Chapter 208 [VIP]
After waiting for about half an hour, a soldier rushed over and whispered a few words in the Marquis's ear.
Li Mu's face instantly turned as black as the bottom of a pot. "Damn it! Order a city lockdown! We must find this person even if we have to dig three feet into the ground!"
Xu Mao and Governor Feng, standing opposite him, were startled by his imposing aura. Governor Feng mustered his courage and asked in a low voice, "Lord, what's wrong with you...?"
"Jiang Daoming has run away."
Xu Mao said, "That's impossible! I saw him just yesterday!"
"That's really strange!" Li Mu snorted and got up to leave.
This man was indeed cunning. He somehow got wind of the situation and not only did he run away, but he also emptied his mansion. Apart from a few servants, all his confidants and subordinates were gone. The soldiers only found two chests of silver that they couldn't take, which together amounted to just over two thousand taels of silver.
The city gates were immediately sealed off, and vehicles were strictly prohibited from entering or leaving. Soldiers and yamen runners carried Jiang Daoming's portrait and searched the entire city.
Chen Qingyan and the others only learned from Lord Hou that Jiang Daoming had run away in the afternoon.
"He ran away? The Marquis arrived so suddenly, how could he have received advance notice?"
Li Mu said, "Therefore, I conclude that this person should still be hiding in the city. The entire city has been sealed off and people have been sent to search. We should have news soon."
"Were those refined irons stopped?"
"We managed to stop it. It's all thanks to the young man you sent. Otherwise, if those seventeen carts of fine iron had been delivered, who knows how many of my soldiers would have been killed or wounded in the ensuing battle."
Wang Ying asked, "Is the messenger alright?"
"Young man, you are safe and sound. You have returned with the army."
Li Mu praised, "This kid is quite brave. He rode all that way by himself, and even encountered bandits and wolves along the way. His kung fu is also quite good; he only suffered some minor injuries."
Chen Qingyan and Wang Ying were relieved to hear that Huang Baiguan was alright.
"That's good. This boy is someone we brought from Jizhou. He used to live in a town, but then there was a flood and a plague, and his father entrusted the two of them to us for care. Please make sure nothing goes wrong."
After not seeing each other for a long time, they finished discussing work matters and then started talking about family matters.
"I haven't been back to Jizhou for so many years, I wonder how things are at home." Li Mu's mother, Luo Shi, is still in Jizhou. A few years ago, he sent someone to try to bring Luo Shi over, but she was used to living in Jizhou and didn't want to go through the hassle of traveling back and forth, so in the end, nothing came of it.
However, the climate at the border is not good, and the old lady may not be able to adapt. When Qing'er is a little older, Lin Sui can take her back to discuss marriage and take care of her mother.
Chen Qingyan said, "I heard from Brother Sui that the border wars are ongoing, and I'm afraid the barbarians are still up to no good and will come to invade again."
Li Mu sighed, "To be honest, the Turks have been testing the limits of the border for the past few years, just waiting for an opportunity to attack. So I can't stay here for too long. If I can't capture Jiang Daoming by tomorrow afternoon, I'll have to go back."
Lin Sui said eagerly, "Then I'll go back with you."
"You and Qing'er stay here for now. I will leave a few guards here to protect you. We will go back in the autumn."
Lin Sui felt uneasy. "Take good care of yourself and don't get hurt."
"Don't worry, I'll trouble my cousin and his wife to take care of them during this time."
Wang Ying said, "You're being too polite. Lin Sui is our cousin, so of course we should take good care of him."
After exchanging a few words, Chen Qingyan and Li Mu went to the front of the government office, while Wang Ying and Lin Sui stayed in the backyard to wait for news.
*
At this time, people in Shanzhou City were in a state of panic. Early in the morning, all four gates of the city were closed, and everyone was only allowed to enter but not leave.
Shops were ordered to close, and pedestrians were not allowed to wander around the streets. Nobody knew what was going on.
When Liu Yuan came out of the gambling den, he saw that the street was empty and there was not a single person in sight. He was puzzled and walked towards the nearby tavern. He knocked on the door a few times and heard the manager's voice from inside.
"Please go back, sir. We're closed today."
"Manager Cai, what happened? There's no one on the street."
"A group of soldiers just came and ordered us to close the gate. I don't know what happened."
Liu Yuan scratched his head, turned around and walked towards his home. Just as he opened the door, someone suddenly held a knife to his neck from behind.
"Ouch!" Liu Yuan cried out in fright, almost wetting his pants.
"Don't make a sound, lock the door right now!"
"Have mercy, brave man! I'll lock the door right away." Liu Yuan locked the door with trembling hands, and out of the corner of his eye, he realized that the person behind him was actually his own uncle!
"Uncle, it's you... "
"Let's go inside and talk."
Liu Yuan was dragged into the house in a daze. Once inside, he discovered that in addition to his uncle, there was also Magistrate Jiang and four other people he had never seen before. These people were communicating in a barbarian language that he couldn't understand, which left Liu Yuan dumbfounded.
Unexpectedly, my uncle-in-law could speak in a foreign language. I heard that my aunt found him in the mountains. Years ago, he broke his leg while hunting. My maternal grandparents treated him and then kept him, making him a live-in son-in-law.
Later, somehow he got involved with someone in the government office and became a head constable. Liu Yuan also benefited from his connections to become a minor official.
Privately, Liu Yuan only knew that his uncle was on good terms with Magistrate Jiang, but he never expected that both of them could speak in a foreign language...
