No one would have thought that Eunuch Wang Zhi, who was so powerful and feared in the whole Datong city, would appear in this way.
When Pang Qi brought people in, Tang Fan didn't notice the man in the blue shirt behind him, so he just greeted with a smile, "Old Pang, have you had breakfast yet? Come and eat together!"
"When is it, you still eat! Fat will not kill you!" A familiar voice emerged from behind Pang Qi.
Tang Fan almost choked his nose with a mouthful of soy milk, and couldn't help coughing.
Suizhou stroked his back to help him calm down, and glanced at him coldly: "Sneaky."
Wang Zhi strode out from behind Pang Qi, sat down directly beside the table, and laughed angrily: "If I wasn't afraid of being discovered, why would I have to disguise!"
Tang Fan sighed, looked at the door, and asked, "Where's Ding Rong, he also knows what happened to you?"
Wang Zhi: "I don't know, I let him go. But then again, I don't understand why you want me to hide it from Ding Rong. He has been with me for many years, and his loyalty is unquestionable and trustworthy."
Tang Fan: "Before the truth is found out, anyone is suspect. If you didn't know you wouldn't do such a thing, you're actually more suspect than Ding Rong or anyone else."
Wang Zhi glared at him: "When did this gentleman become suspicious?!"
Tang Fan drank the soy milk in the bowl, took the wet handkerchief handed over by Suizhou and wiped his mouth, then said, "First of all, you are the eunuch guarding Datong, and you have a high position in Datong City, and no one can control it. You, even Wang Yue dare not control you. If you want to spread the news, it is quite easy. Secondly, when I was still in the capital, I heard that someone impeached you and Wang Yue for the Tatars. , saying that all your previous victories came from the Tatars surrendering, and in return for the deal, you sent them cloth and money."
Wang Zhi was furious: "Whoever said this will be punished!"
Tang Fan said slowly: "It's true that his heart can be punished, but you don't think I'm alarmist, the wood is beautiful in the forest, the wind will destroy it, your performance in Datong is too conspicuous, many people don't want to watch you increase your ranks. You are on a fast footing, so you must find ways to give you some trouble. I have seen this kind of memorial service when I was in the Imperial Court. Many people neither want you to make meritorious deeds, nor do they want to see you return to Beijing, so the best way is to Let you be stigmatized, convicted and removed from office."
Seeing that Wang Zhi was silent, he continued: "It's naturally impossible for you and Wang Yue to communicate with foreign enemies, but if I believe in you, it doesn't mean that others believe in you, and you can guarantee that you and Wang Yue's subordinates will also be the same. Is it absolutely loyal? Thank you for believing in me, so I do what I say, and I will try my best to find out the case, so as not to delay the war."
Tang Fan said this in a righteous manner, and before he could let Wang Zhi feel a little confidant, he picked up a bun and bit it down.
"Okay, please tell me what happened yesterday."
Wang Zhi's hands were a little itchy, but because Sui Zhou was next to him, he couldn't beat him any more. He first glared at Tang Fan before saying, "Butler Wang, we went to check, the reason why he went to the pawn shop is because of the recent past. The turnover was not good, so I took what Wang Yue gave him and pawned it."
Tang Fan looked puzzled when he heard the words.
Wang Zhi: "He has always had the habit of taking a small amount of gambling, and he often owes gambling debts, but the amount is not large. This time, the casino is also pressing hard, and he does not want to bother Wang more, so he will be thing."
Tang Fan swallowed the buns, took another mouthful of soy milk, smiled at the person who poured the soy milk for him, thanked him, and asked, "Is he acting suspiciously when he came in?"
Wang Zhi: "I haven't found it yet, why are you staring at him?"
Tang Fan swallowed Baozi: "Because when I was following Butler Wang, I met a thief who robbed him, and the other party just delayed the time, so I couldn't take care to follow him any more, where is the world? Is there such a coincidence?"
Wang Zhi: "But when the thief was found yesterday, he was already dead."
Tang Fan: "How did you die?"
Wang Zhi: "I'm going to ask you this."
Tang Fan blinked: "Huh?"
Wang Zhi: "When he died, he was still holding your purse in his hand. Zuo Zuo said that the silver was smeared with poison, and the little thief put the silver in his mouth when checking the quality of the silver, and he was poisoned. Immediately died."
The silver ingots cast by the government are fine-grained silver, and there will be official imprints on them, but these are generally in the hands of large households, and they will choose to store them. , Because these silvers are too heavy, they are usually twisted into several pieces according to their weight.
