Chapter 68 Her son has a secret

In the study of the Qin residence.

"My lord, we've found out. The manager of 'Jin Fengyu' is surnamed Zhao. His ancestral home is Guiyang in Sizhou, and he currently lives in Qingxiang in the east of the city. He came to Bai Ri City to make a living ten years ago. According to the neighbors, Zhao's wife took their young child back to her parents' home to visit relatives ten days ago, and they haven't returned yet."

Inside the study, the generals, who had already learned of Dai Li's disappearance, all gasped in unison.

"Ten years ago?"

"His wife left first, and he arrived later; now the house is empty!"

"What kind of evil spirit is causing this? Could it be the remnants of the Yanzhou army seeking revenge for that scoundrel Fan Tianshi?"

"Impossible. Seeking revenge on a woman is not the act of a true man. Besides, the two maids who served Madam Dai are still alive, but Madam Dai herself is nowhere to be found. If one wanted revenge, wouldn't it be easier to just kill her? Why take her with him?"

"Could it be Qingzhou?"

Qin Shaozong then said, "I tested Nangong Xiong before, and his reaction seemed to indicate that he was unaware of the situation."

Everyone fell silent.

They never questioned the Lord's accurate judgment of people. Back when the Lord had taken complete control of the Northern Army, not a single spy he had uncovered had ever been harmed by mistake.

"My lord, the brothers who investigated the city gate guards have returned." After hearing the summary, Bai Jianping stepped inside: "At the beginning of the hour of Wei (1-3 PM), among the four city gates of the east, west, south, and north, only the west gate did not have any donkey carts leaving the city."

Qiao Wangfei's brow twitched. "If we only eliminate one, we're left with the three directions of east, south, and north. That's too broad a range. This information isn't very useful!"

Feng Feng turned to look at the sheepskin map beside him, stroking his chin. “Not necessarily. To the east of Bai Ri City is Bai Ri Pass, and further east is Qi Jiang County, which we captured earlier. To the south is Chi Jiao Peak. Those who leave through the south gate will definitely go to Lu Chuan County, which is right next to the southwest side of Chi Jiao Peak, since this is the only inhabited area south of Bai Ri City. Beyond that is the north. Bai Ri City is bordered by the Jin River to the north, with a ferry crossing where you can take a boat to either the east or the west.”

"In my opinion, heading north to Jinshui is the most likely option, followed by heading south, and then east. After all, the east is already the territory of the Lord," Feng Feng concluded.

Mo Yanyun recalled an incident from the past, "Last time, Madam Dai went to Taiping County by boat. Could she also travel by water this time? Although there are villains causing trouble, the destination is the same no matter what. In terms of convenience, the waterway is much more convenient than the land route, and it is less likely to be intercepted."

Qiao Wangfei hesitated and said, "What you said makes sense, but what if the other side wants to do the opposite? What if they guess what we're thinking and deliberately head east?"

The room fell silent immediately after he said that.

“That merchant Zhao came here ten years ago. This spy is buried deep enough. How do we know there aren’t spy spies in other places?” Qiao Wangfei said in a low voice.

Another group of guards came to report.

"My lord, we have thoroughly checked all the inns in the prefecture, and no women of unknown identity have checked in today."

"My lord, the owner of that tea house in the east of the city does indeed know Zhao Shangjia, but he claims that they are just acquaintances and don't have a deep relationship. He said that about half a month ago, Zhao Shangjia took the initiative to come to his door and offered to promote his tea house. Naturally, the tea house owner did not refuse such a benefit offered to him. At that time, the owner asked Zhao Shangjia what his conditions were, and the latter only said that he would tell him later, but there has been no follow-up to this day."

"My lord, we've found the old man who sells melons. He said that at noon a dark-skinned, ordinary-looking man suddenly came and bought all his melons, so the old man packed up his stall and went home early."

"Noon?"

Hu Bao murmured, "At that time, the lady's carriage had not yet arrived at 'Jin Fengyu'. It was just past that old man's melon stall."

The guard continued his report: "I visited other melon vendors in the city. Some said a young woman bought all his melons, while others said the buyer was a man. There were conflicting accounts, but one thing was the same: all the vendors said their buyers requested delivery to their door."

"Delivery to your door? Does that mean you have an address? Who owns that house?" Qiao Wangfei asked hurriedly.

The guard looked at Qin Shaozong behind the long table, his tone becoming more cautious. "My lord, that house is empty. It was put up for sale half a year ago and is still unclaimed. The melon merchant was able to enter because someone bribed the broker and borrowed the key from him to open the door. And the person who bribed the broker left Bai Ri City a few days ago."

