Under the moonlight of the German Concession in Tianjin, the Haihe River emits an intoxicating smell of decay.

Inspector Ye Kenan of the Patrol Police Bureau took off his top hat, revealing a smooth forehead and green skin: "Qiu Desheng, do you know why I came?" ”

Qiu Desheng's eyelids jumped, and he was terrified all day, and sure enough, it came! But he still pretended to be stupid and shook his head to show ignorance.

"Gengzi Nian, you worked as a translator for the German army, recognized the thief as your father, acted as a pawn for the tiger, betrayed the country to seek glory, and still want to deny it?"

Even though Ye Kenan is young, his speech is unambiguous, full of energy, and loud.

After a silent stalemate for a moment, Qiu Desheng's legs were paralyzed, and he fell to the ground on his knees: "This detective, I confess, I am a heinous person, I only want to die to apologize, but please don't hurt my family, they are innocent." In the year of Gengzi, I was forcibly conscripted by the German army to work as a translator, and my mother was in bed at the time, and I didn't dare to disobey, otherwise the whole family would die under the guns of the Germans. I followed the Germans into Beijing to help them maintain law and order. ”

"Shit! Everyone knows that the German soldiers are the most violent, and you are helping to kill the people of the capital together. ”

"Yes, the Germans burned, killed and looted, and I failed to stop it, and I could not escape the blame. By the Spring Festival of the Xinchou year, the situation eased, and I quietly fled from Beijing, no longer working for the German army. ”

"Humph! The old things of Gengzi Year, if you investigate it, you can't cut off the traitor's head after queuing at the entrance of the vegetable market for three years! Besides, the foreign devils won't let us pursue it! Ye Kenan turned his words and looked into the courtyard, "Qiu Desheng, you have an only son named Qiu Xiaogeng, who is now studying in a German primary school, isn't it?" ”

"What does this have to do with Xiao Geng? He was only nine years old and was born in Gengzi ......" At this point, Qiu Desheng swallowed back again, "You? ”

"Exactly!" Ye Kenan had already rushed into the door and looked at the light in the study, "Go on!" Your son was born in the year of Gengzi, what month and day is it? ”

"On the second day of October in the twenty-sixth year of Guangxu, Xiaoxue."

"Are you sure? Can there be a record of someone else's proof? Where was this child born? ”

"In ...... In the ......"

"Let me speak for you! In the month of Gengzi, you will be the first month of the year of Xin Chou, you work as a translator for a group of German soldiers, patrolling the craftsman village at the foot of the imperial city, and meet a few girls on the road, and the German soldiers will come forward to rape Yin. ”

"I've tried to dissuade them, but to no avail, they've long treated human life like a mustard, and even I will shoot them to death."

"There was a man passing by with a baby in swaddling clothes and a she-goat. He tried to stop the atrocities of the German soldiers, but was shot in the chest. The German soldiers raped and then killed the girls, and returned to the camp with antiques looted in the craftsman village. And when you hear the cry of a baby in the cold wind, you feel compassion. You think the craftsman is dead, and when you pick up the swaddling clothes, you see that it is a healthy baby boy. If you leave the child alone, you will freeze to death in the blink of an eye, or be dragged away by wild dogs. And you have been married for many years and have no children under your knees, and you are very happy to see this child, and you decide to take it away. Qiu Desheng, thank you for saving this child's life and accumulating yin virtue. You took him back to your home in Tianjin, raised him with your daughter-in-law, treated him as your own, loved him in every way, and named him Qiu Xiaogeng. ”

"Yes!" Qiu Desheng's lips trembled, and tears rolled in his eyes, "There is a piece of Hetian warm blood jade in the swaddling clothes, which must be a treasure left by the child's biological parents." ”

Hearing this detail, Ye Kenan had confirmed that it was correct and let out a long breath.

A month ago, Ye Kenan, an agent of the Patrol Police Bureau on Jingcheng West Road, received a letter from the regent, ordering him to quickly find Qin Beiyang, the son of Qin Customs, the royal craftsman of the Internal Affairs Bureau. He frowned and read the contents of the letter, and played with a copper ink cartridge in his hand, which was engraved with "Ink waves in the ancient inkstone pool, how wonderful is the calligraphy of the right army." Huang Ting has no more words in a volume, and he has changed all the people in Shanyin", and behind it is a picture of "ghost hands and benevolence", which is passed down by his grandfather Ye Xingke.

The famous six-door Ye family has been on an errand in the Yamen of Shuntian Mansion since the Kangxi Dynasty. During the Xianfeng period, the head of the head of the Ye traveler, through clues, cracked the capital serial rape and murder case, the sword on the back of thirteen lives of the madman, the emperor rewarded the imperial pen - it is said that the Yi Guifei and later the Empress Dowager Cixi pen of the pen. The British and French troops entered Beijing, and Ye Xingke carried a firearm into battle and died in front of Zhengyang Gate. In the year of Gengzi, Ye Kenan's father died in the same place, and this time the invaders were replaced by the Eight-Nation Alliance.

He had only graduated from the Higher Patrol Academy for two years, and had just passed his twenty-fourth birthday, wearing a brand new black uniform and a black and white hat on his head.

