That night, the four of them split up and searched every official's home under the county magistrate's office.
Afterwards, they met at the inn. At his daughter's request, Zhu Maonian brought back the county annals related to water bandits and ronin and placed them here.
Several lamps were lit in the room, making it as bright as day. Zuo Qing was ordered to come and serve, bringing food and drink before standing by to await instructions.
"Look here," Dingding pointed to a place in the book for Zhu Changle to see, "Water bandits appeared 48 years ago."
"Ronin appeared 57 years ago," Zhu Changle looked at him, "The annals say that when the ronin first appeared, Yunbei was able to resist. They struggled for many years until the water bandits appeared and attacked from both sides, causing Yunbei to collapse, all defensive works were destroyed, and they never regained their fighting strength, retreating step by step."
"Is there something wrong?"
Zhu Changle pondered for a moment, "Find out when they collapsed."
"It's not already mentioned that it was due to the two-sided attack..." Dingding nodded thoughtfully, "I get it, wait a moment."
Zhu Changle couldn't sit still and stood up, stroking his chin as he paced around the room.
"Yunbei didn't collapse as soon as the water bandits appeared. They held out for nearly four years under the two-sided attack before they couldn't hold on anymore."
Zhu Changle took the annals and read it carefully, "Indeed, that's how it is."
Dingding was eager to hear the story, "Quick, tell me."
"The annals have detailed records of the last battle, saying that no one expected them to lose, and lose so miserably, with only one in ten surviving, and the border general dying on the spot." Zhu Changle looked at Qiuli, "You said you wanted to see the annals to confirm, have you confirmed?"
"The water bandits are related to Gu'an."
Dingding, who was already squatting on the edge of the chair, almost fell off when he heard this, quickly sitting properly and asking, "Are you saying the water bandits are actually people from Gu'an in disguise?"
"At first, they weren't, but it's highly likely they were during the last battle." Qiuli met Zhu Changle's gaze, "The day after the battle, Gu'an cut off the inner river, claiming that water bandits and ronin had arrived, and they were cutting off the river to protect Gu'an's safety."
Zhu Changle pursed her lips, "I also think Gu'an is behind this, but that doesn't serve as evidence that the water bandits were people from Gu'an in disguise."
"Yunbei has three treasures: bamboo, grain, and beetroot. Only Yunbei can grow grain twice a year, and beetroot can only survive in Yunbei. The beetroot wine shouldn't have been a long-standing thing, otherwise, with the quality of this wine, it would have already gained a reputation."
"Qiuli, you've said a lot today!"
"..."
Zhu Changle chuckled and steered the conversation back, "The annals we brought back today are only related to water bandits and ronin. I'll ask my father to check the wine-making one tomorrow and have him send word back."
"Miss, I know about the wine, it appeared 46 years ago," Zuo Qing, under the gaze of the people in the room, bent his waist a little, "Even when the eldest young master was recuperating, he wasn't idle."
"I knew my brother wouldn't be idle." Zhu Changle thought, if he could really let go of everything, he wouldn't be my brother. She brought her thoughts back, "No wonder Yunbei was targeted, with grain, wine, living by the water with aquatic products, their life was probably better than most places."
Zuo Qing responded, "Yes, Yunbei was once quite prosperous."
Zhu Changle paced around the room, "With a precious treasure, one is bound to be envied... we can use that phrase, right? Anyway, that's the idea, it's completely understandable that someone would be jealous, but the problem now is that we don't have evidence. So much time has passed, people have changed several times, it's not easy to investigate this."
"What's done leaves traces," Qiuli said indifferently.
Zhu Changle nodded, "That makes sense, I don't believe they could have cleaned up so thoroughly for such a big event, especially since Yunbei is now in such a miserable state, it's almost completely under their control, they probably wouldn't take it too seriously, and that's our opportunity."
"Well, maybe I'll go to Gu'an tomorrow and ask the beggars there for information?" Dingding said, realizing he had jumped into the trap.
Zhu Changle blinked mischievously, "How did you know that's exactly what I was thinking?"
"I didn't say I was definitely going."
"So, are you going or not?"
"..." Dingding spat, using him like a cow every day.
"Dingding is the best." Zhu Changle very wisely flattered him, then quickly changed the subject, "We've searched all the officials' homes, the difference from ordinary people is that there's a bit of broken rice in the chaff, including Luo Ding, which surprised me a bit. He's been the county magistrate for many years, in Yunbei he's practically a one-man show, I really don't believe he didn't embezzle any good food, could it be that we didn't find the place?"
Aunt Feng shook her head, "Unless it's hidden somewhere else, his home definitely doesn't have it."
"There's another possibility," Zhu Changle looked at the others, "The shop in the West Market is his."
Dingding, unconsciously squatting again, said, "It's not impossible, but then I'm even more confused, what's the benefit for him to keep the county magistrate in luxury like this? The people below are all eating chaff and swallowing vegetables!"
"Hiding the situation in Yunbei? But why would Yunbei's situation need to be hidden from the county magistrate? Yunbei is so poor, what impact would it have if the county magistrate knew?"
Seeing Zhu Changle stuck in a dead end, Qiuli reminded her, "Grain."
"Yes, Yunbei's grain is gone!" Zhu Changle's eyes lit up, clapping her fists together, "He uses good things to keep the county magistrate, and few officials would really go to understand the people's conditions. Even if they did, the county magistrate could surely set up a scheme to hide it, the county magistrate from arrival to departure probably wouldn't know that grain is not seen in the people's homes. This explains why the stewardess by Luo's wife appeared so coincidentally today, they've been watching, and they might watch until every county magistrate leaves Yunbei."
Dingding nodded, "Then the question is, where's the grain?"
"The grain must be found, I think the bigger problem is the cooperation of the people of Yunbei, what reason do they have to willingly eat chaff every day and hand over all the grain?"
Zhu Changle really couldn't understand, she had seen human nature, not even doing anything bad, even if the grain had to be handed over, hiding a bit was a normal human reaction, but they didn't, it was too contrary to common sense, seeing a horse and wanting to kill it for meat was what a person with no oil in their belly would think.
"The people here, have little resentment," Qiuli opened his fan and fanned himself, "Poor, not cunning."
"Amazing, even someone as smart as Qiuli can't understand." Zhu Changle teased, "Not only are they not cunning, they're also united, not just among the people, but also among the officials? I can't understand it, Zuo Qing, tell all this to my brother when he's awake, I'll go listen to the answer tomorrow, this kind of thing still needs my brother."
Zuo Qing smiled and agreed.
"Let's disperse, Dingding, leave early tomorrow, avoid people."
Dingding was so angry he threw the salt beans in his hand over.
