Chapter 25: Investigating Clues, Searching for Leads (1)

  "Cat, shall we go directly to the great prison now?" Zhang Zhao and the two of them turned out of the team, got off their horses, and Bai Yutang asked.

  Zhan Zhao shook his head, "No, inside the big prison, there should be no more clues for now. Huang Sheng is probably already dead, let's go to the wine house first!"

  "What's going on at the wine house!?" Bai Yutang asked aloud.

  Zhan Zhao said as he walked, "Brother Bai, take a closer look. That Zhang Qing said that Chen Prefecture is suffering from a severe drought and that the Marquis of Anle has been ineffective in providing disaster relief. But look around you, apart from those people who went to welcome Lord Bao, where are the other common people? The surrounding area is also lined with shops and there are many pedestrians, although it's not as prosperous as Bianjing, but there's no sign of drought!"

  Bai Yutang's expression changed slightly as he said, "You mean what Zhang Qingsong said was false?"

  Zhan Zhao shook his head, "No, the drought in Chenzhou is already known to the Emperor, and he has ordered Anle Hou to provide disaster relief. If there's any deception, then Anle Hou would be guilty of deceiving the Emperor. So, this matter shouldn't have any deception. Besides, Zhang QingSong also said that Chenzhou is experiencing a severe drought, which raises many suspicions. Therefore, we need to investigate slowly and carefully. The tavern is a place where there are many people and rumors spread easily, making it convenient for us to gather information!"

  "Cat, you're indeed clever!" Bai Yutang chuckled and swung the folding fan in his hand. "In terms of investigating cases, I'm really no match for you, Fifth Master!"

  "Brother Bai is being polite!" Zhan Zhao stopped a young villager and asked with a slight bow, "Excuse me, sir..."

  The young man suddenly waved his hand, shook his head and shouted: "Don't ask me, I don't know anything!" Before the words had fallen, he turned around and ran away from this place, as if there was a flood beast behind him.

  Zhan Zhao was taken aback, and stopped another citizen, but before he could ask any questions, the citizen shook his head repeatedly and hastily left!

  Zhan and Bai Yu Tang stared at each other, both of them were stunned and perplexed.

  "What's going on here?" White Jade Hall asked with a frown.

  Zhan Zhao furrowed his brow, constantly thinking to himself. It seems that this Duke Anle and the Prefect of Chenzhou have issued a gag order on the common people! Moreover, it appears they don't even know who we are, yet they directly refused to acknowledge us. This is quite unusual for the Chenzhou region!

  "Third Brother Bai, don't say anymore. Let's proceed for a while and we should be able to find the wine tavern!" Zhan Zhao said, coming back to his senses, speaking to Bai Yutang.

  Two men led the horses, walking forward for a while, and soon saw a three-story wine building with flying eaves and red pillars, magnificent momentum. A golden sign hung above the main gate, engraved with the three large characters "Tan Qing Building". This wine building, so majestic, was actually located on this ordinary street, somewhat out of place. The two men exchanged a silent glance, then led the horses to the front door of the wine building. The small second waiter at the wine building saw them and hurried out to greet: "Hey, two gentlemen, come from afar? Please go inside, please go inside."

  The little second changed into a horseman and led the horses away. Zhang Sanfeng and Bai Yutang then walked into the wine building!

  Although it was already noon at this time, there were only a few guests in this large restaurant, sparsely scattered around, and the scene was very bleak.

  Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao sat at a table by the window, ordered some wine and dishes, and were quite carefree!

  "Kitty, it seems like we can't gather any information here at all!" The tavern was spacious and had few customers, with seats scattered far apart. After listening for half a day, the two of them didn't gain anything, so Bai Yutang couldn't help but speak up.

  Zhan Zhao sighed, "It seems that the common people here are quite afraid of Duke Anle."

  ！”

  Just as the two were feeling somewhat helpless, they suddenly heard a loud shout from the young waiter downstairs: "Hey, Master Pang, you've arrived! Please come in quickly, your special table is ready."

  As soon as the waiter shouted, a group of people rushed up the stairs, with the waiter leading the way and five or six people following behind. The leader, about 1.6 meters tall, wore a long brocade robe, black leather boots on his feet, dressed like a scholar, swaying back and forth as he walked up and sat down at a table next to Zhan Zhao.

  Zhan Zhaoyu's eyebrows furrowed, "Pang... surname Pang? Could it be that you are from the Anle Hou Mansion?! But how could a servant of your household appear here?! At this time, shouldn't Pang Yu be thinking about how to deal with Bao Daren?! How could he still let his family members run around everywhere?!

  That old man sat at the edge of the table, looking very bored. He glanced around and soon spotted Zhan Zhao's group. He slowly got up, swaying from side to side as he walked over to their table. After sizing them up a few times, he asked: "You two look unfamiliar, where are you from?"

  Seeing this person's appearance, Bai Yutang was very displeased and his tone became somewhat aggressive: "Where I come from is none of your business, Fifth Master! Scram!"

  Zhan Zhao's heart skipped a beat, thinking that things had taken a turn for the worse. This would surely lead to conflict, and although the two of them were not afraid, what if they ended up implicating Lord Bao?

  "What?" The old man's face suddenly changed, and he shouted loudly: "You dare to talk to me like this, do you know who I am?"

  "Bai Yutang snorted coldly, 'I don't care who you are, Fifth Master, get out of here!'"

  Zhan Zhao's eyes lit up, if nothing can be heard in the wine house, then go to the prison cell! The prison cells are all criminals, so it's easy to talk about Chen Zhou's situation!

  "How audacious!" A young servant beside him shouted: "This is the great steward of our Lord's manor, granted a surname by Lord Anle himself - Pan the Steward! You ignorant fools, don't you hurry to address him as Master Pan?!"

  Bai Yutang's handsome face turned somewhat dark, and he bellowed, "He's just a steward who watches the door for the Pang family, yet he's so arrogant? He wants me, Fifth Master, to address him as 'Pang Dage'? Dream on!"

  "What?" The big men around immediately stood up and surrounded Bai Yutang, each with a fierce expression!

  Zhan Zhao said in a low voice, "Brother Bai, it's enough to maim him, no need to kill him. Otherwise, you'll dirty your own hands!"

  Go ahead and beat him up, it's not a crime, white waste, just right, you beat him up, and then we can smoothly enter the big prison, hehe!

  "Oh!? Cat, you actually...!" Bai Yutang teased for a moment, then turned his head around, let out a cold hum, and the crowd only felt a gust of wind sweep by, a white shadow flashed by like lightning. By the time they came to their senses, Pang Da was already lying on the ground in a big character shape, his eyes rolled back, motionless.

  Bai Yutang floated down and sat down, smiling brightly at Zhan Zhao!

  Zhan Zhao nodded slightly and said in a low voice, "In a moment, we'll naturally go into the big prison!"

  Bai Yutang's smile in his eyes suddenly stopped, and he stared at Zhan Zhao in disbelief!

  Suddenly, a small servant shouted: "Save your life! Mr. Pang has been killed!", and then the cries of one after another rose up.

  "Grandpa Pang, Grandpa Pang..."

  "Come and report to the authorities..."