Chapter 266: Is everything alright? [Requesting leave]

Bai Su was a local from Heyin, and having also worked as a thief scouting the area, she knew Heyin's situation better than anyone. She knew all the gossip, big and small, about how many wealthy families lived there, how many people were in each family, and whether the relationships within the households were harmonious or not.

If Shen Tang needed it, Bai Su could even tell her the approximate schedule of the guards and servants who changed shifts for patrols in each household...

The level of detail in the content was so impressive that it left listeners in awe.

However, Bai Su didn't think much of it.

What is her profession?

Thief!

A thief who doesn't thoroughly investigate his target before committing a crime risks losing his life if he fails. Bai Su naturally tries every possible method and uses all her skills. To scout the location, she even has multiple aliases, allowing her to easily infiltrate the target's inner quarters.

Of course, Bai Su's ease in this situation is also inseparable from the environment in which women are looked down upon—who would have thought that the seemingly weak and vulnerable woman in their eyes would be a elusive thief? In the public's perception, thieves are mostly young men with sleazy appearances.

Shen Tang listened with great interest.

Bai Su is truly a master storyteller; the gossip she tells about the inner quarters is far more interesting than the infighting among the Allied forces.

For example, there was a big piece of gossip in the Zhang family, a wealthy household in Heyin—Madam Zhang and her husband had been married for many years and had only one son, who was born mentally challenged. At five years old, he still couldn't speak, had a crooked mouth and eyes, and drooled constantly. To protect her reputation, Madam Zhang arranged for her husband to take in over a dozen concubines, but she couldn't conceive a healthy second child. The outside world gossiped, and Madam Zhang, desperate and anxious, took the advice of a wise man and adopted a daughter. It was said that a year later, when the adopted daughter reached the age of fifteen, her wish would surely be fulfilled.

Shen Tang quickly pressed, "And then?"

Bai Su said, "A year later, the lady still hadn't conceived. It's said that she was so angry that she brought her servants and guards, armed with sticks, to the door, demanding an explanation from that master. But the master said that the child had already arrived, and it was just a matter of time before it ripened and fell into place..."

There is a child, but it is not in the wife's womb.

Shen Tang's imagination was boundless; she instantly guessed the pattern.

"Could it be that the adopted daughter and her adoptive father secretly conceived a child?"

Kang Shi frowned and said, "Isn't this against human ethics?"

Although the adoptive father and adoptive daughter were not related by blood, this era valued official status more. Once they were acknowledged and given a formal title, they were no different from biological children. Kang Shi was more inclined to believe that the concubine had a child, but as it turned out, Kang Shi did not understand the "tricks of the trade."

Bai Su revealed the answer: it really was her adopted daughter who had secretly conceived a child.

The lady went back and checked all the concubines, but none of them were pregnant.

She was puzzled when her husband confessed first.

He planned to change his adopted daughter's identity and take her as a concubine.

Shen Tang continued, "Don't say anything yet, let me guess. I suspect that although this adopted daughter has an improper relationship with her adoptive father, the child in her womb may not be his."

Bai Su stared at her in astonishment.

That's really true!

Mrs. Zhang stared in disbelief at her husband's frank confession, utterly unable to accept it! She had intended to keep this adopted daughter, whom she had taken a liking to, as the wife of her mentally challenged son, only to have her husband steal the prize! Adding to the commotion, the adopted daughter was crying and begging for her blessing, causing her blood pressure to spike. She berated the two of them for being shameless!

As a result, her outburst escalated the situation.

Bai Su was surprised: "How does Lord Shen know so much?"

She managed to find out about these scandals through various means.

Very few people outside the area know about it.

After all, whether it's the adoptive father and daughter violating human ethics or the adopted daughter having an affair while still a young girl and then framing the adoptive father for the child... once this gets out, will the women in this family still be able to find husbands?

These things can be done secretly right there in the ancestral hall.

The findings shocked many onlookers.

"It's obvious. That man and his wife have only one mentally challenged son after all these years, and none of their dozen or so concubines have gotten pregnant. The problem is most likely with the man. And then his adopted daughter happens to have an affair with him and becomes pregnant. He's almost certainly being cuckolded..."

Shen Tang paused, then a sudden thought flashed through her mind, and she asked, "Who is the master who is the father of the child in my adopted daughter's womb?"

Bai Su's eyes lit up: "You could have guessed that?"

Shen Tang waved his hand: "This is all the same old trick."

At first glance, it seemed like a beastly adoptive father was harming his adopted daughter. But upon closer investigation, it turned out to be a scheme orchestrated by the mastermind and the adopted daughter to change the household registration of their biological child.

Since it's so melodramatic, let's take it all the way.

Shen Tang continued to let her imagination run wild: "This master and his adopted daughter are both ordinary people. Where did they get the audacity to play such a big game? Could there be some hidden agenda behind it? For example, perhaps a distant relative or an illegitimate son dislikes them and wants to seize their family fortune through such means? Or perhaps the master and his adopted daughter are also victims, resorting to this desperate measure to seek revenge? This kind of story is only interesting when it keeps twisting and turning like a nested doll."

