ebookland Chapter 356 Clues
Chapter 356 Clues
Chapter 356 Clues
After leaving the city gate, a group of people walked on the official road. The two people leading the way were Jesse and Ruan Qingxia, who were substitutes for Shen Wen.
Jesse said to Ruan Qingxia, "Tian Liu'er's brother Tian Yu and other civilian talents, as well as the girls who disappeared in previous years, the evidence in the government archives finally recorded that they were related to the people and geographical scope of Honglian Villa. These missing people are not a small number. Where did they go and what did they do? Only after going to Honglian Villa to investigate, we can get the results."
Jesse looked at Ruan Qingxia who was listening to him silently.
Ruan Qingxia looked up at him and smiled at him. He said, "I find that the you who are discussing the case with me now is the real you. Do you remember when we first met? You always have a unique sense of law for ordinary cases, and your methods are novel. You always jump out of the ordinary rules and try unexpected results. It really opens our eyes, so I am so happy to follow you on this trip. Prince Rui is not an ordinary court official. Following you to investigate him is like a big deal. If we fall into his hands this time, our fate will be unexpected."
Who is Jesse? He naturally knew this truth. In his previous life, he went from being an unknown policeman to a senior criminal policeman in contact with Interpol. He did not climb up by accumulating achievements step by step. He succeeded in skipping a grade because of a super-major case that shocked the world and he was lucky enough to participate in it.
The human trafficking incident at Honglian Villa is not as simple as running a brothel and engaging in the flesh trade. The upper class of those developed countries used these to sell prostitution, take drugs, sell organs, corrupt government officials, control and win over the heads of state, and indirectly control a country. They are very good at it. Doesn't this uncle have the intention of controlling the country and seizing power? Even if not, according to his usual extravagant and licentious behavior, only wealth can satisfy him. For this reason alone, this uncle's Honglian Villa must be hiding a huge secret.
Jesse smelled the benefits here and he would never miss this opportunity.
While she still has some position in front of the emperor, the most important thing now is to climb up as quickly as possible, otherwise she will become someone else's puppet, trapped in the inner courtyard, playing house fights with a group of old women, and disgustingly devoting herself to a man as a transvestite.
Jesse couldn't help but shudder at the thought of this. He absolutely didn't want that.
Jesse said to Ruan Qingxia, "I was too busy before, and I was powerless to handle the case. You also know about our family's affairs. Thank you, Lord Ruan, for your unconditional support and trust in me this time. In fact, Lord Ruan should have guessed that since we can lead the troops to Honglian Villa for a thorough investigation so smoothly, it means that the emperor is wise. We just need to do our job, Lord Ruan, don't worry."
Ruan Qingxia said: "I heard that a certain lord had signed a bet with the emperor. If he loses... the job of Guo Sheren beside the emperor will be replaced by a certain lord."
They soon arrived outside Honglian Villa. Jesse and Ruan Qingxia led their men to divide the work. Ruan Qingxia went in from the front and entangled with the stewards, while Jesse went in from the back door and directly sent soldiers to search for evidence.
The steward of the front yard of Honglian Villa was not there. I heard that he had gone out for something. The only ones left were the stewards of each yard. As Ruan Qingxia walked along, officers and soldiers ran to search the houses in the front yards. There were guests and talented men and women in the attic rooms in front. The officers and soldiers who kicked the door open and broke in were so frightened that they immediately shouted and screamed. There were also some arrogant people cursing and wanting to beat the officers and soldiers, but when they heard that they were searching under the order of His Majesty, they could only shut up.
Ruan Qingxia arrived under the stage of Furong Garden and found a seat to sit down. All the housekeepers of the front yard surrounded him. A servant had already brought him a pot of tea for him to drink.
Ruan Qingxia picked up the tea in his hand and pointed at the empty stage and said, "Isn't it said that this Red Lotus Villa is full of music and singing all day and every night? Why can't I see anyone singing and performing?"
A steward named You Mama standing in the front said, "Master Bing, in our villa, only when distinguished guests come to the villa can people order opera excerpts. The actors who perform in this villa are all talented men and women from various courtyards. Each person is invited to perform once, and the price is not something that ordinary people can afford. So think about it, ordinary distinguished guests can't afford to order opera excerpts here."
Ruan Qingxia listened to the monotonous music of piano and singing coming faintly from the attic behind and nodded.
Ruan Qingxia asked questions to several housekeepers while drinking tea.
After a while, the captain who was leading the team searching for evidence arrested some people to report to the task.
Ruan Qingxia picked out a few talented men and women and asked, "You are performing in Honglian Villa, but were you kidnapped?"
They all answered, "No, we are selling ourselves here voluntarily. There is a signed contract."
Mother You also said, "Sir, the talented men and women here are all legal. Their deeds were sent to the government office for notarization. They were definitely not abducted."
Ruan Qingxia looked relaxed and nodded.
Ruan Qingxia also asked them how many years they had been here, and whether anyone was still at home. He asked the yamen runners to record it in a book, and even asked a few soothing words of concern.
In fact, the Honglian Villa is very complicated. Some of the high-end prostitutes who have not shown their faces are official prostitutes appointed by the royal family. This is understandable because the owner of the villa, Prince Rui, is in charge of the household registration of the Imperial Household Department.
