Chapter 506: The Praying Mantis Catches the Cicada, But the Sparrow Is Behind

What were the Jinyiwei most skilled at during the Yongle era?
The answer is simple: house searches.

It wasn’t judicial flogging, as Emperor Zhu Di rarely used it on his ministers, meaning not many Jinyiwei needed to master this technique. Instead, when the emperor lost his temper, he often imprisoned people in the Jinyiwei’s dungeons and then seized their property. Thus, mastering house searches became essential for everyone. No matter how cleverly something was hidden, it couldn’t escape the Jinyiwei or the Eastern Depot’s agents—this time was no exception.

Just half an hour later, a capable officer arrived with two ledgers. After presenting them to Lu Feng, he respectfully reported, “Sir, the first ledger records all the financial transactions here; it was originally hidden in a shelf compartment. The second ledger is a list of the stolen goods and money we’ve compiled. Based on their habits of hiding things, only a small portion is likely here. Please advise whether we should proceed with searching their homes.”

“Of course we must search them,” Lu Feng said, flipping through the ledgers with satisfaction before sneering, “There’s a saying: ‘A cunning rabbit has three burrows.’ The goods might not be entirely in their homes. These are mere scum who won’t shed a tear even in death. Bring them here in front of the commander’s office and shackle them all! I’ll submit a joint petition with Lord Wu’an, Lord Zhang. If these scoundrels confess, that’s fine. If not, well… we’ll beat them to death or keep them shackled forever!”

At these words, not only were the people tied up like zongzi terrified, but even the onlookers in the alley were shocked. Once they recovered, the crowd erupted in loud cheers. Yet the merchants, panicked like ants on a hot pan, hurried back to their carriages to discuss their next move. Fang Qing, who had just arrived, didn’t even get out of his carriage. He lowered the curtain and calmly instructed the driver to head back to the inn.

Fortunately, he knew those who traveled with him had other ways out, so he didn’t act rashly. Since Zhang Yue had told him to stay calm, it seemed the Fang family still had his back. He would just stick to the right path from now on. As the saying goes, it’s easy to become rich through business, but hard to find a reliable ally.

Like other government offices, the general’s residence also had a character-shaped wall in front, though it was far more grand than those of county or local offices. At this moment, the spacious area in front of the archway was crowded with people in layers. If it weren’t for the awareness that this was not a place for recklessness, people would have thrown rotten eggs and tomatoes at those shackled men. Even so, seeing them shivering in the cold wind filled everyone with satisfaction, and the cheers and jeers never ceased.

Inside the second hall of the general’s residence, laughter echoed continuously. On the central nanmu wood chair sat Marquis Wu’an Zheng Heng, with Lu Feng and Zhang Yue seated on either side. Since the room was equipped with copper pipe underfloor heating, it remained warm even in winter. All three held cups of hot tea, their faces showing relaxed expressions.

Sitting upright, Lu Feng said cheerfully, “This time we really owe it to Marquis Wu’an. If not for you sending people to seal off this den and uncover everything, some scoundrel might have slipped away to report it. Now, with the accounts clearly laid out, they serve as solid evidence! With this person turning against them, recovering all the stolen goods is a certainty. Then we’ll see how that old fool Wang Guan can spin excuses! Lord Zhang’s tactic of buying time was clever, allowing us to stage this successful opening act! But I’m illiterate, and Marquis Wu’an is a military officer—so I rely on you to craft this brilliant memorial. How about we sign it together?”

Zhang Yue was flipping through the account books page by page. Although he initially didn’t know how to keep accounts, the Military Department’s armory division dealt with numbers all day long. For safety, he had also learned a bit from several experienced clerks, so he had already noticed more than Lu Feng. After silently reviewing over a dozen pages, he raised his head upon hearing Lu Feng’s words.

“Don’t worry about the memorial, Lord Lu. Once I finish writing it, I’ll have the clerks at the general’s residence transcribe it. You deserve great credit for uncovering this corruption. It wouldn’t be right for Marquis Wu’an and me to claim authorship—after all, this is the Jinyiwei’s matter. Marquis Wu’an assisted at your request, which is proper, but getting involved beyond that would be overstepping his authority, and I certainly have no right to interfere with the Jinyiwei’s affairs. If further investigations reveal others involved, even if you remain silent, we will still sign our names. Also, have several copies of these accounts made and submit the original directly to the emperor, while keeping copies for ourselves to prevent others from taking advantage of them.”

Lu Feng wasn’t afraid of taking responsibility in the first place; his intention was to stir up a bigger fuss so he could vent his anger. That’s why he wanted to involve Marquis Wu’an Zheng Heng and Zhang Yue in submitting a joint petition. But now, hearing Zhang Yue’s words, he felt that since it only involved the Jinyiwei, there was no need for such hassle. So he readily nodded and said, “Alright, I’ll follow Lord Zhang’s advice!”

