Chapter 786 – Traces

Over the past few days, Lin Ming had communicated extensively with the head detectives of the prefectural and county yamens, gaining a preliminary grasp of Gao Shunqin's routine in Guangzhou. Like all high officials, the Inspecting Censor's sphere of activity was limited. Apart from attending his office, visiting guests, and socializing with bureaucratic and prominent families, he rarely went out. Because his staunch "Expel Barbarians" stance clashed sharply with the political views of the Guangzhou bureaucracy—who reaped large grey profits from foreign trade—he interacted little with local officialdom. Most of his time was spent in his own residence.

Lin Ming had specially surveyed the entire Gao residence. It wasn't large—a medium-sized dwelling with three courtyards front-to-back, plus east and west side courtyards and a garden. It had been the private residence of a foreign merchant in Guangzhou. Being a wealthy merchant's home, the materials and workmanship were exquisite. The bare-brick enclosure walls were extremely high—at least twenty-four or twenty-five feet. Without tools, climbing them was impossible.

All gates and doors had locks, and the keys were controlled centrally by the housekeeper's wife, returned to the main house every evening. After nightfall, all courtyards were locked, major gates had dedicated guards, and household militia and watchmen patrolled the perimeter walls all night. The security arrangement could be called rigorous.

Moreover, the inner study was at the core of the residence. Lin Ming considered it impossible for someone to scale the high walls on a pitch-black night, evade patrols, penetrate deep into the mansion, and spirit away a living person like Gao Shunqin without anyone noticing. Though legends abounded of phantom thieves who came and went without a trace, the Lin family was hereditary Embroidered Uniform Guard. He had grown up hearing stories from his elders and, despite his youth, was knowledgeable. Having handled quite a few cases himself, he knew such tales were largely exaggerated. He believed that if someone had truly abducted Gao Shunqin, there must have been an inside man within the Gao residence.

When it came to interrogating suspects, he was not as hesitant and wavering as Yu Baocun—the prefect hadn't even dared torture the senior maids of the Gao household, merely summoning them for perfunctory questioning. In Lin Ming's eyes, this was practically "indulgence."

Except for Su Ai, who as the Censor's favorite concubine was spared physical suffering and only made to "observe" until matters clarified, everyone else was brought in. Using the Guangzhou Prefecture's authority, he rounded up the gatemen, watchmen, and militia on duty that night, the key-keeping housekeeper's wife, and even Su Ai's personal maid, subjecting them all to severe torture overnight. The crack of whips and bamboo staves, the wailing of prisoners… Pedestrians preferred to detour rather than pass the Guangzhou Prefecture yamen.

Lin Ming suspected the housekeeper's wife—as a Guangdong local, she had a natural advantage in colluding with local bandits. Moreover, knowing the residence's layout and schedule and controlling the keys, she would make a highly useful insider. He ordered Li Yongxun to prioritize interrogating her.

Li Yongxun, having insisted on tagging along to "solve the case" with her cousin-in-law, worked very hard at torturing prisoners to prove she wasn't useless baggage. Her family had ancestral skills in this area. She was unrelenting in handling female prisoners, tormenting the servants and maids until they were half-dead. Su Ai, forced to "observe," fainted from sheer terror; when Li Yongxun had her carried away, she noticed the stool was soaking wet.

"Look, she wet herself after just a few lashes," Li Yongxun sneered disdainfully. "More delicate than a pampered young miss."

Unable to withstand the torture, the housekeeper's wife finally confessed: on the morning the Censor disappeared, a watchman found the rear courtyard gate unlocked and reported it to her. Fearing blame for negligence—and seeing no obvious signs of theft—she had ordered the gate relocked and told everyone to keep quiet. Later, hearing the master was missing, she dared not speak of it.

Lin Ming, sensing he had struck gold, dragged the others back for another round of torture; their confessions matched. Now, how Censor Gao disappeared was generally clear: whether abducted or leaving voluntarily, he had evidently exited through that unlocked rear gate.

The problem was that many details remained unclear. Even with further torture, he couldn't identify the insider. But then he received news from Jinghai Gate. Lin Ming felt this was a new breakthrough and immediately led his men to pursue the trail.

With the prestige of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, once he flashed his badge, scholars, commoners, workers, and merchants along the way answered every question fully, daring not hide a thing. A sedan and horses leaving the city at dawn was conspicuous, so he quickly got information: after exiting Guangzhou, the group had immediately taken the official road to Foshan.

Arriving in Foshan, he learned the group had stopped there to rest and eat. The leader had a respectable bearing. Surrounded by several attendants, he dined in a private room at a local restaurant, spending generously. Though the shopkeeper and waiters hadn't seen him clearly, the described features somewhat resembled Censor Gao.

