Chapter 160 Ying'er has always been smart, she must have left clues
Liu Xianling and Yuan Song were both startled, and their eyes looking at Du Heng became more serious.
"Wei Liang has been hiding his identity for many years. If he didn't have a legitimate identity, he wouldn't be able to show up so ostentatiously. Lord Liu previously only investigated the Lin family and Linjia Village. I assume that since they have someone in the Yongjia government office, the identity Wei Liang borrowed must also be in Yongjia."
Liu Xianling was not a novice in officialdom. As soon as he heard Du Heng's quotation, he understood the unspoken meaning.
The "urgent measures" mentioned earlier were merely unfounded stopgap measures. If we can find the person, that would be great. But if we can't find him, we must be wary of Wei Liang's desperate actions, which would be detrimental to both the Rong family and Su Ying. This is the deeper meaning behind Du Heng's emphasis on secretly monitoring the Lin family's movements.
What really matters is the evidence.
As long as they can prove that Wei Liang or Lin's identities are fake, the authorities will have a valid reason to arrest them. By then, they can use the situation to exert pressure and force the whereabouts of Rong and Su Ying to be revealed.
As for how to proceed, should he arrest the chief clerk immediately, or hold off for now and secretly check the household registrations of all those named "Wei Liang" in Yongjia County? These were matters that Lord Liu, as the magistrate of Yongjia County, should decide. Du Heng naturally could not interfere, which was why he had just stopped talking.
They were all smart people. They understood the priorities in just a few words and then the three of them immediately went their separate ways.
Liu Xianling returned to Yongjia to investigate the evidence of household registration fraud, Yuan Song used his connections to ask for help from the Yueqing government office, and Du Heng took the servants from the academy and went straight to Su's house to keep an eye on him.
......
However, no matter how careful the plan is, it cannot be foolproof.
He had calculated everything, but he had overlooked one thing: Wei Liang was neither in his own house nor in the Su family mansion.
After he and Lin had made love, he did not stay overnight at the Su Mansion. Instead, he quietly left in the dead of night and went to Honghua's residence.
Even though Honghua had tactfully withdrawn early after the Lin family's outburst, Wei Liang knew she might still harbor resentment. Even though he and Honghua were just flirting, they had worked together for years and had already developed a close working relationship.
He just learned not long ago that a colleague had secretly contacted Honghua, but was rejected by her.
Such friendship is naturally rare. If he doesn't appease her early, Honghua will become disloyal and the overall situation will be ruined.
So, after comforting Lin, he decided to meet Honghua at night.
As soon as he left, Du Heng arrived and the two of them just passed each other.
Naturally, Yuan Song must have come up empty-handed. He brought the yamen runners and kicked open the door of Wei Liang's private residence without saying a word, but found that there was only an old man guarding the door and a maid doing rough work in the house, and there was no living creature at all.
The two old slaves trembled as they looked at the posture of Yuan Song and the yamen runners. Before Yuan Song could ask any further questions, the two of them told him everything they could and could not say.
They knew very little, only that today, four women and a servant had been abducted by Hongniangzi and brought in. Then, because the mistress was making a scene, one of the thugs told them to "stop looking," and they all left. By the time the thugs knocked on the door and told them to guard the house, the masters had already left, along with the abducted man.
"Yuan Song, what are you going to do?"
Yuan Song was furious and brought his men to the Su residence again, intending to go all out. Du Heng, who was hiding in the dark, saw this and immediately rushed forward, grabbed Yuan Song's arm, and whispered to stop him.
Yuan Song's eyes turned red with anxiety. He grabbed Du Heng with his backhand and said, "Look at the sky. It's past midnight and the house is empty! Even if Ying'er is fine, something bad will happen!"
Du Heng naturally knew what Yuan Song meant. He forced himself to suppress the turmoil in his chest, listened calmly to Yuan Song's attendant's report, and lowered his voice, saying, "Since Wei Liang and Lin are in the Su Mansion, it proves that Ying'er and the others are safe for the time being. However, now is not the time to break into the Su Mansion and arrest them. You have used public property for personal gain and broke into Wei Liang's private residence. Use this method once only, and never use it a second time, otherwise you will embarrass the government and the Yuan family!"
How could Yuan Song not understand what Du Heng said, but when he thought of Ying'er, he couldn't control his wild thoughts.
The two of them used their arm strength to clamp each other, one trying to break through and the other trying to block.
Seeing that the situation was about to stalemate, Du Heng took the next step and said, "If you want to enter the Su Mansion to arrest someone, you must have evidence. Since those two old servants also said that they did see several women being kidnapped, why don't you let me go to that house."
"Ying'er has always been smart, she won't just sit there and wait for death. I believe that as long as there is a chance, she will definitely leave some clues. As long as you find them, they will be evidence, and it won't be too late for you to go in and arrest her!"
Du Heng's words made sense, but Yuan Song didn't dare delay any longer. After some thought, he stared into Du Heng's eyes and said hatefully, "I'll only wait for you for one hour. If you return empty-handed after one hour, I'll immediately go to the Su Mansion and arrest you!"
"It's a deal! However,"
Du Heng changed the subject and said, "If I can't find any clues within an hour, I will return immediately. However, you can no longer lead the charge in this matter of entering the palace to arrest people. I have the marriage granted by the emperor. If anything goes wrong, I have the marriage certificate as proof and can report it to the emperor."
At this point, his tone paused, his eyes darkened, and he said, "Ying'er wouldn't want you to get into trouble because of her."
Du Heng felt his arm loosen. Without turning back, he simply told Yuan Song's attendants to keep an eye on him, then asked someone to lead the way, heading straight for Wei Liang's private residence.
He knew that what Yuan Song needed at this moment was a moment of solitude.
......
The two old servants from Wei Liang's house had long been tied up and thrown into jail by Yuan Song in a rage. At this moment, the house was empty. Du Heng ordered torches to be lit and stood alone in the courtyard, facing the several rooms in front of him, thinking seriously.
He promised Yuan Song that he would return within an hour, but he was more anxious than anyone else. He only had four people around him, including Qingquan. Searching every room would take too long; he had to find the one most likely holding Ying'er and the others.
According to the recollections of the servants of the academy, Ying'er and the others left in a hurry, and only Qingyun drove the carriage with everyone.
Qingyun was the only man, so to avoid chaos, those people would definitely separate him from Ying'er and the others, kidnap him hastily, and throw him into the farthest woodshed, leaving him there where no one could help him. This was the simplest and easiest way.
Once Qingyun is tied up, noises will definitely be heard inside the car, so it would be most appropriate to capture Ying'er and the others and lock them up in the side rooms of the house.
Thinking of this, Du Heng said in a deep voice: "Qingquan, take one person with you and go to the largest guest room with me. The rest of you will each take a room and search it carefully!"
Qingquan agreed and asked one person to go with him, while the other two searched separately as instructed.
After entering the room, Qingquan took out a few candlesticks from somewhere and quickly lit them up, and the room was suddenly brightly lit.
The three of them started from three corners of the room and gradually advanced inward, moving slowly step by step, searching every inch, afraid of missing anything.
Finally, at the edge of a cabinet, Du Heng's footsteps faltered, as if he had stepped on something. He immediately took a step back and leaned over to take a closer look.
He saw a familiar blue-gray tasseled balloon pendant half-hidden at the foot of the cabinet. He bent down to pick it up, then took off the crimson-pink one from his waist.
A green bamboo and a pink lotus, in pairs.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
