Many in the capital were aware of this matter, but after so many years, such established customs were rarely given a second thought.
Therefore, no one could have imagined that someone would use this day to commit acts of plunder in the capital!
By the time Song Yuan and his party's carriage arrived outside the gates of Ping An Temple, the temple was already surrounded by the capital's imperial guards like an iron barrel.
Outside, carriages belonging to officials and their families, who had come upon hearing the news, had completely blocked the road leading to Ping An Temple.
Imperial commanders were present to disperse the crowds. Song Yuan held a high official position, so his family's carriage was able to proceed forward.
After Song Yuan alighted from the carriage, Song Jiayang and Song Chaoyu followed, with Song Jiayang closely guarding Song Chaoyu from behind.
If Song Chaoyu remembered correctly, the so-called "fierce bandits" were actually very organized.
From the very beginning, they had made everyone believe that mountain bandits were responsible for the incident, aiming to steal wealth.
Two days prior, they had first confined all the officials' wives and concubines, along with Consort Hai, in one place.
Only after releasing news about the officials' families did they take Consort Hai in the opposite direction of the pursuit from the palace and the capital.
Thus, on the third day of the incident, those searching for clues had found the missing officials' families but not Consort Hai, thereby missing the best opportunity to rescue her.
At this very moment, as Song Chaoyu followed Lord Song to the front, she also saw Lord Cui Min, the Minister of Justice, who was primarily in charge of this case in the palace.
He was currently in a state of utter disarray, listening to reports from all sides while also trying to appease the emotions of the households whose family members were missing.
Upon seeing Song Yuan, Lord Cui immediately understood: "Lord Song, has the old madam of your household gone to Ping An Temple again this year?"
Song Yuan nodded anxiously, "Lord Cui, how is it?"
Lord Cui sighed, "We've taken a preliminary look. The belongings in every lady's room have been ransacked. Valuables are missing. A maid who narrowly escaped said that those people were only after money. If that's the case, I believe they wouldn't harm the ladies."
Song Yuan was truly perplexed, "But where did such a group of mountain bandits and brigands come from? We've never heard of any mountain bandits or brigands in our capital!"
"Alas!"
Lord Cui shook his head, "The Southern Kingdom has been peaceful these days, but the North is suffering from famine. I fear some refugees have escaped, and we don't know the specific situation yet!"
Song Chaoyu was also aware of the famine in the North.
However, this famine was caused by drought in the North, and it would be resolved by several heavy rains in the North next spring.
Moreover, refugees were refugees, and robbers were robbers. If refugees from the North had come to the prosperous areas near the capital, they wouldn't necessarily cause such a major incident all at once.
Song Chaoyu felt that it was quite inappropriate for Lord Cui, the Minister of Justice, to not even consider this. However, one good thing about Lord Cui was that he was a pure official.
In her previous life, Lord Cui had not sided with the Crown Prince, nor with Prince Ning.
It seemed that in this life, he remained the same.
Song Yuan did not make things difficult for Lord Cui, saying instead, "Can I go and take a look at my mother's room? My third daughter is also here, and she must not be harmed!"
This was not in accordance with regulations.
But Lord Cui was of the same rank as Song Yuan, so he finally nodded, "I'll take you. I can't stand here at the entrance anymore; more and more people are asking me questions, and I can't get anything done! When you go, don't go inside, just take a look from afar at the entrance."
As he walked, he said to Song Yuan, "When you go in a moment, tell my men what valuables were lost. Alas... these beasts are too cruel, they didn't leave any gold, silver, or small valuables! Did you see the Minister of War's house outside, where they were crying their hearts out just now? They said his wife, to be safe, had hidden two generations of gold ingots in the roof beams, and nothing was left!"
Hmm? In the roof beams?
Song Chaoyu seemed to have suddenly found an opportunity.
She looked up and asked Lord Cui, "Lord Cui, this humble girl would like to ask, can we be sure that the people who came to Ping An Temple this time were all refugees from the North?"
Her sudden question made Lord Cui pause, "We... cannot be entirely sure yet, but it's highly probable. Why, do you have any other thoughts?"
Song Chaoyu pointed to the rooms ahead, "I see that these rooms are built very large, and the roof beams must be very high, right?"
"Yes."
Although Song Yuan didn't know what Song Chaoyu was going to say, he explained to her, "Fourth girl, you haven't accompanied your grandmother to the temple to pray, so you wouldn't know. Temple rooms are often built this way, with high roof beams. Otherwise, if the incense in the rooms isn't cleaned out for a long time, it will blacken the ceiling. So, by making the beams higher and opening small windows next to the beams, the incense won't blacken the ceiling so quickly."
Song Chaoyu nodded and reminded Lord Cui, "Since people were able to find valuables placed on the roof beams, this humble girl thinks that these refugees may not have been capable of this. Otherwise, if they had the skill to climb the roof beams, why would they be wandering as refugees? The money and valuables below would be enough for them to eat and drink. They would surely know they were doing something wrong and would have left in a hurry after taking most of the things."
She winked at Lord Cui, "Why would they meticulously search everywhere, like the roof beams and under the beds?"
Lord Cui, who hadn't taken Song Chaoyu's words seriously at first, now patted his head and looked at Song Chaoyu with surprise, "Lord Song, your daughter is quite something! If she hadn't said anything, I wouldn't have thought of it! Such actions are truly unlike those of refugees. One needs some skill to reach the roof beams!"
He then looked at Song Chaoyu, "But there are many skilled individuals in the capital. What kind of people do you think would do such a thing?"
Song Chaoyu naturally had to inform Lord Cui, "In this humble girl's opinion, could it be people from the martial arts world? Only those from so-called gangs could carry out this matter so quickly and with such obvious meticulous planning. Otherwise, let alone alarming the palace, even the prefect of the capital and the capital's garrison would be difficult for ordinary people to bypass!"
"Oh, oh, oh!"
Lord Cui's eyes showed an expression of ecstatic joy.
He stepped forward and grabbed Song Yuan's arm, "Lord Song, your daughter is extraordinary! With just a few words, she has connected all the doubts in my mind! How could I not have thought that this matter might be the work of people from the martial arts world? Oh dear, Lord Song, your daughter has inherited your intelligence and has been a great help to me!"