Jiapingguan Chronicle

"Gongsun Yue showed suspicion at this time?" Shen Cha raised an eyebrow slightly, looked at Song Yaojia, and said, "Is he suspicious of Gong Sheng?"

"You got it right!" Song Yaojia laughed. "Why don't you all try to guess what Gongsun Yue's purpose was in doing this, why he chose to express his doubts at this time, and what his doubts are?"

"Didn't Xiaocha say she suspected Gong Sheng?" Jin Miaomiao thought for a moment, "Your Highness means, what do you suspect about Gong Sheng, right?"

“That’s right, you suspect Gong Sheng of something.” Song Yaojia nodded and pointed to Jin Miaomiao and Meilin. “Xiaocha, don’t say anything yet. You two answer separately and see who among you can say something that is closer to Gongsun Yue’s true intention.”

"Oh, you want us to talk about it?" Jin Miaomiao was a little surprised. She touched her chin. "Let us think about it!"

She sighed softly, exchanged a glance with Merlin, and shrugged in unison. They hadn't expected that their plan to quietly listen to the story would turn into an assessment, something they were completely unprepared for.

"Whoever has made up their mind can speak first, no need to be modest." Song Yaojia couldn't help but laugh when she saw their tense expressions. She said, "Here's a hint for you: don't overthink it. Keep it simple, the simpler the better. Gongsun Yue's reasoning is very straightforward. Don't overthink it; overthinking will easily lead you astray from his original idea."

“It’s that kind of thing,” Shen Cha winked at Jin Miaomiao and Mei Lin, “that’s very easy to understand at a glance.”

"Really?" Jin Miaomiao roughly understood what Shen Cha meant. She stretched and said slowly, "Actually, I just thought of something, but I don't know if it's what you're talking about."

"Just say it if you have an idea."

"I put myself in Gongsun Yue's shoes, no, to be more precise, I put myself in the shoes of the swindler. I think Gongsun Yue was also putting herself in the shoes of the swindler at the time, which is why she showed doubt. From Gong Wu's appearance to Gong Sheng's reappearance, everything progressed too quickly, a bit illogical, and a bit suspicious."

"When you say something is suspicious, do you mean that Gong Sheng and Gong Wu would suspect Gongsun Yue and Master Qingsong?"

“That’s right.” Jin Miaomiao nodded. “These swindlers from the Gong and Ma families have been swindling all the way from Jiangnan. They’ve seen all sorts of victims. Some are eager to defy fate, some are cautious, and some appear calm on the surface but are very anxious inside. No matter what kind of people they are, no matter how anxious they are, they all have one thing in common: they all suspect that the so-called Taoist masters and sorcerers might be swindlers, right?”

"Hmm!" Seeing Jin Miaomiao looking at her, Shen Cha nodded slightly. "Continue."

“Therefore, Gongsun Yue’s practice of directly paying a deposit is like offering money upfront. In Gong Sheng and Gong Wu’s eyes, this is likely to be seen as an anomaly, and they might even think it’s a trap. Not only will it not work out, but it will also make them wary.” Jin Miaomiao looked at Song Yaojia. “Your Highness, am I right?”

"Hmm!" Song Yaojia nodded, indicating that she agreed with Jin Miaomiao's statement. "You mean that Gongsun Yue expressed his suspicion and doubt about Gong Sheng and Gong Wu at an appropriate time in order to dispel their wariness, right?"

“Yes, only by showing your doubts at this time, by showing your suspicions about their identities and abilities, can you make Gong Sheng and Gong Wu believe you and achieve your goal.” Jin Miaomiao nodded. “If he is still eager to pay at this time, let alone catching all these swindlers, they will probably be on the list of swindlers who refuse to associate with you. It will be impossible to catch them in this way again.”

"That's right." Song Yaojia smiled, then turned her gaze to Merlin, who was still deep in thought. "Little Lin, what have you thought about?"

"Sister Miao Miao said everything I wanted to say. I was thinking that if we really get caught, Gong Sheng might have Gong Wu stay here to keep them calm while he goes back to get reinforcements." "Go back to get reinforcements?" Song Yaojia looked blank. "Why would you need to get reinforcements? To fight?"

“Yes!” Merlin nodded. “Your Highness, don’t find it unbelievable. I actually saw something like this when I was a child.”

"You grew up here, didn't you?"

“Yes.” Merlin sighed and said, “Back then, Jiaping Pass was in complete chaos. All sorts of shady characters were there, and swindlers were countless—seven or eight out of every hundred people were swindlers. I saw it when I was a child: after a swindler was exposed, he slunk away, then brought even more people and beat the victim to a pulp. That victim later succumbed to his injuries and died that very night.” She looked at Shen Cha, “Such things were not uncommon at the border back then, were they?”

“Yes!” Shen Cha nodded. “Later, my father, mother, Uncle Xue, and Aunt Xue led the Shen family army to garrison here, and the first people they dealt with were the swindlers.”

“I remember,” Shen Haolin sighed. “In such a small city, nearly five hundred swindlers were arrested in three days.” He glanced at Song Yaojia. “Each of them had almost one or two lives on their hands, either from fighting with their peers and accidentally killing someone, or from being exposed by a victim and then leading a group to kill the victim.” He sneered. “If Gongsun Yue hadn’t shown his suspicion at that time, he would have also been beaten by Gong Sheng’s men. Of course, if it had developed to that point, there would have been no need for any undercover investigation; they could have just raided the gathering place of these sorcerers.”

“If that were really the case, there would be several more stacks of memorials impeaching him on my uncle’s desk.” Song Yaojia sighed helplessly. “So, we definitely can’t let things develop to that extent. That’s why Gongsun Yue questioned Gong Sheng, questioning his abilities, questioning whether he was a real sorcerer, and even said that they should return the deposit.”

“The Gong and Ma families are both obsessed with money, they’re completely money-grubbing. How could they possibly tolerate losing the money they’ve already got?” Jin Miaomiao blinked. “But this was probably within their expectations, right?”

“Yes, Gongsun Yue’s questioning and his very excited attitude immediately dispelled Gong Sheng’s doubts.” Song Yaojia sighed. “However, Gong Sheng also said that to resolve this, a ritual needs to be performed, which definitely cannot be done on the same day. Some things need to be prepared, and they need to bathe and burn incense to comply with the rules. So, the earliest it can be done is three days later.”

"Gongsun Yue agreed?"

"Okay, I agreed. I invited them to my house."

"Home?" Shen Cha was taken aback. "The Earl's residence?"

“How could that be!” Song Yaojia waved her hand at Shen Chayi. “It’s another residence of Gongsun Yue. According to Gong Sheng, that residence is usually used for holding rituals.”

"What?"

"Don't take it seriously, I'm just kidding." Song Yaojia waved his hand and laughed. "Every time the Imperial Observatory holds a big ceremony or festival, he moves into that house a month in advance to calm his mind. Moreover, he foresaw what Gong Sheng and Gong Wu were going to do next, so he decided to meet them there."

"Your Highness means," Jin Miaomiao paused, "that these two people are trying to follow Gongsun Yue and my master?" (End of Chapter)