In such a large city, it is naturally not easy to arrest a person. It would take more than half a month just to conduct a door-to-door investigation.
After spending a whole day in vain, Zhang Hongdao still found nothing. When he returned to the Military and Civilian Wanhu Mansion in the evening, he found Jingxuan already waiting for him.
"Mr. Taining."
"Taisu came here today." Jingxuan got straight to the point and said, "Li Xia went to see him."
Zhang Hongdao was stunned.
"Li Xia went to see Bai Pu? Yunxiu Inn..."
"There's no need to go." Jingxuan sighed, shook his head, and said, "Li Xia must not be there anymore. He asked Bai Pulu to come and have a talk with me..."
"Have a talk?"
Even though Zhang Hongdao was very smart, he was confused when he heard this and couldn't guess what it meant.
"I'll explain the whole story to Wu Lang."
Jingxuan stroked his long beard and said slowly: "Yang Guo passed through the Song Dynasty and was captured by the Goukao Bureau. Li Xia went north to rescue him, bribed Liu Zhongzhi, kidnapped Shi Zhang, forced Shi Tianze to intercede, and sent Yang Guo to Shouzhou. After that, Liu
Zhongzhi and Li Xia went to Bozhou and were discovered by the Zhang family, which led to what happened yesterday."
Zhang Hongdao understood clearly and said: "I also plan to cover it up like this, but there is no evidence. If Li Xia tries to frame him again..."
"Shi Zhang is hiding in the Liu family." Jingxuan said, interrupting Zhang Hongdao, "This is the evidence."
"What?"
"Shi Zhang is hiding in the Liu family." Jingxuan repeated it again.
Zhang Hongdao was unexpected and could not help but be stunned again. He did not expect that this clue would suddenly be put in front of him.
"Li Xia asked Bai Pu to tell us? Why did he do this?"
"Because I have agreed to his conditions, I will let Yang Guo go south tomorrow." Jingxuan said: "Wu Lang, let's stop here. Convicting Liu Zhong of going straight to the Song Dynasty is the best result we can achieve.
"
"No, sir, let me think about it again... think about it again... Li Xia told Shi Zhang's whereabouts so quickly, we must have other ways to take advantage of it..."
Jingxuan shook his head and said: "What can be done? Send people to Kaifeng to search the Liu family? What would he think if A Lan Da'er found any clues? Or Wu Lang thought that killing Liu Zhongzhi was not enough, and he wanted more
Publicly identify Liu Taiping?"
Zhang Hongdao was still a bit unresponsive and murmured: "It's really not possible. Shi Zhang cannot be rescued by the Zhang family. It would be too easy for him to be accused of being deliberately framed."
"Or tell Shi Tianze about this matter?" Jingxuan asked again: "Yang Guo's defection was originally the fault of the Shi family, so we are not afraid that he will turn around and put the blame on the Zhang family?"
, why bother?”
Zhang Hongdao thought about it and said, "Yes, what Mr. Xi said is true. It is best to report Shi Zhang's whereabouts to Alan Da'er, so that Liu Zhongzhi's crime can be confirmed."
"Then we can only cooperate with Li Xia."
"Why?"
"Shi Zhang is in Li Xia's hands. He can frame the Liu family or the Zhang family."
Zhang Hongdao asked: "But how can we trust Li Xia?"
"You can trust me." Jingxuan said, "Wu Lang, have you ever thought about why Li Xia asked Tai Su to be the lobbyist and talk to me?"
"Bai Pu has a personal relationship with the Shi and Zhang families. Putting the blame on Liu Taiping, a treacherous minister who ignored Han law, rescuing Shi Zhang, and ensuring that the Zhang family is not guilty...are all situations he wants to see."
"In the past, I only saw Li Xia's ruthless side, but after what happened today, I know that this son has a human heart."
"Favor?"
"Wu Lang should know what I mean."
After Jingxuan finished speaking, he waved his hand to indicate that he would not talk about matters in the inner house, and then said: "In short, I made the decision without authorization and reached an agreement with Li Xia."
"It is not necessary to do what is said after the negotiation is completed." Zhang Hongdao asked: "If we can use Bai Pu to capture Li Xia, wouldn't it be..."
"Wu Lang is the master, and I am the guest. We shouldn't be so overreaching." Jingxuan interrupted him again and solemnly said: "But Dong Weng told me before he left that if things got out of hand, I would make the decision on Wu Lang's behalf.
"
"What do you mean, father and sir?"
