Chapter 178: Catching the Person

A figure circled around the ward.

His build was unremarkable, his clothing ordinary, and he did not stand out among the passing crowd.

After circling around a few more corners, he finally arrived in front of a small courtyard.

This was a very ordinary small courtyard, with stone and earth walls characteristic of the local Xinzhou style; regardless of size or style, it was very common in this area and no different from the surrounding civilian houses.

He cautiously looked left and right before pushing the door open to enter.

After bolting the courtyard gate, he hurried into the house.

There was another person inside, looking to be in his early twenties, also wearing civilian clothes, with a hint of gloom between his brows.

This person was exactly who the Earl of Yangchuan had mentioned to Wen Gu: the second son of the former Minister of Revenue, Xue Yanzhi.

And the one who had returned from outside was his Book Boy.

At this moment, the Book Boy's expression was grave, his tone anxious: "Young Master! Something has happened!"

"When I went to Jingxing Fang today, I discovered they were checking the Grain Tickets more carefully. I sensed something was amiss, so I compared them while chatting with someone else. The Grain Tickets are different!"

He had used the dry rations in his hand to trade for an ordinary Grain Ticket from a laborer.

He then took one out from his existing Grain Tickets.

The two Grain Tickets were placed together. The face value was the same, but looking closely, the patterns on the borders were different!

The Book Boy said urgently: "The Earl's Mansion's Grain Tickets are clearly different! If the Patrol Guard Division has impounded the Earl's Mansion's Grain Tickets, as long as we spend these Grain Tickets, they will be able to find us very quickly!"

"I was worried about being discovered, so I took a roundabout way back. Young Master, what should we do?"

The Book Boy's family had met with misfortune, and Xue Yanzhi had saved his life and was willing to keep him by his side as a Book Boy precisely because he valued that he was more cautious and meticulous than others. As soon as Xue Yanzhi heard the Book Boy say the Grain Ticket patterns were wrong, he quickly realized the crisis and smiled helplessly: "So it has come to this!" He remained relatively calm and said to the Book Boy: "Pack your things, we need to change locations."

The Book Boy quickly packed valuable and practical items, then suddenly exclaimed in alarm: "Young Master, one Grain Ticket is missing!"

After counting the Grain Tickets twice, the Book Boy recalled the incident just now at Jingxing Fang.

"Someone bumped into me once at Jingxing Fang..."

Before he could finish speaking, the courtyard gate outside was kicked open with a bang.

Someone shouted:

"Come out!"

"Don't think about hiding, I watched you go in!"

The Book Boy recognized this voice and said angrily: "Young Master, he is the one who bumped into me, he did it on purpose!"

As he spoke, he added with annoyance: "I actually still didn't shake him off!"

Xue Yanzhi closed his eyes and calmed his thoughts. He straightened his sleeves, his demeanor revealing an elegant and noble air.

His gaze looked outside from the window lattice, and he immediately recognized the person who had arrived.

A brat from the Mu Family!

At this moment, another person rushed into the courtyard—also a Mu Family brat!

When the Caishan Horse Bandits were captured, Xue Yanzhi had heard about the Mu Family.

Later, he had taken a ride in a carriage purchased by the Earl's Mansion to go out for a spin and recognize some faces.

At this moment, he had matched them up.

When he was in the capital, he had heard of the Mu Family. They all seemed not very bright.

One could not be subtle when talking to the Mu Family; that group of martial men wouldn't understand, and they would really strike hard!

Xue Yanzhi instantly switched states; the "elegance" was stripped from his elegant and noble air, replaced by a bit of arrogance and aggression.

He opened the door and walked out.

The two Mu brothers did not know the impression they had left on the other party; the two of them blocked the only exit, one on the left and one on the right.

Seeing someone come out of the house, Mu Jun stared intently at the other party and pointed with his blade: "Are you the strategist for the horse bandits? Surrender immediately!" Xue Yanzhi looked at them as if they were idiots: "I don't know what you are talking about!"

He even spoke louder than them: "Trespassing into a private residence without the owner's consent is the same as being a thief; at the very least, you deserve forty strokes!" Mu Jun retorted: "The Patrol Guard Division is handling a case! We have special authorization!"

Xue Yanzhi asked in return: "Those with special authorization are official Clerks; are you one?"

