Chapter 33 Tongbei Chamber of Commerce
An old street intersection behind the east city of Longyuan City has a deserted scene. Under the stone sign is a pile of tattered baskets of rags. From time to time, there are the sounds of wild cats, but no one is seen.
This place is sparsely populated during the day, let alone in the evening.
It is said that it was because too many people were killed back then, and the smell of blood can still be smelled to this day. Ordinary people will feel uncomfortable when they go in and walk around, and they often have nightmares at night.
Thirty years ago, this was the busiest street in Dongshi because there was a chamber of commerce here.
"Tongbei Chamber of Commerce."
Liang Yue walked along this dilapidated long street to the middle section, kicked away all kinds of debris, and finally saw clearly the words on the broken plaque on the ground.
"Yes, this is it." He said to himself again.
I heard from Liang Peng that there was a chamber of commerce with three Moluo flowers as its logo. After he went back, he searched hard and finally found the name.
After the battle of recapture more than 400 years ago, Jiu Yang was beaten back to his old nest by Emperor Daxing. He did not dare to look south for hundreds of years.
Only the people on the border often communicated with each other in private. The people on the Yin Dynasty used ceramics, silks and daily utensils to exchange spiritual plants, medicinal herbs, wild beast limbs, etc. on the other side of Jiu Yang, and the exchanges gradually increased.
About fifty or sixty years ago, a prosperous chamber of commerce appeared called the Tongbei Chamber of Commerce. They connected the upper echelons of Yin Dynasty and Jiu Yang, and shipped goods directly between Jiu Yang's ministries and Longyuan City. Shipping between.
The street where the Tongbei Chamber of Commerce is located has immediately become the most popular street in the East City. People rush to buy goods and sell goods, making this street bustling day and night.
However, not every tribe in Jiu Yang supports trade with the Yin Dynasty. In fact, only a small number of tribes are willing to accept Jiuzhou culture.
The Tongbei Chamber of Commerce basically only has the support of the upper levels of the three major tribes: Canglong tribe, Yuelu tribe, and Xinhu tribe. The upper levels of the other tribes still prohibit the entry of Kyushu merchants. Even if the people want to, they can only secretly Buy from the remaining three tribes.
Therefore, the logo of the Tongbei Chamber of Commerce is part of the nine-headed Moluo flower, with only three flowers.
But the good times did not last long. Thirty years ago, the late emperor suddenly died of illness, and Jiu Yang took the opportunity to march into the northwest.
The new emperor ascended the throne and directly established the reign title "Mubei" to prove his determination to fight.
The Northwest War lasted for four years. In the end, Emperor Mubei went on a personal expedition and defeated the enemy in one fell swoop at Tianxia Pass. Not only did they regain the lost territory, they also occupied all the territory of the Jiu Yang Wood Wolf Tribe, locking Shuangbei City and making it difficult for the other eight tribes to get out.
In the early stages of the war, the Yin Dynasty lost, and the people in Shendu were furious. The "Tongbei Chamber of Commerce" was reported to have smuggled arms and supplies to Jiu Yang, and even their names were surrendered. In the end, all members were beheaded in the street.
This street was stained red with blood and has not faded for a long time.
No one dared to step in since then, for fear of being haunted by resentful spirits, even the main street of Dongshi was moved some distance away.
Thirty years have passed since this period of history. It has long been swept into the dust. Even those who experienced it may not remember the symbol of the three Moluo flowers. There are only a few records. You may see it in books about events from that year.
Only a very small number of young people who are well-informed scholars have the opportunity to know about this matter, such as Liang Peng.
Yu Wenlong's mansion is just outside Dongshi, only one block away from here.
Liang Yue stepped over the threshold, pushed open the shaky door, and entered the messy courtyard of the Chamber of Commerce.
At that time, Fengdie mentioned what Yu Wenlong had given her and wanted to touch her shoulder. Only Liang Yue noticed this small gesture.
Later, I focused more on solving the case and didn't think much about it until I heard Liang Peng mention the Mo Luohua thing in the morning.
It has been analyzed before that Yu Wenlong had to return to the capital of God, most likely because he wanted to get something that only he knew.
Even his Jiu Yang accomplices don’t know.
That's why those Nine Martingale spies killed Swallow Butterfly neatly.
The killing was out of caution, but this also revealed that they did not know Yu Wenlong's secret at all. Even if they only knew about the existence of such a thing, they shouldn't act so hastily.
After all, once Papilio dies, the clues are lost.
Perhaps the connection between the Nine Martingale spies is not close to begin with, otherwise it would be easy for one person to be caught and lead to a chain, and the elimination over the years would not be so difficult.
What is it that Yu Wenlong hid from Jiu Yang’s accomplices and risked his life to come back to get it...?
