Five days passed without a single lead.
Inside the Government Office, tea simmered over a small stove as Jia Huan bowed his head in thought.
Gu Sihui's life was monotonous: he went to work, then went home. The same routine repeated for five days.
"Where could he hide the stolen silver? At his father-in-law's place, the Duke of Xiu's Mansion?"
Jia Huan immediately rejected the thought.
Great households had too many people and too many loose tongues. His own Rongguo Mansion, for instance, had six or seven hundred servants, maids, and matrons inside and out. The Duke of Xiu's Mansion would be much the same.
Someone as cautious as Gu Sihui would never stake his life and fortune on a place that leaked like a sieve.
"Without finding the stolen silver, securing a conviction will be difficult."
There was merit to be earned, of course, but embezzling disaster relief funds was also a heinous crime. If that silver reached its destination, an extra sack of grain for a disaster-stricken family might carry them through their most desperate days.
"Lord Jia!"
A Small Banner hurried into the Government Office, holding a snow-white pigeon.
He removed the letter tied to its leg and said respectfully,
"A letter from General Banner Yu."
"Fathead Fish?" Jia Huan took the letter and unfolded it. Anger surged through him, and he said in utter disappointment,
"With that enormous head of his, loyalty's the only thing he's got. He can't do a damn thing!"
[Boss, we've been exposed!]
"Wooden-headed fool! More hindrance than help!" The more Jia Huan thought about it, the angrier he became.
It had only been five days. Even riding hard on fast horses, reaching Taoyuan Commandery took three days, and sending a pigeon back took nearly half a day. In barely a single