mtl008 Chapter 323 The School Affairs Office also got involved.
Chapter 323 The School Affairs Office also got involved.
Zhu Kang followed Yao Yao to the vicinity of the courtyard gate. After finding Dizang, he instructed, "You two go around from the left and right sides and keep an eye out for anyone climbing over the wall. Our main task today is to confirm the other party's identity."
The two followed the plan and left quickly. Zhu Kang hid himself in the haystack and waited patiently. Before long, he saw someone hurrying into the yard, which made his heart sink.
This person arrived almost at the same time as me. Could he have been sent by someone from the courtyard?
Wait a minute, Deputy Factory Director Wang seems to have said that while he suspected the mastermind behind the scenes might have sent Yao Yao to seduce someone, he might also have sent someone to keep watch from the outside. Could that person just now have been keeping watch?
Damn it, we've been found out! What do we do?
After a moment's thought, Zhu Kang decided to hold back and confirm the other party's identity. He refused to believe that the person inside wouldn't come out.
While observing, he gripped the knife handle, worried that the other party might resort to desperate measures and kill him to silence him.
At the same time Zhu Kang stared at the courtyard, two other people appeared three hundred meters behind him. They looked at the haystack where Zhu Kang was hiding and then at the dilapidated courtyard, and began to communicate in hushed tones.
"A beautiful woman suddenly appeared at the Wang family's door. Is she trying to use her beauty to seduce Wang Bin? What idiot is so brain-dead that he dares to use his beauty to seduce a direct descendant of the Langya Wang clan?"
"They're probably sent by Eastern Wu, but these guys are too careless. They've been spotted by Zhu Kang. What should we do? Should we take action to kill Zhu Kang and secretly help him out? The enemy of my enemy is my friend!"
“No, we can’t expose ourselves yet. It’s not easy for the Imperial Academy to come to Kuaiji. We can’t let these Jiangdong rats trick us. But perhaps we can use them to attract the Han army’s attention and achieve our goal. I’ll keep an eye on them here and confirm their identity. You go back and report the situation to Zhang Gongcao so he can prepare a response.”
After the conversation ended, the two parted ways. One turned and returned to the city, while the other took a detour and sneaked towards the back of the courtyard. They were both elites of the School Affairs Bureau, and their ability to spy and track was far more professional than Zhu Kang's.
Zhu Kang hid in the haystack and stared intently at the yard. When he saw two sweepers in the yard drop their brooms and go into the room, he knew he had been discovered. He figured the other party might be leaving through the back door, so he decisively walked out of the haystack and went around to the back yard.
Sure enough, upon going around to the backyard, they found several figures running quickly through the fields, including Yao Yao. In addition to Yao Yao, two of their subordinates were also lurking at a distance, but unfortunately, they were discovered.
The masterminds who were running wildly across the fields saw that they were being followed and decisively turned back. They even started firing arrows from a distance, which frightened the soldiers who were following them. They quickly returned to Zhu Kang's side and said, "It's confirmed. The middle-aged man next to Yao Yao is Luo Cheng. I know him, but Luo Cheng is very respectful to a young man. If I'm not mistaken, he should be Luo Tong, the head of the Luo family."
Zhu Kang snorted coldly: "So it's the Luo family of Wushang. Now that their identities are confirmed, there's no need to follow them. You two go back to the steel plant immediately and tell the garrison to increase security in the near future. No one is allowed to go out without my and Deputy Director Wang's orders. The garrison will personally receive all raw materials entering the plant and all finished products leaving the plant every day. Transport personnel are not allowed to enter the plant area. I'm going to the county government to report to Deputy Director Wang."
Judging by the time, Wang Bin should have already gone to the county government office by now, so there's no need for him to make another trip to the factory.
Zhu Kang dismissed his subordinates and headed to the county government office alone. He didn't need to be followed on the way back, so he was very fast. When he arrived at the county government office, he was told that Wang Bin had gone to the school, so he turned around and ran to the school.
Upon arriving at the school, they discovered that an entire garrison had been stationed there. Wang Bin was leading a six- or seven-year-old boy and giving instructions to the garrison soldiers. The boy was Wang Bin's son.
Zhu Kang stood patiently to the side, waiting for Wang Bin to finish his instructions before stepping forward to bow and say, "Registrar, the other party's identity has been verified. He is Luo Cheng from the Luo family, and there is a young man with him who is very likely Luo Tong himself."
Wang Bin sneered, "Damn the Luo family of Wushang, it seems they weren't dealt with properly back then."
