Chapter Seventeen: Yang Fan's Reputation

  The female assassin subconsciously glanced outside the courtyard and then walked over with a gentle swaying motion, supporting herself on someone's shoulder.

  She still wore the night-traveling attire, after a night, the thin silk shirt and pants had dried, the high-quality fabric was still very soft, without revealing the curves of her body.

  The female assassin crouched down in front of Yang Fan and looked at him saying: "Why did you get up so early?"

  Yang Fan brushed his teeth and mumbled: "Because I am the gatekeeper of this alley, it's my turn to be on duty this month, and I have to go open the gate early in the morning."

  The female assassin said in surprise: "You are a bao ding? Bao ding is supposed to assist the martial marquis in preventing theft, how can you... engage in thievery?"

  Yang Fan scratched his head and said, "This question... is really hard to answer. You say that officials should love the people like their children, so why are there so many corrupt and cruel officials who treat the common people like grass and dogs?"

  "Hmm! Didn't expect that, you're actually... You make sense when you talk."

  The female assassin thought for a moment, nodded and said. She looked around the empty courtyard again and asked: "Is it just you living in this house?"

  Yang Fan said, "Yes, I drifted to the South Sea with Kunlun merchant ships when I was a child. Alas! It wasn't until I grew up that I returned. Alas! I've been in Luoyang for less than a year."

  The female assassin raised her delicate eyebrows again, and said suspiciously: "You lived abroad at a young age, returned to the Tang Dynasty for less than a year, became a person of Luoyang, and even became a clerk in Xiwenfang?"

  Yang Fan glanced at her and said: "Don't you know that it's easy to get a household registration in our great Tang Dynasty?"

  The female assassin was silent, she knew Yang Fan was telling the truth.

  During the Daxing period of Emperor Yang of Sui, the population of the Central Plains was over 46 million. However, during the reign of Emperor Gaozu of Tang, the national population was only over 15 million, a sharp decrease of two-thirds.

  Although, at the end of Sui Dynasty, the world was in great chaos and many people died, the number of people who actually died in war was limited. More people did not die on the battlefield, but died from the secondary damage caused by war - the destruction of agriculture. At that time, the number of civilians who died of starvation was tens of times more than those who died in war.

  Even so, the population of Tang at the beginning would not have decreased to such a great extent. The main reason for the sharp decline in population at that time was due to underreporting of household registration. During the war, peasants were displaced and the original household registration system was destroyed. After the country stabilized, many peasants had taken refuge with wealthy families, becoming slaves or tenant farmers, making it extremely difficult to count the population again.

  Over the years, the imperial court has been increasing its population statistics, and the system has become much more perfect than in previous years. However, there are still many loopholes to exploit, so it is not a difficult task to either conceal one's household registration or obtain a new one.

  "What's your name?"

  The two people were silent for a while, and suddenly they spoke in unison. As soon as the words came out, Yang Fan burst out laughing, but the female assassin didn't find it funny. She kept her face straight, her clear eyes staring at Yang Fan until he felt that his sense of humor was indeed quite low. He then restrained his smile and introduced himself: "I'm Yang Fan, second in line, everyone calls me Yang Er or Second Brother. I don't know your name, miss..."

  The female assassin hesitated for a moment before answering: "My name is Tian Ainiu."

  Yang Fan exclaimed: "Your surname is Tian? What a big surname!"

  The female assassin shook her head and said: "No, I don't have a surname. My name is Tian Ai Nu, my name... is just Tian, Ai, Nu!"

  The name Tian'ai Nu is nothing unusual, as women at that time usually did not have a formal name, only a nickname. The empress of Wei Emperor Cao Pi was called Guo Nvwang. The empress of Han Emperor Liu Zhi was called Deng Mengnv. The empress of Han Emperor Liu Fuling was called Shangguan Xiaomei. And the Empress Zhangsun of our dynasty's Taizong Emperor was called Guanyin Bi.

  Queens mostly come from famous families, and their milk names are also so. The strange and peculiar milk names of ordinary women are even more unexpected. But it's common for a woman to have no name, and a person with no surname... how is that possible? Yang Fan wisely didn't ask any further questions, he knew that this girl must be hiding an unknown secret, perhaps just like him.

  Yang Fan unintentionally dug up someone's secret, so he smiled and said: "Tian Ai Nu! What a nice name! Do you want to brush your teeth? I'll treat!"

  Tian Ai Nu's bright eyes first landed on his toothbrush with curved bristles, then raised an eyebrow and glanced at him again. Yang Fan smiled and said, "Of course not, I still have several new toothbrushes."

  Yang Fan got up and walked into the house, soon bringing out a brand new toothbrush, and also brought out a water scoop, scooping half a scoop of water. Yang Fan handed the scoop, toothbrush and Qingyan to Tian Ainiu, introducing: "This is Luoyang Xiwenfang's Ma's toothbrush, with exquisite workmanship and top quality, famous throughout the eight villages."

  The sun rises in the east, jumping to the edge of a cloud, and from the gap between the clouds, it casts a golden light on the city of Shendu. In the small courtyard of Yang Fan's house, a man and a woman are squatting face-to-face, each holding a ladle and an earthenware basin, brushing their teeth in the sunlight.

  "I need a set of clothes, spit, spit..."

  "Wait a moment, I'll open the door of the shop, and then I'll find you a set of clothes to change into, pffft...pffft..."

