Chapter 19: I will not see you out

*Dong, dong, dong*—the sound of a wooden fish being struck entered his ears, and the air was filled with a faint scent of sandalwood.

He had long heard that Zhenjiang Prefect Zhou Yunqing was a devout Buddhist. When he had nothing to do, he would go to Jinshan Temple or Jiaoshan Temple to worship Buddha, and he also enshrined a Bodhisattva in his own home, worshipping it constantly.

Now it seemed that this was likely not a rumor.

Tang Zheng was not in a hurry and did not interrupt Zhou Yunqing, but instead found a chair outside the incense hall and sat down.

After about the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, Zhou Yunqing finished worshipping the Bodhisattva and came out of the incense hall. Seeing Tang Zheng, he asked, "Commander, what brings you here?"

Although the words were polite, the tone clearly held a coldness that kept people at a distance.

Tang Zheng was stunned—in his imagination, Zhou Yunqing's attitude toward him shouldn't be like this.

"Prefect Zhou, you are too polite." He glanced at the butler standing to the side and said, "Of course I have business coming to find you, but..."

"You may leave." Zhou Yunqing understood and ordered the butler to leave.

"Yes, Master."

After the butler left, Zhou Yunqing said again, "There are no outsiders here now. Commander, you can speak directly."

Only then did Tang Zheng put on a cheap smile and say, "Prefect Zhou, I came specifically to apologize to you. My attitude yesterday was not good, and my words were unpleasant. Please don't take offense."

"Commander, what are you saying?" Zhou Yunqing said expressionlessly. "We are all working for the people and sharing the Emperor's worries; our duties are just different. There is no question of taking offense."

"That's good, that's good. Actually, the reason I came here is very simple, it's just that..."

As Tang Zheng spoke, he raised his eyebrows at Zhou Yunqing and rubbed his fingers together, making a gesture for money.

Zhou Yunqing frowned: "What do you mean?"

"Prefect Zhou, there's no one else here, why pretend to be ignorant?"

"Pretend to be ignorant of what?"

"I mean, some things are understood by everyone, so there's no need to say them out loud, right?" Tang Zheng pretended to be familiar and put his arm around Zhou Yunqing's shoulder. "Three thousand taels is a bit low. As long as you are willing to spend a little more silver, I can help you destroy the evidence of your corruption in the water transport."

However, his hand was slapped away by Zhou Yunqing.

"Hmph, I had long heard that there are some dregs in the Embroidered Uniform Guard who eat the Emperor's salary but do not do the Emperor's work. It is because of people like you that the imperial court is in such a foul state."

This sentence was completely beyond Tang Zheng's expectations. He was stunned for a while, then suddenly threatened, "Prefect Zhou, you have a lot of nerve to dare speak to me like this. Do you not know the methods of the Embroidered Uniform Guard?"

"I know, but I walk straight and stand tall. If you have evidence of my corruption, feel free to throw me into the Imperial Prison. But if you have no evidence, it won't be so easy for you to frame me."

This time, Tang Zheng stared at Zhou Yunqing for a full ten seconds. Seeing that the other party's expression did not change at all, he suddenly piled on a smile and said, "Misunderstanding, it was completely a misunderstanding. I was actually just here to test you, Prefect."

"And now you've tested me?"

"Yes! Yes!" Tang Zheng gave a thumbs up and said, "Prefect Zhou is definitely an honest official, a very honest official."

Facing Tang Zheng's flattery, Zhou Yunqing just sneered: "I will not see you out!"

……

Su Xiaoxi and Lin Zuo were waiting outside the back door of the Prefectural Office. As time passed, Su Xiaoxi's mood became increasingly restless.

"The Commander has been inside for so long, nothing will happen to him, right?"

"No." Lin Zuo shook his head. "Regardless of whether his plan succeeds or not, he himself is in no danger."

Before he could finish his sentence, he heard a *creak*—the back door of the office was pushed open.

The butler sent Tang Zheng out and said respectfully, "Walk slowly, Commander."

Tang Zheng also said politely, "Alright, no need to see me off."

However, just as he finished speaking, the other party had already closed the door, looking as if they had no intention of seeing him off at all, which was somewhat embarrassing.

Seeing Tang Zheng come out, Su Xiaoxi and Lin Zuo hurried up to meet him.

"How is it? Any gains?"

"No." Tang Zheng shook his head.

Lin Zuo asked curiously, "Zhou Yunqing is actually that airtight?"

"No." Tang Zheng hesitated and said, "We seem to have thought about it the wrong way before."

"What do you mean?"

"It's not convenient here." Tang Zheng looked around and lowered his voice, "Let's talk when we get back."

……

The three of them returned to Su Xiaoxi's home once again. After entering the house, Tang Zheng recounted the entire conversation he had with Zhou Yunqing.

"As you said, Zhou Yunqing seems to know nothing about the three-thousand-tael silver note?" Lin Zuo asked, frowning.

"Yes."

Su Xiaoxi asked in confusion, "But Li Sheng said it was sent by Zhou Yunqing! Could it be that Zhou Yunqing was pretending?"

Lin Zuo: "No. If he had sent the silver, there would be no need for him to pretend when we came to ask for money. On the contrary, he should have been happy, because dragging us into the water would mean he was safe."

Tang Zheng: "Then you mean—this money wasn't sent by Zhou Yunqing at all, but by Li Sheng in his name?"

Lin Zuo: "Very likely."

Su Xiaoxi suddenly realized: "In that case, the water transport corruption is actually Li Sheng's doing?"

Lin Zuo: "Most likely."

Tang Zheng, however, still didn't quite understand: "Then why didn't he just send the money himself? Why use Zhou Yunqing's name?"

Lin Zuo: "I think he probably didn't want to expose himself."

Tang Zheng: "But as long as we meet with the Prefect, it's very easy for this to be exposed."

"He can just deny it to the end." Lin Zuo stood up and paced a few steps, saying thoughtfully, "There is another possibility: he has already found a way out for himself and just wants to stall us for now."

Before he could finish, Tang Zheng slammed the table and stood up, saying loudly, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go catch him!"

"No." Lin Zuo waved his hand at Tang Zheng. "Just now, these were all our speculations; we still have no evidence. And it's easy to alert the enemy."

Tang Zheng: "Isn't this silver note evidence?"

Lin Zuo: "If he doesn't admit that he gave this silver note, we can't do anything to him, and Zhou Yunqing might not believe what we say either."

"Then tell me, where can we find evidence?" Tang Zheng slammed the table hard and said angrily, "Besides, there are only two days left. If we don't hurry, it will be too late."

Lin Zuo frowned and said nothing. The atmosphere became somewhat awkward for a moment.

Just then, Su Xiaoxi, who hadn't said much, interjected: "You say, where did the grain on those sunken ships go?" ===== CHAPTER 20 =====