Mu Jun was choked for words.

Xue Yanzhi looked at Mu Feng again and asked haughtily: "Are you?!"

Mu Feng's confidence was even weaker.

Xue Yanzhi's gaze was piercing; clearly, he was the one being surrounded, yet his momentum was stronger.

Anyone who didn't know better would think the two who had just broken in were the ones who had done something wrong.

Xue Yanzhi pointed at them: "Where is your waist medallion? Where is your proof? Where is your decorum? Where is your bottom line?!"

"Where is the waist medallion? Take it out and let me see!"

Of course, they could not take it out.

Let alone the waist medallions of official Clerks, the Mu brothers hadn't even brought their own servant waist medallions today.

Xue Yanzhi sneered: "With an unclear identity, you dare to impersonate officials here and spout nonsense?!"

The Mu brothers were stunned by Xue Yanzhi's barrage, still thinking about how to prove their identities.

Mu Zhao entered at this time.

Mu Jun said happily: "Little Aunt?"

Mu Zhao said: "Stop wasting words with him, tie him up and take him away!"

What kind of situation is this? This is not the time to talk about case-handling procedures!

Catching the person—that is the most important thing!

Did the Patrol Guard Division talk this much when they went to ransack a house? To hell with talking!

As soon as she entered the courtyard and saw the person inside, she knew they hadn't found the wrong one!

The Mu Family had an innate intuition in this regard. They might be careless in daily life, but once they focused on a serious matter, their sense of smell became sharp again. The three Mu Family aunt and nephews were about to come over and take down their target.

Xue Yanzhi flipped his wrist and pulled out a dagger:

"If you take one more step forward, I will kill myself! Let's see how you go back and report this!"

The three aggressive members of the Mu Family stopped dead in their tracks.

Why had they abandoned their guests and rushed over here?

Wasn't it to snatch the credit and devour this piece of meat delivered right to their mouths?

But if the other party committed suicide, it would truly be difficult to report. The credit would turn into a fault.

Just as they were in a stalemate, there was movement outside again.

Xue Yanzhi sneered and shouted: "Who else is there? Why hide and skulk outside! Come out!"

Commander Mu poked his head out, met Xue Yanzhi's gaze, and carefully scrutinized the other's appearance:

"Xue Erlang? It's been many years!"

Xue Yanzhi composed his expression: "Commander Mu."

Several years had passed; he was no longer the young master who had someone shielding him.

Fleeing everywhere, his entire temperament had grown world-weary.

From a boy to a young man, his features had matured, and with some deliberate grooming, even old acquaintances might not recognize him at first glance. Xue Yanzhi mocked himself: "I never thought Commander Mu would be able to recognize me."

Commander Mu said: "Uh... actually, I didn't recognize you immediately by your face. I just heard you say, 'If you take one more step forward, I will kill myself.' When I went to the capital to visit your father back then, that was exactly what you shouted while on the roof."

At that time, Xue Xiaoer wanted to go out to see the street performers, but Minister Xue forbade it, and the father and son argued.

That was exactly the line Xue Xiaoer shouted at his father after climbing onto the roof.

At the time, Commander Mu thought that in the entire capital, probably only Xue Xiaoer dared to speak to Minister Xue like that.

Commander Mu remembered that scene clearly; hearing it again today, with times changed and the context different, there was a sense of déjà vu. Looking at the person carefully again, he finally found a bit of familiarity, which is why he spoke up to confirm.

Xue Yanzhi was stunned for a moment as the other party brought up the past.

He suddenly felt it was meaningless.

He put away the dagger and, as if resigning himself to fate, said: "Fine, tie me up!"

"Hey, no need, no need!" Commander Mu waved his hands, letting his son, nephew, and younger sister all put away their weapons.

The credit was in hand anyway, so the proper decorum should still be observed.

Xue Er was the second son of Minister Xue and an old acquaintance. When Commander Mu heard about the Xue Family's affairs back then, he felt quite a sigh.

Now, if it weren't for the fact that Xue Er was involved with the Caishan Horse Bandits, he would actually have helped him.

"You called me 'Uncle' back then. Uncle won't make things difficult for you, and you don't make things difficult for Uncle. Let's go to the Patrol Guard Division together."

