzhou each year to trade frontier goods. Not a great merchant, but a prosperous household.

Doing business beyond the frontier meant dealing with Mongols, local officials, and garrison soldiers. Since the court had gone to war with the Eastern Barbarians, frontier trade had become effectively "illegal." Long-distance trading carried great risks on the road. So Second Master Qin was no ordinary merchant—he not only maintained a group of fighters but also possessed martial skills himself. He was quite a figure in the region north of the capital.

Such a prominent man had inexplicably died in the moat north of the capital. When he was fished out, they found he had been strangled. Most horrifying of all, his tongue had been cut out while he was still alive.

Such treatment served as a very clear warning. The news immediately caught Li Rufeng's attention. The killer of Second Master Qin was certainly a member of the kidnapping gang. The reason was obvious: the man had specifically come forward to report that he'd encountered Leng Ningyun on the road to Haidian on the outskirts of the capital. The kidnappers were likely using this murder to intimidate all relevant witnesses.

But Second Master Qin's report had been nearly ten days ago. If the kidnappers wanted to kill as a warning, why wait until now? Li Rufeng found this quite puzzling. Second Master Qin's report about Manager Leng's whereabouts hadn't been secret. The man himself had made no attempt to hide it.

Could it be that Second Master Qin had discovered some other secret, and that discovery had brought about his death?

Strangest of all was Third Master Qin's behavior. This sitting tiger of the outer city wept bitterly at the memorial hall, swearing to catch the killer and avenge his brother. But after returning home, he did nothing at all. He didn't even go to the teahouse anymore, staying home every day and claiming he was "too grief-stricken and had fallen ill."

"Little Qian, you need to focus more on Third Master Qin now," Min Zhanlian said. "He's definitely hiding something!"

(End of Chapter)