Futile Devices Scans

The ox cart first arrived at the Gu residence. Tao Mo hurriedly got down, briefly explained what had happened, told the gatekeeper to bring the food box and send a carriage to the foot of Long Mountain to pick up Gu She, then thought for a moment. Afraid they might not be able to find the place and leave Gu She waiting for nothing, he simply sent the villager driving the ox cart along with them, while he himself relied on his two legs and ran all the way back to the county yamen.

At first, the yamen runners at the county yamen did not recognize him and thought he was a refugee from who knew where, so they drove him away in a flurry. By the time they finally figured out that he was their own county magistrate, Adviser Jin and Hao Guozi, who had been sitting inside, had already been alarmed.

Hao Guozi looked at Tao Mo’s filthy appearance in shock and said worriedly, “Young Master, did you run into bandits?”

Adviser Jin said unhurriedly, “The area within a hundred li of Tanyang County is very peaceful. There are no bandits.”

Tao Mo wiped his face and said anxiously, “There were no bandits, but there was a carriage thief.” Afraid of delaying the pursuit of the thief, he pulled Adviser Jin with him and explained everything in a rush right there at the doorway.

Adviser Jin frowned. “The Gu residence is extremely wealthy. Losing one carriage is hardly a great matter. Why must our master take it upon himself?” Sangtou Village was located in a remote place, and ordinarily no strangers came or went there at all. Those who entered the village from the county should also recognize the Gu residence’s carriage and would absolutely not dare lay a hand on it. After all, that road only led back to the county town; once the carriage entered the town, it would be like walking straight into a trap, without the slightest chance of luck. On the other hand, the other end of Sangtou Village was a mountain hollow. If the carriage were driven in there and hidden for three, five, or seven days, that would be no problem.

Tao Mo said, “Since this matter happened in Tanyang County, of course it has something to do with me.”

Adviser Jin had long since grown used to his temperament and said casually, “In that case, our master should send yamen runners to inquire around the county town, then go to Sangtou Village to see whether there are any other clues.” Such a large carriage would attract attention wherever it went.

Tao Mo nodded. “That is exactly what I meant.”

Seeing that Tao Mo spoke and spoke, yet his feet remained planted firmly in place, Adviser Jin shook his head and went to find Cui Jiong.

After speaking for so long without seeing Mu Chun come out, Tao Mo asked in puzzlement, “Where is Adviser Mu?”

Hao Guozi said, “Ah, Adviser Mu left early this morning. He said his master had urgent business and that he had to hurry back. He originally wanted to bid Young Master farewell in person, but Young Master had gone on a spring outing with Gu She, and he truly could not wait, so he asked me to pass on the message. Oh, he also said Old Tao would be back soon and told Young Master not to worry.”

Tao Mo felt reluctant to part with him. “Then did he say whether he would come back?”

Hao Guozi said, “He did not say that. But he has a master of his own. Most likely, he will have to run errands and handle affairs for that master in the future, so I fear it will be difficult for him to find free time.”

Tao Mo nodded and sighed, then smiled. “Old Tao is coming back. We must hurry and repair the roof. We cannot very well have him follow us to stay at the Gu residence too.” Speaking of the Gu residence inevitably made him think of Gu She, and he sighed soundlessly again.

Hao Guozi asked, “Young Master is not going to ask about Yi Yu?”

If he had not mentioned it, Tao Mo almost would have forgotten about the matter. He hurriedly asked, “Has he been settled?”

“Before Adviser Mu left, he originally intended to settle him in an inn, but Young Master Yi Yu himself said he had already chosen a house and was preparing to move there today. Hah, how could it be such a coincidence? In my opinion, he had bought the house long ago and only wanted to cling to the county yamen and refuse to leave.”

Hearing that Yi Yu had somewhere to go, Tao Mo could not be bothered to consider whether Yi Yu had deliberately clung to the county yamen with some other purpose before, or whether he truly had nowhere else to go. He simply said, “I will go in and bathe first. If Adviser Jin has any news, inform me immediately.”

Hao Guozi agreed while going inside to help make arrangements for him.

When Tao Mo returned to his room, the hole in the roof was exactly the same size as before. Wind poured down through the open hole with a whooshing sound, cold enough to make one shiver.

The bronze mirror directly opposite reflected his sorry state. His hair was a mess like a bird’s nest, and his face and body were so blackened that he looked as though he had just raided a bird’s nest. No wonder even the yamen runners at the county yamen gate had failed to recognize him. Could it be that the reason Gu She had ignored him was because he thought Tao Mo was too dirty? But if he thought Tao Mo was dirty, he should have disliked him earlier in front of Modao Pavilion on the mountainside. Why, then, had he still said so much to him?

He looked at himself in the mirror scratching his scalp, yet no matter how he thought, he could not make sense of it.

As he was thinking, the servants had already brought in hot water.

He lay down in the bathtub, staring blankly at his two legs, which had been scalded red by the water, his fingers unconsciously tracing back and forth over them. Only when he came back to his senses did he realize that what he had traced out were precisely the three characters Gu Xianzhi.

Gu Xianzhi.

Xianzhi.

He tilted his head back, leaned against the edge of the wooden tub, and murmured unconsciously. The image of Gu She’s faint smile could not help appearing in his mind, and his mood gradually eased. Along with it came wave after wave of drowsiness.

