Don't Go Back Until It's Revealed

Within Nanzhou Prefecture City, three horses were making their way down the city streets.

Strictly speaking, riding horses was forbidden within Nanzhou Prefecture City. If one brought a horse into the city, they could only lead it by the reins, walking slowly along the side of the street.

Of course, this rule didn't apply to Qian Bochou, as this matter also fell under his jurisdiction.

"Brother Jiang, I'm not complaining, but a fast horse would take only an hour, and we've been walking for half a day," Qian Bochou grumbled. "If it's too much trouble, I'll just take you next time, to avoid delaying things..."

Jiang Yun repeatedly shook his head at this, chuckling, "I can't trouble Constable Qian every time. I'll manage on my own."

The group of three soon returned near the Prefectural Yamen.

Qian Bochou went directly back to the Prefectural Yamen to report the mission to Lord Vice-Prefect, collect the hundred taels of silver, and then give it to Jiang Yun...

He couldn't help but lament inwardly, having gone through all that trouble and gained nothing.

Jiang Yun and Xu Xiaogang, however, arrived outside the Heaven-grade room at Nanmanju Inn.

Jiang Yun knocked on the door, and Xu Suwen's voice came from inside, "Come in."

Pushing the door open, they found Xu Suwen brewing tea, while Jiang Qiaoqiao sat beside her, looking rather unhappy.

Jiang Yun walked in with a smile and asked, "What's wrong? Who made my Qiaoqiao unhappy?"

Jiang Qiaoqiao turned away, unwilling to face Jiang Yun.

Hmm, this was strange. He remembered this girl had never acted like this before.

His confused gaze fell upon Xu Suwen.

Xu Suwen then spoke, "We encountered Liu Xudong today..."

After explaining the events, she asked in a deep voice, "Did you really promise him you would marry Jiang Qiaoqiao to him as a concubine?"

Upon hearing this, a surge of anger rose within Jiang Yun.

After all, with this commotion, no one knew what would happen to Jiang Qiaoqiao's reputation.

In this world, the importance of reputation to a woman was self-evident.

Jiang Yun quickly raised his hand and said in a deep voice, "I swear by the Three Pure Ancestors! I absolutely never said that! If I've told even half a lie, may lightning strike me!"

The words of the original host had nothing to do with him, so he dared to make such an oath.

"Three Pure Ancestors?" Xu Suwen's brow furrowed slightly, as if she had never heard this name before.

At this moment, Jiang Qiaoqiao's face broke into a smile. She knew in her heart that Jiang Yun wouldn't do such a thing, but Liu Xudong had spoken so convincingly that she couldn't help but worry.

Seeing Jiang Yun swear, the clouds on Jiang Qiaoqiao's face also cleared.

"Hmph," Jiang Yun asked in a deep voice, "Where is Liu Xudong?"

"Sent to the dungeon."

Jiang Yun's expression darkened. "I'm going to see Constable Qian."

With that, he turned and left.

After Jiang Yun left, Xu Xiaogang quickly gave Xu Suwen a meaningful look and said, "Sister, I have something urgent to tell you."

Xu Suwen looked at him in surprise, then instructed Jiang Qiaoqiao to rest in the room.

She then followed Xu Xiaogang outside.

Seeing his anxious expression, Xu Suwen asked, "What did you encounter when you went to Beihu County?"

"It's like this..."

Xu Xiaogang didn't dare to hide anything, recounting the entire story, from beginning to end, in full detail.

After finishing, Xu Xiaogang lowered his voice and said, "If I'm not mistaken, Prince Su's Mansion might be colluding with evil people..."

"Sister, what do you think we should do? Should we report it to our superiors?"

Although Prince Su's Mansion had been enfeoffed in Nanzhou Prefecture three hundred years ago.

And the current Emperor in the capital had a very distant blood relation, they were still royalty at the end of the day.

Royalty colluding with evil people was an absolute taboo in the Emperor's eyes.

