Chapter 1183: Chapter 1019: A Clue Emerges

The little beggar still dumped the plum blossom cake into his clothes and wrapped it up. He gently pushed the plate and noticed that his dirty, black hands had left some fingerprints on the jade-like white porcelain, which made him shrink back a bit.

He sneakily glanced at Gu Chengyu and, seeing that he wasn’t angry, let out a sigh of relief.

"Our places are all divided; I was assigned to beg here. Since the areas are divided, it’s not allowed to go elsewhere, or you’d get your leg broken. But I’m small, and I slip away quickly, often sneaking out all over the place, so they can’t catch me."

The little beggar spoke with a bit of pride, though he knew he’d eventually get caught and receive a severe beating.

Gu Chengyu’s eyes lit up, "Oh? So you’re quite familiar with this area? If I asked you to identify these beggars, it shouldn’t be hard for you?"

The little beggar nodded emphatically, "I recognize all the beggars in the Capital. Those three there always beg in the West City. The one in the middle is called Big Pole; I forgot the names of the other two, but I often see them with Big Pole."

Gu Chengyu glanced at the one named Big Pole and found him tall and thin, resembling a pole, fitting his name quite well.

But why did these three run off when Ming Mo and the others questioned them earlier?

"Did they steal something and get caught by the authorities? Actually, they haven’t stolen much, just the foot-cloth from Aunt Wang’s house, the beans drying at Aunt Zhang’s, and some buns from the bun shop at the corner of West City Street..."

Ming Mo found this amusing; the child was clever but still somewhat innocent. His childish remarks were quite entertaining, but they had important matters at hand and couldn’t listen to this kid babbling.

However, he was also a bit disappointed since it seemed these three weren’t the ones they were looking for.

Gu Chengyu felt a flicker of hope instead, "You seem quite familiar with the nearby households, what about the shops in South City?"

"Of course! I’m wandering around South City every day. I know what each house ate, whose business is doing well, and which lady found someone she likes!"

The little beggar roamed around South City and didn’t just stay in one place to beg. This way, he managed to get more silver coins than other beggars.

"What nonsense are you spouting?" Ming Mo frowned and scolded as the little beggar spoke indecent words in front of the adults.

The little beggar was so frightened by Ming Mo’s shout that he fell silent.

Gu Chengyu gave Ming Mo a glance. How could he be too harsh on a child who had survived in the marketplace? Besides, the kid was young and might just be repeating what he heard from others without understanding what ’liking someone’ truly means.

"Do you know if there’s anything peculiar going on around South City recently? You can tell me anything, no matter what it is."

Gu Chengyu took out a piece of silver from his pocket and handed it to the little beggar.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to give more, but he knew that giving too much wouldn’t keep, and would only invite trouble.

Seeing the silver, the little beggar’s eyes sparkled. He immediately took the silver from Gu Chengyu’s hand and carefully put it in his pocket.

He then thought carefully before saying, "The other day, something strange happened at Aunt Wang’s. Her eldest son, a dart master named Wang Liang, works at the Wei Hu Escort Agency in South City. He didn’t come back recently, and his family thought he was out on an escort job but didn’t say anything in advance this time. Recently, Aunt Wang’s grandson got sick, so she wanted to get some silver from the agency to pay for the treatment. When she went there, she discovered all the people in the agency had been replaced."

Upon hearing this, Gu Chengyu felt his heart tighten. He exchanged a glance with Ming Mo, then looked at the little beggar again.

"Aunt Wang asked when Wang Liang would return, but the agency people said they didn’t know. She asked several people, and some said a month, others six months, but the answer was different each time. It seemed everyone in the agency was new, and she couldn’t find the Chief, so she felt something was amiss and told the neighbors about it, feeling more anxious."

The little beggar, getting excited, started to talk more.

"There’s something even stranger! I’m familiar with Brother Wang Liang. He often gave me food, so I wanted to snoop around the agency a bit after hearing this. Every new dart master had the same name as the original ones. Isn’t that weird? There’s even a Wang Liang there, but he’s not the one I know."

The little beggar talked while smelling the fragrance of the plum blossom cake in his pocket, swallowing saliva as he got a bit tempted.

But with the nobleman still here, how could he dare eat?

"Sir, does this count?" the little beggar cautiously glanced at Gu Chengyu, aware these were trivial matters.

After all, he had just received a silver piece from the gentleman and boasted earlier. To say he didn’t know now would be losing face.

"Of course! Is there anything else peculiar? Tell me!" Gu Chengyu examined the little beggar, finding his speech clear and composed, unlike a mere five or six-year-old, suspecting he might be older than he appeared.

"Over in the next alley, Old Master Zhang was looking to hire a few yard guards. But yesterday, over twenty people showed up! Old Master Zhang hired all of them. The other beggar kids and I talked about it, guessing that Old Master Zhang must have come into some unexpected fortune. Otherwise, his small courtyard surely wouldn’t need that many guards?"

Old Master Zhang’s household had only modest wealth, and the single-entry courtyard wasn’t large, certainly not needing over twenty guards. The little beggar mentioned this after hearing the older beggars gossip a bit, more as a humorous tale.

The little beggar could see that this gentleman liked listening to these trivial stories, so he picked those to tell, hoping the gentleman might reward him with more silver if satisfied.

"Are there more stories like this?" Gu Chengyu calculated the numbers, suspecting they would match the number of assassins.

There must have been many people at the escort agency, and including Old Master Zhang’s, the count could reach dozens.

The little beggar frowned in thought but couldn’t think of anything strange. He feared Gu Chengyu might take back the silver if he displeased him.

How often could one get silver just for answering questions?

"In the west alley, Cuihua lost a small garment, and Yicui Building’s girl, Wen Lan, was bought out by a master..."

Gu Chengyu felt embarrassed upon hearing this, knowing there was no useful information to extract.

"Alright! Let me know if you think of anything else! But, you can’t stay here for now. Tell me, would you like to live a worry-free life?"

Gu Chengyu squatted down to meet the little beggar face to face. Looking into the child’s lively eyes, he smiled and asked.

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