Help! I just woke up and was stabbed by a big kid

Qin Zhaoyue's first reaction was that this person was a conspiracy of Qin Zhaochen.

Could it be related to what happened last night? What's so special about this person?

What evidence had he prepared to pin the man's disappearance on himself?

He participated in Jingcun's investigation of the matter. However, Qin Zhaochen only asked the name of the missing person, then went back to his carriage and never showed up again. The investigation went smoothly. The guard who lived with him said that Pao Zhihui went to the bathroom in the middle of the night, but when he woke up in the morning, he didn't see him.

The night watchman was summoned to inquire about it, and it was confirmed that this had happened. However, it happened to be a shift change at that time, and the new guard was unaware of this, and did not see Pao Zhihui coming back, and no one noticed anything wrong.

The group drove their horses to the camp to investigate and found scraps of a guard's uniform on a branch by the river bank. They came to the conclusion that Pao Zhihui had gone to urinate in the middle of the night, but because the river bank was slippery, he accidentally fell into the water and was washed away.

Besides this, Qin Zhaoyue certainly had more guesses. There were many suspicious points in this matter, and Pao Zhihui didn't seem to have made a mistake. But Qin Zhaochen's abnormal behavior in the past few days always made him feel that this was a trap, so... he just let it go.

Compared to an unknown guard, the matter of Ganzhou is more important. It is not advisable to waste too much time on the minor details.

……

Gu Yue and his group entered Chang'an City.

Chang'an City is so big!

Gu Yue didn't visit many places in Luoyang, but he could get a preliminary understanding of its prosperity, which was also the case in Chang'an. It was said that Chang'an was the capital of a certain country in the previous dynasty, and it was incompatible with a certain country with Luoyang as its capital. Tongguan was a key defensive point.

Although Northern Qin had its capital in Luoyang, Chang'an was still prosperous and bustling, and all trade with the west started from there.

After Gu Yue entered the city, he just admired the bustling street scene for a while, had a meal of Chang'an cuisine, and then immediately started to do business.

I found the largest grain shop, one purpose was to purchase grain supplies from Shangganzhou, and the other was to ask the owner for some information while doing the transaction.

The boss was quite concerned, but after Gu Yue's attack on him about the tea money and his attempts to get close to him, he finally gave in.

"The plains near Chang'an are all planted with millet and wheat, and there are many granaries." The boss said, "The government seems to have several granaries in the old city. I once saw a grain-carrying cart of villagers outside the city parked there. But the area around the old city has been under martial law and no one is allowed to approach."

The boss was smart and didn't ask him the reason. He just said cryptically, "There are several large armies stationed in the old city of Chang'an. The sound of military training is very loud on weekdays. It is said that they are guarding the granary to prevent any problems."

"Have there always been so many caravans in Chang'an? Has anything special happened recently, such as someone buying a large amount of food, or going to the warehouse to check the food situation?" Gu Yue asked.

"Oh, who are you? There really is one." The boss was happy. "There's news from Luoyang that the prince will go to the front line in person and bring food and grass from Chang'an. About half of my grain reserves were reserved by the government the day before yesterday. Yesterday, a few boss-like people said they wanted to see the grain, so I took them there, and they asked the same question."

"I asked you who bought a large amount of food?" Gu Yue asked.

"That's right." The boss looked excited. "Brother, you look very impressive. Are you here to investigate a case?"

"Haha." Gu Yue smiled mysteriously and continued to ask: "Then those people who asked you to see the food, are they from Chang'an, or are they merchants from outside?"

"There were four people, three of whom I didn't know." The boss recalled, "As for the remaining one, I seem to have seen him at Baoshun Pharmacy. Was he the second manager of the pharmacy?"

Gu Yue and Gu Xu looked at each other.

There really is a clue!

"What does that person look like and what are his characteristics?" Gu Xu asked.

"He's of medium build, not tall, with a dark complexion and a short beard," the boss replied.

"Thank you very much, we understand." Gu Yue bowed.

Without further ado, after loading the food onto the horses and finding out the location of Baoshun Pharmacy, Gu Yue and Gu Xu rode non-stop towards Zhongjie.

Pin An wanted to go along, but Gu Yue arranged for him to rest in a teahouse, where Wu Yun would watch over him. The intention of this move was very obvious, and Pin An, who had received favors from Gu Yue and the others, could not refute it, but was a little worried.

……

Zhongjie, where Baoshun Pharmacy is located, is very close to Zhuque Street, the central axis, so it is bustling with people coming and going.

After tying the horses to a stake on the side, Gu Yue and the other two stood behind a bush and looked in the direction of the gate of Baoshun Pharmacy.

The Baoshun Pharmacy in Chang'an was even more magnificent, with six steps and two stone lions in front of the gate. There were several servants welcoming and seeing off customers in front of the door, and a big red notice was posted by the door, which seemed to sell some special pills and ointments for lower-level drugs.

"With so many people around, it seems unrealistic to sneak in." Gu Yue said.

"Are you going to play a cripple again?" Gu Xu frowned.

"That's not a good idea. There are so many guys here, and I have plenty of time to waste. Besides, I may not be able to meet the second manager." Gu Yue shook his head.

The two walked hand in hand to the main door of the pharmacy. Through the open door, they could see people coming and going busy inside.

"What are your plans?" Gu Xu asked him.

"Well... find him and have a chat? Ask him some questions?" Gu Yue asked, "What do you think?"

"...It's too troublesome and dangerous." Gu Xu said.

"What should I do?"

"Just catch him."

Gu Yue was stunned.

Yes, that’s the character of the male protagonist. He always does things in a simple and rough way.

There was nothing more to say. What else could he do? Of course he would listen to Xiao Xu! Gu Yue looked inside the pharmacy. There were too many people inside and they were far away. It was really hard to tell who was the second shopkeeper.

"After we catch him, we will interrogate him directly." Gu Yue said. In this way, he could reasonably infer or directly interrogate the information about the poisoning of the food and grass, and guide Gu Xu to investigate in this direction.

Gu Xu...thought so too.

"The pharmacy is on the street, with shops on both sides. If we can't get in through the front door, we can go in from the backyard." Gu Yue pointed to the south door of Yankangfang where the pharmacy was located, "We should be able to find the backyard if we go in through that door."

The layout of Chang'an continued the Fangshi system of the previous dynasty. Yankangfang belonged to the West Market, and the entire West Market was full of shops, with no residential areas.

According to Gu Yue's understanding, each block was a super courtyard consisting of a circle of houses or walls, usually with four entrances and exits in the east, south, west and north. In the previous dynasty, businesses were run inside the block, with no doors around the periphery; but after the Beiqin block market system was abolished, the original block was opened on all four sides and became a street-facing shop.

"Yankangfang is full of shops, so it should be difficult to enter the area inside the square." Gu Xu said, "Look, there are people guarding the entrance of the square."

Gu Yue looked carefully and saw two people standing in front of the door.