The incident occurred on the 216th day

  The next morning, just as the sky was getting light, the Fenghuo Inn's staff were preparing to open the door when they suddenly heard a large crowd of people running outside. The dense footsteps sounded like heavy rain, and it seemed that there were many people. Looking through the crack in the door, they saw that it was the soldiers from the Wucheng Military Barracks, with three or four hundred men filling up the Xiting Alley, their swords and spears pointed at the Fenghuo Inn. Oh no! They had been surrounded.

  The shop assistant hastily reported to the boss, and the boss was also puzzled. Although he had been doing business for many years, most of which were dealings with the imperial court, it was still a legitimate business. Being surrounded by government troops was a first. What to do? After thinking for half a day, they decided to open the door and ask what was going on. If it's good fortune, then that's good; if it's bad luck, then there's no avoiding it.

  Liu Ziguang was also awakened and heard that he was surrounded by government troops. He immediately understood that it was a big disturbance and the east window incident had been exposed, leaving many clues for people to investigate. Now that things have come to this point, he cannot be captured without a fight, so he quickly got out of bed and grabbed his weapon.

  The head of the store, named Han Yihu, was the elder brother of Han Lianhu, the head of Xu Zhou's Lianfeng Store. Having mixed around in the capital for so many years, he still had some guts. He comforted his underlings: "Don't worry, it's not like they're from the Imperial Guards or the Eastern Depot, nothing big will happen." He ordered someone to open the large door and went out to greet the officer leading the troops.

  "Who could it be? Someone came to the door early in the morning, bringing business. It turned out to be Wang Zhihui from the Nancheng Military Command, I don't know what kind of matter troubled Lord Wang to bring so many brothers over."

  The government office in charge of capturing thieves and managing the streets and drains of the capital, equivalent to the metropolitan police department combined with the urban management law enforcement team. They mobilized to surround so many people and surround Lianfeng Number, could it be that Lianfeng Number is hiding some notorious thief?

  As expected, Wang pointed his horse whip at the courtyard of Lianfeng Number and said: "Han, the shopkeeper, I heard that Guibao Number is hiding two big thieves from Jiangyang who robbed Xiaoluan. It's not necessary for me to say whose property Xiaoluan is, but even a powerful dragon cannot suppress a snake in its own nest. Shopkeeper Han, quickly hand over the thieves and the stolen silver, so everyone can save face."

  Han Dazhuang had already heard Sanzhuang say that Deputy General Liu went to play with the little rascal, and knew that this matter was 80% done by their own young deputy general. However, Deputy General Liu was the vice captain of the iron factory guard and concurrently the chief accountant, with a very high rank, so it was absolutely impossible to hand him over like this.

  While winking, he made a hand gesture behind his back to signal someone to inform Xiaojie and Liu Ziguang. Now, they could only rely on Guo Gongye's relationship to settle this matter. Those who needed to compensate would compensate, and those who needed to apologize would apologize. As long as it was something that could be solved with money, it wasn't a big deal.

  "Commander Wang, please don't scare me. As a small official, I uphold the law and dare not harbor any notorious thieves. How about this: Commander Wang, please come in and sit down first. You haven't had breakfast yet, have you? I'll get someone to prepare some pearl rice porridge and steamed buns for you to start with. It's not easy for your brothers either, coming out so early to catch thieves. I have a little silver here, let me give it to them to use for breakfast." As he spoke, a 100-tael silver note was slipped over.

  Wang Zhihui refused to accept it, and Hu was stern-faced with a public and fair attitude: "Hàn Dàzhǎngguì (Big Boss Hàn), it's not that brothers are unrighteous, but this case is big, and the stolen goods amount to 300,000 taels of silver. The higher-ups have given a strict order, and we must catch the thief at all costs! Not one cent of the stolen money can be missing! If Big Boss Hàn doesn't hand over the person, I'll have no choice but to take drastic measures."

