Chapter 52

　After a long time, muffled thunder began to sound in the sky, and Han Jiaying and Zhu Shiyao, who were lying on the bed, were awakened one after another. Although they were poisoned by aphrodisiacs, the two girls roughly knew what was happening. When their eyes met, their cheeks blushed for no reason, and they were about to say something when a voice rang out: "Are you awake? You are safe now. I made some porridge. Get up and eat it." The two girls were startled and looked quickly towards the direction of the voice, only to see Pang Jun sitting on a chair in the room, looking at the two girls with pity.

　　Seeing that it was Pang Jun, Han Jiaying uttered an bashful "Ah" and shrank back into the quilt, while Zhu Shiyao's face flushed, but she looked at Pang Jun with burning eyes and said, "Liu... Young Master Liu..."

　　"Shiyao, are you still going to be so formal and call me Young Master Liu?" "Um... Ziye, can you please go out first? I, I want to change clothes with Ying'er." Zhu Shiyao said shyly.

　　Pang Jun nodded, walked to the bed, kissed Zhu Shiyao's forehead, patted Han Jiaying's little butt through the quilt, and said, "I'll wait for you outside. Tell me when you're ready." Then he left.

　　After a long while, Pang Jun, who was outside, heard Zhu Shiyao's voice: "Ziye, you, you come in."

　　Pang Jun then pushed the door open as he was told. At this time, Zhu Shiyao and Han Jiaying had already put on their clothes and were sitting on stools, looking at him with blushing faces.

　　Zhu Shiyao asked: "Ziye, what should we do now?"

　　Before Pang Jun could speak, Han Jiaying, who had been silent the whole time, spoke up: "Brother Liu, Ying'er had already said at that time that she liked you. Now that Ying'er is yours, I will follow you no matter what."

　　Pang Jun walked up to them, grabbed the two girls' delicate hands, and kneaded them while saying, "Don't worry, I will treat you well. Once things are settled here, I will come to ask to take you as concubines."

　　When the two girls heard this, Han Jiaying's face relaxed immediately, while Zhu Shiyao's face turned a little pale. Pang Jun knew that she was probably dissatisfied with Pang Jun not marrying her, so he said, "I'm sorry, Shiyao, there is only one legal wife, but the current emperor once told me that he would personally choose a legal wife for me, so I can't promise to marry any girl, but don't worry, I will definitely treat you well and won't let you suffer any grievances."

　　In fact, the emperor never told Pang Jun about this. Pang Jun used the emperor as an excuse, but Zhu Shiyao couldn't get to the bottom of it, so he had to let it go. He kissed the two girls' hands and said gently, "Don't worry, everyone in our family is very good. It's not a wealthy family, there are not so many rules, and everyone lives in harmony."

　　After saying that, he let go of his hands and gently hugged the two girls' heads. The two girls also obediently leaned their heads on his waist and abdomen, accepting his caress.

　　After eating some porridge, Pang Jun took the two girls and returned to Xiagu County in a carriage.

　　Along the way, Pang Jun of course had to be intimate with the two women, especially Zhu Shiyao. She had always been very polite, and for some reason, she seemed to resist Pang Jun's intimacy. But once Pang Jun touched her skin, she felt an itchy feeling in her subconscious, and her lower body felt slightly wet, which made her unable to resist Pang Jun's intrusion. When they returned to the gate of Han's house, the two women were gasping for breath again because of Pang Jun's sexual play.

　　After returning to the Han residence, the worried Zhong Nanping and Ji Shuanghua finally breathed a sigh of relief to see that Han Jiaying and Zhu Shiyao, who looked so amorous, were no longer virgins. They were startled again.

　　"Ying'er, Shiyao, you should go back and rest first. We have something to discuss with Lord Liu." Zhong Nanping sent Zhu Shiyao and the other two girls away and said to Pang Jun.

　　Seeing the two women leave, Pang Jun said without waiting for Zhong Nanping and Ji Shuanghua to speak, "As you two ladies can see, Ying'er and Shiyao both lost their virginity to me." Then he told them what had happened before. Of course, he also repeated the lie that the emperor wanted to arrange a marriage for him, which made the two of them frown.

　　At this time, Zhong Nanping said, "It's already like this, I have nothing more to say. Ziye, you have a bright future. Ying'er is just a descendant of an official, and she is definitely not worthy of your position as your legal wife. As for Shiyao, you must talk to her parents about the situation. They are not ignorant of etiquette, so I only ask you to treat them well."

　　Seeing the worried looks of the two beautiful ladies, Pang Jun said, "Please rest assured, I will treat Ying'er and Shiyao well. They are my treasures. Once things here are settled, I will take them to Beijing and take them as concubines. Although I, Liu Jun, am not a high-ranking official, I promise to make them happy."

　　"Of the Han and Zhong families, Ying'er is the only descendant left. If anything happens to her, I will not be able to face my eldest brother of the Han family and my humble husband even in my grave." Ji Shuanghua said with a sympathetic look on her face.

　　"I will protect Ying'er well and won't let him get hurt." Pang Jun assured again.

　　After getting Pang Jun's repeated assurances, Zhong Nanping and Ji Shuanghua finally felt relieved. After chatting with the two for a while, Pang Jun said goodbye and went back to the post station to wait for news from others. He had just tasted the wonderful taste of the two tender virgins and wanted to take another one, but he knew he shouldn't be too impatient. Anyway, it was already in the bowl, and it wouldn't be too late to enjoy it slowly later.