The study fell silent again, everyone frowning in worry.

The house was borrowed; the people living there have already run away.

The trail went cold again.

Mo Yanyun was puzzled, "Isn't their target Madam Dai? Why would they go to such lengths to collect all the melons in the city?"

“Time.” Qin Shaozong held a tiger-shaped pen rest in his hand, his long fingers gently stroking the tiger’s back. “They want to obscure Hu Bao’s perception of time.”

Hu Bao remained at the top of the stairs, unable to see the sky outside. Based on his initial understanding of the old melon seller's location, he figured this trip would take at most half an hour.

The soldiers hadn't returned yet, and Hu Bao could only conclude that he had misjudged the situation. After all, besides the old melon vendor, it wasn't impossible to buy melons a little further on.

After Bai Ri City was captured and its defenses were replaced, Hu Bao subconsciously believed that nothing would happen in the city.

Hu Bao lowered his head in shame: "My lord, I have failed in my duties. Please punish me."

Qin Shaozong remained silent.

He couldn't care less about punishment; his top priority was finding her...

“They’ve kidnapped her, so they’ll definitely arrange for a carriage. It will take two days and one night to travel from here to Luchuan County by carriage.” Qin Shaozong pointed to the people, “Qiao Wangfei, you take a team and set off south to Luchuan County immediately. Check all the caravans you encounter along the way. Once you arrive in Luchuan County, send people to guard the four city gates and strictly check all the carriages entering the city.”

Luchuan County belongs to Yanzhou. Now that Fan Tianshi has been executed, his influence can be directly extended there.

Qiao Wangfei bowed and accepted the order, "Yes, sir!"

Qin Shaozong looked at Feng Feng and said, "Feng Feng, you will lead your men through Bai Ri Pass to Qijiang County. Whatever happens to Qiao Wangfei, you will do the same."

After a pause, Qin Shaozong remembered something, "I remember there's a dilapidated temple to the west of Qijiang County, don't forget about that one too."

Feng Feng accepted the order.

Qin Shaozong then appointed Mo Yanyun and ordered him to lead troops to the west.

Yes, they will continue searching to the west, and even if no donkey carts pass through the west gate at the beginning of the 11 PM, they will not miss this area.

Mo Yanyun received the order and left with the other two.

After dealing with the three directions—east, west, and south—Qin Shaozong assigned the remaining two Xuanxiao cavalry commanders: "Bai Jianping and Wei Qing, each of you will lead a team to the Jin River. Bai Jianping will go west, and Wei Qing will go east along the river. Leave a group of men at each ferry crossing to inspect the goods there, and also keep an eye out for women who resemble the Lady. Don't let them get away with it on the river either; stop boats randomly, and arrest anyone who refuses to be inspected."

The two accepted the order and left.

Qin Shaozong, Hu Bao, and Nalan Zhi remained in the study.

Nalan Zhi then spoke up: "To replace Lady Dai without anyone noticing would require an extraordinary amount of manpower and resources. My lord, the person behind this is capable of setting up such a scheme, and their power is considerable. If it was not done by Qingzhou or Yanzhou, I have a guess in my mind."

Qin Shaozong: "Even if you have no merit, it is fine to speak."

Nalan Zhi said solemnly, "My lord, regarding the previous miracle and nursery rhyme, it's possible that Yanzhou wasn't the only one involved. Consider why we initially headed south."

Qin Shaozong was slightly taken aback.

He knew from the beginning that there was something fishy about the miracle. Whoever benefited was most likely the mastermind, and since the miracle and the nursery rhyme occurred before the war, he naturally felt that they were inseparable from Fan Tianshi and were the work of Yanzhou.

With Fan Tianshi's death, the matter was considered closed for him. But now, Nalan Zhi's words have brought up another possibility.

Qin Shaozong lowered his eyes, tapped his fingertips rapidly on the table, and quickly pulled his thoughts back to the present.

Like rewinding a tape, first came the sudden appearance of the miraculous nursery rhyme, then the broken three-way meeting, then his arrival in Guoyun County with his troops, and finally the receipt of Nangong Xiong's invitation.

The letter stated that on the eve of the alliance between Yanzhou and Qingzhou to jointly attack the Qinglian Sect, the alliance was on the verge of collapse due to the death of a military general from Yanzhou…

Qin Shaozong's pupils narrowed. "The Green Lotus Sect?"

