【Kuan Xin】Snake and Venom

The letter brought by Gu Ping was urgently delivered by Lu Guannian.

The letter stated that there was a kidnapping incident in Banqiao Town, Mizhou. The kidnapped was a doctor from a medical clinic. There had been no news for more than a week. It was done by the pirates who made trouble in the seaport of the state.

Banqiao Town, Mizhou has a shipping department. It is the only large port in the north of the Song Dynasty that is responsible for the trade between the Shandong Peninsula and the ports in northern Jiangsu. There have been countless merchant ships from Koryo and Dongying over the years. Overseas Trade is thriving, and pirates are not uncommon.

Lu Guannian originally wanted to send other houses in the secret pavilion to deal with it, but he suddenly remembered that Qingzhou, where Qi Zhai went, was very close to Mizhou, and because the situation was more urgent, he decided to send Qi Zhai to investigate the kidnapping case.

Yuan Zhongxin sat on the carriage and thought for a while: "This kidnapping case has happened for so many days. Is it possible for the kidnapped person to be alive?"

Wang Kuan was also puzzled: "After the kidnappers kidnapped him, the local government didn't receive any news of a ransom demand. Why did they conclude that he was kidnapped instead of missing?"

The letter stated that it was a kidnapping case, but there was no sufficient reason to judge that it was a kidnapping case, and Lu Guannian said that according to the clues provided by the local government, they suspected that the doctor was kidnapped by pirates.

Well, a bunch of pirates don't want to rob a ship and steal money, what's the point of kidnapping a doctor?

Yuan Zhongxin asked: "Does this doctor have any family members? Have you ever gone to the government to report the case?"

Wang Kuan shook his head, and the letter only briefly stated the cause of the incident, and there was no other information.

Yuan Zhongxin closed his eyes and sighed slightly: "Then we can only make a decision after we arrive - I will squint for a while, and it will be my turn to drive the car and call me."

Wang Kuan nodded, picked up the blanket beside him and gently covered Yuan Zhongxin, secretly watching his sleeping face in a daze.

However, before it was Yuan Zhongxin's turn to drive, everyone had already arrived outside the city gate of Banqiao Town, Mizhou. Xue Ying took out the official document that Lu Guannian sent with a letter, and handed it to the officers and soldiers guarding the city gate. The officers and soldiers took a look. , quickly took them into the city to find the county magistrate.

The county magistrate's name is Liu Qiao, a chubby fat man. He greeted Yuan Zhongxin and six people into his mansion with a smile. Although he didn't know their real identities, Liu Qiao knew in his heart that these six children from Kaifeng , is definitely not a simple material, otherwise he would not have been sent to handle this case.

The two sides went back and forth politely, and Yuan Zhongxin and the others began to get down to business.

The missing person is not an ordinary person. He is a doctor from Dongying. His real name and identity are unknown. He opened a medical clinic called Sanshengguan in Mizhou, which is responsible for treating the poor. He not only distributes medicines for free Supplies are not charged at all-it is a medical clinic, it is better to say that it is a pavilion dedicated to doing good deeds to save lives and heal the wounded.

Because of the appearance of this Dongying doctor, many poor people have solved the difficulties of seeing a doctor. Many people call him "Master Fusheng" by themselves. On weekdays, everyone respects him very much and obeys Master Fusheng. , all the people here spontaneously united to help it tide over the difficulties hand in hand.

It can be said that Master Fusheng of Sansheng Pavilion is the savior here, and no one dares to disrespect him.

About eight days ago, a clerk from the Sanshengguan came to the government to report the case, saying that their master had been kidnapped, and only a bloody white handkerchief was left at the scene, with a crossbow-shaped logo embroidered on it. Someone recognized it. , Said that it was Li Muhe, a very famous pirate in Mizhou, and his unique sailing mark.

Wang Kuan: "Why can you so assert that Master Fusheng was kidnapped by pirates?"

After being kidnapped by pirates for eight days, the chances of survival are really slim.

Liu Qiao sighed: "Actually, we didn't think it was a kidnapping case at first, but the guy at the Sansheng Hall insisted that this should be treated as a kidnapping case. We couldn't, so we had to agree, and sent Eighty percent of the troops in the city are going all out to search for Master Fusheng."

Yuan Zhongxin raised his eyebrows: "When the government handles affairs, you still have to look at the guy's face?" This was the first time he heard that the government would obey the words of the people and bring them to justice casually.

Liu Qiao had no choice but to say, "Master Fusheng is highly respected and popular. Our government dare not release news about his disappearance, for fear of arousing public grievances. We keep telling the Sansheng Hall to suppress the news. As a condition, we can only release the news." It is classified as a kidnapping case, and I strongly promise to do my best to rescue Master Fusheng."

