This made Li Shimin anxious, and he wanted to trade one for one with me.

"Hahahahaha..."

At the entrance of the Du family's house, Cheng Chuliang suddenly let out a loud, booming laugh.

Lin Lingshi was already furious with Cheng Chumo, and when he heard Cheng Chuliang laughing so loudly, he shouted, "What are you laughing at?"

Cheng Chumo raised an eyebrow and said, "What's wrong with my second brother laughing? Can't he laugh? Are you going to beat him to death?"

"..."

"Hahahahaha!"

Seeing Lin Lingshi's face turn red with anger, yet he couldn't utter a word, Cheng Chuliang's laughter grew even louder.

"Pfft..." In the distance, Ma Zhou couldn't help but laugh out loud at the sight. As expected of Chu Xia's older brother, his ability to annoy people is unparalleled!

"Big brother and second brother must be just as angry with Lao Cheng at home, no wonder they get beaten up every day..." Cheng Jun smiled and then looked at Chang'an Ling.

This magistrate of Chang'an, named Yang Zuan, was around forty years old and tall and thin, like a bamboo pole.

He was of average appearance, but his conduct was remarkable, particularly his smoothness. The fact that he could become the magistrate of Chang'an in the capital, a city teeming with powerful and influential people, speaks volumes about his abilities.

Meanwhile, at the entrance of the Du family's residence, Yang Zuan looked at Cheng Chuliang, who was laughing so hard he was crying, and twitched the corner of his mouth. He then turned to Cheng Chumo and said, "Brother Cheng, this is a serious matter. Don't act recklessly."

"This matter was ordered to be thoroughly investigated by Minister Changsun of the Ministry of Personnel. If you act recklessly like this, even your father cannot protect you."

Seeing that he had spoken up to remind him, Cheng Chumo stopped glaring at Lin Lingshi and looked at Chang'an Ling, saying, "Prefect Yang, what are you going in there for?"

Yang Zuan said directly, "Arrest Du Jingjian."

"Then you shouldn't have come here; you should have gone to the Cheng residence."

Cheng Chumo said, "Du's eldest son invited my third brother to his home as a guest. Our Cheng family cannot be impolite, so we must reciprocate. Du's eldest son and his mother have already been invited to the Cheng residence by me; they are not inside."

Lin Lingshi angrily retorted, "Nonsense! We have people here watching them the whole time, and we haven't seen them come out!"

After saying that, he looked at Yang Zuan and said, "Prefect Yang, you should immediately lead your men in and search the place. You'll definitely find Du Jingjian!"

With one hand behind his back and the other stroking his beard, Yang Zuan pondered, "Cheng Dalang is the son of the Duke of Su. The Duke of Su has shown kindness and righteousness, and Cheng Dalang and Cheng Erlang must feel the same way. How could he lie?"

"Yang Mingfu, you're covering up for someone!"

Yang Zuan raised an eyebrow at the clerk from the Ministry of Personnel who was practically jumping up and down, and said sternly, "Clerk Lin, watch your words! I am the official, and you are the clerk. If you dare to say such things again, I will arrest you and charge you with insubordination!"

Lin Lingshi's expression changed. "I'm not being disrespectful. I'm reminding Magistrate Yang that this is a task assigned by Minister Changsun!"

"Then you should know that this task was assigned to me, and you're instructing me on how to do things?"

Upon seeing Yang Zuan's imposing face, Lin Lingshi panicked and quickly said, "This humble servant dares not!"

Yang Zuan scolded, "Then why are you being so nosy? Since Cheng Dalang has said so, let's go to the Cheng family's house and look for him. If we can't find Du Jingjian, we can come back and search again. What's there to worry about? He's already escaped."

Lin Lingshi countered, "What if Magistrate Yang leads his men to the Cheng residence and fails to find him, and the Cheng family claims that Du Jingjian was taken out of the city or went somewhere to eat? Are we supposed to search every place the Cheng family tells us to go? Wouldn't that just be making a fool of us?"

"Is it true that Magistrate Yang doesn't know such a simple principle, or is he pretending not to know?"

Yang Zuan asked, "Then what do you think should be done?"

Lin Lingshi pointed to the Du family's gate and said, "We can go in and search for evidence first!"

Yang Zuan lowered his hand and snorted coldly, "Ridiculous! We haven't even caught the person, what evidence are you searching for? Besides, this is eight taels of gold. Such a valuable item, if it were me, I would definitely carry it with me! Do you think you can find it just by going in? The most important thing right now is to find Du Jingjian!"

"Prefect Yang truly lives up to his title as Magistrate of Chang'an; what he says makes perfect sense!"

Cheng Chumo bowed admiringly and said, "Go to my house first and arrest him. Once you've caught him, interrogate him and see if he has eight taels of gold on him. If not, search his house. I'll keep watch here and make sure no one can get in or out!"

Lin Lingshi shouted, "No way! What if you help him move the stolen goods?"

Yang Zuan said calmly, "Wouldn't it be enough for me to send someone to keep an eye on things here?"

Cheng Chumo chimed in, "That's right. If something goes wrong, the court can hold my Cheng family accountable. You don't think my Cheng family cares about 50,000 coins, do you?"

Yang Zuan laughed and said, "The Cheng family is so big and powerful, they definitely wouldn't be interested."

Cheng Chumo clasped his hands in a fist and grinned, saying, "Prefect Yang has a discerning eye!"

“Thank you so much.”

Lin Lingshi was speechless with anger as he watched the two of them flattering each other; these two were practically inseparable.

He thought for a moment, then turned and walked into the crowd, whispering a few words to a young man who was also a clerk in the Ministry of Personnel responsible for collecting money.

The young man nodded, immediately turned around, grabbed a horse, mounted it, and headed out of Da'anfang.

Yang Zuan raised an eyebrow as he looked at it.

In the distance, Cheng Jun and Ma Zhou also saw this scene. Ma Zhou whispered, "Brother Chuxia, the other side has sent people. What should we do?"

Cheng Jun watched the man's departing figure and chuckled, "They went to call for help, so we'll do the same. It's like we're some kind of big shot."

"Brother Binwang, I'll keep watch here. Go and call for help!"

Who should I contact?

"Princess Luling".

"it is good!"

Ma Zhou nodded, listened to what he had to say, then went over to untie the reins, mounted his horse, and galloped away.

Soon, he arrived at the residence of Princess Luling.

Ma Zhou knocked on the door and saw the steward of the princess's residence. After explaining his purpose, the steward led him to the main hall.

Not long after, Princess Luling walked in with a serious expression.

"My name is Ma Zhou, a supervising censor of the Censorate. Cheng Jun sent me here."

Ma Zhou immediately recounted the whole story.

Princess Luling listened intently, then slowly nodded and said, "I see. I know what to do. You may return to the Censorate."

Upon hearing her words, Ma Zhou immediately understood that she wanted him to inform the Imperial Censor Wen Yanbo about the matter. He bowed and said, "I take my leave."

After saying that, he left quickly.

"He's a smart guy, no wonder he can hang out with that kid Cheng Jun."

Princess Luling nodded in satisfaction when she saw that he understood her unspoken meaning. She then turned to the steward of the princess's residence, Ma Zhou, who also understood her implication. She realized Cheng Jun's purpose in sending Ma Zhou to see her and said:

"Immediately send people to the homes of all the military officers in the capital to inform them of this matter."

The steward solemnly clasped his hands and said, "Yes, sir!"

"Also, prepare the horses; I will personally go there!"

"promise!"

…………

Second update, more to come later!