Chapter 357: Don’t Alert the Enemies

Translator: CokeZero Editor: Rainystars

Everyone in the room was trustworthy, and Xie Yunjin didn’t avoid them. He asked Lu Gui to take the children downstairs and arrange for them to eat. Lu Gui took the children downstairs, but the three little ones were hesitant to leave, mainly because they were worried about their sibling.

Lu Jiao pulled them over, coaxed them, and assured them that they would find a way to rescue their second brother. She told them to eat without worrying their parents, and finally, the three little ones reluctantly followed Lu Gui out.

After Lu Gui took the children out, everyone in the room looked at Li Nantian and Zhou Shaogong.

Li Nantian spoke up, “Through our investigation, we found out that Assistant County Magistrate Yang is in his fifties this year. He married a woman from the Bai family, and they have three sons and two daughters together. The relationship between Yang and his eldest son’s wife is extremely bad. It’s said that his eldest son’s wife is a rural woman, fierce and arrogant, and she has no respect for Yang and Lady Bai. So Yang announced that he severed ties with them and would no longer have any contact.

They took their two sons and started living in Qinghe County. Their life is extremely poor due to a lack of money. But the life of Yang’s eldest son is also not easy. He comes to Yang from time to time to ask for money and gets scolded every time. However, Lady Bai couldn’t bear to see her eldest son suffer, so she would secretly give him things.

We investigated and found that every time Yang’s eldest son came, he would bring a bag, and then Lady Bai would stuff something into it before he left. Based on this, I have a bold guess.

Perhaps the severed relationship between Yang and his eldest son’s wife is just a pretense. Think about it, as the assistant magistrate of Qinghe County, Yang may not hold a high position, but he is still an official of the seventh rank. How can his daughter-in-law have the audacity to treat him and Lady Bai in such a disrespectful manner? So I suspect that this is a kind of disguise, advocated by Yang himself.

The house where Yang currently lives is rented. He can’t hide the bribe money in the rented house. But they don’t have any other properties except for the house where their eldest son and his wife live in the countryside. So it’s very likely that the money has been taken back to the Yang family’s ancestral home by his eldest son.”

After Li Nantian finished speaking, everyone in the room carefully considered the information and found it plausible.

Xie Yunjin nodded and said, “That’s good information to know. What about the Peng family?”

This time, Zhou Shaogong spoke, “As for the Peng family, Peng married Lady Lin. The couple has three daughters and one son. Their two daughters are married, leaving only one daughter and one son. The youngest child is only eight years old and is doted on. Although Peng’s house is small, it is a family inheritance. I secretly infiltrated the Peng family and observed that they value their donkey. Both Peng and Lady Lin like to go to the donkey shed and occasionally feed them with dry fodder.

I thought that while their donkey is the only valuable thing, there is no need to attach so much importance to it. So I speculate that beneath the donkey shed, there might be a stash of money they received. Because they value that money, they are not at ease and keep strolling around the donkey shed.” After Zhou Shaogong finished speaking, everyone in the room nodded in agreement.

Xie Yunjin gave a direct command, “Li Nantian, find a way to visit the village where the Yang family is located in the next two days. Remember, first investigate where the Yang family’s money is hidden in their old mansion.” “As for Zhou Shaogong, find a way to infiltrate the Peng family and keep an eye on them. See if the Peng family’s money is definitely hidden underneath the donkey shed.”

After giving the instructions, Xie Yunjin reminded them, “Remember not to alert the enemy.”

“Yes, Master.”

The two men left, and in the room, Officer Zhao looked at the retreating figures and raised an eyebrow, “These two have quite impressive investigative skills. They managed to find out so much in such a short time.”

Upon hearing Officer Zhao’s words, Zhao Lingfeng proudly replied, “You should also consider who sent those people.”

Officer Zhao ignored him and turned to Xie Yunjin and Lu Jiao, “I found that concubine from Commander Xu’s residence. She did indeed visit the Yang family that day, but she didn’t enter. Yang’s wife came out and spoke to her, and then she left. I investigated and found out she went to the Zhang family. I haven’t figured out where exactly.

The Zhang family has many properties, so it’s troublesome to investigate, but I will definitely find out her whereabouts.”

That woman killed his adopted daughter, and he was determined to capture her and avenge his daughter.

Upon hearing Zhao’s words, Lu Jiao thought of Zhang Biyan, the Lady Zhang she had encountered before. That woman didn’t seem ordinary; she appeared to be formidable.

Could Shen Xiu have gotten involved with Zhang Biyan? Regardless of which connection she made, as long as she appeared, they could arrest her without a hitch. After all, she had committed murder.

Inside the room, Xie Yunjin looked at the fading daylight and said to everyone, “It’s getting late. It’s better for all of you to go back.”

He wasn’t worried anymore about these people encountering any further trouble because the person behind them had already captured the Second Born as a way to deal with him. There was no point in capturing anyone else.

Zhao Lingfeng stood up first. Since there was no movement from the person behind them, it was pointless for them to stay. They could only go back and wait for news.

“If you have any information, inform me immediately. Perhaps I can be of assistance.”

“Alright.”

Hu Shan also bid farewell and went back to report what had happened here to his father.

Classmate Han, on the other hand, refused to leave. The Second Born was taken away because of the steward of the Han family. If anything happened to the Second Born, he would be responsible in the eyes of the Xie family.

“Yunjin, I won’t leave. I’ll stay here.”

Xie Yuniin looked at him gently and said, “Staving here won’t make any difference.

After speaking, he glanced at Han and said, “Han, don’t blame yourself. It’s not your fault. I know that if you were given a choice, you would never harm the Second Born. You would rather hurt yourself than hurt them, so don’t blame yourself.”

Xie Yunjin could speak like this now because he had been influenced by Lu Jiao. Otherwise, with his previous temperament, he would have immediately turned cold and told Han to get lost.

But now that he had grown closer to Lu Jiao, his thoughts weren’t as gloomy anymore. They had become brighter and more positive.

When Han heard Xie Yunjin’s words, tears involuntarily welled up in his eyes.

“Thank you, Yunjin.”

Xie Yunjin didn’t blame him, and he was deeply moved. If Yunjin blamed him, he would rather die.

Xie Yunjin looked at him and advised, “Not only will I rescue the Second Born, but I will also save Nanfeng. As for you, there are only a few more days until the examination. At this time, don’t focus on other matters. I will help you rescue Nanfeng so do your best in the examination to strive for the title of scholar.”

For the Han family, it would be good news if Classmate Han could pass the examination amidst the recent string of setbacks they had experienced.

Classmate Han was well aware of this, so he had been working hard recently. He didn’t expect such a situation to happen near the end. He felt angry and couldn’t help but curse Steward Xia.

“That damn bastard, our Han family has treated him well, yet he treated us like this.”

Xie Yunjin’s expression turned cold upon hearing his words. If he encountered that person, he would make sure he died a gruesome death..