Chapter 1829 - Whereabouts
"The position of Regent can also be hereditary. If Cao Pi hadn't usurped the Han, there would have been nothing wrong with the Cao family passing it down through generations," the Daoist said. "So there is this second rumor: the Song Emperor is merely a figurehead like Emperor Xian of Han, while Australia has always been ruled by Prime Minister Wen's descendants in the name of the Prime Minister, exercising imperial power by proxy. I heard that the bandit leader, named Wen Desi, is a descendant of Duke Wen Xin."
Steward Hu pondered. "But you, old sir, also said this matter isn't reliable..."
The claim that Wen Desi was a descendant of Wen Tianxiang had existed for several years. This Daoist before him had been commissioned by his master at that time to secretly inspect various graves related to Wen Tianxiang to see if there were any changes in the Wen family's feng shui.
After Wen Tianxiang was martyred in Beijing, his remains were buried beside the road five li outside the Little South Gate of Beijing. Additionally, his fellow townsman Zhang Qianzai buried Wen Tianxiang's hair and fingernails in their hometown of Wenjia Village, Futian, Jiangxi, where the Wen descendants lived and multiplied.
The Daoist had inspected both these grave sites. He had even traveled thousands of miles to Guangdong to visit the grave of Wen Tianxiang's mother in Sihui County—Mother Wen had set out from Guangdong to Beijing hoping to see Duke Wen one last time, but received news of his martyrdom en route and died of illness in Sihui. He also visited the "Two Daughters' Tomb" in Lianping County, Guangdong—where his two daughters were said to have died of illness while fleeing to join him. In none of these places did he discover any strange phenomena.
"Furthermore, Duke Wen's descendants are clearly recorded in history books," the Daoist continued. "He had only two sons: Fosheng and Daosheng, both of whom died of illness in the army. Although one daughter, Liu-niang, survived until his martyrdom, she cannot be counted as carrying on the Wen family line..."
When it came to these historical questions, Steward Hu naturally only had the role of listening.
"After Duke Wen was sent to Dadu, his second brother Tianbi and sister Yisun came to see him one last time to arrange his affairs. At that time, they planned to adopt Tianbi's son into Duke Wen's line. Duke Wen mentioned this in a letter to his brother: 'With a son to continue the lineage, what regrets do I have in death...' This clearly shows that Prime Minister Wen and his family considered his sons all dead and could only adopt his brother's son to continue the incense. How can there be talk of a son fleeing overseas to establish a Great Song?"
"So, Daoist Master means..."
"I think the last rumor is the most likely: these bandits are not descendants of the Song at all, but merely unruly people who fled overseas, learned some strange arts from somewhere, dressed up like monkeys to play human, and established a state abroad. Now seeing the Central Plains in turmoil, they falsely borrowed the name of Great Song to bewitch people's hearts and plot for the world!" The Daoist slammed his fist on the table, making the oil lamp jump. "I've read countless bandit documents collected by your master. Their writing never avoids the taboo names of Song emperors. Many documents bluntly write 'Zhao Gou,' 'Zhao Kuangyin,' 'Northern Song,' 'Southern Song'... If they truly honored the Great Song as the legitimate lineage, how could they be so rebellious and contrary to ritual?"
"In that case..." Steward Hu stroked his beard in thought. "We need to investigate where exactly this Wen Desi is from and where his ancestral graves are?"
"Precisely. That is exactly what this poor Daoist wishes to report to your master."
"Then..." Steward Hu paced the room with his head down. "Was all our previous work in vain?"
The Daoist picked up his compass again, identifying carefully for a long time, then said: "Perhaps. But this poor Daoist feels that the previous divination and spellcasting weren't entirely wasted. At least, the Qi fortune of the Zhao family has not risen. That is certain."
Li Ziyu had been in a daze these past few days, as if walking through a dream. While searching for Mingnu, he had inadvertently cracked the major case of the Mao Family Inn. Everyone from top to bottom said his luck was exploding, that smoke was rising from his ancestral graves. Although he was not transferred to the task force, everyone knew Li Ziyu's promotion and transfer were a done deal.
Although not transferred to the task force, the huge waves caused by the Mao Family Inn case still dragged him in: the entire Guangzhou Municipal Bureau's police system was revolving almost entirely around this case. Li Ziyu was busy day and night for several days, utterly unable to attend to Mingnu's case. Gao Chongjiu had been transferred to the task force and had simply vanished—even if Li Ziyu knew where he was, it was not convenient to disturb him right now.
However, he still had to give an account to Zeng Juan. Li Ziyu had just started police work; his seniority was low and experience scant. Unlike the retained old runners, he did not have his own "eyes and ears." He could only use his off-hours to ask around in various teahouses.
He now had the "tiger skin" of authority and had "shown his face" following Gao Chongjiu on the case, so people everywhere were very perfunctory with him. Yet he received no useful news. Sometimes when he got a lead and rushed over, it turned out to be irrelevant people.
After tossing about like this for ten days with no news in sight, Li Ziyu thought about whether he should simply use some means—find an excuse to slap a "suspect" label on Zeng Juan's former brother-in-law and his wife, drag them to the bureau, and "entertain" them properly. They would naturally confess Mingnu's whereabouts.
