Descending Phoenix- To be Emperor - C292

Zhuang Duxing took out a palace maid portrait from his sleeves and said: “Yes, this subject has made some preparations. He said that some palace maids had escaped after committing crimes, and that we were going to search the palace maids.”

Shen Yusu looked at the palace maid’s portrait and couldn’t help but to laugh. Not only was it extremely messy, it didn’t have any special characteristics.

“Mm, that’s what we’ll do. But next time, let This King draw.”

Zhuang Duxing laughed when he heard it, “This subject’s painting is indeed a little rude …”

After the two had finished discussing, they brought the Forbidden Army and the Inspection Department runners and hurried towards the pier where the official ships entered the capital.

They travelled quickly, and in the time it took for an incense stick to burn, they arrived at the pier at the outskirts of the capital.

Shen Yusu led a few Forbidden Army and lead the way, while Zhuang Duxing had his men surround the pier, not letting a single boat go, and investigate the situation closely.

There were all sorts of people gathered at the dock. There were people selling wontons with rice wire, people selling buns and snacks, and laborers helping merchants carry goods. There were also boatmen who were waiting for the goods to be loaded and gambling on.

When they saw that a constable was searching the ship, they swarmed over to ask around, all of them just to watch the commotion.

Shen Yusu said loudly, “There are palace maids fleeing the area. Forbidden Army and Inspection Department have been searched together, all ships stopped moving the goods, and everyone is ashore for inspection!”

At this time, Zhuang Duxing had already pasted the portrait close to the temporary checkpoint’s burlap sack heap.

The woman in the portrait had no particular features. Perhaps two or three of the ten women on the street were like her.

Zhuang Duxing pointed to the portrait, and spoke in a serious tone: “This escaping palace maid has a mole on her right ear, if anyone has any leads on this girl, immediately take care of it, the authorities will reward them heavily!”

Hearing that there was a reward, the surrounding crowd began to excitedly discuss it.

Then the busybody said: “Why did you escape from the palace when you weren’t in the palace at all? “It seems like even though the palace looks like a place filled with wealth and prosperity, I guess that life wasn’t that easy.”

“I heard that there are three thousand palace maids in that palace. All of them look like they came down from the heavens. Now that I look at them, they’re not much different than that tofu store owner’s daughter!”

“I say, perhaps this palace maid eloped with a guard. The palace is lonely, how can it compare to the carefree and happy days of us commoners! “Haha …”

At that moment, Shen Lingjue, Jing Qi and the rest were seated in the private room of a restaurant by the side of the pier. They disguised themselves as merchants and observed the activities happening on the pier.

Many ships were docked at the pier. When most people heard that the yamen runner was going to arrest them, they all laughed and didn’t care. There were also some merchants that were in a hurry to ship the goods out of the city that couldn’t help but complain to the bailiffs.

Feng Ningyan looked for a while, and then said with certainty: “There are no problems with these ships, they are not afraid of being searched, the crew did not panic, and they did not contact the outskirts of the pier.”

Shen Lingjue nodded his head, agreeing with Feng Ningyan’s judgement.

From time to time, Shen Yusu would look at the window of the restaurant where Shen Lingjue and the others were, and then let them pass through in accordance to Shen Lingjue’s gesture.

Following which, Forbidden Army and the servants walked towards the latest batch of ships that had entered the pier.

A short boatman climbed out of a boat that had just docked. He stuck his head out, looked around, and smiled as he went ashore to ask what had happened to the bailiff. He even took out some silver and stuffed it in order to get away.

Naturally, the yamen runners would not accept this bribe and directly pressed the boatman to the ground. After a casual search, they found two dice from his body, each with nine cards.

In the restaurant, seeing this, Chu Zhao stretched his neck out and stared worriedly: “Your Highness, there is obviously a problem with this boat.”

