Chapter 56: Turning The Tables
Wang Xiaoman first investigated Sanping Inn, an inn opened by someone from Luling County. The interrogation record stated that the confessions of their waiter and shopkeeper were inconsistent; the waiter said the inn had opened several years ago, while the shopkeeper said it had only opened this year.
Since the Lord forbade them from alerting the enemy prematurely, Wang Xiaoman had his own method.
He asked fellow innkeepers, who were rivals and knew each other’s backgrounds better than anyone.
Not far from Sanping Inn was another old inn called Laotang Inn, opened by a local from Nanchang. One subordinate went to stay at Laotang Inn, while another went to stay at Sanping Inn.
The next day, Wang Xiaoman got the answer: Sanping Inn had indeed opened several years ago. It was originally called Gaoping Inn, changed owners this year, and was renamed Sanping Inn. The waiter had always been the same, but the shopkeeper was new this year.
Both sides were telling the truth; it was just a matter of differing perspectives.
The subordinate who stayed at the inn also returned to report that both the shopkeeper and waiter resented the interrogators’ rude attitude and being slapped in the face.
After hearing Wang Xiaoman’s report, Gan Ning directly ruled out Sanping Inn. If they were spies, they would certainly avoid mentioning the interrogation.
Next was the fur shop, called Gaochang Fur Shop. This Gaochang was not the Gaochang in the Western Regions, but the former name of Luling County.
Wang Xiaoman disguised himself as a customer and went to the fur shop to buy a fine sheepskin.
At the shop entrance, he saw a waiter sitting on the doorstep sunning himself. He was very tall, hunchbacked, with a round head, a face full of fierce flesh, and a pair of triangular eyes glaring at Wang Xiaoman.
“What do you want?” the waiter asked coldly.
“I’m here to buy a sheepskin for an elderly person!”
“Go buy from another shop! We don’t have sheepskin,” the waiter refused bluntly.
At that moment, a short, fat middle-aged man ran out of the shop, saying repeatedly, “We have it! We have it! We have sheepskin, Young Master, please come in.”
Wang Xiaoman glared fiercely at the waiter. What kind of way was that to do business?
The waiter snorted through his nose, his eyes looking away again. Then he suddenly remembered something, turned back with a puzzled look at Wang Xiaoman, stood up, and followed him inside.
The shopkeeper took out a thick stack of sheepskins from a box, and said to Wang Xiaoman with a sincere face, “This is genuine old sheepskin, sourced from the North. It’s very effective for elderly people’s winter chills and leg pain. Use it as a mat under the legs, and they won’t hurt.”
The shopkeeper then took out a wolf skin and said, “Actually, the most effective for elderly winter chills and leg pain is wolf skin, better than sheepskin. Our skins are tanned by a master craftsman with twenty years of experience, very soft with an excellent feel.”
He was completely a legitimate shopkeeper; Wang Xiaoman almost couldn’t believe this shopkeeper was a spy. He smiled and nodded, “I’ll just buy a sheepskin then! How much?”
“The original price for sheepskin in our small shop is three guan qian, but business is bad now. Young Master, you can take it for two guan qian. You can compare with other shops; this old sheepskin absolutely can’t be bought for two guan qian.”
Wang Xiaoman took out two guan qian to buy the sheepskin. The shopkeeper folded the skin for him, tied it with rope, and handed it over. “Welcome back anytime, Young Master!”
As Wang Xiaoman was leaving, he still noticed something unusual: that waiter was actually sitting at the desk picking up a brush to write.
A person who could read and write was very rare in this era, including Wang Xiaoman himself, who was working hard to learn to recognize characters and write.
Someone who could clearly be a shopkeeper was instead a waiter—this was too abnormal. Moreover, he was a waiter who drove customers away. The fur shop was strange inside and out.
Wang Xiaoman left the shop and got on an ox cart, whispering lowly to the subordinate on the ox cart, “Watch this fur shop from the alley across the street.”
The ox cart slowly moved away. The waiter glared fiercely at the ox cart, then turned back to glare angrily at the shopkeeper. “Why did you sell to him?”
The shopkeeper’s face flushed red, clenching his fists in dissatisfaction. “I’m the shopkeeper. I haven’t made a sale in a month. Should I drink the northwest wind?”
The waiter reached out and slapped him, “Pa!” hitting the shopkeeper’s fat face hard. The waiter said sinisterly, “Dare to speak to me in that tone? I’ll kill you!”
The shopkeeper covered his stinging face and lowered his head, not daring to make a sound.
The waiter said again, “Close the shop and suspend business for a month!”
The shopkeeper was shocked and knelt down begging, “This is the life’s work of generations in my family. We’ve never closed the shop. Suspending for a month will bankrupt it.”
“What do I care if the shop goes bankrupt!”
The waiter turned and went upstairs, adding, “That young man looks just like one of the Chaisang Army leaders who was released, baby-faced. I remember him. Hurry and close the shop.”
The shopkeeper was filled with hatred but utterly helpless, so he hung up the suspension token and closed the shop board by board.
The waiter crouched by a small window on the second floor, staring at the alley across for a moment, and sure enough saw a man hiding behind a big tree at the alley entrance.
The waiter suddenly straightened up, his face full of shock. It really was a Chaisang Army scout.
He turned and rushed downstairs like the wind, took a can of tung oil from the warehouse, and splashed it everywhere, while instructing the shopkeeper, “Hurry and pack up. We’re being watched.”
The shopkeeper’s eyes nearly popped out. He rushed forward and desperately snatched the tung oil can. “What are you doing?”
“Only burning the shop down will leave no traces. I’ll build you a new one later.”
“You’re crazy! This is the shop handed down by generations of my family. I won’t let you mess around.”
The waiter suddenly punched the shopkeeper in the face. The shopkeeper stumbled back and fell flat on his back, the tung oil can in his hand shattering on the ground.
The waiter pointed at him and cursed, “You’re just a pile of dog shit. If I don’t beat you, you’ll get cheeky!”
The shopkeeper crawled up and said submissively, “I’ll go pack the money and goods right now!”
“Get lost!”
The shopkeeper turned to go inside and pack the money and goods. The waiter ran back to his room, piled all the intelligence in a copper basin, poured it full of tung oil, and was about to light it when suddenly a sharp pain hit his back.
The waiter slowly turned around and saw the shopkeeper holding a knife, his face distorted in anger.
“This is the shop passed down from my ancestors. If you dare burn it, I’ll fight you to the death!”
The waiter kicked the shopkeeper a zhang away. His back slammed heavily against the door. The waiter gritted his teeth, pulled the knife from his back, roared, and charged with his knife.
The shopkeeper, terrified, scrambled and crawled toward the outside. The waiter chased out the door, ran a few steps wildly, then suddenly pitched forward to the ground. His legs twitched for a moment and then went still.
The shopkeeper’s legs gave out, and he sat heavily on the ground, tears welling in his eyes but unable to cry.
………..
Wang Xiaoman was reporting the situation of the fur shop to Gan Ning.
“This shop is abnormal everywhere. They clearly have goods, but the waiter bluntly refused the customer, as if afraid he’d enter. The waiter can even read and write, making him seem like the real shopkeeper. This subordinate is truly very suspicious of this fur shop.”
“Have you arranged subordinates to watch this shop?”
“Already arranged.”
At that moment, a subordinate responsible for surveillance reported from downstairs, “Report to General Wang, that shopkeeper has come to turn himself in.”
