In the temple courtyard, the two constables hurried over when they saw Chu Hang emerge. Their magistrate was usually good-tempered, so the younger one even cracked a joke.
"Your Honor, even if today isn't a major festival, you'd still have to come earlier if you wanted to offer the first incense."
Chu Hang looked at him and shook his head, but of course he could not say he had come to meet the City God.
"Let's go."
With that, Chu Hang strode out of the temple and followed the increasingly lively streets back to the Luling County Office. Notices from the Local Government had already been posted at several intersections. Naturally, they concerned yesterday's murders, and their contents were the usual requests for leads and reassurances to the public.
But Chu Hang knew this was far more than an ordinary feud in the Rivers and Lakes spilling over onto innocent citizens. It might even be connected to the secret letter he had received earlier. He simply did not know where its sender was now.
As he thought about this, the incessantly coughing "young master" he had encountered at the market outside the southern gate flashed through his mind again. That man was certainly no ordinary person, and he had shown some goodwill. Could he have been the one who sent the letter?
Shaking off these thoughts, Chu Hang returned briskly to the County Office, then immediately picked up his brush and began to write.
The letter taking shape beneath his brush was addressed to Grand Commander Zou Jie. Yet he made no mention of any sensitive information; everything in it concerned arrangements for troops.
Originally, Chu Hang had intended to wait until at least autumn before settling this matter with the Grand Commander, asking him to station a battalion or