However, the task assigned by the regent is pure nonsense - in the city of Beijing in the year of Gengzi, he bumped into a German soldier who killed people without blinking, and the three-month-old child had little chance of surviving. In today's world, human traffickers kidnap women and children in broad daylight, and put up grass to sell on the streets, and the government is too lazy to care. What's more, even if you find a child who has grown to the age of nine, how can you prove that it is me? The youngest descendant of the Six Gates is in a dilemma, and even if he can't find a living person, he has to dig up the bones of the corpse. Do you want to dig up a baby skeleton from the mass grave in the year of Gengzi to fool people?

At the end of the regent's letter, it is noted how to distinguish Qin Beiyang-

First, the child has two red birthmarks on the back of his neck, like antlers.

Second, when Gengzi Year was lost, there was a piece of Hetian warm blood jade hidden in the swaddling clothes, which was rare and rare, and he would never admit his mistake.

With no choice, Ye Kenan must complete his mission. He met with Qin Customs three times and talked in detail. Lao Qin provided an important clue, on the day of the accident, there was a translator by the side of the German army, a middle-aged man who was submissive.

From then on, Ye Kenan entrusted the Minister of Foreign Affairs to visit the military attache of the German Legation in the Great Qing Dynasty to find the number of the German army stationed in Beijing at that time, and of course he had already withdrawn his troops and returned to China. He sent a telegram to the Chinese Legation in Germany, conveying the regent's will to investigate the matter thoroughly, confirming the presence of more than twenty interpreters accompanying the army. Ye Ke Nan tossed and turned for several days, and found all the people who were still alive, most of them living in the German colony of Qingdao, and a few in the German concession of Tianjin. The last one is Qiu Desheng in front of him. This person has an only son, Qiu Xiaogeng, who was born in the year of Gengzi and happens to meet the conditions.

In the past two days, Ye Kenan has secretly followed and observed - Qiu Xiaogeng, the child is less than ten years old, but he is very tall, with a high nose bridge. And he is taller than children of the same age, and he runs like an energetic locomotive, and like a loose horse, standing out among Chinese children, and not far behind German children. What's even more surprising is that Xiao Geng dared to insult German soldiers in German on the street, which shows that this kid is slightly bold.

When Ye Kenan knocked on the door, it was completely clear at a glance - Qiu Desheng was short in stature, with a narrow face, a collapsed nose, thick lips, and a sick man. If Xiao Geng was born to Qiu Desheng, it is not reliable.

At this moment, Qiu Desheng and his wife knelt in the courtyard and wept silently.

They know in their hearts that from tonight onwards, Xiao Geng will no longer belong to them.

Qiu Desheng wiped his tears and said: "I love Xiao Geng in every way, when he gives him a year-old wine, he catches Zhou according to the customs of the old law, and puts out all kinds of objects, if he catches the Four Books and Five Classics, he will be a scholar when he grows up, and he will be a military general when he catches the Qinglong Yanyue Knife, and he must be a business and make a fortune if he catches the abacus beads, but I didn't expect this child to firmly grasp a carpenter's ink bucket, will he be a craftsman in the future?" Now you come and say that he is the blood and blood of the royal craftsman, and sure enough, God is destined to do it! ”

Although Lao Qiu's daughter-in-law is a woman, she is more assertive than men, and said to Ye Ke Nanxing: "Official, please leave us two more nights." I am Xiao Geng's mother, although I am not biological, but I am more intimate than my biological one. Wait until tomorrow morning, and then take this child away. I promise to cooperate with you and not let Xiao Geng resist. ”

Ye Kenan remembered his mother who died early, and he hesitated, then nodded in agreement. He patted Qiu Desheng on the shoulder: "Fortunately, your family adopted this child, I want to take a look at him now." ”

Qiu Desheng opened the study, not wanting Xiao Geng to see his crying face, so he hid outside the door and said, "Xiao Geng, your uncle has come to see you." ”

"Where's the uncle? Daddy, aren't you deceiving the child again? ”

Xiao Geng turned around and saw Ye Kenan, the man in the blue silk coat under the light, looking himself up and down carefully. The boy was not timid, and asked solemnly, "Who are you?" ”

Ye Kenan didn't say anything, walked a few steps beside him, saw the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" on the desk, and recited the last ancient poem of the book to the sky: "The world is endless, and the days are inescapable." Three points has become a dream, and future generations complain out of thin air! ”

"You mean Mr. Storyteller? It doesn't look like it! Xiao Geng observed the actions and expressions of the visitor, "Are you a detective from the patrol police station?" ”

I was seen through by this child! Ye Kenan was not polite, and in the blink of an eye, he grabbed and overwhelmed Xiao Geng from behind. The child struggled desperately, and his strength was amazing. Ye Kenan has practiced internal boxing with his father since he was a child, and he learned Oriental judo with Kawashima Naniwa in the Higher Patrol Police Academy.

The shape of red antlers, born on both sides of the cervical vertebrae, is symmetrical from side to side, the tips of the horns are pointing upward, and the flames soar into the sky.