Chapter 382 Circle within a Circle
The soldier took out the key and unlocked the cage chain. He grabbed Lin Qingyuan's collar roughly and pulled him out.
Lin Qingyuan yelled, but he didn't call out Abu's name. He only yelled at Song Dekui:
"Hey! Mr. Song, what do you mean? I didn't do anything. He's the one who offended you!"
As he spoke, he pointed at Lin Qinghua.
On the other side, Young Master Lin wanted to talk about Xiao Gu's matter, but when he saw that Song Dekui ignored him and went to catch Lin Qingyuan instead, he rolled his eyes and immediately shut up.
For matters like this where the illegitimate son is questioned in class, it is better for him to go first.
Now that he saw that this bastard was about to bite him out, he immediately lay back in the grass and pretended to be dead.
During the whole process, Lin Shouzhe, the head of the Lin family, kept his eyes closed and remained silent, as if it had nothing to do with him.
As for the female relatives, they were all terrified when they saw Lin Qingyuan was about to be taken away.
Madam Lin raised her eyes and wiped away her tears, saying bitterly, "My son has always been a man of integrity and courtesy. I wonder who this playboy has offended outside to bring this disaster upon our family."
Lin Qingyuan staggered out of the garrison office and stood on the street before he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Let's go to the inn. You stink!" Song Dekui covered his nose and fanned himself exaggeratedly with his hands.
Lin Qingyuan stopped joking and said solemnly, "Where is Miss Song? I have something to tell you!"
In the garrison.
Zhao Tinglei is no longer a captain. Even after taking off his armor and putting on his official uniform, he cannot change his fierce temperament.
In front of him sat two officials from the Censorate, who were responsible for supervising the life and death of all officials. At this moment, their faces were full of respectful smiles.
Zhao Tinglei looked at the Censor of the Metropolitan Censorate who was only halfway seated in front of him and said with a smile, "You two adults, please don't be polite. As an official, I should share the worries of the court.
If you can help the Zhenbei Army find the traitor who betrayed military secrets this time, I will commend you two to the Emperor."
Lord Zhou was immediately delighted and bowed, saying, "With Lord Zhao's words, I feel at ease."
He made no secret of his humbleness.
The Censor of the Censorate was a fifth-rank official in the capital, and so was Zhao Tinglei. He was promoted from a commander of a thousand soldiers to a fifth-rank official, which was a promotion in name only and a demotion in reality.
Lord Zhou knew that the fifth rank was the highest official position in Yunzhou, and it would be so in the future.
Moreover, he was not respecting a fifth-rank official.
Since the crown prince became regent, officials in Yunzhou have been frequently transferred, especially the prefect who previously returned to Beijing to apologize.
In order to prevent the local government from strangling the Zhenbei Army again, the whole city was governed by the military, the prefect was withdrawn, and only the garrison was left.
Although he was already the supreme commander, Zhao Tinglei did not show any pride in his respect for Zhou Zhan, and was even more low-key.
With the Empress Dowager as their aunt, the Emperor's cousin, and a regent, the Duke of Anguo, the Zhao family was already the most prosperous and wealthy family in the Wu Dynasty.
It’s lonely at the top!
After some pleasantries, Zhao Tinglei took out a tightly sealed brown paper bag and said solemnly, "My lords, these are some documents I collected from the prefect of Hecheng.
I am a rough man, and reading this only makes my head spin. I would like to ask you two to help me analyze it."
Zhou Zhan and the other man hurriedly took the brown paper bag. They were already used to this kind of bag.
I remember when I first arrived in Qili County a month ago, I was very curious when I saw the paper bags.
This kind of paper bag is especially used in county government offices. It is tightly sealed and feels sturdy in the hand, which is more convenient than the ordinary wooden boxes.
"You two gentlemen must have received information from Jiang Feng. There have been many cases of people disappearing in Yunzhou in recent years. I used to only handle military affairs and was not in a position to interfere in civil affairs. Now seeing this data, I find it absurd."
