Chapter 70

"Good! Good! Good!"

Yang Shouwen pulled Yang Rui and said, "Starting from tomorrow, practice with me. Wouldn't it be better to defeat him openly and honorably?"

"Uh... I don't want to practice that Golden Toad Guiding Technique."

Yang Rui stopped struggling, but the image of Yang Moli practicing like a toad every day flashed in his mind. His body shuddered involuntarily, and he shook his head, saying, "If someone sees me, I'll be laughed to death."

Yang Shouwen felt somewhat helpless with this brother.

To be fair, Yang Rui was really smart.

But this kid couldn't endure hardship and had no perseverance.

At the坊门 (alley gate), he greeted the two Wu Hou (military officers) again and then left the Pythong Mountain坊 (alley) with Yang Rui, heading home.

"Big Brother, who is it?"

"Hmm?"

"Who is the spy by Father's side that you just mentioned to Old General Gai?"

Yang Shouwen immediately smiled pleasantly, "Do you want to know?"

"Yes."

"Starting from tomorrow, practice with me. If you can meet my requirements every day and persist for a month, I'll tell you."

"I..."

Yang Rui's face showed dissatisfaction upon hearing this.

He hesitated for a moment and said, "A month is a month. Big Brother, you must tell me then."

"Alright!"

Yang Shouwen nodded and walked down the street toward Fanrenli.

The reason he reminded Yang Chenglie today was because he noticed that when Guan Hu and Chen Ziang met, their eyes had a brief contact. They seemed to know each other but pretended not to. Moreover, Chen Ziang was very familiar with what happened at the Little Maitreya Temple, even hinting that he knew Yang Chenglie had not found any evidence. Not many people knew about this, except for him and his father, and Guan Hu.

Chen Ziang also hinted that the Yang family should not get involved in this matter anymore.

His appearance at the Little Maitreya Temple was more likely to find clues rather than to test the Yang family.

Chen Ziang came from the capital, Luoyang.

Guan Hu...

The more Yang Shouwen thought about it, the more he felt that something was amiss, and the situation seemed to be getting more complicated.

The large Changping County suddenly felt very unfamiliar. His father had been operating here for thirteen years, but it didn't seem as solid as he had imagined.

Sigh!

Yang Shouwen couldn't help but take a deep breath, feeling that things were starting to get a bit out of hand.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

By the time he got home, it was almost midnight.

After the tenth hour, the patrolling Wu Hou in Changping County became much more frequent. From Pythong Mountain坊 to Fanrenli, Yang Shouwen and his brother encountered three teams of patrolling Wu Hou on the short journey, and each time they were stopped to check their通行腰牌 (pass).

They knocked on the坊门 and returned home.

To Yang Shouwen's surprise, Yang Chenglie had already returned and was already asleep!

Yang Rui was already feeling sleepy, so he went to rest as soon as they got home. Yang Shouwen, on the other hand, returned to his room.

He took off his coat and was about to go to bed when he heard a knock on the door.

Who could be up so late?

Yang Shouwen had been busy all day and was already feeling tired. Hearing the knock, he frowned and walked to the door, opening it.

"Father?"

At the door was Yang Chenglie, who had just been reported to be asleep.

Yang Chenglie, wearing a loose shirt, squeezed into the room as soon as Yang Shouwen opened the door.

"Weren't you already asleep?"

"I woke up."

Yang Chenglie walked to the window, sat on the bed cross-legged, and asked, "How did the investigation go? Did you find anything?"

Yang Shouwen closed the door and sat on a mat beside the bed.

"Father, you knew I was investigating, yet you went to sleep?"

"I trust you... When Nizi takes charge, success is guaranteed."

He chuckled.

Clearly, Yang Chenglie's silly side was showing again!

Yang Shouwen didn't bother to argue and poured two bowls of water, giving one to Yang Chenglie and sitting down with the other.

"I went to see Old General Gai."

"Hmm."

"The situation with Old General Gai isn't great. When I went today, I encountered a rebellion by his subordinates. But Old General Gai is a straightforward person and resolved the issue... However, it's clear that someone is behind the scenes pushing them. Old General Gai is very worried, so we reached an agreement to cooperate."

"How?"

"Eliminate the head of the Seven Alleys."

