The manager of the Guangde Tower was filled with worry. How could he be so unlucky? The newly hired couple turned out to be damned human traffickers. With such excellent skills, why would they resort to being human traffickers?
It was one thing for them to be wanted by the authorities, but they had also implicated his Guangde Tower, which was sealed off by the constables. The Guangde Tower was in a prime location, with a monthly rent of over ten taels. Every day it was closed, he lost half a tael of silver, and that wasn't even counting the vegetables and meat already purchased.
What was most infuriating was that the ingredients were sealed inside the Guangde Tower. Even if he wanted to sell them to recoup some funds, he could only glare helplessly.
"Hmph, no honor!"
Er Gou climbed out of the stove in the kitchen of Guangde Tower.
Last night, he, the cook, and Ying Liu had failed to pry anything out of that person's mouth. He had seen all sorts of people over the years, but he had never encountered such a tough nut to crack.
Since Wang Xun had orchestrated this entire scheme, and the outcome had deviated, he would use all means to silence them. Given Wang Xun's status, besides sending assassins in secret, he would definitely mobilize the yamen's power and conduct a city-wide search. Therefore, before dawn, he and the cook had hidden in Guangde Tower.
Guangde Tower was great; it was well-stocked.
The manager was truly a good man!
...
At the county yamen, the county deputy dozed off in his office, his eyes half-closed.
Cheng Zimo pushed open the door, the sound of which startled the county deputy, making him tremble. He quickly sat up straight and wiped the corner of his mouth, pretending to be busy handling documents.
"Sir, your mouth!" Cheng Zimo pointed to the other side of the deputy's mouth and reminded him, "There's drool here too!"
The county deputy hurriedly reached up to wipe it, only to find that there was no drool on that side of his mouth at all. He thought, he had clearly been sleeping on his side, how could there be drool on both corners of his mouth?
As he was thinking, he sensed a playful gaze from above him. He quickly lowered his hand, looked up, and seeing Cheng Zimo, his eyes blazed: "Speak if you have something to say, otherwise get lost!"
"Where is the County Magistrate?"
Cheng Zimo had come to find Wang Xun, but Wang Xun was not there.
The county deputy frowned slightly. Had the magistrate gone to pray again?
The current Emperor did not believe in gods or Buddhas, so both Taoism and Buddhism did not hold high status in Lin Yuan. Scholars followed suit, and did not have great piety towards these two sects. However, their county magistrate was a devout Buddhist.
To what extent? If he was not at the yamen, he was definitely at Linlong Temple in the western suburbs of Wucheng.
He was at the temple when Feng Luan came last time, and he was still at the temple when Cheng Zimo came looking for him today. However, today was different from the past. The streets and alleys were all abuzz with the hunt for human traffickers, and the matter was making a lot of noise. If people knew at this time that the magistrate was not at the yamen overseeing affairs but was burning incense and worshipping Buddha, it might cause the common people to lose trust in the imperial official.
Even if that common person was someone within Wucheng's circle of power.
"The sir is not here?"
He feigned surprise and thought, "If the sir is not at the yamen, he must be in his own residence. You go and look for him."
"He's not here!"
Cheng Zimo had already looked.
The county deputy looked at him, "What is it that you want?"
"I see the runners are apprehending human traffickers?"
"So?"
"If they catch him, can I interrogate him?"
"Are you joking?" The county deputy's eyes widened. "This is against the rules."
"Then you pray that you can catch him before I do!"
Rules, rules, everything was rules. In his opinion, the yamen, from the county magistrate down to the runners, were a bunch of incompetent fools, a group of corrupt and ignorant officials who took the court's salary but did nothing.
"Cheng Zimo, don't mess around!"
Cheng Zimo uttered a harsh threat and turned to leave. The county deputy, anxious, chased after him, shouting as he went. He walked too quickly and tripped on the door sill.
"Oh dear~"
He fell flat on his face!
Gritting his teeth, he stood up and looked again, Cheng Zimo had vanished.
Damn it!
F*** you!
This little brat is getting more and more outrageous!
"Someone, quickly, someone, go and find the county magistrate!!!!"
He yelled in exasperation. All these scoundrels were scoundrels. Cheng Zimo was, and so was Wang Xun. He was just a small county deputy, with no grand ambitions in this life, he just wanted to slack off and be lazy, why was it so difficult!
...
The runners went to Linlong Temple, but the county magistrate was not in the temple.
After returning to the county yamen, he reported the result to the county deputy. The county deputy slumped into his chair, feeling that the wind today was even more biting than usual.
"Forget it, forget it, you may leave."
The county deputy dismissed the runners, sighed wearily, and felt he had no choice but to get back to work.
He had to conduct a city-wide search for human traffickers, send people to seal the city gates, and send people to follow that brat Cheng Zimo. Oh, there weren't enough runners, it was so difficult!
The county deputy gritted his teeth and decided to change out of his official uniform and go find Cheng Zimo.
As the county deputy of Wucheng, he had an undeniable responsibility to capture human traffickers, who wouldn't be a diligent and upright official dedicated to the people!
...
After Cheng Zimo left, Cheng Chongyu turned and looked at the bookshelf.
He got up, rotated the vase, and a small protrusion popped out of the wall behind the second grid on the right side of the bookshelf. He pressed the protrusion, opening a hidden compartment beneath the vase.
The empty compartment made his eyes turn cold.
...
The cook stir-fried some shredded pork with peppers and boiled another egg. Er Gou ate with relish.
He heard from Ying Liu that the manager had returned.
He was currently at the Langhuan military camp.
As Er Gou ate, he reviewed the letters he had plundered from Cheng Chongyu's study. He found something strange and asked the cook about it.
"How did we get exposed?"
How did the county magistrate know they were from Feng Luan?
The cook took a mouthful of rice and looked at him, "You exposed us!"
The cook felt that she shouldn't have pretended to be his wife. If they hadn't pretended to be a couple, after Er Gou was exposed, she could have remained hidden.
Er Gou scratched his scalp.
So it was that one extra glance he gave when serving the dishes that gave him away?
It shouldn't be!
But if it wasn't at that time, then when was it?
Er Gou looked at the cook, no, why was he exposed, but this brainless fellow, the cook, wasn't exposed?
Was this scientific?
This was clearly unscientific!
If... Er Gou suddenly remembered the scene when they first arrived in Wucheng. He asked the cook, "When we followed Young Master into the city, you were still in men's clothing, right?"
The cook thought for a moment and slowly nodded.
Er Gou slapped his thigh. Damn it, he finally knew why he was exposed. After Young Master Wang Xun left, he must have questioned the city guards and inquired about the group of people accompanying Young Master, as well as their characteristics and appearances. It turned out he had been exposed from the very beginning!
Damn it!