Deities Are All Just My Food-Chapter 2166 - 963: Case Solved! (Part 2)

Gu Qingqiu acknowledged Lin Baici’s judgment.

"..."

The magistrate looked dejected.

"Then according to this, haven’t we wasted all our efforts after all this time?"

Xia Hongyao was puzzled.

"Not at all, these instead are evidence proving that Shen Caishen has issues!"

Gu Qingqiu smiled slightly, looking at the servant: "Who discovered that the second steward’s son had returned to his hometown?"

The servant said it was his distant cousin who followed him as an idle servant.

Gu Qingqiu had the servant bring in that cousin.

Such a person is generally meticulous.

When a young man followed the servant in, he knelt on the ground from a distance.

"Get up and speak!"

Gu Qingqiu scrutinized the young man: "What has been happening in Shen Caishen’s home recently? Tell me about it!"

The young servant began to narrate.

The only daughter died, and someone in the inner quarters was thinking about taking another concubine for Mr. Shen to have a son. Some were celebrating with glee; in short, there was quite a bit of family chaos.

Because of this, a house-born servant offended Mr. Shen, was beaten, and then driven out of the house.

Upon hearing this, Lin Baici and Gu Qingqiu immediately raised an eyebrow and exchanged a glance.

"Tell us about this house-born servant!"

Gu Qingqiu demanded.

"He was just gossiping, saying that the young lady’s death was heard by Mr. Shen."

The young servant seized the chance to show his loyalty: "Such people who speak behind the master’s back should be beaten to death on the spot. Just being driven out is too lenient for him!"

"Where did this house-born servant go?"

Hua Yue Yu pursued the question.

"Where else could he go? Back to his rural hometown!"

The young servant thought the beauty’s question was naive.

"Which rural village?"

Xia Hongyao probed further.

"I don’t know!"

The young servant shook his head.

"Then why did you say he went back to the rural village?"

Xia Hongyao interrogated.

"..."

The young servant was frustrated: "If not back to the rural village, where else? In ancient times, without a travel permit, going out would get you arrested by the authorities. Plus, security wasn’t good back then. Leaving one’s hometown to make a living had a high probability of dying."

"You may leave now!"

After letting the servants go, Gu Qingqiu looked toward the magistrate: "Sir, this afternoon, give the order to let the soldiers prepare to leave the city and search Shen Caishen’s estates tomorrow."

"The estate where this house-born servant is located is the primary target!"

"Do you want to alert them and force them to reveal themselves?"

The magistrate worried that Gu Qingqiu and the others might mess up: "The risk is too great, swift action is the key to success. Why not mobilize the troops now and raid that estate!"

"What if the person is not hiding on the estate?"

Lin Baici countered.

"..."

The magistrate was left speechless.

"Magistrate, we’ll leave this matter to you!"

Gu Qingqiu stood up: "Prepare a few fast horses, we’re heading to that estate right now!"

"Alright!"

The magistrate agreed because this foreign woman and the young man were composed and unflustered, clearly experts.

Worthy of being entrusted with important tasks.

"The life and property of my family, I’ll entrust to you both!"

The magistrate rose and bowed to Lin Baici and Gu Qingqiu.

...

With the guidance arranged by the magistrate and the locals, Lin Baici’s party arrived at a small village called Shenjia’ao in the afternoon.

Lin Baici disguised as a scholar rushing to the capital for an exam, entered the village, and upon seeing a young woman hoeing a vegetable garden in the yard, politely cupped his hands.

"I, a scholar rushing to the capital for an exam, passed by here, parched and hungry, seeking a bowl of water!"

Lin Baici spoke and took out a dozen copper coins, handing them over.

"No need for formalities, sir. It’s just a bowl of water, no need for money."

The young woman bowed to Lin Baici with her head lowered: "Please wait a moment, sir!"

After that, the young woman went back inside and quickly came out with a bowl of water, even with two pieces of bread in her hand.

"If you don’t mind, sir, you can fill your belly a bit."

The young woman didn’t let Lin Baici enter the yard, after all, in these times, there are strict boundaries between men and women.

