Jiapingguan Chronicle

Chapter 2670 Still Vigorous in Old Age 54.0
Shen Haolin tapped the table in front of him, drawing everyone's attention to himself.

"Have you all hired dancers from this dance hall?" Seeing everyone nod, he sighed and said, "Have you noticed anything amiss? Like them wandering around the manor?"

"Wandering around?" Song Yaojia, Xue Ruitian, and Xia Chen exchanged glances. "That's impossible!"

“Haolin, the Duke’s mansion doesn’t hold banquets. Even when they do, they only invite close friends like us, not outsiders. So, they won’t hire dancers or anything like that to entertain.” Song Yaojia sighed and said, “Besides, you don’t go back to the capital very often. Even when you do, you usually only attend palace banquets. You rarely go to the big banquets held by other mansions, right? They’re mostly small gatherings, either drinking tea or having a casual meal. There’s no entertainment or anything like that, right?”

"Hmm!" Shen Haolin nodded. "But if they don't wander around, how will they gather information?"

“Let me explain.” Seeing that Shen Haolin and Shen Cha really didn’t understand, Song Yaojia stood up and switched places with Fourth Master Jiang. “Taking the Prince’s Mansion as an example, banquets are usually held in this garden in the front yard, which is the largest place in the entire mansion. The dancers and the musicians they bring are usually arranged to prepare in this courtyard in the northeast corner. This place is very quiet, but it is the closest to the garden. They can leave this courtyard not only to perform, but also to relieve themselves. But every time they come out, they are accompanied by maids or servants, and guards are arranged along the way. If there are a lot of guests or distinguished guests, General Eagle and Leopard will also be arranged to find some people to keep watch.”

“Yes.” Eagle Leopard nodded. “We’re usually not needed for small banquets, but when the number of people exceeds fifty, we’re responsible for security. Especially last time, when we hosted a banquet for Prince Ning, many people came, so security was our responsibility. But…” He looked at Song Yaojia and said, “We also went to the dance hall to invite people that time, but they…” He raised his chin and pointed to the three people on the board, “They were all absent.”

“If they were here, they wouldn’t be able to leave.” Song Yaojia tapped on the portrait. “Speaking of which, they’ve never been to any of the banquets at the Marquis of Wuding’s residence, right?” Seeing Xue Ruitian nod, he continued, “And you only met them when you were very young, but you haven’t seen them since you grew up, have you?”

"It seems like we've only seen these people when we were little, and haven't seen them since, right?" Xia Chen looked at everyone. "Where's Xiao Baizi?"

"I," Bai Meng thought for a moment, "the last time I saw them was a little over a year or two ago." He stroked his chin. "If that's the case, they haven't been to the dance studio for a long time, have they?"

“Yes!” Song Yaojia nodded. “Although the dance hall is still receiving guests as usual and attending banquets in various mansions as usual, they really don’t show up much anymore. Originally, when Haolin and Xiaocha returned to the capital last time, we wanted them to perform at the mansion, but” he thought for a moment, “the manager they are in charge of contacting said that the boss went to Jiangnan to open a new shop, and he will probably be back in about half a year when the new shop is open.”

"Yes!" Chu Han nodded. "Indeed, quite a few new dance studios have opened in Jiangnan. That seems to be true."

"Did they sense we might catch them, so they went out to lay low for a while?"

“It’s probably not to avoid the limelight, but to clean up the mess left by the little prince.” Shen Cha sighed. “The Forget-Me-Not Powder case completely destroyed their profit chain in Jiangnan. If they want to make a comeback, they need someone to oversee Jiangnan. The little prince doesn’t have that opportunity anymore, so they have to go on their own.”

“That makes sense.” Shen Haolin nodded, then looked at the others. “Since they can’t move around freely, how do they gather information?”

“That’s easy. Not only will they dance, but they’ll also sit with the guests.” Song Yaojia raised an eyebrow. “It’s not possible for my residence to host a banquet, but that doesn’t mean other residences can’t.”

"Accompanying guests for drinks?" "Yes!" Song Yaojia glanced at Xia Chen and Bai Meng. "Do you have any in your household?"

"No." The two shook their heads at the same time. "But other residences do have this, for example, His Highness Prince Heng's banquets often have this situation."

"These people are fairly aware of which household can gather information and which cannot," Shen Haolin nodded. "Did they all appear at the same banquet at the same time?"

“Yes!” Song Yaojia pointed to herself, then to Xia Chen and Bai Meng, “Our families all require them to be present because the guests really want to see them dance, but most of the time they won’t go, right?”

“Yes!” Xia Chen nodded. “I’ve only met two of them. I’ve met An Ji and An Shan, but I haven’t met the other one.”

"So, they don't have to go just because they're invited, right?" Shen Haolin stroked his chin. "They should be selective about which banquets they attend."

“That’s for sure. If all three go, it means they’re taking it quite seriously. As for whether they’ll get the information they want, that’s another story.” Song Yaojia stroked her chin. “The ones who need to sit with them and drink with them are their main sources of information.”

"Did Grand Uncle go there?" Shen Cha glanced at Chu Han. "Grand Uncle lived in the capital for a few years, right?"

“That’s true, but I don’t like watching song and dance performances, and I rarely go to banquets. Apart from palace banquets, there’s not much anyone who can get me to come.” Chu Han looked at the people on the board. “I have almost no impression of them.”

“It seems the three of us should be on the same side.” Shen Cha pointed to herself, Shen Haolin, and Chu Han, “and Fourth Grandfather.”

"Did they perform at the palace?"

“No.” Song Yaojia shook her head gently. “His Majesty and the Empress Dowager don’t really like this, and the Jiaofangsi can meet their needs, so there’s no need to bring it from outside. His Majesty did see it once in our residence, but he didn’t feel anything special about it, and he hasn’t seen it since.”

"It seems that they usually gather information in situations where they themselves are not present."

“I think so too.” Shen Cha agreed with Shen Haolin’s statement. “When they appear on their own, they actually need to be more careful and absolutely cannot reveal their whereabouts, right?”

“Yes!” Chu Han agreed. “If they are present and someone catches them doing something wrong, they won’t even have a chance to pass the buck.” He looked at the others. “I was just thinking that since we know where they are, we might as well catch them all in one fell swoop. But it seems that’s not possible now.”