In order to distinguish the true and false of the fineness and silver, many people will take the simplest and most convenient method and use their teeth to bite.
Tang Fan: "...how did you say it came back to me after a long time? What about the silver, did you bring it?"
Wang Zhi took out a small thing wrapped in a handkerchief from his arms.
He opened the veil, revealing a few pieces of silver inside.
Tang Fan: "Which one is poisonous?"
Wang Zhi: "Guess."
Tang Fan glanced at him speechlessly, and pointed to the two largest pieces: "These two pieces are not mine."
Wang Zhi: "Oh, these two pieces are smeared with poison. If you look at them under the sun, you can see that there is a layer of gray fog on them."
Tang Fan: "Who would give it to him? That little thief just stole my purse, what did he know, and he wants to be killed?"
Sui Zhou, who was silent, suddenly said, "You just said that that person coincided with the time when you followed Butler Wang. Could it be that Butler Wang, in order to prevent you from catching up with him, found a thief to rob you of your money, and later In order to prevent the thieves from confessing to him, he killed someone?"
Tang Fan shook his head: "It's too obvious, but it's not necessary. In fact, Steward Wang was very fast at that time, and I was almost unable to catch up with him. Why should he find someone to lure me away? It's very unreasonable. …”
He looked at Wang Zhi: "Can you ask Butler Wang to question him?"
Wang Zhi said: "It's best not to, as you said, I don't know who the thief is, and Wang Yue is not in Datong now, so I will go over him and go directly to arrest his people. It's not very reasonable, and it's easy to startle the snake. But I still say the same thing. I don’t think Butler Wang would do such a thing, because he was Wang Yue’s personal soldier when he was young. He suffered a lot of injuries because of Wang Yue, and Wang Yue treated him like a family member. He really didn’t need it. Betrayed Wang Yue, and I sent someone to investigate him, except that he occasionally went to the casino on weekdays, and he had no suspicious behavior."
Tang Fan paced back and forth in the room.
If it wasn't Butler Wang, then it was someone else.
But why is it so coincidental, what the hell are the thieves trying to cover up
He remembered that he was standing at the door of the pharmacy, watching Sister Xing go out, and then he also saw Butler Wang...
He turned around abruptly to look at Wang Zhi, and blurted out, "Sister-in-law Xing!"
Wang Zhi was inexplicable: "What?"
Tang Fan said: "That sister-in-law Xing has a problem! Miss Du clearly said that she lives in the countryside of Guangling County. Even if she leaves the city, she should go out through the south gate or east gate, and she also said that her husband is still waiting at home. I went back to cook the medicine myself, but after I went out, I went to the west of the city."
Suizhou thought for a while: "Maybe she remembered something she forgot to buy, and made a special detour to the west of the city?"
Tang Fan nodded: "It's also possible, but I just remembered another thing, and now I need to confirm my guess."
Wang Zhi wanted to find out the thief sooner than any of them. Hearing this, he asked, "What guess?"
Tang Fan looked at Suizhou: "Generally, the prescriptions brought to each customer in the pharmacy will be copied and backed up. Can you get the prescription that Mrs. Xing gave to Miss Du from Miss Du?"
Sui Zhou said: "Yes, yes, but before it can be proved that she is not suspected, going to get the recipe will definitely cause her doubts and unnecessary speculation. If she is related to the internal response, she may be shocked."
Tang Fan was stunned for a moment, and thinking about it, he felt a little worried.
"But it's not impossible." Sui Zhou said, but his eyes turned to Wang Zhi.
Wang Zhi: "… "
Tang Fan: "Huh?"
"Wait, I'll give you the prescription tomorrow!" Wang Zhi suddenly became angry, "I can't stay here for too long, let's go first!"
After all, without waiting for Tang Fan and the others to respond, he got up and left.
Tang Fan was still a little dazed and confused: "What kind of riddle are you playing?"
Sui Zhou smiled slightly: "As long as Zhongjingtang is set on fire or stolen, it will be fine, but if it is stolen, it will be a little troublesome. The pharmacy will definitely be guarded at night, and it is not reasonable to even steal the prescription, so it is easier to catch fire. It's naturally the most appropriate thing to leave to him."
In the end, it was black and straight without a trace.
Tang Fan was speechless, this kind of method was not something he could come up with.
"You guys are really..." Tang Fan tried hard to choose his words, and finally replaced "unscrupulous" with—
"It's really ingenious!"
