Chapter 117: Everyone is a Master of Unique Skills

"Being able to catch Tian Erni is all thanks to your Excellency's strategic planning and advance arrangements." Wang Peng first offered a bit of flattery, then said, "We followed your instructions to lie in ambush on the outskirts of Tianjiaba; I didn't expect that Tian Erni would actually return this morning."

Pei Shaoqing was stunned. He had made those arrangements just in case, holding the mindset of "hitting the tree to see if any dates fall," but he hadn't expected to actually catch someone.

"What about the Fox Demon?" he asked after regaining his composure.

Wang Peng shook his head and replied, "She wasn't by Tian Erni's side, and she didn't confess where she was either. I don't know if the Hundred-Household Officer has managed to pry her mouth open yet."

"Does she know what happened at Tianjiaba?" Pei Shaoqing pondered for a moment and asked another question.

Wang Peng was taken aback. "She shouldn't know. We pinned her down before she even entered the village, though I don't know if the Hundred-Household Officer and the others let it slip during their interrogation."

"Speed up," Pei Shaoqing ordered.

Zhou Li estimated the distance and time, leading his men to wait outside the Hundred-Household Office in advance. He waited less than half a cup of tea's time before seeing Pei Shaoqing and his men ride over on horseback.

The old bureaucrat's precise control over time!

"Baron of Pingyang," Zhou Li stepped forward to welcome him.

Pei Shaoqing dismounted. "How is the interrogation going?"

"We've used all the heavy tortures, but she won't spill a word. We can't actually kill her, yet we find ourselves helpless against a woman." Zhou Li looked ashamed and embarrassed.

Pei Shaoqing raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. The Jing'an Guard's prison couldn't pry open a woman's mouth; this Tian Erni was truly a tough nut to crack. "Take me to see her."

"Please, Baron of Pingyang," Zhou Li raised his hand to lead the way.

Arriving at the prison, Pei Shaoqing saw Tian Erni, who had been tortured until her body was covered in blood. At this moment, she was tied to a wooden stake, her hair disheveled, looking miserable.

Hearing footsteps, a weak Tian Erni raised her head. Recognizing Pei Shaoqing, she revealed a mocking smile. "I didn't expect that I would be able to meet the Baron of Pingyang in a place other than Qunfang Yuan."

Zhao Zhilan and Liu Yuheng's expressions shifted slightly.

"You slut, hold your tongue! My visits to Qunfang Yuan were merely for drinking; do not spout nonsense to ruin my reputation," Pei Shaoqing scolded righteously.

Zhao Zhilan breathed a sigh of relief.

Liu Yuheng's expression also returned to normal; she had said that Pei Shaoqing didn't seem like the type to be fond of courtesans.

"That part is true enough," Tian Erni said, looking around the room with a smile. "Everyone in this room, except for those who came with the Baron of Pingyang, which one of you isn't an old acquaintance of mine? I know the length and girth of your goods clearly. Now that you've put your clothes on and act all high and mighty to interrogate me, it really is both ridiculous and vicious."

Once these words were spoken, everyone in the prison had strange expressions.

"Shut up, you slut!" Zhou Li scolded.

Tian Erni giggled. "Yours is the smallest; I have to dig around in your belly for a long time every time."

Zhou Li was so angry his face turned red, and he pointed at her with a trembling finger. "This is an insult to decency! An insult to decency!"

"You are presumptuous! What a slut, daring to be disrespectful to the Hundred-Household Officer," a Flag Officer shouted angrily.

Tian Erni: "What are you shouting for? I still remember, you were the fastest of them all."

"Shut up!" the quick-gun Flag Officer said, embarrassed and angry.

"Someone, slap her mouth for me!" another Flag Officer, tall, stout, and full of masculine vigor, ordered.

Tian Erni laughed out loud. "You are even more ridiculous; you let me step on you and whip you with a horsewhip."

What? There's an even bigger expert?

In an instant, everyone in the prison opened their eyes wide in unison, staring dumbfounded at the burly, ox-like Flag Officer with a full beard.

It really is true that you can't judge a book by its cover!

"No... you... don't listen to her nonsense! I didn't!" the burly Flag Officer's face turned pale and then green as he panicked and defended himself.

Pei Shaoqing took a deep breath, turned his head to look at Zhou Li, and said, "Hundred-Household Zhou, I can see it now—you all possess unique skills!"

So many people had actually slept with Tian Erni.

Pei Shaoqing believed it; she was indeed very good at her craft.