Bai Su was completely convinced by Shen Tang's words.

Looking at Shen Tang with admiration: "Almost all of them are correct."

The expert and his adopted daughter were truly two unlucky victims.

The fertile land belonging to the wealthy family was swindled away at a low price by the adoptive father through despicable means, leading to the starvation of some family members and the suicide of the surviving members out of guilt. The adopted daughter also carried the burden of blood feud; her biological father was killed when his cart was run over by the adoptive father while he was selling goods at the market. With the pillar of the family gone, her biological mother went to the adoptive father's house to demand an explanation but was beaten to death by the family's servants and guards.

The two overheard each other's blood feud and immediately hit it off.

But as Shen Tang said, these two are just ordinary people. Without anyone's help, they couldn't even pretend to be experts to gain the trust of Madam Zhang, who was eager to have a child, let alone the subsequent cuckolding and scandal.

The person who helped them was indeed a collateral descendant of the Zhang family.

Shen Tang just made that guess casually.

I never expected it to be brothers turning against each other.

Bai Su could talk non-stop for a whole day and night about these kinds of bizarre and daring battles, ensuring that each story has a different plot.

As Shen Tang listened, he mentally drew a diagram of the relationships between the various families.

It's a tangled mess, impossible to unravel.

Bai Su continued, "I have heard the saying, 'Brothers may quarrel within the walls, but unite to avenge themselves.' Although their internal strife is fierce, if Lord Shen is to take over the position of River Governor, they will inevitably unite. Lord Shen is short-handed, so breaking this deadlock will not be easy..."

Every family has kinship ties.

As the saying goes, even if you break a bone, the tendons still connect it.

When the situation was still stable, the River Governor was under the jurisdiction of the Xin Kingdom. Officials sent down to the region either encountered wild beasts or bandits on the way, or died in various accidents within two years of taking office. The only one who served a long term was a puppet who did absolutely nothing.

Bai Su was worried that Shen Tang would be surrounded and killed as soon as she arrived.

She noticed that the majority of the group consisted of the elderly, women, and children.

Only a little over a thousand elite young men remained.

In the past, they just delivered vegetables.

Even she, a thief, understood this principle.

Shen Tang smiled and said, "I already have a solution to the manpower problem, and breaking the deadlock is not impossible. Lady Bai has given me an idea."

Bai Su asked in surprise, "This servant?"

Shen Tang said, "You're saying that the Zhang family's adopted daughter and that expert were both forcibly poisoned and their bodies dumped in the wilderness at the Zhang family ancestral hall?"

Bai Su asked in confusion, "Is there something wrong with this?"

Shen Tang smiled without saying a word.

Kang Shi said, "There are many things wrong. Xin State was destroyed, and the River Governor was taken over by Geng State long ago. They must have sent people there as well. The case should be handled according to the laws of Geng State. However, Zhang used private torture to silence witnesses in the ancestral hall to cover up the scandal. This is lawless."

Bai Su smiled bitterly, "If they were afraid of this, they wouldn't have been able to run rampant in Heyin for so many years... Sigh, it's useless."

Shen Tang laughed and asked, "How could it be useless? Do they dare to say that they have never committed a wrongful conviction or miscarriage of justice in their law enforcement work?"

Bai Su was puzzled.

How could there not be wrongful convictions?

How many people have been murdered by He Yin?

Lin Feng listened from the side, completely confused.

She looked at her teacher, Chu Yao, as if pleading for help.

Chu Yao said, "Who can guarantee that among these wrongful convictions, there aren't any blood relatives that Wu Lang is desperately searching for, right?"

His own "blood relatives" were killed by them through their abuse of power in Heyin. Is it okay for Shen Tang to come and cause trouble?

When someone resists during a fight, the victim accidentally kills a few of the resisting thugs. Is that okay?

It's a matter of course!

There's a reason for this!

To fail to avenge the tragic death of one's relatives is utterly inhuman!

When seeking revenge, Shen Tang discovers that someone is indiscriminately killing innocent people, disregarding the laws of Geng Kingdom, and disrespecting the king and commander Zheng Qiao. So Shen Tang takes action, launching swift and decisive attacks on each household to find evidence. Is that alright?

It's okay to "accidentally" find "evidence of treason," right?

If they don't submit, you can kill them, that's fine, right?

So, what other questions could there be?

As soon as he finished speaking, Qi Shan and the others burst into laughter.

Bai Su: "???"

Shen Tang also smiled and said, "Yes, yes, I suddenly remembered that there is indeed an elder sister who is within five degrees of kinship and went to live with a relative of the River Governor... In this chaotic world, I hope she is alright right now..."

Bai Su: "???"

_(:3」∠)_

I'm still 1,500 words short... I can't keep going.

My head suddenly started throbbing badly today, a dull, persistent ache. I don't know why. I video-chatted with my mom, and she asked why my face looked so pale. I just couldn't take it anymore. I managed to finish scrambling, and now I'm going to sleep. I still have to prepare tomorrow and the day after…

PS: What a bad day! My phone broke... I was hoping to use this Mate 30 Pro until Huawei's triumphant return... ε=(ο｀*))) Sigh.

(End of this chapter)