Daming: Internship also counts as work experience

Chapter 138 Coming
These people had a division of labor, and judging from their ages, the man outside the temple was clearly much older than the three people inside the nunnery, so the errand-running job was assigned to him... Their hiding place shouldn't be far away, but they might have chosen a village to settle in along the way, and they would inevitably encounter other people coming and going, exchanging greetings and such...

What's the use of thinking about all this? With such a big commotion here, those people will either have a big fight, or they'll only be able to steal the half-box of gold they dug up. They should realize that the government won't give them another chance to dig quietly.

They should pack up and leave quickly. Once Jia Chuan has someone he can use when people come from the capital, where will they find them? If these people really came under the guise of visiting relatives during the New Year, it will be difficult to investigate them. Even if they find out where they stayed, what can they do?

As Jia Chuan was lost in thought, he heard the sound of a door opening behind him. He turned around and saw Gao Yunduo, wearing a cloak and hunching her neck, turning to close the door.

"Go back to sleep for a while, there's nothing else to do right now," Jia Chuan said.

Gao Yunduo closed the door and turned around, saying, "Once you wake up, you won't be able to fall back asleep. Besides, it's almost dawn."

"Huh?" Jia Chuan looked around. "So fast?"

Shunzi yawned and said, "You've been thinking about things the whole time, so you didn't realize it."

Jia Chuan looked at another campfire, where several people were asleep. He sighed and looked at Gao Yunduo, who had sat down next to him: "When you fought with that person yesterday, did that person say a word?"

“I told him, and he advised me to move aside, spouting a bunch of nonsense.”

"Listen to what he's saying, is there anything...?"

"At least he's not from around here, and he doesn't sound like he speaks with a southern accent. I can't understand it, so what's wrong?"

At this moment, Shunzi stood up and said, "I'm going to squeeze into the nunnery with those three people. It'll be warmer with more people, but it smells terrible."

……

Jia Chuan quietly told Gao Yunduo his rough deduction, and Gao Yunduo listened very attentively.

"...These people thought that by hiding the body and digging and digging every night, no one would know."

"They don't come out during the day?"

"Yes, I was blaming myself for not noticing that all the snow on the backyard wall had disappeared. Now that I think about it, I probably subconsciously felt that since I was just taking people out, I didn't need to clear the snow off the entire wall..."

"Shallow what?"

"It's alright. Why did they force those two old Taoists to make this trip? They climbed over the wall themselves under the cover of darkness. Those two old monks were probably easier to talk to than those two old Taoists. They weren't afraid the old monks would recognize their accents. In the end, all four of them ended up talking about the cellar..."

"How do you know it was them who mentioned the cellar, and not that those people found it themselves?"

Jia Chuan opened his mouth, his mind returning to that night, to the four people inside the nunnery whispering something, while someone outside eavesdropped in the darkness.

The old Taoist priest may have already told the two old monks the truth that night. All four of them were in danger, so it was perfectly normal for them to discuss how to escape. Did they mention the cellar during this process? After so many generations, what information had been passed down to these two old monks?
But they must have known there was a useless cellar in the temple.

If that's the case, it's highly likely that the four of them didn't freeze to death the night the two old Taoist priests checked in. Instead, after a day and a night of getting to know each other and discussing things, they probably decided to leave with the gold and silver they had hidden outside. But how could they leave? If they could leave, the two old Taoist priests wouldn't have attracted the villagers' attention. Perhaps their plan was to lure the villagers in the next day, the more the better…

But that's no use. Those people must have arranged for others to be stationed outside the village as well. The real danger for the four of them is what happens after they leave the village... But what if they are taken away by the county officials?

So the bundle on the platform wasn't something the old Taoist priest wanted to keep for himself, nor was it something those people left behind to silence someone. It was a prelude, waiting for the county officials to come and find it the next day, so they could take all four of them away...

Jia Chuan frowned deeply as he thought about this. He felt that something was wrong. If this was the case, then the conversation had been overheard by eavesdroppers outside. They waited until the four had prepared the silver before showing themselves, and even though they hadn't heard any crucial information, they were determined to stop the four from escaping.

In that case, the deaths of the four men seemed to be self-inflicted, which contradicted his previous deduction that the two Taoist priests knew there was danger when they arrived.

Jia Chuan got up and paced around the courtyard again. Just then, dawn began to break. Seeing Jia Chuan pacing back and forth with a frown for a while, Gao Yunduo asked softly, "Do you want to sleep for a while? It's getting light; those people shouldn't be coming back..."

Jia Chuan stopped and looked at Gao Yunduo, staring at her with a very serious expression.

Gao Yunduo was a little taken aback by the stare and asked, "What are you looking at?"

