Chapter 765 Clues in the fog!

In order to ease the relationship between Pei Zhixiu and his mother and make his mother owe Pei Zhixiu a favor, Ye Mingsheng also gave lenient sentences to some accomplices. Judging from the current results, the effect is still very good. Ye Mingsheng's efforts were not in vain.······························

Because Pei Zhixiu mentioned Jingxuan, Ye Mingsheng also asked about the situation of his youngest son. Pei Zhixiu also described it in detail, such as Jingxuan did not like to cover himself with a blanket at night, especially liked to eat sweets, and often replaced regular meals with sweets.

Ye Mingsheng was also deeply touched when he heard this. Although he had set a rule for himself that he would take time out no matter how busy he was to spend one day a month with each child, it was obvious that one day a month was not enough during the child's growth process.

Looking at Ye Mingsheng's expression, Pei Zhixiu, who was in tune with him, could also feel what Ye Mingsheng was thinking and comforted him immediately:

"My husband, the children all know that you are doing a great cause for the welfare of the people of the world, and they also know that you love them very much. In their eyes, you are a great hero. They are also looking forward to their father creating a great and prosperous world that is unprecedented in history!"

"Normally they are all very well behaved, and with the care of their respective mothers, they can grow up healthily and happily!"

Although he knew that Pei Zhixiu was trying to comfort him, Ye Mingsheng still felt much better after hearing her words.

After talking to Pei Zhixiu for a while, Ye Mingsheng seemed to remember something and asked:
"Have you heard about Madam Gao in the laundry?"

Pei Zhixiu was a little surprised to see Ye Mingsheng asking her this. After hesitating for a moment, she nodded and said softly:

“I’ve heard from people down below about it…”

Upon hearing this, Ye Mingsheng asked calmly:
"What did they say?"

Pei Zhixiu organized his words and replied:
"They say that this Madam Gao is a spy from the Supervisory Department and is trying to sabotage the mansion. The rest is just some unfounded rumors."

Ye Mingsheng was silent for a while about what Pei Zhixiu said, but still said softly:
"Jisu, what do you think of Miaoyi?"

Seeing Ye Mingsheng asking this, Pei Zhixiu's eyes showed a hint of surprise, and she immediately wanted to say something to Ye Mingsheng, but at this moment Ye Mingsheng grabbed her hand and said very seriously:

"Jixiu, I know this is a little difficult for you!"

"But I want to hear the truth, what's in your heart! Not those clichés!"

"I think Jixiu, you have already noticed that she has placed her people around you!"

Pei Zhixiu showed a trace of conflict when she heard this. If possible, she really didn't want to get involved in this mess, but unfortunately, that was her fate.

After thinking for a moment, Pei Zhixiu said slowly:
“I have always admired the First Madam. She is your virtuous wife. Not only did she give birth to Master Jingren for you, but she also managed the mansion in an orderly manner. She has always been very fair to her sisters. The sisters in the mansion are very awed by her, but…”

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In a house in Dongning
Looking at Huo San sitting on the chair, Zhang Qiankun reported respectfully:

"Director, based on the current clues, we can basically conclude that there is a deep connection between the current Liaoyang Provincial Government Assistant Secretary Lu Chaogui and Ye Zhanpeng!"

"There is a business called Daxingkui in Dongning. It is nominally run by a businessman named Wang Dagui, but in fact the owner of this business is Ye Zhanpeng. Ye Zhanpeng uses this business to undertake some of the purchasing business of Dadongsheng Business!"

"After Daxingkui gets the order from Dadongsheng, it will outsource the purchase order and earn the difference. Ye Zhanpeng can earn at least tens of thousands of taels of silver a year just from this!"

"In addition, Ye Zhanpeng and Lu Chaogui colluded with each other and used this company to enclose a lot of land in Liaoyang, and then subcontracted these lands out at high prices. The biggest profit for the two of them was that Ye Zhanpeng used Lu Chaogui's power to illegally apply for licenses for some people to run brothels and gambling houses, and then took commissions from those brothels and gambling houses!"

