Chapter 44: Startle the Snake in the Grass

The middle-aged strategist worried that if Jin Buer managed to entangle them, even with someone protecting their master, he would be dragged into the muddy waters and find himself mired in scandal—especially since their hands were far from clean to begin with.

Unable to break free as he was tightly grabbed by the arms, the man in brocade robes gritted his teeth in bitter frustration, yet he was completely helpless.

Old Ge turned to the page and said, "What are you still standing there for in a daze? Hurry up and throw him out, far away! Scatter them across all four districts and make sure to completely cut ties with the Langya Pavilion."

Nodding in acknowledgment, the page hurried away.

Only then did Old Ge drag the furious and utterly reluctant brocade-clad man toward the back courtyard. "Second Master, things have constantly been going awry at the Langya Pavilion lately. This humble servant is afraid someone is doing this deliberately, and their target might be the Imperial Consort in the palace."

Upon the mention of his cousin, who had already ascended to the rank of Imperial Concubine, Xia Dingtang instantly sobered up. "I'm just here playing with a few women, what does that have to do with the Consort in the palace?"

Old Ge lowered his voice and said, "Think about it, Second Master: why did a child deliver a letter the moment those people went missing, explicitly stating 'the people are at the theater troupe'? And why did Jin Buer head straight for the Langya Pavilion? Can such things truly be mere coincidence? And that maidservant... of all people, she just happened to witness the perpetrators!"

Xia Dingtang's eyelids twitched. "Are you saying these women were part of a trap set for me by someone?"

Old Ge nodded. "Second Master, this is the most critical juncture for Lady Li of the primary branch to be elevated to the rank of imperial noble consort. Although we belong to the secondary branch, we are still part of the Marquis of Guang'an's estate, and if things unravel, we won't be able to escape the fallout either. We cannot afford to let our guard down!"

In the past, women brought to the Langya Pavilion never caused any trouble, but this time, daughters of official families had somehow sneaked into their midst, not only accompanied by a martial arts-trained maidservant but also alarming the Emperor himself.

Even if every single one of them possessed celestial beauty, they could no longer be kept; they had to be dealt with as quickly as possible.

"Then hurry up and find this so-called child! I want to see whose child has the audacity to pull this!"

Xia Dingtang refused to believe a mere child had written an anonymous tip-off letter. It had to be some rival trying to expose his secrets and intentionally resorting to such tactics.

The master and servant grew increasingly alarmed as they spoke. Without stopping, they hurried along the partition wall and left the back courtyard.

By this time, the main gates of the Langya Pavilion had already been sealed off by government troops. The actors on the stage had been seized, and the intoxicated patrons sitting below were being subjected to interrogation.

Many of the customers were pampered scions from prominent aristocratic families. Relying on their family influence, how could they possibly swallow such an indignity? They loudly cursed the soldiers and ruffians for their audacity.

However, when they caught sight of Jin Zhan, the commander leading the troop, they instantly fell dead silent. Each of them recalled the four corpses left lying in the streets a little over a year ago; that blood-soaked spectacle still sent shivers down their spines.

Yet, ways to retaliate and vent their fury were already brewing in their minds. While this group lacked official posts to submit formal memorials, they could certainly whisper in their family elders' ears at home.

Jin Zhan paid no heed to the bitter curses echoing around him. He merely stood firmly in the main hall, a chilling, murderous aura enveloping the space and deterring anyone from daring to resist.

Although the manager of the Langya Pavilion wore a deeply anxious expression, he still maintained a careful and deferential demeanor.

Before long, the soldiers who had been searching various quarters returned. Naturally, as expected, they had found nothing.

Looking at his empty-handed subordinates, Jin Zhan showed no sign of disappointment. He simply said to the manager, "We had due cause to disturb this esteemed establishment. If your proprietor harbors any grievances, they are welcome to lodge a complaint with the Five City兵马司 (Garrison Command)!"

Though filled with bitter resentment, the manager could only squeeze out a fawning smile. "My lord is carrying out official duties, and everything you do is for the peace and worry of the court. Even if the Langya Pavilion were turned upside down and burned to ashes, this humble servant would harbor no complaints and dare not disobey!" His words sounded humble, yet they were overflowing with venomous resentment.

Those around them also sneered repeatedly. "Flunkeys borrowing the imperial might! There will come a day when you fall into our hands."

"Hmph, mere watchdogs guarding a gate, yet they dare to come and disrupt His Grace's refined pleasure of watching plays and listening to music! What brazen audacity!"

