good season

Many people entered the city, including many women. However, there were more than twenty male constables responsible for checking travel permits, but only two female constables. Although it was women checking women, many young women were still shy and hesitant to be searched. The two female constables scolded and threatened them, and the young girls were brought to tears. Some of them had children with them, and the children were so frightened that they cried loudly. As a result, the inspection process was even slower.

Zhao Shiqing was eagerly waiting, and there were only four or five people ahead of her when something unexpected happened.

A female constable was searching a woman in her early thirties. Suddenly, she touched something and exclaimed, "Ah!" to the woman, "Are you a man or a woman?"

Most of the female constables were shrewish, and they usually dealt with female prisoners in jail. They not only spoke in a loud and rough voice, but they were also all very loud.

What's more, her voice was several octaves higher than usual, like a thunderclap from a clear sky. Not only did the women's team hear it, but the men's team did too.

Everyone looked over. Zhao Shiqing was close by and had just witnessed the whole thing.

The female constable, as was her routine duty, touched the woman's leg, and somehow touched a certain spot, causing her to gasp in surprise.

Upon hearing the commotion, another female constable asked, "What's going on?"

The female constable said, "This man is a man; he's impersonating a woman."

The woman was terrified and waved her hands repeatedly, saying, "No, no, I am a woman, I really am a woman!"

The woman was dressed plainly and looked travel-worn. At first, no one paid attention to her, but upon closer inspection, it was discovered that she was tall and thin, about the same height as the male constable of medium build. More importantly, her somewhat wooden face looked more and more like a man the more you looked at it.

The female constable sneered, "I'm over forty and have given birth to five children. Do you think I can't tell the difference between boys and girls?"

Everyone burst into laughter. These days, nothing is more captivating than matters between men and women.

The woman was sweating profusely with anxiety, repeatedly insisting that she was a woman.

The female constable snorted and pointed to the shed next to her: "Since you are a woman, do you dare to go in, take off your clothes, and let us check you out?"

The woman's face changed drastically. She subconsciously looked around, then suddenly turned around and ran away.

The two female constables were taken aback when she suddenly ran away, and the woman had already run quite a distance away.

The female constable shouted to the male constable who was conducting a search nearby, "Someone has escaped! They might be a notorious bandit! Go after them!"

Upon hearing that he was a notorious bandit, the two young constables abandoned their questioning and gave chase.

Everyone craned their necks to watch the spectacle, and some who weren't in a hurry to enter the city even followed the two constables out.

As the three disappeared from sight, Zhao Shiqing withdrew her gaze and continued to wait for questioning.

The two female constables were cursing under their breath. One said she was absolutely certain that it was a man, while the other said that there are all sorts of birds in a big forest, and you can run into anything.

Next to be questioned were an elderly woman and two middle-aged women, presumably her daughters or daughters-in-law.

The three men were also talking about what had just happened, chatting leisurely with the two female constables, from the woman they had just spoken to the two women in their village.

Zhao Shiqing learned something new; no one had ever told her these things before.

She was engrossed in listening when suddenly a scream came from afar: "Murder! Murder!"

Everyone was startled and looked in the direction of the sound. They saw the group of people who had just gone to watch the commotion running over in a panic, shouting at the constables at the city gate, "Murder! Your men have been killed!"

Among these constables was the older brother of one of the younger constables.

Upon hearing that his younger brother had gotten into trouble, the older brother rushed towards the scene without hesitation. The two brothers were well-liked among the yamen runners, and others also dropped what they were doing and followed them.

Suddenly, the guards at the city gate were gone, and the people who had been queuing up orderly immediately realized what was happening and rushed into the city gate.

There were also some honest people who were initially afraid to run, but they were pushed and shoved by the people behind them and couldn't help but run inside.

Zhao Shiqing was such an honest person. She actually wanted to see what was going on, but she was pushed and shoved by several old women and had no choice but to move. By the time she remembered that there was still some excitement to see, she had already entered the city!

Xiuxiu and Lingbo were in the same situation; the three of them inexplicably entered the city, looking at each other in bewilderment.

Zhao Shiqing: "I don't know how that constable died, or if it was that Erweizi who killed him."

Lingbo: "Second Miss, quickly forget about the name 'Second Tail' and pretend you never heard of it."

Who is the Second Miss? How could she possibly utter those three words?

Zhao Shiqing shook her head: "I have a good memory, I can't forget it."