"I've let the Baron of Pingyang see a joke, a joke." Even with Zhou Li's thick skin, he was embarrassed enough that his old face turned red.

He secretly swore to keep himself clean in the future.

Never to visit the local brothels again!

Pei Shaoqing waved his hand. "Alright, you all go out first; leave this to me to handle."

These people all had leverage in Tian Erni's hands.

She naturally held the psychological advantage, so facing their interrogation, it was easier for her to resist to the end.

"Then I will trouble the Baron of Pingyang." Zhou Li felt as if he had been granted an amnesty, turned around, and left. "Quick! Everyone out."

The Jing'an Guards of the local Hundred-Household Office scrambled to leave, fearing that if they were too slow, Tian Erni would reveal their own shortcomings and make them lose face.

After all, they usually boasted shamelessly that they had seven inches and lasted half an hour each time.

Tian Erni looked at Pei Shaoqing and said, panting, "They've used every trick they have on me. Baron Pei, if you have any new tricks, bring them on. I will never betray the Fox Immortal!"

"Are you not afraid of death?" Pei Shaoqing asked curiously.

Tian Erni's eyes were filled with fanaticism. "The Fox Immortal has vast magical powers. Even if I die, He will resurrect me. Once He finishes crossing His tribulation, I will be able to join the ranks of the immortals due to my merits!"

Fine, Pei Shaoqing understood. This village girl had simply been brainwashed by the Fox Demon. And it made sense; after all, in various folk legends, demons and immortals all had various magical arts and powers, so it was normal for her to believe it deeply.

Moreover, although Tian Erni was a village girl, her looks were not low, and she was good at her craft, able to bewitch men to the point of losing their lives. It was likely the Fox Demon had passed on some methods to her, making her believe in the other party even more.

For such an ignorant mountain woman, one could not use the lives of fellow villagers as a threat. Pei Shaoqing instantly thought of a countermeasure: using an immortal to deal with an immortal.

He scolded sternly: "What Fox Immortal? It is clearly a Fox Demon! I am here on the orders of the gods to subdue the demon. You are still obsessed and refuse to wake up! Let me ask you, can that Fox Immortal perform the magic arts passed down to me by the gods?"

As he finished speaking, he turned around, pressed his two fingers together, and pointed at the empty ground, taking a chair out from his Storage Ring.

Tian Erni looked at him with the eyes of someone looking at a fool.

"My Lord, I am a village woman, that is true, and I am ignorant, that is also true, but you cannot treat me like a fool! I have had the fortune to hear from the Martial Artists I served that there are things in this world called Storage Magic Treasures. That ring on your hand is one, right?"

Pei Shaoqing: "............"

Damn, the clown is actually me?

Gongsun Yi and the others all tried their best to keep a straight face.

"Pfft~" Liu Yuheng couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Pei Shaoqing immediately looked in the direction of the sound.

Liu Yuheng immediately stopped smiling, her small face flushed red as she looked left and right and said, "Senior Brother, this cell is truly a cell; look how thick those pillars are."

"Indeed, indeed." Gongsun Yi nodded in agreement.

"Slap!" Pei Shaoqing slapped Tian Erni across the face, "Why does a chicken need to know so much?"

You're trying to pass the imperial examination!

"The official is annoyed." Tian Erni's eyes revealed mockery.

Pei Shaoqing stared at her quietly for a while.

Suddenly, he said to Liu Yuheng, "Trouble yourself, Madam, to ride Black General back to Tongzhou and bring Li Jiangjun here."

It is better to use an immortal to govern an immortal.

You don't have a Fox Immortal? This official has a Cat Immortal!

At Black General's speed, a round trip from Bazhou to Tongzhou would not even take half a day.

"Ah?" Liu Yuheng looked astonished.

She knew Pei Shaoqing had a tabby cat that he pampered extremely, even having a set of Armor crafted for it, but she did not understand why he wanted to bring it here at this juncture.

Pei Shaoqing only said, "Go quickly."

"This concubine obeys." Liu Yuheng turned and left.

Pei Shaoqing glanced at Tian Erni again, said nothing, twisted his neck, and turned to walk outside.

Gongsun Yi and the others followed, confused.

"My Lord, has that base woman confessed?" Seeing Pei Shaoqing come out, Zhou Li immediately went up to greet him and asked.

Pei Shaoqing said with full confidence, "This official already has a grasp on it. No rush. Trouble yourself, Hundred-Household Zhou, to arrange a place for us to rest and have a cup of tea."

