The officers and soldiers originally only wanted to arrest Lin Qinghua for colluding with officials, but unexpectedly, during the search, they found a lot of Di ethnic items in his bedroom, as well as several letters to the Di tribe.
Carpets, felt, and ornaments are not really important things, but those letters mentioned the defense situation of the various garrisons in the city a year ago.
The Wu Dynasty maintained continuous trade relations with the Di tribes.
Even during last year's turmoil, when the Di cavalry caused unrest in the court and made the old emperor faint, there were still merchants traveling back and forth at the border.
However, the defenses at each pass were very strict. Not only did merchants need customs clearance documents issued by the local government to prove their integrity, but people and goods were also carefully inspected and huge customs duties had to be paid.
Now, a merchant from the Lin family not only has official documents for traveling to and from the border, but also secretly communicates with the Di people, which is a serious crime of treason.
Song Liyun gritted her teeth as she listened.
It is said that most of those who drown are good swimmers, and even a boat can capsize in a ditch while traveling thousands of miles.
Lin Qingyuan was too clever for his own good. He managed to escape the Lin residence and then easily returned, just to see the disheveled state of Lin Qinghua and her son up close. As a result, he got stuck in the mud.
What a twisted sense of humor!
At least Song Liyun didn't like watching Song Lao Er collect cow dung, and she didn't care whether the missing Xiao Gu Shi and Song Xiao Bao were dead or alive, or where they were begging for food.
Now everyone in the Lin family is in shackles and is to be escorted to Hecheng.
It would be easy for Lin Qingyuan to escape, but now that he has been taken away by Lao Qian and the others, he will be a fugitive for life and will never be known to the world.
For a young master who would climb over the wall to wander around even when imprisoned, being unable to freely enter and leave restaurants and brothels was worse than death.
Fortunately, before going to the capital, the officials of the Censorate needed to go to Hecheng first to report the case to the Yunzhou Garrison, which was a military and political entity.
Lin Qingyuan knew that Zhao Tinglei, the current garrison commander, was the younger brother of the young master of the Wuda tribe, which is why he dared to return to the Lin residence and even brazenly asked Song Liyun to rescue him.
Song Liyun really wanted to pinch his embroidered head and shake it.
Now that Zhao Tingduo is handing over slaves on the grassland, his brother, the garrison commander, will definitely go to support him. Who can he go to the garrison commander's mansion to find?
Besides, she hadn't even met the rest of the Zhao family yet. Was she really going to just barge in and say, "I'm your betrothed sister-in-law, and I'm here to save a man"?
Hearing these words, the Zhao family felt utterly ashamed of themselves!
However, she couldn't abandon Lin Qingyuan.
That bastard probably foresaw the consequences before entrusting Ruzhuge to my care.
She felt that this was another test from Lin Qingyuan.
After pondering for a long time, Song Liyun angrily slammed her fist on the table.
That's enough!
I finally managed to keep such a lively character with me, so I still have to put in some effort to see if I can get him out of there.
In Pingyang Prefecture, Song Liyun lacked manpower, but Lin Qingyuan did.
Moreover, Lin Qingyuan left Lao Qian and the others to run errands for Song Liyun, and with the ring and token, she had both money and manpower, making it even more convenient than in Suijin Town.
Old Qian arranged for someone to quickly send out a message, one of which was to go to Suijin Town to tell Han Ming about Song Liyun's whereabouts.
If Song Zhenping and Song Dekui come home, they should stay home and wait obediently.
If Abu returns, go to Hecheng to find her.
The other group went directly to Xiashi Pass, to the ceremony where the slaves were being returned to the Wuda tribe, to find the young master Zhao Tingduo and ask him to find a way to help in Hecheng.
They spent the whole day at the inn, with Lao Qian and his companions sending news from the Lin family in a constant stream.
On this day, the Lin family's property was ransacked, and all the shops were held up for a massive clearance sale.
The Lin family mansion was sealed off for less than ten days. The Qi family did not show up, and their open assets were quickly divided up by officials from the government office and the Censorate.
Song Liyun clicked her tongue in amazement: "If criminal cases were handled this quickly in normal times, Pingyang Prefecture would be the safest place in the world."
Old Qian squinted and said, "Young Madam, you may not know this, but these assets are not something that local officials can swallow up. The fact that the Qi family did not intervene does not mean they are indifferent. In fact, they also have a share in this!"
Song Liyun exclaimed in surprise, "The Qi family... not only do they not help, but they can also accept money from their in-laws like this?"
Old Qian told the truth: "My aunt was just a concubine's daughter in the Lin family, and she would be a concubine in the Qi family as well."
The Lin family was nothing to the imperial merchants.
Moreover, thanks to his aunt's word over the years, the young master has brought over many good things and has also taken away a lot of customers from the Qi family.
The Qi family suffered considerable losses and had long suspected an inside job; even the great-aunt's room had been searched several times.
Our aunt is just as quick-witted as the young master, but she is constrained by her status as a woman and cannot go out to do business..."
Old Qian stopped abruptly at this point.
The woman in front of him was always showing her face in public and even dared to venture into the grasslands; he had almost forgotten that she was a woman.
Song Liyun was completely engrossed in listening.
She had met Sister Lin before. She looked delicate but was actually quite capable. Lin Qingyuan's Ruzhu Pavilion business was thriving entirely because of her stealing maps and various sales information.
But why did Lao Qian stop talking? She urged, "Lao Qian, keep going, why did you stop?"
These secrets were only revealed by Sister Lin, and the Wan family had no way of knowing them.
Seeing that she had no reaction, Lao Qian continued, "After several undercover investigations, the Qi family did not find the mole, but they did find a lot of treacherous downstream merchants. It is inevitable that they will replace them with a new batch of obedient merchants."
The Lin family incident suddenly escalated, and the young master suspected that the Qi family was behind it all, trying to get rid of the Lin family as a burden.
Fortunately, the young master brought his aunt back in time; otherwise, she might have 'died' in the backyard if she had remained in Hecheng.
Song Liyun was stunned. It seemed that the source of Lin Qinghua's letters was worth investigating. The Qi family really had the guts to do that!
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