The pork butcher is smoother than a pig butcher!

Chapter 406 Spy
After Zuo Wenkang entered the Yunjin weaving workshop, he did not come out for a month.

This greatly frustrated the head of the Qi family, who had been eager to poach General Gan's man.

In the past few days, the head of the Qi family has found six traveling merchants who trade between Ganluchuan and various garrisons.

They spent a lot of money, but all they got in the end was this useless information.

Can't get out?
Why can't I get out? —I don't know!

What is Scholar Zuo busy with? —I don't know!

All we know is that he's in the weaving workshop; we can't find out anything else.

Unbeknownst to the head of the Qi family, the unusual behavior of these merchants had already attracted the attention of a squad of soldiers from the vanguard battalion.

A year ago, the monthly elimination system of the Ganluchuan Vanguard Camp was replaced by a physical fitness test every three months.

The assessment standards were set extremely high.

Those who fail will also be eliminated.

Even if you are the 101st from the bottom!
God knows how hard the members of the Vanguard Battalion worked to keep their jobs!
It's not that I'm particularly fond of adventure, nor that I was born with a love for war; it's just that General Gan has given me so much!

Ganluchuan is the wealthiest garrison in Kansai, and perhaps the wealthiest garrison along the entire national border.

Besides the military pay issued by Kansai, the main source of income for the team members was the allowance from the Ganluchuan Garrison!

All things considered, the members of the Vanguard Battalion earned no less than fifteen taels of silver per month, with all their food, lodging, and clothing provided!

Fifteen taels!
In the past, the whole family's annual income wouldn't have been this high!
Those team members who rank in the top ten after each quarterly assessment receive huge bonuses that they can barely keep up with.

Gan Minglan doesn't usually need to train her troops much; her teammates are more focused on their physical fitness than she is.

Team members who failed the assessment could only be transferred to the garrison as regular soldiers.

Regular soldiers have a lot of work to do.

They were responsible for guarding the city gates, maintaining the security and order of the garrison, and some were also tasked with gathering intelligence on any unusual activities within the city and the garrison's jurisdiction.

The tasks were tedious, but the income was less than one-fifth of that of the vanguard team members.

Let alone their families, even they themselves find it hard to accept such a large income gap.

Fortunately, the general didn't completely leave them no way out.

Regular soldiers who have made significant contributions to their duties and maintain peak physical condition still have the opportunity to return to the vanguard battalion.

More than 900 regular soldiers who were gradually eliminated dreamed of making a name for themselves.

Privately, they train even harder than the vanguard battalion members do in their daily training.

In any case, they are always ready to return to the vanguard's front-line ranks.

They inadvertently discovered several merchants who seemed to be spies, and the team members wanted to keep a close watch on them around the clock.

Look, look.

They actually discovered something.

Once they confirmed that the information they had gathered had reached the Qi family, who had been driven away by Gan Luchuan, the team locked onto their target and swiftly and decisively captured them all.

A quarter of an hour later.

The six businessmen, bound like dumplings, looked completely bewildered.

When they were thrown into the prison of Ganluchuan Garrison, they still didn't understand what crime they had committed.

It doesn't matter if they don't understand; they'll still be able to read the winds.

Guan Jun, who was usually very polite to them, was not only solemn and cold when he arrested them, but also refused to accept the ten taels of gold ingots they offered him.

Anyone with a modicum of sense knows that if even gold can't be moved, it must be a bad deal!
Before any torture had even been administered, the squad leader had only briefly explained the purpose of the torture instruments hanging on the prison wall to each of the six men, and some of the more timid ones had already emptied the two ounces of sesame oil they had in their stomachs.

According to the timid merchant's confession:

"Before coming to Ganluchuan, the manager of the Qi family embroidery workshop gave me five hundred taels of silver notes. Three hundred taels were for me to help buy embroidery thread, and I used one hundred taels to buy the amount the manager wanted! The remaining two hundred taels, the manager said, were for a painting that his master wanted to commission from Scholar Gan." "What a joke! What kind of painting could Scholar Zuo paint that would be worth two hundred taels of silver!"

"I wouldn't dare lie to you, sir. Doesn't the Qi family own an embroidery workshop in Hami City? They're desperately in need of beautiful patterns! On the day of the General's wife's 70th birthday, the fairy-like longevity cloud brocade robe she wore was absolutely stunning..."

"And you? You inquired about the date when Scholar Zuo entered the weaving workshop and when he returned home, and what your version of events was?"

"...We have nothing to say. The manager gave us three hundred taels of silver, so we just do whatever he tells us to do!"

Three hundred taels is enough for him to make several trips. He can earn that much just by talking, so why not?
Is this illegal?

After an afternoon of interrogation, it was learned that the six men had all been assigned different tasks.

There are people specifically responsible for buying pattern designs.

Some people want to know when Scholar Zuo will leave the weaving workshop.

There was even a tavern owner who came to Ganluchuan to buy goods. Her task was to find out about the relationship between Scholar Zuo and General Gan.

Women are best at these kinds of domestic squabbles, which are not easily noticed by others.

Unfortunately, gossiping doesn't work very well in Ganluchuan!
You can cricket behind our backs and our whole family will be fine, but no one can cricket against General Gan!
It's easy to imagine how extraordinary the special treatment the businesswoman received in prison was.

Before nightfall, summarize the tasks received by the six merchants.

That's absolutely terrifying!
They are too lax in their work.

The intelligence-gathering team members couldn't keep it to themselves and immediately reported the information to General Gan.

Gan Minglan: "..."

Was it because they feared she wouldn't be able to wield the butcher's knife, or did the Qi family treat her like a living bodhisattva?

At this point, Gan Minglan only thought that the other party wanted to take advantage of her money tree.

Little did they know, the other party wanted to take the whole tree, pot and all!
She did not show up.

They directly ordered this small team to take the six bound men to Hami City.

"General, those six are spies. They want to make enemies of General Gan and his wife in Ganluchuan. Their master is probably planning to stir up trouble in Guanzhong!"

"A spy? Where did he come from?" General Xiong was skeptical.

"They're from the previous dynasty! It's said that their master's embroidery skills were greatly appreciated by the former Empress Dowager."

This involves the former empress dowager of the previous dynasty—this is outrageous!

General Xiong's mind was buzzing.

Just a few days ago, my own mother asked me to support this family's embroidery workshop. They've even extended their connections to his backyard!
What if this family really are spies from the previous dynasty?

What benefits could she possibly gain by trying to win over him, the General of Guanzhong?

No more waiting!
Can't wait!

"Arrest them! Arrest them and interrogate them first. Better to kill three thousand innocent people than let one guilty person go free!"

With General Xiong's approval, the Qi family steward and the head of the Qi family were soon secretly arrested.

I caught it at night, and there was no sound at all.

The manager of the Qi family embroidery workshop was well aware of his master's thoughts, and General Xiong sent a skilled interrogator to question him.

The manager only lasted for fifteen minutes.

Fifteen minutes later, General Xiong saw the case file containing the interrogation details and fell silent.

The silence was a wake-up call!
After a long pause, he slammed his hand on the table.

"Ridiculous!"

(End of this chapter)