Jiapingguan Chronicle

Chapter 2668 Still Vigorous in Old Age 52.0
Shen Haolin nodded. He and Chu Han thought the same thing: if those people wanted to control the overall situation, they had to stay in Daxia, or even in Xijing City, so that they could see the situation clearly.

Moreover, compared to the Liao and Jin dynasties, the Great Xia Dynasty was much more tolerant of different races. They did not discriminate based on skin color, hair color, or eye color, nor did they create obstacles for foreigners. Their treatment in the Great Xia Dynasty was the same as that of the locals. Of course, those who did business were an exception, as they had to pay higher taxes and miscellaneous fees. Even so, their profits were still incredibly high.

However, Shen Haolin believed that the person behind Master Falian was unlikely to be a foreigner or someone from another country. After all, the Great Xia Dynasty conducted a household registration survey every year, and foreigners and people from other countries such as Liao and Jin had to regularly go to the Honglu Temple and its branches in various prefectures for document authentication. This authentication process was extremely cumbersome, requiring a lot of supporting documents, and the authentication had to be done in person; it could not be done by proxy. If they did not authenticate, they would face punishment, ranging from being expelled from the Great Xia Dynasty to being punished with one hundred strokes of the cane, detained for three to six months, and then expelled from the Great Xia Dynasty.

Of course, some people take the risk of forging documents or becoming unregistered residents, but the cost and risk of forging documents are too high. Staying in Daxia for years is not a worthwhile deal. Anyone with a brain would never make such a decision.

Thinking of this, Shen Haolin sighed unconsciously. It seemed there was only one possibility left.

Xue Ruitian heard Shen Haolin sigh, and he and Shen Cha looked at Shen Haolin's expression and exchanged a glance.

Shen Cha gently patted Shen Haolin's arm and whispered, "Brother, what are you thinking about?"

“I’m thinking, we can basically rule out people from other countries or foreign lands, so there’s only one possibility.” Shen Haolin looked at them, then at Chu Han, “Whether they are descendants of the previous dynasty or something else, they are all people of this land, right?”

“That’s right!” Chu Han nodded. “If they were completely different from us, they would have been discovered long ago. The annual certification process is very complicated. They have to look the same as us year after year, and they will be exposed sooner or later. If they want to change their appearance, they will also be exposed.”

“Yes!” Shen Cha nodded. “During the certification process, they need to check for human skin masks; someone will specifically touch them.” She sighed. “We’ve detected this before, haven’t we?”

“That’s true.” Chu Han nodded. “This happens every year, and people get caught every year, but there are still people willing to take such risks.”

“But there’s a problem.” Xue Ruitian raised his hand to indicate that he had a question. “If they don’t look special, and they’re not so-called foreigners, and they don’t have anything that would make them stand out, then why are they afraid of being seen? And why are they afraid of being investigated by the authorities? Also, my father, mother, and fourth grandfather only met each other twice on the street. Why would they kill each other to cover it up?”

"Because we investigated!" Chu Han tapped the table lightly. "I could tell you were daydreaming. Didn't Xiao Si say that during the second encounter, Xiao Xue, his wife, and the eldest prince found these people's behavior strange, so they investigated and that's why they were silenced? It wasn't because they saw those people during their two encounters that they were silenced. Do you understand?"

"I understand." Xue Ruitian nodded. "I didn't hear that just now. If that's the case, then it makes sense. It's just that they saw something back then that made them decide to investigate."

“I don’t know.” Shen Cha shook her head gently. “My brother, Miao Miao, and I searched through all the files, but we didn’t see any of these.” She gestured with her chin toward Fourth Master Jiang, who was still drawing. “Fourth Grandfather should know.”

"Me?" The man whose name was called, Fourth Master Jiang, stopped writing and turned to look at them. "What do you want to ask?" "What did they do back then that led my mother and the eldest prince to investigate?"

"Let me think!" Master Jiang thought for a moment, "When I saw them, they were at the pharmacy. They bought a lot of herbs, and later they also bought a lot of earthenware pots, but they just felt it was very strange and insisted on investigating."

What were the results of the investigation?

"I don't know. They said it has to be kept secret, and no one can tell us for now. It seems there won't be any results." Master Jiang sighed softly. "The people who knew about these things are all gone now, which is a real pity." He paused, thought seriously for a moment, and said, "Have you asked His Highness the Eagle King? Maybe they will ask him for help, and he might know."

“We’ve asked them, not just my master, but also the two elders of the Xuanyuan family. They’re not very clear about the whole thing either,” Shen Haolin sighed. “They don’t know what they’re investigating or why they’re investigating. It seems they haven’t found out anything yet, there’s no conclusion, so they don’t want to publicize it or let anyone know.”

"Yes!" Master Jiang nodded. "That's what they said, but after investigating for a while, they stopped. As for why, they didn't say, and we didn't ask. You know what happened after that. For the next ten years or so, we were on the defensive and taking a beating. In the end, the only one who saw those people was me, who faked my death and escaped."

After saying that, Master Jiang continued to paint. Although many years had passed, he still remembered that person's face very clearly and had never forgotten it.

"It seems that the only way to find out what really happened back then is to catch these scoundrels." Xue Ruitian sighed, looking at the slowly forming portrait on the board, he paused slightly, "This...this is..." He reached out and patted Song Yaojia, saying, "Is it that one?"

“…” Song Yaojia sighed and said, “Yes!”

"What is it?"

The conversation between the two left the others completely baffled, with no idea what kind of cryptic conversation they were engaging in.

Xue Ruitian waved to them, signaling them to calm down, then stood up and ran outside the flower hall to find Meilin, asking her to invite Bai Meng, Yingbao, and Yingjun over.

"Who is this?" Shen Cha looked at Song Yaojia. "I've been to Xijing City so many times, and I've never seen this person before."

"Don't worry, you'll know when they arrive." Song Yaojia looked at everyone. "They're not important people, but they're not unimportant either." He sneered. "No wonder they killed them to cover their tracks; they wouldn't be able to survive if they didn't!"