Ang Lee proposed to visit Hao Lianbo's tomb not on a whim, but because it was quite far from Summer Province. If he didn't see all the scenic spots and historical sites in Summer Province, he would feel sorry for himself.
In addition, Hao Lianbo was a very famous person during the Northern and Southern Dynasties. He was an extremely notorious guy who had built a powerful army and was also an emperor. How could Li An not take a look at the grave of such an important person?
The area within dozens of miles outside the city was under the absolute control of the Tang dynasty's soldiers. The Horse Gang had absolutely no strength to enter this area. Otherwise, it would be very dangerous. Therefore, Ang Lee could go to Hao Lianbo's tomb without worrying about his safety. However, he always had to take more guards with him. After Ang Lee left the teahouse, he asked one of the guards to return to his residence and gather some soldiers and horses at the west gate. Some of them waited for Ang Lee, and some of them went directly to Hao Lianbo's tomb to see if there was any danger around the tomb, so as to ensure Ang Lee's absolute safety.
"The Horse Gang definitely has informants in Summer Province City. The shopkeeper of the teahouse, the tea master, the businessmen coming and going, and the young lady in the market just now, they are all suspects. However, none of them will be too obvious. Therefore, we need to observe carefully before we can find the informants of the Horse Gang."
Ang Lee walked out of the teahouse and said to Li Hanlu.
Li Hanlu nodded with a smile and said, "That's right! Everyone is a suspect. Everyone on the street may be an informant of the Horse Gang. If we want to find the real informant of the Horse Gang, we have to go through a lot of trouble. "
There was nothing wrong with this statement. The informants of the Horse Gang would never write the word "Horse Gang" on their faces. Even if they were caught by the soldiers, they would not admit it unless they caught the thief and took the dirt.
Looking at the bustling crowd on the street, Li An felt that everyone was quite normal. However, if he looked at them with a suspicious gaze, he would feel that everyone was suspicious, and everyone would become suspicious.
According to Ang Lee's experience, if the Horse Gang had placed an informant in Summer Province City, there should be many places. In order to place these informants and let these informants have access to enough information, they would definitely not be placed in unimportant places, but in very important places.
For example, the teahouse just now was a very important place. One could get in touch with all kinds of people and get the information he wanted through this teahouse. Therefore, it was definitely a good place to place for an informant.
Although Summer Province City was not very big, there were still several teahouses and even more restaurants. The brothels even lined up into a street. With so many of these places, it was a good place for the Horse Gang to place their informants. As for where they were located, it would require a very good investigation.
Of course, in addition to these important occasions, there were also some inconspicuous shop merchants who might also be the informants of the Horse Gang. Among them, some shops that were obviously not well managed and were losing money almost every year could still continue to exist. This was enough to explain the problem and was very suspicious.
In the later generations, many underground workers used the method of opening shops to hide themselves. However, some shops were obviously losing money. However, the shops that were losing money did not close down but continued to open. How could this not arouse the suspicion of those who were paying attention?
For the merchants of Summer Province City, Ang Lee felt that as long as the shops were operating at a loss for a long time, they were very suspicious. Merchants were not people who did not wake up early without profit. If they could make money, they would definitely continue to operate. However, since they were operating at a loss, they still continued to persist. This was very suspicious. In addition, there were some shops that did not have the slightest business at all, but still continued to operate. This made people wonder what their real purpose was.
For abnormal shops, it was necessary to carry out an investigation. Most of these shops had problems. As long as they were carefully followed, they would definitely be able to find the problem.
As he walked, Ang Lee saw a shop that sold rice. There were no customers in the shop and it looked very deserted. When he walked in, there was only a shop assistant who was dozing off with one hand on his cheek. He looked very sleepy, as if he had not slept for a long time. In fact, this was caused by boredom. Without customers, it would be strange if he did not doze off.
"Dong dong dong …"
Ang Lee gently knocked on the table, reminding the dozing shop assistant that it was time to greet customers.
"Who is it!"
