“Sir, this idea is brilliant!”
Qing Mulan’s eyes lit up. “Such a high reward, and no risk involved. I believe once the notice is posted, ninety-nine percent of the city’s common folk will become your eyes and ears!”
Soon, Da Liu brought a stack of notices to Deputy Captain Xiao.
Then, groups of garrison soldiers were seen taking the notices and posting them throughout the city.
Most common folk were illiterate. After posting the notices, the soldiers did not leave. They stood beside them.
“Sir soldier, what does this notice say?”
A bold commoner plucked up courage and asked, “Is the court going to reduce taxes?”
News of the war in the north had gradually spread to Sichuan-Shu with the return of discharged veterans. Some common folk already knew the court had won this time. They were all hoping for news of reduced taxes.
Unfortunately, they were destined to be disappointed.
Next year’s taxes would not only not decrease. They might even increase.
“No, this is a reward notice.”
The garrison soldier said loudly, “Little North girl was abducted by a masked man at the tooth market yesterday morning. Master Jin Feng is now offering a reward for clues. Whoever provides a useful clue that helps find Little North girl will receive three hundred taels from Master Jin.
Whoever safely delivers Little North girl to Master Jin’s hands will receive one thousand taels!
Anyone who discovers recent unusual situations can report to the prefectural governor’s office. There are people there specially registering and recording. If it is later proven that the information provided is useful, you can go to the prefectural governor’s office to claim the reward!”
In fact, this garrison soldier was also illiterate. But the reward notice was simple, just a few sentences. He had already memorised them.
“What, a reward of one thousand taels to find someone?”
“Did you not hear the soldier say? You must deliver the person to get one thousand taels. Providing information, and only if it is useful, gets only three hundred taels!”
“Only three hundred taels? You speak so boldly. Have you ever seen three hundred taels of silver?”
“No, the largest silver ingot I have touched in my life is five taels.”
“Master Jin is truly willing to spend money for Little North girl!”
“Have you not heard? Master Jin not only wrote ‘Hoeing at Noon’, he also wrote lyrics for Little North girl. It is called ‘A Smile Costs a Thousand Gold’.”
“This time it really is spending a thousand gold to win a beauty’s smile.”
“What do you know? This is a beautiful tale!”
“Nothing more to say. No work today. Let’s go find Little North girl!”
…
Not to mention for ordinary common folk, for many merchants, three hundred taels was also a huge sum.
Under the stimulation of the high reward, the news of the reward quickly spread throughout the city. Many common folk left their homes and wandered back and forth near the tooth market, hoping to luckily find some clues.
Half a shichen later, common folk began arriving at the prefectural governor’s office to report clues.
At this time, on the open ground at the entrance to the public hall of the prefectural governor’s office, more than a dozen small tents had been set up. A clerk sat in each tent, specially recording the clues provided by the common folk.
This also ensured privacy, solving the common folk’s worry about retaliation afterwards.
At the edge of the open ground, a large table was placed. On the table sat ingot after ingot of shiny white silver.
In fact, one thousand taels of silver was not much. But Jin Feng, to enhance the visual effect, deliberately had the ingots stacked into a tower shape.
This created many gaps in the middle. It looked like a small mountain. Under the sunlight, it shone dazzlingly.
Common folk coming and going had their eyes nearly blinded. They were reluctant to look away. They only wanted to stare a bit longer.
Many people in their hearts gave birth to the thought of rushing over to grab a few ingots and run away.
But it was only in their hearts. No one really dared to do it.
Because beside the silver mountain stood over a hundred garrison soldiers, among them no lack of archers.
Whoever really dared to rob would probably be taken down before even reaching the silver mountain.
Under the stimulation of the silver mountain, more common folk came to provide clues. The clerks would excerpt a page and send it to the garrison soldiers. Then the soldiers delivered it to the largest tent in the corner.
Jin Feng, the city’s chief constable, and Deputy Captain Xiao sat in the tent, checking each message one by one. If all three thought a message was worth suspecting, they would send garrison soldiers to investigate.
As messages were sent out one by one, teams of garrison soldiers were dispatched.
Busy for a day, the garrison soldiers caught quite a few petty thieves based on clues. They even caught a serious offender wanted by the capital’s Ministry of Justice.
Unfortunately, Tang Little North was still not found.
There were really too many common folk coming to report. Apart from eating a bit at noon, the three of Jin Feng spent all other time looking at messages. They did not even go to the toilet.
Even so, the paper pages on the table grew more and more. By evening, they had accumulated to two fingers thick.
Jin Feng and Deputy Captain Xiao were fine. One was young, the other exercised regularly. They were still alright. But the chief constable was not young. After busying for a day, he gradually could not hold on. His hands shook so much he could barely hold the brush. He left first.
By nightfall, Deputy Captain Xiao could not hold on either.
From yesterday morning when Tang Little North went missing, he had been busy with the garrison soldiers. In between, he had only snatched less than two hours of sleep. Today he sat here all day again. His eyes could barely stay open.
Seeing this, Jin Feng let him go back.
In fact, Jin Feng had not slept last night either. He had rushed through the night on mountain roads. But he was truly worried about Tang Little North. His spirits were highly excited. At this time, he had no sleepiness at all. Only his eyes felt a bit sore and swollen.
Tang Dongdong came in to deliver water. Seeing Jin Feng’s eyes full of bloodshot veins, she felt heartbroken. Choking with sobs, she said, “Brother Feng, you have not slept for two days and a night. Go sleep for a while?”
“With Little North completely out of contact now, how can I sleep?”
Jin Feng took the water bowl and drank a mouthful. “I will look at two more pages.”
While drinking water, Jin Feng picked up another unread paper page.
When he saw the content written on it, Jin Feng’s eyes suddenly widened. He handed the water bowl to Tang Dongdong. Among the paper pages already reviewed on the table, he quickly rummaged.
“Sir, what are you looking for?”
Qing Mulan, who came in afterwards, asked.
“Looking for this!”
Jin Feng found a paper page he had seen before.
This paper page recorded a report from an old woman. According to her, her neighbours were a pair of sworn brothers. They did no proper work all day. They indulged in eating, drinking, whoring, and gambling. When they had money, they spent it on wine and women. When they had no money, they starved.
Yesterday morning, a carriage came to the brothers’ home. Then the second brother went out and bought several jars of wine, as well as fifty or sixty jin of meat, and rice and such.
The old woman suspected the brothers had kidnapped Tang Little North.
When Jin Feng saw this information, he did not pay much attention. He thought the old woman was exaggerating too much. Even if the brothers were gluttonous, how could they buy fifty or sixty jin of meat all at once?
It was just entering autumn now. The weather was still hot. Meat not eaten in two or three days would spoil. What was the point of buying so much?
But the paper page Jin Feng saw just now while drinking water had a commoner saying that yesterday morning, as he passed by the alley behind West Main Street, he saw a carriage coming out of the alley and heading north of the city.
The two messages seemed fine alone. But connected together, they made Jin Feng’s heart beat accelerate instantly!
“Dongdong, quickly go call Da Liu and Monkey over!”