Jin Zhan turned a deaf ear to these insults and turned to leave with his men.

The Garrison Command had barged in aggressively and imperiously, only to retreat in embarrassment and leave empty-handed, completely oblivious to the fact that they had long since startled the prey.

Walking down the cleared street, the long-cloak attendant trailing beside Jin Zhan finally lowered his voice. "My lord, where are we heading now after parading around like this? His Majesty has not given us much time!"

Jin Zhan said indifferently, "A rabbit hiding in its burrow is hard to flush out. But if you use hounds to chase them around haphazardly, the ones who cannot keep their composure will inevitably break cover."

"What if the rabbit doesn't come out?" the attendant asked, still worried.

"Even if they don't come out, we still have to flush the burrow. We have to put on a show for the people higher up! If we were to search slowly and meticulously..." Jin Zhan sneered.

Those nobles cared nothing for the lives of young maidens; all they required was an attitude. The more bombastic and dramatic the spectacle, the more dedicated and conscientious one appeared.

However, Jin Zhan was not wasting this opportunity for nothing.

"Ye Qing, give the order: tonight, all patrolling guards throughout the city must sweep every street corner and alley. Should they discover anything amiss, they are to conduct a search immediately."

"Understood, my lord!" Ye Qing acknowledged the command, issuing specific instructions to the surrounding squad leaders and platoon commanders.

Without a moment of hesitation, the men immediately turned their horses around and galloped off to patrol their respective wards.

At the Tang residence in Shun'an Ward, the masters in the main chambers were burning with anxiety, while the servants, not daring to sleep early, sat beside the candlelight, covering their mouths as they yawned endlessly.

Having spent the day wandering outside, Qin Mu was already fast asleep when Madam Qin pushed him awake. "Mu'er, tell me once more where else you went today. You are not permitted to conceal anything."

During the day, Concubine Ping had wanted to go out, claiming she felt lonely, and borrowed Qin Mu to accompany her, not returning until dusk.

The two of them had spent the entire day out without breathing a word of what they had been doing. Finally enduring until the dead of night, an anxious Madam Qin woke Qin Mu up to interrogate him.

Roused from his sleep with half-closed eyes, Qin Mu murmured drowsily, "Great-aunt, I remember you telling me not to look for that cheap woman. I didn't look for her; I just walked around outside with Aunt Ping."

"You truly didn't go looking for that cheap woman? Then what did you go do? Once that cheap woman is gone, she needn't ever think of coming back!" Unwilling to give up, Madam Qin pressed on.

Qin Mu pressed his lips together. Although his mind was fully awake, he kept his eyes closed and feigned sleepiness. "We just wandered around and ate donkey-meat fire-cakes."

He truly hadn't gone looking for his biological mother, Madam An. Opportunities to leave the house were rare; he could not afford to waste them carelessly.

During the day, the place he and Aunt Ping had visited was a sundry goods shop located on Jiuji Street. It was part of Lady Liu's dowry property, which Concubine Ping was ordinarily not permitted to manage.

Yet now, Lady Liu was flustered and at her wits' end, leaving the household administration without leadership. Concubine Ping had managed to wrest the family ledgers and storehouse keys from Tang Pinshan.

Although she could not immediately absorb these assets as her own in such a short time, Qin Mu had reminded Concubine Ping to seize the opportunity to inspect the accounts so she could gain a clear and thorough understanding of the family's actual properties in the future.

However, his exact phrasing at the time had been: *Wouldn't it be wonderful if Aunt Ping had money? Then whenever you want candied haws, you can buy candied haws! Whenever you want sesame cakes, you can buy sesame cakes.*

Lady Liu's sundry goods shop was not in the most prime location, but it was spacious, boasting a full five storefronts with an inn operating in the back courtyard, yielding a monthly profit of over twenty taels of silver.

Concubine Ping decided to go all the way: she thoroughly examined the ledgers of both establishments and meticulously questioned the staff regarding the business operations.

The employees running the shop had all been hired externally by Lady Liu. Upon hearing Concubine Ping declare herself a member of the Tang family and producing the shop keys, they held nothing back, laying out the ledgers, inventory records, and shipping logs in complete detail.

Gazing at the gleaming white silver, Concubine Ping felt as though the past few decades she had spent in the Tang household had been utterly wasted. In the past, whenever she suffered bullying from Lady Liu, her only recourse had been to use her body to trap Tang Pinshan in bed, leaving Lady Liu to endure an empty chamber alone.