Wherever there are regular official prostitutes doing business, officials can come and go openly. If a place like Huangshu's is investigated carefully, I'm afraid it's very treacherous.
Thinking of this, Ruan Qingxia moved slightly in his seat.
At this time, another group of soldiers came, and the leader reported to Ruan Qingxia: "Sir, we checked all the houses in the front yard and didn't find anything suspicious. It's just that the sons of several high-ranking officials were having a little fun..."
Ruan Qingxia understood immediately and interrupted, "I see. Were they captured by you?"
The captain said, "No, they all think they are the ancestors. They were barged in with their buttocks naked, and they were still cursing and refusing to give in. But this is a search under the imperial order, and they can't do anything about it."
Ruan Qingxia asked the person in charge beside him, "What about the backyard? Go ask them if they have found out everything?"
The official then called a yamen runner and asked him to run the errand.
But before the yamen runner could come back to report, several soldiers ran in from the gate, pushing and shoving several people dressed in the uniforms of servants of Honglian Villa. When they came to Ruan Qingxia, they ordered them to kneel down.
Ruan Qingxia took a quick look and saw that everyone was in a panic, looking like suspects who had been caught escaping.
Ruan Qingxia asked what was going on.
The leading guard said, "Sir, you sent us to capture these people at the intersection of the small path in the back mountain. As you expected, after alerting the enemy, some of them actually escaped through the hidden path."
As he spoke, the guard took out some things from his arms and presented them to Ruan Qingxia, saying, "My lord, these things were found on these people. There are medicines banned by the court..."
As soon as the official said this, Mother You quickly explained, "Those drugs are some of the things that distinguished guests like to use on prostitutes to enhance their pleasure. Although they are banned by the court, they are not owned by our Red Lotus Villa. They were brought in by the guests themselves. This cannot be blamed on us. The distinguished guests must have seen you searching and secretly took them to the back mountain to destroy them."
Ruan Qingxia had already obtained a pile of evidence, including several exquisite bottles and jars, some unspeakable entertainment tools, and...
Ruan Qingxia pulled out two pieces of stuff from inside, and the steward beside him picked up a medicine bottle and tried to open it. He saw that their master had thrown everything aside and picked up a small, inconspicuous piece of paper with half of the body of a scholar painted on it.
When Ruan Qingxia's fingers touched the paper, his face suddenly changed and he felt uncomfortable all over.
The frightened chief immediately asked, "Sir! Are you feeling unwell?"
Ruan Qingxia suppressed the trembling of his body and waved his hands, saying, "It's okay, don't worry about me."
The person in charge ordered all the guards to take away the captured people, detain those who should be detained and release those who should be released. The yard suddenly became quieter.
Ruan Qingxia closed his eyes and remained silent. The person in charge saw that his face was pale, but his brows were tightly furrowed, as if he was thinking about something.
The time that this person in charge has followed Ruan Qingxia is too short. Lord Ruan in their family is a person who understands yin and yang. The reason why he looked unhappy is that he touched something unclean. The painted paper he just touched was not paper, but a piece of human skin, which was the remnant of the human skin lanterns hung in the backyard every day.
The slaves who were arrested just now were the ones who were ordered by Xiao Quanzi to destroy the evidence a few days ago. However, they were greedy and knew that a small bottle of Huaxinsan and other harmful drugs could replace their food and drink for a lifetime, and the lantern was even more priceless. They just thought that what Xiao Quanzi told them was not a big deal, but they didn't know that the soldiers really came to search. They were frightened and discussed, and then they risked their lives to escape with those things.
Ruan Qingxia paused for a moment, then suddenly opened his eyes, immediately stood up and waved his hand, saying, "Let's go! Let's go to the backyard and take a look."
Everyone rushed to the backyard.
When Ruan Qingxia arrived at the gate of Hongdan Courtyard in the backyard, he suddenly heard a scream. He looked in the direction pointed by the guard and found thick smoke billowing from the northeast direction. A house had been set on fire at some point.
Ruan Qingxia immediately said, "Send someone to take a look."
Then he took his men into the Hongdan Courtyard.
The people from Hongdanyuan were collectively locked up in a room by officers and soldiers. The rest of the room was empty. Ruan Qingxia looked up at the edge of the corridor and saw only hooks left where lanterns were originally hung.
Ruan Qingxia said: "Search! Search every house and every secret passage and dry well. There must be such a place."
The officers and soldiers then passed the message down and ordered everyone to search every courtyard and house for secret passages and dry wells.
Ruan Qingxia personally started searching in every room. When he couldn't find the person in Hongdan Courtyard, he went to other courtyards, including Huoli Courtyard, Changli Courtyard, and finally to Chengfeng Courtyard, which was the home of the chief steward.
The steward's yard had already been searched carefully by Jesse, who had arrived earlier, and his men. All the furniture and furnishings had been moved. Ruan Qingxia had a sharp eye, and in such a situation, he had his own judgment and could quickly spot any problem.
So in less than a cup of tea, the secret passage where Xiao Quanzi was hiding under the desk was discovered by Ruan Qingxia.
But at this time, someone came to report to him: "It's bad, Lord Shen chased to the abandoned courtyard next to Honglian Villa and disappeared."