Xuanqing Guard

Chapter 252: Chapter 252: Fragmented Words

Zhang Qian and Gan Lin clearly weren’t interested in investigating the case—they thought it was a hassle, and after realizing they couldn’t get anything out of Shen Hao’s mouth, they lost interest. They chatted for a bit and then left the Black Banner Battalion’s camp, and had people bring over the two guides found by the Garrison.

The two guides were both locals from the nearby area. After introducing themselves, it turned out one was a traveling peddler who roamed all the villages in a ten-mile radius. The other was the Village Chief from a neighboring village—his wife was from Caiyuan Village, so he was frequently in and out of Caiyuan and knew all the big and small affairs there.

These two had already been questioned once by the Garrison, but seeing the Black Robes this time, they immediately got nervous again. They’d heard of the Xuanqing Guard—now, that was way more terrifying than the Garrison.

The Garrison, the Government Office—those at least would talk reason with you. The Xuanqing Guard was said to never bother with reason.

"Don’t be scared, just answer whatever we ask, all right?"

"Y-yes, understood!"

The two nodded like pecking chickens, hunched their shoulders, and stood trembling in the corner of the tent, not daring to look up.

"How many people are there in Caiyuan Village? What’s the main source of livelihood?" Shen Hao held his tea, starting with the basics.

"Replying to your lordship, Caiyuan Village has about a hundred households, roughly four hundred people? Not sure about the exact number."

"Most people are farming, but there are a few hunting households, blacksmiths, and stonemasons. Oh, right—the past couple years, the Government Office encouraged building fishponds, said it’s quicker money than farming, so a few bold families flooded their fields and started ponds." frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓

Shen Hao asked again, "In the past half year, has anything unusual happened in Caiyuan Village? Anything that comes to mind, big or small, just say it."

"..." The two shook their heads miserably—they’d apparently been asked the same by Garrison people before.

Seeing this, Shen Hao shook his head. These two were clearly absent-minded—they’d miss a lot of details this way. After thinking a moment, he waved and pulled out a handful of scattered silver from his Storage Bag—about seven or eight taels.

"All right, this silver is a reward from me. If you want it, you’ll have to trade me one odd or unusual thing that happened in Caiyuan Village. If you say something I think is worthwhile, I’ll give you a piece. Anyone can answer, but repeated stories don’t count."

Seven or eight taels wasn’t a fortune, but wasn’t nothing either—the two hadn’t expected any benefit! Instantly, they perked up, scratching their heads, racking their brains for stories.

"Lord, I... I thought of one!"

"Go ahead."

"In Caiyuan Village, there are more girls born than boys. There’s even talk that among women who get pregnant, no matter who it is, it’s seventy percent girls, thirty percent boys."

This... that really counts as odd, huh!

Shen Hao picked up a piece of silver and tossed it over—the guy caught it, eyes lit up, shocked that this lord actually kept his word!

They eyed the silver left on the table, greedy as could be. Since even talk about sons and daughters counted, there was plenty more to say!

"Lord! I’ve remembered another! The crops in Caiyuan Village’s fields have always been two or three tenths worse than other villages’. The soil and methods are the same, but the yield is just lower. People say it’s bad Earth Phase."

...

A bunch of strange "gossip" came pouring out one after the other from the two of them. If there hadn’t been a limit to the silver on the table, they’d probably ramble on until nightfall. Even after getting three or four taels apiece, they still looked like they hadn’t had enough.

"Wait, Lord, I just remembered one more!" The silver was gone, but the two now saw this generous Xuanqing Guard lord as a decent guy and kept going: "At the start of the month, folks over in Caiyuan Village said there was an earthquake—some old houses there cracked. But no other village around felt anything at all."

Earthquake? Just another name for a quake. But something like that would normally get reported by Government Offices all over, and the official reports would have it. But Shen Hao hadn’t missed a single official report, and found nothing about an earthquake near Tu Kui City.

Besides, how big is a village? An earthquake doesn’t just shake one place—how could nowhere else feel it?

So either the folks in Caiyuan Village are lying—but what’s the motive? They even had cracked houses, that’s physical proof, unlikely they’d make it up.

Or this guy here is lying? Doesn’t fit either—something this big can’t stay secret, just ask around and you can confirm if anyone’s talking about an "earthquake" in Caiyuan Village.

Then maybe it’s... real?

Seeing that the two had run out of things to say, Shen Hao waved them off.

"Have someone ask around in the nearby villages—at the start of the month, did an earthquake really happen over at Caiyuan Village? Were there really cracked houses? Best if they find someone who saw it themselves, or at least heard first-hand from someone in Caiyuan."

Yang Ming nodded yes, and then went about his task. He was a local, knew the area well, and still had some guys to use—Shen Hao didn’t need to arrange anything further.

Thinking some more, Shen Hao had Wang Yiming find someone from the Black Banner Battalion with knowledge of Earth Divination Skill, to check if Caiyuan’s Earth Phase was really problematic.

To others, Shen Hao’s questioning of the guides probably sounded like small talk, almost pointless—was there really a need to investigate this kind of countryside gossip? Even Wang Yiming, who had as much awe for Shen Hao as anyone, couldn’t help feeling that his superior was up to nonsense again.

But who dared criticize Shen Hao face to face? The man rose up by chopping off heads while solving cases—who in Jingxi Territory had more fame for investigation? You’d have to be mad to try to tell Lord Shen how to do things. Just muttering in your head was enough—you still had to do whatever Lord Shen said.

Soon, two Earth Divination Skill experts from the Thousand Households Station of the Black Banner Battalion were brought over by Wang Yiming, and they first looked over the Military Level topographical maps around Caiyuan Village.

"Lord, just by looking at the map, Caiyuan Village is surrounded by hills on three sides and faces south, so the land is yin. On both sides, small rivers and streams flow through the area, bringing in wealth—so it’s auspicious. What’s more, there are two mountain ranges to the north, like a pair of wings—they’re not too high, not too low, just right to cradle Caiyuan Village in the middle. That’s a very auspicious Double-Wing formation.

The Earth Phase here is excellent!"

After one expert spoke, the other kept nodding—they’d never seen such fine Earth Phase before.

Excellent Earth Phase? Shen Hao was genuinely surprised.

"If the Earth Phase here is this good, could there still be more girls than boys, or decreased grain yields?" Shen Hao voiced his doubt.

"Absolutely not, Lord. Such top-notch Earth Phase is rare—living here should mean more children, more blessings, and everything thriving. If these things you’re saying are true, it definitely isn’t because of Earth Phase."

"That’s right, Lord—with this kind of auspicious Earth Phase, using it just as a village for living people is actually a waste. Normally, Earth Phase like this is reserved for major burial grounds."