The next morning, before daybreak, Yan Liqiang, who had changed his clothes and was now wearing a green coat, a small hat and a leather jacket, and Sun Bingchen and Liang Yiji, who had also changed their clothes, quietly left the manor through the solemn side door, and through an alley, avoiding the carriages and horses waiting outside the manor, and came to the street not far away, near the plum garden.
Pingxi City had just woken up at this time. There were people on the streets, but many shops were still closed. The snow that had fallen two days ago had not yet completely dissipated. There was a chill in the air. Many dung collectors were quietly walking around the city, driving ox carts with large wooden barrels on them...
Liang Yiji was wearing a tight suit with a sword hanging on his waist, while Sun Bingchen was dressed like a businessman with a fur hat on his head. For such a trio, if their identities were not revealed, it would be difficult for people who had not seen Sun Bingchen to associate him with a high-ranking official of the imperial court like the Inspector General.
"Sir, where are we going now?" Liang Yiji was the first to speak after looking around on the street.
"Don't call me sir after you get out. Call me master!" Sun Bingchen corrected with a smile.
"Yes, sir!"
"Li Qiang, are you familiar with Pingxi City?" Sun Bingchen looked at Yan Liqiang.
"Master, just tell me where you want to go and I will find it!" Yan Liqiang responded.
"Well, let's find a place to have breakfast first. Li Qiang, you lead the way. We need a place with more people and a more lively atmosphere..."
"Would you like a taxi?"
"No need, just walk around the city and take a look. It's a rare opportunity to walk around..."
"good!"
Yan Liqiang was not sure what Sun Bingchen wanted to see today. Was he going on a quick one-day tour of Pingxi City, or did he really want to experience the hardships of the lower-class people in Pingxi City? There were many lively places to have breakfast in Pingxi City, but those places were different. Some places were for rich people, and some places were for ordinary people at the bottom of society. In these two places, what you eat, see, and hear are all different.
Yan Liqiang was pondering in his mind, so he took Sun Bingchen and Liang Yiji to a restaurant not far from the Plum Garden. The restaurant was called Quanchunlou. They made all kinds of exquisite noodles and were very famous in Pingxi City. Early in the morning, many people would come to the restaurant to have breakfast and listen to storytellers - this place was naturally a favorite place for the rich people in Pingxi City.
When the three people arrived at the restaurant, there were already quite a few diners on the third floor. The waiters were walking around the restaurant carrying baskets of steaming noodles, buns, and soup. When the three people arrived, they found a place to sit down. Immediately, a waiter came forward to greet them. After a while, he brought the three people a few baskets of the restaurant's signature thousand-layer buns.
Sun Bingchen ate one and was filled with fragrance. He couldn't help but laugh, "Not bad, not bad..."
Seeing the inspector eating breakfast here with peace of mind, Yan Liqiang suppressed his little thoughts and said nothing more.
After finishing their breakfast leisurely, Pingxi City had become completely lively. There were more and more people on the streets and shops were opened one after another. Sun Bingchen wanted to go to the most lively market in Pingxi City to take a look. Yan Liqiang didn't say much and took the two of them out of the restaurant.
As soon as he walked out of the restaurant, Yan Liqiang frowned slightly, and the feeling of being secretly spied on and watched suddenly appeared. He looked around and saw a horse-drawn carriage with a black shed parked on the side of the road not far from the restaurant. The driver seemed to be feeding the horses, but he was looking at the restaurant out of the corner of his eye.
Just when Yan Liqiang was hesitating whether to remind him, Liang Yijie came over and patted Yan Liqiang on the shoulder. When his palm touched Yan Liqiang's shoulder, he squeezed it slightly. An inexplicable smile appeared on his face. He looked at Yan Liqiang deeply and said, "Let's go. Liqiang, you are responsible for leading the way today!"
"yes!"
…
Late at night, in the study of the County Magistrate's Mansion, Ye Tiancheng was listening attentively to a subordinate reporting the whereabouts of Sun Bingchen and the other two for the day...
"Today, Sun Bingchen brought two attendants with him on a private visit. They left the Chu Family Manor early in the morning and wandered around Pingxi City. They first went to Quanchun Tower for breakfast, and then spent the whole morning in Dahongfang Market. At noon, they had lunch at Zuiyue Tower. In the afternoon, they went to Xuanyue Temple and Jiulong Bridge. After leaving Jiulong Bridge, they went to Mingxiang Teahouse on Zhongshun Street to drink two pots of tea and listened to a book talk for half an hour. In the evening, after having dinner at You's Shop, they called a carriage and returned to the Chu Family Manor..."
"Who are the two attendants that Sun Bingchen brought out for a secret visit today?" Ye Tiancheng asked with narrowed eyes.
"One is Liang Yijie, and the other is the young man he recently recruited named Yan Liqiang. These two have been following Sun Bingchen all day today!"
Hearing this, Ye Tiancheng's eyebrows relaxed a little, with a slight smile on his face, looking much more relaxed, "Who else has talked to Sun Bingchen today?"
"When I was in Dahongfang Market, I chatted with the owners of a rice shop and a cloth shop. At noon, I asked about the livelihood of a waiter in Zuiyue Tower. I chatted with a few idle people who were drinking tea next to Mingxiang Teahouse, and there was nothing else. The things they talked about have been interrogated by people in the Criminal Investigation Office. Those people are all ordinary people in Pingxi City without other backgrounds. The content of their chat and the information of those people are all here..." The person who answered the question said, and handed over a thick stack of papers covered with words.
Ye Tiancheng flipped through it casually and found that they were just some ordinary things. There was nothing special about the people who chatted with Sun Bingchen, so he folded the paper and said, "Yes, continue to monitor. As long as Sun Bingchen leaves the Chu family manor, I must know his every move!"
"yes!"
…
The next day, Yan Liqiang continued to take Sun Bingchen on a secret visit, but the place where Sun Bingchen went on the second day was outside the city.
There are several towns and villages outside Pingxi City. Sun Bingchen wanted to go, and he naturally couldn't stop him, so he had to go. Fortunately, the road to the outside of the city for a private visit was a bit far, so Sun Bingchen asked Liang Yiji to prepare a carriage. The three of them went there and came back in the carriage. The so-called private visit was similar to seeing the scenery, and they observed and understood the lives of the people inside and outside Pingxi City along the way. The whole process, however, did not have any of the bloody scenes that often appear in TV dramas, and it seemed very ordinary.
On the third day, Sun Bingchen continued to leave the city and took a carriage to the county closest to Pingxi City. He took a look at the local area and returned at night.
Early in the morning of the fourth day, Liang Yiji asked the accompanying guards to pack up and prepare to leave Pingxi City. Yan Liqiang also accepted a task. On behalf of Sun Bingchen, he ran around the city and went to the County Magistrate's Mansion and the Governor's Mansion successively. He sent two invitations to Ye Tiancheng, the County Magistrate of Pingxi County, and Huangfu Qianqi, the County Governor of Pingxi County, inviting the two to have dinner at the Chu Family Manor in the evening.
Both the county magistrate Ye Tiancheng and the commander-in-chief Huangfu Qianqi readily agreed.
This day is December 18th of the 12th year of Yuanping in the Han Empire...
…
ps: Tiger has been studying at Lu Xun Academy of Literature these days and has become a student again. Since he came to Beijing two weeks ago, he has been coughing over and over again. His physical condition is not very good, so the update is a little affected. Please forgive me. During the National Day holiday, Tiger will not go out to play and will stay in the dormitory to write. If you see that Tiger is diligent, please support him with monthly tickets. Thank you!
(End of this chapter)