Early the next morning, Li Bing went to the Garrison, but after questioning all those in charge of interrogation, he didn't get a single bit of news about Wu Sanhe.
"That can't be right! Anyone brought into the Garrison has to be interrogated before being sent to the dungeon for detention. Could it be that Wu Sanhe was never in the Garrison at all?"
Li Bing was utterly confused; this was not what he had expected. But soon enough, his subordinate, Small Banner Officer Zhang Hu, came to him voluntarily with new information.
"General Flag, I asked around again for you. The folks in interrogation definitely didn't question anyone named Wu Sanhe yesterday, not even anyone with similar features. However, three days ago, two of the interrogation people were transferred to serve under the Black Banner Battalion—seems their names are Zhou Tao and Yang Lin. Someone saw them cleaning the Punishment Room yesterday; there was shit and piss in there, must've been left behind after someone was tortured."
Upon hearing this, Li Bing became alert. His gut told him that the one Zhou Tao and Yang Lin tortured until they shat themselves was very likely the Wu Sanhe he was searching for.
"Where are they now!"
"Probably at the Black Banner Battalion's quarters?"
Li Bing immediately sprang from his chair, ready to rush out, but suddenly stopped in his tracks.
He thought to himself: If I charge straight over to the Black Banner Battalion, people might catch on. If Wu Sanhe really is the one, and they hide him again, it'll be trouble. I need a plan.
But what Li Bing never expected was, before he went looking, the other party came looking for him instead.
When the Gatekeeper came in to announce the visitor, Li Bing thought he'd misheard. But when he saw the guest, he recognized him—he really was from the Black Banner Battalion.
"Wang Jian, Small Banner Officer of Team A, Black Banner Battalion, here to see General Flag Li." Wang Jian bowed to Li Bing, neither servile nor overbearing.
"What business do you have with me?"
"General Flag Li, here's the situation. Yesterday we received a request for assistance from a Money Shop, saying someone had apparently forged large-denomination silver notes. So Shen Zongqi figured we might as well help the Money Shop and check, and we easily tracked down someone named Wu Sanhe and detained him.
However, even with staff from the Money Shop confirming him, this Wu Sanhe kept shouting he was wronged, claiming he was the Chief Steward at your residence. It was so absurd the interrogators ignored it yesterday, but today we remembered and came to ask if you do in fact have a Chief Steward named Wu Sanhe?"
Having said this, Wang Jian stood upright with a cheerful smile, watching Li Bing's reaction. According to Shen Hao, they'd reached the stage of catching the snake; Wang Jian had come to stir the grass, see if the snake runs or bites.
If it runs, throw the net; if it bites, get the pincers.
Li Bing's face first changed, then returned to normal. He asked Wang Jian with a hint of doubt: "I do have a Chief Steward named Wu Sanhe who didn't come home yesterday, but he's a law-abiding man and could never commit a crime. Can you take me to see him for identification?"
"Sorry, General Flag Li. Yesterday, Lord Hundred Households ordered strict management of the dungeon, so we can't take you there to see the suspect. But don't worry, General Flag Li. I brought a portrait—you can check the portrait instead."
A portrait?!
Before Li Bing could react, he saw Wang Jian pull out a half-foot square scroll from his robe and hand it over.
"Please have a look, General Flag Li."
Li Bing instinctively took the scroll, and as he unfolded it, he barely stopped himself from cursing outright—he hadn't expected the Black Banner Battalion to play games like this.
The scroll was simple: just a few strokes of ink, yet it vividly captured the likeness of a middle-aged man.
But the problem was, this middle-aged man looked half like Wu Sanhe and half like Li Bing! It wasn't Wu Sanhe's real appearance at all!
Li Bing's mind turned—he felt Wang Jian handed over this portrait deliberately to mock him!
Seeing Li Bing's face flush dark like pig's liver, Wang Jian made no effort to hide his amusement, even snorted out a laugh, and before Li Bing could speak, said directly: "Looks like General Flag Li doesn't recognize the man in the portrait. In that case, I'll take my leave. Sorry for the disturbance—please forgive us."
"Stop right there."
Li Bing, face flushed red, rose to his feet and walked to Wang Jian, now just a foot apart—close enough for Wang Jian to clearly see the killing intent in his eyes.
"What if I say, this is my Chief Steward Wu Sanhe?"
Even if Wang Jian's nerves were rattled, he kept his composure and smiled as he replied: "Shen Zongqi said, if the suspect truly is your Chief Steward, you can go plead to him. Maybe, in consideration of colleagueship, he'll be lenient. Of course, it all depends on Shen Zongqi's mood."
After that, Wang Jian didn't even bother with a bow, turned and left, leaving Li Bing standing behind with his breath surging, gripping his waistband's knife tightly.
After barely suppressing his fury, Li Bing was now certain Wu Sanhe had fallen into the Black Banner Battalion's hands, and their target was him.
He couldn't sit still in the Garrison anymore. Li Bing understood that once he became the starting thread, disaster would strike not just him, but the entire Li Family.
He had to act.
Li Bing went straight home and recounted everything he had seen at the Garrison to the two elders at home.
The portrait was ripped to shreds by his father Li Longcheng.
The old master Li Canglie, on the contrary, kept his calm best. Having listened carefully to Li Bing's account, he pondered a long time before finally saying: "A newly established Black Banner Battalion dares act this brazenly? Impossible. The only explanation is someone gave them the courage, so they dare provoke the Li Family so openly."
"Who gave them the courage? Tang Qingyuan?"
"Tang Qingyuan doesn't have enough sway."
"Then who? Could it be Jiang Cheng?!"
But Li Canglie still shook his head, fell silent again, then continued asking Li Bing: "Tell me again about the scope of Black Banner Battalion's official duties."
Li Bing didn't know why his grandfather was asking now, but patiently recited what was posted at the Garrison. He noticed that after he finished, his grandfather's face turned gloomier than ever, even showing a trace of fear in his eyes?!
"Bing'er, go immediately to the teleportation array in town. See if it's still operating?"
"Huh? That's not necessary, Grandfather. Before I came home today, the Garrison already received notice—the teleportation array needs urgent maintenance, so for the next five days you can only enter, not leave."
"An urgent notice?"
"Ah? Yes, it was a last-minute notification."
Li Bing didn't feel anything yet, but his father Li Longcheng sensed the chill in this exchange, his face gloomy as Li Canglie's.
Because as a rule, any adjustments to such a crucial facility as the teleportation array must be reported in advance to the Government Office as well as the Xuanqing Guard Station.
When had there ever been a precedent for suddenly shutting down the city's outbound array?
If you think about it deeper...