Zou Huainan

"Heh." Liang Yue chuckled. "Can't do it, huh?"

Chen Ju also noticed something was off. Seeing the guilty expressions on the faces of the few people opposite him, he asked, "What's going on here?"

"Looking at his symptoms, how could he be poisoned? This is clearly 'Alcohol Intolerance Syndrome.'" Liang Yue's gaze scrutinized the two men. "Your actions in trying to save him were very skilled. You probably knew about this all along. Coming here, you must have done it intentionally, right?"

"Officer, what are you talking about?" The man who had been shouting earlier now spoke in a softer voice, his face full of awkwardness. "How could we joke about our brother's life? We're sworn brothers, close as siblings! I don't even know what that syndrome you're talking about is. It must be a misunderstanding."

"Whether it is or isn't, let's take them back and investigate their background first," Liang Yue said to Chen Ju.

Looking at the situation of the few people, he felt that this matter was not simple.

If they were just ruffians trying to extort money, they shouldn't be so eager to see an official. Moreover, Linmen Street had just experienced an arson case, and now another incident had occurred, which inevitably led to associations.

As for this person's method, it wasn't complicated at all. He was simply severely allergic to alcohol. After drinking a bowl of wine, his whole body turned red, his throat swelled, and he had difficulty breathing. All the symptoms were real, which was why it seemed so convincing.

If he were faking it, it wouldn't be so easy to fool people.

In this world, there might not be a clear concept of "allergy." Only some medical books recorded the so-called "Alcohol Intolerance Syndrome," and the symptoms weren't comprehensive. His appearance was indeed quite convincing.

It was just a pity that he met Liang Yue, who could tell what was wrong with this person with just a glance.

Seeing that the situation was not right, the two men exchanged glances, then suddenly turned around and ran!

Their companion who had fainted on the ground immediately opened his eyes and weakly shouted, "Hey! You can't just leave me!"

It turned out he was also faking unconsciousness. Now that he saw his teammates running and not planning to take him, he became anxious and spoke up. As for those two, they had just been acting concerned, talking about sworn brothers and being close as siblings...

Now it was just two words.

Not close.

Although they ran fast, they couldn't outrun Pang Chun, who was standing at the door. Before they could take three steps, the two of them found all four of their legs were off the ground, and no matter how much they kicked, they didn't move forward.

It turned out that Da Chun had grabbed one in each hand, lifting them up like little chicks.

He stood there like an iron tower, silently taking action, which was quite intimidating.

However, he turned his head and gave Liang Yue a simple smile, revealing two rows of buck teeth. "A Yue, I completed the mission."

As soon as they entered the house, Liang Yue had reminded him to stand on the outer side near the door and to take action if anyone tried to run. As expected, he easily caught the two of them.

Liang Yue gave him a thumbs-up in praise.

"Officers, this is truly... thank you so much." The old couple came forward, repeatedly expressing their gratitude. The three young Imperial Capital Guards waved their hands, indicating it was nothing.

Liang Yue thought for a moment, pulled the old couple aside, and asked in a low voice, "Have any suspicious people approached you recently? Or have you offended any gang forces?"

"This..." The old couple thought back and replied, "Speaking of suspicious people, there was indeed one!"

"A few months ago, there was reportedly a traveling merchant from Yue Province who wanted to buy the entire Linmen Street with a large sum of money to build his own shops. Because the price was a bit higher than usual for buying shops, plus some threats, half the shops on the street were sold. You see, they're all closed now," the old man from the wine shop pointed to the street outside and recounted.

"But some of us older residents, who inherited our ancestral property since childhood and have been operating here for generations, couldn't bear to sell. They came back twice later, raising the price to double, implying that if we didn't sell, they would make it impossible for us to continue operating. However, the rest of us old residents are united. We all communicated with each other and decided not to sell, so they haven't appeared again."

"After that, there was the arson case a few days ago, plus today's incident..." The old woman continued indignantly, "I've long suspected that it was that group of people who did it!"

"Do you know the name and specific background of the person who wanted to buy your property?" Liang Yue asked.

The perpetrator of the previous arson case had been taken out of the station and was nowhere to be found. They only knew that it was related to the Dragon Tooth Gang, a very powerful force in the Southern City. However, the role the Dragon Tooth Gang played in this was still unknown, whether they were paid to do it or were the real masterminds.

Looking at wave after wave of this, if we want to completely solve the problems for the merchants on Linmen Street, we still need to figure out who is behind this. The vast Dragon Tooth Gang is difficult to use as a breakthrough. If there is a specific person, it will be much easier to investigate.

"I only know he's a wealthy merchant from the south, nothing else," the old man replied again. "But according to the neighbors who sold their shops, the officials were very accommodating with their transactions, so he must have a significant background."

"Alright." Liang Yue nodded. "We will do our best to investigate. You should still be a little vigilant recently. Maybe someone else will come to cause trouble next time."

"Alas," the old man sighed. "They are rich and powerful. How can we small households fight against them? I should have just sold it earlier..."

"What are you afraid of?" The old woman, however, glared. "We're old enough and have lived long enough! We'll die here even if we have to!"

