Chapter 593 1st Tracking
Chapter 593: Following All the Way
In Xuancheng County, the housekeeper of the Changshi Mansion took a detour and entered the temporary rental house of the Security Bureau through the back door and met Shi Xiaozhen.
"This morning, several important guests came from Luoyang. One of them was named Wei, a middle-aged man in his fifties. The chief secretary called him second uncle. There was also a Mr. Song, who seemed to be an aide, and there were more than a dozen guards."
"Then what?" Shi Xiaozhen continued to ask.
"Then they had a secret conversation behind closed doors for the whole morning, and in the afternoon they were going out together for three days."
"Another three days!" Shi Xiaozhen was extremely sensitive. This trip was definitely not just for sightseeing.
"Where are they going?"
The butler shook his head. "I don't know. The master never told me."
"The driver must know. Go ask him."
The butler still shook his head, "They mainly take the boat. The carriage only goes to the dock, and then they take the boat to somewhere."
Shi Xiaozhen pondered for a moment and asked, "Does Wei Liangcai have a manor in Xuancheng County?"
"Probably not. If there was, I would definitely know. But they seemed to have been to some manor. I heard the young lady's personal maid complain that there were too many mosquitoes in the manor. She said that last summer. At that time, I was wondering, when did the master buy the manor?"
Shi Xiaozhen vaguely guessed that there should be such a manor, but it was not under Wei Liangcai's name.
"When will they leave?"
"It should be about this time. I have to go back quickly."
The butler said goodbye and left in a hurry.
Shi Xiaozhen made an immediate decision. He sent two people to monitor the Changshi Mansion, while he himself took his men to the dock.
They temporarily rented two thousand-stone passenger ships. Their men dressed up as boatmen and Shi Xiaozhen disguised himself as the ship owner. The captain of the ship saw the internal security sign and did not dare to offend them, so he quickly promised to cooperate with them.
Just as it was done, a dozen mounted warriors came galloping over, guarding a carriage.
Chief Clerk Wei Liangcai got off the carriage, followed by Wei Yue and Song Guang. They had an official ship with a capacity of 500 dan, but a dozen of their men needed to find a temporary ship.
A warrior came up and asked, "Do you have any guests on your ship?"
Shi Xiaozhen clasped his fists and smiled, "I just came back from picking up passengers, and I'm going to rest for two days!"
"I'll give you double the boat fare and take me on a trip to Qinggeshui Lanxi Town!"
Shi Xiaozhen nodded, "Double the boat fare is fine. I'm the ship owner, so it's okay for me to stay on the ship!"
"The shipowner is fine, but all other people who are not related should get off the ship."
Wei Liangcai and his two companions boarded the boat, while a dozen guards chartered two of Shi Xiaozhen's boats. The three boats left the dock, with the official boat in front and the two boats behind, heading west one after the other.
At midnight, the three ships arrived at Lanxi Town, a small town built against a mountain. The Qingge River flows around the town. The green mountains and clear waters make for extremely beautiful scenery. However, when they arrived at the shore in the middle of the night, it was pitch dark all around and the scenery could not be seen. Everyone went ashore and walked with lanterns.
Shi Xiaozhen and several of his men followed the lantern from a distance. Behind the town was a tea estate covering thousands of acres. Wei Liangcai and his party entered the tea estate and the gate of the estate was immediately closed.
Qingge green tea is of excellent quality and is very popular in Luoyang. Among them, the Qingge tea produced in Lanxi Town is of the highest quality. There are more than a dozen tea houses near Lanxi Town, all of which belong to the powerful and famous families. The tea house that Wei Liangcai and others entered is owned by the Wei family and is one of the few assets of the Wei family in Jiangnan.
Shi Xiaozhen and his men hid outside the manor. Soon, two of his men came running and said, "Captain, there are mastiffs patrolling in the manor. The defense is very tight and we can't get in." Shi Xiaozhen was secretly surprised. This was not an ordinary manor!
He left two people to continue monitoring the manor, and the others returned to the boat to rest.
At dawn the next day, two men who were monitoring the manor came running back to report, "Captain, more than a hundred warriors came out of the manor, half of them rode away on horses, and the other half are heading towards the river."
Shi Xiaozhen hurriedly woke up his men. At this time, a large group of people came in a mighty manner. Wei Liangcai and Wei Yue boarded the official ship, and more than a dozen guards also followed them on the official ship.
The remaining 40 or so people, led by Song Guang, clasped their fists to Shi Xiaozhen and said, "We will give you three times the ship fare and send us to Jingkou County."
Shi Xiaozhen smiled bitterly and said, "With a little more people, the boat will be uncomfortable."
Song Guang smiled slightly and said, "It's okay if it's a little crowded!"
Shi Xiaozhen laughed and said, "How can I refuse three times the price? Come on board!"
More than forty warriors followed Song Guang onto the boats, filling the two passenger ships. The official ship returned to Xuancheng County, and the other two ships sailed along the Qingge River to the Yangtze River.
Two days later, the two ships arrived in Jiangning County for a brief replenishment, and Shi Xiaozhen went ashore on the pretext of going home.
The boats continued along the Yangtze River, while Shi Xiaozhen rode three horses towards Jingkou City.
In the afternoon, Shi Xiaozhen arrived at Jingkou City and hurriedly reported the latest situation to Li Luming. Li Luming immediately sent several pairs of special spies to defend the dock.
What are special spies? For example, an old couple setting up stalls, a short and fat middle-aged shopkeeper, an old farmer in tattered clothes, a ten-year-old child selling flowers, and so on.
I never dreamed that they would be spies of the Jiangnan Army.
An hour later, two thousand-stone passenger ships arrived at Jingkou Wharf. The warriors on the ships dispersed and headed for different city gates, entering the city from each gate, trying not to attract attention.
Song Guang and two of his men entered the city. Soon he came to an alley. Looking back, he saw an old farmer with wrinkles on his face riding a donkey not far behind him.
Seeing that the old farmer was wearing a tattered short coat, Song Guang no longer took him seriously and went straight into the alley, walked to the end, knocked on the door, and the door opened. He and several of his men slipped in.
The old farmer glanced at the wooden sign at the entrance of the alley, "Zhao Sima Lane", and he urged his donkey to speed away.
Soon, an old couple selling shoes and socks appeared diagonally across the alley. They both had kind faces and looked very old.
Li Luming also got the news from Chang'an, and he hurried to see King Jin.
"Your Highness, I have obtained information about Song Guang. He is from Chang'an. Seven years ago, he became Wei Chong's aide and has been making plans for him. He is his top aide. He is very smart. If we keep a close eye on him, he will easily find us."
Xiao Xia nodded, "How many people are here?"
"There are over a hundred people here, all of them are highly skilled in martial arts. They are hiding in the Lanxi Tea Garden. This time they all came to Jingkou. I'm afraid they are planning to ambush Your Highness. Your Highness, collect your bags!"
"Do you know where these more than 100 people live?"
"Half of them live in Zhao Sima Lane, and the other half came here on horseback. We don't know where they live yet, but they will definitely meet up tonight. As long as I keep a close watch, I will find out where they live."
Xiao Xia nodded, "Once we know where they live, we can send out troops and capture them all in one fell swoop!"
"Follow the order!"
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[My mother is not feeling well today and needs to be taken care of. I am very sorry. There will only be two updates today. There will be no update at noon, and the update will be normal in the afternoon.]
(End of this chapter)