"Can you please stop making things difficult for me? There is no room for Wu Lang to be willful anymore." Jingxuan's face became more solemn, "This is also Dong Weng's intention."
Zhang Hongdao pouted and was speechless for a moment.
After a long while, he thought about the upbringing of the children of the Cai family, bowed his hands and said helplessly: "That's what Mr. Taining said."
"Please Goro, please stop the search."
"good……"
~~
Zhang Hongdao returned to the room and just sat slumped on the chair.
I failed to catch Li Xia last year, and I wanted to avenge my shame this time.
But he didn't expect that Li Xia didn't even give him a chance and actually negotiated with his father's staff without him.
It seems to be saying, "You Zhang Wulang can't see the situation clearly and can't be bothered to care about you." Suffering this kind of contempt is more frustrating than failure.
Total loss...
After a long time, Yan Shu came in with a sachet and said, "It's true that officials don't even know what they are wearing is left at the door."
Zhang Hongdao raised his head blankly, glanced at his wife's hand, and then looked down at the belt.
"Where did it fall?"
"I found it from the door of the small side door of the west courtyard."
"I have never been through the west courtyard today."
"Look at what the official said, this sachet can fly there by itself..."
Suddenly, Zhang Hongdao felt a chill on his back and the hairs all over his body stood up.
"Li Xia?"
"What?"
"He asked Bai Mao to steal it..."
Zhang Hongdao squinted his eyes, recalled today's itinerary, and whispered to himself.
"It was clearly still there when I went out... After seeing Bai Mao... Yes, it disappeared then... It couldn't have been dropped outside the house... Li Xia must have asked Bai Mao to steal it. He was reminding me that he could always steal it..."
Kill me... He is reminding me that he can drive Bai Mao..."
Recalling Bai Mao's confused look, he couldn't help but cursed again: "Damn it..."
Yan Shu was stunned for a moment. The sachet in her hand had been snatched away by Zhang Hongdao.
But Zhang Hongdao opened it and saw no note inside.
He didn't know whether he was disappointed or relieved for a moment.
"is it wrong?"
Yan Shu almost cried when she saw her husband like this.
"Are the officials overly concerned? It's not possible, it's not possible..."
Zhang Hongdao ignored her and said to himself: "I can't remember, how did I drop it...I can't remember..."
Yan Shu was so anxious that she hurriedly ran out to recruit people for questioning.
Zhang Hongdao just sat there, as if lost in thought.
After a long time, Yan Shu hurried back, wiping the tears on her face, and said: "Li Xia didn't let anyone steal it... it fell on the saddle when the servant led the horse to the west courtyard... It's really not what the officials thought.
Horrible..."
"Yeah?"
"Really, if you don't believe it, the officials will ask them to question you. Everything I said is true..."
Zhang Hongdao stayed for a long time, shook his head, and forced a smile, but his eyes were full of bitterness.
"Okay, I'm too worried, it's not important anymore, it's not important anymore..."
~~
That night, Yan'er tiptoed to peek into Zhang Hongdao's courtyard, ran through the pavilions and pavilions of the mansion, and returned to Zhang Wenjing's courtyard.
"Fifth brother, are you okay?"
"I heard from Zhen'er that Wulang went to bed early. I haven't seen him turn on the lights in his yard so early in many days."
"I hope Fifth Brother can let it go soon. He's too cautious. Only that big liar can do this to him."
Yan'er sat down opposite Zhang Wenjing, propped her head and asked, "Sister, is this really over?"
"That big liar is so smart. He knew that Fifth Brother was not easy to persuade, so he went to Mr. Taining directly. He never does anything that he is not sure about, so the negotiation must be successful."
"Then... he has convinced Mr. Taining and has finished the matter. Is he going to leave?"
"Yes, he is leaving again." Zhang Wenjing also propped her head, her eyes lowered, filled with endless melancholy.
Yan'er felt very distressed and asked hurriedly: "Then...then...don't you want him to come to your house to propose marriage?"
"Originally, we agreed that I would send a message to him, but he bypassed me and sent someone else to talk to Mr. Taining, and we never saw him again."
"How disgusting."
"It's not that he's hateful, he just... doesn't want to delay me."
"What do you mean you don't want to delay eldest sister?"
"He lied to me and said he was getting married and refused to use me to spread the word. He clearly didn't want to get involved with me."
"Why?" Yan'er said, "Eldest sister is so nice."
"I don't think my father and brother will agree. I have to convince them."
"But the big liar is leaving soon."
"Yeah." Zhang Wenjing responded casually, with a thoughtful look in her eyes...