After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 902 News
According to Haijiao, he had done a great favor to Divine Whip Zhang San and his daughter in this life, so Divine Whip Zhang San and his adopted daughter apprentice were very loyal to him.

Although on the surface, Whip Master Zhang San was still just a nobody driving a carriage for the Jinyiwei, a former spy who had retired many years ago, he had actually pledged allegiance to Haijiao. His adopted daughter had married a centurion of the Jinyiwei as a concubine in her previous life, and the couple loved each other very much; in this life, Haijiao acted as a matchmaker and arranged for his adopted daughter to marry the Jinyiwei, who was only a small flag, as his first wife. The man avoided an unhappy first marriage, and the woman got happiness in advance, and even Whip Master Zhang San and his apprentice had someone to rely on. All the credit was attributed to Haijiao.

Zhang Lurong was originally a child of an honest family. His parents were two passers-by who were victims in a serious case investigated by Jinyiwei more than ten years ago. He became an orphan at a young age, without relatives or friends, and had no property in the capital, so he was almost sent to the Charity Bureau. Zhang San felt sorry for him at the beginning, so he took him in as an apprentice and raised him up, but his household registration remained unchanged and he was still a good citizen. Now that his apprentice has grown up, Zhang San himself has someone to rely on and no longer has to worry about retirement, so he hopes to find a good way out for his apprentice, instead of abandoning his upright and honest identity as a good citizen and running away to become a Jinyiwei spy who can't see the light.

Haijiao is still in operation now, and cannot immediately promote Zhang Lurong to Jinyiwei, but it is no problem to ask him to run errands. He is tight-lipped, smart, and good at fighting. He has the ability and character of a good spy, and he is grateful. Haijiao asked him to run errands for his family, and he was not worried that he would leak any secrets.

Of course, Haijiao was not going to let Zhang Lurong handle some very important secret matters, but if he just asked about "Brother Qiao" who was suspected to be a Jinyiwei spy, there would be no harm. Zhang Lurong might even think that Haijiao was trying to recruit new people for himself.

As Haitang watched her brother introduce Zhang Lurong, she couldn't help but think of the assignment that her great-uncle Xie Wenzai had just assigned to her.

Since he is a former secret agent disciple of the Jinyiwei who is familiar with the situation in the capital and is tight-lipped and reliable, it should not be difficult for her to send him to the Cheng'en Marquis Mansion to inquire about the news, right?
Of course, Zhang Lurong was not a servant of the Hai family, and the people in Cheng'en Marquis's Mansion did not recognize him, so the Hai family could not send only him. So they simply sent another tight-lipped servant to accompany him, so that he could have someone to take care of him when something happened.

Haitang thought about this and turned around to give the candidate to her cousin uncle Xie Wenzai.

Xie Wenzai heard that Zhang Lurong was someone Haijiao had specially written home to arrange to run errands for his family, and that he was reliable, so he believed what his cousin's grandson said.

After a while, Zhang Lurong and Qiu Shugen came back together. They had sent the baggage to the Banner Guard and the Royal Guard respectively. They didn't see Hai Jiao, but they saw Hai Chang'an - it was not his turn to go to the palace for duty today, so he had to stay in the Banner Guard Yamen for the time being. After receiving the things, he also asked Qiu Shugen to bring a few words of greeting to reassure his family.

Besides, he also inquired about his nephew Haijiao's situation. Haijiao was assigned to the palace guards, and was currently in the Dong'an Gate area. He didn't know exactly what position and shift Haijiao was assigned to. This time, Haijiao's shift would take at least ten days. The area that the flag bearer guards were in charge of was far from Dong'an Gate. Hai Changan was not sure if he would meet his nephew, but the palace was peaceful at the moment, Dong'an Gate was close to the East Palace, and there was an acquaintance like Jin Jiashu in the East Palace, so Haijiao would not be in any danger. The family didn't have to worry too much.