Nalan Zhi nodded, his expression grave. “That is exactly what I was guessing. Initially, Yanzhou and Qingzhou formed an alliance, but later their alliance became shaky. My lord, you led your army south to form an alliance with Qingzhou. After you joined, the situation became two against one, and Yanzhou was isolated. Especially since you later shot and killed his eldest son, it is not impossible for Fan Yanzhou to defect.”

After a pause, Nalan Zhi added a final reminder: "My lord, please don't forget that the relationship between Fan Yanzhou and the Qinglian Sect is ambiguous."

The last sentence is not an exaggeration.

After Qin Shaozong became the heir of the Qin family, he immediately began to cultivate his own spies, a practice that has continued for over a decade. These people were later dispersed to various states, becoming his eyes and ears.

These informants had reported that Fan Tianshi frequently visited Huai'an County in recent years, and each time he returned with some beautiful women.

Okay, that's all.

As for whether there were any substantial transactions involved, it was impossible to find out, and Fan Tianshi never went to Huai'an County again in the following years, so the only way to describe it is as "ambiguous relationship".

Qin Shaozong was silent for a moment, "Fifty years ago, the Qinglian Sect vigorously supported the Rebel King's usurpation of the throne. In the end, the Rebel King was defeated, and they were also severely damaged. Perhaps they learned their lesson, because the Qinglian Sect did not reappear in the public eye for the next few decades."

Nalan Zhi nodded, "Indeed, they haven't reached the forefront yet. They lie dormant among the common people, blending into the lowest ranks of society. But my lord, we cannot underestimate the capabilities of the entire ant colony just because ants are small and difficult to see without bowing their heads. Even a thousand-mile dike can be destroyed by ants, let alone other things."

Qin Shaozong rubbed his temples. "It was my oversight."

The Green Lotus Sect was indeed insignificant to him. As a war god guarding the border, he held considerable prestige in the north.

As the saying goes, "What the superiors like, the inferiors will follow even more fervently." Qin Shaozong himself utterly despised Daoists and Buddhists, and seeing this, how could the officials and common people of the north possibly do the opposite? Even if they did worship Buddha or participate in religious practices, it was all done secretly, and they would never openly display their devotion in front of him.

Over time, the Qinglian Sect's presence in the Yuyang area became virtually nonexistent, indistinguishable from that of ants. Qin Shaozong grew accustomed to this and no longer took the Qinglian Sect, which lacked a formal armed force, seriously.

But as Nalan said, the ant that is hard to see without bowing down can sometimes deliver a fatal blow.

"Huai'an County." Qin Shaozong gripped the tiger-shaped pen rest tightly: "Hu Bao, go and convey my military order. Have the Xuanxiao Cavalry prepare tonight and accompany me to Huai'an County tomorrow."

The Qinglian Sect is just a religious sect and does not have the authority to openly conscript soldiers. Even if such a force were to gather troops, it would not be particularly powerful.

One elite Xuanxiao cavalry unit is enough.

Judging from his tone, Nalan Zhi knew that it was something that had to be done.

If you can't persuade them, there's no need to.

Just as Hu Bao was about to bow, he suddenly heard hurried footsteps outside.

A man rushed over: "My lord!"

Before the man arrived, his voice preceded his arrival. Once inside, the man said, "My lord, the informant from Huai'an County just returned with a message saying that on the seventeenth, a large number of carriages were seen leaving Tianhe Prefecture. A day later, not even the gatekeeper could be seen in front of the prefecture. The informant scaled the wall and entered the prefecture, only to find it completely empty."

Tianhe Prefecture is the only known location that clearly belongs to the Qinglian Sect. Judging from its scale, it could even be said that Tianhe Prefecture is the core of the Qinglian Sect in Huai'an County.

The "seventeenth" mentioned by the guard was the third day after Qin Shaozong's successful surprise attack on the Yanzhou army camp.

"They ran away?!"

*

Qin Yanzhou waited in the main courtyard.

Knowing that his mother had gone out for a stroll at noon and might have dinner out, Qin Yanzhou started eating after the usual dinner time had passed and seeing that Dai Li had not yet returned.

After he finished his meal, only a faint halo remained in the sky, suggesting that it would be completely dark soon.

As darkness falls and curfews are imposed, pedestrians return home, shops close, and there is nowhere left to stroll in the city.

Qin Yanzhou looked at the cave entrance, which was quiet and deserted, as if no one was about to return.

