Chapter 382: Strange Gold Rush (Combined Two-in-One)

After Zhu Zhanlei came to report to Lord Xu in the morning, he obediently went to the canal wharf.

He pretended to be a legitimate inspector of the Shanhe Office.

The Canal Office interrogated Gao Wanli and the local River Warden repeatedly.

There were many case-solving experts over there as well.

Thus, they quickly discovered some "details" that were problematic.

The number of people the Crown Princess brought this time was limited.

But it did not match the number of people the Crown Princess later brought into Ghost Wushan.

Where did those missing people go?

The only one still alive was Hong Huai.

The Canal Office immediately ordered someone to bring Hong Huai in for questioning, only to discover that Hong Huai had already committed suicide.

Then it became very clear: Xu Yuan, the Chief Law Officer of the Purity Bureau's Zhan Cheng Office, had suffered two consecutive assassinations.

The Jiaozhi River Warden immediately felt that Xu Yuan had a very strong "suspicion."

Retaliating against the Crown Princess, killing them inside Ghost Wushan.

But... Xu Yuan has been inside the Purity Bureau office the whole time.

The case-solving experts under the River Warden analyzed it and guessed that the Crown Princess's two assassination attempts might not have been truly intended to kill Xu Yuan, but rather to test whether Xu Yuan was secretly cultivating the Dragon Transformation Method.

Because, combined with Gao Wanli's testimony, everyone already knew the Crown Princess's purpose for coming to Zhan Cheng.

During the two tests, Xu Yuan did not reveal the Dragon Transformation Method.

So the Crown Princess went into Ghost Wushan to track down the villain who had secretly practiced the Dragon Transformation Method.

The Canal Office was left somewhat awkward.

Consequently, they did not summon Xu Yuan immediately.

After hearing this, Xiang Qinghuai sucked his teeth in exasperation.

This matter was truly somewhat ridiculous.

Zhu Zhanlei reported the news: "I'm going back. Ouch, ouch, ouch, it really hurts..."

He walked with a limp; Xu Yuan and Xiang Qinghuai discussed it for a while and decided that remaining unchanged was the best response to all changes.

If we do no wrong, we need not fear ghosts knocking at the door.

When Zhu Zhanlei passed through the courtyard, he walked close to the base of the wall on the other side, keeping far away from that irritable goose.

He had entered through the back gate by carriage, and once on the carriage, he could only lie on his stomach.

When he returned to the Shanhe Office and called for his personal guard to take a look, the guard was shocked: "Young Master, what happened to you? Your buttocks are swollen and purple!"

"What?!" Zhu Zhanlei was startled.

The guard said: "Don't move around recklessly; you might be poisoned. I will go find a Rank Dan Xiu to detoxify you."

Miao Yu and Zhu Zhanmei were both at the canal wharf and had not returned yet.

Zhu Zhanlei felt like crying but had no tears; why had he been so mouthy back then!

Xu Yuan, oh Xu Yuan, what exactly is the thing you keep? It is absolutely not a proper goose.

The guard quickly found a Seventh-Rank Dan Xiu.

Zhu Zhanlei had a squad of men under him, whom he had brought from his home.

This Seventh-Rank Dan Xiu was one of them.

The Dan Xiu examined him and said: "Young Master, you are indeed poisoned. But I cannot tell what poison it is. I will first try my detoxification pill on you; please endure it."

Zhu Zhanlei gritted his teeth: "Hurry up and do it."

The Dan Xiu spat out his detoxification pill and rolled it a few times over Zhu Zhanlei's buttocks.

Zhu Zhanlei screamed like a pig being slaughtered from the pain.

Just then, several Captains happened to be passing by the outer courtyard gate and curiously came in to peek through the window:

They saw Zhu Zhanlei's personal guard and the Dan Xiu doing something to Zhu Zhanlei's buttocks...

The Captains' eyes widened enormously.

Damn it, is it this chaotic in the great surname families?