Zhao Tinglei's eyes widened in anger, and he pounded his fist on the table: "In the past ten years, there have been 500 people who reported to the government, and most of them were middle-aged men.
You two adults should know that the victims of trafficking are mostly women and children, rarely men."
Zhou Zhan exchanged a glance with his colleague and said, "Master Garrison, if you have any instructions, please let me know!"
Zhao Tinglei nodded in gratitude. "I hope the two adults will use the excuse of Lin Qinghua colluding with officials as an opportunity to investigate the Qi family's business dealings."
"This..." Zhou Zhan's expression changed drastically. The unopened document bag in his hand felt like a burning brand, and the promise he had just made was stuck in his throat.
The assistant who was with him spoke up again, "Sir, we are leaving the capital under orders. The emperor only ordered an investigation into Lin Qinghua's collusion with officials, and nothing else."
Zhao Tinglei withdrew his hands from the table and said coldly, "If you had seen those escaped slaves, you wouldn't have said such things!"
He clenched his fist, making a crackling sound.
Sweat instantly broke out on Zhou Zhan's forehead.
The Qi family, although only a branch of the Empress Dowager's family, is still a relative.
The Empress Dowager has a special relationship with the Crown Princess.
Anyway, the relationships in the palace are complicated, and Zhao Tinglei doesn't care who he offends, but he has to go back to Beijing to make a living.
However, if he could rely on the powerful support of Duke Anguo, he would have a backer in the capital.
Zhou Zhan's eyes rolled around: "Sir, could you please allow me some time to consider this?"
Zhao Tinglei didn't force him, but stood up and said, "Anyway, the investigation in Pingyang Prefecture still takes some time. If you two adults are free, you can go to the camp west of the city and take a look. You will definitely find the answer!"
After saying this, without waiting for the two imperial censors' response, he asked the guards around him to see the guest off.
As the man left, an old man in plain clothes walked out from behind the curtain.
Zhao Tinglei didn't even turn his head: "Mr. Yu, do you think these two censors can be won over by the Qi family?"
The old man in plain clothes stroked his beard and said, "The Qi family will definitely take action.
My lord, don't worry. The slaves sent back by the third young master are bait. It will be difficult for the Qi family not to take the bait.
In addition, the Lin family can no longer be held in the prison. We need to find a separate courtyard to house him. The Qi family will try to silence him. The lord will arrange for people to set a trap. We will take a two-pronged approach."
Zhao Tinglei turned around with a burning gaze.
The old man bowed and said calmly: "My lord, this is also a chess move!"
Zhao Tinglei was a veteran of countless battles, big and small. A dozen lives were nothing to him. He simply concentrated and said, "Abu just came to me to ask for a person. There's no need to capture him back."
The old man nodded: What he needed was just the heads of the Lin family members, not any specific ones, one more or one less would not matter.
Then he continued, "My Lord, someone reported that the Third Young Master's fiancée from Suijin Town has arrived in Hecheng. Can we arrange for her to meet you?"
As a competent staff member, he needs to consider everything.
Now the Third Young Master is the lord's right-hand man, and they must help each other in the future and not miss any opportunity to win people's hearts.
Zhao Tinglei waved his hand and said, "No need, I'm not a noble lady, I'm just a brave soldier from the Wu Dynasty.
Since Madam Uya and my third brother are not picky, I, as their elder brother, don't have much to say.
However, the two imperial beauties in the backyard need more training to make them more lively and agile.
Over the years, my third brother has been unwilling to have anyone sleep with him when he came to the mansion. He must have felt that those maids were vulgar and looked down upon him.
Nowadays, these concubines selected from all over the country are different. They are good at singing and dancing and have excellent talents.
When my third brother comes to town, I, as his elder brother, will have a suitable gift for him."
(End of this chapter)
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