There is just one thing. If family members want to send him and Haijiao something, they should first send it to the government office. There will be someone in the government office to check if there are any prohibited items in the package. If they are confirmed to be OK, someone will deliver it to everyone. Therefore, it is best for family members to only send necessities and not bring items that are likely to arouse suspicion. Books and letters should be avoided, otherwise someone will definitely open them for inspection.

Everyone in the family thought that the news brought back by Hai Changan was nothing. It was a bit troublesome, but as long as Hai Changan and Haijiao were safe, it was enough.

Only Haitang felt a little inconvenient. If she couldn't communicate with her brother and even avoided sending coded letters, it would be inconvenient for her to know what happened in the palace! Forget it, her brother should be able to go home after ten days of duty. She would ask him in person at that time.

Ma took Hu to prepare the packages to be sent to her adopted son and grandson, while Haitang stayed with her great-uncle Xie Wenzai, watching him instruct Zhang Lurong and Wang Defa to send them to the Cheng'en Marquis's Mansion to deliver a letter, to pay respects and to inquire about the news.

Wang Defa had been serving Xie Wenzai for quite a long time, and the people of the Zhou family in Chang'an were very familiar with him. General Zhou Si and his son were now living in the Cheng'en Marquis's Mansion in the capital. When they saw Wang Defa, they would know who sent him and would not be suspicious.

Zhang Lurong and Wang Defa had a simple but delicious meal, and then set off for the Cheng'en Marquis's Mansion. The former knew the way, and was a little surprised. He grew up in the capital, but he had never walked into the door of any noble family, sat in their house and drank a cup of welcoming tea. Today, he finally got a taste of what it was like.

This was all brought to him by Hai Jingli. He must do his job well to repay Hai Jingli's kindness and let Hai Jingli see his ability and promote him to be a real Jinyiwei!
Zhang Lurong followed Wang Defa into the gate of Cheng'en Marquis Mansion with great confidence, but unfortunately he was quickly sent out.

The Cheng'en Marquis's Mansion was very kind to them, and they were well-mannered. When they were sent out, they were given a red envelope, without any intention of neglect. It was just that they were unlucky. The Cheng'en Marquis's wife and son had all entered the palace, and General Zhou Si had also entered the palace with his son not long ago. The Zhou family's third branch and his wife had long moved out of the Cheng'en Marquis' Mansion and rented another house to live in. They were not in the mansion at the moment. The Cheng'en Marquis' Mansion now only had the sick wife of the prince and the young lady who was about to get married, so it was really inconvenient to meet a man from outside. They accepted Xie Wenzai's invitation and politely declined his request to visit, saying that there was still a long time to go, and the two families were so familiar with each other that there was no need to pay attention to conventional etiquette. The Marquis's Mansion had no intention of opening the door to receive guests during the national mourning period, so they should wait until the national mourning period was over before they could meet again.

Wang Defa was about to return to the Hai family to report with the reply from the Cheng'en Marquis' Mansion, but Zhang Lurong suddenly noticed and went to ask a few passers-by nearby. He found out the exact time when several masters of the Cheng'en Marquis' Mansion went out, and then he returned with Wang Defa.

So, Haitang and Xie Wenzai analyzed the information brought back by Wang Defa and Zhang Lurong at home, as well as the information Xie Wenzai collected from other channels, and came to a conclusion.

When the emperor passed away, the couple of Cheng'en Marquis took their son to the palace to help Empress Dowager Zhou, but General Zhou Si and his son were still sitting at home, waiting for further news. Suddenly someone came to deliver a message in the afternoon, and General Zhou Si hurriedly took his son out, heading towards the Imperial Guards Office. Soon after, they came out with General Tu Rongtu and headed straight towards the imperial city.

It seems that something really happened in the palace, which led to General Zhou Si and General Tu coming out together.

But if something really happened, why would Hai Chang'an say that everything was peaceful in the palace and all was well on the reefs?