The shop assistant wiped his saliva and looked confused. Perhaps it was because he had not received customers for a long time. When he occasionally saw a customer, he seemed a little surprised.
"How much is the rice here?"
Ang Lee asked.
The shop assistant looked at the rice and said, "Sir, we have all the rice here. The one on the left … the one on the right … these are the most expensive and also the best rice."
The shop assistant introduced the rice for a long time, but Li An could see that although the price of the rice here was reasonable, it seemed to be old rice. There wasn't any new rice that had just been harvested this year, and the people would definitely prefer the new rice. They wouldn't like the old rice that had been shelved for many years. If the price of the old rice was more affordable, then there would be good sales. However, if the old rice was sold as new rice, then it would be too heartless, and there wouldn't be customers who would buy it.
"The rice in your house is all old rice from a few years ago. There is no fragrance at all. You are actually selling it at the price of new rice. Isn't it a little too expensive?"
Ang Lee opened his mouth and asked.
The shop assistant thought that Ang Lee was here to bargain and replied with a face of displeasure, "Sir, business is a matter of one party willing to buy and one willing to sell. It is a matter of mutual consent. If you think the rice in this shop is not good, you can buy from another shop."
In just a few words, the shop assistant was actually chasing people away. This was too bad at doing business. If everyone did business like this, then wouldn't they offend all the customers?
"You little shop assistant, why are you chasing people away? Where is your shopkeeper? Tell him to come out and see me. "
Ang Lee was slightly angry and wanted to see the owner of this rice shop.
The shop assistant did not want to cause trouble and quickly apologized, "Sir, don't be angry. The price of the rice is set by the shopkeeper. I can't do anything about it. By the way, our shopkeeper likes beauties the most. He might be in the bed of a brothel girl right now. I can't find him either! "
Seeing the shop assistant's sincere face, it seemed that he was not lying. Ang Lee did not want to make things difficult for this guy. It was not easy for him to look after the shop.
"Your shopkeeper is really good at doing business. Come, let's go to the next shop."
Before Ang Lee left, he said some strange words and then left resolutely. The shop assistant sighed with a face of despair. He then used his hand to support his cheek and continued to doze off. Perhaps dozing off was his real job. His existence was to look after the shop and chase away customers. But the owner of the rice shop was actually looking for a girl and did not seem to care about his business. Wasn't this very suspicious?
This shop aroused Ang Lee's suspicion. But at the same time, there was another possibility. That was, the owner of this rice shop was a prodigal rich second generation. The business that his ancestors gave him was strong enough that he did not want to make any progress. He just casually ate, drank, and played until he lost all his family business.
"Either he is a prodigal, or he is a mounted bandit's informant. These two possibilities are possible. Which one do you think is the case?"
Ang Lee said as he walked out of the rice shop.
Li Hanlu said: "It should be more likely that he is a prodigal. A mounted bandit's informant should not be so obvious. It would make people suspicious!"
Obviously, Li Hanlu felt that the owner of the rice shop was a hedonistic young master and not a mounted bandit's informant. This was because mounted bandit's informant had to be hidden very well. And running a rice shop like this would easily arouse the suspicion of smart people. This mistake was too low-level. Therefore, the possibility was not very high.
"Maybe! Where should we go next? "
Ang Lee said.
Li Hanlu looked at the sky and said: "Didn't you say that you wanted to go to Hao Lianbo's grave to take a look? Don't let the guards wait too long."
"No hurry. They usually have nothing to do. It's fine to wait a little longer."
Ang Lee said with a smile.
"Eh, that old man in front is very suspicious. Let's go and take a look."
As Li An walked, he saw a suspicious figure in front of him and walked up to him.
Li Hanlu also saw it. However, this old man was not suspicious. It was because he looked very similar to Guo Ziyi.
"Lao Guo, what a coincidence!"
When Li An got closer, he was sure that the person he saw was Guo Ziyi, so he opened his mouth to greet him.
At this time, Lao Guo was not wearing his official uniform. He was dressed like an ordinary person. The two attendants beside him were also dressed like ordinary people, but they looked very sturdy.