"Elders, please rest assured," Liang Yue said solemnly. "We will never stand by and do nothing."

"A Yue!"

While they were talking, they heard Pang Chun calling from outside the door.

Liang Yue quickly walked out. As soon as he stepped out of the tavern, he found three other Imperial Capital Guards blocking the entrance, confronting Chen Ju and Pang Chun.

The leader was a tall, thin young man with arrogant and sharp eyes. He wore the same Imperial Capital Guard uniform, and the scabbard of his saber was inlaid with gold patterns, looking quite noble.

"I am Zou Huainan from the Southern City Main Office. This poisoning case will now be taken over by the Main Office. You from Fukang Ward don't need to worry about it," the young man ordered Chen Ju.

"People from the Main Office?" Chen Ju frowned as he looked at the other party, seemingly recognizing something.

"That's right." Zou Huainan waved his hand at his subordinates. "Go and bring these three people and the two shop owners back."

The old couple who had just seen Liang Yue out immediately panicked when they heard this.

Ordinary people naturally feared the yamen, especially when they didn't know the other party's background. In broad daylight, they might still talk some sense, but once they were arrested and taken back, wouldn't it be up to the yamen to decide whether you were guilty or innocent?

"Wait."

Liang Yue stepped forward and reached out to stop them. "This case has been investigated and it has been confirmed that these three people used their own illness to cause trouble here without reason. Now is the time to take these three back and question them to find out if someone instructed them and what their background is. There is nothing wrong with this shop owner, why do you need to take them back?"

"Get lost." Zou Huainan completely ignored what Liang Yue said and coldly rebuked, "It's not a Subordinate Guard's place to speak here."

"Officer Zou, my brother is not for you to talk about either," Chen Ju immediately said displeasedly. "We have already finished handling this case. You can take the criminals back if you want, but there's no need for the innocent shop owners, right?"

"Hmph." Zou Huainan snorted coldly. "How do I know if you are colluding with the shop owner and oppressing the common people? Arrest them!"

With a command, the two Subordinate Guards behind him stepped forward again.

"Stop!" Liang Yue shouted sternly and also stepped forward to stop them. The two sides immediately became tense.

"Roar—" When Pang Chun saw someone arguing with Liang Yue, he immediately roared angrily and stepped forward, like a fierce giant beast. His imposing presence scared the two Subordinate Guards back several steps.

From childhood to adulthood, he had always been Liang Yue's guardian deity.

Sometimes he didn't even care if he was bullied a little, but if someone wanted to lay a hand on Liang Yue, absolutely not.

"What are you doing?" Zou Huainan saw his terrifying presence and quickly shouted.

"I don't know what I'm doing either!" Pang Chun replied powerfully and domineeringly. Don't listen closely to the content of his words, just his voice was very intimidating.

"Calm down!" Chen Ju quickly pulled Da Chun back, and then gently pulled Liang Yue, whispering, "I've heard of this Zou Huainan. He's the son of Zou Fang, the Commander of the Southern City. Today's matter is strange. It seems they are in cahoots with this group of people. Before we figure out the inside story, try not to make a move."

Liang Yue's eyes shifted, and he had already clearly seen the situation in the field.

The people from the main office never patrol the streets regularly and rarely go out to handle matters. Their sudden appearance here today must have been prearranged.

These ruffians are causing trouble here, waiting to attract a crowd. Then a few Imperial Capital Guards will appear and take the shopkeeper away. Once they're back at the yamen, they won't have to worry about the shopkeeper refusing to sell the shop anymore.

With such a bloody example, the other old neighbors on Linmen Street probably wouldn't dare to resist anymore.

Collusion between the black and white, quite vicious.

However, the only unexpected thing was that Liang Yue and his group happened to be patrolling and passed by here, arriving earlier than the people from the main office and quickly resolving the case. Those few ruffians probably thought they were in cahoots with the officials, which is why they were winking and making faces at each other.

The troublemakers were about to be escorted away when they finally arrived late.

Now it seems they are a bit anxious.

"You still want to make a move?" Zou Huainan's gaze was gloomy. "It seems the Fukang Ward station has serious collusion between officials and merchants. It should be thoroughly investigated from top to bottom."

"Sigh." Chen Ju let out a sigh.

He didn't want to easily bring up his family's name to pressure people, but if he couldn't deter the other party today, the matter would be difficult to resolve.

With his status as a collateral branch of the Chen Family, he didn't need to be too afraid of the son of an Imperial Capital Guard Commander. The reason he advised Liang Yue and the others to calm down was because he didn't know who was behind the scheme and temporarily didn't want to escalate the conflict.

The other party could command people from the Imperial Capital Guard's main office, so their background must be significant and not easy to provoke rashly. Once a fight broke out and the matter escalated, neither winning nor losing would be a good outcome.

However.

While avoiding a physical confrontation, there was no need to be polite in words.

He immediately opened his small mouth, and it was as if it was smeared with honey.

"Heh heh, my name is Chen Ju. You can go back and check my background," Chen Ju raised his head and said pointedly, "Today, whoever colludes with evil people will have their biological father die. Do you dare to bet?"

Good morning.