凌波
Chaos reigned inside the city gate as people rushed in; there was no way to turn back and see what was happening.

Zhao Shiqing sighed, "Let's go to the teahouse on the mountain."

The teahouse on the mountain was where they had agreed to meet.

At this moment, Xia Dachuan and the others also came out of the city gate. The twenty of them, along with the twenty sent by the old man, were all Zhao Shiqing's guards. The female team was slow in checking, and although the male team was fast, the forty of them had been waiting behind for Zhao Shiqing. Now that they saw Zhao Shiqing enter the city, they followed her in.

Although they have reunited, now that they are in the city, they cannot all surround Zhao Shiqing, otherwise it will attract attention.

Zhao Shiqing and her two companions were still in front, while the others separated and followed behind.

The three of them asked around and walked for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn before they found the teahouse on the mountain.

As the name suggests, a mountain teahouse is located on a mountain.

This mountain is located in Tongzhou City. It is less than five miles in circumference and not very high. The mountain has no name. Looking up from the foot of the mountain, it is lush and green. There is a pavilion on the top of the mountain, and there are houses near the pavilion, which must be a teahouse.

Xiuxiu exclaimed, "With so many trees, it must be very cool."

Xiao Zhen arranged to meet at the teahouse on the mountain because the teahouse was located at the highest point in Tongzhou City.

In his past life, the owner of a teahouse on the mountain took in many homeless people, but his good deeds were not rewarded. He was murdered for his money, and the murderer was one of the people he had taken in.

Hearing Xiao Zhen mention this, Zhao Shiqing felt somewhat heavy-hearted as she climbed the mountain. The mountain wasn't high, and the stone steps led straight to the top. The three of them were young and at the peak of their physical strength, so they reached the summit in no time. Apart from Xiuxiu being a little out of breath, Zhao Shiqing and Lingbo hadn't even broken a sweat.

Xia Dachuan and twenty others also went up the mountain, while another twenty waited at the foot of the mountain.

Xiao Zhen and his group entered the city before Zhao Shiqing and her companions. At this time, apart from the twenty-odd guards who remained at the foot of the mountain, everyone else had already gone up the mountain. Seeing that Zhao Shiqing and the other two had arrived, Xiao Zhen breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "Was the journey into the city smooth?"

They entered the city first and were unaware of what had happened at the city gate. Zhao Shiqing then told them about the accident on the women's team's side and the death of a yamen runner. If Lingbo hadn't kept nudging her with her elbow, she almost would have revealed Erweizi's name again.

Xiao Zhen narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at Jiang Ping, who said, "I will go and inquire about it."

This matter is strange, and considering the group of people from last night, Xiao Zhen has to be on guard.

Zhao Shiqing looked around. The teahouse was a two-story building. Whether it was because it was morning or because Xiao Zhen had booked the place, there were no other customers in the teahouse at the moment. All she could see were her own people.

The owner was a kind-looking middle-aged man. Besides two young employees, there was also a little girl of about five or six years old sitting behind the counter, glancing at them from time to time with a smile. She had two small dimples and was very endearing.

Xiao Zhen lowered his voice and said, "Those two men are the owner's son and nephew, and that little girl is his youngest daughter. In the dream, they all died."

Zhao Shiqing was stunned. She thought only the master had died, but it turned out that his entire family had also died.

That murderer could actually do such a thing to such a cute little girl.

Thinking of this, Zhao Shiqing thought of herself.

When her family had that tragedy, she was about the same age as this little girl.

"And the murderer? Has he been caught?"

Xiao Zhen shook his head: "There was chaos at the time, and nobody cared about it."

Zhao Shiqing sighed. Fortunately, it wasn't too late, but she didn't know how to give a reminder.

Seeing that she didn't speak, Xiao Zhen guessed what she was thinking and said, "This is the highest point in Tongzhou City, and the mountain is covered with abundant vegetation, making it the perfect base. I have already asked Li Xi and Xu Le to prepare several boats to facilitate the transport of disaster victims and supplies."

Zhao Shiqing's eyes lit up. Since this was their base, their people would stay here and certainly wouldn't allow those people to plot anything.

"Great, this place is nice. By the way, shall we go and meet the local officials?"

Xiao Zhen smiled and said, "The prefect is very busy right now. He is busy cleaning the yamen, busy rectifying the local customs, and busy welcoming the fourth prince. Of course we should go see him, but it is definitely not possible during the day. I will pay a visit tonight."

