It was already past noon when Qi Ning saw the two murderers.
The two criminals were both around thirty years old and were in a strong age. Their hands and feet were chained with iron chains. When they saw Duan Canghai standing next to Qi Ning, fear showed on their faces. color.
Qi Ning put down the tea cup in his hand, glanced at it, and said: "Vice Commander Duan, you two should know each other. This may be the first time for you to meet me, please introduce yourself. I, Qining, am the commander of the Black Scale Battalion."
The bodies of the two criminals were shocked. Duan Canghai's eyes were like daggers, which were fixed on the two of them. The two of them felt more and more frightened. Looking at Duan Canghai's posture, it seemed that he was about to rush up and skin him alive at any time.
"Although you have committed a murder, you are still members of the Black Scale Battalion." Qi Ning said: "I am the commander of the Black Scale Battalion. If I can protect you and preserve the reputation of the Black Scale Battalion, I will certainly do my best. Now I only want to ask you one question, do you want to die or live?"
The two criminals looked at each other, threw themselves to the ground, and begged: "Master Hou, please spare your life, Master Hou, please spare your life, we... we did not kill anyone, we were deceived...!"
"Being cheated?" Qi Ning said calmly: "Do you want to say that you were cheated by Tian Heng?"
"Master Marquis, we...we were originally wandering buskers with a little knowledge of boxing and kicking. We came to the capital a year ago. We originally wanted to beg for food in the capital, but there are many experts in the capital, and our skills cannot be compared. I can't survive on the table." One of the murderers explained: "I originally planned to leave the capital and try my luck elsewhere, but I happened to run into Tian Heng. As you grow older, you can always wait for the opportunity.”
Qi Ning and Duan Canghai looked at each other and heard the murderer continue: "Tian Heng not only persuaded us to stay, but also treated us to a meal. Before leaving, he even threw some silver coins for us so that we didn't have to show our faces. He said that one day he would help our brother find a good job."
"What happened next?" Duan Canghai asked roughly.
The murderer looked pale and said: "He spent a lot of money, which can be regarded as saving our lives. Since he said he could help us find a job, it was naturally a good thing that we could only ask for, so we found a remote place in the capital to stay." After a pause, cold sweat broke out on his forehead: "After that, every once in a while, he would suddenly appear and throw us some silver coins to sustain our lives. He just asked us not to move around."
Qining thought of something and asked, "You said Tian Heng supports you. Apart from you, does he support others like this?"
The two criminals were startled, then shook their heads and said: "Master Hou, we... We don't know anything about Tian Heng's other things. Once we asked him who he was, he looked ugly and told us no. There’s no need to ask, we rely on him to support him, and... and he doesn’t look like an ordinary person, so since then, we really didn’t dare to ask more questions.”
Duan Canghai asked in a low voice: "Master Hou, do you suspect that there are others under that Tian Heng?"
"Tian Heng will not spend money to support people for no reason." Qining sneered: "It's just because he saw that these two people have some skills, so he raised them as retainers. He gave them money to give them flowers, but he wanted to buy them both. It’s just a life.”
Duan Canghai nodded, feeling awe-struck, wondering to himself who Tian Heng belonged to, and he secretly supported his retainers
In ancient times, many high-ranking officials had the hobby of keeping customers. Some wealthy and powerful nobles even had thousands of customers in their heydays. However, by the time of the founding of Chu, these old habits had been greatly improved.
This is of course because the dignitaries of the Chu State no longer have the huge financial resources to support such a large number of customers. In addition, the court is worried that if there are too many customers, there will be future troubles. Therefore, the Chu State also has prohibitions. The official position can be low, and there can be a clearly specified guard establishment, but it is forbidden to keep retainers.
But today's confession from the murderer showed that there were people in the capital who were secretly raising followers.
Qi Ning knew that no matter whether Tian Heng had only these two people under his command, the real culprit behind the whole incident could not be just these few disciples.
"Then how did you escape into the Black Scale Camp?" Duan Canghai asked coldly.
The murderer immediately said: "Vice Commander Duan, originally we had never thought about joining the army, but one day Tian Heng came to us and told us that the Black Scale Battalion was recruiting soldiers, and he wanted us to go with him to apply. We didn't want to join the army, so we refused. , Tian Heng immediately turned against him and told us that there was a big shot behind him, and the money was given by the big shot. If we spent his money, our lives would belong to them. If we don't obey, we won't survive a day in the capital."
Another criminal said hurriedly: "Yes... that's the case. We were forced. If... if we don't comply, we will lose our lives. We had no choice, so we enlisted into the Black Scale Camp with him."
"Being able to pass the strict selection process of the Black Scale Camp and finally join the camp, you two seem to be quite capable." Qining smiled lightly and said, "Besides you two, is there anyone else joining the camp?"
The two shook their heads at the same time and said: "Tian Heng only asked us two to apply successfully. If... if there are others, we don't know."
"On the night of the incident, did you also follow Tian Heng's instructions and sneak out of the military camp?"
