Chapter 330: Grabbing the Order

Zhou the Captain had no desire to bite into the cake at all; he said coldly, "Thank you for your regard, Pan Xiao Daoist—please go ahead."

He didn't even want the receipt anymore; he just wanted to get Pan Yun out of here. Fine, that's enough—he was truly exhausted.

Hua Buliu's case still needed wrapping up. Zhou the Captain turned to leave after escorting Pan Yun to the gate, then spotted Qu Le hiding in the corner—he paused, frowned, and said to Pan Yun, "Pan Xiao Daoist, though you're clever and capable, still be careful. Don't be overconfident, and don't trust others too easily, or you'll get hurt."

Pan Yun nodded vigorously in agreement.

Once Zhou the Captain turned back inside, Pan Yun stepped out of the magistrate's office, and Qu Le caught up to her. "What did he mean? Afraid I'd trick you?"

Qu Le muttered, "Could I even trick you?"

Pan Yun: "Why are you still here? Aren't you going to find Chang Mingwei?"

Qu Le: "I'll go soon. By the way, how's Hua Buliu?"

"Dead."

Qu Le's eyes widened. "Dead? He—he—he just… died like that?"

Pan Yun: "If you don't believe it, wait for the imperial court's official notice."

Pan Yun came and went freely through the magistrate's office, even arresting wanted criminals inside it—she looked nothing like a wanted criminal herself.

The imperial court's notice came out quickly—by evening.

The coroner had examined Hua Buliu's corpse, checked off the form, and the notice could be issued.

The magistrate's office posted the notice on the public notice board and on the walls inside and outside the city gates, to announce to the world that the notorious flower thief Hua Buliu had been executed, and any victims he had harmed could now come to the office to file reports.

Of course, everyone knew that anyone who hadn't reported him before his death wouldn't report him now—he was dead, after all.

When Pan Yun returned to the inn, Seeing Miao Zhen had also come back. She said, "Zhou Wan Niang's death aura had completely dissipated—not a trace of death remained. She was full of vitality. As soon as she got home, she killed a chicken and put it to stew. Da Chun didn't dare utter a single word."

"Her brother and sister-in-law rushed over upon hearing the news, asking if she'd return home to remarry. She refused. Her mother-in-law also assured her brother and sister-in-law that the past was past, and she would treat her well for the rest of her life…"

Pan Yun: "What did Da Chun mean?"

"Da Chun had no opinion at all—just nodded along," Seeing Miao Zhen said. "I saw her death aura had fully faded, so I came back."

Pan Yun nodded in satisfaction. "Good. Once the news of Hua Buliu's execution reaches their village, her life will improve."

Only when the knot in one's heart is untied can life truly be lived well.

This was the best medicine for the victim—and the greatest comfort for the living.

The magistrate's office wouldn't just post a notice; they'd also send messengers to notify all registered victims' families of Hua Buliu's execution.

This case was finally closed.

"I brought back another pile of wanted notices, but after looking through them, not a single one could be found and captured by us—so let's focus on the magistrate's reward posters instead."

Pan Yun said: "Great Ming's household registration system is strictly enforced. At the city gates, soldiers constantly stop and inspect household registers and travel permits. Ordinary criminals can hardly obtain forged documents, especially since their wanted portraits are posted at every city gate."

Not only do civilians get paid for reporting wanted criminals, but the soldiers guarding the gates also get paid for capturing them.

The reward money is far higher than their military stipend.

A single reward—even split among a squad—equals a year's worth of their pay.

Pan Yun suspected that Old Zhu instituted this rule specifically to incentivize city gate officers and soldiers to enforce household registration checks strictly and harshly.

"Moreover, people naturally prefer to stay where they're familiar—it gives them a sense of security," Pan Yun said. "So I suspect Chang Mingwei is still here, hiding somewhere in a corner."

Seeing Miao Zhen said: "Should we cooperate with Qu Le? He's a bit stupid."

Pan Yun nodded. "I think he's a bit stupid too. We'll find them ourselves."

She said: "If we catch someone, the reward is all ours. If he catches someone, we get half."

Pan Yun counted on her fingers, calculating the temple fair's timing. "We have ten days left. If we don't catch anyone by then, we have to return."

Seeing Miao Zhen was confident. "With Little Xiao Shishu in action, it's certain!"

"Certain what?" Wang Cong returned, beaming.

Pan Yun: "So happy? Did you make a fortune today?"

Wang Cong grinned ear to ear, pulling a cloth bundle from his chest where he'd been holding it. "Saving money is earning money—I truly made a fortune today."

He opened the bundle for Pan Yun to see. "Little Xiao Shishu, look—I found this Hetian jade today."

He opened it for Pan Yun to see.

It was an uncarved jade rough, not even cut or polished.

Pan Yun held it up, examined it against the light, then turned it toward the light, praising: "Fine jade! But… you don't expect me to use this to carve out a space for you, do you?"

Wang Cong: "Can't I?"

Pan Yun: "Do I look like someone who polishes or carves jade?"

Wang Cong nodded. "You do!" Pan Yun: …

She could indeed do a little—but she didn't want to.

After all, she was a formation master; basic carving skills were within her grasp—but why do what others—or machines—could do?

Especially since this was raw jade—workload would be enormous. Pan Yun was unhappy. "Too much work. I don't like doing it."