"Give me some more time. I definitely can't get out of this case unscathed for now. The stability you want, I... can't give you for now."

Gao Yunduo glanced around subconsciously, then pursed her lips and said, "Now is not the time to talk about this. My brother will be here with his men tomorrow. Have you thought about how to deal with it? If we make them come all this way for nothing, I mean, my brother will be fine, but the others..."

"Was it all for nothing?" Jia Chuan asked, looking towards the cellar.

Gao Yunduo immediately understood that with this gold, no matter what the case was like, the trip wouldn't be in vain. Countless people would be grateful to Jia Chuan for his trouble during the New Year.

Jia Chuan sat back down by the fire, sighed, and said, "What I need to do now is protect the lives of all the villagers."

Gao Yunduo blinked. Jia Chuan had just made some deductions, especially about where the gold and silver in the cellar came from. She understood, but she didn't think that deeply. Her focus was still on who caused the four people to freeze to death.

Upon Jia Chuan's reminder, she immediately realized that if the villagers and the people in this temple had any connection with the former Northern Yuan, they would not be able to survive.

What Jia Chuan didn't expect was that his words would save several lives.

……

As dawn broke, everyone woke up. Old Zheng staggered into the nunnery, woke Dong Yuanyuan, and then went back to sleep. The village head quickly led the villagers down the mountain to get breakfast. Dong Yuanyuan got up and busied herself adding firewood to the two fires. Gao Yunduo wanted to help, but Dong Yuanyuan stopped her, saying, "These sparks are dangerous. A few sparks and you'll have to give me your cloak."

Gao Yunduo laughed and said, "If others heard this, they would think that I, as your older sister, have mistreated you. Don't you have done something wrong too? Why are you still thinking about me?"

“I’ll wear that one after I get married. If anything goes wrong with yours, you’ll definitely make a new one, and I can wear this one for now. I like all your other dresses, but I can’t fit into them. At least I have something I can wear, how can I not miss it?” Gao Yunduo smiled at Dong Yuanyuan. After she added the firewood, she took Dong Yuanyuan’s hand and said, “In the future, if you want anything, just tell your sister, and we’ll find someone to make it!”

Dong Yuanyuan pouted playfully and said, "I need to slowly get used to the life of the rich."

Jia Chuan sat at the door, listening to Old Zheng's snoring inside, as well as Dong Yuanyuan and Gao Yunduo chatting. Perhaps because he was no longer thinking about the case and his nerves were relaxed, he suddenly felt cold, hungry, and sleepy. His eyelids were drooping violently. If the village chief and his men had arrived a little later, Jia Chuan felt that he would have definitely passed out.

The village chief and villagers brought up still relatively warm porridge, pickled vegetables, and steamed cakes, but by the time they got up the mountain, they were only lukewarm.

Jia Chuan woke up Old Zheng and Shunzi, and the group quickly ate breakfast. Jia Chuan went directly to the nunnery where Gao Yunduo had previously slept, lay down on the hard bed, covered himself with a thin blanket, and immediately lost consciousness.

Old Zheng and Shunzi weren't sleepy anymore. They first helped the villagers tidy up, and then watched as the villagers carried firewood up the mountain time and time again. After adding firewood to the small kitchen all night, it was almost used up. Dong Yuanyuan got up, and the stove in the small kitchen came in handy. They boiled some water and heated up whatever they wanted to cook at any time.

As the sun slowly rose, the incense smoke in the temple grew stronger.

The two fires burned brightly and continuously.

Old Zheng and Shunzi did nothing but look around until they got tired. They pulled the village chief to sit by the fire and chatted idly. Before they knew it, it was lunchtime.

Jia Chuan was woken up and sat on the wooden bed in a daze for a while before leaving the nunnery to warm himself by the fire and have a meal.

The village chief reported to Jia Chuan that the yamen runners down the mountain were patrolling in shifts very diligently, and there was enough food and supplies, which even benefited the children in the village.

Jia Chuan took a sip of hot water and said, "If things go quickly, we might not have to wait until tomorrow morning; the people from the capital will arrive in the latter half of the night."

The village chief hesitated for a moment, then asked in a low voice, "Will we... be taken away?"

Jia Chuan raised an eyebrow, thought for a moment, and said, "If it's someone I know who comes, you'll be fine. If it's someone I don't know... that's okay too. They'll be in a hurry to return to the capital to explain things, so they won't be able to take you with them. At most, they'll hand you over to the county government for questioning. I'm here, what are you afraid of!"

The village head nodded and asked, "If anyone asks about the silver in the bundle..."

"Didn't you take them and then put them back in the same quantity?"

"Oh, right, the original amount has been returned." The village chief breathed a sigh of relief.