However, Shen Lingjue shook his head: “That boatman has a wine gourd hanging from his waist, his eyes are yellow, and he also has a dice card in his hand, he is clearly a good gambler. Shen Youhuang would never use such a person to shoulder such a heavy responsibility, even if there is a problem with this boat, he would not hide a hidden weapon in it.

Feng Ningyan smiled from the side: “There must be some private salt and other prohibited items hidden on the ship. If people were to search and come out, these things are very common.”

Chu Zhao couldn’t help but feel embarrassed. “Your Highness and the wangfei are still the best.”

As everyone searched, they heard two women screaming for help on the boat. It turned out to be a young girl in the prime of her youth who was being kidnapped by traffickers from abroad. They were preparing to deliver the goods to the brothel.

The two girls were rescued from the hands of the traffickers because they were lucky to have been given the chance to search the place without restraint.

The boatman’s face was sullen, he repeatedly claimed that he was wronged, and said that he was only delivering goods, and not a trafficker. However, Zhuang Duxing still got someone to escort him to Jing Zhao Palace.

After searching for a long time and still being unable to find anything, Feng Ningyan was a little impatient.

“Prince, what if that rod does not take the piers and instead takes other paths? Wouldn’t it be useless tonight? If we continue to delay, Shen Youhuang will die laughing while holding those hand beams. ”

Shen Lingjue’s gaze moved to the surface of the river outside the pier, where there was a long queue of boats waiting to enter the harbor.

He picked up the looking-glass and looked at the land, boat by boat.

Amidst the luxurious passenger ships and the dark cargo ships was a very simple and dimly lit boat. Someone came out of the cabin, looked at the chaos on the dock from afar, and then went back into the cabin.

Before long, a pigeon flew out of the cabin and flapped its wings towards the sky.

“Aren’t they already here?” Shen Lingjue said in a heavy voice.

Feng Ningyan and the other two stood up and looked towards the boat from the window.

Shen Lingjue handed over the far-away mirror to Feng Ningyan, then jumped out of the window. With a light tap of his foot, he quickly flew away.

In a moment, he was back in the dark, clutching a carrier pigeon.

He handed the carrier pigeon to Feng Ningyan, took out the letter and looked, then immediately signaled Shen Yusu.

Shen Yusu received the signal and immediately threw an arrow that burned with blue flames and soared into the sky.

Immediately, from the gaps between the large boats on the dock and the shadows on the embankment, a dozen or so thin boats flashed out and surrounded the boat that Shen Lingjue had pointed at just a moment ago.

The boat was originally dressed as a fisherman, but after shaking off the bamboo cape and cape, they were all good Forbidden Army guards.

They quickly boarded the suspicious ship and took control of it.

The smell of blood spread across the river, but the ship quietly turned around and headed in the opposite direction.

All this happened quietly and did not disturb the people on the dock.

Zhuang Duxing and Shen Yusu stood at the side of the wharf, and watched the boat gradually disappear into the distance. They couldn’t help but heave a sigh of relief and smile at each other.

The two took the chance while the yamen runners were retreating and the wharf was restored to its chaotic state. Then, they sneaked over to Shen Lingjue and the rest’s room in the restaurant.

Seeing Shen Lingjue and Feng Ningyan, Yu Su heaved a sigh of relief and said happily:

“Fortunately, second brother has a clever plan. He had set up an inescapable net, so Shen Youhuang would not be able to detect it and it did not disturb the commoners. Now, we have successfully taken over the official ship and those dangerous weapons, so at least one hidden weapon will not fall into Shen Youhuang’s hands. ”

Shen Lingjue looked at him and Zhuang Duxing gratifyingly, but his expression was still not relaxed.

“This King has already sent people to meet up with the concealed weapon ship outside the city, but there is still a serious problem that requires all of you to start an investigation from the imperial court.”

Feng Ningyan nodded his head: “This official ship that is transporting concealed weapons, we have approved it to everyone from the Department of Revenue. We have found out who the accomplice is, we need to slowly remove Shen Youhuang’s poison teeth.”

“Yu Su, take your orders!”

“As you command!”