Wang Cong smiled sweetly. "Little Xiao Shishu, don't worry—I know you can, but I won't make you do it. I'll do it myself. You just need to help me open the space later."

Pan Yun was slightly surprised. "You can polish and carve jade too?"

Wang Cong said: "Not expertly—just a little."

Otherwise, he wouldn't have bought raw jade himself.

Pan Yun nodded thoughtfully. "No wonder you were sent to buy jade—you didn't like that one, thought that one too expensive. So you can do it yourself? Fine. You polish and cut it yourself. I have one requirement: the final piece can't be too thin, and the shape can't be too complex. Otherwise, do whatever you want."

As long as there was space for her to inscribe the spatial formation array.

Wang Cong, thrilled by her approval, agreed eagerly—then remembered to ask, "Little Xiao Shishu, did you catch Hua Buliu?"

!.

Pan Yun nodded.

Wang Cong hurried into the room. "That's great! I'll pack up and return to Huishan tonight. Once I'm back on the mountain tomorrow, I'll start carving the jade. I'll have it ready for you in three days—no later than ten days, I'll have my own storage space!"

Pan Yun and Seeing Miao Zhen sat on the steps without moving, watching him dash excitedly into the house.

Wang Cong sensed something was off, poked his head out from inside and asked, "Little Xiao Shishu, Fourth Martial Sister, why aren't you moving?"

Pan Yun said, "I never said I was going back."

Seeing Miao Zhen said, "Senior Martial Brother, we still want to catch one more wanted criminal."

"Who is it, with such a big reputation?" Wang Cong said, not too pleased. "How much is he worth?"

Seeing Miao Zhen held up one finger and said, "One hundred taels alive, eighty taels dead."

Wang Cong immediately put on a solemn face and came out from the house. "Then he must be a thoroughly wicked villain — the bounty is even higher than Hua Bu Liu's. We really can't let someone like that run amok among the common folk. We have to catch him!"

He said, "Little Xiao Shishu, I'll help you."

Pan Yun gave him an approving look, took eighty taels of reward silver out of her spirit-realm space and handed it to Seeing Miao Zhen, then tilted her head back at a forty-five-degree angle to gaze at the sky. "This is money earned for the Mountain God Temple — record it on the public account, we'll use it for merit later."

Seeing Miao Zhen took the money and stuffed it all into her jade-token space, gave an acknowledgment, then said, "Little Xiao Shishu, you should be looking at me when you say it — the Old Heaven can hear you that way."

Pan Yun said, "I'm just Must emphasize this — lately too much money has been flowing in and out through me, I'm afraid the old gentleman up there might miscount."

What if the Old Heaven dozes off?

So I still have to Must emphasize it.

Wang Cong's heart stirred. "Little Xiao Shishu, do you have a lot of silver on you right now?"

Pan Yun glanced at him and said, "You're the one who gave me the money — don't you know? Didn't you say the silver-speculating business can't be done anymore?"

Wang Cong said, "It can't be done here in Fucheng — too many people have come to their senses lately, and it's already very hard for me to swap low-priced copper coins out of those wine shops and restaurants. The profit is limited."

"But other places are still workable. I reckon this business can keep running right up to New Year's, and even for a stretch into the first month."

He said, "Speculating by trading silver for copper coins, and copper coins for silver — the returns will be higher than exchanging into silver drafts."

"I didn't do it before because exchanging into actual gold and silver carries too much risk and is hard to transport. But if Little Xiao Shishu can make a jade space for me, I'd only need one horse to turn all the silver and copper coins between Jiangnan and the Central Plains into my merchandise, constantly cycling them in and out to make money."

Pan Yun clicked her tongue. "You're quite the sly merchant."

Wang Cong cupped his fists. "You're too kind, too kind."

Isn't it precisely his cleverness that let him, at such a young age, hold up an entire household?

Pan Yun thought briefly, then said, "Then you stay at the inn and work on the jade. I'm now a First Marquis — opening up a space has a high success rate and takes less time; one night is enough."

Wang Cong, hearing this, immediately said, "Then the matter of catching the wanted criminal — Little Xiao Shishu, go on your own. I'll go work on the jade first."

He wasn't about to sit alone in his room puzzling over it. He wrapped up the jade, headed out under the setting sun to find an artisan he knew, and borrowed his tools to work through the night.

The artisan let him into the workshop, stuffed a string of copper coins into his own pocket, and said, "You'd be better off just leaving the material with me — the labor fee won't cost much."

Wang Cong said, "I've already decided in my heart what I want to make. I wouldn't feel at ease handing it to someone else."

Wang Cong was quite stubborn about certain things — otherwise, he wouldn't have looked down on the raw jade in Pan Yun's hands and insisted on buying his own piece to carve himself.

The raw jade in Pan Yun's hands was already in a decent tier — certainly not bad — but compared to the piece in Wang Cong's hands, it still fell far short.

Wang Cong planned to polish his raw jade into jade pendants and jade rings, and the leftover scraps could be used to inlay hairpins and make earrings, as well as jade rings for fingers.

Wang Cong borrowed the artisan's workshop and began pulling an all-nighter, while Pan Yun was also burning the midnight oil, silently writing down the details of the Chang Mingwei case.

"The case file says Chang Mingwei and the victim, the Shen family, were neighbors. The Shen family were friendly with their fellow villagers, their household was harmonious, they often helped their neighbors, and they had no major conflict with Chang Mingwei either."

(End of chapter)