Hearing all these shocking things, Huo San's expression became more and more heavy. Ye Zhanpeng had met him before under the introduction of Song Geng. At that time, he just thought that Ye Zhanpeng was very smart and good at making money. He did not expect that Ye Zhanpeng would be so bold and ignore the laws formulated by the Fengwu Army...

Fortunately, he has been brought to justice now. If he had continued to behave like this for a few more years, the foundation of the Fengwu Army would have been hollowed out by this man!
After pondering for a while, Huo San asked Zhang Qiankun:
"What is the background of this Lu Chaogui?"

Zhang Qiankun thought for a moment, then spoke in a low voice:
"Lu Chaogui's husband's surname is Yun. He was able to reach the position of assistant governor of the provincial government because of the Yun family's efforts. When he was the county magistrate, the Yun family built roads and sent food, which helped him achieve many political achievements. During the years he was in the provincial government, the Yun family's business was also very prosperous!"

"In addition, it is said that not long ago, when Governor Gu came to Liaoyang to take office, this Lu Chaogui immediately approached him. Governor Gu also thinks highly of him!"

Hearing this, Huo San frowned slightly. Seeing Huo San frowning, Zhang Qiankun also asked cautiously with some nervousness:

"Director, our people have been secretly monitoring Lu Chaogui. Do you think we should arrest him now?"

Upon hearing this, Huo San nodded and said:

"Now that we have him under control, let's arrest him as soon as possible! The Marshal has ordered a thorough investigation of this matter. Don't worry. No matter who we find, we will not show any mercy!"

After hearing this, Zhang Qiankun felt relieved and immediately took the order to arrest Lu Chaogui.

After giving the order, Huo San sat alone in the room and pondered. Ever since that night when he realized, under Gu Sansi's guidance, that this matter was far from as simple as it seemed, he had been thinking about the cause and effect of this matter.

After thinking about it, he made a major decision. After consulting Ye Mingsheng, he secretly came to Liaoyang and started to conduct a more detailed investigation of the matter. Regarding the question raised by Gu Sansi that night, why did Ye Zhanpeng burn the evidence to protect those who wanted to kill him before he died.

Although Huo San still couldn't figure out why, he felt he could find the answer from three points!

First of all, where are Ye Zhanpeng’s family?

Ye Zhanpeng had one wife and two concubines. These three women gave birth to five children for Ye Zhanpeng. Among these eight people, only one concubine, Sun, of Ye Zhanpeng was found now. Moreover, this person was killed. Only one wife, one concubine and five children, a total of seven living people, were left. It was as if they had evaporated from the face of the earth and no trace of them could be found anymore.

Secondly, where is the money Ye Zhanpeng has accumulated?

Ye Zhanpeng accumulated a large amount of money through various illegal means. Although most of the money was used by him to maintain his huge network of interests, a considerable portion of it was still put into his personal wallet. The Coordination Office made a simple calculation and estimated that Ye Zhanpeng still had 100,000 taels of stolen money in his hands...

There is no trace of the stolen money, and there is currently no clue to point out where the money is hidden!
Finally, the third point, which is also the one that Huo San is most concerned about, is time!

Based on the current evidence, it can be concluded that Ye Zhanpeng learned of his danger through the news from Youyan Provincial Government on September 15. It was also on that night that he killed Song Geng and fled with his wife and children!
Ye Zhanpeng was arrested on September 23rd, which means he was on the run for a total of eight days. According to the confessions of the villagers of Xiaolishu Village, Ye Zhanpeng came to Xiaolishu Village on the night of September 21st and hid in the home of villager Zhao Dali.

Zhao Dali used to be a clerk in the Dadongsheng Company. He was supposed to be handed over to the government for stealing things from the company, but Ye Zhanpeng, the shopkeeper, saw that Zhao Dali was a first-time offender and that he was stealing because his wife and children were sick and needed money for medical treatment.

Therefore, Zhao Dali was not held accountable, but was simply fired from the Dadongsheng Company. In addition, Ye Zhanpeng gave Zhao Dali some money in his personal capacity and asked him to take it back to treat his family's illness. Zhao Dali was very grateful to Ye Zhanpeng for this, so when Ye Zhanpeng came to seek refuge, he did not think much about it and let Ye Zhanpeng hide in his home.

