Lucky Farmer Girl: I rely on metaphysics to support my family

After arranging matters with the imperial clan, the Prince of War instructed Zhan Yi as soon as he left the residence of the Minister of the Imperial Clan: "Go and invite Chief Minister Lin, Second Minister Wu, and several ministers to the Prince's residence for a meeting in an hour."

Zhan Yi accepted the order and hurriedly went to inform the various officials.

The War King rode back to his residence, changed his clothes, and had his servants prepare tea.

I had just sat down and taken a sip of tea when the gatekeeper announced that several gentlemen had arrived.

The War King let everyone in.

After everyone was seated, the War King got straight to the point: "I invited you all here today for two reasons: first, to inquire about the progress of the investigations in each prefecture; and second, to check if there are any unusual occurrences among your subordinates. The peace charms have been delivered to each prefecture; have they all been distributed?"

Prime Minister Lin spoke first: "The talismans have been received and distributed to our household according to the number of people, to be worn close to the body. The investigation has also been arranged, and the steward is secretly investigating the servants who have entered the household in the last ten years, and so far no abnormalities have been found."

Vice Minister Wu continued, "My household began its investigation yesterday. After the incident with the wet nurse, I had all the servants in the household thoroughly investigated their origins. So far, no second suspicious person has been found, but it will take some time."

The same applies to the high-ranking officials; the talismans have already been distributed, and their servants are conducting checks.

When it came to Tang Bojun, he said, "My household discovered a suspicious person yesterday, but we did not arrest him. We have already sent people to keep an eye on him, and we can arrest him at any time if he makes any unusual moves."

Hearing Tang Bojun say this, everyone was a little surprised, as they really didn't expect the Tang family to find the suspicious person so quickly.

Tang Bojun noticed everyone's confusion and explained, "The suspicious person in my residence only recently entered the residence. At present, he is only suspicious, and there is no concrete evidence, but I have already sent people to investigate in detail." Let's see if we can find any evidence.

Of course, he didn't say that his daughter couldn't find out, since the War King hadn't publicly revealed his daughter's identity either. Given this, as family members, they hoped to keep their child safe and sound, without having to take the plunge, since the risks of doing so were uncertain.

Upon hearing this, the War King did not inquire further about the Tang family's affairs. He would find out the details by speaking with Wan'er later.

Since the Tang family caught the suspect so quickly, it must have been Wan'er who helped. Perhaps this person can be used as a breakthrough.

So the War King didn't ask the suspect from the Tang family any more questions, and only asked, "Have all the officials under you received their talismans?"

Chief Minister Lin said, "I have already distributed the tokens, according to the number of people in each official's residence. However, I have many officials under my command, and the number of tokens is limited. I have given them to the most important people first. I'm afraid it's not enough, so I will have to ask Your Highness to send some more."

The War King said, "I will figure out a way to deal with the talismans. Everyone, please use them for the most important people first, and we can replenish the rest later."

After learning about the situation of each family and giving them some instructions, the War King dismissed his ministers.

After the ministers left, the War King felt more at ease. Everyone had already begun the investigation. Although it wouldn't be possible to get results in a day or two, at least they were already doing it. He believed that for their own safety, they would get results as soon as possible.

But the words of the chief minister Lin were still swirling in his mind—"The number of talismans is limited, so give them to the most important ones first. I'm afraid it won't be enough, so we'll have to ask the prince to send some more."

That's not enough.

A batch was distributed to the royal family, another batch to the residences of the high-ranking officials, and then another batch to their subordinates. It's definitely not enough. I already discussed this with Wan'er yesterday; I wonder how many she's drawn by now.

Just as the War King was about to retrieve the bell to speak with Tang Wan, he heard a knock on the door.

The voice was Zhan Yi. Zhan Wang, who had just straightened up, sat down again and called out, "Come in." Zhan Yi pushed the door open and entered. However, his expression was more tense than usual.

After bowing, Zhan Yi said, "Your Highness, there's been some activity from the Southern Desert envoys."

The War King raised his eyes, his gaze slightly narrowed. Ever since the Southern Desert Princess was confined to her quarters, the Southern Desert delegation had become increasingly low-key, but he had never relaxed his surveillance of the area. Sure enough, as expected, despite the long delay, they had finally made their move.

So the War King calmly replied, "Speak."

Zhan Yi lowered his voice and replied, "Last night, during the shift change at the post station, someone slipped out through the side door. The person was dressed in ordinary civilian clothes, was thin, but moved extremely fast, clearly having some skill, and must have scouted the area beforehand, knowing when the shift change would take place."

The War King didn't interrupt, waiting for him to continue.

Zhan Yi added, "Our secret guards were keeping an eye on the post station. When they saw someone come out, they quietly followed him. The man turned left and right in the city, circling around several times. The secret guards were far enough away that he didn't notice. Finally, they discovered that he went to Jishan Hall."

The War King frowned slightly.

"Jishan Hall, it's Jishan Hall again!" So he asked, "What are we doing in Jishan Hall? And what happens next?"

Upon hearing his lord's question, Zhan paused for a moment, then replied somewhat ashamedly, "The other party is a martial arts expert, and our men dared not follow too closely, so we do not know exactly what he did inside Jishan Hall."

The War King understood and didn't say anything.

Zhan Yi didn't notice anything different on his prince's face, so he continued, "That man went in for less than half an hour. After he came out, he didn't return to the inn, but instead wandered around the city a few more times. He didn't return to the inn after dawn either. The guards noted down his route in the city and sent a message back when they had the chance. He continued to keep an eye on that man."

The War King nodded knowingly, and after a moment asked, "Is there anything unusual about the Hall of Accumulated Goodness?"

Zhan Yi cautiously replied, "We haven't found anything unusual at Jishantang yet, but Jishantang itself is a transit point for medicinal herbs from the Southern Desert for Feng Yongnian. Now that people from the Southern Desert are heading there again, it's probably not a coincidence."

The War King tapped his fingers lightly on the table, one tap at a time, slowly and deliberately, before giving the order: "Pass down the order to continue to closely monitor the post station and Jishan Hall."

"Yes." Zhan Yi accepted the order, then asked, "Your Highness, should we arrest the person who hasn't returned to the inn?"

“No need,” said the War King. “Capturing him would only alert him. Since he dared to come out, he must have a mission. Send someone to contact the guards who are following him, draw out all his routes in the city, and send them to me.”

Zhan Yi responded and withdrew.

The study fell silent. The War King leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and rubbed his temples; things were getting complicated.

But the truth might be just as I expected: Feng Yongnian does indeed have connections with Nanmo.

The envoys from the Southern Desert were ostensibly trapped in the post station, but in reality, they were secretly making moves.

Furthermore, Jishantang is connected to Feng Yongnian, and now people from the Southern Desert are flocking there. It's hard to believe there's no connection between the two. (End of Chapter)