"My Lord, please follow me." Although Zhou Li was full of doubts, it was not appropriate for him to get to the bottom of it.

The group arrived at a side hall in the Hundred-Household Office specifically used for receiving guests and sat down, then had tea and pastries brought over.

Zhou Li said, "Last year, many missing person cases occurred in Bazhou; no one was seen alive, and no bodies were found. Such strange cases were certainly not the work of ordinary people, so they were naturally the responsibility of our Jing'an Guard, which meant they fell on my head.

In the end, the cases were fruitless, and because of this, I only received a grade of C-minus in my year-end evaluation last year. Unless personally sealed by the Emperor's brush, I cannot be promoted within three years.

These past half a month, missing person cases have occurred again, and I have been overwhelmed by them recently. But fortunately, the Baron of Pingyang has uncovered the truth of this case, otherwise, I would have been ruined by this again. Let me first toast you with tea instead of wine, and we shall drink until we are drunk at noon."

As his voice fell, he solemnly raised his teacup.

"Hundred-Household Zhou is too polite." Pei Shaoqing also took a sip; after all, one could not just gulp down boiling hot tea.

After putting down the teacup, he asked about the evaluation with great interest, "Hundred-Household Zhou, I only joined the Jing'an Guard this year and there are many things I don't quite understand. For example, this evaluation, when is it usually held, and who conducts it?"

"It generally starts from January of the following year. It mainly examines how many cases were reported in total over the past year, how many were solved, and whether there were any unjust, false, or wrongly decided cases, etc.

At the same time, they will check for phenomena such as corruption, bribery, and abuse of power. This is handled by the Southern Suppressing Division. They also have hard requirements every year and must investigate and punish a certain number of people, so the end of the year is both an assessment for the Northern Suppressing Faction and an inspection for the Southern Suppressing Division." Zhou Li spoke as if he still had lingering fears.

The scale of the Southern Suppressing Division is smaller than the Northern Suppressing Faction.

They do not set up Thousand-Household Offices or Hundred-Household Offices in various places; they only have headquarters in the Capital. Near the end of each year, they rush out of the Capital to all parts of the country to interrogate the Northern Suppressing Faction's Jing'an Guard.

Usually, no one cares what the Jing'an Guard does.

At the end of the year, they settle the accounts and draw up the list.

Pei Shaoqing clicked his tongue, "In the past, when I was in the Capital, I never paid them any mind, but this year, this official will also have to taste the severity of the Southern Suppressing Division's yamen."

"The Baron of Pingyang need not worry. How could they be so blind as to find trouble with you? This bunch of dogs is also accustomed to judging people by their status; every year when they leave the Capital and return, they have made a fortune," Zhou Li said through gritted teeth.

Once said like this, Pei Shaoqing understood. The Southern Suppressing Division is actually similar to the Northern Suppressing Faction; their business level is very solid and their strength is very strong, but they are also not lacking in corrupt officials and parasites.

Just as Zhou Li said.

With his own status, there is indeed no need to worry.

……………………

At noon, Zhou Li prepared a banquet at the best restaurant in Bazhou to entertain Pei Shaoqing and the others, but Pei Shaoqing did not drink much, using the excuse of interrogating Tian Erni in the afternoon.

Seeing this, Zhou Li also took the initiative to call on everyone to stop at the right point at noon, not to get drunk, and to eat more food.

After the meal, just as Pei Shaoqing was arranged by Zhou Li to rest in an official room at the Hundred-Household Office, Liu Yuheng returned.

"My Lord, your cat has been brought."

In her arms, she held Li Jiangjun, who was wearing a set of Golden Armor.

It was heavy as death!

"Meow!" Li Jiangjun jumped down.

Pei Shaoqing said, "You have worked hard, Madam."

Liu Yuheng's forehead and fair neck were visibly dripping with fragrant sweat; it was not from fatigue, but from the heat.

"Serving the Young Master is not hard work," Liu Yuheng said with her head lowered, pursing her lips and answering respectfully.

Pei Shaoqing waved his hand, "Go down."

Liu Yuheng stood up, left, and closed the door.

Pei Shaoqing walked to the door, opened a crack, and watched her walk far away with his own eyes before closing the door again.

"My Lord! Why did you send someone so far to invite this old minister to come out of the mountains?" Li Jiangjun spoke in human language.

Pei Shaoqing said, "I need you to help me interrogate a fool who was fooled silly by a Fox Demon. You do this..."

Li Jiangjun opened his big eyes and nodded repeatedly.

(End of this chapter)