Zhao Shiqing was delighted when she heard this; it was perfect, just what she wanted.

“I’ll go with you. Or, I can keep watch for you. You can take me with you, okay? I definitely won’t hold you back. Don’t you remember how well we cooperated in Baifeng City?”

Thinking of Bai Fengcheng's experiences, Xiao Zhen smiled; their relationship started with collaboration.

"OK, alright."

He paused, then said, "I've booked this place. There are several private rooms on the second floor of the teahouse, which are just enough for people to stay in. Also, the tributary of the Tong River is about three miles away from this mountain. Li Xi and Xu Le have found two people who are excellent swimmers and can secretly transport our weapons from underwater."

Xiao Zhen spoke casually, but in reality, although it was a tributary of the Tong River, there was a suspension bridge over the section leading into the city. Whether it was people or boats, they had to be checked before they could enter the city.

These two men, who were excellent swimmers, were actually river bandits on the Tong River.

Their specialty was to sneak underwater and sabotage ships.

Li Xi and Xu Le went to great lengths and spent a lot of money to persuade these two to agree to make the deal.

Zhao Shiqing was overjoyed, but also somewhat regretful: "If we had known we could enter the city without being checked today, we would have brought our weapons with us."

You can't buy foresight, and besides, who could have predicted what would happen today?
Zhao Shiqing asked, "The news of the flood in Tongzhou has been circulating in the capital for a long time. There must be rumors about it in Tongzhou itself, right?"

Xiao Zhen smiled bitterly. The reason Li Xi and Xu Le came so early was to spread the news. Unfortunately, just when the people finally believed it, the government sent people to arrest the rumor-mongers. If Li Xi and Xu Le hadn't been skilled in martial arts and could run fast, they might already be in jail by now.

Xiao Zhen said, "Li Xi even buried a stone figure and dug it out of the ground in public. The stone figure was engraved with the words 'Flood on a certain day of a certain month of a certain year.' The people knelt down and thanked Heaven for the warning."

The news quickly spread like wildfire. The government not only refused to believe it, but also went around arresting those who spread the rumors—far more despicable than the incompetent officials of the Imperial Observatory.

The Imperial Observatory officials simply ignored them, so the Tongzhou government officials came to arrest them.

Zhao Shiqing really didn't know what to say. Xiao Zhen had gone to great lengths to get the court to take this matter seriously, but with very little success.

Zhao Shiqing comforted him, saying, "It's alright, at least the imperial court sent people before the flood occurred, unlike in the dream where they only sent people to provide disaster relief after the flood happened. The situation now is much better than in the dream."

As the two were talking, Jiang Ping returned from outside.

Zhao Shiqing quickly asked, "Well, have you found out what happened at the city gate?"

Jiang Ping said, "Of the two constables, one is dead and the other is seriously injured. The one who is seriously injured is very badly wounded and will probably not escape death as well."

When the constables arrived, the fake woman had already escaped. According to witnesses, two constables gave chase. When the fake woman realized she couldn't get rid of them, she suddenly stopped, turned around, and with a flick of her sleeve, the two constables fell to the ground.

The murder weapon was a hidden dart. That fake woman was incredibly bold; knowing there would be checks at the city gate, she still carried a concealed weapon.

Zhao Shiqing frowned slightly and looked at Xiao Zhen: "This second one, cough cough, this fake woman did it on purpose. First, he deliberately let the female constable discover that he was a man, diverting her attention and making her overlook the quiver he had hidden in his sleeve. Then he deliberately ran away, killed the constable, and caused chaos at the city gate, allowing his accomplices to enter the city in the chaos."

I was just regretting not bringing any weapons, because I didn't expect such a good opportunity.

But what if this perfect opportunity was deliberately created by someone?
The woman carried a hidden dart; her accomplices must have also been armed. They killed the constables and created chaos to smuggle weapons into the city.

Xiao Zhen nodded, he thought so too: "When we left the inn this morning, those people from last night were still there. If they split into two groups, one staying in the inn and the other going into the city, they could take advantage of the chaos at the city gate to bring weapons into the city."

Zhao Shiqing thought of the Fairy Cao she had seen on the road. Although it hadn't been confirmed yet, she already considered Fairy Cao and Yang Shengqiu to be in cahoots.

"Do you think these people from Ruyi Inn might be in cahoots with Fairy Cao? Like Fairy Cao, might they have come here for Yang Shengqiu?" (End of Chapter)