The few of them exchanged glances, quickly lowered their heads, and slipped away along the base of the wall.

Soon, certain rumors about Zhu Zhanlei began to spread within the Shanhe Office...

The Dan Xiu rolled the detoxification pill over Zhu Zhanlei's buttocks several times, but it had not the slightest effect.

He had no choice but to put away the detoxification pill and sighed: "Young Master, I cannot detoxify this poison. How did you get poisoned?"

Zhu Zhanlei had no face to say.

He told his guard: "Run to the Purity Bureau and tell Xu Yuan about my situation. Tell him to come over immediately and figure something out for me!

Tell him, if he dares not come, I will tell my third sister that he spent last night at the White Moon Pavilion!"

The guard was stunned: "Did Lord Xu and you, Young Master, go to the White Moon Pavilion together last night?"

Zhu Zhanlei, angered by this dull-witted guard, slapped the bed repeatedly: "Fool! Young Master is spreading rumors, spreading rumors, do you understand? Go quickly!"

"Oh, oh, oh." The guard hurriedly left.

The Dan Xiu put away his detoxification pill, feeling somewhat disgusted.

He went to the side, washed it several times with water from the teapot, and then swallowed it back into his belly.

After hearing what the guard said, Xu Yuan touched the top of his head, finding it hard to believe.

But he still went into the courtyard, caught Da Fu, and left with the guard.

Da Fu struggled in Lord Xu's arms the whole way, quacking in protest.

Xu Yuan slapped the goose's head: "Stop fooling around, you've caused a major disaster!"

Da Fu shrank his neck, his eyes dull: "What? I don't know. I don't understand what you're saying."

Inside the Shanhe Office, Zhu Zhanlei grumbled: "What kind of thing did you raise..."

Xu Yuan finally saw Zhu Zhanlei's buttocks.

They were already swollen very high, a patch of purple-black.

Xu Yuan asked Da Fu: "What do we do?"

Da Fu jumped down, staggered over to Zhu Zhanlei, and spat a mouthful of saliva onto his buttocks with a "Pah!"

The poison visibly dissolved.

Zhu Zhanlei felt a coolness on his buttocks; the pain lessened, and he quietly sighed in relief.

He tilted his head to look at Da Fu, and the bad habits of a great surname young master struck again: "Are you selling this goose? Name your price..."

Da Fu flew into a rage—Xu Yuan grabbed Da Fu.

"You are truly capable of courting death."

Zhu Zhanlei slapped himself: "How did my mouth get so cheap again? I won't buy it, I absolutely won't buy it. Master Goose, you are the master; from now on, if I see you, I'll walk around you, is that not enough?"

Only then did Da Fu calm down.

Outside, the sky had turned completely dark, so Xu Yuan did not return; he spent the night at the Shanhe Office with Da Fu.

The next day, the almanac forbade: pointing at the sun, street racing, clamor, and playing music.

Zhu Zhanlei had recovered overnight and was no longer in serious danger.

Early in the morning, after eating breakfast with Xu Yuan, he said: "I must go to the Canal Office."

Xu Yuan returned to the Quhui Office, where someone from the Canal Office was already waiting: "Captain Xu, my lord An requests your presence."

An Chengyuan is the River Supervisor of the Southern Jiaozhi Canal Office.

Xu Yuan asked no more questions; together with Xiang Qinghuai, he brought Lang Xiao Ba, Di Youzhi, and two squads of Captains, and followed that person to the canal dock.

Yet they failed to see An Chengyuan.

The Quhui Office personnel were settled in a courtyard on the dock.

To await orders at any time.

Xiang Qinghuai secretly warned Xu Yuan not to complain, lest he invite trouble.

They told us to wait, so we shall wait.

Zhu Zhanlei had nothing to do and wanted to come chat with Xu Yuan, but Zhu Zhanmei secretly stopped him.

At this time, one must avoid suspicion.

Not only for oneself, but also for Xu Yuan's sake.

