“Yue Nu!”
“Yue Nu?”
At Han Mo’s words, Zhe Yourong’s eyes widened.
“She and the little girl are inseparable now, aren’t they!”
“But, she, she…”
Following Han Mo’s line of thought, Zhe Yourong felt a chill of fear.
Yue Nu was not only diligent but also literate and skilled in cooking.
Because Han Mo had bought her, not only the little girl, but also Han Yan, and even Zhe Yourong herself trusted her implicitly.
If something were to happen to her, it would be truly terrifying!
Han Mo never took precautions against the little girl when he did anything.
The little girl would naturally not betray Han Mo, but if she were to be deliberately targeted, it would be a completely different story!
“Have Mr. Yuan urgently investigate the information on her deed of sale, and the child trafficker involved at the time! Also, do not tell the little girl about this for now!”
“I understand!”
Zhe Yourong nodded immediately. After all, Chun Tao had never experienced such a thing.
If she were to find out about it now, it would only make her more panicked.
If she were to reveal any weakness, it would be like alerting the enemy.
“Then I’ll go and send word to Mr. Yuan right away!”
——————————————
“Sir, what do these two letters from the son-in-law mean?”
Two consecutive letters, with less than two hours between them.
Given Han Mo’s usual calm, such a thing was almost impossible.
Even the carriage driver felt that something was amiss.
“It seems His Excellency is in trouble. Although I don’t know the specifics, I suspect it has something to do with our Scholar Li!”
Yuan Xingchi spoke as he burned both letters from Han Mo to ashes.
“This fellow surnamed Li is truly despicable. We went to great lengths to help him ascend, yet he plots against our lord!”
The carriage driver said indignantly.
“Silence! Do not say such things again! Do you not know that such words can lead to death?”
Yuan Xingchi’s expression turned cold.
“I misspoke!”
Under his stern gaze, the carriage driver trembled and immediately realized he had indeed said the wrong thing.
It was one thing for the two of them to say such things, but there were many ears within this manor.
If anyone else were to overhear, not only would they both suffer, but Han Mo might also be in deep trouble.
“Just be mindful of what you say. If you cannot control your tongue, you will eventually lose your life because of it!”
“Thank you for the reminder, Sir!”
The carriage driver spoke while wiping the cold sweat from his forehead.
He could acutely feel that for a moment, Yuan Xingchi had genuinely intended to kill him.
“Alright, let’s not dwell on these matters. The priority is to investigate what His Lordship asked us to. You go to the registry office, and I’ll go to the Jiaofang Si. We’ll split up and work separately!”
“Yes, sir!”
Investigating Yue Nu’s identity was not difficult. The registry office should have records of the transaction.
As for the other side, to ascertain Yue Nu’s true identity, they would have to start from the Jiaofang Si.
Although the cost of education had significantly decreased in the Song Dynasty, for a woman to be literate and educated was not something ordinary families could afford.
The procedures for a noblewoman to fall into becoming a courtesan were far more complicated than for an ordinary woman to be registered as a musician.
After all, in the Song Dynasty, despite the low status of women, any matter related to scholars was meticulously handled by the officials.
For a noblewoman to be relegated to a lowly status, it required not only a judgment document from the government but also detailed records of the woman’s family background.
Only after verification by the Grand Court of Revision would they be assigned to the Jiaofang Si.
Under normal circumstances, it would be almost impossible to find the detailed identity of a courtesan from the Jiaofang Si.
However, in this era, even official positions in the Song Dynasty could be bought, let alone a simple document.
As long as they were willing to spend money, there was nothing that the scribes wouldn’t sell.
After spending fifty guan, in less than two hours, Yuan Xingchi obtained a copy of Yue Nu’s complete documentation.
The documentation even included a portrait of Yue Nu.
“Did you find anything on your end?”
Around dusk, Yuan Xingchi and the carriage driver met again.
“I questioned all the child traffickers at the registry office, but I couldn’t find the person who issued the documents for His Lordship. Not only them, but even the two runners from Kaifeng Prefecture who handled the documents are also missing…”
“Missing? What do you mean missing?”
Yuan Xingchi immediately felt that something was amiss.
This was not a trivial matter. Han Mo had sent them on a long journey to investigate the identity of a maidservant, which indicated that this maidservant must be unusual.
Although they had not obtained any useful information from these documents so far, if the child trafficker and the handling runners were all missing, then this matter had become truly intriguing.
“Not only those two runners, but their families are also missing!”
“Two Kaifeng Prefecture runners are missing. Didn’t they investigate this?”
“I specifically asked someone at Kaifeng Prefecture to inquire. The investigation concluded that the two men owed fifty guan in informal loans, and then they fled with their families…”
The carriage driver said in a hushed tone.
“You believe that nonsense?”
“Of course, I don’t believe it. But this happened several months ago, and by now, there’s no way to investigate it…”
The carriage driver said, scratching his head with some frustration.
“Go to the Han Manor in a while. Do not alert anyone else. Use this portrait to have Xu Sanbao identify if the person in the portrait is indeed Yue Nu!”
After a moment of hesitation, Yuan Xingchi carefully withdrew the attached portrait from the document he held.
At this point, there was not much more to investigate. He only needed to confirm whether the document was genuine or not. As for the rest, he believed that with the intelligence they had gathered, it would be enough for Han Mo to make his own judgment.
The child trafficker and the runners involved in the transaction were now all missing, which itself exuded an unusual aura.