Break This Engagment

17th Break: Thief

"Anyway, let us all have the boat turn back to land." Lin Yao said, didn't notice that Lin Ze's back is familiar. "Boss Jin's matter needs to be investigated first. We have to find justice for his death!" he said.

The other guests heard what he said and nodded in agreement, not paying attention to Lin Ze anymore.

Lin Ze. "..." damn it! You just wait, Lin Yao! He thought as he marched outside and lit a firecracker as a signal to the officers in the capital to come. Then, he leaned on the wall with his arms crossed, waiting for the officers to arrive while recalling what happened earlier.

The assassin earlier said that they are Jin Peng's friends. That person must also be the one who killed Wen Liao. Obviously, from his tone earlier, he has a grudge against Jin Peng. So him killing Jin Peng is not unusual. But why did he kill Wen Liao? Wen Liao is just a merchant, this, Lin Ze can be sure of.

"Could it be...?" Lin Ze's eyes narrowed.

Wen Liao's death is strange, as his case was hastily closed as if they were hiding something. Then... was that something related to this assassin? There is one thing that Lin Ze can be sure of.

"Jianghu is also related to this." he frowned. He returned to the capital in request of his elder brother, Lin Hao. But, now that he encountered the people from jianghu who were also related to the cases that he was investigating... "This must be brother's objective, right?" he muttered.

Lin Hao who is in the imperial palace an was already awake and is writing a letter, suddenly sneezed. "Achoo!" he rubbed his nose. "Who is talking about me?" he asked. "Ze-er... he should be smart and could figure out his mission to protect Meng Xing... right?" he muttered, feeling uncertain.

...

Huichen, morning.

"Achoo!" Meng Xing sneezed and immediately wiped his itchy nose.

"Ai, boss. Who told you to play Lin Ze that far?" Qiu Yi asked and helplessly sighed as he handed Meng Xing a cold reliever tea.

Meng Xing's nose wrinkled when he smelled the ginger from the drink. He has no choice but to drink it though, or his cold would get worse. "That damn Lin Ze!" he gnashed his teeth in anger.

Qiu Yi just shook his head and left, leaving Meng Xing in the pavilion.

Meanwhile, Meng Xing opened the letter that Jiang Xu sent back. "Jin Peng is indeed from the Lonely Wolves Gang..." he muttered as he read Jiang Xu's letter.

Six years ago, the Fang family which was one of the wealthy families at that time, suddenly disowned a son of the main branch because of his violent tendencies which resulted to the death of another family member who he had a conflict with. Fang Bozhi, Jin Peng's real name, was sent to the countryside which is the hometown of one of the Fang family's servants. This was also to monitor him and see if he would reflect. Maybe then, the family could take him back.

But, who knew that Fang Bozhi would rob someone? Fortunately, the person he robbed from fought back and so he didn't die. Fang Bozhi fled with the county officials on his tail. However, they didn't manage to catch Fang Bozhi. Since then, it was as if Fang Bozhi never existed. Which was true, since this Fang Bozhi became the Jin Peng now. And this Jin Peng continued to loot from the people, be it they were rich or poor. He had found pleasure not only from killing someone, but now stealing from them! It was due to this that he had caught the attention of the Lonely Wolves Gang. And due to his perverseness, he came one of high-ranking members of the gang.

Meng Xing snorted in disgust. "Scum!" he said as he burned the letter. Then, he opened a new one, which is about that assassin, that might be from another gang that is hostile against the Lonely Wolves Gang. "'Writhing Snakes'?" he muttered in surprise. "Indeed... I saw a carved snake on the blade of his dagger..." he said.

The Writhing Snakes is another notorious gang of jianghu who also steals from, and kills, people. But, they are different from the Lonely Wolves Gang who are aggressive. The Writhing Snakes are, like the snakes, have different skins (disguises). So, they can also be called assassins. What they are similar with the Lonely Wolves Gang is that they are also brutal. It can be seen with how Wen Liao, and Jing Peng, died.

"It is the jianghu again..." Meng Xing muttered and sighed. "No wonder His Majesty told me not to pursue Wen Liao's case, since it is really complicated." He shook his head and sipped the drink before he hissed due to the spicy flavour. "Tsk." He clicked his tongue in disgust. But, he didn't pour the drink on the lake. "But since this involves the jianghu... it must mean that more of them must come to the capital." His face turned serious when he recalled the 'ghost' at the Yang family's inn.

Right now, they have confirmed that there are two notorious gangs involved. As for the rest of the sects in jianghu...

Meng Xing's brows knitted. "Just how valuable is this item that they are looking for?" he asked and looked at Jiang Xu's letter. Then, he also burned it by the candle.

Right now, though, his problem is how to find Xu Ran to close her case. Fortunately, Madam Wen withdrew her request at the end...

"Madam Wen?" Meng Xing's eyes flashed when he recalled that Madam Wen seemed to know something. "Qiu Yi!" he called.

Qiu Yu immediately rushed back to the pavilion. "Yes, boss?" he asked.

"Who talked with Madam Wen that day?" Meng Xing asked.

"It was Qiu Er." Qiu Yi answered.

"Did he find something from Madam Wen about her husband's case?" Meng Xing asked.

Qiu Yi's face is serious. "This is what's strange, boss. Madam Wen's mouth is like a clam (hard to open)." He answered. "She clearly doesn't want to tell us, much less give us a clue." He told him.

The author has something to say:

Lin Ze: Lin Yao, I will break your mouth after breaking my reputation!

Lin Yao: I didn't know! And your reputation was already broken – oops.

Lin Ze: I will kill you!

Meng Xing: such a wise... ehem, stupid mouth! ^_^