After Liang Yue stepped into the courtyard, he searched carefully inside and out. It seemed that there was no place to hide anything. When the members of the Chamber of Commerce were killed, there must have been searches and looting, but every box and the like was smashed.
Could it be that Yu Wenlong didn’t hide anything at all, or that the thing wasn’t here, or that there was another mechanism here?
How to find it?
Liang Yue stood in the courtyard, slowly falling into deep thought.
……
If you were Yu Wenlong, then what was the purpose of tattooing that mark on Phoenix Butterfly?
Maybe...
To leave an opportunity.
If one day I really die and there is no time to take away the things here, there may be a glimmer of hope for Papilion Butterfly to come over.
After all, she is one of the few people in the world who can make her feel true love.
As for whether it is sincere or false, what does it matter?
The things hidden here must be found by Papilion Butterfly.
This way it is destined that it will not be too difficult.
For example, after Liang Yue learned about the origin of the three Moluo flowers, she rushed here directly. If one day Fengdie discovers the meaning of this tattoo, she will easily associate it with it.
But the things here cannot be found by others. After all, Fengdie is a good girl in Miaoyin Pavilion. The uniqueness of her job makes it possible for this tattoo to be seen by others... and the possibility is not low. If Yu Wenlong died, the treasure he had hidden would be taken away by another fellow.
Then he would probably have to immerse his head in the oil pan of the underworld... It would be so embarrassing.
So this thing cannot be hidden too easily.
It must meet these two requirements: it can be found by swallowtail butterflies but cannot be found by others.
Yu Wenlong probably didn't give any hint to Fengdie. If he was still alive and his things were taken away by Fengdie, he would definitely not be able to accept it.
So what to do?
His eyes swept around the courtyard, imagining what arrangements might be possible from Yu Wenlong's perspective.
What is the difference between Papilio and others?
She loves money and loves to play the flute...
Suddenly.
Liang Yue's eyes fell on his shoes.
This entire street has been neglected for many years and is extremely dirty. There is even a thick layer of dirt and dust in the courtyard. I walked around here twice, and my shoes were covered with dust.
He raised his eyes to look again, and finally locked his eyes in the side hall. A broken flag fell on a table against the wall. The banner of the Chamber of Commerce, which was supposed to have three moro flowers, was now half burned by the fire, and only one nail was left to hold it in place, so it was half-covered on the table.
Liang Yue walked over quickly and picked up the broken flag.
There is nothing on it, but Liang Yue is a little sure that he is probably here.
His contact time with Swallowtail was extremely short, and his understanding of her was very superficial, but he knew that Swallowdie had one characteristic.
She loves to be clean.
On that day, she just took the charcoal pen and touched the tablecloth with my hand, so she scolded me and had to wipe my hands.
After walking through such a long street, and then stepping into this courtyard, my shoes and skirt were covered with mud. If it were Papilio, her first reaction would probably be to rub it.
But there are no towels here, and the only clean cloth is this broken flag, so her eyes are most likely attracted to this flag.
Then what?
Liang Yue looked carefully up and down, and soon discovered something was wrong.
The floor in the hall is covered with accumulated dust. There are two straight marks in front of the table legs. The dust is slightly thinner than the surrounding areas.
It's like...
Someone dragged it.
And if someone leans over to wipe the uppers of shoes, this is exactly where she will notice.
Liang Yue held the table leg and pulled it along the direction of the trajectory.
Huh——
As the slightly heavy wooden table was slowly pulled, the lower end of the wall next to the table actually slowly rose up! When the table legs covered the tracks on the ground, a hole just big enough for one person to pass through was revealed.
There is a secret room!
really!
This discovery made Liang Yue quite excited, which showed that his reasoning process was completely correct.
He glanced outside for a while and saw that the inside seemed to be an ordinary basement, small and dark, nothing special.
He then jumped up and jumped down.
Crack.
After landing, I saw all the furnishings in the house clearly.
This is like a small bedroom, with tables, chairs, and a small bed, but they are all old and outdated. He approached the old table with a few words carved on it with a knife.
"I was here back then, listening to my father and mother being killed up there. This time I came back here and vowed to make the southerners pay with their blood!"
The handwriting was scrawled and wild, Although he didn't write his name, Liang Yue immediately thought of Yu Wenlong's angry and ferocious face when he was arrested.
No wonder he was ready to die at any time in order to take revenge on the Yin Dynasty, and his will was so determined.
It turns out that he is a descendant of the original Tongbei Chamber of Commerce.
When people from the Tongbei Chamber of Commerce were killed, the young Yu Wenlong may have escaped by hiding here. After that, I don’t know what he went through before he became one of Jiu Yang’s spies.
Liang Yue opened the drawer under the table again. There was a package wrapped in brocade cloth. He took it out and opened it slowly.
Four items were revealed in the package.
A silver note, a strange animal skin, a long sheathed knife with an ebony handle and a letter.
(End of this chapter)