They waited until afternoon; the Canal Office still had not assigned any task to Xu Yuan, when Yu Yunhang from the Quhui Office hurriedly arrived: "My lord, a strange case has broken out in Shi Yang Village; the case is huge, and the brothers below do not know how to handle it."

Xu Yuan went to request an audience with my lord An Chengyuan.

The Canal Office on the dock was guarded so tightly by the elite of the River Camp, three layers inside and three layers outside, that no one could enter or leave without authorization.

Even the people of Shanhe were not allowed to enter or leave without permission.

Of course, Miao Yu, Zhu Zhanmei, and Zhu Zhanlei were not included in this restriction.

Great surname families still have this kind of face.

Xu Yuan, of humble origin and not well-received, was blocked outside the office gate.

A Battalion Commander of the River Camp stood on the steps at the main gate, glanced Xu Yuan up and down with a sideways look, and then lazily said: "Wait."

Then, with his hands behind his back, he went in leisurely to deliver the report.

Xu Yuan endured his patience outside the main gate, waiting for the time it takes to burn one stick of incense, yet no one came out.

He waited another stick of incense's time, and grew somewhat anxious.

He could not help but want to step forward to urge an answer, but Xiang Qinghuai held him back.

Xiang Qinghuai signaled with his eyes, gently shaking his head at Xu Yuan.

Xu Yuan gritted his teeth and suppressed his anger.

Then, calculating the time, after roughly another stick of incense's time, Xu Yuan decisively turned and left.

Xiang Qinghuai hurriedly caught up: "My lord An has not yet replied; is it appropriate for us to leave like this?"

Xu Yuan looked back at the main gate of the Canal Office and said: "Wait more? If we wait further, we only invite humiliation. I do not do such things."

After that, Xu Yuan strode away.

That Battalion Commander had not gone to deliver the report at all.

He was drinking tea in a side room not far behind the main gate.

He knew this Captain of the Quhui Office; he was summoned by my lord An to await orders.

He was not from a great surname family.

For a person like this to expect me, a military officer, to run errands and deliver a report without offering some benefit, what a beautiful dream he is dreaming!

"Seven-rank officials at the prime minister's gate"—this is the rule of the official world; do you understand?

Xiang Qinghuai was still somewhat worried: "If we leave like this, and if An Chengyuan has a narrow mind, he might use this matter to make a point and pin a false charge on you."

Xu Yuan shook his head: "I can swallow my anger and wait for him a few more double-hours, but the strange case in Shi Yang Village cannot wait."

Shi Yang Village lies to the northeast of Zhan Cheng, about fifteen li from the city.

Here flows a small river issuing from Little Yu Shan.

It is said that a hundred years ago, sand gold was discovered in this river.

At that time, the entire village of Shi Yang dug sand to pan for gold.

But how could the government and the powerful allow ordinary commoners to become overnight millionaires?

Thus, all sorts of schemes were deployed, and that ownerless little river suddenly acquired a "master."

The gold panned by the villagers from the river belonged to this "master," and had to be turned over in full.

The villagers were extremely unwilling; the "master" had kept a batch of vicious servants, and when the two sides argued, several murders occurred.

A young man whose father had been beaten to death, disregarding the taboo of "night travel," climbed into the "master's" home and nearly killed the "master."

In a rage, the "master" retaliated, flaying the young man, his mother, and his sister alive by the riverside!

The fresh blood of the family dripped drop by drop into the river water.

Then, a bizarre thing happened: for seven full days, the little river remained blood-red.

After seven days, the river water turned clear again, but it was on that very night that the master's entire family was haunted by evil spirits, and not a single one survived!

Since then, the golden sand in the river disappeared, and Shi Yang Village returned to its former tranquility.

These legendary past events were told by Yu Yunhang to Xu Yuan and Xiang Qinghuai on the road to Shi Yang Village.

After finishing the story, he said: "Early this morning, an old man in the village returned after collecting cow dung. When passing by the riverside, he suddenly saw a young lad squatting by the river panning for gold.

