Gu Kaiyuan dispatched Lin Hua and Lin Wei again, instructing them to visit several nearby estates and store all the recent harvests in the storehouse for him to collect later. The items in the storehouse were mostly grain, so a little more or less wouldn't attract much attention.
With everything arranged, Gu Kaiyuan went to the small courtyard where he usually handled procurements. He changed into coarse clothes and concealed his face. Only then did he shoulder a carrying pole and weave his way into a narrow alley.
He arrived at the end of the alley, stopping at the very last household. The mottled front doors were shut tight, with official seals pasted across them.
Gu Kaiyuan knew this was merely a smokescreen. The courtyard had actually fallen into Gu Baijiang's hands long ago. The magistrate's office had closed the case, but they deliberately left the seals intact to create the illusion that the property was still under government control. Naturally, no one dared to trespass.