"Award, the soy milk is cold, don't drink it."
With a natural expression, Sui Zhou took the bowl in his hand and replaced it with a bun.
Eunuch Wang really moved quickly. Early the next morning, Tang Fan and Sui Zhou heard the news that Zhongjingtang had gone into the water last night.
It is said that it was fortunate that it was discovered early, and no fatalities were found, but some medicinal materials, some account books and prescriptions were burned. This is already a great fortune in misfortune, so today, a sign was hung outside Zhongjingtang, announcing that it was closed. Now Du Gui'er is taking someone to clean up inside.
Tang Fan and Suizhou didn't go out either, just chatting in the inn to pass the time.
At noon, Pang Qi came back from outside. In addition to bringing back a lot of snacks that Tang Fan explained to him, he also brought back a few recipes.
Tang Fan took a look, and it turned out that it was Mrs. Xing's assistant who went to Zhongjingtang to get medicine a few times before.
There are five prescriptions in total, and they are classified according to the date, which is very clear.
"Look, it's so strange. The medicines used in these prescriptions are different, and the diseases they treat are also completely different. Even if a person is weak and sickly, it is impossible for every sickness to be incurable." Tang Fan Pointing at Fang Zi to Suizhou Road.
Sui Zhou picked up one of them at random. Judging from the date, it should be the recipe that Sister Xing used when she returned to the pharmacy to pick up the medicine.
"What's this for?" he asked.
Suizhou knew that Tang Fan had extensive knowledge, extensive knowledge, and a little understanding of medical theory. Although he was not yet at the level of seeing a doctor, it was more than enough to distinguish the nature of the medicine and the disease from the prescription.
"Chuanxiong, Bupleurum, Angelica, Cyperus officinalis, White Peony, Yu Liren, White Mustard Seed, Licorice..."
Tang Fan read aloud, frowning slightly: "This is the prescription for San Pian Tang."
Suizhou: "Sanpian soup?"
Tang Fan: "This is an ancient recipe for migraine... Wait, where did the Tatars go last time in Datong?"
Suizhou: "Pianguan County."
With his fair and slender knuckles knocking on the table, Tang Fan murmured and repeated the words Pianguan County several times, and suddenly asked: "Pianguan County seems to be named because of a pass within its borders, then The pass is called…”
Suizhou replied: "Bianguan, also known as Bitouguan."
The two looked at each other, and Tang Fan immediately grabbed the most recent prescription.
"Achyranthes, licorice, honeysuckle, ginseng, cinnamon, wolfberry, oyster, Amomum. This recipe should be mainly for nourishing the stomach, warming the spleen, promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis. Yesterday, sister-in-law Xing also said that her husband was on the mountain because After staying all night, I got wet and my legs and feet were bad, so I prescribed this recipe for myself, which is symptomatic, and the recipe has no allusions…”
Tang Fan frowned, and felt that their discovery just now seemed to be just a coincidence.
He rubbed his forehead and thought hard, but Suizhou reacted faster than him: "Huairen and Amomum, take the head and the tail, and that's Huairen."
Tang Fan suddenly said: "Yes! The news that Wang Zhi deliberately spread before said that Huairen County is the weakest!"
Thinking about it this way, there are clearly hidden secrets in these prescriptions, either using medicinal herbs to mark them, or using soup recipes as metaphors, all of which are related to the military situation!
This method is quite covert.
When they came to search the whole city, even if the soldiers found the prescription that Sister Xing was carrying, they would never have found the information hidden in the prescription. Even Tang Fan would not have met Sister Xing at the drugstore yesterday. Will notice this unremarkable woman.
Second, the goal of Zhongjingtang is too conspicuous. Suizhou is also because of the relationship between Zhongjingtang and Wang Yue, and because the drugstore can freely enter and exit the city gate, so he is eyeing it. After Zhong Jingtang and those fine works that had letters hidden on their bodies and were caught before to divert everyone's attention, Mrs. Xing's hidden line couldn't be deeper.
Tang Fan grabbed the prescription and walked around the room: "Then the little thief who stole my purse yesterday and died later must not be a coincidence. There must be someone behind him, the person who ordered..."
He suddenly looked at Suizhou: "It's that pawnshop shopkeeper!"
Sui Zhou's eyes narrowed: "Huh?"
