Chapter 294 Cooperation in Searching for Someone
"Missing? Did he flee for fear of punishment?" Xu Junling was surprised.
"It's not that simple. Before and after his disappearance, the mining tax supervisor who submitted a letter of accusation to the Censorate, exposing and accusing him, also disappeared." Zhao Duan's eyes were deep.
Taicang Silver Mine is not just a mine, it also has a supporting smelting furnace plant.
It is commonly known as the "Gold and Silver Factory".
The government office in charge of this area is the "Mining Tax Administration Office".
The person who submitted the "report materials" to the capital was an eighth-rank official of the Tizhusi, whose surname was Song and who was also an important witness in this case.
After reading the letter of complaint, the empress immediately gave orders to the officials of Linfengdao.
Demand the arrest of Taicang County Magistrate and the protection of Song Tiju.
As a result, it was too late.
"Both of them are missing?"
Xu Junling was more and more surprised:
"Could it be that after Song Tiju sent the letter, his accusation was accidentally leaked, and Wang Chusheng, the Taicang County Magistrate, learned of it and silenced him? Then he fled out of fear of punishment? Or perhaps he kidnapped the person?"
This is the most reasonable guess.
"It's a possibility,"
Zhao Duan crossed his legs, half lying and half leaning on the chair.
Because of a habit left over from my previous life as a student, I fiddled with the pen gently in my hand while thinking:
"The answer given by these local officials is exactly what you guessed."
In the dim and quiet inn room, Xu Junling's eyes were bright and black, and he felt excited to participate in solving the case and act as a detective.
She crossed her arms over her chest, gently supporting her chin with her small hands, and gave him advice:
"So, the clues are gone, right? The suspect is gone, and the informant is gone too. So, next, shouldn't we find a way to find traces of the criminal's escape and try to capture him?"
She was a little excited.
As the daughter of a prince, she lives a life of luxury and lacks experience in investigating crimes.
It feels like playing a mystery-solving and murder-themed script...
She rolled her eyes and suddenly said:
"Now those cavalry you mobilized are useless. Otherwise, you can beg me. My Huai'an Prefecture's merchant fleet is spread all over the place. If Wang Chusheng is afraid of the crime and absconds, he will probably take the sea route. This princess still has some..."
Zhao Duan glanced at the girl with a half-smile and said:
“Why are you in such a hurry to arrest people?
Who said that it is impossible to investigate if the person is gone?
Have you forgotten what I told you before? His Majesty never cared about a mere seventh-rank county magistrate, but rather whether he had a bigger backer behind him.
...Xu Junling stiffened his neck and said stubbornly:
"Doesn't that make it even more important to arrest them? If we don't arrest them, how will we know who it is..."
Zhao Duan said slowly, stroking the stray hairs on the tip of the brush with his fingers,
"In the letter of accusation submitted to the capital, Song Tiju mentioned that in order to prevent any accidents, he made a backup of the evidence in his possession and entrusted it to a relative's home.
In other words, I just need to get the evidence, and I don't necessarily need to arrest anyone."
Gah——
The princess' words got stuck in her throat and her eyes widened slightly.
Is this possible?
She suddenly became excited: "Then let's go get it quickly, what are we waiting for?"
"Yawn~"
Zhao Duan suddenly covered his mouth with his hands and said with a smile:
"It's late now. I've been traveling all day. It's time for this imperial envoy to go to bed. I'll come back tomorrow. I'll lend you my room for the night. However, since men and women shouldn't touch each other, please leave my room, my lady."
“…” Xu Junling silently prayed not to be angry, then stood up and left.
Zhao Duan's power is limited and he needs the help of the princess.
On the contrary, she was also very concerned about this case, and the two hit it off and reached a temporary cooperation.
…
…
No words were spoken that night.
The next morning, when the "fake imperial envoy" was still in the post station, following Zhao Du'an's orders, he was arguing with local officials and delaying time.
Zhao Duan and the princess and her entourage rode in a carriage out of the city and headed towards the "Taicang Silver Mine" in the suburbs outside the city.
It is a cloudy day today, and the sky is covered with clouds.
After traveling for more than an hour, they could see the mine ahead from afar.
"Princess, that's the mine, right? Hiss, it's so big..."
In the carriage, the maid Lu Shui stretched her neck and pointed into the distance and said.
