The prince finally found time for Yun'er and Tian Liang to take the carriage in the house to the small courtyard at the exit of the secret room outside Dongzhi Gate. Yun'er still dresses up as a man when she goes out, which is more convenient.

It's not very far from Fushang, if it's Tongzhou, it's not good, more than fifty miles away, and you may not be able to come back that day.

Tian Liang was the handlebar, and Wang Ye and Yun'er sat in the car. Only Yun'er knew the exit of the secret passage, and it was clearer and more accurate to see with the eyes of heaven with his eyes closed.

"It's here, let's stop." Yun'er said to Tian Liang outside the car.

"Woo ......" Tian Liang grabbed the reins of the horse, and the carriage stopped in front of a small courtyard with a wall.

"Is this it?" The prince got out of the car first and took Yun'er next.

"That's right, right here." Yun'er said with certainty.

Tian Liang's expression was not different at all, in fact, the master also told him that Yun'er had opened his eyes of heaven and could see things through the wall and carry them in the air.

The gate was locked, the lock was rusty, the paint was peeling off, and it looked like it had been uninhabited for a long time.

"Find the owner of the house first. Just ask the neighbors, ask the older ones. ”

Just diagonally across the door, an old man sat on the threshold, looking at a toddler.

Tian Liang must have come out to inquire about things: "This old man, please tell you, why is the owner of this house not here?" ”

The old man looked the three of them up and down and said, "The people in this courtyard are long gone, what are you looking for them?" ”

"If there's no one living here, we want to buy the yard."

"You're buying a house? That's good, the owner's brother lives on Front Street, and he wants to sell the house, so I'll take you to find it. The old man picked up the child and walked in front to lead the way.

The front street he was talking about was actually the residents in front of him, and it was a small courtyard house with the gate open, and the sound of dogs barking came out as soon as he arrived at the door.

"Zhang Lao Liu, your house is a visitor!" The old man's voice was very high, and when he shouted, someone answered:

"It's coming, it's coming." Soon a middle-aged man with a beard appeared. The eyes looked at the three princes, and they were polite, and asked with a smile on their faces, "The three are ......?"

"These three are here to buy your brother's house."

"Oh? Buying a house? Please come in, Uncle Sun, would you also come in and have a cup of tea? ”

"I'm not going in, the kid is making trouble."

Yun'er has prepared a small piece of silver and put it in the child's hand: "Buy candy to eat." This is the reward for Uncle Sun.

Old man Sun was very happy, and said again and again: "Thank you, thank you, you go in and talk." ”

There was a very old table of eight immortals in the hall, Zhang Lao Liu gave a seat to the three princes, and then he went to a room in the east to carry a pen holder teapot and a few tea bowls, and he was about to pour tea.

Wang Ye said modestly: "Mr. Zhang, don't bother, tell me about your brother's house." ”

Zhang Lao Liu felt that these three were not ordinary people, whether they were dressed or imposed, they were all high-ranking people, and they planned to sell them for a few more money.

"The house belongs to my brother, he hasn't lived in it for many years, it looks a little old, but it's still very intact inside."

"What about others?"

"Oh, he went south to do business, and I asked him to sell the house."

Lie. The old grandson said that the owner of the house was no longer there, but he said that he would go to the south to do business. However, it is understandable that almost all people are reluctant to buy the house of the dead owner, no matter how they died, and they also feel unlucky.

The prince smiled and said, "Mr. Zhang, we really want to buy a house, and we can open a small shop in this area, but Mr. didn't tell the truth, your brother is no longer alive, right?" ”

Zhang Laoliu's lies were exposed, and he was a little embarrassed. But he didn't want to let go of the buyer, the prince, because the house would be sold if it wasn't sold. It has been idle for nearly 30 years, no one lives in it, no one repairs it, and any good house is broken.

