Chapter 94: Do Not Move Without a Plan

"Young Master, what should we do... A-Wu wouldn't wander off... She never wanders off!!!!!!!!!"

Discovering that A-Wu was missing, the Strong Man was so anxious he lost his head, his hands trembling slightly.

Wang Yang said: "Don't be anxious yet. Are you sure you saw A-Wu here just now? Are you sure it wasn't long after you saw her that she disappeared?"

"I'm sure! I saw her come to carry firewood with my own eyes, and I even reminded her not to carry too much! How could she disappear in the blink of an eye!"

Yuyang Le Pang looked at the firewood scattered on the ground at the gate of the residence and asked in confusion: "Could it be that some human traffickers dare to snatch people in broad daylight?"

"Human traffickers..." The Strong Man felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar. "No, I have to go save her!" He rushed out regardless, but his footsteps were unsteady, and he almost fell.

Yuyang Le Pang had his servants stop the Strong Man and advised: "You don't even know the direction, where are you going to look? Besides, it might not be human traffickers. Would they have the guts to kidnap people in the city? Like this, I'll send people out to look, and I'll call the people from the Commandery School to join in too."

Chen Qingshan hurried over; Wang Yang had just asked her to go up to the roof to check the situation around them.

"How is it?" Wang Yang asked.

Chen Qingshan's expression was solemn, and she shook her head.

Yuyang Le Pang suggested to Wang Yang: "Why don't we split up to look? I can also go home and call some more people."

The Strong Man hurriedly nodded, an expression of immense gratitude appearing on his face.

Wang Yang pondered in silence.

The Strong Man said with a sobbing tone: "Young Master! If we don't look now, it'll be too late!"

"Qingshan just looked around from a high place and didn't find any traces. Even if we go look now, without a clue, we won't find anything." Wang Yang paused and said: "A-Wu was just kidnapped. It's past the hour of You (5-7 PM), and the city gates are closed. The perpetrators can't get out of the city. So A-Wu is still in the city! Strong Man, tell me the truth, what grudge do you have with Du Sanye?"

"Du... Du Sanye? I... I'm just a soldier household, how could I have a grudge against him? I only borrowed money from him, and later the Young Master paid off the debt for me, and I haven't seen him since. Does the Young Master think Du Sanye kidnapped A-Wu? But... but why?"

"You owed more than thirteen thousand coins, and Du Sanye wanted to take A-Wu to settle the debt. If he does business like this, wouldn't he be losing money?"

A flash of unbelievable shock crossed the Strong Man's eyes, his voice trembling:

"This... this was written in the contract before! I... I didn't think that much... I thought he was just doing things according to the rules. Besides, more than thirteen thousand coins, most of it was inflated interest. I thought he just wanted to recover the principal... How could... how is that possible???"

Le Pang interjected: "The Third Master Du you're talking about, is it Third Master Du of the Guangyuan Mansion?"

Wang Yang said: "You've heard of him too?"

"Yes. This person has the backing of the Prince of Luling and is connected to both the underworld and the authorities. He has some influence in the city, but he's a moneylender. I've never heard of him being involved in human trafficking."

That's right, Yu Yuling had said that Third Master Du's daughter was a concubine of the Prince of Luling, and the owner behind the Guangyuan Mansion might also be the Prince of Luling. If that was the case, reporting to the authorities might not be useful.

Now, the first things to consider are two matters: First, where did they hide A-Wu? Second, how to save her after finding the place?

Wang Yang bowed to Yuyang Le Pang: "Le, I want to ask you for a favor."

Yuyang Le Pang hurriedly helped Wang Yang up: "Why are you being so polite between brothers! If I can help, I definitely will!"

"I want to ask your father for help, to send troops to search Du Sanye's residence."