The young man got up from his seat, intending to go outside to look for the person alone, when he heard footsteps.

The person who came walked hurriedly and heavily, not at all like a young woman.

Qin Yanzhou's eyes, which had just been rippled with emotion, returned to calm.

The visitor was indeed a man. The guards stopped in front of the cave entrance when they saw him in the courtyard: "Young master, the lord requests your presence in the study."

"I have business to attend to at the residence," Qin Yanzhou simply said.

The guard understood his subtext and could only say, "This matter concerns Lady Dai, who has not yet returned to the manor."

Qin Yanzhou's expression changed slightly. He stopped talking to him and went to his study instead.

Whether it was Guoyun County, Qijiang County, or now Bairi City, Qin Yanzhou had never stepped into the study belonging to the core of power before; this was the first time.

As soon as he entered, he saw a mess everywhere.

Many things were scattered around the long table, including scrolls of bamboo books, wax seals, and wolf-hair brushes, which looked as if the owner had recently lost his temper and taken his anger out on innocent objects.

No one or anything in this mansion, except his mother, could stir his emotions. But at this moment, looking at the clutter scattered on the ground, Qin Yanzhou's brow twitched inexplicably.

The man behind the long desk had a gloomy face, and the atmosphere around him was frighteningly low.

Qin Yanzhou looked directly at him and asked, "I wonder why Marquis Wu'an has come to see me?"

"Your mother went out for a stroll today and was secretly kidnapped by villains." Qin Shaozong got straight to the point and then succinctly explained what had happened.

Qin Yanzhou's face, usually expressionless, now cracked like a glacier struck by a tremendous force. Questioning the guards for their negligence was pointless at this point; he roared, "Who did this?!"

“Fan Tianshi has been killed, and the forces in Yanzhou are leaderless. They’re too busy running away to have the energy to plan these things. I’ve also probed Qingzhou, and it shouldn’t be Nangong Xiong’s doing. My personal guess is that it might be the Qinglian Sect.” As he said this, Qin Shaozong stared intently at the young man across the table.

Qin Yanzhou's pupils narrowed slightly, a chill rising from the soles of his feet and exploding in his cerebral cortex, making him sway.

In that instant, many guesses flashed through his mind, but were ultimately replaced by the same decision.

Qin Shaozong's tone was unreadable, "You are her son, and you have the right to know these things, which is why I am telling you. But you don't need to bother with this matter. I have already sent people to search in the four directions. You just wait, so she won't worry if she comes back and doesn't see you."

"As a son, how can I sit idly by while my mother is in trouble?" Qin Yanzhou directly refuted his words, and with only this sentence left, he turned around and left quickly.

Qin Shaozong's face was grim. He shouted at Hu Bao, "Stop him! Don't let him leave the manor!"

Hu Bao accepted the order and immediately gave chase.

The front yard of the study suddenly became lively as the guards, upon receiving orders, joined forces with Hu Bao to besiege Qin Yanzhou alone.

The fighting outside was intense, but the atmosphere inside the study was tense.

Qin Shaozong took a deep breath, as if speaking to himself, and also to Dai Li who wasn't there, "This kid might have someone backing him, we can't let him go back."

Nalan Zhi and Qin Shaozong had known each other for over twenty years. After Hu Bao left, Nalan Zhi asked, "Does the lord think that Yanzhou has someone backing him?"

Qin Shaozong countered, "Don't you think Wugong feels the same way?"

Nalan Zhi fell silent for a moment, which was uncharacteristic of him.

Qin Shaozong said calmly, "Nine years ago, the weather was unfavorable, and there was a plague of insects, resulting in a great famine. The fields yielded no harvest. That boy left his mother ten years ago and only arrived at the Fan family seven years ago. Where was he during those three years? I don't believe that a child who is too weak to fight a chicken and has no relatives or friends could have survived safely."

Of course, that's not all.

Bai Jianping once told him in private that when he fought that kid, he felt that the other party's martial arts were very solid and his movement techniques were quite skillful.

Fan Tianshi adopted orphans as dogs, and although he would hire people to train them, he certainly wouldn't put in much effort. Through natural selection, only the best survived, and the orphans who were valued were the ones who remained.

This means that orphans often need two years, or even longer, to receive truly unreserved instruction, and their basic skills will never be exceptionally solid.

Everyone has their own secrets; she has one, and so does her son.

Before, when she was by his side, it wasn't impossible for him to turn a blind eye to those things.

But that's no longer possible.

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Author's Note: I'm here! [Sprinkling flowers]