Qingyu Case: Female Minister of Dali Temple

Shu County had already imposed martial law as early as when Chen Shao uncovered the Prince's Party of the previous dynasty.

Everyone entering or leaving the county town needs to be inspected.

After Chen Shao returned to Hongyuan County from Mengshe Smelting Bureau, martial law was further escalated. All people entering and leaving the county town needed to be inspected. The inspection was particularly strict for those coming from other counties in Jiannan Road, especially Hongyuan County.

Not long after Zhao Liangzhu took Zhou Shan and Bao Chengle out of Hongyuan County, they joined a merchant caravan from Jiangnan.

A formal caravan pass required the matching of people and goods, with clear distinctions between principal and subordinate. This meant the caravan leader and employer had to be clearly recorded, and every accompanying person and animal had to be clearly documented. However, as Datong faced increasing internal and external troubles over the past two or three decades, the pass became more and more of a formality.

Even the strictest inspections in Shu County could not completely deny these irregular passages. Therefore, Zhao Liangzhu, Zhou Shan, and Bao Chengle followed the caravan from Jiangnan and easily entered Shu County.

Zhao Liangzhu originally worked in a trading company, responsible for escorting goods to various places for sale. Later, he followed Chen Shao and was still in charge of the business side. He had more contact with and was more sensitive to the caravans and policies of various places than others.

This was an important reason why he was able to board the caravan from Jiangnan.

Chen Shao brought nearly a hundred people with him, and without any connections in the caravan, he naturally could not enter Shu County.

Fortunately, they had made adequate preparations before coming and brought enough dry food just in case.

After settling down at Muma Mountain, sixty miles away from Shu County, Chen Shao, Hui Yin, and eight elite soldiers took advantage of the night, traveled lightly, and followed the secret code left by the first group of elite soldiers who had followed Zhou Shan and Bao Chengle. They quietly climbed over the city wall in a secluded place and entered the city of Shu County.

Then, they continued to follow the marks left by the elite soldiers and came to an inn called Jimaodian.

Almost as soon as they arrived, an elite soldier flashed out from the shadows and said with a bow, "Seventh Miss."

Chen Shao nodded and looked towards the chicken feather shop: "How is it?"

The elite soldier said, "There has been no progress yet."

Chen Shao expressed his understanding.

They arrived only one day later than Zhou Shan and his team. If there had been any major progress, she would have suspected something was up.

"However," the elite soldier changed the subject and continued, "During the day, Zhou Shan took Zhao Liangzhu and Bao Chengle to Fuqian Street and stayed outside a house for quite a while. From what he and Zhao Liangzhu said, the owner of that house seems to be Cheng Yuanlang."

Cheng Yuanlang, isn’t that Zhou Shan’s cousin?

Chen Shao immediately asked, "Do you remember where exactly the house is?"

After the elite soldier answered that he remembered, he immediately led the way for them.

The chicken feather shop was separated from Fuqian Street by several main streets and more than ten alleys. In order to avoid the patrolling palace soldiers, they took many detours. By the time they reached Fuqian Street, nearly an hour had passed.

"That's the house." The elite soldier led them to a halt under an old locust tree, pointed at the house not far away, and whispered, "This house is very large. This is just the back door. There are many guards and patrols at the front door. If you are not careful, you will be easily discovered."

Chen Shao looked in the direction of his finger.

Under the cold moonlight, the house is full of terraces and pavilions, with red roofs and green tiles. Just from the scenery in this corner, you can tell that it is indeed quite large.

If a confidant of a county governor, who doesn't even hold an official rank, can own such a luxurious mansion, then the one owned by the county governor must be bigger and more luxurious than his.

Having seen the mountains of gold and silver treasures of the Zhu and Gu families, Chen Shao no longer felt much excitement when faced with Cheng Yuanlang's mansion.

Walking in the shadows, he approached Cheng Yuanlang's mansion. After observing it more carefully for a moment, Chen Shao turned around and said to Huiyin, "Master, please accompany me."

Huiyin nodded.

"You just wait here, we will try to go back as quickly as possible." After arranging the elite soldiers, Chen Shao and Huiyin, still stepping on the shadows, walked half a circle around Cheng Yuanlang's mansion, and then took advantage of the shelter of a Pistacia tree extending from the yard, and flew lightly over the outer wall and entered the inner house.

The inner quarters are more heavily guarded than the outer quarters.

Chen Shao and Huiyin hid in the crown of the Pistacia tree and did not act rashly.

It is no exaggeration to say that there is a guard post every three steps and a sentry every five steps in the inner house.

Huiyin stared at the three servants patrolling not far from the pistachio tree and said softly, "You're so busy every day that you don't even have time to eat. I'm afraid your martial arts skills have almost been abandoned, right?"

Chen Shao smiled: "Master, are you planning to test me?"

"Two years ago, before you returned to Beijing, it wasn't easy to get through this house," Huiyin said. "Now that it's been abandoned for two or three years, it's even more difficult. However, this also gives me a good opportunity to see the extent of your neglect."

"These past two or three years, I haven't been as diligent as I was back in the mountains," Chen Shao admitted. He added, "Since Master wants to test me, then use the ginkgo tree to the north as your target. If I can reach that spot within one stick of incense without alerting anyone, I'll pass the test. How about that?"

Huiyin looked at the ginkgo tree she was talking about.

At this time of year, all the leaves of the ginkgo tree have fallen off, and the branches are bare. In the cold winter night, especially in such a luxurious courtyard, it seems quite lonely.

"Just use it as a target." Huiyin said.

Since it was a test, Huiyin didn't wait for her any longer.

When the patrolman turned around, she disappeared like a wisp of smoke in the blink of an eye into the crown of the Pistacia tree, and her whereabouts were unknown.

