"What happened to that scholar? What became of him?"
During Su Yan's investigation, no storyteller appeared, which surprised and intrigued her.
"Originally, Lord Wang was going to arrest the storyteller, but unexpectedly the man was suddenly killed and his body was dumped in public. Later, Lord Wang also disappeared."
Wang Ruofu did mention it to Su Yan, that he was investigating the storyteller's death and the investigation led to the Luo family, after which he was imprisoned by Luo Yan.
Su Yan remembered another key figure and continued to ask, "What's that wealthy businessman's name? Where is he now?"
Qiu Xiang shook her head. "I only know that his surname is Qiu, and that he is not from Suizhou but from another place. As for where he is now after Lord Wang disappeared, I really don't know."
Hearing this surname, Su Yan felt it sounded familiar, but she couldn't remember where she had heard it before.
"Miss Qiuxiang, have you seen the wealthy merchant who took your brother away?"
Su Yan thought that if she drew a portrait of the wealthy businessman, at least she could find out who he was.
Qiu Xiang shook her head. "No... On the day my brother left, I only saw the people sent by the county government."
Hearing that government officials were also involved, Su Yan was somewhat surprised. "Are people from the county government involved in this matter?"
Qiu Xiang nodded.
Su Yan seemed to be deep in thought, and muttered to herself, "This doesn't seem to be a simple matter..."
It now appears that the wealthy businessman's identity is not as simple as it seems, and may very well be a facade.
Moreover, the government, the Luo family, and the Dark Moon Pavilion were all involved in this matter, so it was no ordinary little thing.
After thinking it over, the most urgent task is to find out as soon as possible where those people recruited by the wealthy businessmen were taken.
then……
Over the next two days, Su Yan and Shen Yao investigated the villagers who had been taken away by the wealthy businessman, totaling seven hundred people.
In terms of numbers, it was not a small number; it was the size of a cavalry battalion.
Su Yan sat in the courtyard of the thatched house, staring blankly at the roster on the table, unable to figure out what the wealthy merchant wanted to do with these people.
Shen Yao brought a pot of tea to Su Yan's side. Seeing that she looked worried, he sat down.
"Let's not think about these things now, let's think about how to rescue Wang Ruofu first!"
"We should receive a reply from Chang'an soon regarding Wang Sizhi's matter. We'll make a decision after the order arrives."
After saying that, Su Yan sighed deeply.
Shen Yao couldn't help but feel a little worried and asked, "What exactly is troubling you? You look so distressed."
"Sigh..." Su Yan sighed helplessly, feeling frustrated. "It's all because of this roster. The villagers who were taken away are all between twenty and thirty-five years old, and they are all strong and healthy laborers."
Seeing Su Yan frowning, Shen Yao curiously took the roster in front of her and started flipping through it.
He immediately noticed something amiss and quickly realized that something was wrong.
"If the Dark Moon Pavilion wants to build an army, seven hundred people are simply not enough. But if it is used for weapons manufacturing, seven hundred people are more than enough."
After listening to Shen Yao's explanation, Su Yan felt that what he said was not entirely unreasonable.
The Dark Moon Pavilion is a remnant of the old forces left behind by the former crown prince. If they want to restore the Chu Kingdom...
Throughout history, those who have achieved great things have always relied on three essential elements: soldiers, money, and provisions.
Moreover, Su Yan realized something these days: no wonder she felt familiar when she heard the name of the wealthy businessman surnamed 'Qiu'.
In the case of the Yangzhou prefect's embezzlement, one of the most crucial figures suddenly disappeared when the case came to light.
Moreover, along with the disappearance of silver, 200,000 taels of silver embezzled by Zhang Jingzhi also vanished.
Although each case seems unrelated, these clues are connected like a large, tightly linked net.
Zhang Jingzhi must have discovered that a force in Yangzhou was raising money and supplies for the Dark Moon Pavilion, which led to his death.
The seven hundred villagers who disappeared were secretly kept to forge weapons and endure hardship. Moreover, Suizhou was located in a remote area, and Chang'an's influence could not possibly extend to such a distant place.
The risk of exposure has been completely resolved.
Thinking about it this way, everything makes perfect sense.
After hearing Su Yan's guess, Shen Yao frowned deeply. "This matter is indeed of great importance, but we currently have no evidence; it's all just speculation..."
Su Yan shook her head, denying Shen Yao's words. "No... it's not a guess. Prefect Li has already left us evidence."
Shen Yao looked somewhat surprised. "What evidence?"
"Do you remember the relief painting we saw at Magistrate Li's house?"
Shen Yao nodded. "Of course I remember. You said that the story in the painting tells a long-standing love legend of the Qiang people."
Su Yan smiled, then suddenly became mysterious, "In my opinion, it wasn't a love story."
Shen Yao was completely confused and looked at Su Yan with a bewildered expression.
Su Yan turned around and called Li Changyan's name into the room.
"Changyan, Changyan...come out quickly."
As soon as she finished speaking, Li Changyan, who was reading a book inside the room, came out.
"Lord Su, what's wrong? Did you call me for something...?"
Su Yan walked over to Li Changyan, squatted down, and asked, "Changyan, do you remember when your father started carving that relief on the wall?"
Li Changyan nodded, "Of course I remember, my father even taught me how to carve."
When was it?
Seeing Su Yan's extremely serious expression, Li Changyan felt a little scared. "It was three months ago, after the Flower Festival, that my father started carving that relief on the wall."
Su Yan recalled in her mind that the Flower Festival was on the fifteenth of March, and at that time her senior sister had already been imprisoned by Luo Yan.
Upon hearing Li Changyan's answer, Shen Yao instantly understood Su Yan's thoughts.
Li Qingming died at the end of March, meaning that from that time onwards.
Li Qingming knew his death was imminent, which is why he deliberately left that relief painting on the wall.
"But the story depicted in that painting is ordinary and nothing special."
But Shen Yao was puzzled as to why Li Qingming would leave behind such a relief painting.
The love story between Tianchi and the Qiang woman is truly touching, and through word of mouth among the Qiang people, it has become a well-known tale in Suizhou.
Su Yan rejected Shen Yao's idea without hesitation, "It's precisely because it's so common that Prefect Li dared to blatantly carve it on the wall."
"But what does that mean..."
“Shen Yao, haven’t you noticed yet? This story keeps talking about the same place.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Shen Yao suddenly realized what was going on.
In the story, Tianchi is a spirit born of nature, which, according to the Liang Dynasty, would be considered a mountain god.
Within the territory of Suizhou, there is a place called 'Tianchi'.
"You mean seven hundred villagers were settled at Tianchi?"
Su Yan nodded. "That's right. Tianchi is a forbidden area for the Qiang people, and they can't get close to it, but the Liang people might be able to."
This is why none of the Qiang people were among the villagers taken away by the wealthy merchant.
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