The snow fell heavier and heavier, gradually covering all the tracks on the official roads and small paths.
Upon arriving at the neighboring city, Chang Shiming asked the yamen runners standing at the city gate, "How many vehicles have entered today? Count every type of vehicle."
Seeing them wearing the exclusive armor and uniforms of the Royal Guards, the yamen runners couldn't help but feel nervous.
What had happened? Why would the Royal Guards come here?
The four of them checked the situation with each other, then sent one person to answer.
"One horse-drawn carriage, two ox-carts, one donkey-cart, and four hand-pulled flatbed carts."
Chang Shiming pressed on, "What was loaded on the carts?"
The runner replied, "The two ox-carts were loaded with charcoal, the donkey-cart had vegetables, and the four flatbed carts were carrying firewood."
Chang Shiming frowned. "Are you sure? Could anything be hidden on them?"
The four looked at each other and shook their heads in unison.
"Probably not. They make a trip every few days; they are all familiar faces."
Chang Shiming asked, "What about the horse-drawn carriage? Did you lift the curtain to look inside?"
The runner shook his head. "No, we didn't. That was the carriage belonging to Scholar Guo's family in the city. Their old madame just returned from paying respects to their ancestors in their hometown."
Chang Shiming's face darkened. "Where is the Guo family? Take me there immediately."
Old Madame Guo, who had just finished a grueling four-month journey and was about to lie down for sleep after a meal, was suddenly informed that the Royal Guards had come to search their carriage.
Scholar Guo, looking bewildered, grabbed his outer robe and rushed to the front hall. "My lord, what crime has my Guo family committed? You must have a reason for coming to search our premises."
Chang Shiming raised a hand to stop him. "Which carriage did your old madame ride in when she entered the city today? Take me to see it."
Scholar Guo's gaze lingered on Chang Shiming for a long time. The Royal Guards were no ordinary soldiers; it was better to endure this.
"It is in the backyard. I will take you lords there."
When they reached the backyard, the snow on the largest carriage had not yet melted.
Scholar Guo gestured with his hand. "This is the carriage. Please, feel free to inspect it, my lords."
Chang Shiming looked at the yamen runner who had followed them.
The man nodded. "This is the carriage that entered the city halfway through the hour of Chen."
Lifting the curtain and stepping into the cabin, he found it very clean, with a faint scent of sandalwood.
There were only a few footprints on the carpet; it didn't look like it had been loaded with potatoes.
Seeing Chang Shiming lift the carpet to inspect underneath, Scholar Guo's doubts grew.
What on earth was going on?
"Yunlong." Old Madame Guo, who had gotten out of bed, was helped down the steps by an older maid.
Scholar Guo hurriedly went over to support her.
"Mother, why are you up? I can handle things out here. It's cold, go back inside and continue sleeping."
Old Madame Guo slowly shook her head. "The officials have come to our home; how could I possibly sleep? What is going on?"
After confirming this wasn't the vehicle, Chang Shiming jumped down from the carriage, walked up to Old Madame Guo, and asked politely, "Old Madame, on your way back to the capital this morning, did you see any carts fully loaded with goods, especially ones that looked sneaky or suspicious?"
Old Madame Guo replied, "My lord, I was sitting inside the carriage and couldn't see outside."
After speaking, she turned her head and instructed the older maid standing next to her, "Go and call the driver and all the servants who returned today, so the official can question them properly."
Before long, the backyard was filled with people, about twenty of them at a glance.
After some questioning, everyone shook their heads. "We didn't see any carts, only a few pedestrians."
At the back of the crowd, a guard carrying a sword, who had just come out of the latrine, narrowed his eyes.
Just as Chang Shiming and the others were giving up and preparing to leave, the guard raised his hand and spoke up hesitantly in a low voice.
"My lord, I think I saw something."
Instantly, everyone's eyes focused on the guard.
The guard instinctively raised his hand and pointed to the right. "At the third intersection before entering the city, there is a river nearby. At the time, I think I saw someone driving a carriage along the small path by the river, but I don't know if they are the people you are looking for, my lord."
Chang Shiming recalled which intersection the guard was talking about, and after figuring it out, he frowned in confusion.
At that intersection, only the road leading to the city gate had wheel tracks; they had checked the other two paths, and there were no tracks.
There weren't even any footprints or hoofprints.
"Are you sure you saw it?"
The guard nodded. "It had a carriage roof, and there were two people following behind it. I shouldn't be mistaken."
Half an hour later, the three men brought the guard to the intersection he had mentioned.
The guard pointed to the most conspicuous towering willow tree on the left. "Right there. I was riding in front at the time, glanced over, and didn't pay much attention."
Chang Shiming and the others crouched down again to observe the small path leading in that direction. They had looked when they passed by earlier, and there were no traces.
Now, with another layer of snow, it was even harder to see anything.
"Let's go and take a look."
Upon arriving at the location the guard pointed out, there were still faint traces of trampling in the snow.
"My lord, some bushes have been crushed here!" a Royal Guard shouted at Chang Shiming, holding up a broken branch.
Everyone ran over together. Looking at the obviously crushed bushes, their expressions turned extremely grim.
The people who stole the potatoes hadn't taken the road; they had trampled over the bushes and gone down the steep slope.
"Commandant Chang, have you found the tracks of the thieves?" Seeing people by the river, ten Royal Guards who had rushed over to provide backup stopped on the official road and shouted.
Seeing that backup had arrived, Chang Shiming's eyes instantly lit up.
"Come here, they escaped from this way."
After coming down, everyone hurried forward along the small path by the river.
The temperature by the river was even colder than elsewhere. Coupled with the relentless wind and snow, everyone's exposed skin felt as if it were being sliced by knives, painful and freezing, and soon lost all sensation.
