There is a god in the sky

Chapter 416 Late-Night Inquiry

Li Ye catches up with Shen Lan.

"Lan'er, what's wrong? Where are you going?"

Shen Lan stopped and reached out to grab Li Ye.

Li Ye noticed that her hands were extremely cold, like ice cubes.

He quickly took off his gloves and put them on Shen Lan. "Are you shivering? Are you cold?"

The winter night was indeed very cold, but Shen Lan wasn't cold because of the cold, but because of fear.

"Li Ye, is Li Ge hiding something from us?"

"Definitely, he's a very thoughtful person, he keeps everything to himself."

"Could this be a deliberate attempt to lure us out of the capital?"

Li Ye was puzzled. "Why would he do that?"

Shen Lan is now a court official and has been paying close attention to matters of state.

Given that Li Ye was on duty in the palace, he shouldn't have been able to take advantage of the situation.

Unless, this was a scheme orchestrated by Li Ge himself.

Shen Lan wasn't sure either, so she continued running forward, heading towards the location that Sui Ying had scouted out.

Tongzhou County was very quiet; it didn't look like a place where bandits were entrenched.

Moreover, they did not encounter any spies following them when they entered the city. It is unlikely that a bandit who dared to rob the government offices would let such a big fish go.

Shen Lan didn't know where the place was, so she slowly searched the streets and finally broke into a house and dragged a middle-aged couple out of bed.

The couple never expected that someone would come knocking on their door while they were sleeping soundly; they thought it was some notorious thief.

"Have mercy, sir! We'll give you anything you want!"

Shen Lan casually grabbed something and placed it around his neck, asking, "What do you do?"

She went into this store because it looked quite large, and she guessed it had some standing in Tongzhou.

"I'm just a small vendor, and I don't have much money at home."

"This house is huge! It doesn't look small at all!"

With a bitter expression, Xu Jinrui took a bunch of keys from his waist and handed them to Shen Lan.

"Great hero, release my husband and me, and you can have everything you own!"

"So generous?" Shen Lan asked curiously, "Even if you take everything away, it's fine?"

Xu Jinrui begged for mercy: "Take whatever you want, just spare my family's lives."

Shen Lan sensed something was off about his attitude and threatened him, "Even the Tongzhou County Magistrate is dead, what right do you, a small merchant, have to live?"

"I...I am not on the same side as Magistrate Zhou. I know nothing about his affairs. Please, sir, investigate thoroughly!"

Shen Lan suddenly felt that the death of that county magistrate was probably not simple.

"So, who are you aligned with?"

"I'm just a nobody, how could I dare offend the officials? We are all just following orders, it's really not my intention to betray you."

Shen Lan was completely confused.

She released Xu Jinrui and let Li Ye take his wife out, leaving only the two of them in the room.

Xu Jinrui then realized that the person who had grabbed him was a woman, and that what had been held to his neck was just a wooden stick.

He secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Young ladies, did the magistrate send you here to reclaim the position of county magistrate, or do you simply want to get back the magistrate's savings accumulated over the years?"

Shen Lan replied, "Of course it's the latter. How can you fight for the position of county magistrate?"

County magistrates are all appointed by the imperial court; if you kill one, you won't be the next one.

"Yes, yes, yes, sir, you are very thoughtful. So, what are your plans now? I, Xu Jinrui, owe my success to your support. I am willing to go through fire and water for you."

Shen Lan thought of someone: Qian Tai.

When the Tong family was murdered, several officials found guilty of cheating in the imperial examinations were discovered, including Qian Tai.

All she knew was that these people had been dismissed from their posts, but she had no idea where Qian Tai went afterward.

"You know a lot, but do you know where we're staying?"

"I know. That place was bought from me by the adults. Don't worry, although the place isn't very secluded, the surrounding residents are all our own people."

Shen Lan nodded solemnly.

"Also, the magistrate asked me to thank you. The county government office has been completely looted. The imperial court will definitely send people to investigate. You know what to say then, right?"

"I know, I know, it was just ordinary bandits who did it."

"Good to know. I came tonight to remind you. Since you've been so cooperative, I won't take the things."

Shen Lan returned the key to him.

Xu Jinrui was so moved that he burst into tears.

"The lord is indeed considerate of us. If only he hadn't been dismissed from his post! The new one is no good! He deserves to die!"

"Alright, I'm leaving now. From now on... behave yourself."

Shen Lan went out, whistled, and left the Xu residence with Li Ye.

She walked around the Xu family's area and found a garden surrounded by residential houses.

This place doesn't look like a place for people to live; it looks more like a leisurely vacation and entertainment venue.

"Let's go in and take a look." Shen Lan led the way, climbing over the wall.

If the new magistrate was killed by Qian Tai's men, was he emptying the treasury because he was unwilling to let his possessions be taken away?

But that was treasury silver, not private property.

And why didn't he run away after killing someone and stealing money?

"Be careful, there are guards over there." Li Ye pulled Shen Lan through a small path and circled around to the back of the main courtyard.

There were snoring sounds coming from all directions, so it seemed there were quite a few people inside.

"First, search their warehouse and see if you can find the missing silver."

If Ku Yin is here, then they have accomplished half of their mission.

Before Shen Lan arrived, she thought it was just a trap to lure them to Tongzhou. Now it seems that it was real. As for whether they were being used, she doesn't know.

The warehouse is easy to find because it has the most guards.

Several men huddled outside the door, warming themselves by the fire. A cold wind blew, and the flames leaped wildly.

"Honestly, in this kind of weather, you should just stay in bed and sleep."

"When we get there, you can sleep as long as you want, and you'll even get a wife. What's there to complain about?"

"That's true. The employer pays very well; otherwise, I wouldn't dare to do something that could cost me my head."

"I don't know when we can leave. If things get out of hand, we won't be able to leave once the government troops enter the city."

"I heard that the master was originally going to leave, but he changed his mind after receiving a letter. Who knows what he was thinking?"

"Someone was injured yesterday. If we don't leave now, we won't be able to leave at all."

There were too many people guarding the warehouse, so Shen Lan couldn't find a chance to sneak in and had to return to the main courtyard.

"There's someone inside." Just as Li Ye pulled Shen Lan down to squat, the lights in the room came on.

It's almost midnight; early risers are probably already up.

They heard someone inside walk to the wall, and then they heard the sound of water, as if they were getting up to use the toilet.

After the other person finished relieving themselves and the footsteps gradually faded away, the two opened the window and jumped inside.

"Who?"

Shen Lan rushed forward and tackled the man to the ground.

Li Ye caught the candlestick before it hit the ground without making a loud noise.

Shen Lan covered the man's mouth and, using the light, saw his face clearly. It was indeed Qian Tai, the former magistrate of Tongzhou.

Shen Lan had seen him once in Xiao Ji's study.