Chapter 116 - Zhang Chong's Suspicions

“It was a couple of men having kung fu skills that got arrested. It is rumored that they are under the suspicion of the murder of Lord Lu. They were apprehended last night and are now in custody in the Prefecture Encampment, but the problem is that the burglar has shown himself again, which means that those people were wronged. How they have been treated in the Prefecture Encampment is still unknown,” said Ling Zhaowen.

Tao Feng had a displeased look on his face. ‘Zhang Chong arbitrarily arrested those people but didn’t even have the courtesy to inform me?’

“I’ll send someone to have Zhang Chong release those people immediately.”

In the Prefecture Encampment, Zhang Chong had also heard that Lu Kui’s murderer threatened Tao Feng the night before. He instantly came to realize that Bai Jun had arrested the wrong people, and Tao Feng would no doubt hold him responsible for this.

“Bring Bai Jun to me!” Zhang Chong thundered.

Bai Jun was interrogating the couple of men he had arrested. Because none of those men made any confessions, he tortured them.

After being told Zhang Chong summoned him, Bai Jun was worried that Zhang Chong was eager to know the results, but he had got nothing yet. Somewhat anxious, he intended to delay the audience and resort to heavier torture to force those men into confessing.

“Deputy Commander Bai, Commander seems to be very angry. You’d better go there right now.” Seeing that Bai Jun had no intention of leaving, the messenger gave him a prod.

Bai Jun was surprised. “Angry? Why is Commander angry?”

The messenger sighed, “Word has it that there was another burglary in Tanyang, that the burglar even intruded into the Prefecture Yamen to threaten Tao Feng.”

“What?!” Bai Jun’s face changed drastically and it suddenly struck him why Zhang Chong got angry.

“Please hurry. Otherwise Commander might vent his anger on me, which I’m sure I won’t be able to survive,” the messenger pleaded.

Several different expressions crossed the face of Bai Jun consecutively. At last, he clenched his teeth and walked outside.

Unsurprisingly, Zhang Chong hurled a torrent of rebuke at Bai Jun and barely forbore from giving him a kick sending him flying.

Bai Jun broke out in a cold sweat. “I made a misjudgement. Please give me a chance to make amends for my guilt by meritorious service.”

“Make amends for your guilt by meritorious service? I’ll give you a second chance only if you deem yourself capable of catching the burglar. If not…” Zhang Chong looked at him coldly.

“I swear I’ll catch him!” Bai Jun hurriedly made a promise.

With a sepulchral look on his face, Zhang Chong watched as Bai Jun left the tent. He felt that all circumstances had been conspiring against him recently. ‘Originally, all people in Tanyang were afraid to disobey me, and everybody was respectful to me no matter how displeased they were with me, but ever since… Yes, ever since Jia Yuanling failed to frame Ling Zhang who afterwards retaliated, I keep having this feeling that somebody has been deliberately making things difficult for me.’

Even that fledgling of Ling family had dared to mess with him, and there had been nothing he could do to immediately sort him out. When he had intended to set about eliminating Ling Zhang, the murder of Lu Kui had happened. Originally, Lu Kui’s death could have been favorable for him, but the murderer had been at large all along, which was a humiliation for him. Those bandits had also disobeyed him at first, and he had had to risk compromising his big plan dispatching the heavily armored infantry to handle them. The emperor had turned his request down, and there seemed to be some secret forces at work in the capital city. Not long ago he had lost Jia Zhong who had always been his right-hand man, and Jia Yin had nearly got him into deep trouble. Now, he wanted to cut the Gordian knot and put a quick end to the matter of Lu family, but the operation was forced to stop midway…

With a deeply concerned look on his face, Zhang Chong sat down. Previously he had never done any careful thinking about this matter, but now he came to realize that this string of happenings were unduly coincidental. His intuition told him that there was more to these things than semblance suggested, but he had no idea where to start even if he wanted to investigate.

‘Exactly where does the problem lie?’ he wondered.