  "One wave of the hand, 'Brothers, charge in and take them!' Three hundred soldiers from the Martial Arts Academy were about to rush into Lianfeng Inn. Knives and guns glinted in the morning mist, and the surrounding shops were so frightened that they didn't dare open their doors."

  "Wait, is Director Wang certain that the notorious thief is hiding in the small alley? What if we can't catch him? This morning, Duke Xu promised to come and select a few precious swords. If so many soldiers from the Martial Arts Directorate turn the small alley upside down, I'm afraid it will provoke Duke Xu's anger, which none of us can afford. Now, Manager Han has no choice but to use Duke Xu's name to intimidate people, hoping to stall for as long as possible, and wishing that Deputy General Liu could hide quickly, and the messenger could rush to the Duke's mansion and bring him here as soon as possible."

  "Hmph, with both human and material evidence, someone saw that the notorious thief was personally sent by your San Zhanggui of Lianfeng Number to Xiaoluan's place. And it was also caught with a VIP card from Lianfeng Number. Without any proof, I wouldn't have brought so many brothers here to drink wind in the early morning!" Wang Zhihuai retorted fluently.

  In the courtyard of Lianfeng Inn, Liu Ziguang was already dressed and ready. The White Rainbow sword hung at his waist, the revolver was tucked into his chest, a dagger was inserted in his boot, and the twenty men under him were also armed to the teeth, wearing armor, preparing to make a break for it.

  That little mess was handled a bit hastily, and it's caused trouble. Liu Ziguang is somewhat regretful, not because he regrets beating people up and stealing their money, but because he regrets not killing them to silence them. Dammit, if only I had slaughtered everyone who'd seen me, there wouldn't be any problems now. Now that they've tracked me down, it'll be even more troublesome when they find the gold and silver we stole last night. Two cases will become one case.

  No other way, except to surrender, only to kill out, this time not only brought a lot of trouble to Lianfeng number, but also increased trouble for himself. Just knowing the Duke and so many generals, contacting high society, suddenly becoming a bandit again. In the future, really can't solve everything with violence, need to use brain, Liu Ziguang knocked on his own head, smacking his lips.

  His men didn't think much of it, anyway they got a small fortune, what's the big deal about killing their way out? Once they left Nanjing City, wasn't it just "the sky is high and the birds fly, the sea is wide and the fish jump"?

  The gate was being besieged, when suddenly more than a dozen riders came running from afar, all wearing bright clothes and angry horses, with red flying fish robes, waist-hung embroidered spring knives, and proudly arrived in front of them. The leader said: "Brocade guard arrest people, miscellaneous people get out of the way."

  The Jin Yiwei has arrived! Things are getting serious, they're not like the Five Cities Garrison's people, they don't need evidence to make a case, whether you're a high-ranking official or a wealthy merchant, if they say take you away, then you'll be taken away, no room for negotiation. Is it Liu Deputy General causing trouble again? The morning air was still chilly, but Han the shopkeeper's forehead was already sweating.

  Wang Zhihui saw the Brocade Guards arriving to arrest someone, and didn't dare to take action first. He could only stand aside respectfully, thinking that this little rascal's backstage boss really has connections, fearing that the Nan Cheng Bing Ma Si people couldn't handle Lian Feng Hao, even the Brocade Guards were mobilized. However, he didn't know that the Brocade Guards came for another case.

  Yesterday evening, when the Zheng family was robbed, a guard saw half of Duncan's black face before being knocked unconscious. The dark, ape-like face left a deep impression on him. Although the Ming dynasty has lifted the sea ban and opened up to foreign trade, there are not many blacks in the capital city, but Duncan's ugly face is too impressive. When the guard recalled escorting Master to the Ministry of War during the day, he seemed to have seen such an ugly black face at the door, apparently as a subordinate of someone who came to the Ministry of War on business.