Liu Zhao was a school official, Xie Xinghan was a guest, he was on good terms with Yu Yuling but not familiar with the Yu family; Zong Ce's son, Zong Rui, was the Assistant Magistrate of Nanjun, an administrative official in charge of household registration... Counting them all, in his network of relationships, only Yuyang Le Pang's father was most suitable to help with this matter.

Jingzhou was not only a civilian province but also a military prefecture, so it implemented a "dual-track system of province and prefecture," meaning two sets of systems: administrative and military.

The Inspector of Jingzhou held the power of military and political affairs and was the true "number one."

From the Inspector of Jingzhou downwards, the provincial official system was headed by the Assistant to the Governor and the Assistant Administrator, while the prefectural official system was headed by the Chief Clerk and the Military Advisor.

The powers of the two systems overlapped, but under the strong military pressure of the Northern Dynasties, civil administration naturally had to give way to military administration. Therefore, the power of prefectural officials was generally greater than that of provincial officials, and there was a gradual trend of encroaching on the duties of provincial officials.

But Le Yue Xiao Pang's father was the Bieja of Jingzhou, ranking first among provincial officials.

The full name of the Assistant to the Governor was Assistant to the Governor and Attendant, similar to a deputy governor. Even if he was suppressed by the Chief Clerk and the Military Advisor, and his actual power was greatly reduced, he was still one of the top figures in the Jingzhou leadership team. To deal with Third Master Du, it had to be him!

Yuyang Le Pang was a bit embarrassed: "This... if it were searching an ordinary person, it would be no problem, but this Du Sanye... speaking of which, he's not a remarkable character, just a common surname, and he has no official position, so everyone looks down on him, but he has the protection of the Prince of Luling. To search his residence, we must have solid evidence."

"What if the person is inside?"

Yuyang Le Pang thought about it and said: "That's still hard to handle. My father has no military power. Even if he wants to search, he has to go through the Jiangling County Government. But if Du Sanye comes out to stop it and pulls out the Prince of Luling as a tiger skin, then the people from the county government won't dare to break in rashly."

Wang Yang remained silent.

The Strong Man had already broken out of his initial state of panic and confusion. Seeing that the matter had reached a stalemate, a look of determination appeared on his dark face. He immediately knelt and kowtowed three times to Wang Yang:

"It is the blessing of several lifetimes that I can follow the Young Master!!! The Young Master has already helped my family enough, and he shouldn't be dragged into such matters again. Since this matter started with me, it should be solved by me. I will repay the Young Master in the next life!"

After saying this, he stood up and walked toward the courtyard; he was going to get his Yuzhang saber.

Wang Yang shouted: "Stop right there!"

"Young Master!"

Wang Yang's expression darkened: "How are you going to solve it? It's nothing more than taking a knife and risking your life. Can you save A-Wu by risking your life? Even if you want to risk your life, you can't do it this way. Plan before you act! Since you have become my retainer, you should listen to me!"

The Strong Man fell to his knees with a thud, his eyes reddening: "Young Master, I..."

Wang Yang stepped forward and patted the Strong Man on the shoulder, his voice softening a lot: "I know you are anxious to save your daughter, but you must have a method in doing things. The more anxious you are, the more chaotic you will be."

Chen Qingshan suddenly said: "I can catch that person off guard, subdue him, and then force him to reveal A-Wu's whereabouts."

The Strong Man's eyes lit up, and he saw hope in an instant. But after what had just happened, he was no longer reckless, but looked at Wang Yang, waiting for his instructions.

Wang Yang shook his head: "Not to mention that a person like Du Sanye is not so easy to subdue, even if you can subdue him, what if he insists he doesn't know? What can you do? Use private torture? Or kill him directly? If you break the criminal law, Du Sanye will bite back, and in the end, you still won't find the person. How will you clean up the mess then?"

Chen Qingshan remained silent.

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Note: For the dual-track system of province and prefecture, see Mr. Yan Gengwang's *Local Administrative System of the Wei, Jin, Northern and Southern Dynasties*. ===== CHAPTER 95 =====