But doing so carried significant risk. Li Ziyu was a newcomer after all, and he was quite fearful of the Australians' "omniscience." He hesitated for several days and dared not act.
One day, while Li Ziyu was writing a report, he saw Gao Chongjiu walk in hurriedly.
"Ah Yu, stop writing!" Gao Chongjiu did not stand on ceremony and whispered: "There's news about Mingnu!"
Li Ziyu stood up abruptly: "Where? Is she still in Guangzhou?" He had to be anxious. If Mingnu had been sold to another place, even a place like Dongguan where clan powers were deeply entrenched, Gao Chongjiu would be powerless.
Gao Chongjiu did not speak but signaled him to go to a quiet place.
Li Ziyu was momentarily confused, then recalled the large number of children's skeletal remains found in the Mao Family Inn case. Could they have found Mingnu's remains? At this thought, his legs went soft and his face changed color.
"You can rest assured on that, the person is still alive!" Seeing his face suddenly turn pale, Gao Chongjiu knew what he was thinking. He quickly gave him a reassurance. "Come with me."
The two went to a secluded corner in the courtyard outside the office before Gao Chongjiu started talking business.
He had been working in the task force these days and naturally had no energy to run errands for Li Ziyu's affairs. However, since the Mao Family Inn case involved a large number of missing persons cases, he could legitimately deploy police forces to investigate various missing persons and trafficking cases in Guangzhou city. Moreover, with the "Special Homicide Case" hat in hand, anyone would have to weigh things carefully before keeping secrets for others. Thus, he quickly obtained reliable news.
"She's still in Guangzhou city," Gao Chongjiu said. "I found a private broker. Ten days ago, he handled the sale of a girl whose physical characteristics are very similar to Mingnu! I asked him, and he said this girl was sold from a Huang family via the Little South Gate settlement!"
"Huang family? That's not right, Zeng Juan's brother-in-law is named Cao..."
"The wife he married now is surnamed Huang," Gao Chongjiu reminded him.
Li Ziyu remembered now. When they went to Zeng Juan's brother-in-law's teahouse, the woman was called "Cao Huangshi"! And Gao Chongjiu had said her maiden home was in the "Little South Gate settlement."
"So..."
"Correct." Gao Chongjiu nodded slightly. "Mingnu was taken by Cao Huangshi to her maiden home and sold."
"That vicious woman!" Li Ziyu gritted his teeth and slapped the wall hard. He hurriedly added: "Thank you, Master Nine! Do you know where Mingnu is now?"
"According to the broker, Cao Huangshi originally said she wanted to sell her to a wealthy family as a maidservant. But hearing it required a guarantor and the money was less, she said it was better to sell her to a brothel as a 'Pipa Zai.' She is now in the Fangchun Court."
With precise news, Li Ziyu was overjoyed and thanked him repeatedly. Gao Chongjiu whispered: "You and I are on the same side; this was just a small favor. You need not be polite. Only, I cannot show my face in this matter; you must handle it yourself. And remember, though this is a 'private' matter, when you act, it must stand on 'public' grounds."
Li Ziyu nodded vigorously, gratefully saying: "Thank you for the guidance, Master Nine!"
After seeing off Gao Chongjiu, Li Ziyu returned to his desk. He already had an idea of how to "turn private into public." One of the Public Security Section's main current tasks was the "Rectification of the Vice Industry." Patrolling and inspecting brothels to see if they were implementing the management regulations was daily work for the Public Security Section. The focus was investigating acts of "buying or forcing women into prostitution."
Although the first article of the management regulations prohibited buying women for prostitution and required practitioners to follow the principle of "voluntariness," policy from above always met countermeasures from below. Some bold people, lured by shining silver, still took risks. Where there was a market, there were traffickers. Some people still conducted such trade through "private brokers." Just a few days ago, two brothels were reported for privately buying women. So going to Fangchun Court under the pretext of "strengthened inspection" was a legitimate justification.
Li Ziyu first processed the relevant paperwork and set off with Zhao Gui, the only other member of his team. Because the recent major case was related to human trafficking, patrols investigating potential trafficking venues had to be additionally equipped with National Army personnel. So several National Army soldiers accompanied them.
Entering Lefang Street, Li Ziyu knew the way well and went straight to the Temple of Guan Zhong. Routine inspections like this required the local Baojia head to accompany them according to rules. Temple Keeper Fang was resting on a bamboo couch drinking tea. Seeing the police, he hurriedly stood up to welcome them.
Li Ziyu did not waste words: "Routine patrol. Randomly checking a few brothels for regulation implementation."
Old Man Fang said with a bitter face: "Officer! Didn't you just check the day before yesterday? You inspect every three days, check every five days... how can folks do business? Can't you be a little considerate of everyone..."
Li Ziyu had mixed in the Public Security Section for a while and could now pull a long face anytime. He sternly said: "I'd like to be considerate of you, but who told you lot to privately buy women again a few days ago? Be sensible yourselves. Do business honestly according to the regulations, and naturally, there will be peace. It saves you from being dragged out to have your pants pulled down for a whipping and then having to pay silver on top of it. What is that called? That's called asking for it!"
(End of Chapter)