  It so happened that Zheng's younger brother was working in the Imperial Guards, and he was a hundred households. When he learned that his elder brother's house had been looted, he immediately led people to investigate overnight. The Imperial Guards were originally responsible for catching thieves, with agents all over the world, and their efficiency was still very high. From the moment the victim woke up, recalled what happened, confirmed the suspect, and went to arrest him, it took less than two hours.

  Zheng Baihu personally brought a dozen or so guards to catch the thief, and it was said that the thief's wall-climbing skills were quite impressive. However, the Brocade Guards' martial arts were not inferior either, and a dozen people would be enough to deal with such a minor thief.

  Zheng Baihu dismounted and ignored Han Dapang, who was standing at the gate, directly using his whip to brush him aside and rushed in with his men. Han Dapang hastily retreated several steps, blocking the gate and said: "Sir, what's this? Is there some misunderstanding?"

  "Get out of the way, you're delaying our arrest! You can't afford to get in trouble!" Zheng Baihu added a few more ounces of force to his hands, trying to push Han Dapang away, but unexpectedly, the other party didn't budge.

  "How dare you! You actually dared to obstruct the Imperial Guards from arresting someone? Seize him at once!" Zheng Baihu was furious and ordered his men to make the arrest.

  Two men were about to put an iron chain around Han's neck when a thunderous roar of "Halt!" was heard. Looking up, they saw a man walking out from the gate, wearing red clothes, black boots, and carrying a precious sword at his waist. He had sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes - it was Liu Ziguang.

  Han Dazhuangzi cursed in his heart, "Liu Deputy General, you're really something! I was stalling at the door to let you escape, how could you still come out and seek death? The Brocade Guards are not easy to provoke, now it's all over, even if you don't die, you'll be skinned alive. How did such a wise and intelligent Master Factory choose an idiot like you as his deputy?"

  "Are you Liu Ziguang? You did a good job last night, daring to rob an official of the imperial court." Zheng Baihu pointed at Liu Ziguang with his whip. In fact, his evidence was not very sufficient, purely catching wind and shadows, now he would intimidate him first, if he admitted it would be best, if not, he could take him back for further interrogation.

  "What have I done to deserve this? Don't be so rude! Put away your whip, I hate it when people wave their whips around in front of me." Liu Ziguang didn't take the Brocade Guard seriously at all.

  "You're so arrogant, you don't even know that your death is near, take him down!" Zheng Baihu had been a constable for many years and had never seen such a brazen criminal.

  About a dozen bailiffs drew out their embroidered spring knives and surrounded him with iron chains. Suddenly, a white light flashed, and a sharp blade appeared on the neck of their superior, Zheng Baihu. Liu Ziguang's White Rainbow Sword had somehow been unsheathed, its sharp blade already cutting a red line of blood on Zheng Baihu's neck.

  "I didn't sleep well last night, my hands are shaking a bit, don't make me angry, all of you back off." Liu Ziguo commanded. The bandits were stunned, Zheng Baihu's kung fu wasn't bad either, how could he be subdued so easily?

  "Detaining a Brocade Guard is enough to get you beheaded on the spot. Let me go, or every single one of your Refining Sword Sect will not escape death!" Zheng Baihu was also a man of character, with the knife pressed against his neck but still unflappable, because he didn't believe anyone would dare to cross the Brocade Guard.

  Liu Ziguang sneered, "Don't mention what's going to happen in the future, let's talk about now. I can make you die right now, do you believe it? Your Jin Yiwei are also human beings raised by their parents, if you dare to move against Lianfeng number, I will kill your whole family, do you believe it?"

  The men with knives surrounded Liu Ziguang but did not dare to attack, the soldiers from the South City Garrison also surrounded them, forming an even tighter encirclement. The guards rushed out of the gate, fully armored, with crossbows in hand and long knives tightly gripped, and both sides were at a standoff.

  The atmosphere was as cold as ice, and a bloody battle could erupt at any moment.

  The sound of horseshoes came from the entrance of Xici Hutong again. "East Factory is handling a case, everyone please evacuate..." A sharp and unpleasant female voice drifted over from afar.