Fix Smile Order

Zheng Shaofeng set off from Anqing with three thousand soldiers on horses. When he passed by Chizhou, he shocked the local defenders. It was not a time of war, and they hadn’t heard of any riots. Why was there such a big military mobilization all of a sudden?

Although it was impossible to guess, many people have heard of the name of General Zheng. Because he had command of the military and proper paperworks, their curiosity could only be held.

What's even more frightening was that when General Zheng passed by, he took the Prefecture Magistrate away...

Zong Yinglin was not taken by force, he followed them voluntarily. This was because Zheng Shaofeng said that the Imperial Envoy wanted to see him. How dare he refuse? Zong Yinglin faintly felt that something was wrong. Why did the Imperial Envoy suddenly want to see him and in such a sensitive place as Tongling County? Could it be that their deeds were brought to light?

But it was too sudden. Zhou Zhengdao and Cong Shun didn't send any news to him before, it was always calm. Why so suddenly...

Zong Yinglin harbored a positive outlook, thinking that things might not be as bad as expected. Besides, even if the Imperial Envoy wanted to investigate, he still had Tang Feilong to be a scapegoat. The incident happened in Tongling County. The County Magistrate joined forces with the local gentry to cover up a big case. As the Prefecture Magistrate, he didn't know anything about it, so he was very innocent...

However, when he finally arrived in Tongling County and saw the legendary ‘Imperial Envoy’, Zong Yinglin realized that things were far worse than he expected.

He was calculated by this young man from beginning to end.

When things came to an end, there was nothing to say.

Tang Tianyuan apprehended Zhou Zhengdao, Official Sun, Official Qi and others. He searched the Sun and Qi’s Mansions and found a batch of gold bricks of poor quality—These gold bricks were the same shape and size as the gold bricks at the bottom of the river, so it could be regarded as physical evidence.

Only an outstanding talent can recognize current trends[1]. When Official Sun and Official Qi learned that the County Magistrate was actually an undercover Imperial Envoy, they readily confessed.

Zhou Zhengdao was an accomplice, so he didn’t want to admit his wrongdoings. However he finally couldn't stand the intimidation, so he also confessed.

All of this was done within twenty-four hours. The efficiency was to be marveled at.

Zong Yinglin’s crimes were more complicated - failing to report subordinate’s misdeeds, taking bribes, asking for bribes, and was suspected of murder. Tang Tianyuan intended to hand him over to the Ministry of Justice for trial. This way he could save himself from the trouble. Anyway, as an Imperial Envoy, his mission was to help the Emperor find gold. Now that the money was found, he didn’t need to meddle about the other matters if he didn't want to.

Of course, he still needed to help the officials to collect physical evidence, so Tang Tianyuan sent bailiffs to search Zongying Lin's house. He originally intended to find some gold bricks, but he didn't expect that besides the gold bricks, there would be some other criminal evidence.

A concubine of Zong Yinglin provided two account books to the bailiffs. The account books were clear, detailed, and colorful. The bailiffs were shocked, and after careful questioning, they found out that this concubine was forcefully taken in by Zong Yinglin. The girl suffered a lot of humiliation and suffered unspeakably. In order to get revenge, she endured the humiliation. Heaven had eyes and she was able to seize this opportunity.

Tang Tianyuan was not without emotion, and gave that concubine a lot of rewards.

—

Zheng Shaofeng's army was stationed in the outskirts of Tongling County. He selected six hundred soldiers and waited for Tang Tianyuan's arrangement.

Tang Tianyuan temporarily bought thirty-two carriages. They disguised themselves as a convoy transporting grain and entered Tianmu Mountain. Zheng Shaofeng brought his group of trusted aides down to the tomb. He was a little worried. It would be easy to fish for a thousand taels, but he heard there were about one hundred thousand taels! People can't breathe underwater, and they could only bring up a couple bricks at a time; it was too inefficient. And it was too much to suffer repeatedly in the winter waters.

They were in a hurry to act as the people gathered around the shore to think of ideas. Tan Lingyin suggested using fishing nets, and Zheng Shaofeng suggested finding more people.

Neither idea was realistic.

Tang Tianyuan walked back and forth on the shore for a while. He, listening to the sound of rushing water, said, "This is running water."

Zheng Shaofeng didn't understand what he meant, and asked, "Yes, are you asking if there are fish?"

Tan Lingyin's eyes suddenly brightened as she looked at Tang Tianyuan in a daze.

Tang Tianyuan smiled slightly, "Understand?"

Tan Lingyin nodded like a chicken pecking at rice.

Zheng Shaofeng was still in the dark. "Why are you guys just giving one another flirty gazes?"

Tan Lingyin explained with a smile, "Drain the pond to get the fish."

Tang Tianyuan’s prideful expression practically said ‘look, my woman is so smart’, which made Zheng Shaofeng very upset. What annoyed him the most was that he didn't know the meaning of ‘drain the pond to get the fish’ in the first place. He had to think about the origin and interpretation of this idiom. Once he finished analyzing it, he slapped his head, "I get it now!"

And you’re the last to know.

Tang Tianyuan just observed that this undercurrent was not big. The upper stream was narrow, the lower stream was wide, and the height of the water surface was basically unchanged. According to Li Dawang's recollection, the depth of the undercurrent was about four meters deep.

If they stopped the water upstream and waited for the water to drop low enough, the gold would appear naturally.

Because they had disguised as a grain calvary, there were gunny sacks in the carriages. Zheng Shaofeng asked his subordinates to bring down all the sacks. Without hesitation or remorse, he smashed the tiles in the tomb. He added the tile pieces, mixed it with the soil, put them in sacks, and threw them into the water. The bricks in the real center tomb were used up, so they ran upstairs to grab more. 

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Footnote:

[1]Only an outstanding talent can recognize current trends - idiom meaning a wise man will know when to submit to current circumstances.