Xu Suwen's expression was much calmer. She said calmly, "No need to report it to the higher-ups for now."

Xu Xiaogang immediately became anxious and said, "Sister, this won't do. The Imperial Guards are the Emperor's personal guards. Concealing information..."

Xu Suwen still said in a deep voice, "I know what I'm doing."

With that, she pushed the door open and re-entered the room, continuing her conversation with Jiang Qiaoqiao.

Xu Xiaogang sighed, knowing his sister's personality, and realized that persuasion would be useless.

At the Nanzhou Prefecture Yamen, Qian Bochou had just walked out of Lord Vice-Prefect's room, still holding a bag of silver.

A full hundred taels.

It was a pity that this would soon belong to Jiang Yun.

Thinking of this, he quickly hurried towards his own courtyard.

He'd give it to Jiang Yun tomorrow.

Even if it wasn't mine, holding it to sleep for a while to satisfy my craving would be fine.

As soon as he walked into the small courtyard, he saw Jiang Yun already waiting there for a long time.

Jiang Yun was sitting on a stone bench in the courtyard, eyes closed, resting. Hearing footsteps, he finally opened his eyes, a smile appearing on his face, "Constable Qian..."

Constable Qian forced a smile, reluctantly patting the bag in his hand before handing it over. "Oh, Brother Jiang, I was just about to look for you. Here, this is one hundred taels of silver. Count it carefully."

"Also, I mentioned your matter of serving in our Nanzhou Prefecture to the Assistant Prefect."

"The Assistant Prefect is extremely welcoming. He said our Nanzhou Prefecture Yamen is lacking talented individuals like you who can deal with Yao."

Jiang Yun nodded upon hearing this. He took the bag of silver and opened it to look.

One hundred taels of gleaming silver was an absolute fortune for him and Jiang Qiaoqiao.

He took out ten taels of silver and handed them to Constable Qian, smiling. "Actually, I have something I'd like to trouble Constable Qian with."

"Ah, look at you. We're brothers, you can just speak your mind. Why go through all this?" Constable Qian said, but he quickly accepted the ten taels of silver.

"It's like this, as you know, I've met many scholar friends before. Currently, one of them is in the Dungeon. He was just brought in, his name is Liu Xudong."

Constable Qian rubbed the silver in his hand and chuckled, "What's the big deal? Is this even a problem?"

"Since he's a friend of Brother Jiang, I'll have someone release him later..."

Seeing that he misunderstood, Jiang Yun quickly waved his hand. "I mean, don't let him get too comfortable in there..."

Jiang Yun was not a cruel person. He considered himself to be relatively tolerant and friendly towards others.

But that was on the condition that they didn't set their sights on Jiang Qiaoqiao.

She was his only family.

Upon hearing this, Constable Qian frowned and said in a low voice, "Brother, our Nanzhou Prefecture Yamen is also a place that abides by the law. We can't just use torture..."

"Here's another ten taels for you."

After accepting the silver, Constable Qian slapped his thigh and sighed, "Brother, you're really putting me in a tough spot..."

After accepting the silver, Constable Qian's efficiency was surprisingly high this time. He quickly headed to the Dungeon and saw Liu Xudong, who had already been tied up.

He was surprisingly clean, with no signs of being interrogated.

"Why isn't this person being interrogated?" Constable Qian frowned and asked the constable beside him.

The constable hurried over and said, "Constable, when this person was brought in, he already signed and confessed. The evidence is conclusive, what else is there to interrogate?"

"He signed and confessed?" Constable Qian was slightly taken aback. He took the confession evidence from the constable.

It was better not to look, but upon seeing it, his expression changed even more.

This bastard also provoked Xu Suwen?

Was he arrested by Lord Xu?

Constable Qian shouted, "Brothers, stay up all night! This person slandered and extorted the Imperial Guards. I suspect there's a major conspiracy hidden behind this. No one goes home until we get to the bottom of it."

There's another chapter. I'll write it after dinner, and it should be out before 8 PM.