Tiger Owl

Chapter 271 A strange combination of circumstances
Li Qun's informant was named Han Miao, nicknamed Little Monk, but he had nothing to do with monks. He was actually a local rogue who, relying on his parents' pampering, idled away his days and caused trouble.

However, Han Miao also had some outstanding qualities. He had exceptional eyesight and could remember everyone he met. Moreover, he was very clever and had a wide network of information. Li Qun took a liking to his characteristics and used him as an informant, promising him that if he could make contributions, he could be recruited as an inner guard.

Han Miao was working extra hard to get into the Inner Guard. He stood on a street corner, looking around nervously. When he saw Li Qun walking over, he quickly went up to him and whispered, "Brother Li, I've found a strange shop!"

What makes you suspicious?

"I heard pigeons cooing."

Li Qun was taken aback and immediately asked, "What kind of shop?"

Han Miao gestured with his chin towards the back, "It's that Sanjiang Inn!"

"Besides the cooing of pigeons, is there anything else strange?"

Han Miao lowered his voice again and said, "They changed their manager at the beginning of the month, and all the staff were replaced as well."

Li Qun's spirits lifted. The manager and staff had all been replaced, which meant a new owner. However, the Sanjiang Inn was not on his list of more than twenty people who had changed owners.

"Are you sure?"

"Brother Li, believe me! How could my eyes be wrong? I know exactly what the original manager and his staff looked like."

Li Qun trusted him; the guy's judgment was indeed impressive.

He pondered for a moment, then arranged for two of his men to pretend to be merchants and check into the inn, and for several others to keep watch around the area.

The next morning, Li Qun received news from his subordinates that the inn did indeed keep pigeons in a loft on the top floor.

Around noon, another subordinate arrived with a carrier pigeon whose body had been pierced by a crossbow bolt, and a message tube was still tied to its leg.

"Reporting to the lord, the pigeon was about to fly into the inn when we shot it down with a crossbow."

Li Qun opened the carrier pigeon; it contained only one sentence: 'Investigate the exact number of Western Chu army warships!'

Li Qun immediately went to report to Wang Xiaoman, who nodded and ordered, "Arrest them all!"

Half an hour later, three hundred imperial guards surrounded the Sanjiang Inn. The soldiers rushed in and soon captured the innkeeper and three waiters, tying them up.

The shopkeeper turned pale as he looked at the pigeons and letters that had been found.

Wang Xiaoman hurriedly arrived at Gan Ning's official residence, reported the news, and quickly went inside, bowing respectfully. "Today we arrested a group of intelligence spies!"

"Is that the inn?"

Gan Ning smiled slightly and said, "I've heard about it too."

Wang Xiaoman hesitated for a moment, then said, "But it was a bit unexpected. They weren't sent by Cao Cao, but rather intelligence spies from Jiangdong."

"A spy from Jiangdong?"

Gan Ning was also stunned. He suddenly chuckled and said, "It seems that Jiangdong is not content to be left out!"

He nodded immediately. "Interrogate them thoroughly, report this to Military Advisor Pang, and then continue searching for Cao Cao's spies."

Wang Xiaoman immediately understood that her lord still wanted to use Jiangdong intelligence spies, just like last time.

"I understand. I will report to Military Advisor Pang immediately after I finish the interrogation."

After Wang Xiaoman left, Gan Ning pondered for a moment and then sent someone to invite Pang Tong over. Soon, Pang Tong arrived, and Gan Ning recounted how he had discovered the intelligence spies from Jiangdong.

Pang Tong laughed and said, "Does the Marquis of Chu still intend to handle this like the Jixiang Pharmacy?"

Gan Ning nodded. "Xiao Man will report the interrogation to you later. You will be in charge of this matter." "Please rest assured, Lord Chu, I will handle it properly."

At this moment, Gan Ning remembered something else and said with a smile, "I forgot to tell Xiaoman earlier, but Jixiang Pharmacy still has value. I feel that Cao Cao will not give up Jixiang Pharmacy easily. He may still be sending people to observe it in secret."

Pang Tong roughly understood what his lord meant. "Lord Chu, are you saying that Cao Cao thought that Jixiang Pharmacy only obtained false information, and that it wasn't a problem with Jixiang Pharmacy itself?"

Gan Ning smiled and shook his head. "That's not entirely true. The information that Jixiang Pharmacy gave to Cao Ren was mostly true, except for the false information about troop strength, the commander of the city, and the catapults. But Cao Ren never knew the true situation inside the city, so how could he know that he received false information?"

"But Cao Cao would shift the blame to intelligence."

Gan Ning smiled and said, "One crushing defeat can be blamed on intelligence, but what about a second crushing defeat? Cao Cao is not a fool; he won't just believe his one-sided story."

"So, the normal operation of Jichun Inn is something that Marquis Chu can arrange?"

Gan Ning nodded. "Perhaps Cao Cao has indeed given up, but we should still give it a try."

Jichun Pharmacy continued to operate normally, and the shopkeeper, Wang Yao, greeted customers with a smile as if nothing had happened. However, a hint of worry and fear would occasionally flash in Wang Yao's eyes.

That morning, Wang Yao was seeing off a guest on the steps. As he turned to go back, a deep voice came from behind him, “The weather can change unexpectedly.”

For a moment, Wang Yao froze. After a while, he slowly turned his head and saw a tall man behind him with eyes as cold as ice staring at him.

"Everyone has their ups and downs," he stammered in reply.

"Get in the car with me!"

Wang Yao then noticed a carriage parked behind the man. The man turned around and got into the carriage. Wang Yao hesitated for a long time. He remembered what Li Qun had told him the day before yesterday: the other party might not know about his betrayal.

Wang Yao boarded the carriage with trepidation. The door closed, and the carriage started moving.

Inside the carriage, just as Wang Yao was about to speak, two daggers suddenly appeared from behind, one on each side. Wang Yao was terrified and his face changed drastically. "What...what are you talking about?"

The man stared at him coldly and said, word by word, "You have betrayed the Prime Minister!"

"betray?"

Wang Yao's eyes widened. "What makes you say that?"

"You gave us false information."

"What false information?"

Wang Yao immediately exclaimed excitedly, "When have I ever sent out false intelligence?"

"Information about Queyue City, isn't it?"

"That intelligence was bought with a hundred taels of gold, how could it be false?"

The man stared at him for a long time. Seeing that he was excited and didn't seem to be faking it, he gently waved his hand, and the two daggers were withdrawn.

The man then asked coldly, "Then why haven't we heard anything in the last six months?"

Wang Yao was stunned, and after a long while said, "I wasn't given any instructions! I need to act according to instructions, isn't that always the case?"

The man lowered his guard. He wouldn't believe Wang Yao just because of his explanations. In fact, he had been observing Wang Yao for a long time and was certain that Wang Yao had no contact with the Western Chu army.

The man then slowly asked, "How did you meet the person who provided you with the information? How did you get the information?"

(End of this chapter)