Zhao Duan opened his eyelids and ordered:
"Get out of the car and take a look."
Two carriages stopped by the roadside and everyone got off.
Looking into the distance from this place, you can see endless mountain peaks.
The top of the mountain is red, interspersed with yellow and green.
There are maple trees all over the mountain. There are many maple trees on Linfeng Road.
Every autumn, when the wind blows, the hilltops turn red.
In the mountains, a huge open-pit mine suddenly sank into the ground, as if a god had hammered down a fist, creating a deep pit in the earth.
People standing at the edge of the pit look insignificant.
"Those are the miners in there, right? They're as small as ants."
Among the princess's guards, the ordinary-looking female knight holding a sword was amazed.
Next to her was the burly man who had threatened to challenge Zhao Duan that day.
There was a straight knife hanging diagonally on his waist, and he laughed loudly:
"It's so far away, so it's naturally small. Hey, Master Lu, I remember you are from Linfeng Dao, right? Have you been here before?"
Next to the man was the old man in plain robes.
After being shot in the finger by Eunuch Hai that day, he has now recovered as before.
At this moment, the mountain breeze blew, and the gray robe expanded like an inflatable balloon. He smiled and sighed:
“Indeed, I have been here before, but that was more than ten years ago. Back then, the pit wasn’t this big. When it rained, water would form a river underneath, and the government would summon nearby townspeople to help dredge it.
I remember there was a small, impoverished family named Song living nearby, who was also a family of scholars.
I was passing by that year and stayed at the Song family's farm for a few days. The family wanted to keep me as their spear and club instructor, but I declined.
Xu Junling was in high spirits when he saw the mountains covered in red and the mines were vast. He smiled sweetly and said:
"A small country gentleman still wants to keep Master Lu. He is quite courageous. I guess he is not aware of Master Lu's reputation in the martial arts world."
Lu Qingfeng habitually wanted to brag about himself, but suddenly he caught a glimpse of Zhao Duan, who was standing beside him without saying a word, just standing with his hands behind his back and looking into the distance.
He cleared his throat and said humbly:
"I am just a small wanderer in the world, not worth mentioning."
Although they had become familiar with Zhao Duan along the way, they were still in awe of the vengeful "King Zhao" because of the ring challenge.
At this moment, the old man in white robes, who was considered a master in the martial arts world and was in charge of the Huai'an Palace, smiled and said:
"Mr. Zhao, I wonder which mountain the person you are looking for is on?"
When they were out and about, to avoid trouble, people called him and the princess "Young Master" and "Miss."
Zhao Duan narrowed his eyes, retracted his gaze from a distance, and glanced at the master of the palace with a smile:
"Since you know Songjiazhuang, how about you lead the way? This is the house I'm looking for."
Is this the one?
Xu Junling looked surprised, then he smacked his hands and realized that the mining tax supervisor who submitted the letter of accusation was named "Song".
In local areas, clans with the same surname often gather together.
Song Tiju must have a kinship relationship with this small local clan. Well, this can also explain why he entrusted the "evidence backup" to someone else.
"Let's go." Zhao Duan didn't say much, clapped his hands, turned around and returned to the carriage.
Xu Junling and her servants immediately followed. Before setting off, Zhao Duan had reached a gentleman's agreement with her:
You can join the investigation if you want, but you must obey Zhao Duan's orders and take him as the leader.
At this moment, a group of outsiders were blowing in the mountain wind, following the rugged country road around the edge of the "Taicang Silver Mine" without entering.
Zhao Duan has no interest in the mine.
What's more, there were government officials guarding the place. He came here in disguise and didn't want to attract attention too early.
However, he kept in mind what Lu Qingfeng said about water accumulating in the mine during rainy days.
Maybe after returning to Beijing, I can find Gongshu Tianyuan and make an ancient version of the water pump.
But it was just a fleeting thought and was put behind me.
However, even though Zhao Duan tried his best to keep a low profile, after they left, there were still some workers carrying stones outside the silver mine who raised their heads and whispered to each other.
Immediately, one of them dropped his burden, put on his straw sandals, and ran away.
Prepare to report the news of "suspicious outsiders" to the foreman in exchange for a reward
——It is said that this was an order issued by the county magistrate.
(End of this chapter)
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