Master Fusheng has not appeared in the hospital for [-] days. Although he declared that Master Fusheng was sick in bed and could not come to see a doctor, the people began to doubt it. With no other choice, Liu Qiao had no choice but to submit an official letter. Ask Kaifeng for help.

Wang Kuan: "How much do you know about Li Muhe?"

Liu Qiao looked troubled: "People like pirates are outside the strict law. They behave in a perverse way. No one dares to record their information. We know that the pirate's name is Li Muhe. Because this Li Muhe used to be considered a big man with a head and face."

Yuan Zhongxin tilted his head, wondering: "How to say?"

"Li Muhe used to be a businessman. He had his own caravan dedicated to trading with foreign merchants. The scale was not small. But about four years ago, Li Muhe suddenly hijacked a Korean envoy. The group’s boat was released, and everything on board was gone, and since then, Li Muhe has led his caravan into a group of pirates.”

The six people were at a loss and couldn't believe it. Over the years, Song Dynasty has paid more and more attention to foreign maritime trade. Li Muheyuan owns a caravan and has rich trading experience. Why can't he suddenly think about becoming a pirate?

Zhao Jian: "Does anyone know why he became a pirate?"

Liu Qiao shook her head: "No one knows, but there are rumors, which seem to be related to his son's death - about Li Muhe, our government knows so much."

Yuan Zhongxin and Wang Kuan looked at each other, and understood what the other party was thinking. Since Li Muhe was a pirate, he should go to the beach to ask about him.

"Where is the guy from the Sansheng Hall now? Can we meet him?" Zhao Jian asked, taking a sip of tea. Li Muhe had no clue for now, so he could only put it aside.

Liu Qiao said hastily: "He is in the clinic right now, and he is probably busy getting medicine for others at the moment. In order not to arouse the suspicion of the common people, I had to trouble the six of you to go there by yourself."

The six nodded and left the government together.

Looking at the back of them leaving, Liu Qiao looked tired. He sighed heavily and pinned all his hopes on the six children. He really wondered if they could take on this important task.

The Sansheng Hall is easy to find, it is not far from the port, the facade is not big, but there are many people gathered in front of the door, it seems that they are indeed going to grab medicine.

At this time, a dark-skinned young man who looked as old as Yuan Zhongxin and the others was busy in the Sansheng Hall, but he didn't panic at all. He glanced at the prescription and buried his head in picking it up. After a while, he grabbed a pair and handed them to the person waiting behind him.

Wei Yanei poked his probe, with a curious expression on his face: "Is he Sanqi?"

Before leaving, Liu Qiao told them: "The man who came to report the case is named Sanqi, and he is the only apprentice that Master Fusheng has accepted in Mizhou."

Seeing that the Sansheng Hall is so busy now, Yuan Zhongxin and the others knew that even if they went now, they would not get any useful clues. He suggested that everyone split up and go to find out about the pirate Li Muhe.

Regardless of whether this is a kidnapping case or not, since the handkerchief with the logo of Li Mu and the sailing boat appeared in the Sansheng Hall, then this case must be more or less related to him.

Because they didn't know about Mizhou, everyone didn't dare to be too scattered, and the places of inquiry were all around the Sansheng Hall. After six people asked this question, they asked a lot of news that they didn't know whether it was true or not.

As the sky was getting dark, the six of them gathered in a small tea house, and while waiting for dinner, they each shared the news they had heard.

I thought it was a bunch of gossip, but Wei Yanei and Xue Ying asked a shocking secret.

The two of them were lucky, they happened to meet a boatman who accompanied Li Muhe on the boat, his alias was Lao Teng, and when he accompanied Li Muhe, Li Muhe had not yet become a pirate.

Lao Teng accepted the broken silver from Wei Yanei, and naturally spoke up.

Five years ago, Li Muhe had a record of a very urgent ship departure. Lao Teng said that when he approached the port that night, he personally saw Li Muhe's caravan sailing out of the port in a panic.

Lao Teng privately thought that they were in a hurry to send the goods on the ship to other places, so he didn't pay much attention.

On the second day, he went to the port to wait for work as usual, and suddenly heard his old friend ask him mysteriously: "Do you know that something happened to Li Muhe's caravan?"

Lao Teng was stunned, and hurriedly asked, "What happened?"

The old friend lowered his voice and said, "Li Muhe was in a hurry to go out to sea last night, didn't we think he was in a hurry to deliver the goods?"

Lao Teng nodded: "Yes."

Old friend: "Do you know what goods are inside?"

Lao Teng shook his head confusedly.

The old friend continued to whisper in his ear:

"It's people, a boatload of young children!"