The imperial capital is the place where the emperor lives, how can it tolerate bandits running amok? Since ancient times, the public security forces in the capital have always been the strongest.

  In the Qing dynasty, there were the Shuntian Prefecture's catchers and the Nine Gate Infantry Commander's Office. Now, there is the Metropolitan Police Department, the Garrison Command, the Infantry Headquarters, and countless patrolmen and detectives. Not all of them are incompetent, many are skilled at solving cases, they just don't see any rabbits to release their hawks, without a suitable deal, they can't be bothered to move.

  Now that the Ma family has issued this wanted order, it spread throughout Beijing in an instant. All the brothers from both sides of the underworld were mobilized to chase after Little Li overnight, making a huge commotion, with a scale even bigger than when they caught the revolutionaries back then.

  Someone said that the president personally ordered the arrest of certain people, but these guys might not be so enthusiastic. This statement is correct, as the government's reward for capturing them has been reduced layer by layer, leaving only a few. But the reward offered by the Ma family is genuine and reliable, if they say one thousand, it will be exactly one thousand, and when the time comes to capture the person, not a single cent will be missing.

  The big city of Beijing, in fact, has not many people. Since the Boxer Rebellion, when the Eight-Power Allied Forces entered, the population of the capital has sharply decreased, and even after nearly twenty years, it still hasn't recovered. The inner city is a bit better, but the outer city has many alleys where you can't see anyone during the day, everywhere is empty land, empty houses. That's why it's easy to catch people, and also easy to hide people.

  It's easy to catch people because there are few outsiders in Beijing, and most of them are old Beijing families who know each other well, generally don't dare to harbor criminals. Little Li is not a local, has no relatives in Beijing, basically has nowhere to hide.

  It's easy to hide Tibetans because Beijing is still too big, this kid if hiding in some broken temple or empty house, won't come out for ten days or half a month, relying solely on the power of the underworld and the police, it's really impossible to catch him.

  However, this didn't stump the cops, who asked the Beijing beggars' gang to lend a hand in capturing Little Li. They called it the beggars' gang, but actually it was just a loose organization of panhandlers; as long as you gave the leaders some cash, they'd help out with some dirty work like digging up rat holes.

  In short, under the heavy reward, all capable people in Beijing took action. That night, Huaqingchi was raided three times by the police station, detective team and Jingyi Garrison Command Department. The place where Little Li lived was searched thoroughly, and everyone who had dealings with Little Li was investigated and questioned along with a search. However, Li Junqing, that little devil, seemed to have vanished into thin air, leaving no trace of himself anywhere.

  The boss of the bathhouse was caught by Ma Lao Wu's police and taken to the bureau for overnight interrogation, finally getting a valuable clue that Li Junqing had a good relationship with someone named Zhao Dahai, and this Zhao Dahai was also an iron brother with Chen Zikun, who had clashed with his own second brother in the Tianqiao area.

  These clues all pointed to one place, and Li Junqing's whereabouts were about to be revealed. Early in the morning, Ma Lao Wu led a team of patrolmen to the Dajiazhuang neighborhood outside Xuanwu Gate, where poor ordinary people lived, so there was no need to be polite with them. With a single order from Officer Ma, the patrolmen rushed in and searched every household, checking their registration records, but still couldn't find Li Junqing.

  Gather all the people in the courtyard, and look through the household registration book of each family. Ma Lao Wu muttered to himself and asked one by one: "Where did Xue Ping Shun and Xue Bao Qing go?"

  "His father is on night shift at the factory, and the child is having a monthly check-up at the Flower Flag Clinic, he won't be back tonight." Xue Ping's partner replied cautiously.

  "What about Li Yaoting?" Ma Lao Wu asked again.

  "Back to Master, my brother works at Liuguo Restaurant and is on night shift." Yanhong said with a smile.

  "What's going on with Zhao Dahai!" Ma Lao Wu was really annoyed. Since all the young and strong men in the courtyard were not at home, there must be something fishy going on inside.

