Chapter 251: First Clues Emerge
Li Qun rushed out with his subordinates and soon saw the bloody scene: a man lying on the ground with a bamboo pole piercing his chest, blood splattering everywhere, and a collapsed shed nearby.
Li Qun looked around and immediately understood. The window at the end of the corridor was right above a bamboo shed. The man had jumped out of the window in panic, collapsing the bamboo shed, and unfortunately, a bamboo pole had pierced his chest.
A subordinate stepped forward to check and reported back, “Supervisor, he’s already dead!”
Li Qun immediately ordered, “Cut open his stomach and see if he swallowed any note.”
Two subordinates handled the body, while Li Qun took the other two back to the inn to thoroughly search the deceased’s room.
The room was very clean and tidy. Apart from a wooden box under the bed, there was no other luggage. Li Qun opened the wooden box and was startled. Inside, gold ingots gleamed, each weighing ten taels, with a total of fifty ingots—that was five hundred taels of gold, wealth that ordinary citizens could not accumulate over several generations.
Besides the gold ingots, there was no other luggage. Li Qun felt the interlayer of the leather box and found two travel permits: one for entering Yidao County and one for disembarking at the Chaisang dock. The disembarkation permit was dated today.
Li Qun immediately understood. This man had actually come to Chaisang by boat, disembarking at the Chaisang dock this morning, but he had also prepared a travel permit for entering from Yidao County.
Li Qun had his subordinates search carefully again. He then went outside and asked the shopkeeper, “When did this man arrive?”
“He arrived this morning. After registering, I noticed a problem with the travel permit and immediately reported it.”
“Did he go out after arriving?”
“No, he ordered a meal and a bucket of hot water, and stayed in the room the whole time.”
Li Qun nodded. “Don’t tell anyone else about this. Have the waiter keep it secret too. If anyone asks, say it was an accident.”
“I understand!”
Li Qun went downstairs and met a subordinate coming the other way, who handed him a neatly folded small note with teeth marks on it.
“There were no other clues on him. We found this in his mouth; he hadn’t swallowed it yet.”
Li Qun took the body and the gold back to the Internal Guard Department.
Soon after, Wang Xiaoman hurried over upon hearing the news.
The body was wrapped in a tattered mat and placed in the corner of the room. On the desk was the wooden box full of gold, along with the two travel permits and the note.
Wang Xiaoman examined it carefully and compared the two travel permits. Upon close inspection, the one for entering Yidao was a fake travel permit—made to look real, but differing in details.
It made sense. Merchants disembarking at Chaisang were checked strictly, but those coming from Wuling Commandery were checked more leniently, so he had made a fake travel permit.
Wang Xiaoman put down the travel permit, picked up the note, which had two lines: Nan’an Street Jichun Apothecary, and below that, Heaven has unforeseen events.
Li Qun said from the side, “This man was actually a courier delivering gold to Chaisang. ‘Heaven has unforeseen events’ is probably the password.”
Wang Xiaoman nodded. “Seal off the news for now. I’ll report to the Marquis of Chu.”
Wang Xiaoman then hurried to the General’s Mansion, where Gan Ning soon summoned him.
Wang Xiaoman reported the situation, and Gan Ning asked, “Have you investigated the background of Jichun Apothecary?”
“Yes, it’s an old apothecary with thirty years of history, but last year the owner died, and it was sold to a pharmacist from the north.”
“You mean this Jichun Apothecary is Cao Army’s intelligence point.”
“This subordinate dare not confirm, but it is highly suspicious.”
Gan Ning nodded. “Find a bold and meticulous subordinate to impersonate the deceased and continue delivering the gold.”
“This subordinate understands!”
Nan’an Street is in South City, running east-west. There are several apothecaries on this street. Jichun Apothecary is not the largest, but it has a good reputation, with a steady stream of people coming to buy medicine and see physicians.
In the evening, a man in his thirties arrived at Jichun Apothecary. It was Li Qun, carrying a heavy wooden box.
Entering the apothecary, the front hall was dimly lit, perhaps because it was about to close. There were few patients, and several physicians were taking pulses.
“Who are you looking for?” a waiter came up and asked.
“I’m looking for your shopkeeper. I have important business.”
Li Qun knew full well that the deceased man was just a deliveryman who knew nothing.
Soon, a short and stout middle-aged man came forward. “I’m the shopkeeper. What do you want?”
Li Qun leaned in and whispered, “Heaven has unforeseen events!”
The shopkeeper’s face changed. He glanced to both sides. “Follow me!”
The shopkeeper led Li Qun to the back yard and then said to him, “People have morning and evening misfortunes. Where are the goods?”
Li Qun placed the box on the ground. “All here!”
The shopkeeper lifted the box; it was very heavy—likely what he wanted.
“Wait here!”
The shopkeeper carried the box into the room and slammed the door shut with a bang!
Soon, the shopkeeper came out beaming and handed him a copper ring. “Take this back to report.”
The shopkeeper also gave him five taels of silver fragments. “This is travel money for the return. Hurry off and exit through the South City Gate; the city gate is about to close.”
Li Qun took the copper ring and silver fragments, gave a salute, and left. He acted very professionally, not asking a single extra question.
The next morning, several county yamen runners arrived. “Is your shopkeeper here?”
The short and stout middle-aged shopkeeper hurriedly clasped his fists. “I am Wang Yao, the apothecary shopkeeper.”
The lead runner raised the arrest warrant. “Come with us!”
Wang Yao was startled and quickly pulled out a few small pieces of silver fragments, stuffing them to the lead runner, cautiously asking, “May I ask what happened?”
Having received the benefit, the lead runner smiled. “It’s not a big deal. A patient sued you, saying their condition worsened after taking your medicine. The county magistrate wants the owner Wang to come for questioning.”
Wang Yao breathed a sigh of relief. Being sued by patients happened often and was easy to handle. What evidence did they have that the worsening condition was due to the medicine?
Wang Yao instructed the waiter and followed the runners to the county yamen. Entering the yamen gate, a clerk led him inside. “Questioning in the inner hall!”
Entering the inner hall, he saw a man standing with hands behind his back, facing away. He was stunned. Several Internal Guard soldiers had already blocked his retreat. The man turned around slowly with a smile. “Owner Wang, long time no see!”
Wang Yao was utterly dumbfounded. The Internal Guard official before him was the one who had delivered the gold the previous evening.
“We’re done for!”
Wang Yao’s legs gave way, and he collapsed to the ground.
Soon, Wang Yao confessed everything honestly. He was a Cao Army intelligence scout sent to Chaisang to establish an intelligence point. They had a carrier pigeon station outside South City to collect various intelligence and send it to Xuchang.
The firearm technical information last time was bought at great expense by him.
“With the five hundred taels of gold this time, were you planning something big again?” Li Qun pressed.
“We wanted to obtain intelligence on the Western Chu Army’s army deployment north of the river.”
“Who did you plan to bribe?” Li Qun pressed.
“Yes, Military Advisor Official Zheng Zhao.”