Zheng Heng had initially been worried that Zhang Yue might not easily agree out of courtesy, but seeing him handle things so calmly and maturely, he felt relieved. He put down his teacup and nodded agreeably, saying, “Then let’s do as Zhang Yue suggests. However, I’ll be busy training troops these days. If you need to assign people, go straight to Zhang Yue—he still has several hundred elite soldiers from the imperial army! If that’s not enough, go see Meng Jun. I’ve already given him a thousand men; during this grain collection period, he’ll be in charge of Xuanfu!”

After a pause, he casually added, “I’ve already ordered the eunuch guards to hand over all responsibilities for this grain collection task to Zhang Yue! Since the emperor has appointed Zhang Yue as the governor of Xuanfu, such a major task naturally falls to him. If you have time, Lord Lu, you might as well supervise to prevent anyone from causing trouble, how about that?”

“Good! I’ll make it clear here—no matter who tries to interfere in this matter, I’ll deal with them!”

Today, he had gotten rid of those annoying obstacles like the Jinyiwei’s garrison in Xuanfu, and now Zheng Heng was also going out of his way to help him. Lu Feng felt even more satisfied than when he was officially in charge of the Eastern Depot. He stood up abruptly, spoke these words word by word, then stared at the motionless general flag on the ground and snorted heavily.

The so-called general flag was too terrified to even feel anger. He lay there in fear, enduring needle-like pains in his knees and severe soreness in his neck and back, yet he still refused to lift his head. At least kneeling in this warm room was better than being shackled outside in the howling wind.

“You wretched dog! You stole so much money from me back then and still tried to haggle! If it weren’t for the important information you spilled, I would have thrown you out to be shackled to death along with those others! The Jinyiwei are the emperor’s personal troops, yet you use other people’s money to do their work. If reported, the emperor might execute you on the spot! Stop acting so smug—I still have tasks for you to carry out. Get up!”

The general kowtowed several times like pounding garlic, then staggered to his feet. At that moment, Lu Feng took out an object from his sleeve and nonchalantly handed it to Zhang Yue: “Lord Zhang, once this memorial is written, there’s no need to show it to us. Just seal it with our seal and submit it directly. Wang Guan should have received the news by now. There’s no time to lose—write it quickly and send it right away so that scoundrel doesn’t get ahead of us. We still need to catch those people and seize their evidence, so we won’t delay any longer!”
Seeing the two of them leave one after another, Zhang Yue couldn’t help but open the red silk bundle. Inside was a silver seal about three inches square, inscribed with “Diligence and Hard Work.” Zheng Heng also stood up, glanced at it, and smiled, saying, “This silver seal, two inches and nine fen in size, must be an imperial grant. A fourth-rank eunuch should normally use a copper seal. The fact that he gave this to you shows he trusts you greatly and isn’t afraid you’ll misuse his seal.”
“Of course. He and I have been partners for many times now.”
Zhang Yue put away the seal and then borrowed Zheng Heng’s study in the general’s residence. In just one hour, he drafted a two-thousand-word memorial. Since Zheng Heng had said he wasn’t good at such formal writings, Zhang Yue didn’t even show it to anyone for review. After checking it and finding no mistakes, he called a scribe skilled in calligraphy to transcribe it exactly as it was. He waited by the side until nearly dusk, when the memorial was fully transcribed. He checked it again before sealing it with wax and sending it off.
After a whole afternoon of work, by the time he returned to his temporary residence on Bazhen Street, it was completely dark. As soon as he entered the main room, he found Meng Jun, who should have been there, nowhere to be seen. Only Xiao Wu sat there, fuming, and stood up glaring at him as soon as he entered.
“It’s so late, and you still manage to come back! Don’t think just because you’re in good health you can keep pushing yourself like this. We’ve even missed dinner! If you’re not at home, you can’t even eat properly—no wonder you got sick before! If you keep this up, I won’t stay anymore. I won’t even be able to explain to my mother and sister when I go back!”
Knowing the girl was stubborn and that her words were out of concern for him, Zhang Yue had no choice but to apologize. As they were talking, Meng Jun’s voice came from outside.
“Miss Xiao Wu, has my third brother returned? I’m sorry to borrow him for a moment; I need to talk to him about something!”

Taking advantage of the distraction, Zhang Yue quickly nodded at Xiao Wu and slipped out of the door. As soon as Meng Jun saw him leave, he stepped forward and whispered, “I haven’t had the chance to tell you before, but something has happened at your home during your absence. It’s nothing serious, but today’s matter is extremely urgent. The message was brought by my father’s men—someone has accused your father-in-law of having secret dealings with King Zhou in Kaifeng.”