gnovel Chapter 45 The Spy of the Lord's Mansion
Chapter 45 The Spy of the Lord's Mansion
Fuquan's face turned even uglier.
His lips trembled slightly, and a hint of panic flashed in his eyes.
"Tenth Master..." His voice trembled slightly, "This kind of spies... this servant has never done anything like that. What if we're discovered...?"
"Are you scared?" Yin'e looked at him, his tone neither too light nor too heavy.
Fuquan gritted his teeth, swallowed the word "fear," and puffed out his chest: "This servant is not afraid!"
Yin'e smiled and patted him on the shoulder.
That shot felt very real, like it was sending a signal of "I believe in you".
"You don't need to worry about being discovered. Batu doesn't know you. Although you two met today, he can't possibly remember a little eunuch in the gatehouse."
If you change into inconspicuous clothes and blend into the crowd of onlookers on the street, who will notice you?
"Besides, you only need to find out where he is. You don't need to get too close or take any risks."
If you encounter anything suspicious, write it down and come back to tell me, then I will make a judgment.
Fu Quan took a deep breath and slowly loosened his clenched fist.
"This servant understands." His voice was much steadyer than before. "Tenth Master, rest assured, this servant will be careful."
"And another thing," Yin'e took out a silver ingot from his sleeve and stuffed it into Fuquan's hand.
"Take this. Keeping an eye on people isn't something that can be done in a short time. You'll have to eat out, drink tea, and hire a car. Don't skimp on yourself. The rest will come back as a reward."
Fuquan took the silver, his fingers gripping it tightly.
He looked at Yin'e, his lips moved as if he wanted to say something to express his gratitude, but he found that his throat was so blocked that he couldn't utter a single word.
"Go ahead," Yin'e patted his back. "Be careful."
"Yes, sir." Fuquan bowed and ran out.
After Fuquan left, Yin'e did not return to his study, but went straight out of the mansion.
He did not bring any attendants or ride in a sedan chair; he simply changed into an inconspicuous gray cloth robe and wore a melon-shaped hat.
He mingled with the crowd on the street, winding his way towards the Court of Colonial Affairs.
The Court of Colonial Affairs is located to the west of the Six Ministries. It is a group of gray brick and gray tile buildings. The plaque above the gate is not large, but the characters are solemn and exude an air of maturity and composure.
This place is in charge of all affairs of the vassal states, including Mongolia, Tibet, and the Hui.
From the investiture of princes and nobles to the reception of tribute envoys, from grassland disputes to disaster relief, everything had to be handled here, and every matter had to be archived here.
Yin'e did not enter through the main gate.
The main gate is too conspicuous; you have to register to enter. It wouldn't look good if a prince came to investigate his brother-in-law's affairs.
He went around through the side door and found a side room filled with files.
The person in charge of the archives was surnamed Liu, a thin old man in his fifties, wearing reading glasses, and sitting at the table copying and writing.
When he saw someone come in, he looked up, squinted at Yin'e, and felt that he looked familiar, but he couldn't remember who it was.
"Sir, who are you looking for?"
Yin'e did not reveal his identity, but simply took out a folded piece of paper from his sleeve and handed it over.
The document reads "Records of disaster and relief efforts in the Urjin Garap region over the past three years".
"I'm here on behalf of the Ministry of War to retrieve files. The higher-ups want to check the border defense situation of various Mongolian tribes, so let's first look at the disaster records of the past few years."
Liu, the steward, took the note, glanced at it, and then looked at Yin'e, seemingly with some doubt.
But Yin'e had the face of a prince, an extraordinary demeanor, and although his clothes were simple, the materials and workmanship were of good quality, making him clearly not an ordinary person.
He hesitated for a moment, then stood up, walked to the rows of tall bookshelves, and began searching.
Dust swirled in the light. Chief Liu carried down several stacks of files, flipped through them for a while, finally shook his head, and returned to his desk.
"Sir, the archives of the Urjingarap tribe for the past three years are all here." He pointed to several files spread out on the table. "Take a look for yourself. You can see at a glance whether there are any records of disaster relief."
Yin'e walked over and began flipping through the books one by one.
In the 43rd year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, no disasters were reported.
In the 44th year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, no disasters were reported.
In the 45th year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, no disasters were reported.
From the 46th year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign to the present, there are no records whatsoever. There were no reports of white disasters, plagues, grassland disputes, or requests for imperial relief.
He flipped through records from even earlier years, but still found nothing.
The archives of the Urjingarap tribe were clean and empty.
Yin'e closed the files, placed them back on the table, and nodded to Steward Liu: "Thank you."
Then he turned and left the Court of Colonial Affairs.
Walking down the street, he quickened his pace considerably compared to when he arrived, keeping his head down and his hat brim pulled low so that no one could see his face.
really.
There was nothing in the records of the Court of Colonial Affairs.
What exactly is Batu up to?
Over the next few days, Yin'e remained outwardly calm, eating and drinking as usual, occasionally visiting his wife to bring her small gifts.
After a few private words, Ulan was in a bad mood, her eyes were always a little red, as if she had cried in a secluded place.
She didn't mention Batu, and Yin'e didn't ask either.
But her attitude towards him was gentler than before.
Sometimes, if he sat for too long, she would refill his tea.
Sometimes when he got up to leave, she would see him to the door and say, "Tenth Master, take care."
The favorability rating increased from 31.2 to 33.5.
The increase wasn't significant, but the direction was correct.
Batu's side, Fuquan would come back every evening to report, sometimes verbally, sometimes by handing over a piece of paper covered with writing.
By piecing together the fragmented information, Yin'e gradually began to see the clues.
Batu did not stay at the inn.
He lived in the house of a Mongolian merchant in the south of the city. The merchant was in the fur business and had long-term trade relations with the Urjingalap tribe.
Batu has been in the capital for five days.
Two days before Wulan found out, no one knows where he went first.
His daily routine was very regular: he would go out in the morning to drink tea at a teahouse on Qianmen Street, where he would sit for one or two hours, as if he were waiting for someone.
In the afternoon, I sometimes go to the theater to listen to plays, sometimes stroll around the antique street, and occasionally enter some houses with plaques hanging on them.
Those houses were either gambling dens or brothels; they weren't respectable places at all.
He did not meet with anyone.
Or rather, he did not meet with anyone who appeared to be a respectable businessman or a government official.
For the past five days, he has only done one thing: look for his sister and ask her for money.
On the evening of the fifth day, Fuquan returned.
As soon as he entered the door, Yin'e was stunned.
Fuquan seemed like a completely different person.
His robes were wrinkled like pickled vegetables, covered in dust and grease, and the cuffs were shiny black.
His face was weary, his eye sockets were deeply sunken, his eye circles were so dark it looked like he had been punched twice, and his lips were chapped and peeling.
His steps were unsteady, as if he were walking on cotton. As soon as he entered the door, he leaned against the door frame and panted for a while, as if he might collapse at any moment.
"Tenth Master...this servant...this servant is back."
Yin'e quickly stood up, strode over, grabbed his arm, and pulled him to sit down on a chair.
"How did things get like this? Did you get caught?" Yin'e asked with some concern.
"No, I'm just tired because I haven't been sleeping much these past few days."
Yin'e poured Fuquan a glass of water and handed it to him, then said, "Have some water first, catch your breath. What have you discovered these past few days?"