Upon hearing this, Li Xue immediately perked up and excitedly exclaimed:
"I've heard that Qing'an Prefecture holds a crab food festival every year. I'm very curious. I don't know what crabs look like, let alone what they taste like. I'm going to have a good taste today."
“Alright, it’s settled then. Princess, please rest for a while. We’ll go to the government office later,” Zhao Xian said.
Liu Xuan tidied up a room for Li Xue to rest in. Seeing that everything was settled, the three of them took some necessary kitchen utensils and seasonings and headed to the Lin residence.
After resting for half an hour, Li Xue came out of her room. It was already time for her shift at the government office, so Zhao Xian and Li Xue went to the government office together.
Several yamen runners were standing in front of the government office. When they saw two carriages stop at the gate, they went up to inquire.
Zhao Cheng alighted from the carriage, took a few steps forward, walked up to the yamen runner, and said:
"The current princess and the Vice Minister of War are visiting and wish to see Prefect Lu. Please have an official go and inform them."
It turned out to be the princess and the young minister. The yamen runners dared not delay and hurriedly went in to report.
Not long after, Prefect Lu, accompanied by officials of all ranks, came out of the government office to greet Li Xue and Zhao Xian.
"This humble official greets the Princess and the Minister. I was unaware of your arrival and apologize for not welcoming you properly."
“Prefect Lu, you’re too kind. I have an important matter to discuss with you in Qing’an Prefecture,” Zhao Xian said.
"You flatter me, Your Excellency. Please feel free to give me any instructions, and I will certainly be at your service." After saying this, Prefect Lu led Li Xue and Zhao Xian into the government office.
In the reception room of the government office, everyone took their seats, and tea was served. After a few casual words, they got down to business.
"I just heard the Junior Minister say that he had something to discuss with me. May I ask what it is? Could you tell me?" Prefect Lu said.
"Two years ago, when Vice Minister Shen was the prefect of Qing'an, he wiped out the Wild Wolf Village. Some remnants escaped, so Vice Minister Shen went to arrest them. He captured some of the bandit leaders, but some others escaped."
One of the bandit leaders, named Wang Ling, was skilled in throwing darts. The constables discovered his trail in Huizhou Prefecture and went to arrest him.
However, this man was extremely skilled in martial arts, and the men sent by the government couldn't capture him at all; Wang Ling easily escaped.
Upon hearing this, Prefect Lu asked, "Has Your Excellency discovered Wang Ling's whereabouts?"
"We cannot say that we have found any trace of this person yet. Some time ago, Lord Yao and General Wei Jin from the capital came to Shuixian Village and mentioned a person from the capital named Wang Bingling. I suspect that this person is Wang Ling, the bandit leader of Wild Wolf Village."
He committed a major crime in Xinkou County, fought with the princess, and even injured one of our men. He is extremely dangerous.
Prefect Lu nodded and said:
"I understand what you mean, Lord Shaoqing. Should we send someone to investigate secretly and find out who this person is? If we can confirm that he is Wang Ling, then we should arrest him and bring him to justice?"
“I do have this intention. When Minister Shen drew a portrait of this person, the people who arrested him at the time had some impression of him. They can go to the capital to investigate secretly.”
"Don't worry, Lord Shaoqing, we will send someone to investigate this matter immediately. We don't know where this person is in the capital."
“That’s why this matter is difficult to handle. Currently, this person is under the tutelage of the First Prince Li Hui and is serving him. Tracking down this person is really not easy,” Zhao Xian said.
Prefect Lu was dumbfounded. He felt that this matter was difficult to handle. Even if he had a few extra lives, he would not dare to send someone to the First Prince's residence to investigate this person.
Seeing that Prefect Lu was deep in thought, Zhao Xian spoke up:
“At the time, Vice Minister Shen attached great importance to this case and never relaxed his investigation. Even after he went to Beijing to take up his post, he still paid attention to this matter.”
Prefect Lu can send the yamen runners who handled the case back then, carrying Wang Ling's portrait, to the capital to find Vice Minister Shen and tell him about this.
Once Vice Minister Shen learns of this, he will certainly begin investigating Wang Bingling.
If Wang Bingling is indeed the bandit leader Wang Ling from back then, Vice Minister Shen will find a way to arrest him, so Qing'an Prefecture won't need to worry about it.
Prefect Lu nodded and said:
"Don't worry, Lord Shaofu, I know what to do. Qing'an Prefecture will arrange this matter as soon as possible."
At this moment, Li Xue took out a letter and began to speak:
“I have already written a letter. Prefect Lu can send someone to deliver this letter to Vice Minister Shen. Vice Minister Shen will go to the Prince’s mansion to see my father. In this way, my father will also pay attention to this matter.”
Prefect Lu nodded. With the help of the Fourth Prince, things would be much easier. He arranged for people to go to the capital, mainly to assist Vice Minister Shen and the Fourth Prince in confirming Wang Bingling's identity.
Prefect Lu took the letter from Li Xue, carefully put it away, and said:
"Please rest assured, Princess and Lord Shaoqing, I will immediately send someone to the capital to handle this matter and assist the Fourth Prince and Prefect Shen in bringing Wang Ling, the bandit leader, to justice."
"Prefect Lu, find me a portrait of Wang Ling. I have something important to discuss," Zhao Xian said.
"Yes, Lord Shaoqing, please wait a moment, I will arrange for someone to fetch it."
After Prefect Lu finished speaking, he immediately sent someone to find Wang Ling's portrait.
After receiving the portrait, Zhao Xian glanced at it and then put it away.
Seeing that it was getting late, Zhao Xian and Li Xue got up to say goodbye, and Prefect Lu saw them off at the gate of the government office.
The two bid farewell to Prefect Lu, boarded their carriage, and left the Qing'an Prefectural Government Office.
Two carriages, one after the other, arrived directly at Qinghe Restaurant. The waiter, seeing so many people arrive at once, immediately came out to greet them.
"Please come in, esteemed guests. Welcome to Qinghe Restaurant," the waiter greeted them warmly.
The waiter didn't recognize Zhao Xian, but his greeting posture was very professional, indicating that the restaurant provides training for its waiters. No wonder it's the flagship store of a franchise restaurant.
It wasn't lunchtime yet, and there weren't many people dining. Zhao Xian and his group walked into the restaurant's lobby, which was similar to the previous one, with little change.
Zhao Xian knew that the current manager of the restaurant was Huang Bo, and he hadn't seen him for a long time, so he asked the waiter.
"Waiter, is Manager Huang from your restaurant here?"
"Sir, Manager Huang is in the restaurant. He's helping out in the kitchen because we're short-staffed. Is there anything you need him for?" the waiter said.
"It's nothing, we were just asking if there were any private rooms available."
"Yes, we have a few guests. Please come upstairs."
Zhao Xian looked around and saw that there were seven people in total, including Zhao Cheng and four guards, enough to sit at a table.
The group was led by the waiter to a private room. The environment there was quite nice, and dining there was indeed a pleasure.
"What would you gentlemen like?" the waiter asked, handing over the menu.
"Wait a moment, let us take a look first."
Zhao Xian took the menu, glanced at it, and then handed it to Li Xue, indicating that Li Xue should order first.
Li Xue smiled and said, "Brother Zhao knows best which dishes are the most special at Qinghe Restaurant. You can order the dishes tonight, and we'll be responsible for tasting them."
Zhao Xian nodded and said, "Okay, I'll order the food tonight."
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