  "My dad is not home!" Zhao Dahi's son shouted, and was immediately held tightly by his wife, covering his mouth.

  Ma Lao Wu sneered: "Kid, where did your dad go?"

  "Your dad is here." A shout came from the doorway, and everyone turned to look. Zhao Dahai was back with a few fried dough sticks.

  Ma Lao Wu angrily said: "Zhao Da Hai, where did you hide Li Jun Qing?"

  "Officer, what are you saying? I don't understand." Zhao Dahai had just returned from the Ziguang Vehicle Factory and bought some breakfast on the way. He happened to run into a police officer checking household registrations. His mind was clear as a mirror, but he deliberately pretended to be muddled.

  "Hum, you're pretending to be ignorant, Li Junqing, the bathhouse worker from Huaqing Pool, has committed a crime. Whoever harbors him will be punished equally. You all understand? Don't pretend to be stupid! Ma Lao Wu was truly furious. If it were an ordinary case, he wouldn't be so worked up. Second Brother's been kidnapped, and the Ma family's reputation has been dragged down to Tianjin Wei. He can't help but rush."

  Zhao Dahi and Ma Lao Wu were also old acquaintances. In the early years, before Ma Lao Wu wore this police uniform, he was also a hoodlum near Tianqiao, had fought with Zhao Dahi, and had a grudge against him. Later, when Zhao Dahi went to work as a railway worker in another place, they gradually forgot about each other. Now, old hatreds and new grievances flooded his mind, Ma Lao Wu was full of evil fire that he couldn't vent anywhere, how could he tolerate Zhao Dahi's glib talk in front of him?

  Zhao Dahai sneered: "You've searched and searched, but you still can't find anyone, right?"

  "I've finished searching, but I haven't finished asking yet." Ma Lao Wu suddenly pulled out Gou Sheng, Zhao Dahan's son, from his daughter-in-law's arms and asked, "Did your dad sleep at home last night?"

  The little dog may be young in age, but he's got a big temper. He glared at the police officer and said, "Hmph! You're a bad cop, I'm not telling you anything!"

  Ma Lao Wu was furious, and a kid like that dared to be so arrogant. He immediately raised his palm, but Zhao Da Hai couldn't let him hit his own son, so he quickly reached out and grabbed Ma Lao Wu's wrist.

  "How dare you attack a police officer!" Ma Lao Wu shouted loudly, and one of the policemen swung his rifle butt at Zhao Dahai's back of the head, knocking him down instantly.

  "Big Ocean!" The wife shrieked and rushed forward, but was held back by the police. Ma Lao Wu pulled out his handgun and pointed it at the residents of the big courtyard, shouting: "Listen up, everyone! Zhao Dahai is harboring a fugitive, now we're taking him away for questioning. If any of you know where Li Junqing, the bathhouse worker from Huacun Pond, is hiding, report to the police station and I'll give you a generous reward."

  After finishing speaking, he pressed the muzzle of his pistol against the brim of his hat and shouted: "Brothers, retreat!"

  The police dragged Zhao Dahai away as he lay unconscious.

  The whole family was at a loss, someone suggested hurrying to find Constable Xue, he had been a patrol officer before, familiar with the roads, and surely would have a way.

  So, Hai's wife ran to the Ziguang Car Factory with Xing'er, found Xue Pingshun and told him what had happened. Xue Pingshun was also frightened, as it has been said since ancient times that government offices are places where people go in but never come out, especially for ordinary people without power or influence. Even if they don't die, they will be skinned alive. If someone is implicated in another person's case and gets caught, without several dozen or hundred yuan to grease the wheels, it's impossible to get out.

  Xue Ping Shun was no longer a patrol officer, and even when he was in office, he was only a third-class patrol officer who couldn't speak up, so he had no choice but to go find Chen Zi Kun to discuss.

  After arriving at the backyard and knocking on the door, he came in and told Chen Zikun about Zhao Dahi's arrest. Before Chen could say anything, someone came out from the inner room, with red lips and white teeth, looking elegant and refined, and said angrily: "I'll go to surrender myself and exchange for Big Brother Hai."