Through the person of Sister-in-law Xing, the whole line was connected, and Tang Fan was also a little excited: "Yes, that's right, nine times out of ten it is him! Do you remember what Miss Du said yesterday, she said that Sister-in-law Xing came back to the pharmacy every time she came back. Before getting the medicine, you always have to go to the pawn shop to pawn something, and then you can get the money. The pawn shop is located at the intersection of Zhongjingtang. Many people must pass through the pawnshop when they come to Zhongjingtang. Yesterday, I also saw the housekeeper Wang. When I got out of the pawnshop, I would catch up, and I once passed by the door of the pawnshop, and the shopkeeper also saw me."
"If there is nothing wrong with Butler Wang, and the problem is Sister Xing, the pawnshop manager must have seen me chasing after him and thought I was chasing Sister Xing, so he found the little thief and asked him to snatch my purse so that I gave Sister Xing time to get rid of me and run away, but I didn't expect that the person I was going to chase was actually Butler Wang, but instead, I was guilty of being a thief and exposed myself."
Regardless of whether his inference is correct, the suspicion of the pawnshop shopkeeper is very big.
Sister-in-law Xing, Butler Wang, and Tang Fan himself, the only intersection they have is the pawnshop.
Suizhou also stood up: "I'll take someone over now."
Tang Fan said, "I am with you."
———
"I heard that Zhongjingtang went into the water last night!"
"Ah? Didn't cause any fatalities?"
"That's not true. It is said that the vigil at the drugstore discovered it early and only burned something."
"Amitabha, that is really the blessing of the Buddha. Doctor Du has a benevolent heart. He often does not charge people for medical treatment. Sure enough, good deeds are rewarded!"
"No, the last time I went back to the east of the city, I walked into the water and burned all five members of the family inside. The scene was so tragic, tsk tsk, I didn't dare to take a second look! Shopkeeper Jin, I said you The pawn shop is good, the place is good, and with Zhongjingtang, many of those who have no money to see a doctor come to you as a thing!"
Listening to the neighbors chatting in his ears, Manager Jin's subordinates quickly dialed on the abacus, without even raising his eyelids, he just smiled: "Look at what you said, is it that my business is good, your business is bad? ?"
"Haha, thanks to Zhongjingtang, everyone can't be broken, good days are still to come, as long as the Tartars don't come every three days, everyone will have a happy birthday!" The shopkeeper of the cloth shop next to him laughed.
"Speaking of which, it's time for the Tatars to come, right?" The one who spoke was the shopkeeper of the Silver Building opposite the cloth shop.
"I said you're a bitch. You're scared when you come, but you're still looking forward to it if you don't?"
"It's not like that. In the spring of last year, those Tartars always came to loot. If they didn't come, I was always hanging in my heart, and I had to hear the news of their coming. quiet!"
"They shouldn't dare to come," Shopkeeper Jin continued, his subordinates continued to move, and the abacus clacked. "Since our Datong fight has Wang Zongbing in charge, the Tartars will have to lose a few points!"
"Didn't you hear that Wang Zongbing and Wang Eunuch had a falling out a while ago, and they all went to Yunchuanwei with people in a fit of anger. Hey, it's so good, what's the reason for this?" The shopkeeper of Yinlou shook his head.
"You don't understand now. Officialdom has always been intriguing, killing people without bloodshed. Just like us in business, it is inevitable that we often have to fight wits and courage with our customers, for what, for fame and fortune!" The cloth shop owner said. pouted.
Shopkeeper Jin finally finished calculating the account at hand, raised his head and smiled: "These are not our responsibility, let alone our business, we just need to live our own lives well, it doesn't matter whether he is Wang Zongbing or Zhang Zongbing Soldiers, since the Tartars are here anyway, isn’t everyone going to run to the countryside?”
The shopkeeper of Yinlou said: "That's different. I didn't run last year. With the general army of Wang, those Tartars couldn't enter the city..."
He paused before he could finish speaking, and a few people who were clawing their teeth looked at the outside, and suddenly several tall men came in, and all of them stopped their voices.
Shopkeeper Jin was stunned for a moment, and quickly put on a smile: "Everyone, dare to ask why you are doing it, is it to be a thing, or...?"
At first glance, it seems that the visitor is not good, and it doesn't seem to be a thing at all. The few men said nothing, blocked the door, and made a way to let the two people in the back come in.
"Shopkeeper, do you still remember me?" Tang Fan laughed.
Shopkeeper Jin took a closer look and shook his head: "I don't remember."