Lin Ming was overjoyed—this was likely Gao Shunqin! Whether coerced or willing didn't matter; what mattered was that the Censor was alive.

"This is wonderful news!" Yu Baocun beamed upon hearing the report. As long as the Censor wasn't dead, things were much easier. Yu Baocun's greatest fear was Gao Shunqin dying within Guangzhou Prefecture—as the local official in charge, he could hardly escape responsibility.

"Heh." Lin Ming sneered twice; he knew the Prefect's thoughts well. "Master Bao! You're thinking too simply. Though Master Gao was safe in Foshan, seven or eight days have passed. Who knows if he's safe now?"

"Yes, yes, Master Xin has worked hard." Yu Baocun understood Lin Ming's meaning and quietly slipped him a Delong banknote. "For your brothers' efforts—have some tea money."

Lin Ming glanced at the corner: fifty taels. He was satisfied with the number—before closing the case, he'd inevitably haggle more and extract a thousand or so silver taels for spending money.

"Easy to say." Lin Ming sat down. Foshan was his home turf; he knew people. His men went out for a turn and brought back crucial news: the group had stayed in Foshan for half a day, buying dry rations and travel supplies. Then they chartered a passenger boat bound upstream for Sanshui County and departed.

Yu Baocun was perplexed. "Went to Sanshui?"

Lin Ming and his men found this baffling too. They knew this waterway well: upstream passenger boats went to Sanshui, but continuing north via Qingyuan, Yingde, Shaozhou, and Shaoguan led to Nanxiong Prefecture. From Nanxiong, crossing the Dayu Ridge by land meant leaving Guangdong entirely.

"Indeed, I am also puzzled—does Master Gao have old friends or relatives in Sanshui?"

"Never heard of any," Yu Baocun frowned. "Besides, even visiting friends, why leave without notice?"

"Precisely."

Lin Ming immediately dispatched several capable junior officers to pursue the trail upstream along the river, investigating Master Gao's movements. He led the others back to Guangzhou—he felt the root of the matter lay there. He believed it necessary to clarify exactly what had happened in the city.

He now considered it highly unlikely that Censor Gao had left on his own. Master Gao was serving comfortably as an official in Guangdong; without an imperial decree transferring him or a letter reporting a parent's death requiring him to return home for mourning, he wouldn't leave Guangdong just like that. Abandoning office and fleeing was the least likely possibility.

"Master Gao was most likely coerced by villains," Lin Ming concluded. "But I don't know who these villains are or why they would coerce him."

"Could it be for money?"

"Unlikely." Lin Ming shook his head. Kidnapping a provincial high official for ransom—no bandits were that bold. Kidnapping wealthy merchants was faster and safer.

"Could it be the Australians or the Folangji?" Yu Baocun ventured. Gao Shunqin's policy was expulsion; his sudden disappearance benefited both groups greatly. With the loss of such a strong backer in officialdom, the Expel-the-Barbarians faction in Guangzhou would lose significant influence.

Lin Ming thought this very possible. But if they did it, the route shouldn't be via Foshan to Sanshui, but directly from Whampoa down the Pearl River estuary. Both Venetian-held Macau and Australian-held Xiangshan were south of Guangzhou.

"Perhaps a feint to the east while striking the west," Lin Ming said slowly. "I've already sent men to trace Master Gao in Sanshui. I'll also send others to investigate in the south."

"Thank you, Master Xin. If there is anything this student can help with, I will do my utmost!"

Lin Ming and his men stayed in a courtyard of the Gao residence. After days of running back and forth, he was exhausted, but after a hasty wash and change, he lay in bed unable to sleep. There were too many details in Gao Shunqin's disappearance he couldn't untangle. Overall, the likelihood of Master Gao being forcibly abducted was high, but the identity of the abductors, their motive, and how they accomplished it remained a mystery.

Overall, the Folangji and Australians were the prime suspects. But there was no evidence they did it, and the escape route didn't match. I must immediately send a few more men to the Pearl River estuary to ask around, Lin Ming thought. Try to clarify Gao Shunqin's whereabouts.

Only when the situation was clear could he bargain effectively.

Lin Ming hadn't held his hereditary post long, but he understood officialdom well. The truth of an event was sometimes not the most important thing; minimizing "trouble" was key. Officialdom seemed tense over Gao Shunqin's disappearance, but they weren't worried for Censor Gao's safety—they worried about the negative impact on their careers. Guangdong officialdom couldn't withstand another storm—Governor Wang's death had already served as the scapegoat for the disastrous defeat in Qiongzhou. If a Gao Shunqin scandal erupted, the Guangdong bureaucracy could no longer muddle through.

(End of Chapter)