Although Lao Guo was the highest official in Xia Zhou City, he usually stayed in his own residence and seldom walked on the street in his official uniform. Therefore, not many people could recognize him. Besides, Lao Guo also disguised himself slightly, which made him look a little different from usual. As long as he changed his clothes, no one would suspect him.
Guo Ziyi grinned and hurriedly pulled Ang Lee to a nearby stall to sit down. He also ordered several dishes. Although Ang Lee was not hungry, he still sat down.
"Although the city is safe, I am still worried, so I came here in person."
Guo Ziyi said with a smile.
Ang Lee sighed and said, "Lao Guo, you are a worrisome person. You're such a worrisome person. Exterminating the Horse Gang is already a headache, and now you have to consider my safety. Have I caused you trouble by coming to Summer Province? "
"No, no, no. How could it be? Anyway, it's boring to stay in the mansion. It's good to come out. "
Guo Ziyi said with a smile.
"By the way, Lao Guo, there must be some spies of the Horse Gang in Summer State City. You have been here for several months. Have you found anything?"
Ang Lee asked.
Guo Ziyi shook his head and sighed, "Alas! They had investigated all suspicious places in the city, including restaurants, brothels, teahouses, and peddlers. As long as it was a place where the Horse Gang could hide, they had investigated it. However, they couldn't find anything suspicious. They couldn't just randomly catch a few people to be the Horse Gang's informants! It's not that nobody has done it before, but I will never do it. As long as there is no solid evidence, I will not wrongly accuse anyone. "
"Didn't you find anything suspicious?"
Ang Lee asked doubtfully.
Guo Ziyi shook his head and said, "At first, I found a lot of suspicious places. But the investigation proved that there was no problem. I was oversensitive and made a few small tricks to lure the snake out of the hole. But in the end, I failed at the last step, which made the Horse Gang's spies more vigilant. It's more difficult to find them."
Li An nodded approvingly. He looked at Guo Ziyi and asked, "Old Guo, there's a rice shop nearby. It's full of old rice, but it's selling at the price of new rice. No one is buying it at all. There's something wrong with this shop. Have you checked it out?"
"Of course I have. How could I not check such an obvious suspicious shop?"
Guo Ziyi said with a wry smile.
Ang Lee asked, "In that case, what's the result? It's a playboy who is a prodigal son. "
Guo Ziyi nodded and said, "That's right, that's indeed the case. The shopkeeper of this rice shop is a man in his thirties, and he's the only son in his family. His father was a reputable figure in Summer State City, and he accumulated a large family business for him. There were many houses, shops, and fields, but this playboy is not willing to manage it well. He only knows how to indulge in debauchery all day long, and even has an ambiguous relationship with many widows in the city. These old rice were sold to him by those widows at the price of new rice, but he doesn't care. The shop assistants also don't dare to say anything, fearing that he'll be annoyed if they say too much. As for the business not being good, the shop assistants don't lose anything, and the shopkeeper is the one who suffers losses.
"Oh, he is really a playboy. Such a person can't be the Horse Gang's spies. The possibility is too low."
Ang Lee said affirmatively.
"Yes! In addition to the shopkeeper of this rice shop, there were many other people who looked abnormal, but they all turned out to be normal. I really have no clue at all! "
Guo Ziyi said helplessly again.
Ang Lee thought for a moment and said, "In addition to these shopkeepers, haven't you checked the rest of the people? For example, the peddlers on the street, the girls who played music in the teahouse. Have you checked all of them? "
"There are too many people like this. How can we check them one by one? But we have checked some and found nothing suspicious. But my people will continue to investigate and will find some clues."
Guo Ziyi said.
"Okay! Take your time. I'm going to Hao Lianbo's graveyard twenty-five miles west of the city. Are you interested in going together? "
Ang Lee said.
Guo Ziyi said with a smile, "In fact, there is nothing to see. According to the locals, it's just a few mounds of dirt. But I, Lao Guo, have been here for several months and have never been there. Let's go and have a look."
。 The Summit.
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