Seeing he was not from the village, he kindly went over to advise him that there was no longer any gold in the river.

Who would have thought that the young lad said there was. If you don't believe me, just stand here; I'll pan it for you to see.

Then he dug up a basin of sand, slowly rotated it in the river water, letting the water wash the sand away. Before long, the young man lifted the wooden basin to show him.

At the bottom of the basin, there was truly a patch of bright golden sand!

The old man was overjoyed and hurried home to call his entire family, bringing the basin to pan for gold as well.

That old man was selfish and did not tell anyone else in the village. The family panned by the river for who knows how long. By noon, another villager passing by discovered seven golden men standing by the river!

Upon closer inspection, they were precisely the old man's family of four!"

Xiang Qinghuai listened in astonishment. The Purification Bureau handled many strange cases, but something so incredible was a first encounter.

"Did the village head come to report the case?"

Yu Yunhang nodded: "Only two children, aged six or seven, remained in the old man's household. The village head asked the children and learned what had happened. He immediately ordered men to guard those four golden men from a distance, forbidding anyone from approaching, and then rushed to the city to report."

Xu Yuan and Xiang Qinghuai exchanged a glance, and their steps naturally quickened.

Xu Yuan said: "We delayed so long in front of the Canal Office; we might have ruined this case."

Everyone was a veteran of the Purification Bureau and knew very well that the village head could hardly hold onto those four golden statues.

Upon reaching the village entrance, a Jianjiao under Wan Yun's command was standing by the roadside, his neck stretched out several inches, eagerly gazing down the road.

"My lord, you have finally arrived!"

"It has erupted! The villagers rushed up in a swarm; we couldn't stop them..."

Xu Yuan's expression darkened: "Go see quickly!"

The group hurried to the riverside. The river water was empty; where were the shadows of the golden men?

The village head was an old man in his fifties. Seeing the official robes on Xu Yuan, he knew a high official had arrived. His legs went weak, and he knelt down: "My lord, this old man is incompetent."

Xu Yuan wasted no words on him and rushed quickly into the river, wanting to check if any clues remained.

Xiang Qinghuai, angered, said to the village head: "Those golden men were transformed by evil spirit tricks. Are the people of your village not afraid of death? How dare they snatch them?"

The village head's face turned gloomy: "Everyone is driven mad by poverty. Seeing that bright yellow gold, they couldn't resist..."

Xu Yuan found nothing in the river water. Turning back, he issued a stern order: "Wan Yun!"

"Your subordinate is here!"

"Immediately take men and search house by house. You must recover all the gold! Whoever dares not hand it over will be immediately shackled and thrown into prison!"

"As ordered!"

When Wan Yun arrived, he had brought only one squad; with insufficient manpower, he could not stop the hundreds of villagers.

Now Xu Yuan had brought two more squads. Although still outnumbered by the villagers, searching house by house posed no problem.

The village immediately descended into chaos.

Wan Yun worked very hard, and the Captains were quick and nimble.

But Xu Yuan looked at the sky; at most half an hour, and it would be dark!

The villagers snatched that gold... could they survive until tomorrow?

Xiang Qinghuai let out a long sigh beside him and said: "Those villagers are not unaware that this thing is bizarre, but they probably all harbor a hope for a lucky break. What if nothing happens? This gold is enough for them to live like wealthy landlords from now on."

Xu Yuan nodded; greed often causes people to lose their reason.

Before nightfall, Wan Yun recovered two sacks of gold from the villagers.

After piecing it together, they found that compared to the weight of the "four golden men," it was still far short.

"Sigh..." Xiang Qinghuai sighed again.

Wan Yun frowned and reported to Lord Xu: "Master of Law, there is another matter. When the villagers snatched the gold, I led my brothers to block them and discovered their strength seemed much greater than normal people's, approximately at the level of a Wu Xiu who has just entered the path but is not yet of any rank. That is why we could not stop them."

(End of this chapter)