"Thank you, young lady!"

Lin Baici put away the copper coin and replaced it with a tael of broken silver, leaving it by the fence.

Seeing this scene, the young woman had a much improved impression of this young man and her wariness decreased considerably.

Taking advantage of the situation, Lin Baici struck up a conversation, and without realizing it, began to inquire about recent happenings in the village.

...

Outside the village, Xia Hongyao hid behind a tree, watching Lin Baici and the young woman chatting from a distance.

"Little Linzi really is a lady killer!"

Xia Hongyao laughed out loud.

"Oppa is so handsome, even foreigners would see him as a heartthrob, let alone a young woman who’s never been far from home, it’s no wonder she’d be dazzled by him!"

Kim Myungjin thought it might be best not to alert the prey prematurely, with Oppa’s charm offensive, that woman was spilling everything.

Lin Baici didn’t come back immediately, but ate a meal at the young woman’s home, then took a turn around the village before coming back.

"How did it go?"

Gu Qingqiu quipped: "Was the farmhouse meal tasty?"

"This must be the place!"

Lin Baici ignored Gu Qingqiu’s teasing: "The village’s ancestral hall has been under renovation recently, many people have come and gone, during this process, it’s easy to quietly bring some women in."

"And of course, the most important thing is that the threshing ground matches the painting by Shen Wealth God, hence he must know his daughter is hidden here!"

Upon hearing this, everyone’s spirits lifted.

"The question now is, where are those maiden girls hidden?"

Xia Hongyao rubbed her hands, preparing to dig three feet into the village.

"Why not capture everyone in the village and interrogate them?"

Kim Myungjin liked things to be straightforward and brutal.

"Grab that house servant, he’s definitely sent by Shen Wealth God to oversee things."

Fish Dumpling Man wasn’t foolish.

It seems like expelling a family, but actually it’s the only way to lessen suspicion and attention from others.

"No rush!"

Lin Baici checked the sky: "Wait for the follow-up plan!"

Gu Qingqiu and Xia Hongyao stayed to wait, while others searched around the village and town.

In the evening, a fast horse dashed into the village, entering a farmhouse.

"It’s here!"

This time, even Xia Hongyao knew they found the right place.

It was the house of that house servant.

About ten minutes later, the messenger left, and as night fell, the house servant came out, knocked on several households, rallied seven or eight strong men, and then quietly left the village.

...

Back hill ancestral hall.

Cellar.

The house servant entered, immediately smelling the mixture of sweat and cosmetics.

It had been a long time, and without careful washing, everyone was naturally quite shabby.

"Ladies, the prefect is going to search Shen Family Hill tomorrow, let’s head into the mountains now!"

Though the house servant spoke in a consultative tone, his attitude was unquestionable; after speaking, he began pressing everyone to move quickly.

"Don’t worry, my master has anticipated this, there’s a hiding place in the mountains!"

Soon, more than twenty young girls climbed out of the cellar and exited the ancestral hall.

They didn’t notice that in the distant fields, Lin Baici and the others were crouched alongside the ridges, quietly watching them like hunters stalking their prey.

"Haha, finally found these women!"

Fish Dumpling Man rejoiced, unable to resist patting Lin Baici’s shoulder.

If it were him, he wouldn’t know how long it would take; Lin Baici and Gu Qingqiu sorted it out as soon as they came.

Truly formidable!

"What now?"

Xia Hongyao asked: "Does this mean we should take them into custody?"

"If we capture them, will they be sent to the palace?"

Hua Yue Yu frowned: "From their demeanor, they seem to be cooperating with that house servant, maybe they don’t want to enter the palace?"

"Why do you care what they want?"

Fish Dumpling Man thought Hua Yue Yu was too sentimental: "This is rule pollution, put away your compassion!"

"Rule pollution doesn’t arise without reason, the contents depicted in that ancient painting might be events that truly happened in history!"

Xia Hongyao watched the girls: "And historically, who knows what their final fate was?"

"Follow them, wait for my signal, and act!"

Lin Baici took the lead and stealthily moved forward.