Before Zhang Chong could figure it out, the man sent by Tao Feng arrived and asked Zhang Chong to release the couple of innocent commoners, saying that their family members had already gone to the Prefecture Yamen demanding that the injustice be redressed.

Zhang Chong heavily smacked his fist onto the table and nearly broke it apart.

“Go and bring those men here. Send for the medic.”

“Yes, Commander.”

Zhang Chong decided to investigate the burglary committed in the Prefecture Yamen himself. He felt that this case was not as simple as it seemed either, that this matter might prove to be a breakthrough.

…

“Young Master, Zhang Chong sent the couple of men back to the city. He also had a medic treat their wounds and gave them a lot of money as compensation. Family members of those men making trouble in the Prefecture Yamen have been appeased and returned home.” Li Fu, Ling Zhaowen’s attendant, came back from the Prefecture Yamen and reported to Ling Zhang what had happened there.

“What about Zhang Chong? Did he go back to the Prefecture Encampment?”

“No. He’s still in the Prefecture Yamen questioning those Yamen runners who saw the burglar. Head Constable Zhao and some others who conducted the hunt for the burglar were also summoned.”

“I see. If there’s anything else, I’ll have to ask you to take the trouble to go there again.”

“It’s been an honor to serve you, Young Master. If you’ll excuse me, I’d like to go back now.”

Ling Zhang nodded and followed Li Fu with his eyes as he left.

Yuwen Tong walked out and said, “Zhang Chong probably has sensed that something is not right.”

“Do you think he’ll be able to find out anything?” Ling Zhang was fairly worried.

“The guard was in disguise and faked an accent as well. Besides, they didn’t catch him. Even if Zhang Chong intended to investigate, he won’t be able to find anything anytime soon.” Yuwen Tong was very composed.

Just like Yuwen Tong said, Zhang Chong had indeed asked those Yamen runners, who had witnessed the burglar, about the burglar’s clothing, accent, kung fu skills and bodily movement techniques. However, Yamen runners’ answers suggested that the person was nondescript, and Zhang Chong didn’t find anything of value.

“I’ve also asked them about these. That burglar is very cunning, and his kung fu is very good as well, so no clue has been found, but…”

“Feel free to say what’s on your mind, Lord Tao.”

With a somewhat concerned look on his face, Tao Feng replied, “It is rumored that a lot of Jianhu scum have joined the bandit gang on the Grand Mang Mountain. All those people are kung fu practitioners. Is it possible that the burglar is one of them? Has Commander Zhang ever been to the Grand Mang Mountain to investigate?”

Zhang Chong unnoticeably knitted his eyebrows briefly and said, “Of course I have. Unfortunately, bandits on the Grand Mang Mountain haven’t left the mountain for a long time. None of my men at the monitoring points around the mountain have never spotted any bandits coming out.”

“Are you sure there’s no omission?”

“Lord Tao, you may suspect me, but please don’t suspect my soldiers. All of them are dedicated to their duties. Speaking of duties, may I ask when Lord Tao will appoint a new County Magistrate of Tai County, County Magistrate of Wu County and select the successor of the Right Tongzhi? If Lord Tao has difficulty finding suitable candidates, I can make some recommendations.”

For an instant Tao Feng’s face was sullen. ‘Three job vacancies have popped up all at once. Is Zhang Chong bursting with impatience to plant his men around me again?’

“Maybe you should put your concern elsewhere, Commander Zhang. I’ve already had a plan. What Commander Zhang needs to do is keep your soldiers under control. It is bandits and bushrangers that Commander Zhang should figure out a way to handle. The battle on the Lee Mountain has proved that Prefecture Guards are powerful enough to eradicate those outlaws. Why don’t you continue your victorious pursuit and eliminate the couple of bandit gangs on other mountains as well? If you do that, people of Tanyang will be able to embrace long-lost peace, and I’m sure they’ll be forever grateful to you for your kindness.”

Zhang Chong had a flinty look in his eyes. “Prefecture Guards suffered heavy casualties during the battle on the Lee Mountain. Lord Tao saw our victory but overlooked those who died securing it. Currently, what Prefecture Guards need to do is recuperate and build up strength. Given that Lord Tao doesn’t have the expertise, it’s advisable for you to stop making suggestions.”

