The door of the medical clinic in front was tightly shut. The plaque was covered in dust, the steps were overgrown with moss, and cobwebs could be seen under the eaves. It was obvious that no one had been here for a long time.
"Commander, is this the place His Highness the Crown Prince told us to search thoroughly?" the vice - general beside him frowned and said, "It seems deserted. The people inside should have left already, right?"
Yu Si also thought there was no one in the house, but remembering Xiao Yixuan's instructions, he said in a deep voice, "His Highness the Crown Prince said that the people in this medical clinic are full of tricks and are good at hiding. They may enter and exit through another exit. We can't be careless."
Yu Si led his men around to the back of the medical clinic. He kicked open the tightly shut back door and rushed into the courtyard with his blade in hand. However, he saw that the courtyard was in a complete mess. Jars, porcelain bowls, medicine racks and other utensils were scattered all over the place. The tiles of one or two rooms were broken and collapsed, revealing a big hole.
There was really no one in this medical clinic.
"How could this be?" Yu Si murmured. How could there be no one at all?
After searching each room once and finding nothing, Yu Si had no choice but to lead his men out of the courtyard. Then, these soldiers went to Qingyu Alley. They did the same thing, kicking open a tightly shut door and entering the courtyard to search. There was also no sign of anyone in the courtyard, nor any trace of people moving around.
The soldiers' search here alerted the neighbors. When Yu Si led his men out of the door, there were already many on - lookers outside, mostly women.
Yu Si tightened his grip on his saber and walked towards an old woman. "Auntie, I'd like to ask you something."
"Where did the people who used to live in this courtyard go?"
The old woman asked, "Are you looking for Lady Jiang?"
A glint of cold light flashed in Yu Si's eyes. "Yes, it's Lady Jiang, also Dr. Jiang from Huichuntang."
"Wait a minute. Where are you from?" another woman said, looking Yu Si up and down. "You come to Dongli Town and break into people's houses to search without even announcing your names. Do you still have any regard for the law?"
Trying hard to hold back his urge to curse, Yu Si said, "We are the Cangzhou Army, under the command of Crown Prince Xuan. He once stayed in Dongli Town for a while. Do you still have any impression of him?"
What Crown Prince Xuan? Wasn't he just that Prince Xuan who had stayed in Dongli Town for some time?
The old emperor had been driven away by his younger brother and had to run south in a hurry to establish another court. He even made the son of his favorite concubine the crown prince. He really thought highly of himself.
If it weren't for Taoist Yuanzheng telling them that the Jinning Canal had been deliberately blown up, they would all have been deceived by this dog - emperor and that so - called Crown Prince Xuan.
In their hearts, the only one who deserved to be called the crown prince was Xiao Jingcheng, who had saved them all from the brink of disaster!
"Oh, so you are the Crown Prince's men." the woman said as if suddenly enlightened. Just as Yu Si was about to say something, the woman launched into a scolding: "Some time ago, there was a great flood in Cangzhou, and the whole Dongli Town was flooded. Do you know that?"
Yu Si was stunned for a moment. "Y - yes, I do."
The woman put her hands on her hips and said, "Since you know, why didn't we see your figures when the flood was raging in Dongli Town?! You call yourselves the Cangzhou Army. In my opinion, you're all a bunch of cowards!"
The others also joined in the scolding. "That's right. You even dare to come here to look for someone. Do you know how miserable we in Dongli Town were? All our houses were flooded, and our men died in the flood while trying to save us!"
"O Heaven! O Earth! Why are we so unlucky!" Another woman simply lay down on the ground, pounding the ground and wailing loudly. "My husband was not even forty years old, and he's gone forever!"
"There's no man in the family now. No one to repair the broken house, no one to farm the land. We don't want to live anymore. Waaah..."
The ears of the Cangzhou soldiers were buzzing from the wailing and accusations of the women.
"Wait a minute. Hey, we're not..." Yu Si tried to speak, but as soon as he opened his mouth, the women cried even louder. Finally, he had no choice but to draw out his saber from his waist and shout angrily:
"Whoever dares to make trouble again, I'll make them a ghost under my blade immediately!"
The noise gradually stopped.
Yu Si's face was extremely ugly. "I just want to find this Lady Jiang you mentioned. I don't want to hurt anyone. She is a wanted criminal on the run. I advise you to think clearly before you speak. If you shelter her, you'll be punished the same as her!"
"You're too late, sir." It was the same woman who had started the trouble just now. "That Lady Jiang you're looking for died in this flood."
"Yes, that's right!" The others also spoke up one after another. "We can all testify."
Since so many people said that Jiang Mian was dead, Yu Si frowned and asked, "She's dead? What about the others around her?"
"They're also dead."
"Yes, they're all dead!"
Afraid that Yu Si wouldn't believe them, the woman added, "The natural disaster is ruthless. The flood came in the middle of the night when everyone was sleeping. It's already a great fortune that we were able to survive. If you don't believe me, sir, you can walk around Dongli Town and visit every household. Which household doesn't have only one or two people left?"
Another person chimed in, "Not to mention Dongli Town. If you walk downstream along the Sangsang River, sir, you'll surely see many floating corpses on the way."
This was indeed the truth. The flood had come so suddenly and dangerously that it was really a stroke of luck to survive it.
Having obtained the information he wanted, Yu Si immediately led his men away from Dongli Town.
However, he didn't completely believe what the women said. Before leaving the town, when he passed by a house, he asked the people inside again.
He got the same news that the people in Huichuntang, including Jiang Mian, had all died in the flood.
Only then did he completely believe what the women said and led his men away for good.
This small contingent of the Cangzhou Army didn't know that when they left Dongli Town, a group of "little tails" was quietly following them.
It wasn't until Yu Si and his men had walked fifteen miles away that the "little tails" turned back to Dongli Town. They sneaked into the forest and came to an abandoned manor in the woods.
Sang Biao walked through the courtyard and came in front of Xiao Wuchen. It barked at him several times.
Xiao Wuchen nodded and fed it a meat bone. He said to Sergeant Cui, "The people have left. Tell the others they can go back to the town."
In a short while, Dongli Town regained its former hustle and bustle. The strong men who had all "died" in the flood magically returned to their own yards and continued to repair the roofs and courtyard walls.
In the Zhao Mansion, the woman who had caused trouble in Qingyu Alley was brought in front of Xiao Wuchen. She was angrily recounting what had just happened.
"Your Highness the Prince Ning, you didn't see it just now. Those people were so fierce. They kicked open Lady Jiang's door without saying a word and went in to search!"
"And they even said that Lady Jiang was a wanted criminal on the run. Isn't that ridiculous!"