Traveling through an ancient military camp: Bao'er's survival song

Sure enough, gossip is the best tool for building relationships. Li Bao'er's question once again made the four maids chatter. They had long lost the reserve and composure they had shown when facing Li Bao'er, this distinguished guest. They started telling Li Bao'er the story of how the Earl of Pingyang's family fell into ruin because he collected things related to his deceased wife.

While Li Bao'er was listening to the story with great interest, Peng Zizheng, who had been thrown from his horse, was being treated by the imperial physician for his broken arm.

The matter of the startled horse was not difficult to investigate. First, a thin needle was inserted into the saddle of the horse. When Peng Zizheng mounted the horse, he would press the silver needle into the horse's back, causing the horse to feel pain and thus throw Peng Zizheng off.

A petty trick. But who did it?

The teahouse was completely surrounded by the general's soldiers. None of the shopkeepers, waiters, or tea servers had escaped, but with the constant flow of customers, it was difficult to investigate. Upon hearing this, the emperor, unusually angry, berated Shi Liujie, the Prefect of the Capital, saying that in broad daylight, right under the emperor's nose, his own general could be assassinated. It seemed he, the Prefect of the Capital, was useless; if he couldn't manage the situation, he should simply be stripped of his official position and replaced with someone more capable.

Shi Liujie was also in a terrible predicament. His position sounded impressive—the highest-ranking official in the capital—but in reality, it wasn't as comfortable as that of a prefect serving outside the capital. Under the emperor's nose, hidden dragons and crouching tigers abound. Not only could you hit several influential figures with a brick thrown on the street, making it impossible to offend anyone, but even the execution of various affairs in the capital region was fraught with obstacles. The Court of Judicial Review, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of War—which of these people could he afford to offend? Take the assassination attempt on General Guide, for example. According to regulations, Peng Zizheng shouldn't have privately ordered troops to surround the teahouse, but what could he say? He couldn't; he still had to bring gifts to visit Peng Zizheng, who had lost an arm.

While visiting Peng Zizheng, Shi Liujie also instructed his subordinates to investigate the case according to procedure, repeatedly emphasizing that they should not clash with Peng's soldiers. Although the Prefect of Jingzhao was a spineless official who always acted subservient, he was still capable; otherwise, he wouldn't have held the position. Within half a day, his subordinates had discovered that a child had approached General Peng's horse. The waiter at the teahouse, busy attending to other customers, hadn't bothered to chase the child away, only shouting, "Whose child is this? We're not responsible if a horse kicks you!" This was corroborated by nearby vendors.

Shi Liujie did not disregard the fact that the person near the horse was a child. Instead, he had an artist draw a portrait of the child based on the eyewitnesses in the vicinity. Then, he pretended to be a grandson to the Wucheng Garrison Commander and asked him to cooperate in sealing off the city gates. He also took the portrait and went from house to house to check if there was a child of the same age and appearance.

After following this procedure for several days, the result was that no such child could be found at all.

At this moment, Lord Shi truly broke out in a cold sweat.

Shi Liujie has been in the position of Prefect of the Capital for ten years. Although he always acts like a grandson, he is still very confident in his administrative ability in the capital region. Otherwise, how could he have been in the position of Prefect of the Capital for ten years just by acting like a grandson and being a good person?

However, even after filtering through his portrait so thoroughly, Shi Liujie couldn't find the child in it. He began to feel uneasy, and he had a bad feeling.

Lord Shi stayed up all night and couldn't sleep. He even plucked out a few hairs from his beard. With no other choice, he instructed the steward of the manor to prepare gifts as soon as it was light, intending to ask his great-aunt for help.