"This, this...... Don't mind, sir, I'm afraid that people will know that the owner is gone, and people will think it's a murderous house. ”

"Is it a murderous house? If you don't make it clear, we bought it rashly, and it won't be good to know about it later, right? It doesn't seem worth it to cheat people for a few dollars, right? ”

"At first glance, Mr. is a cheerful person, so let's tell the truth. My brother's house was not his, but his owner gave him the deed before leaving, and my brother lived in peace of mind. There are only two people in his family, and my sister-in-law has no children. Not long after, my brother and sister-in-law were killed in that house, and they also alarmed the government, and many people came to investigate the scene. The government thought that there was some secret in the house, so they searched for it, but found nothing. In this way, the house was left unused, and no one came to ask or buy it. I have been showing this house to my brother all the time, and I don't dare to leave if I want to go into the city to do a small business, so I hope someone will buy it. Sir, if you buy this yard, you can give as much as you want, and there is no counter-offer. ”

At this point, there was nothing else to say, and the prince got up and said, "Let's look at the house and make a decision." ”

"It's okay, three please."

When you enter the yard at the back, there is a gray and fluffy feeling, and it looks like it has been uninhabited for many years. This is a small courtyard, three rooms in the north house, three rooms in the south room, three rooms in the west wing, and the east side is the courtyard wall and gate, and there is no house. Of course, the north house is the main house, which is a little better and a little higher than the others. It was empty and without any furniture or furnishings.

The prince pushed open the window, and the window frame was about to fall off, but was caught by Tian Liang.

The younger brother of the owner of the house said to the three princes: "The three of you look at it first, I still have something to do, and I will come back again." ”

"You're gone, what's missing here?" The prince deliberately didn't let him go.

"There's nothing in this house, so can I blackmail the three?"

At this time, Yun'er pulled the prince, and the prince knew that Yun'er was letting him go to see the exit of the secret passage. The exit of the secret passage is not in this courtyard, but in the dry well between the courtyard and the east neighbor's two courtyard walls, against the north wall.

The three of them also came to the dry well to take a closer look: the well was not deep from above, and there was no water, so it was open. But there is a brick door on the wall of the well that can be opened and closed, and the switch is an inconspicuous stone on the wall of the well. The well was covered with leaves, broken branches, bricks, tiles, etc., and the switch stones were also buried. It seems that no one has noticed the existence of this well at all. It's really thanks to the master who gave Yun'er a pair of discerning eyes, otherwise how would he know such a secret? They returned to the courtyard after seeing the dry well, and the owner's brother also returned. It turned out that he went to the neighbor's house in the east, and he had heard that his house was going to be sold, and he wanted to go to the city to open a pawnshop. The relationship between the two families is good, and it seems that the person who bought the house looks like a rich man, so he first said hello to the east neighbor and asked him whether he would sell the house or not, and if he wanted to sell it, he would tell the buyer. Donglin was very happy, and waited for news from the owner's younger brother.

After the owner's brother returned, the prince said, "I have taken a fancy to the location of this house, facing the street. I can ask my relatives to open a bun shop, a steamed bun shop or something, but it's too old and has to be flipped. This house has been involved with the government, do you need to report it to the county office? ”

"This ......" The younger brother of the owner of the house was very embarrassed: "There are ordinary people below, and they don't want to deal with the government, and the government has not found the murderer for so many years, and he has been brought to justice, so I think I forgot about it." The iron-clad official of the yamen and the flowing water, how much stubble has the county lord changed, who still thinks about this matter in the past so many years. If you bring it up again, will it get you in trouble? If only you knew the lord in the government, just say it, you're buying a house, and it has nothing to do with you, right? ”

In fact, the prince doesn't want to alarm the government, why do you have nothing to attract people's attention? I just want to test the younger brother of this homeowner, he said that the homeowner is his brother, who can prove it? Maybe he killed the owner of the house. But the house must be bought, and the person must also do a good investigation. Investigating a person Nalan is the best candidate, he has been a head catcher in Shuntian Mansion, it should not be difficult.