Yang Shouwen looked up at Yang Chenglie.

"Old General Gai guarantees that if the head of the Seven Alleys is eliminated, there will be no unrest among his subordinates."

"Then what?"

"He will act as our eyes and ears and help us deal with problems we can't handle directly."

"So, it's a collaboration between officials and bandits?"

Yang Chenglie took a sip of water and said, "But it seems that Old General Gai is getting the better deal."

"Father, stop joking. Do you really care who gets the better deal at this point?"

Yang Chenglie laughed!

"Tell Old General Gai that I'm not satisfied with the head of the bailiffs, Huang Qi."

"Have you already found the spy in the bailiffs?"

Yang Chenglie nodded and whispered, "I was negligent. I didn't realize that Huang Qi had been bought by Lu Yongcheng... I now suspect that the attack on the county office that night was orchestrated by Lu Yongcheng, otherwise, he wouldn't have known so much. Moreover, Huang Qi frequently enters and exits the right office, making it easy for him to hide incendiary devices. This guy thinks that by joining Lu Yongcheng, I can't do anything to him. Tell Old General Gai that Huang Qi will go to Ji County to deliver something the day after tomorrow."

"I know."

Yang Shouwen nodded and suddenly asked, "With Huang Qi gone, who does Father plan to appoint as the head of the bailiffs?"

Yang Chenglie scratched his head, and Yang Shouwen could clearly see the dandruff falling...

"Father, how long has it been since you washed your hair?"

He was furious, pulled Yang Chenglie off the bed, and started beating the bedding with a look of disgust.

Yang Chenglie was embarrassed, glared at him, and growled, "I'm your father."

"I know!" Yang Shouwen replied without turning his head, "If you weren't my father, I would have already hit you."

"Unfilial son!"

Yang Chenglie sat on the mat, frowning, "Now, among the three groups of bailiffs, I can't find anyone I can trust. Even Guan Hu... Tell me, who else can I trust besides you two?"

Yang Shouwen turned around.

"What about Zhu Cheng?"

"Zhu Cheng?" Yang Chenglie was taken aback, "Who is he?"

"A captain of the militia, who has shown a willingness to join us. He handled the matter with Song Sanlang quite well, and I think he could be useful."

"Militia?"

Yang Chenglie frowned and nodded lightly.

"Alright, I'll transfer him to the bailiffs first... As a captain, he should be able to become a bailiff head. Once the matter with Huang Qi is resolved, I'll promote him to see what Lu Yongcheng does next."

"Whatever!"

Yang Shouwen cleaned the bed and sat cross-legged.

"Father, about Uncle Guan..."

Yang Chenglie hesitated and whispered, "Guan Hu hasn't shown any obvious flaws. If you hadn't reminded me, I wouldn't have noticed that he has been in contact with Boyu. But we still don't know who is behind Boyu and Guan Hu. Moreover, although Guan Hu is colluding with Boyu, he still follows my orders, which I can see. Given the current situation in Changping, the death of one Huang Qi is enough; it's not suitable to lose another bailiff head. Besides, I'm not sure if Old General Gai's subordinates can eliminate Guan Hu, and even if they do, it will cause another round of unrest in Changping. After I came back tonight, I thought carefully and decided not to move against him for now."

"Enemy doesn't move, I don't move; if the enemy moves, I move first?"

Yang Chenglie couldn't help but laugh.

"Exactly, that's the idea."

Saying it so complicated, it's just about striking back after the enemy makes a move.

Yang Shouwen secretly looked down on Yang Chenglie a bit but couldn't help asking curiously, "Father, what did the county magistrate discuss with you today?"

Yang Chenglie frowned slightly and whispered, "Actually, we didn't discuss much. He just said to strengthen patrols and maintain order, and to prepare for the arrival of refugees... I feel that something is off about today's matter."

"What's wrong?"

Yang Chenglie thought for a moment and said, "Lu Yongcheng is not here, saying he went to Ji County. As for the county magistrate, his mood doesn't seem too good, and he looks a bit distracted. I feel that the county magistrate is worried about something, but I can't quite put my finger on it... Recently, things have been very strange. I feel that Changping County is full of oddities, and even the county magistrate seems a bit off."