“Likewise. I’d appreciate it if Commander Zhang would stop interfering with my duties.” Tao Feng talked back immediately.

Zhang Chong flintily looked at Tao Feng, who looked back at him.

“Okay, then. I’ll make no further remarks. But Lord Tao, no good luck lasts forever. You should keep this in mind.”

Hearing Zhang Chong’s threat, Tao Feng remained composed. “If there’s nothing else, please return. I have a lot of official business to attend to.”

Zhang Chong coldly snorted and took his men out of the Prefecture Yamen. The moment he walked through the front gate, his face darkened.

If it were in the past, Tao Feng would never have dared to provoke him like this, no matter how displeased with him Tao Feng was, but now he had become so bold as to make confrontational remarks of this kind in front of him.

Three posts – County Magistrate of Tai County, County Magistrate of Wu County as well as the Right Tongzhi, had fallen vacant all at once. He didn’t believe that he wouldn’t be able to plant his men into these positions.

“Commander, should our men continue to patrol the streets in the city?”

Originally Zhang Chong had wanted to give a positive answer, but then something came to mind and he replied, “Pull out them all.”

“What kind of explanation should we give to Lord Tao?”

“Explanation? So many soldiers of Prefecture Guards died and even more were injured in the battle on the Lee Mountain. We’re terribly short-handed. Can you not see it?”

“Please pardon me for my stupidity, Commander.”

Soon, news that Zhang Chong had withdrawn all patrol teams came to the knowledge of everybody. Tao Feng was nearly infuriated to death by Zhang Chong’s shameless excuse.

“What is Zhang Chong trying to do? This is sheer effrontery!”

A thoughtful look flashed across the eyes of Ling Zhaowen who was standing on the side. ‘Zhang Chong suddenly pulled all patrol teams out of the city and also offered an acceptable reason. There won’t be any dramatic reaction of residents in the city, even if they have grievances.

But why did he do this? Last night, there was a burglary in the Prefecture Yamen, and early this morning, he withdrew all patrol teams. Does he by any chance want to see more misfortunes happen to the Prefecture Yamen?

It doesn’t seem like it. Zhang Chong has always been good at pretending in front of residents. It’s not like him to have done such a thing which has manifestly left him vulnerable to criticism,’ pondered Ling Zhaowen. It struck him that there was something else at work behind this matter.

Ling Zhang, who was in the mansion of Ling family, shared his uncle’s opinion. “Now that Zhang Chong has already fallen suspicious, by no means will he give up investigating. As far as I can tell, he is intentionally doing this to lull the ‘burglar’ into a false sense of security, and he will, without doubt, covertly have his men stake out the Prefecture Yamen.”

“That’s right. This concerns his own life, so Tao Feng will definitely continue the investigation. Since the burglar made a threat, Zhang Chong believes that the burglar will surely intrude into the Prefecture Yamen once again, so as long as he sends someone to keep a close watch on that place, he will find a clue sooner or later.” Yuwen Tong agreed with him.

“If there were really a burglar, his method will prove pretty effective. Unfortunate for him, there isn’t one,” said Ling Zhang coldly. Then he brought up another issue in a different tone of voice. “But people of Lu family might not be able to delay any longer.”

Yuwen Tong kept silent, which was a manifest indication of tacit agreement.

Lu Kui’s ‘body’ had been placed in the residence of Lu family for quite a few days, and his family members were under great pressure and might not be able to conceal the truth any longer.

“After my uncle comes back, I’ll pay a visit to Lu family with him and sound out Old Master Lu. Hopefully, they could hang in there for a couple of more days.”

Yuwen Tong nodded, “Okay. Certain parts of the plan are of little confidentially, which you may disclose to them, so that they’ll be slightly more assured and less anxious.”

“All right.”

After saying this, Ling Zhang bade someone to prepare the horse-drawn carriage with the intention to visit Lu family with Ling Zhaowen after he came back from the Prefecture Yamen.