Tiger Owl

Chapter 56 Taking advantage of the situation
Wang Xiaoman first investigated Sanping Inn, an inn run by people from Luling. The interrogation records said that the testimonies of their waiter and the innkeeper were inconsistent. The waiter said that the inn had been open for several years, while the innkeeper said that it had only opened this year.

Since their lord forbade them to alert the enemy, Wang Xiaoman had her own plan.

Ask your peers; they're your rivals, they know each other's secrets better than anyone else.

Not far from Sanping Inn, there is also Laotang Inn, which is run by locals from Nanchang. One of his men stayed at Laotang Inn, while the other man stayed at Sanping Inn.

The next day, Wang Xiaoman got the answer: Sanping Inn had indeed opened a few years ago. It was originally called Gaoping Inn, but this year it changed owners and was renamed Sanping Inn. The staff had remained the same, but the manager had only arrived this year.

Both sides are correct; they simply have different perspectives.

The innkeeper's men also returned to report that the innkeeper and his staff were resentful of the interrogators' rude attitude and that they had even been slapped in the face by them.

After listening to Wang Xiaoman's report, Gan Ning immediately crossed out the Sanping Inn. If they were spies, they would definitely keep quiet about the interrogation.

Next up is a leather goods shop called Gaochang Leather Goods Shop. This Gaochang is not the Gaochang in the Western Regions, but rather the original name of Luling County, which was Gaochang County.

Wang Xiaoman disguised herself as a customer and went to a leather goods store to buy a fine sheepskin.

As she approached the shop, she saw a shop assistant sitting on the threshold, basking in the sun. He was very tall, hunched over, with a round head, a fleshy face, and triangular eyes staring down at Wang Xiaoman.

"What do you do?" the waiter asked coldly.

"Let's buy a sheepskin for the old man!"

"Go buy it from another store! We don't have sheepskin." The shopkeeper refused curtly.

Just then, a short, stout middle-aged man ran out of the shop, saying repeatedly, "Yes! Yes! Yes! We have sheepskin, please come in, young master."

Wang Xiaoman glared at the shop assistant fiercely. How could anyone do business like this?

The waiter snorted and looked away. Then he suddenly remembered something, turned back and looked at Wang Xiaoman with a puzzled expression, and got up to follow her in.

The shopkeeper took out a thick stack of sheepskins from the box and said to Wang Xiaoman with a sincere face, "These are genuine old sheepskins, imported from the north. They are very effective for the leg pain caused by wind and cold in the elderly in winter. If you use them as a base, your legs will not hurt."

The shopkeeper took out another wolf skin and said, "Actually, wolf skin is the most effective for treating cold legs in the elderly. It's even better than sheepskin. Our skins are tanned by a master craftsman with 20 years of experience. They are very soft and have a particularly good feel."

He seemed like a perfectly legitimate shopkeeper, and Wang Xiaoman could hardly believe he was a spy. She smiled and nodded, "I'll just buy a sheepskin! How much?"

"The sheepskin in our shop originally cost three strings of cash, but business is bad now. You can take it away for two strings of cash, young master. You can go to other shops to compare, you definitely can't buy this kind of old sheepskin for two strings of cash."

Wang Xiaoman took out two strings of cash and bought the sheepskin. The shopkeeper folded the leather for him, tied it with a rope, and then handed it to him, saying, "Welcome to come again, young master!"

Before leaving, Wang Xiaoman noticed something unusual: the waiter was sitting at the table and writing.

A person who can read and write is extremely rare in this era, including Wang Xiaoman herself, who is working hard to learn to read and write.

The person who could clearly be the shopkeeper is instead a shop assistant, which is very unusual. Moreover, he is a shop assistant who drives customers away. This leather goods shop is strange in every way.

Wang Xiaoman left the shop, got into an oxcart, and whispered to her men on the cart, "Keep an eye on this fur shop in the alley across the street."

The oxcart slowly drove away. The shop assistant glared at the cart, then turned and stared angrily at the shopkeeper, "Why did you sell anything to him?"

The shopkeeper's face flushed red, and he clenched his fists, complaining, "I own a shop, and I haven't made a single sale in a month. Do you expect me to starve?"

The waiter reached out and slapped the shopkeeper hard across the face. "Smack!" The waiter said in a sinister tone, "How dare you talk to me like that? I'll kill you!"

The shopkeeper covered his burning face and lowered his head, not daring to utter a sound. The clerk continued, "Close the shop. Close it for a month!"

The shopkeeper was shocked and knelt down to plead, "This is the culmination of generations of hard work. We've never closed a shop before. If we stop operating for a month, the shop will go bankrupt."

"What do I care if the shop goes bankrupt!"

The shop assistant turned and went upstairs, then said, "This young man looks a lot like one of the leaders of the Chaisang army who released us. He has a baby face. I remember him. Quickly close the shop."

The shopkeeper was filled with resentment but had no choice but to hang up the "Closed" sign and close the shop door by door.

The man squatted in front of the small window on the second floor and stared at the alley across the street for a while. Sure enough, he saw a man hiding behind a big tree at the entrance of the alley.

The man straightened up immediately, his face full of astonishment. He was indeed a spy from the Chaisang army.

He turned and ran down the street like a whirlwind, took a can of tung oil from the warehouse and splashed it everywhere, while instructing the shopkeeper, "Hurry up and pack your things and leave, we're being watched."

The shopkeeper's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as he rushed forward and desperately snatched the tung oil jar, demanding, "What are you trying to do?"

"Only by burning the shop down will there be no trace left, and then we'll build you a new one."

"Are you crazy? This is a shop that has been passed down through generations of my family. I won't allow you to mess around with it."

The waiter punched the shopkeeper hard in the face, causing the shopkeeper to stumble and fall backward, shattering the tung oil jar in his hand on the ground.

The guy pointed at him and yelled, "You're nothing but a piece of dog shit! If I don't beat you up, you'll get all cocky!"

The shopkeeper got up and said in a humble voice, "I'll go pack my things right away!"

"Get out of here!"

The shopkeeper turned and went inside to collect the money and valuables. The clerk ran back to his room, piled all the intelligence in a copper basin, filled it with tung oil, and was about to light it when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his back.

The waiter slowly turned around and saw the shopkeeper holding a knife, his face contorted with rage.

"This is a shop that has been passed down from my ancestors. If you dare to burn it down, I will fight you to the death!"

The waiter suddenly kicked the shopkeeper ten feet away, his back slamming heavily against the door. The waiter gritted his teeth, pulled out the knife from his back, roared, and charged forward with the knife.

The shopkeeper was so frightened that he scrambled outside to escape. The waiter chased after him, ran a few steps, and suddenly collapsed to the ground. His leg twitched for a moment and then he became still.

The shopkeeper's legs went weak, and he sat down on the ground with a thud, tears welling up in his eyes.

...........
Wang Xiaoman was reporting the situation of the leather shop to Gan Ning.

"This shop is suspicious in every way. It is clear that the shop has goods, but the clerk refuses customers outright, as if he is afraid that customers will come in. The clerk can also read and write, which makes people feel that he is the owner. I really have doubts about this leather shop."

"Have you assigned your men to keep an eye on this store?"

"already arranged."

Just then, one of the subordinates in charge of surveillance reported from below the hall, "Reporting to General Wang, the shopkeeper has come to turn himself in."

(End of this chapter)