Xue Yanzhi was silent.

His Book Boy did not have a good impression of the Patrol Guard Division and seemed to want to put up a fight.

Xue Yanzhi shook his head slightly at the Book Boy, signaling him not to act rashly.

The Mu Family members were watching from all around, and every one of them was a capable fighter who wouldn't hold back.

The two of them couldn't escape, so there was no need for pointless resistance.

"I'll trouble you, Uncle Mu," Xue Yanzhi said indifferently.

The members of the Mu Family all breathed a sigh of relief.

It was great to be able to handle this matter properly!

Commander Mu led Xue Yanzhi out, but suddenly his brow twitched.

He didn't know when, but the surrounding murmurs had completely vanished.

When the Mu Family arrived earlier, there were still residents nearby watching and whispering, but now it was deathly silent.

It was as if everyone around had sensed danger and retreated into their homes.

The Mu Family retainers remaining outside the courtyard gave Commander Mu a look.

Commander Mu looked over.

At the intersection ahead of the alley, a person stood with hands behind his back.

Fu Pian was clearly standing on level ground, yet he looked like a bird of prey perched on a branch, overlooking its quarry.

His hands were behind his back, and he was still twirling that short stick. The iron plating wrapped around the short stick reflected a cold light as it spun, flashing back and forth. "Finished reminiscing?"

Fu Pian's voice seemed to carry a chill.

"We at the Patrol Guard Division also heard that Xue Er Gongzi was here, so we specially sent a carriage to pick him up. Please, Xue Er Gongzi, get in the carriage!"

Upon hearing Fu Pian mention the "carriage," everyone's expressions turned ugly in an instant.

Even Xue Yanzhi could not maintain his indifference.

Is that carriage of yours decent?!

After the Caishan Horse Bandits were paraded through the streets, who in all of Xinzhou City didn't know about that stringed-up carriage from the West Office?!

At this moment, Commander Mu stepped forward half a pace, slightly blocking in front of Xue Yanzhi.

At any rate, he was a commander now, originally possessed the pride of a noble, and held a position earned through real military merit; he did not fear Fu Pian. Commander Mu felt displeased by Fu Pian's mention of the carriage.

Xue Yanzhi was the son of the former Minister Xue; although Minister Xue was gone, there were still many old friends and former subordinates, so things had to be done decently. Moreover, Xue Yanzhi had not participated in the things the horse bandits did in the past and did not need to suffer heavy punishment. How could he be strung up on a prison carriage like the horse bandits?! Commander Mu's tone became firm: "No need to trouble the Bailuo Deputy Envoy; I will deliver the person to the Patrol Guard Division myself."

As he spoke, he raised his hand to grip Xue Yanzhi's shoulder, both as a means of control and protection.

Xue Yanzhi felt the strength of the hand Commander Mu placed on his shoulder and sensed Commander Mu's firm stance.

The noble families really have backbone!

Xue Yanzhi looked at Fu Pian again and smiled provocatively.

Fu Pian was not angry; instead, he scrutinized this Xue Er Gongzi once more.

He really is a crafty one!

What? Expecting them to start an internal fight so he could find an opportunity to slip away?

Fu Pian did not speak either, continuing to block the way there, his gaze still holding that chilling, fierce light, which also expressed his attitude of not retreating even half a step. Commander Mu said again: "I will personally send the person over now, and I will also explain the reason to Deputy Envoy Wen."

Hurry up and move aside!

You are not the only Patrol Guard Division Vice Commissioner!

Fu Pian gave him an inscrutable look and said: "The carriage was sent over by Wen Gu."

Commander Mu immediately: "Huh?"

He withdrew the arm he had rested on Xue Yanzhi's shoulder.

Xue Yanzhi: "..." Uncle, you backed down?

Commander Mu took a few quick steps to take a look.

Fu Pian had not lied; around the corner was a carriage parked there. It looked like an ordinary carriage indeed, but with his keen eyes, he could tell that protective netting should be installed behind the fabric curtains.

It was both control and protection.

It could achieve the goal and also maintain decorum.

Commander Mu compromised immediately.

"Uh, Erlang, how about you... go up?"

Xue Yanzhi: "..."

Where is your noble pride?

You only have this much backbone, damn it!!