The Comeback of the Charming Farmer's Wife-Chapter 2177 - 2179
"Uncle, are you taking back the whole army?"
"No!" Old Mu shook his head, "At least half of the army will remain near Xining Prefecture City. Although Great Qi has retreated, who knows if it might be a trick? Even if it isn’t, what if the princes of Great Qi reconcile and unite against us? By then, Great Zhou will be too late to react."
"It’s good that you have a plan, Uncle."
Upon hearing this, Yang Chuxia said nothing more. She asked whether the whole army would be taken back because of her slight wariness towards Prince Le. She always felt that Prince Le would take this opportunity to stir up trouble; otherwise, it wouldn’t be like him.
Now that she heard Old Mu had arrangements, she was at ease.
"Are you not returning to the Capital City?"
"No, I want to stay and continue looking for Yangyang." After pausing, Yang Chuxia added, "Brother An will come to join me after handling matters in Liangchuan."
She had already decided that she wouldn’t return to the Capital City until she found Yangyang.
"Alright, as long as you know what you’re doing."
Yang Chuxia hoped Ye Zi’an and his son could come over soon, unaware that they were currently fighting for their lives.
~~~
In a small county town under Liangchuan, Ye Zi’an and his team had chased a fugitive to this location.
Among the fugitives, one was a barefoot doctor from Yunchuan, and the other the Prefectural Magistrate of Liangchuan. As for the barefoot doctor’s cousin, he was killed by Ye Zi’an’s guards on the way to Liangchuan. The entire town of Pingshui was also raided, and the people were now imprisoned in Yunchuan’s prison, awaiting the new Prefect of Yunchuan’s handling.
Originally, Ye Zi’an intended to head to Xining directly after resolving matters in Yunchuan, but while interrogating in Yunchuan, he discovered that the barefoot doctor brothers not only had governmental collusion but ties to Liangchuan as well.
Upon further investigation, the findings were even more horrifying: hundreds of people disappeared annually in Liangchuan, yet the local government had never sent anyone to investigate.
Where did these people go?
Ye Zi’an planned to set out for Liangchuan to thoroughly investigate this matter.
However, on the way to Liangchuan, news came from Yunchuan that the barefoot doctor and his cousin had escaped and were heading towards Liangchuan.
As a result, Ye Zi’an had no choice but to intercept the two midway in Liangchuan.
Unfortunately, the barefoot doctor was too cunning; although his cousin died, he managed to escape.
Moreover, he had fled to Liangchuan Prefecture City, where he contacted the Prefectural Magistrate of Liangchuan ahead of time.
The Prefectural Magistrate of Liangchuan was a daring man; upon learning the news, he even sent people to assassinate Ye Zi’an.
Ye Zi’an was no fool; knowing that the journey to Liangchuan was fraught with danger, he brought along many men, so not only did the Prefectural Magistrate of Liangchuan fail to kill him, but Ye Zi’an also managed to capture incriminating evidence against him.
Taking this opportunity, Ye Zi’an ordered a thorough investigation of Liangchuan.
According to Ye Zi’an, the officials of these two prefectures truly deserved to have their entire clans exterminated.
It turned out that each year, in Liangchuan, Yunchuan, and other regions, part of the missing population, particularly beautiful women, was sold to Zhejiang’s establishments, while another part was directly trafficked to the Western world.
It was only at this point that Ye Zi’an learned that the Western trade conducted by Prefect Lan and his group not only involved silk, porcelain, and other goods but also women and children from Great Zhou. These people were sold to the West, where the women became concubines, and the children were rendered as slaves, who could be killed at will.
This investigation revealed that it was a unified crime involving officials from three prefectures, which the people of Great Zhou dubbed the "Three Giant Case," comparable to treason.
