Chapter 881: Investigation

Chapter 881: Investigation

In the capital city.

Xia Hanmo visited the Xia family and met her brother, Xia Lü.

Xia Lü was a kind-hearted middle-aged man, now holding a minor official position in the capital. While his rank wasn’t high, he was still considered an officer.

The Xia family was doing relatively well in the capital now, no longer just a small clan like before.

“Hanmo, you’re here! After leaving the Lin family, how have you been?”

“Thank you for your concern, brother. I’m doing well; I opened a farm and feel fulfilled and meaningful every day.”

“That’s good to hear.”

Xia Lü smiled with relief; it was comforting to know his family was in good spirits.

“When you initially planned to leave the Lin family, I suggested you return to the Xia family, but you refused. I was worried about your situation. And what about your child, Lin Nuo? After you left, you relied on each other. Is he doing okay? Aren’t you worried about his future? There are many good young ladies in our capital. If possible, I could help you find a suitable match for him.”

Xia Lü inquired, many people worried for Lin Nuo’s future, yet he remained calm.

“Thank you for your concern about my Nuo’er. As for his relationships, he’s not lacking in attention from many wonderful girls. It really depends on his own wishes; I believe he has some interest in a few of them. Honestly, I think those girls are quite impressive. It’s not an exaggeration to say you won’t find anyone better than them in the capital.”

“I see. That’s good to know. He’s a fine-looking young man; it’s strange he hasn’t had a partner all this time. I’m quite looking forward to his wedding day. Hanmo, if you need to discuss business regarding the farm, I can invite him to the Xia residence for discussions, so you won’t have to trouble yourself with all that travel.”

“That won’t do. If we don’t visit in person, it might seem like we lack sincerity. Since I’m already in the capital, I might as well visit him personally. Well then, I must be off now. I’ll come back to visit you later, brother.”

Xia Hanmo politely bowed and then set off to handle her business of visiting potential partners.

She didn’t bring many companions—only a few attendants with some gifts.

The capital was bustling with people, and there were many famous individuals. However, she kept a low profile, so no one recognized her.

In places like the capital, unless one was truly influential, most people were just ordinary citizens, and passerby wouldn’t pay attention to who you were.

Xia Hanmo followed the address to visit her future partner, with a sincere heart, determined to seek welfare for the people.

However, someone was tailing her from behind—Lin Qian from the Lin family, accompanied by some people to stalk Xia Hanmo and see what she was up to. They had waited a long time outside the Xia residence for her to come out, hoping to follow her and investigate.

That’s how the Lin family operated; they wouldn’t miss such an opportunity. After all, Xia Hanmo leaving the Lin family was manageable, but now coming to the capital raised concerns about what trouble might arise that could harm the Lin family.

Lin Qian followed her into an ordinary residence without knowing what was happening. She moved closer with her team, thinking about eavesdropping if possible.

“Miss, what should we do now?”

“There are no anti-surveillance spirit tools here. You two keep watch, and the rest follow me to surround the residence. Let’s try using Spirit Technique to eavesdrop.”

Though eavesdropping was unethical, for the benefit of the Lin family, it was necessary to gather information about the unknown Xia Hanmo.

If there were no major characters inside, they could listen through the walls with a bit of magical interference. She wouldn’t dare to do this at the Xia residence, but this ordinary house was a different story.

If discovered, they would retreat quickly—she was prepared.

It went quite smoothly; she wasn’t detected and could hear the noises inside.

Not long after, suddenly, Dongwei People showed up with a troop of soldiers approaching the residence.

“Miss, there are people from Dong Wei approaching. We should stop.”

“Dong Wei? Fine, we’ll stop.”

Lin Qian quickly halted and withdrew, pretending nothing happened, coincidentally bumping into the Dong Wei soldiers.

“Hm? Isn’t that Lin Qian from the Lin family? What a coincidence to meet you here.”

The leading general of the soldiers, General Li, politely saluted Lin Qian, to which she naturally returned the gesture.

“General Li, a pleasure, a pleasure. May I ask why you’ve come here?”

“Oh, nothing specific. Just following orders to capture some people. Luckily, they are all right here.”

General Li’s gaze shifted toward the residence, focusing on the targets inside.

“Alright, let’s continue our conversation later, Lin Qian. Right now, we have some serious business to attend to.”

The general turned to his subordinates and commanded,

“You all, go in and arrest everyone inside.”

“Yes!”

His men followed orders, rushing forward. The guards outside, taken by surprise, immediately sought an explanation.

“What are you doing? Is there a problem?”

“Subdue these guards.”

General Li gave another order, and his subordinates quickly complied, overpowering the guards who couldn’t resist.

Then they entered, but found no one inside.

“Damn it! Where have they all gone?”

“Report! Sir, we found an underground passage inside, and there are traces indicating they might have escaped through there.”

“It seems they were prepared. Issue a command to search for them immediately. We can’t let them get away.”

General Li was quite anxious; if they escaped, he would face blame, so he hurried to find them.

Lin Qian was unaware of the situation, but she had no way to know what was happening with Dong Wei.

However, observing the current circumstances, it was clear that Xia Hanmo was involved in something dubious; if she had been aboveboard, why would she run away through an underground passage?

This was serious; she needed to report back to her parents.

Quickly, a wanted notice appeared in the city, featuring the portraits of Xia Hanmo and another man.

As for the reason for the wanted notice, the man was accused of leaking city secrets, while Xia Hanmo’s crime wasn’t specified.

It was omitted to avoid causing panic.

Indeed, if the news about Lin Nuo being a rebel spread, the citizens would be unrestful.

Xia Hanmo’s notice, while appearing as a search announcement, was essentially a warrant for her arrest. They were offering a bounty, though in spirit, it was a wanted poster.

The Dong Wei side loved to use leverage to threaten enemies, so they wanted to capture Xia Hanmo.

But she had disappeared, and her whereabouts were unknown, causing the city soldiers to frantically search.

This matter stirred up quite a stir; the citizens were clueless about what was happening.

Su Kexin and her father, Su Lingjiang, just happened to be in the capital as well. Originally, Lin Nuo had left Su Kexin in a safe place, but now she ran into her father.

They came to the capital primarily to discuss relief efforts for the suffering citizens, as they could not be inactive.

And then they saw the announcement—Xia Hanmo’s whereabouts were unknown.