Chapter 2723: The Capital (Part 79)

"How generous was he normally?"

"Quite generous at first. All told, he spent two thousand strings of cash at my madam's establishment." Ruijie's voice carried a hint of pride. "Then when he wanted to take me as his mistress, he spent another thousand and more." She sighed. "But after that, he turned stingy! My monthly allowance was a mere six taels. And he counted every household expense down to the last fen! It was nearly impossible to keep even a bit of silver for myself."

Min Zhanlian laughed inwardly. Once a woman was in hand, why would any man remain generous? Aloud, he asked, "For a fortune-teller, isn't it strange that he had so much money?"

"Listen to you, sir." Ruijie, emboldened by his gentle words and handsome face, allowed herself a coy smile. "In our musician's household, as long as it's real gold and silver, who cares where it came from or how strangely it was acquired?"

Min Zhanlian pressed her about Liu Sha's usual activities. Ruijie knew little—only that he visited Tongzhou once or twice a month, staying three or four days each time. This visit had simply stretched longer than usual.

As for the people he met, they were a mix of officials and underworld figures. Given his profession and activities, this came as no surprise. Their conversations, however, were conducted in strict secrecy, mostly in the study at the front courtyard. He never discussed business in her presence.

"That old thing acts mysterious all day long, always speaking in hushed tones," Ruijie said with indignation.

Min Zhanlian turned his questioning to the previous day's murder. But Ruijie's knowledge proved limited. She knew only that the visitor had arrived at dusk. The two men talked in the study for a time, then somehow moved to the back courtyard. She had been told to wait in the west wing. Later, she heard a commotion in the main building. By the time she rushed over, the visitor was already dead and Liu Sha was wounded.

Ruijie had been scared out of her wits, but Liu Sha remained calm. He first had her help him to the side room to bandage his wounds, then produced silver to reward everyone and ordered them to clean up the traces and hide the body.

With a murder on their hands, even though Liu Sha was the killer, if the case went to court, the servants living there and Ruijie herself would not escape punishment. Losing money was one thing, but the prospect of enduring repeated court torture was terrifying. If they encountered a brutal official, they might all be prosecuted as accomplices and exiled to the frontier. Since they were all in the same boat and Liu Sha was offering silver, the three had raised no objections.

But the blood splattered on the walls refused to wash off. So they sent Ruijie out to buy lime for painting over the stains while also preventing the corpse from rotting and stinking. Once Liu Sha's wounds healed sufficiently, they planned to bury the body.

"Did the visitor bring any items? Letters or documents, perhaps?"

"He carried only a travel bag. I opened it for the master—inside were just a change of clothes and some scattered silver and copper coins. He did have a document case on his person, but the master ordered it thrown into the brazier and burned."

"What about his other belongings?"

"All burned. Nothing remains."

Min Zhanlian felt a twinge of disappointment, but on reflection, since this person was surnamed Wang, he should be someone from Wang Yehao's household.

Just then, Little Five came to report: the study had been searched, but nothing of importance was found.

"Just ordinary correspondence and fortune-telling books and such. We're sorting and packing them now. Would the squad leader like to take a look?"

"In a moment." Min Zhanlian had barely spoken when Ruijie suddenly interjected, "Master! This slave has some information. But after telling you, might this slave receive a small reward?"

"Oh? What information?" Min Zhanlian's interest was piqued.

"The east wing in this courtyard—normally we're forbidden to enter. It's kept locked tight. But once, I woke in the middle of the night and saw him with a lamp burning in the east wing. Could there be some secret hidden there?"

They had already opened the east wing earlier. Three rooms: one main, two inner—the south room contained a heated sleeping alcove, the north room served as a small study. Nothing remarkable. Since there were almost no signs of use and the door had remained locked, they had assumed it was kept as a guest room. The team members had not prioritized searching it.

Now that Ruijie mentioned it, his interest sharpened. "That's useful information. Whether we find anything or not, you'll have your reward. Think carefully—if anything else about this old thing comes to mind, bring it to me."

The squad searched the east wing again with renewed purpose. This time, they discovered a great deal. The usual hiding spots beneath the bed and in the ceiling were empty, and there were no false walls, but the furniture had been tampered with. The bed, desk, and cabinets all contained secret compartments concealing money and documents.

"Squad Leader, look at this. The old fox places considerable trust in Delong." A team member handed him a stack of Delong banknotes uncovered in the search. Min Zhanlian flipped through them. A rough estimate put the sum at two or three thousand taels—mostly bearer notes in fixed denominations issued by Delong: ten taels, fifty taels, and one hundred taels. They could be exchanged for silver at Delong or corresponding affiliate exchange houses. Most convenient for gifts and bribes. Enormous quantities had been issued throughout the capital.

The silver was unremarkable, but in one secret compartment, they found a set of five books housed in a case. All were written on fine cotton paper in small, neat calligraphy—the characters dense but clear. The title read Overview of Australia.

