Chapter 104: The Peasant Girl’s Splendid Manor
Chapter 104: Brazen (Part 1)
After arranging matters related to Qu Shui, Xiao Ruiyuan hurried back to the military office. Apart from leaving eight hundred men to guard the military office in case of any other unexpected incidents, the remaining seventeen hundred men were divided into two groups. Half were dispatched to the major city gates and roads to search for suspicious individuals, while the other half headed directly out of the city, pursuing in various directions.
Such a big movement easily attracted the attention of various forces. Plus, Xiao Ruiyuan was a confidant of Prince Chu Heng. Those ambitious princes had long wanted to remove Xiao Ruiyuan as the commander of the Five City Garrison and replace him with their own people. If they found out that so many people were sent out just to capture human traffickers, Xiao Ruiyuan would definitely face impeachment by the imperial censor during the morning court the next day.
So, Xiao Ruiyuan directly pinned the reason for this operation on Yan Junyu's head, claiming that "Young Master Yan was assassinated by an assassin and needed to be pursued with full force to deter all the outlaws."
Yan Junyu was a well-known playboy in the capital city. However, since he was the nephew of the Empress Dowager and was deeply favored by both the Empress Dowager and his uncle, Emperor Hui'an, even those royal princes had to politely address him as "cousin." With his status, dispatching the Five City Garrison to pursue the assassin after being "assassinated," no one could object.
However, there was quite a delay in the middle. By the time all the arrangements were made, it was already a step too late, and the suspicious individuals couldn't be intercepted at the major intersections.
At this moment, on the corner of the road near the South Gate, there were four or five simple horse carriages parked.
"Fatty, what should we do if there are guards checking at the city gate?"
The front carriage was occupied by two middle-aged men, one fat and one thin, both looking very honest. The thin man looked at the pedestrians queuing up for inspection with a sense of trepidation and asked the fat man.
"You're such a coward? I have a travel pass given by the officials. What are you afraid of?" The man called Fatty waved his fat hand indifferently and was about to continue forward.
"Fatty, let's be cautious. Why don't you try using the pass first?" The thin man was worried. This time, they were planning a big operation. If things went wrong, it wouldn't just be a matter of serving a few years in prison.
Fatty looked at the four carriages behind him and thought for a moment before handing the reins to the thin man. "Fine, then I'll go and check it out first."
The thin man took the reins and cautioned, "Be careful and don't let anyone suspect anything."
"Alright, alright, I know. You just wait here." Fatty waved impatiently and strode towards the city gate.
The thin man got off the carriage and informed his companions behind, instructing them to be vigilant. Then, he returned to the carriage.
The city gate was brightly lit, and the thin man saw Fatty talking to the guard for a long time without turning back. He couldn't help but look at the sky, estimating that it was almost time to close the gate, feeling a little anxious.
At this moment, Fatty walked back unhurriedly. When he approached, the thin man asked in a low voice, "How is it? Can we pass?"
"That damn guard is being very strict with the inspection this time. All passing carriages must be searched. We can't get out." Fatty slapped the carriage hard, cursing under his breath.
"What? How could this happen? What should we do now?" The thin man panicked, and a thought flashed through his mind. His face changed drastically. "Fatty, did we catch the wrong target?"
Upon hearing this, Fatty slapped him hard on the back of his head. "We already checked everything in advance. How could we catch the wrong target? If we did, the city gate would have closed long ago. Would they still let us leave?"
The thin man thought it made sense and breathed a sigh of relief. "Then what do we do now?"
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