Tang Fan smiled and said, "Yesterday I passed by your pawnshop door, and I even had a face-to-face with the shopkeeper!"
Shopkeeper Jin smiled bitterly: "Look at what you said, although the old man has a good memory, he can't even remember a passerby!"
Tang Fan smiled: "Then do you recognize Sister Xing?"
Shopkeeper Jin: "I know that. She often comes here as a thing."
Tang Fan took out the veil from his arms and shook the two pieces of silver on the counter: "Then do you recognize this?"
Shopkeeper Jin smiled again: "You are deliberately embarrassing people. How can I recognize the thousands of dollars that the pawnshop handles every day?"
Tang Fan smiled and said, "It seems that I can't explain it for a while. Why don't you go back with us and talk slowly."
As soon as he finished speaking, two men came up behind him, one left and one right, and they held the shopkeeper Jin firmly, making him unable to move.
"You, what are you doing! There is a king's law in this Datong city!" Shopkeeper Jin exclaimed.
"Aren't you too domineering? If you have any disputes with Shopkeeper Jin, you will go to the government to talk about it. We don't want to settle it in private here!" Shopkeeper Yinlou couldn't hold back and stood up and said.
The shopkeeper of the cloth shop wanted to leave quietly, but found that the door was also blocked by the other party, and he couldn't help shouting: "How can you just come in and arrest people! I know Mrs. County Zun!"
"Jinyiwei does not need permission from the local government to do business." Suizhou blocked everyone's mouth with one sentence.
As soon as they heard the words "Jin Yiwei", not to mention the shopkeeper Jin, the other two suddenly became silent, their faces turned pale with fright.
Suizhou ignored their reaction, waved his hand and asked Pang Qi to find two people to bring them back first, while he and Tang Fan remained in the pawnshop.
Tang Fan looked at Shopkeeper Jin: "What does Sister Xing have to do with you? Did you instruct the little thief who robbed me yesterday?"
Shopkeeper Jin smiled bitterly: "My lord, even Jin Yiwei can't be so wronged! I'm a good pawn shop shopkeeper, and I only work for the owner here. I work diligently here every day. Where do you know any thief? That's it. Sister-in-law Xing, the little one also said that she often comes to me as something, so she recognizes it, and the little one really doesn't know about other things!"
Tang Fan was well-mannered and said with a slight smile: "Before you came, we checked you out, you are not a local, you came here a few years ago to escape from the famine, and worked as the shopkeeper in this Fuji pawnshop, every month You have a lot of salary, but you are not good at drinking and lustful, you don't even have a wife and children, you are alone, and you have no desires or desires.
"Your reaction just now has actually betrayed you. Normal people should be like those two people, scared and angry, but not afraid to resist, but you, after hearing our identity, your reaction is still calm. But have you? Have you ever thought that if you are too calm, you will expose yourself instead?"
Shopkeeper Jin continued to quibble: "Sir, it's not too young for a young boy to be a shopkeeper here. He's seen a lot of the world, so he naturally calms down when dealing with it. What's so surprising?"
Tang Fan raised his eyebrows: "You've seen a lot of the world, and the two shops just now are also open on this street. Don't they see the same people as you every day? Could it be that they've seen less of the world? Why do they When you are panicked, you are calm and calm?"
"What nonsense are you talking to him, as soon as the punishment is used, I can't be hard on the king!"
Along with the voice, another person came in from outside.
Strangely, Jin Yiwei, who was guarding the door, did not stop him.
Seeing the person coming, Shopkeeper Jin finally showed a strange expression on his face.
For him, Jin Yiwei's fierce reputation is not as prominent as Wang Zhi's momentum in Datong in the past two years.
In Datong City, many people recognize this eunuch Wang.
The name of the person, the shadow of the tree, and the appearance of Wang Zhi made even Shopkeeper Jin feel scared.
Wang Zhi was also straightforward. Seeing that he didn't say a word, he just raised his knee with a single blow, and even went to the vulnerable part of the family.
Only a slight muffled sound was heard, and the hearts of everyone present trembled.
Shopkeeper Jin's expression suddenly distorted, but Wang Zhi didn't know where to take out a rag and put it in his mouth, so that he couldn't shout if he wanted to, he could only scream.
Hearing this voice, Tang Fan felt that it was probably broken somewhere inside.
Out of some kind of empathy, a horrible look appeared on his face.
Wang Zhi saw it and said with disgust, "What kind of expression did you have? It wasn't you who kicked!"
Tang Fan: "... I hurt."