The Luo family of Wushang was a major target of the land reform. However, unlike the other minor aristocratic families, the Luo family did not live in the city but were scattered in various villages. In fact, several villages were run by members of the Luo family. Although many members of the Luo family were wiped out during the land reform, some members fled in advance and hid in the mountains and have not been found to this day. Luo Cheng was one of them.
Wang Bin asked, "Where did they go?"
Zhu Kang rubbed his nose and chuckled sheepishly, "As you know, my brothers and I are roughnecks. We'd kill someone without hesitation, but when it comes to stalking and tailing..."
Wang Bin said, "We just lost them."
"It doesn't matter. They're after the steel mill. If their honey trap didn't work, they'll definitely have other plans. Go back to the factory immediately and strengthen security. Also, set up some lookouts outside the factory to see if any suspicious people are loitering around. If you find any, don't arrest them. Send people to follow them and find out where they're hiding. Try to find out more people. You don't need to worry about anything else. Leave it to me."
"Yes..." Zhu Kang clasped his hands in a fist salute and left.
Wang Bin squatted down, gave his son a few words of advice, and then handed his son over to the garrison commander before returning to the county government office.
Guan Xing's forces were severely lacking in talent, so all the county offices were understaffed, including Wushang County, where the positions of county magistrate and county commandant were vacant. Furthermore, the county magistrate, Cheng Li, had not returned, so the affairs of the county office were naturally managed by Wang Bin, the registrar.
Upon returning to the county government office, Wang Bin immediately convened a meeting, ordering the yamen runners and garrison to strengthen the protection of the steel mill workers' families, increase patrols and security at the city gates, strictly check travel permits, and confiscate those without permits.
At the same time, a reward was offered and people were sent out of the city to various villages to inform the villagers to be on high alert against outsiders and local gentry, and to report any suspicious persons immediately to claim the reward.
There's no such thing as a thief who can be a thief for a thousand days, and you can't guard against thieves for a thousand days. Constantly guarding against them isn't a solution. To solve the problem once and for all, we must find the Luo family. The only way to find the Luo family is to mobilize the masses, just as General Guan Xing taught us.
Without the help of the masses, where would we find the Luo family in this desolate wilderness?
After arranging all the tasks, Wang Bin went to the steel plant and notified the county officials to report to the steel plant if they had any matters to attend to.
He's been staying at the factory these days and doesn't plan to come back. Since the other party is after the steel mill, he has to keep an eye on things there.
Wushang is a well-developed transportation hub among the eight counties, so caravans often pass through it. As a result, commerce is booming and restaurants are plentiful, since merchants and travelers always need to stay at hotels.
There is a restaurant in the west of the city that specializes in catering to passing merchants. The hotel rooms are all independent courtyards that can be used for living, storing supplies, and feeding horses and other livestock. Zhang Jing, the clerk of the School Affairs Office who is playing the role of a merchant caravan entering Wushang, is currently staying at this restaurant.
At this moment, four or five people were sitting in Zhang Jing's room. After listening to the report from the sentry, they all frowned.
After a long while, Zhang Jing said, "Damn it, the Wu army has alerted the enemy. The Han army has definitely strengthened its defenses. Now our plan to kidnap Feng Fei's wife and children is probably going to fail."
They came on the orders of Jia Kui, the Grand Counselor. The reason they came was that during the battle between the Wei army and Guan Yu, they discovered many new weapons, especially the heavy armored soldiers of Guan Yu's heavy armor battalion, which caused the Wei army to suffer great losses. Afterwards, they found out that the heavy armor was produced by the Wushang Steelworks, so Jia Kui sent them to steal the Han army's iron smelting technology.
They had been in Wushang for almost half a month, keeping a close watch on Feng Tiezhu, Wang Bin, and the steelworks workers. While keeping watch, they also found out the family backgrounds and daily habits of Feng Tiezhu, Wang Bin, and everyone else. They even found out that Wang Bin was a member of the Langya Wang clan. They were just waiting for Feng Fei's wife to make her move on her way to pay respects to her father-in-law on his birthday. But then that damned Eastern Wu suddenly interfered. Those good-for-nothing rats!
As soon as Zhang Jing finished speaking, the spy who had been keeping an eye on Zhu Kang and then went to keep an eye on Luo Tong returned and bowed, saying, "Member, we have found out that it was the Luo family that dealt with Wang Bin, and the one leading the team was none other than the family head, Luo Tong. After driving away Zhu Kang, Luo Tong went into the mountains to Chicken Head Ridge, where Guan Xing and Zhang Cheng confronted each other that day. That is the lair of the poisonous bee leader, Bee King Yan Zhen."