After discussing it, the uncle pulled Liu Yuan aside and said, "Something has happened in the prefectural city. Jiang Tongzhi and I will stay here with you for the next few days. We will leave once things have calmed down."
Liu Yuan suppressed the turmoil in his heart and dared not ask anything. "Uncle and Lord Jiang, please stay here. Just let me know if there's anything you need me to do."
"Good boy." Liu Huai'an took out a letter from his pocket and handed it to him. "Find an opportunity to send this letter to the post station thirty miles outside the city. Someone there will be there to meet you."
“But the city is under martial law now, and I’m afraid my nephew won’t be able to get out.”
"The city gates can't stay closed forever; they'll open in two days at most. You can send them out then."
Liu Yuan accepted the letter with some hesitation and asked, "What about you and Magistrate Jiang?"
"We have other things to do."
Jiang Daoming sat upright on the bed, looking intently at Liu Yuan. "If you handle this matter well, you will enjoy endless wealth and honor for the rest of your life. If you mess it up, someone will come to take your life."
Liu Yuan was so frightened that his legs went weak and he knelt on the ground, kowtowing, "Don't worry, sir, I will do my best."
Liu Huai'an frowned and said in a foreign language, "Don't scare him. This child is timid and you'll frighten him even more."
Jiang Daoming sneered, "After singing opera for so many years, you've actually developed feelings for it? Don't forget you're a Turk, loyal to the Khan and the Eternal Heaven!"
"Of course I won't forget, but this matter has nothing to do with him. We still need his help to escape, so let's be polite."
The two people next to him chimed in, "Da'an is right, sir, you should be more polite."
Jiang Daoming remained silent, which was taken as tacit agreement with Liu Huai'an's statement.
Just as they were talking, there was a sudden knock on the door.
The four men immediately became alert, and Liu Yuan hurriedly said, "Uncle, are the people outside here looking for you? What, what should we do!"
"Don't worry, just pretend you don't know anything." With that, they walked to the back of the house, moved a pottery jar aside, and jumped in one after another, leaving Liu Yuan dumbfounded.
He himself doesn't even know when his family got a tunnel!
Thinking back carefully, it was his uncle who took care of and helped him buy the house, so the tunnel must have been here back then.
Before he could think too much, the knocking on the door grew more urgent, and Liu Yuan hurriedly ran to open it.
A team of soldiers filed in and began searching his house without saying a word.
Liu Yuan recognized the man in the lead as an acquaintance and quickly stepped forward to establish a friendly relationship, saying, "Old Li, what brings you here? Making such a fuss is quite intimidating."
The constable in charge of the search said, "We are searching for fugitives on the orders of the prefect. We haven't seen any suspicious people these past few days, have we?"
"No, no, I don't have any fugitives here." Liu Yuan's palms were sweating nervously.
After searching the courtyard, the soldiers found nothing and withdrew.
"You should go to the yamen too. They're short-handed right now, otherwise you'll be punished if they blame you later."
"Ah, I haven't had time to eat yet..."
Old Li grabbed him and pulled him outside without saying a word, saying, "Is eating more important or making a contribution? If you can catch these people, the prefect will reward you handsomely!"
Liu Yuan was dragged to the government office. When he arrived, a large crowd had already gathered. The sight of such a large crowd made his legs weak. Could it be that the matter of transporting refined iron had been exposed?
It must be right!
Jiang Tongzhi has been ordered to be arrested; he can't think of anything else besides the matter of refined iron.
Liu Yuan was not a very brave person to begin with, and the more he thought about it, the more frightened he became, to the point that his legs went weak.
Suddenly someone patted him on the back. Liu Yuan immediately knelt down and turned around to see Huang Baiguan. His heart jumped into his throat again because he had only mentioned the matter of transporting refined iron to Huang Baiguan.
"Brother Huang..."
Huang Baiguan said solemnly, "I'm only reminding you because I consider you a friend. This matter doesn't concern you much. If you take the initiative to confess to the authorities, you'll at most get a few dozen lashes and be fined a few months' salary. But if you conceal it, the crime will be much more serious."
"I……"
"At a time like this, what do you know and why don't you hurry up and tell us? If we catch the mastermind, you'll be implicated, which would be a crime punishable by exile or execution!"
Liu Yuan's face was ashen. After pondering for a long time, as if he had made up his mind, he got up from the ground and said, "I...I have something to report! I have something to report!"
Huang Baiguan led him directly into the back hall. At this time, the Marquis of Zhenbian sat at the head of the table, with Prefect Xu and Governor Feng on either side. Chen Qingyan, Chief Clerk Cao, Chief Clerk Zhang... Under the watchful eyes of all the officials, Liu Yuan lay prostrate on the ground, not daring to breathe. He stammered out everything he knew, and even took out the letter.
The letter was written in Turkic, and only Lang Qianping could read it. He was shocked after reading it.
"Jiang Tongzhi is a Turk, and he is the nephew of Jieli Khan. He has been hiding in Shanzhou for eight years! This letter records the location of the mines in Shanzhou, as well as the number of troops stationed at the border..."
Everyone was shocked. A Turk had actually served as an official in the Wu Dynasty for so many years. No wonder he dared to negotiate with the tiger. He was clearly draining the Wu Dynasty to fund his own family!
Where are they now?
Liu Yuan stammered, "They all live in my house. Behind the house are some earthenware jars, and at the bottom of the jars is a hole. They crawled in through there. I don't know where that hole leads..."
Li Mu waved his hand, and his subordinates immediately led a team of elite soldiers towards Liu Yuan's house.
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