Feng Yu glanced at Shen Qingru lying on the ground.
Her face was pale and her brows were furrowed. She had been knocked unconscious.
He retracted his gaze and quickly walked to Zhou Jing'an, looking him up and down. Suddenly, he noticed the red sleeve on his left arm and asked with concern, "How did you get hurt?"
Zhou Jing'an glanced at his left arm and said, "It's okay. I know my limits."
As soon as he said this, Feng Yu knew that he must have been injured on purpose in order to lure out the traitor. He frowned in dissatisfaction: "That's not necessary. Our plan is interconnected. We are luring the enemy deep into our territory. We are not afraid that they won't take the bait."
Standing besides Jiang Lianshan were Zhou Huaixin and two other ministers.
Zhou Huaixin glanced at Zhou Jing'an's left arm and said nothing.
Feng Yu asked someone to invite the imperial physician to treat Zhou Jing'an, and everyone was relieved at Zhou Jing'an's return.
"Now that you've returned safely, we can wrap this up." Feng Yuyang smiled, feeling quite proud.
Zhou Jing'an remembered that it was Jiang Ling who bandaged his wound with the cloth strips torn from her clothes. Fearing suspicion, he stood up and hid from the hands of the imperial physician who came to dismantle the wound, saying that he would go back to wash and bandage it.
He didn't give Feng Yu a chance to refute and changed the subject, "Your Majesty, Xiang Feng is waiting outside. He has returned from Tongzhou."
While speaking, he glanced at Jiang Lianshan's face calmly. He looked normal, without any anxiety or panic. It seemed that Jiang Ling should have returned safely, and he felt relieved.
Feng Yu glanced at him, although he was dissatisfied, but the imperial physician said that his injury was not serious, so he let him go and called Xiang Feng in.
Xiang Feng is a secret guard who has followed Feng Yu since childhood.
When Feng Yu ascended the throne, he personally built a secret guard team belonging to him, named "Dark Front", and Xiang Feng was the leader of this team.
Everyone in this team only obeys Feng Yu.
When Feng Gan led his generals to fight at the border, Feng Yu was still the crown prince, and the situation in the court was as volatile as a battlefield. For the safety of him and his close associates, and to protect loyal officials, he established a secret front.
Zhou Jing'an was also in this team.
He hid during the day and came out at night, helping Feng Yu eliminate villains and consolidate his power. His martial arts also improved rapidly during that period.
As soon as Feng Yu finished speaking, a man walked in from outside. He was wearing night clothes, tall and mighty, with cold eyebrows and eyes, and a scar on his neck. He walked quickly and silently and knelt to salute.
"Xiang Feng pays respects to the Emperor."
Feng Yu hurriedly asked him to get up and asked, "Have you found out anything about the Shen family?"
Xiang Feng nodded and explained them one by one.
"I was ordered to go to Tongzhou, where the Shen family lost their daughter. After traveling to many places and investigating for many days, I finally found a few clues."
He found out that Shen Gu and his wife were traveling with their daughter at that time. It was a temple fair and the streets were very busy. In addition, Tongzhou itself was an important transportation hub with a large number of people coming and going. As soon as Mrs. Shen turned around, Shen Qingru disappeared.
"At that time, Shen Gu and his wife reported the matter to the authorities, but there were too many people at the temple fair, and there were also many merchants from other places, so they had no way to investigate and the case was left unresolved. And she -" Xiang Feng pointed at "Shen Qingru" lying on the ground.
"She was found five years later. I found the woman who reported to the government that year. She said she saw a little girl begging at her doorstep. Her features resembled the missing person notice on the wall. I checked her birthmark and it matched. I reported her to the government, received the reward, and never saw her again."
Xiang Feng continued, "I checked and found that she was not among the beggars in Tongzhou back then. She appeared out of thin air."
It is difficult for beggars to survive, most of them join groups, so it is obvious when a new person comes.
He investigated the whereabouts and origins of both the Shen family's daughter and this woman, and ultimately came to the conclusion that "the Shen family's daughter was trafficked to Ezhou, and she—also came from Ezhou."
"I have been investigating for nearly a month and can confirm that this woman is definitely not from the Shen family. However, one was trafficked to Linjiang County, Ezhou, and the other went from Linjiang County, Ezhou to Tongzhou to seek kinship."
The more they listened, the more silent they became.
What is going on?
They are clearly both from Ezhou, but they are not the same person?
Feng Yu also frowned and asked him, "Is the ringleader of the child trafficking in Ezhou?"
"Yes, it's in Linjiang County." Xiang Feng said in a deep voice: "I can only find a woman named Lin Cuiman. She has many children of unknown origin under her care, and her cousin-in-law is a member of the imperial court."
"Who is it?"
The night wind was howling, making the tent rustle. The tent was very quiet for a while, with only the occasional sound of burning candles.
Xiang Feng's voice was cold, "The coroner of the Dali Temple—Li Qi."
-
The second day was a sunny day with clear autumn air and gentle breeze. The team continued its march, striving to reach the capital before lunch.
Jiang Ling leaned on the bed in the carriage, leisurely eating chestnut cake, but his brows were furrowed in thought.
When they heard that Shen Qingru had not been found yet, Shen Gu and his wife went crazy. They secretly sent many more people and even posted a reward notice, offering a reward of 1,000 taels of silver.
Jiang Ling tutted twice, pretending to be a scoundrel, and jokingly said, "How about asking Xiao Jia and Xiao Yi to go look for it too? If they find it, I only want 500 taels, and the rest is yours."
Speak of Cao Cao and he will appear. As soon as Xiaojia was mentioned, he appeared.
Xiaojia knelt on the outside of the carriage, clasped his fists and nodded: "Miss, Ye Song sent a note."
Ye Song?
The guard beside Zhou Jing'an?
Jiang Ling raised her eyebrows, sat up slightly, and thought to herself, could it be that Zhou Jingan is back?
"Bring it in so I can see it."
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