Chapter 374

In the end, he did not stay for a meal; it was a waste of time.

After Cui Linyu left, Su Qiao immediately called Ma Kui and the others over.

"Send people to watch him in shifts immediately; he is going to produce something this time!"

"Yes!"

After Ma Kui and the others also left, Su Qiao breathed a sigh of relief, sat in the chair, and only then opened the box with a sense of relief.

Inside the box was a stack of silver notes.

Plus what was outside, that made four or five hundred thousand taels!

What a grand gesture!

With so much money, Su Qiao had to sigh that they were truly rolling in wealth.

However, the money was too much; Su Qiao could not take it all.

After Cui Linyu's matter was resolved, he would report to Zhu Youjian and could still receive a considerable share.

He just did not know if Cui Linyu, upon finally discovering he had been deceived by Su Qiao, would act out of desperation!

In any case, Su Qiao was not worried; he had prepared for this long ago.

Coming out of Su Fu, just as Su Qiao had guessed, Cui Linyu did not return to the guest house immediately.

Instead, he went to the market and strolled there, buying some trivial items.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard following behind him all made discoveries.

It seemed Cui Linyu intended to meet someone; fearing he was being followed, he came to the market.

But the Embroidered Uniform Guard were all veterans; there were many of them, and they had great tacit understanding among themselves.

They acted very naturally on Cui Linyu's left and right.

Cui Linyu naturally did not discover them.

After wasting nearly a quarter of an hour in the market and finding no tail, he breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.

Do not look at how, when he was at Su Fu earlier, he seemed to trust Su Qiao very much and appeared full of confidence.

But he also worried about being deceived, about being fooled.

If he was deceived, if the matter was not accomplished, and so much money was lost, upon returning to the country, he would absolutely be flayed alive by Li Kangcheng!

He knew very well how ruthless Li Kangcheng was!

So he must prepare his backup plan.

Now that he saw no tail following him, it proved Su Qiao believed him, or rather, that Su Qiao could be trusted for the time being.

Without wasting time, he turned left and right, turning into an alley entrance.

He stopped in front of a hidden door inside the alley.

He knocked on the door according to the agreed rhythm.

The door was quickly opened by someone, and Cui Linyu flashed inside in an instant.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard outside did not enter immediately; instead, they waited for a long while before quietly investigating.

"It seems Mr. Su guessed correctly; this fellow absolutely has no good intentions!"

"He is just a bringer of wealth; he has gone to Mr. Su's house several times, each time giving away huge amounts of money freely. This time, he has probably invested his entire savings."

"Sigh, possibly. In a couple of days, it will be the time for their Korean envoys to present tribute; he must have some idea."

"What idea could he have? Someone like him will definitely be finished when the time comes!"

"I did not expect you to be quite smart."

Zhao Xifang interrupted everyone's idle chat at this moment and said, "Do not talk about these things for now. Investigate the residents inside here one by one immediately, then determine exactly which courtyard Cui Linyu went to and who is inside."

"Yes, we will investigate immediately!"

"Hurry up. Call for more people as a precaution, and check the back door to keep watch!"

"Yes!"

Zhao Xifang's expression was calm; his arrangements were logical and well-founded, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard immediately began to act.

They were very experienced in doing this kind of work; it was very easy for them.

In no time, they confirmed the specific situation of this alley.

First, there were five households inside.

Two were ordinary people, very ordinary, the kind whose ancestors could be traced back eighteen generations.

These could be completely ruled out.

Of the remaining three courtyards, one was a place bought by a wealthy man specifically to keep a mistress; the other two were a courtyard belonging to the Duke Prefecture and a warehouse bought by someone several years ago to store things.

No matter how one looked at it, the remaining three courtyards all seemed problematic.

Whether the mistress situation was real or not, without seeing the actual situation inside, no one dared to say for sure that there was nothing wrong.

This could only be investigated specifically!

The property courtyard of the Duke Prefecture was also almost left idle; occasionally someone was sent to clean it, and the rest was similarly unmanaged.

If someone was hiding there, it would not be exposed in a short time.

The third one was the warehouse for storing things.

This was the courtyard with the most suspicious points!

After all, very few people placed a warehouse in such a central position, right at the very end of the alley.

After all, moving things was inconvenient.

After listening to his subordinates' report, Zhao Xifang waved his hand and said, "Since all three courtyards have suspicious points, investigate them all together; not one can be spared. We do not have much time; we must have results within these one or two days!"

"We will investigate this immediately!"

Everyone knew time was tight and the task heavy, and it had to be resolved before Cui Linyu and the others went to court to face the Emperor.

Otherwise, it would easily affect what followed, leading to fish slipping through the net!

"Everyone rest assured. Mr. Su said that if everyone does a good job, he will definitely issue a bonus of ten thousand taels for everyone to share!"

Su Qiao was very clear on the theory of giving a stick followed by a sweet date.

And it worked very well!

Sure enough, as soon as Zhao Xifang mentioned the bonus, and that it was ten thousand taels.

Everyone's eyes instantly lit up, and they were no longer sleepy.

Having motivation makes it easier to get things done!

In the blink of an eye, two days passed.

It was finally the time for the Korean envoys, including Cui Linyu, to enter the palace to face the Emperor and present tribute.

Compared to the chief envoy of the Korean delegation, Cui Linyu, the deputy envoy, felt uneasy and nervous today.

After all, the money had already been given; that was hundreds of thousands of taels of silver.

It was all to get Su Qiao to step in and help.

Hoping it would work.

He didn't know what was wrong; the closer he got to the main palace hall, the more apprehensive he became, fearing both gain and loss.

Fortunately, the main procedures were led by the chief envoy, so as long as Cui Linyu followed along, he was fine.

He scanned the hall but found no trace of Su Qiao.

His heart skipped a beat!

Then he comforted himself, reasoning that Su Qiao was after all not an official in the Great Ming court.

It was normal for him not to appear at such an important occasion.

Next, Zhu Youjian looked at them with a slightly majestic air.

Then he waved his hand and said, "The King of Korea has his thoughts. Matters from the Wanli reign shall be settled in the Wanli reign; if there is evidence, bring it out."

Hearing these words, Cui Linyu suddenly grew tense.

This script is wrong!

According to common sense, shouldn't Your Majesty ask, and I argue with reason, present evidence, and engage in a battle of wits with Great Ming, exhausting all efforts, before finally obtaining the item?

By then, after returning to the Kingdom of Korea, I would be hailed as a hero, and no one would dare to oppose me!

Why does this feel so different?