TGCFNM -Chapter 309 Swapping Letters

That night.

Uncle Hong took advantage of the darkness and went to the back door of the Fulai Inn, where he found Chu Ling.

Chu Ling took the letter that Uncle Hong handed over and instructed Su He to open it. “Use your knife, and try not to leave any marks.”

Su He took it carefully, while Wan Sanjin personally went to light the lamps.

Uncle Hong looked at Chu Ling and said, “The two people the Prefect Xue sent to deliver the letter are actually our secret agents. Don’t worry, my lord.”

Chu Ling solemnly cupped his fists and bowed. “Thank you, Uncle Hong.”

Uncle Hong helped him up and quietly asked, “What about Old Wu?”

Chu Ling’s eyes reddened slightly. “Uncle Wu is in the room, persuading Fuxiang’s father.”

Uncle Hong gave a low hum. “Sudden drastic changes… no ordinary person could endure that. I wonder if Fuxiang’s father can… Never mind. I’ll go check. You all read the letter first. Give it to me when I leave.”

Chu Ling nodded and turned to Su He and the others.

Su He carefully slid along the edge of the envelope and then delicately pulled out the letter inside, handing it to Chu Ling.

Chu Ling scanned it at a glance, and in the next moment, she was furious—wanting nothing more than to burn the letter immediately, storm into the prefecture, tie Prefect Xue up in the jail, and have him executed a month later!

“What do they mean by ‘commoners maliciously ambush and bully the Yuanzhou soldiers’? What do they mean by ‘that woman deliberately seduced him, foolishly thinking she could rise above her station’? What do they mean by ‘he upheld justice, yet was maliciously speculated against by Prince Rui and his subordinates, even being surrounded publicly at his own prefecture’?”

Chu Ling’s anger boiled over. “Fabrications, absurdities from start to finish!”

Ghost Scholar grabbed Chu Ling’s arm, his voice firm. “Calm down!”

Chu Ling took a deep breath, trying to steady her expression, and handed the letter over, pressing it heavily onto the table.

At the same time, another letter addressed to Lian Wu was also taken out by Su He.

Chu Ling glanced at it, frowning, then let out a sarcastic laugh. “No wonder someone like this could even become a prefect.”

Ghost Scholar read the contents of the letter and said, “This is how some officials in Da Zhou operate. When dealing with superiors, they must generalize the situation as much as possible, completely distance themselves, and shift the blame onto others. Because those above won’t bother investigating such absurd matters.”

“Furthermore, they collude with other officials, clarify cause and effect selectively, sell favors or build connections, and sometimes even hold leverage over someone.”

Chu Ling placed the letters on the table again, lowering her gaze to study them. “Nowadays, everyone tries to curry favor with the Lian family. Though he curries favor as well, he does it flawlessly. Even when it appears to be a simple friendly reminder, he subtly alludes to Young Lord Xiao…”

Wan Sanjin asked, “My lord, they’re all Young Lord Xiao’s men?”

Chu Ling nodded. “And right now, in the capital, Young Lord Xiao is at the peak of his influence.”

“Being at the peak draws the most attention,” Su He said, looking at Chu Ling. “Wouldn’t this matter affect him?”

Wan Sanjin stroked his jaw. “Yeah… who would dare… or perhaps he doesn’t care at all?”

Chu Ling absentmindedly tapped the table, looking at the positions of the two letters and the original letter. Suddenly, a bold idea surged in her mind.

“What if… I swapped the two letters?” Chu Ling whispered.

Wan Sanjin was surprised. “Swap them?”

Chu Ling nodded. “Originally, I planned to blur the content of the letters, making both useless, so I could buy some time to investigate Prefect Xue. But then I suddenly thought—what if I swapped the contents while keeping the envelopes the same?”

Wan Sanjin put the envelopes and letters together and whispered, “Then the detailed letter would go to Young Lord Xiao, while the blurred, misleading one, which twists right and wrong, would go to General Lian…”

Chu Ling’s lips curved into a smile. “Exactly.”

With this, she was very curious to see Young Lord Xiao’s expression upon receiving the letter.

Ghost Scholar leaned over the table, looked at the two letters, and then turned to Chu Ling to confirm, “This plan will work.”

Chu Ling looked at Su He. “Su He, swap them.”

Su He nodded, exchanged the letters, and carefully ran a line of paste along the seams, sealing the envelopes so tightly they looked unopened.

Ghost Scholar came to Chu Ling’s side and reminded her, “When the time comes, tell Uncle Hong to deliver the letter to the army first, and only two days later deliver the one to Young Lord Xiao.”

Chu Ling nodded slightly, though her eyes held a trace of doubt.

Ghost Scholar explained, “Young Lord Xiao is not incompetent; he has his own informants. So if the army gets the news first and he gets it later, do you think he won’t grow suspicious?”

Chu Ling smiled. Certainly, he would.

Ghost Scholar continued, “After this letter is sent, you can not only see if General Lian is an upright man, but also use it to probe him. As for the letter in the capital, there’s no need to worry that Young Lord Xiao will investigate thoroughly—he’ll suppress it, but he’ll keep it.”

Bai Su looked confused. “Keep it?”

Ghost Scholar nodded. “Because this detailed letter mentions ‘Chu Ling, under Prince Rui’s command.’ Those words may become a bargaining chip in the future. So, my lord, it’s best to plan your countermeasures now, in case you need them later.”

At this moment, Su He asked the same question: “My lord, the letter sent to Young Lord Xiao clearly mentions your name. Is that okay?”

Chu Ling thought for a moment, then said directly, “If one day this becomes a bargaining chip, then we must all say in unison: we received a note instructing us to do this, and at the end of the note it said… just say it was from Prince Su.”

Wan Sanjin was dumbfounded. “My lord, you’d follow a random note from a passerby, and the end of it says… Prince Su?”

Chu Ling nodded. “Yes, exactly like that.”

Su He considered for a moment and said, “The thing itself should be handled by you, Magistrate Chu, as the local magistrate. But how a county magistrate contends with a prefect—naturally someone informed him and had his back. That person is Prince Su… My lord, why not Prince Rui? You still have Prince Rui’s token.”

Chu Ling replied directly, “The actual facts don’t matter. What matters is that they will be thrown into confusion. After all, who would think a mere county magistrate dares to fabricate lies like this? They’ll certainly assume someone is using me to frame Prince Su.”

People in high positions are always suspicious. Even a simple matter will make them overthink.

“Then, my lord, how will you explain Prince Rui’s token?” Wan Sanjin asked.

Ghost Scholar answered immediately: “If anyone asks, you say it was given to you by Prince Rui. As for why, say: Prince Rui probably saw your dedication to the people and sent you to investigate cases and seek justice for them.”

Chu Ling repeated his words exactly, then said, “In this chaos, everyone will suspect each other, but no one will randomly suspect a small county magistrate. After all, who would think a county magistrate has such audacity?”

Even if she confessed in front of them, they probably wouldn’t believe her.

That, perhaps, is the advantage of being a minor official.