So he said: "The matter of the house is not in a hurry, it has been idle for so many years, and it is not bad for so many days." In this way, we go back and ask our relatives if they want to live outside the city, and if they want to come, we will buy the house, and we will come back in a few days, and then you will tell us the price of the house. ”

"You just buy it, can't you just count your twenty taels of silver?"

"I'm not bargaining with you, your house is really not worth twenty taels. It can't live at all, and it will collapse a long time ago. Spending twenty taels of silver is just to buy a piece of land. ”

It seems that the owner's younger brother hopes to push the house out as soon as he wants, and someone can give him a few dollars, or maybe he has been watching it for so many years?

After returning home, the prince asked Nalan to investigate the owner of the house and his younger brother. This house belongs to the jurisdiction of Tongzhou, and the Nalan guards used to be the head of the catcher, and often dealt with the catchers of the Tongzhou County Government, and cooperated in the arrest of prisoners many times. Nalan is shrewd and capable, and he is also easy-going, and Tongzhou County has several friends who catch fast. And they also know that Nalan is now Lord Rui's personal guard, and of course they will do their best to help. Several people still remember the incident and told Nalan that the murdered couple were honest people, and that the landlord would go to the south and leave them to look at the house. It may be that they know some secret of the homeowner and have been silenced. At that time, the arresters of the Tongzhou County Government also carefully searched the house for secrets, but the results were unknown. There are no underground passages in the house. As for the owner's brother, he had nothing to do with the murder at all, on the day his brother and sister-in-law were killed, he was drinking at a relative's house, and many people can prove that he was not at the scene of the murder but at the banquet at a relative's house, and he never left the banquet, and he kept drinking with others, and he was very drunk.

After a few days, Wang Ye and Tian Liang came, but they didn't let Yun'er come. The owner's younger brother found Li Zheng, and in the name of Tian Liang, he spent twenty taels of silver to buy the house. Write the contract, hand over the keys, and everything is fine.

Seeing that there would be no problems, the owner's younger brother said: "Mr. Hao, who is in the east neighborhood, wants to move into the city to open a pawnshop, and the house also wants to be sold, if the two of them are interested, they can ...... in Xia."

Tian Liang said: "Why didn't you say it earlier? The house in the east is much better than yours. You still have a lot of eyes, we bought your house before you said. You can find that Mr. Hao......"

The owner's brother happily went to find his neighbor. Tian Liang said to the prince: "Will there be any problems?" ”

Wang Ye said: "Mr. Hao's house is not in a hurry to buy, and the price will be much higher, so we are grinding the price." Once the house was bought, the well could be safely expanded. I'll leave this matter to you. ”

"The subordinates felt that the well would be covered up by filling it up and building a storehouse-like house on top of it. The master can take things directly, load the car in the aisle, and then ask Uncle Chu of the Zhenyuan Dart Bureau to escort the dart and transport the goods directly to the Tongzhou wharf, which can save a lot of trouble. Our goods should also be sent to other places for sale. ”

The prince happily patted Tian Liang on the shoulder: "Okay, Liangzi, it's very successful, not bad." ”

Mr. Hao, who is in the east neighbor, came over, and felt that the person was still real, and there was no empty head: "I heard that the Zhang brothers said that you bought his house, and it happened that you wanted to open a shop in the city, and you also wanted to enter the city, if you are interested, you can take a look at the house." ”

"I bought it for my relatives, take a look at it first, feel satisfied and go back to tell my relatives and let him come to see it again. Please sir tell us about the house price? Approximately, let's see if the house is worth it. ”

"The house under it has always been occupied, and it has not been idle for many years like Brother Zhang, but it is not newly built, it has been more than ten years. You give 200 taels and the deal will be sold. ”

"Let's take a look?"

This Mr. Hao's house is really much stronger than Zhang Laoliu's, at least it looks like a house, and people can live in it when they move in. It was also well maintained with no signs of rain leaks. It's similar to the layout of Brother Zhang's sixth brother, that is, the yard is bigger than that, there is a big locust tree, there is a mill plate under the tree, and there is a small yard behind the house, and there is a well and utility room in the yard, a stable or something, it is the second yard, and it seems that the small life is not bad.