The reason why the Coordination Office knew that Ye Zhanpeng was hiding in Xiaolishu Village was because when Ye Zhanpeng was fleeing to Xiaolishu Village, someone saw him on the road and reported it to the Coordination Office...
Based on these known circumstances, Huo San boldly believed that something unknown must have happened in the six days from September 15th when Ye Zhanpeng fled to September 21st when Ye Zhanpeng arrived in Xiaolishu Village. And if we can figure out what Ye Zhanpeng experienced in these six days, then perhaps everything will be revealed!

Thinking of this, Huo San sighed secretly. Although there are still many doubts in this case, there is one thing he can confirm, that is, if someone is secretly manipulating this case, the purpose of the other party doing so may be that the real purpose lies in the mountains and rivers!
And as the director of the Coordination Office, he may already be a chess piece in this game, being controlled by others without his knowledge!

This feeling made Huo San feel very uncomfortable. He really wanted to know who had such courage and bravery to play this game of chess!
If he wants to achieve his goal, the opponent is likely to attack again!

As long as this person makes a move, a flaw may appear, and what I have to do now is to seize this flaw and pull this person out of the dark completely!
Huo San believed that he must know this person...

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Jinzhong, Dagu County.

In the temporary command center, Wang Muzhi was carefully observing the trends on the sand table. The recent movements of the Fengwu Army made him a little confused.

Wang Muzhi studied the small sand table for half an hour without moving his eyes away. After another cup of tea, a tall and burly figure walked into the room and bowed to Wang Muzhi:
"General Liu Pi pays respect to the Governor!"

Seeing the visitor, Wang Muzhi's eyes flashed with a hint of brilliance, and he immediately ordered:

"General Liu, please stand up quickly. What is the current situation of the Fengwu Army in Lingyuan County?"

Liu Pi organized his sermon:

"After being hit head-on by our army in Pingyun County last time, the enemy army rested and recuperated in Lingyuan County for about ten days. During these ten days, they have been reorganizing their troops and regrouping. In addition, a batch of food, fodder, firearms, and some personnel came from Jinzhong!"

Hearing this, Wang Muzhi immediately interrupted Liu Pi's introduction and asked:

"Have you counted the enemy's specific reinforcements in terms of men, weapons, and food?"

Liu Pi thought for a moment and said:
“There are about 3,000 men and horses. The firearms are mainly muskets, about 2,000 in total. There seem to be only three red cannons. As for food and fodder, there are dozens of carts, about 500 dan in total…”

As soon as Wang Muzhi heard this, he quickly calculated in his mind. After a moment, he nodded to Liu Pi and said:

"Go on with your introduction!"

"After receiving this batch of food and fodder, the Fengwu Army in Lingyuan City began to become active again. In the past few days, their cavalry scouts have been divided into seven or eight small teams, constantly gathering intelligence around our army. One small team even ran to the vicinity of Jinyang, but was successfully driven away by our army!"

"From this point of view, these scouts are so active, perhaps they are laying the groundwork for the enemy's next offensive!"

Wang Muzhi nodded silently when he heard this. Although the effectiveness of his cavalry's harassment of the Fengwu Army's logistics supply lines was greatly reduced after the main force of the cavalry was wiped out by the Fengwu Army, he still hoped that the Fengwu Army could attack quickly and continue to attack Pingyun County or Dagu County.

Only in this way can he achieve the final victory of this war!

He had already received the commendation from Shangguan Hongyuan, but he did not feel any joy about it. Instead, he felt more clearly the heavy pressure on his shoulders!
He has already implemented wartime control around Jinyang, concentrating all the food from the people to ensure a stable supply for the army. This may allow the army to hold out for longer, but the public anger will also be beyond words. But now he can’t care so much...

(I see that many book friends are talking about this problem. Let me say it again. Although your messages will not be displayed, I can still see them in the background. So I still hope that you will leave more messages and point out my shortcomings! Good night everyone!)

(End of this chapter)