  "Thanks, spit!"

  "You're welcome, my family doesn't open a restaurant, I'll bring some food back for you. In our village, there's a Jiang's Noodle Soup shop that makes noodles with a great texture and flavor, the soup is clear and delicious, people from all over the eight villages come to eat here, it's really famous..."

  "Oh, really... actually I'm not very hungry..."

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  Early in the morning, shortly after the gates of various wards had been opened, several men wearing casual clothes and riding horses hurriedly walked along the road leading to Xiūwén Ward.

  If someone recognized them, they would be surprised to find that among these people were Luoyang Wei Tang Zong and the Judicial Department's Cao Canjun Shi Qiao Junyu. It was not easy for these two people to walk together so early in the morning, and it is unknown whether a sensational case had occurred in the nine cities.

  Luoyang Wei Tang Zong is about forty years old, with a broad face and a thick beard under his chin. He looks very majestic. At this age, he is at the peak of his physical and mental strength. Wearing a long gown, the curves of his chest and arms are visible, showing his sturdy physique.

  The person on his left was Qiao Junyu, the chief of the Ministry of Justice, who was also a middle-aged man in his forties. He was slightly thinner than Tang Zong and had a narrow face with shallow wrinkles that added a touch of elegance to his refined features.

  Next to him was a handsome young man in brocade, wearing a jade-colored changshan with a seven-star belt around his waist, a headscarf on his head, and a pair of shallow-waisted black silk shoes under his feet. He was extremely slender, looking no more than 28 years old, with a beautiful face and sharp eyebrows like swords.

  Tang Zong rode his horse forward, saying in a low voice: "General Qiao, Luoyang has a population of one million, with all sorts of people mixed together. It's really as difficult as climbing to the sky to find one person. The court doesn't allow us to make a big fuss about it either. To be honest, even if we invite Yang Langzhong to take charge, I don't have much hope!"

  Qiao Junyu let out a soft sigh, and the crow's feet at the corners of her eyes deepened.

  It's difficult to find someone in the vast city of Luoyang, and he must know how hard it is. Moreover, it has to be done secretly, without causing a stir throughout the city. This is really too difficult for anyone, but...

  Qiao Junyu glanced to the side and saw that the beautiful young man in a jade robe and brocade sash standing beside him had already turned pale upon hearing these words, his heart tightening involuntarily. He hastily forced out a laugh and said: "That person was injured, this is an obvious sign. The criminal went missing around the area of Xiwen Fang, so let's take Xiwen Fang as the center and search in all directions! If Luoyang Prefecture doesn't have enough manpower, we can mobilize the Wu Hou and Fang Ding from each Fang to conduct a thorough search, one alley at a time!"

  Tang Zong listened and became even more indignant: "Qiao Canjun, what you said is easy to say. Under the feet of the Son of Heaven, a fisherman by the creek could be a retired and honorably restored Shangshu Shilang, a young man playing cuju in an alleyway could be a royal relative. The patron of a small Buddhist temple or a small Taoist shrine might be some prince or noble. How can we investigate? How can we verify?"

  Qiao Junyu glanced at the beautiful young man beside him, seeing "his" face getting darker and darker, and his heart secretly cried out in distress, but he couldn't speak out to stop him: "This Tang Zong has been enforcing the law for many years, has seen a lot and is considered a worldly person, how can he not see the identity of the woman beside me? This is an imperial guard, even if you can't see her identity, can't you see that she's a maiden in waiting?"

  Things that have been handed over by the Imperial Guard cannot be pushed aside. Although this Miss Xie Muwen, who came to the door, is only a minor official in the Imperial Guard, even if she were the Minister of Justice or the President of the Board of Punishment, they would not dare to treat her lightly. What is the Imperial Guard? It's a sword in the hands of the Empress Dowager.

  "This sword is meant to kill, no need for trial, no need for imprisonment, not even a crime name. It's the power of beheading first and reporting later. Haven't you seen how this Commander Xie was treated as an honored guest by even Vice Minister Zhou at the Ministry of Justice? He immediately arranged for me to bring her to meet Doctor Yang, who will personally take charge of this case. Tang Shaofu, what's wrong with you today?"

  He did not know that Tang Zong was the prefect of Luoyang, in charge of Luoyang's justice system, and also an official who had long known about the existence of Mei Hua Nei Wei. This woman with a easy smile and a humble appearance followed General Qiao, seemingly as one of his entourage, but General Qiao would often go to see her expression, Tang Zong had already guessed her identity.

  At this time, Tang Zong pretended to be unaware and was deliberately venting his grievances to her. The number of officials and personnel in the Luoyang Prefecture is limited. With so few officials in the Luoyang Prefecture, managing such a large city and over a million people, it's easy to get busy from dawn till dusk. As a result, the Imperial Guard can casually send someone to mobilize a large number of people, but who will be responsible for the daily security of the entire city of Luoyang? Who will take responsibility if something goes wrong?

  Tang Zong was pretending to be stupid, venting his dissatisfaction to the inner guard. The female dressed as a man, Xie Douwei, seemed to have noticed that he was complaining about herself, and her sword-like eyebrows rose slightly, just about to retort, when suddenly several beggars ran up from the side of the road, bowing and saying: "Noble sirs, please pity us poor ones, give us some food..." P: All book friends, vote for me!