Chen Shao is the opposite.

She didn't rush after her.

Instead, he moved like a monkey, one courtyard after another, slowly moving towards the ginkgo tree.

The house is heavily guarded, but no one lives in each courtyard except for the patrolling servants.

Chen Shao gradually realized that this house was a trap.

A trap for them to walk into.

If it wasn't her and her master who came to investigate tonight, but the elite soldiers sent by Chen Zhao, then there was a high probability that they would never return.

While secretly rejoicing, Chen Shao quietly passed through another courtyard. When he was about to leave, he suddenly heard bursts of quarreling coming from the previous courtyard.

Chen Shao immediately hid under the eaves in the dark and listened attentively.

——"Who told you to stop and rest? Get out of here right now!"

"Alas, Manager Zhou, you have a sullen face all day long, and there's no one in this house. We've been patrolling all day, and taking a short break won't cause any problems."

——"That's right. Manager Zhou, don't keep staring at us. Which of the patrolling brothers here hasn't been lazy?"

——"I don't care about others, but you all get out of here right now and continue patrolling!"

After a pause, he warned, "If you let the thieves in because of your negligence, you will end up with a fateful outcome. Do I need to remind you?"

The people who were talking shuddered immediately and stood up muttering.

As soon as Manager Zhou left, several people immediately started talking with dissatisfaction and disdain.

"I don't know what Manager Zhou is so afraid of. He's been on patrol for a month and hasn't even seen a bird, let alone a thief."

"Tell me, there's no one in this house, but we're being so defensive. Who are we guarding against?"

——"I heard they were guarding against that Mr. Chen who came from the capital."

"I also heard that they were on guard against her. I heard from the caravans that came from Hongyuan County that many people in Hongyuan County had made statues of her and were offering incense to her."

"You don't have to hear about it. I have a distant cousin who married in Hongyuan County. My uncles never mentioned her before, and when they did, they mostly scolded her. But ever since Mr. Chen went to Hongyuan County and exempted taxes, taught them how to grow medicinal herbs, and distributed free food and money, my uncles have been praising my cousin for marrying well and showing good taste. They no longer scold her."

——"It's a pity that you and I were not born in Hongyuan County."

"Hey, what's the rush? Although we are on high alert here and can't prevent Lord Chen, doesn't this just mean that Lord Chen is about to come to Shu County? What a pity! I don't know where these bastards are hiding. Otherwise, when Lord Chen comes, I will be the first to inform on him and help him get a good future!"

The discussion continues.

But Chen Shao didn't listen anymore.

Now that we know this house is a trap, there is no need to explore further.

Just as the time of one stick of incense was about to pass, she finally arrived in front of the ginkgo tree.

Faced with Huiyin's dissatisfied look, Chen Shao did not explain. She carefully checked several surrounding courtyards. After confirming that no one lived there, she left with Huiyin.

In the next seven or eight days, wherever Zhou Shan and Bao Chengle took Zhao Liangzhu, Chen Shao and Huiyin would quietly inquire about it at night.

pity.

Still nothing.

Chen Shao has never been a passive person.

After returning empty-handed again, she took off her men's clothes, put on women's clothes, and after a little disguise, she pretended to be a brother and sister with an elite soldier and walked into a restaurant in a grand manner.

Although Shu County was under martial law, the restaurant was still bustling.

Chen Shao asked for a small private room separated by a screen on the second floor. After ordering a few side dishes and two pots of wine, he pretended to talk about business while listening to the conversations of the people around him.

After the meal, I didn't hear any useful news.

Fortunately, Chen Shao was not in a hurry. She was just trying it out.

Just like that, he secretly spied on the places Zhou Shan and Bao Chengle had been at night, and went to various restaurants to inquire about news during the day. After another seven or eight days, his hard work finally paid off. In a crooked tree-legged inn, Chen Shao accidentally heard two porters planning to take over a trip from Shu County to Sangzaogou, and suddenly an idea came to him.

In the past half month, she followed Zhou Shan and Bao Chengle and traveled almost all over Shu County City, but failed to find any trace of Luo Wanyou. Could it be that he was not in the county city at all?

If he wasn't in the county town, then he...

Almost instantly, Chen Shao thought of what Zhou Shan had said.

Zhou Shanzeng said that after he arrived in Yunnan County, his cousin Cheng Yuanlang brought his family to Shu County on the pretext of allowing his parents to enjoy a good life and his children to attend the county school.

It was also said that Sun An's family was also under Luo Wanyou's control.

As far as Zhou Shan knew, there were nearly two hundred spies scattered across the country, and the families of these two people were a considerable group.

How to place this group so that it is easy to monitor and control?

The natural thing is to bring them all together and manage them.

After realizing this, Chen Shao remained calm. He ate his meal as usual and followed his elite soldiers back to the restaurant where they were staying. Then he ordered, "Go tell Zhao Liangzhu to ask Zhou Shan and Bao Chengle where Luo Wanyou has placed their families."

The elite soldiers left and returned later to report, "Neither of them knew where their families were being held captive."

Chen Shao frowned slightly. "Zhou Shan has returned home several times since arriving in Yunnan County. He doesn't know where he's being held, so how can he see his family?"

The elite soldier replied, "Zhou Shan said that every time he returned to Shu County to see his family, he always stayed at the large house we first visited. He also mentioned that he wanted to see where they live now, but Cheng Yuanlang always found excuses to refuse. Similarly, Bao Chengle said that his family originally lived near Cheng Yuanlang's house, and their house was also quite large, but it is now empty. I went to the house he mentioned and saw that it was indeed empty, and it had been empty for quite some time, and it was overgrown with weeds."