"You were just worried about leaving so much silver on the mountain, so you kept it for a few days. I will explain that myself. If anyone asks, just say that. Tell those people not to say anything more. You are all doing this for your child's medical treatment. You are all poor people. I understand."

The village chief looked at Jia Chuan with a puzzled expression, then nodded slightly.

……

To everyone's surprise, the group arrived shortly after dark. It was Xu Gong himself who led a team of Jinyiwei (Imperial Guards), about fifty men, all of whom looked exhausted.

To Jia Chuan's surprise, Qian Guan also came.

The small temple was instantly illuminated as if it were daytime.

Jia Chuan was unaware of the news beforehand. Gao Yuntian led dozens of people directly to the foot of the mountain, dismounted, and climbed up.

Hearing the commotion, Jia Chuan, under the protection of Gao Yunduo and Dong Yuanyuan, went out of the temple to investigate, which could be considered as welcoming them at the door.

Upon recognizing Xu Gong behind Gao Yuntian, Jia Chuan immediately stepped forward and greeted him warmly, "Big Brother!"

Xu Gong, panting heavily, supported Jia Chuan's arms and took a deep breath, saying, "You've done another great service!"

Jia Chuan raised an eyebrow, about to ask why it was a miraculous feat—he himself still didn't know the truth—but then he saw Qian Guan grinning.

"What? Why is Eunuch Qian here too?" Jia Chuan asked in surprise.

Xu Gong said, "When Gao Yuntian returned and told us, I immediately took Gao Yuntian to the palace with Commander Liu. When the Emperor heard this, he ordered us not to delay and to lead the team there immediately. Because Gao Yuntian brought back very little information, Eunuch Qian came along. He came to find out the details of the case and then wanted to go back immediately. The Emperor was concerned about it."

Jia Chuan nodded, stepped forward to help Qian Guan, and the group entered the temple first.

As Xu Gong walked, he said, "There are still carriages and soldiers behind us. They won't arrive here until tomorrow or the day after. Take me to the cellar first to familiarize myself with the terrain so that there won't be any collapses during the digging."

Seeing that Xu Gong hadn't stopped and hadn't asked a single question about the case before starting to dig, Jia Chuan knew that the Emperor was very eager to know how much gold and silver was hidden in the cellar. He suddenly became very worried. What if there was only one box of gold down there, and he had already taken half of it? What would he do then?

Zhu Zhanji must be the wealthiest household here, right? Why would he be so restless just because he heard there's some gold and silver here?
This was something Jia Chuan hadn't expected. He had realized that the case might involve events from decades ago and thought that the Embroidered Uniform Guard might be able to help. He felt that at this stage, in terms of relationships, he was closest to the Embroidered Uniform Guard. However, Xu Gong's letter poured cold water on his hopes, which was the main reason for Jia Chuan's misjudgment.

Jia Chuan was anxious to send Gao Yuntian back to the capital, mainly because he needed manpower. The cellar needed to be dug, and he also needed to guard against someone trying to rob it. Little did he expect that it would also bring Zhu Zhanji's expectations.

Is the national treasury so short of silver? Is this what Xu Gong meant by making a great contribution?
Jia Chuan nervously led Xu Gong toward the cellar behind the main hall. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Gao Yunduo and Dong Yuanyuan slip into the nunnery. As he walked, he turned back to Gao Yuntian and said, "So many people have come. You should send Duoduo, Yuanyuan, Old Zheng, and Shunzi back to the county government first. It's not convenient for them to stay here."

Xu Gong stopped, looked back, and then turned to Jia Chuan, saying, "These people have indeed helped you a lot. When you get back, find an opportunity to mention it to the Emperor; they should be rewarded."

Jia Chuan hurriedly said, "I thank you on their behalf, brother! But... with the Emperor making such a grand entourage, what if there aren't enough boxes in the cellar? I only saw one, and it was only half a box. I didn't dare to dig it up, and there's no one to dig it up either."

Jia Chuan's words carried a hint of resentment. Since this matter was still unresolved, it should be handled rationally. Reporting to Zhu Zhanji was certainly the proper course of action, but Xu Gong and Liu Mian were excited to see the emperor, and they should have been advised to calm down. It was only certain that there was half a chest of gold, which might be attractive to the Imperial Guards who had made the trip in the cold weather. Before it was confirmed, why was Zhu Zhanji so excited?
Xu Gong took a deep breath and looked back. Gao Yuntian was waiting at the entrance of the nunnery, followed by the Imperial Guards who came in. Half of them were holding torches. Old Zheng and Shunzi stood with their heads down against the wall of the nunnery, and Qian Guan followed behind them.

Qian Guanke heard these words and was looking at Jia Chuan nervously.

(End of this chapter)