The strongest nine thousand years old

Chapter 136: First Hearing of the Ghost Market

Nothing to do today, just listen to music.

The last time Wen Xuan dragged him to Tinghualan, he met a veiled woman. Wen Xuan was beside her at the time, so he didn't ask too many questions.

As soon as he arrived at Tinghualan today, he asked the owner of the place.

When the column owner saw the badge of the Jinyiwei, he did not dare to be negligent and immediately told everything.

The masked woman came here a month ago, saying that she had no money on her way back home, so she came here to work and earn some money. The owner felt sorry for her and saw that she did have a special skill, so he kept her.

Chen Dong ate melon seeds and sneered, "You think you have some improper thoughts about her because she is beautiful."

The column owner felt a little embarrassed when his lies were exposed.

"That day she went on stage to play the piano and the strings suddenly broke. She passed away that night," said the column owner.

Chen Dong asked, "Where is her hometown? Who else is in her family?"

The column owner said, "She said she was from Qingcheng, Youzhou, and she has an elderly mother at home."

"With so many of you here, has no one ever seen her true face?" Chen Dong asked unwillingly.

The column owner smiled and said, "I'll have to ask about this."

Chen Dong waved his hand to let the column owner go, feeling a little annoyed. In this day and age, without Skynet and big data, how difficult is it to find someone with just a name and address that you don't know whether it's true or not?

Not long after, the bar owner came over with a waitress and introduced, "Sir, this is Qiuyue. She said she had seen what Bishuang looked like."

Chen Dong waved his hand to let the owner go down, took out a silver note and stuffed it into Qiuyue's pile of fruits, "Here's a reward for you. Describe her appearance in detail."

Qiuyue smiled coquettishly, "Bishuang has a cold personality and is not very sociable. The last time I saw her, she was hiding away and putting on rouge by herself."

"She's a pretty girl, but unfortunately she has a scar on her right cheek. No wonder she always covers her face with a veil." Qiuyue said regretfully.

Based on Qiuyue's description, Chen Dong drew a sketch of Bishuang.

"The painting by the officer is so lifelike, it's amazing!" Qiuyue exclaimed.

Chen Dong threw the charcoal pencil away and couldn't help sucking his teeth. No wonder she looked familiar to him. This Bishuang was Xiao Cui from Cuihonglou!

She was covering her face with a veil at the time, and it was just a quick glance, so Chen Dong just felt that she looked familiar, but did not think of Xiao Cui.

The wanted criminal slipped away right under his nose!

Thinking of this, Chen Dong wanted to slap himself.

"Okay, go down." Chen Dong said with a gloomy face.

Now it seems that Xiao Cui and Mr. Xie must still be hiding in Yanjing City, but their whereabouts are secretive and they are good at disguise, so they have not been found yet.

"Is there any place in the city of Yanjing where hiding people can be easily discovered?" Chen Dong turned his head and asked the Jinyiwei beside him.

The Jinyiwei was a little nervous and whispered in Chen Dong's ear: "Commander, the only place in Yanjing City that fits the description is the Ghost Market!"

Chen Dong frowned and asked, "What's the story?"

"When Great Yan was founded, sewers were dug underground, and all the sewage and wastewater in the city flowed into the Qinglong River through the sewers."

"Over the years, the canal became clogged and slowly formed an underground market where all kinds of people lived together."

"Emperor Gaozong once sent troops to clear out the ghost market, but there were too many idle people in Yanjing City. Those who couldn't afford to rent a house in the city and had no livelihood could only continue to live in the ghost market. Once the imperial soldiers left, the ghost market became lively again."

"Over time, no one will manage this ghost market anymore."

Chen Dongba smacked his lips and asked, "Have the Jinyiwei ever visited the ghost market?"

"Never."

Chen Dong slammed the table and stood up, "How ridiculous! I will never allow such a powerful place to exist under my nose!"

"It's a lawless place, right? I'll send troops to destroy it right away!"

Chen Dong has been troubled by the identity issue for a long time, and Xiao Cui and Xie Lao are undoubtedly insiders. As long as they are found, the truth will naturally come out.

Chen Dong immediately asked He Feng to lead the troops and gather at the entrance of the Ghost Market.

Due to the palace coup on Yuye, He Feng was promoted and given an important position, and was put in charge of the defense of the entire Yanjing city.

After receiving Chen Dong's summons, he immediately brought people here. However, after hearing Chen Dong's words about wiping out the ghost market, he immediately shook his head.

"Sir, this cannot be done. Not to mention that all the city guards came, even if the entire Western Army came, the Ghost Market cannot be completely cleared out." He Feng said with a wry smile.

"The Ghost Market was rebuilt from underground canals, and it's connected in all directions. If we send troops from here, the people below who received the news will definitely run away from other places. When we withdraw our troops, they will go back. We can't guard here day and night, right?"

Chen Dong frowned and said, "Is there no way to clean up this place?"

He Feng spread his hands and said, "It is definitely not enough to just send troops to suppress it by force. Most of the people in the ghost market are homeless illegal residents, refugees, and criminal bandits."

"If we want to wipe out the ghost market, we need to first give refugees a way to survive, and second, recruit those criminals."

Chen Dong stroked his chin and thought.

It is not difficult to provide a way for the refugees to survive. Chenjiazhuang is his fiefdom. At most, he can settle them all in Chenjiazhuang, arrange a job for them and give them food to eat.

Those bandits and bandits who were in trouble had fled to the ghost market to escape the punishment of Dayan Law. Chen Dong was unhappy that he could recruit them so easily. If others followed suit, wouldn't Dayan be in chaos?

Moreover, those people are self-confident about their bravery and do not take the imperial court seriously at all, so they may not necessarily agree to be recruited.

Chen Dong pondered for a long time but still couldn't come up with a solution.

"Take your men with me and capture the wanted criminal!" Chen Dong stopped thinking and decided to explore the ghost market first.

The ghost market is deep underground. As soon as you walk in, you can feel a cold wind blowing in your face. The air is filled with a foul odor mixed with sourness and decay.

The stench made Chen Dong almost vomit the little wine he had just drunk in Tinghualan.

The faces of the people around him also looked very bad. Their faces were tense and as black as the bottom of a pot.

"Aping, you lead the way." He Feng called out.

A Ping had been in the ghost market for some time. He led everyone through several winding roads and came to a relatively flat and wide place.

There was a long-rotten wooden sign there - Happy Forest.

Chen Dong looked up and saw rows of dilapidated, low wooden houses, with figures that looked like humans were moving around among them.

He really couldn't figure out what was so happy about this.

He Feng whispered, "Sir, during the day, these people in the ghost market go out to make a living, and come back at night when they go to bed. That's when it's the real ghost market."

Chen Dong asked, "What's the situation on the third floor over there?"

The three-story restaurant located in the middle of the Ghost Market not only occupies a large area, but is also built in an exquisite and neat style, which is incompatible with the style of the Ghost Market.

"That is Tianbao Pavilion. Legend has it that it can buy and sell all the treasures in the world, fulfill all wishes, and even heal people's regrets." He Feng explained.

"So arrogant!" Chen Dong sneered, "Let's go and meet Tianbao Pavilion!"