  "Are you Li Junqing?" Xue Shu, having been a patrol officer before, immediately understood and said: "Surrendering won't do any good, it will only confirm Dahai's guilt."

  Chen Zikong said: "That's the reason, now the most important thing is to send you away, and we will be safe."

  Xue Pingshun said, "This thing has gotten a bit out of hand. Since Ma Lao Wu can go to the Da Za Yuan to search for people, he'll definitely be able to come here too. We'd better hurry up and hide, or else we'll all be caught."

  Chen Zikun's heart skipped a beat, Xue Shu said it made sense. Since the police could go to find Zhao Dahan, they would definitely be able to come and find themselves too. The Zi Guang car factory was just a small quadrangle courtyard, which couldn't hide a big living person, nor could it block the police's search. Moreover, he and Ma Jia had an old feud, as long as the patrol police came to the door, that would be a fatal blow.

  There's no other way, Chen Zikun walked back and forth in the house for two steps, suddenly thought of the newly installed phone, and said with a flash of inspiration: "I've got it! Is Xing'er there?"

  Xue Shu said: "He's here, outside."

  "Let her in."

  Xue Da Shu called in Xing Er, Chen Zi Kun told her something, Xing Er agreed and took out a set of old clothes for Li Jun Qi to change into, then helped him wash and dress up.

  ……

  The police indeed rushed to the Zi Guang Car Factory, a team of people carrying batons and knives entered the alley, two big girls came over, seeing so many police officers, they were suddenly frightened and quickly passed by with their heads down. The police took a glance and thought that these two girls are even more beautiful than each other, if it weren't for being in a hurry to solve the case, they would have flirted with them.

  They were so focused on looking at faces and figures that they didn't notice one of the "girls" had particularly large feet.

  As they turned the corner of the alley, Xing'er and Li Junqing were so frightened that their backs were drenched with sweat, and their hearts were racing wildly. They looked back to make sure no one was following them, then quickly hailed a rickshaw and instructed the driver: "Take us to the Keqin Duke's mansion."

  The police broke open the gate of Ziguang Car Factory, detained all the drivers, searched the entire factory but couldn't find Li Junqing, and the boss Chen Zikun was also nowhere to be found.

  Ma Lao Wu rushed over and searched again in person, but still found nothing. He was furious and asked his subordinates if they had discovered any suspicious people.

  The subordinate stammered: "When we came, there were two little girls in the alley. I thought we were looking for a man, so I didn't interrogate them."

  "Slap!" Ma Lao Wu raised his hand and gave him a crisp one, "Useless thing! Li Junqing that kid looks like a girl, catch him for me, and also Chen Zikong, grab him when you see him!"

  ……

  The power of the Ma family may not be great, but with Shuang'er there, people from all walks of life are doing their best. The soldiers and police at the train station, major transportation hubs in Beijing, and city gates are all keeping a sharp eye out for their target.

  A black car drove to Xizhimen, the soldiers guarding the city gate recognized that this was the car of former Premier Xiong Xiling's mansion, which had to pass through here every day to go to Shangshan Orphanage. They didn't dare to stop and check the car, standing at attention one by one, and the car drove out of the city gate in a flash.

  More than ten miles out of the city, the car stopped, and Li Junqing, who had changed back into men's clothing, rushed to Chen Zikun and said: "Brother Chen, I will never forget your lifesaving kindness, please accept my bow!"

  He just bowed his head and was immediately held back by Chen Zikun, "Brother, don't be polite, take this money, the farther you go, the better." As he said that, he took out 15 silver dollars and stuffed them into Li Junqin's pocket.

  Li Junqing's eyes were filled with tears, holding the silver dollar that still had body temperature, nodded vigorously: "Brother Chen, we will meet again." After finishing, he left in big strides and never looked back.

  He saw him off in the distance before getting into the car and telling the driver, "Brother, let's head back to Beijing. I still have some unfinished business."