The Famous Detective of the Red Mansion

“Escape?! You think that Zhou Ruqing is going to flee outside of the Great Zhou Dynasty?!"

"That's right!"

"A corrupt official who is almost on the brink of execution doesn’t care about a saber hanging around his neck. He only focuses on plundering the people's wealth, even brazenly destroys the Court's laws and regulations, and does not shy away from the eyes and ears of others..."

Taken together, others might not be able to see what Zhou Ruqing had in mind due to the limitations of the times and the traditional concept of the homeland, but Sun Shaozong immediately thought of the word "Escape."

After all, in the era in which he once lived, the escape of corrupt officials could be said to be the most common routine!

In the face of such a mortal situation, Zhou Ruqing and others wanted to live, but they could only ”run away with money!”

Due to the fact that Jinmen Mansion was quite a distance from the land border, if he wanted to carry a large amount of gold and silver to escape, there were only sea routes available.

Therefore, Sun Shaozong only paid attention to the large ships that could sail to sea on the dock, hoping to find evidence of Zhou Ruqing attempting to escape.

However, the number of ships exceeded Sun Shaozong's estimate.

But at the moment, he didn't dare to act rashly and alert the enemy, so he had to send someone to secretly investigate. However, he could only rely on the two subordinate officials and a servant around him, and he didn't know when the results of the investigation would come out.

If there were still no clues, and Zhou Ruqing happened to escape to the sea, then it would be extremely difficult to find those involved.

So on the way back, Sun Shaozong wondered where to find more people.

In fact, there was no shortage of ready-made soldiers and horses. There were at least thirty to forty people in the local Dragon Guard hundred households who could be dispatched by him.

The problem was that Sun Shaozong hadn't even seen Jia Shanyao in person, let alone his usual relationship with the Governor's Office. If Jia Shanyao himself was also involved, wouldn't it be tantamount to asking him for help?

He was in a dilemma when he happened to encounter this determination and was challenged by others. He also saw that he was upright and somewhat scholarly and had formed an animosity with the Governor's Office. Therefore, he took up an idea.

Unlike Sun Shaozong's habit of being simple and obedient, almost every official's travel these days was accompanied by a bunch of subordinates, and Xiang Yi was no exception.

The officials who accompanied him, including his servants, were at least a dozen. As long as half of them could be trusted, they would be enough.

After Sun Shaozong had simply analyzed his reasoning with Xiang Yi, Xiang Yi shook his head like a rattle drum and said, “No, no, no! Those stupid men can't even run errands at ordinary times. How dare you entrust these huge connections to them at this moment? If the news was leaked, wouldn't I become a criminal forever?"

Immediately, he gritted his teeth again and said, "If there’s no other solution, I will dress up and go in person..."

"That's not necessary!"

Sun Shaozong hurriedly interrupted him. At first glance, he was a standard scholar with no muscles. If he really wanted to go out and inquire about information, he was afraid that he would give himself away in a few words.

"Brother Xiang, actually, there's no need to tell the people below about the details. We just need to..."

Sun Shaozong explained a few words in this way, and Xiang Yi suddenly felt light in his eyes.

He didn't hesitate to seek Sun Shaozong's advice. He grabbed the front door with a few steps and shouted, “Call everyone in, I have something to say!"

Those officials and domestic servants all knew that he had just suffered a grievance, was full of resentment, and had nowhere to vent. Naturally, they didn’t dare to neglect anything and rushed into the living room in a rush.

As expected, there were as many as fifteen people, old and young, as Sun Shaozong had guessed.

"Brother Xiang."

Sun Shaozong quickly whispered, "Just find a few capable ones. There's no need to send them all out."

Xiang Yi suddenly understood and hurriedly chased the ones who were usually stupid out to continue packing. Then he said to the rest of the people, “I think you all know that now the Governor's Office has no place to vent its anger, so it has turned on us, the Cangzhou people. If we continue staying in this Jinmen Mansion, it may be difficult to say whether we can go back alive or not.'"

As soon as they heard this, they gave him a few words of relief.

Xiang Yi waved his hand and said, "There's no need to say anything else. I just discussed this with Lord Sun. Instead of staying here and waiting for death, it's better to find a way out of here."

A way out of here?

Everyone was a bit dumbfounded, and one of the officials reminded him, “My Lord, according to the order of the Governor's Office, now this Jinmen can only enter but cannot leave...'"

"Dumb!"

Xiang Yi glared and said angrily, "The fire has almost reached us. How can we manage so much?"

After a pause, he lowered his voice slightly and said, "Besides, you have seen the anxiety of the Governor's Mansion. Lord Zhou may be in danger this time. As long as we can avoid these days, we don't need to worry about his investigation afterward!"

The people thought it was logical. They might not know what the Governor's Office used to be like, but just by randomly arresting people and confiscating properties during these two days, they would definitely not be able to negotiate with each other in the future.

"Actually, I have already made a thorough inquiry."

Sun Shaozong duly interrupted and said, "Although patrol ships are guarding the canals at both ends of the north and south, the direction of sailing is not blocked. As long as we can find a ship willing to sail, it will be much easier for us to leave Jinmen."

"Right, right!"

Xiang Yi added, "It's better to be on a sea boat because, apart from Lord Sun and me, there are two colleagues who also intend to leave together. I'm afraid ordinary small boats cannot accommodate so many people."

"You don't have to ask one by one."

Sun Shaozong added, "Nowadays, people in this city are in a state of panic, and no one knows if the next person to be confiscated will be themselves. According to my reasoning, there must be a maritime merchant who has the same thinking as us!"

"So you just need to make sure that there are those ocean ships that have added supplies to the sea in the past two days, and it will be enough to report back."

In a few words, the two men made a clear explanation and promised a heavy reward. Only then did they call out the three men under Sun Shaozong and send them out to inquire about the news.

When everyone in the living room had dispersed completely, Xiang Yi suddenly felt as if he had a tough time and collapsed on the Grand Master's chair, gasping for breath.

After a while, he regained some strength but nervously inquired, "Lord Sun, can we really deceive the people in the Governor's Office by doing this?"

"It's naturally not that easy to completely fool the past, so this is why we have to release false information." Sun Shaozong spread out his hand and said, "I'm going back to attend my Eldest Brother's wedding, and you almost got caught in prison. It's reasonable to be in a hurry to leave this place of trouble."

"If Governor Zhou really intends to flee, he will not dare to delay for too long. I estimate that the maximum duration will be the day after tomorrow, which is their limit."

"In this way, even if we escape tomorrow, we won't have time to move to the Capital and ask for help."

"So even if the Governor's Office receives information, it should not pay attention to our ”inconsequential careful thinking,” and naturally it will not alert the enemy."

When Sun Shaozong said this, seeing that Xiang Yi had completely relaxed, he smiled again and said, "Of course, this is just my own speculation. If Governor Zhou is vigilant enough..."

Halfway through, he paused.

Xiang Yi immediately raised his heart to his throat again and asked after him, "If Zhou Ruqing was vigilant enough, what would happen?"

"If Governor Zhou is vigilant enough, I'm afraid I can only go to the Governor's Mansion and capture him alive!"

As Sun Shaozong spoke, he burst into laughter.

Xiang Yi thought he was joking, so he laughed along.