The prince also wants to buy this house, but he can't buy it all at once, so as not to arouse the suspicion of the owner's brother over there. Anything can happen, so be careful. took Tian Liang back home.

After returning home, the prince instructed Tian Liang to investigate this Hao Mansion with Nalan guards, and he couldn't buy it rashly. The prince also thought of Tian Liang's adoptive father's brother and Chu Darthead of the Zhenyuan Dart Bureau, and heard Tian Liang say that he went to the south of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal more often, and it was still much closer to Tongzhou Wharf from this place than from the city, and it was also convenient. Sometimes when something happens in the city, the nine gates must be under martial law, and the entry and exit gates must be checked, which is very troublesome.

As soon as the prince told Tian Liang about this, Tian Liang said: "Uncle Chu is a typical meticulous person. On one occasion, when the darts were on the waterway, the ship capsized, and a shipload of cargo was dumped in the water. It so happened that Uncle Chu was on this boat. He paid for all the losses alone, even the house was sold, and now he still lives alone in the dart game, and his family has returned to Miyun Township. ”

The prince smiled: "Is this meticulous? This is called righteousness. I've heard that people who walk darts make money, everyone shares, and everyone loses losses, how can anyone bear it? For the sake of this ship's goods, even the darts can't be borne by one person, right? Righteous enough. In this way, the investigation of the house was clear, and Mr. Hao's one was given to Chu Darttou to live in, and he asked him to go to Miyun to pick up his family. After flipping the new house, let him move the dart game. The two houses were put together, and the well in the middle was hidden in the newly built storehouse. A few houses on the street do business, and the others are dart boards, and people with darts show us the exit of the secret passage, isn't that safer? ”

Tian Liang hugged his fist and saluted the prince: "My subordinates thank the prince for Uncle Chu!" ”

Nalan Guard's case-handling ability and efficiency are extremely strong, and he gave full play to his professional level, and it took him three days to find out Mr. Hao's situation. Mr. Hao was a showman, and he once opened a private school in that area, because the population density was too low, and there were few children in school. His ancestors were pawnshopkeepers, and he himself worked as a bookkeeper in the pawnshop, so he was more familiar with this business, so he wanted to go to the city to do business.

The prince analyzed whether the owner of this house owner was a descendant of the prince of the Ming Dynasty, and they knew that this house had a secret passage? But as a descendant of the royal family of the Ming Dynasty, it must be very dangerous to live under the nose of the emperor of the Qing Dynasty, so you have to stay away, but you are afraid that the secret passage will be discovered by others, so you will kill the couple and then seal the secret passage.

Nalan's guards told the prince what he had found, so that the prince could safely buy Mr. Hao's house at a price of one hundred and eighty taels of silver in Nalan's name, which was not too expensive. The matter of flipping the new house was handed over to Tian Liang. Then each of the two houses opened its own door, and each of the two houses also opened a door opposite the courtyard wall to facilitate the return and exit. There was a high wall on the north side, which connected the two houses, and a storehouse was built next to the north wall, and the dry well was hidden in it. Because the goods are all transported by Yun'er in the air, this well is useless, just fill it up. This well has a well platform, and a platform that can hold goods is built at the same height as the well platform, which is more like a warehouse. Tian Liang built the warehouse into stone and installed two layers of security doors. Then the walls were widened and heightened, and a gate was opened in the aisle, and between the two walls became an aisle where four carriages could be driven in parallel. In this way, the goods can be picked up directly from the secret passage and loaded in the middle of the two large walls. The gate is sturdy and plugged in inside, making it difficult for people outside to open it.

Of course, it is not a matter of one or two days to rebuild a house, but after Chu Darttou's family moved over, someone looked at the bricks and tiles of the house, and he could also be a supervisor. Chu Darttou's family was grateful.