The criminal looked pale and said: "We know that military regulations are strict, but we dare not disobey Tian Heng. When we were eating that night, Tian Heng came over to greet us and asked us to meet him after dark. He had already He found a location to sneak out of the military camp, and after dark, he took us out of the military camp. At that time, we didn't know what he was going to do. After leaving the military camp, he only wandered around the military camp, and then...!" But he didn't dare to say it. Go down.
Duan Canghai said sternly: "I'll recruit you honestly. If there's anything to hide, I'll take your heads now."
The murderer shuddered and said hurriedly: "Later, when I met a few women taking advantage of the grass, Tian Heng ran forward... ran forward to tease... us... we had no choice but to follow them."
"Of course you don't have to listen to me when you molest a good woman." Duan Canghai sneered.
The murderer lowered his head and said: "We were all dazed at the time. When the women saw us, they immediately screamed. We were a little scared. Then we saw several big men rushing over. We wanted Tian Heng to run away quickly." , but Tian Heng rushed forward and started fighting with those people. We had no choice but to step forward to help, but... But then we realized that Tian Heng's martial arts was very good, and his attacks were ruthless, and it only took a moment. During this time, he...he actually killed three people in a row. When the last big man saw the situation, he wanted to run away, and Tian Heng was about to catch up. At this time...at this time, another group of people rushed over. When we took a look, it turned out to be … It turns out he’s from the government…!”
Qining touched his chin and said: "What you mean is that from the beginning to the end, you were forced to do so. You neither knew who Tian Heng was, nor why you sneaked out of the military camp that night, let alone Why do people who know Kyoto Prefecture suddenly appear?"
"Master Marquis, we dare not deceive you. If you tell a lie, we are willing to be cut into pieces." The two criminals immediately swore.
Qi Ning smiled and said, "Do you think if you tell the truth, you won't need to be cut to pieces?"
The two criminals changed their expressions in shock, but Qi Ning already said: "You have ruined the reputation of the Blackscale Battalion, and you cannot escape punishment easily. If you want to survive, you must exchange something useful. You know nothing about it now." , is of no use to me, why should I protect your lives?"
"Master Marquis, have mercy on me, Master Marquis, have mercy on me...!" The two criminals kowtowed, but Qi Ning picked up the tea cup and remained unmoved. One of the criminals suddenly thought of something, knelt on the ground and moved forward, saying: "Master Marquis, please forgive me!" , Lord Marquis, there is one thing... There is one thing that I don’t know if it will be useful...!"
Before he even got close to Qi Ning, Duan Canghai had already stepped forward, kicked him to the ground, and cursed: "If you take another step closer, I will chop you with a knife."
Qi Ning put down his teacup and asked, "What's going on?"
The murderer said anxiously: "Master Hou, Tian Heng... After Tian Heng entered the camp, he rarely interacted with us, and he was usually taciturn, but... But I saw him twice secretly talking to someone in the middle of the night... !" He seemed to be racking his brains to remember something.
Qi Ning raised his eyebrows, leaned forward, and asked, "You mean he was in private contact with people in the military camp?"
"Exactly." The man said: "Our brothers were forced into the military camp by him. We didn't know what medicine he was selling in his gourd, so we paid great attention to him in the military camp."
"Who did he come into contact with?" Duan Canghai asked in a deep voice.
The murderer thought for a moment and said, "I remember that man's appearance. Later I saw him and inquired secretly. Others called him Liu Huzi. His nickname... his nickname seemed to be Liu Cheng!"
"Liu Cheng? Big beard?" Duan Canghai thought thoughtfully and said quickly: "Yes, there is a man like this. He is strong and powerful. Lord Marquis, this man's subordinates remember that before he joined the army, he once He has been an Orion, is good at bows and arrows, and his archery skills are not bad, and my subordinates still want to give him time to promote him."
Qi Ning stood up, walked to the murderer with his hands behind his back, and said with a smile: "Yes, I still know something about it. Will you confess to the Kyoto Prefecture about these things?"
"No… !"
"Why don't you confess?" Qining asked.
The murderer said with a grimace: "The people from Kyoto Prefecture suddenly appeared that night. We knew something bad was going to happen and it was too late to run away. Before we were caught, Tian Heng told our brothers that he had someone in the court. Even if we were caught, we only needed to bite him If you don't say anything, you can get out alive and safe. If... if you confess randomly, not even the King of Heaven can save you."
Qi Ning nodded slightly, squatted down, and said with a smile: "You two are quite honest. I have one last thing I want to ask for your help. I wonder if you are willing?"
The two criminals looked at each other, and seeing Qin Ning's gentle tone, they felt slightly relieved and said, "Whatever the Marquis has to say, we will go up to the mountain of swords and go down to the sea of fire without hesitation."
"It's not that serious." Qi Ning smiled and said: "There is no need to go to the mountain of knives or the sea of fire. I am just asking you to borrow something."
"Borrow something?" The murderer said in surprise: "Master Hou... what does Master Hou want to borrow?"
"Heads will calm people's hearts!" Qi Ning said with a smile: "I want to borrow two heads to show strict military discipline, and please don't be stingy!"