This was not unusual in itself. Ever since the Australians reached the walls of Guangzhou, there had been Record of Kun Affairs. As the Senate's power grew and its reputation in the Great Ming increased, literati became ever more interested in these new "barbarians." The Kun were different from the Eastern Barbarians or Mongols, who mostly affected only the frontier. The Kun had an unprecedented impact on all aspects of society. Besides the massive influx of "Australian goods," there were also "Australian pictures," "Australian illustrated magazines," and "Australian story books"... Despite repeated bans by the authorities, these publications circulated widely, with story books especially being printed and sold in large numbers. Among common folk, the Kun, Kun affairs, and Kun goods were popular topics of conversation. Thus, various notebooks focusing on the Kun had proliferated—some written by those who had traveled to Lingao; some compiled from hearsay and rumor; and some wildly fabricated and sensational. Min Zhanlian had encountered such books during his studies at the "farm."

It was perfectly normal for Liu Sha to possess such a book. Min Zhanlian casually flipped through several pages, but his expression grew grave.

Little Five asked curiously, "What's wrong? Is there something unusual about this notebook?"

"It's extremely important." Min Zhanlian drew a deep breath. "This book must be sent to the contact point and forwarded to Guangzhou without delay."

But the most significant secret compartment was concealed behind a brick in the corner of the wall. Had it not been for a veteran lone-wolf thief on the team who noticed the brick's edges were somewhat smooth, they might have missed it even after several more searches.

Inside lay a bundle of letters. He read through a few. None bore sender or recipient names—only seals. But from the content, he could roughly deduce who the other party was. Several mentioned palace affairs and frequently referred to "adoptive father." These were likely Yang Tianliang's letters.

He immediately sorted out all the letters bearing the same seal, arranged them by date, and read through them one by one. The earliest letters dated back four or five years. Their contents were mostly instructions for tasks Yang Tianliang had assigned, as well as responses to Liu Sha's requests for Eunuch Yang's assistance. It appeared that even then, Liu Sha and his master Wang Yehao had already been colluding with Eunuch Yang.

But none of this related to the Leng Ningyun case. It was not until he reached two letters from approximately half a year ago that something caught Min Zhanlian's attention. The first letter stated that, as Liu Sha had requested, he had secured the position of Managing Eunuch at Nanyuan for Eunuch Cao.

"Eunuch Cao" was a relative of Cao Sheng from Zhangjiawan—now the managing eunuch of Nanyuan. Unexpectedly, this managing eunuch position had been arranged through Liu Sha via Little Eunuch Yang! Stranger still, this letter made no mention of money! In all previous letters where favors were requested, money was invariably mentioned. Sometimes there were even complaints that the payment was too meager—barely sufficient to "tribute to the adoptive father," leaving almost nothing for himself.

Had Little Eunuch Yang changed his nature?

Reading further, the correspondence grew increasingly frequent. Letters that had once arrived every few months now came every five or six days. Several urged Liu Sha to raise funds. From the tone, it seemed Yang was desperate to curry favor with some important figure and needed to procure a very expensive piece of Australian merchandise. He specifically mentioned that Leng Ningyun was a "miserly wretch" who not only refused to offer the item as tribute but would only give an eighty percent discount on the price. Thus, he "deserved to die" and had "brought it upon himself." He also told Liu Sha that "opportunity knocks but once"—this was a perfect chance to "offer flowers to Buddha."

Min Zhanlian frowned in thought. This did not add up. Three or four months ago, Leng Ningyun had been perfectly well, serving as Delong's chief manager. How could there have been talk of "deserved to die" or "brought it upon himself"? Could Little Eunuch Yang have foreseen what was to come? And this "opportunity knocks but once"—could that refer to Wang Yehao's scheme to kidnap Leng Ningyun?

It seemed Little Eunuch Yang was not merely involved in the kidnapping but deeply embedded in it.

The subsequent letters mentioned that Nanyuan currently housed over ten thousand scattered castrated men, among whom were several capable and strong men with bandit backgrounds. But selecting suitable ones would require time. More crucially, there needed to be sufficient money and provisions. Liu Sha was to "find a way to procure them."

Moreover, from these letters, it was clear Liu Sha had not given an honest confession. He was deeply connected to the eunuchs of Nanyuan and was likely organizing armed forces among the castrated men there. Liu Xiaobian and the several eunuchs were probably part of this armed group. Their visit to the scene had probably been to assess Heliansheng's strength.

He continued reading. The later letters became sparse in content, relying mostly on code words and substitute terms. But Min Zhanlian could roughly discern that they discussed arrangements following the kidnapping. The letters mentioned how to deal with Wang Yehao. Regarding Liu Sha's concern that Heliansheng's estate in Haidian was too heavily fortified to attack by force, the reply assured him there were "arrangements in place."

Turning to the next letter, he read a few lines, then his eyes went wide. He stared intently at the paper, reading it through several times. A smile slowly spread across his face as he murmured to himself, "Good, good. Got you now."

(End of Chapter)