Chapter 389: A Visit to the Black Market

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Pushing through the crowd, Ren Buqing made his way to the man in question. As he approached, he sneezed violently several times, attracting everyone’s attention towards him

He was somewhat allergic to the scent of orchids; a whiff of it and he couldn’t help but sneeze. As he approached, a strong fragrance of orchids hit him, and he couldn’t resist sneezing…

However, this also presented an opportunity. The man they were watching turned his head to look at him.

At a glance, Ren Buqing was disappointed. This man wasn’t the Cao Changsheng they were looking for. Cao Changsheng had double eyelids, whereas this man had single eyelids; they simply didn’t match.

Helpless, he had no choice but to return. “General Tang, it’s not him.”

Tang Jinghong poured a cup of tea for Ren Buqing. “What happened to you just now?”

Ren Buqing sighed, “I can’t stop sneezing whenever I smell orchids. Just now, I didn’t know who was wearing such a strong orchid fragrance. I almost suffocated.”

Tang Jinghong kindly suggested, “I’ll introduce you to a divine doctor someday.” His voice softened involuntarily, and even his eyes seemed to light up gently.

Ren Buqing, being an investigator and very observant, immediately noticed Tang Jinghong’s change in demeanor.

He thought to himself, at the mention of this divine doctor, General Tang becomes all gentle. Could this person be his fiancee?

“Thank you, General.”

“We are colleagues, no need to be so polite.” Tang Jinghong continued to scan the hall, searching for their target.

Time slowly passed…

Both Tang Jinghong and Ren Buqing’s eyes grew tired from searching, but they still hadn’t spotted their target.

Ren Buqing hesitantly said, “General Tang, is it possible that he didn’t come today?”

Tang Jinghong also harbored such doubts. He looked at the hall, thinking that their method of searching for people was too difficult. They needed a way to make the target show himself.

He shared his thoughts with Ren Buqing.

Ren Buqing agreed and began to think of a plan too.

About the time it takes to drink a cup of tea later, Tang Jinghong had a not-so-great idea. He gestured to his personal guard, then whispered a few words in his ear.

The personal guard bowed and quickly headed downstairs, leaving the gambling den.

Ren Buqing was puzzled, “General Tang, what did you think of?”

Tang Jinghong tapped his fingers lightly on the table. He wasn’t entirely confident in his plan, so he didn’t elaborate, “You’ll know in a moment.”

Ren Buqing looked in the direction where the personal guard had left, curious about what General Tang had thought of.

Awhile later, a large group of people entered the gambling den, dispersed, and started looking for someone.

Tang Jinghong planned to startle his target. As long as Cao Changsheng was scared, he would surely run. All they had to do was keep an eye on the main entrance.

Ren Buqing watched carefully for a while and understood Tang Jinghong’s intention, “General Tang, if Cao Changsheng is here, he should start getting restless soon.”

Tang Jinghong replied, “Let’s wait and see.”

Just as he finished speaking, they saw someone hurriedly walking towards the main entrance…

Tang Jinghong immediately gave chase.

Before Ren Buqing could even stand up, Tang Jinghong was already out of sight…

He continued to watch the main door.

Tang Jinghong pursued the man using Qing Gong. He didn’t immediately confront him but followed him, feeling something was off about the man.

The man ran towards a less crowded area, constantly looking back while running, a classic sign of guilt.

Tang Jinghong followed until he saw the man run behind a large rock and hide.

He approached cautiously, drawing his sword silently, then suddenly spun around to face the other side of the rock, sword at the ready. However, there was no one there.

Tang Jinghong was stunned. Where did he go? He had clearly seen him run behind this rock.

He stepped out from behind the rock and looked up, just in time to see the man blend into the crowd and disappear.

He glanced back at the rock, noting something strange about it, but he had no time to investigate. He hurried back to the gambling den. The man he chased after was not Cao Changsheng.

By the time he returned to the gambling den, Ren Buqing was gone.

He quickly left the den, leapt onto the rooftop, and looked around. Soon, he saw Ren Buqing chasing someone.

He flew across the rooftops to join the chase…

Ren Buqing’s martial arts skills were limited to self-defense, and he was unarmed, so he could only follow.

Such chases were common in the market. People glanced but didn’t pay much attention. No one interfered, not knowing the identity of those involved.

Suddenly, the man in front stopped and turned to face Ren Buqing, offering a tempting deal, “Let me go, and I’ll give you a hundred thousand taels of gold. How about it?”

This man was none other than Cao Changsheng!

Ren Buqing smiled. “1 am indeed quite poor, but are you sure I can live to spend that gold after I let you go?”

Cao Changsheng continued to tempt. “Of course, I’ll leave it in a secret place for you to retrieve. No one will know.”

Ren Buqing was curious, “Your family only has a few thousand taels of silver left. Where will you get a hundred thousand taels of gold?”

Cao Changsheng hinted, “Why must money be kept at home?” Just as he finished speaking, he saw someone flying over from the rooftop and immediately ran.

Ren Buqing sighed in relief seeing Tang Jinghong arrive.

Tang Jinghong landed in front of Cao Changsheng, without a word, knocked him unconscious.

Ren Buqing caught up, and after a while, the personal guard also arrived…

Tang Jinghong ordered his personal guard to carry the man away. Then, he glanced at the gambling den and left.

He was old friends with Third Master Lu, so there was no need to specially tell him that he was leaving.

When Third Master Lu woke up and found out that Tang Jinghong had caught the person he wanted to catch, he smiled. This guy really never failed.

Ministry of Justice.

Tang Jinghong brought the captured man back to the Ministry of Justice for interrogation.

Cao Changsheng, a man who still gambled when his father was in prison, couldn’t be expected to have much integrity. He confessed quite a bit after being interrogated.

The Minister of War was indeed forced to cooperate due to the other party having something on him, but Cao Changsheng adamantly refused to reveal what that thing was.

He had a lot of silver in his house, which was all moved to a cellar in another courtyard before the incident. Tang Jinghong sent people to check, and they indeed found the silver, totaling five million taels.

Now, only one question remained: What exactly did the other part have on the Minister of War?

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