tallest building

Chapter 111 Reporting to the Official
Shao Si looked at Gong Xu, then at Wen Mingqian, and pleaded, "I know I've done something wrong. If I cooperate honestly with your household, can I atone for my crime?"

"What wishful thinking!" Gong Xu's anger intensified. "At this point, you still dare to bargain with us? You're really asking for trouble!"

Upon hearing this, Shao Si shrank back in fright.

"My lord, please calm down. Finding Chang'an is the most important thing," Wen Mingqian advised Gong Xu. "There's no need to lower yourself to the level of these brutes."

Gong Xu was now focused on winning back Wen Mingqian. Seeing her gently advising him, his anger subsided considerably, and his tone became less harsh: "What you say makes sense, Madam. I was just too worried about Chang'an."

Wen Mingqian then said to Shao Si, "If you can truly redeem yourself through merit, we naturally won't make things difficult for you. You should also consider this carefully, after all, you are the one who is truly at your wit's end now."

"I understand, I understand," Shao Si said. "Ma Daguang is a very cunning man. He sent his family away before he made his move, so it will be difficult to find him now. He repeatedly told me to hide well, so why can't he hide himself?"

However, I know that he also has a mistress, a beautiful young woman not yet twenty, who came from Wuzhou to sing. She has already given birth to his son, who is not even a year old.

His first wife only gave birth to three daughters, so he loved this son very much.

Because very few people knew that he had a mistress, and because there was no suitable place to send the two of them away in time, the two of them remained in the capital.

If we can detain this mother and child, Ma Daguang will definitely be wary.

"So you know where Ma Daguang's mistress's house is?" Ma Ping'an asked. "Don't try anything funny."

"How could I dare?" Shao Si sighed. "I'd be grateful if this could be resolved peacefully."

Only then did he truly feel fear; before, he had been unwilling to think deeply about it and had harbored a sense of wishful thinking.

After all, money is a powerful motivator, and for a gambler like him who was short of cash, the temptation of a thousand taels of silver was simply too great.

His actions are certainly shameful, but ultimately they can be considered a matter of human nature. Which of those who commit crimes doesn't know the law is strict? Yet they still repeatedly take the risk, simply because they share the same thoughts as him.

"Then tell me where they live?" Gong Xu asked.

"It's in Dongcheng, in Gumei Alley on Shunyi Street, the ninth house from the west, the one with glazed tiles embedded in the door. They moved there after having a child, and they don't usually interact with their neighbors, so the neighbors don't know anything about their family."

"Since that's the case, we can't delay any longer, lest things get complicated," Gong Xu said.

“But there’s another point,” Wen Mingqian said, not rushing to find Ma Daguang’s outer residence. “This is different from arresting Shao Si. We’re not government officials. Going to someone’s house at night is considered trespassing. If it causes a scene, it will be difficult to resolve quickly and may delay things.”

"What does the lady mean..." Gong Xu hesitated.

"Sir, let's report this to the authorities!" Wen Mingqian felt that reporting this to the authorities at this time was reasonable and opportune.

The reason for not reporting to the authorities before Shao Si was to avoid alerting the enemy. Now that Shao Si has been caught and has revealed the location of Ma Daguang's mistress's residence, the government should step in to prevent others from using this as leverage against them.

After all, she wasn't sure if the people behind Ma Daguang would cause trouble for the Gong family here.

Ma Daguang was certainly not the mastermind, so those who exploited him must have known about him.

Therefore, we should remain cautious until Ma Daguang is apprehended.

“Alright, I’ll go to the Bodu government office myself,” Gong Xu said. Shao Si immediately looked distressed: “Madam, if you report this to the authorities, how am I supposed to survive?”

"Shut up! Whether you live or die depends on your luck!" Ma Ping'an kicked him and pulled him up again. "Our family has already done more than enough by not kicking you when you're down. As for what crime you should be charged with, the officials in the yamen will decide for themselves. What business is it of our lady's to tell us?!"

Shao Si, his face contorted with grief, said nothing more. He knew that once he reached the authorities, he would have no choice but to speak. Otherwise, he would be beaten senseless, even if it meant excrement and urine were torn from his body.

Besides, he has already confessed what he knew, so there's nothing more to interrogate him about.

Then a group of people walked out in a hurry, leaving only a few servants under Wen Mingqian.

"Why haven't Zhang Ma and the others returned yet?" Sang Er asked worriedly. "I wonder if they've found any clues?"

"It should be soon, Madam. Please have some tea." Yunying brought over a bowl of tea. "You didn't eat a proper dinner either, would you like to have something to eat?"

"No need," Wen Mingqian said. "I ate at the old lady's place. To avoid letting her know, I ate as usual, so there's no need to worry about me being hungry."

Wen Mingqian finished a bowl of tea, and the little maid Mei'er ran in: "Mother Zhang has returned with people."

Before she could finish speaking, Zhang Ma strode in.

She had only been outside for about half a day, but she looked ten years older.

Wen Mingqian stood up, took her hand, and felt that her hands were as cold as ice.

"Aunt Zhang, are you tired? Sit down first."

“No,” Zhang Ma shook her head, “I’m fine, don’t worry, girl.”

"Aunt Zhang, have some tea." Yunying had already poured a bowl of tea and handed it to Aunt Zhang.

Zhang Ma took the drink and downed it in one gulp. She raised her hand and wiped her mouth with her sleeve. "We searched all the way from the place where the carriage met Miss Cui. After traveling another four or five miles southwest, the road forked into three intersections."

We searched one by one, and there was a suspicious place on every road.

One is Xuanmiao Temple, another is Jingxu Nunnery, and yet another was once the villa of Prince Yong, which is now long abandoned.

I figured there were only three places where people could hide, so I took my men to the abandoned villa first, since it was unguarded and easy to find.

After searching for several hours, no trace was found, indicating that it was not there.

The other two locations were too crowded and intrusive; going in rashly would be pointless. Besides, it was getting late and the city gates were about to close, so I returned first.

"And what about Miss Cui the Second?" Wen Mingqian asked.

"Miss Cui really put in a lot of effort this time. She went to Jingxu Nunnery herself. She said that a nun there often visited her house and they had some dealings, so she pretended to stay there for the night. She could take the opportunity to go out of her room at night to find out what was going on. Maybe she would get some information."

She only brought one maid with her, so I left a few of our people with her, saying they were all from her household, just to have a few more helpers.” Zhang Ma said, taking another bowl of tea.

Updates resume today, but due to limited energy, I can only update one chapter per day for now. Thank you all for your support, and I apologize. I hope I can improve and update more frequently soon.