He clearly knew this was no time to doze off, yet his eyelids grew heavier and heavier of their own accord. He did not even notice when Hao Guozi pushed the door open and entered.

“Young Master,” Hao Guozi called softly.

Tao Mo’s eyelids moved, but he did not immediately open them.

Seeing Tao Mo’s face full of exhaustion, Hao Guozi hesitated over whether to wake him. In his heart, he did not care whether Gu She’s carriage was found, but he was afraid Tao Mo would catch a chill in the water.

After a while, Tao Mo opened his eyes on his own. Seeing Hao Guozi’s hesitant expression, he hurriedly roused himself and asked, “How is it? Is there news?”

Hao Guozi shook his head. “The yamen runners are searching the city. There is no news for now.”

Tao Mo asked, “What about the Gu residence? Is there any news?”

Hao Guozi said, “At this time, the carriage has probably only just set out from the Gu residence. How could there be news so quickly? Perhaps Young Master should go back to the Gu residence and wait for news there. That way, you can rest a little too.” He truly could not bear to see Tao Mo looking so haggard.

Tao Mo’s lips moved slightly, but in the end, he shook his head. “Tonight, let us stay at the county yamen.”

Hao Guozi keenly sensed that something seemed to have happened between Tao Mo and Gu She. Could it be because of the lost carriage? He tested the waters. “Was Young Master Gu very unhappy that the carriage was lost?”

Tao Mo nodded, then shook his head. “It did not seem as though he was angry because of the lost carriage.”

“Then why was he angry?” Hao Guozi asked in surprise.

Tao Mo opened his mouth, but he could not explain why either. He could only let out a faint sigh.

Hao Guozi reached into the wooden tub to test the temperature of the water and said, “The water is cold. I will go bring another bucket.”

“No need.” Tao Mo pressed both hands against the edge of the tub. “I will get up now.”

Hearing him say this, Hao Guozi was just about to turn and walk out when they heard a string of footsteps outside, followed immediately by a yamen runner shouting loudly at the door, “The carriage has been found.”

Whoosh.

Hao Guozi turned back and saw Tao Mo standing up completely naked, saying in delighted surprise, “Truly? Where?”

The yamen runner said, “Just outside the city. The carriage was abandoned there, and the thief is gone.”

Hao Guozi hurriedly found clothes and draped them over Tao Mo, nagging, “Young Master, be careful not to catch a chill. No matter how urgent it is, you should put on your clothes first.”

Only after hearing him say this did Tao Mo feel a sudden chill across his body. Without caring that he had not yet dried himself, he hurriedly put on his clothes and ran outside.

The carriage was indeed Gu She’s.

Tao Mo checked it from front to back, inside and out, and unexpectedly, not a single thing was missing.

Cui Jiong said, “My lord, should we first bring the carriage back to the yamen, or send it directly to the Gu residence?”

Tao Mo thought of sending it to Gu She so that he would be happy, but he did not know whether doing so would accord with proper procedure, so he asked, “What do you think?”

Cui Jiong said, “Young Master Gu is the victim. It would be best to ask him to personally come and inspect the recovered property. If nothing is missing, he may first take the carriage back. As for the thief, we will continue investigating.” This time, the victim was Gu She, a figure of great importance in Tanyang County. If he were to place blame, then all the litigation masters under Master One-Hammer might crowd through the county yamen’s gates. For that reason, Cui Jiong cared about this matter especially. The moment he received the news, he had personally led men out of the city to search.

In his heart, Tao Mo also wished very much to send the carriage back first, so he said, “Young Master Gu is the victim. How could there be any reason to make him personally come all this way? Why don’t I deliver it instead?”

Cui Jiong thought that having the county magistrate personally bring stolen property to someone’s door was what truly made no sense at all. He assumed Tao Mo wanted to curry favor with Master One-Hammer and looked down on him even more in his heart, while perfunctorily saying aloud, “That will better express my lord’s goodwill. Young Master Gu will surely be very pleased.”

Hearing him say this, Tao Mo could not help the corners of his mouth lifting. He climbed into the carriage and had Hao Guozi drive it toward the Gu residence.

Gu Xiaojia stared at the tightly shut door, feeling slightly nervous.

Ever since Gu She had returned from Long Mountain, he had entered his room without saying a word and had not stepped out once. Gu Xiaojia vaguely felt that the matter had something to do with Tao Mo, but he could not figure out what it was. After calming down and thinking back on it, although Tao Mo had indeed been a little too partial to outsiders today, as the county magistrate, it was not exactly unreasonable either. Perhaps Young Master was angry because the carriage had gone missing? He wondered whether the news that the lost carriage had been recovered would improve his mood.

Thinking this, he stepped forward and said in a low voice, “Young Master, Tao Mo has found the carriage and is waiting outside the residence.”

There was no movement from inside for a long while.

Gu Xiaojia could not help repeating it again.

There was still no response.

Just as he raised his hand and was about to knock, Gu She finally spoke slowly. “I know.”

Gu Xiaojia said, “Then should I first send him back, or… or what?” He remembered that Tao Mo was now staying under the same roof as him.

Gu She was silent for another while before saying, “Let him be.”

“…Yes.”

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