　　When they returned to the post station, Lin Rui had already returned and reported to Pang Jun: "Sir, I have already explored the tunnel and found a lot of footprints in the tunnel. The exit of the tunnel is a dense forest where the Xingzhou River flows. A lot of rice was found leaking out at the exit. I believe the rice was transported downstream through the Xingzhou River."

　　Pang Jun turned his head and looked at the Xingzhou map hanging in the post house, muttering, "The Xingzhou River has a special flow direction. It flows from east to west and finally flows into the territory of Xidi. But because of this, the border inspections of the two countries will be more stringent. Normally, it is impossible for a ship fully loaded with grain to be transported from the Xingzhou River to Xidi, unless..."

　　"Unless what?" Lin Rui asked.

　　"Unless all the soldiers guarding the pass were bribed by the Western Di people, but this is impossible. Even if the soldiers guarding the pass in Xichuan were bribed, how could they get through the border army of Xichuan? The Jin Dynasty and the Western Di have been fighting for decades, with a small battle every three years and a big battle every five years. People are already enemies, so it will be even more difficult to bribe them. Even if they can be bribed, the price to pay is so high that it is better to buy them from other countries." After hearing Pang Jun's analysis, Lin Rui nodded and fell into deep thought.

　　At this time, Pang Jun's eyes fell on the Xingzhou River. Suddenly he remembered something and asked, "Xingzhou River, how many tributaries are there?"

　　"Reporting to the Lord, the Xingzhou River has almost no larger tributaries, only a few small tributaries."

　　"Among those tributaries, how many flow into the county town, and how many flow into uninhabited areas?" Pang Jun asked further.

　　"This... I'm not sure. I'll check the local chronicles right away." After saying that, Lin Rui turned around and left the posthouse. At this moment, Fang Botao came to report. He reported to Pang Jun, "Sir, I investigated the Han Mansion and the Zhong Mansion in the past few days and found two things. First, Han Jiuer, the youngest son of Han Zhi, the housekeeper of the Han Mansion, lost 1,000 taels of silver in the casino yesterday. Second, three days ago, a troupe came to Xiagu but didn't perform a single play. Moreover, they left Xiagu in a hurry at noon yesterday and disappeared. I think this troupe is suspicious."

　　"So, where did this group of people stay?" Fang Botao responded, "In Tongde Inn, less than a hundred feet west of Han Mansion. I have asked the innkeeper and investigated the inn, and there is no suspicion."

　　"West?" Pang Jun was stunned for a moment, as if he had suddenly grasped something, and had some calculations in his mind, "What else? What about Han Jiuer? Although Han Zhi is the steward of the Han Mansion, he wouldn't have a thousand taels of money to let his youngest son squander it, right?"

　　"I don't know about this either, but since yesterday, Han Jiuer seems to have been locked up at home by Han Zhi and is not allowed to go out. I sent people to investigate, but they couldn't find where he was being held. Sir, do you think..."

　　"Han Jiuer's matter is probably related to Han Siye's death."

　　"Then do you want to..." Fang Botao asked.

　　Pang Jun shook his head: "Don't alert the enemy yet. Send someone to continue monitoring and report as soon as you get any intelligence. Also, have you figured out the power of Xia Gu and Xingzhou in the past two days?"

　　"Xingzhou is located on the border between the two countries. Such a sensitive place may have more spies. Due to Han Siye's strong suppression, most of the underground forces are not powerful. In the officialdom, this is completely the base camp of the local governor Qi Tiansheng. The few officials sent by the court have been squeezed very hard. In terms of finance, it is mainly the grain merchant association and salt merchants, and their backers are also local. As for evil, there was a large group of bandits in Xingzhou before, on the nearby Liangfeng Mountain, but recently that group of bandits seems to have disappeared."

　　"Disappeared? How could a group of hundreds of strong men suddenly disappear?" Fang Botao shook his head and said, "I don't know either. When I asked around, everyone said that the haunted place started two months ago. Dozens of bandits were killed overnight. Their leader ordered an immediate evacuation, and it seems they went east. Later, some people wanted to go and take a look, but none of them came back."

　　Pang Jun sneered and said, "I'm afraid it's not ghosts that are causing trouble, but people."

　　"people?!"

　　"Yes, people. Wait until Lin Rui comes back and I can confirm one more thing, and then we'll have a rough idea."

　　Not long after, Lin Rui came back from outside. He held a local gazetteer of Xingzhou and pointed to a page in it and reported to Pang Jun: "Sir, look, the local gazetteer says that the Xingzhou River has five tributaries, two of which flow into uninhabited areas, and one of them..."

　　"Are there any tributaries flowing near Liangfeng Mountain?" Pang Jun interrupted him and asked.

　　"Well, yes, there is indeed a river that flows to Liangfeng Mountain." Pang Jun immediately ordered: "Fang Botao, you continue to lead people to monitor and track. Also, check whether there are any important people who have come to Xiagu recently. They may not be officials, but children of aristocratic families or senior executives. Tell Bai Shaochuan to send people to guard the granary and the information room. Everyone else, go to the granary and get ready immediately. There is a mission to be carried out tonight!"

　　"As you command!" The two men took the order and left.

　　At four quarters past midnight, in the granary, Pang Jun, with thirty divine guards, set out from the granary tunnel, sat on a bamboo raft, went downstream, and headed straight for Liangfeng Mountain!