“Ah Wu asked me to do business, but I don't really know what it is specifically. I only know that he occasionally brings some children to me, and my job is to take good care of them.
When the time comes, someone will come from the back door of the shop and quietly take the children away,” Physician Yang said, looking directly into Zhong Li’s eyes, afraid she would think he was lying again.
Zhong Li pondered for a moment and asked, “When did you start cooperating with Ah Wu?”
“Early autumn!” Physician Yang answered crisply. “A little over a month and a half ago.”
Hearing this date, Zhong Li’s eyebrows knitted tightly. If she remembered correctly, Ah Wu had just taken on Gu Ling’s case around that time. It seemed he had already started his scheme then.
“Alright, do you know where the people who take the children are from?” she asked.
Physician Yang shook his head. “This humble one truly doesn’t know. Ah Wu also instructed me that as long as I do my job well, I will be paid. As for anything else, he doesn’t allow me to ask.”
Zhong Li narrowed her eyes upon hearing this.
Physician Yang, realizing her reaction, kowtowed repeatedly. “Good sir, hero, female knight, this humble one is truly not lying this time! Truly not.”
“Alright, I’ll believe you for now. Do you remember what the carriage looked like?” Zhong Li asked.
Physician Yang thought for a moment and said, “Black!”
Lin Jin, seeing his perfunctory answer, was so angered that he drew the sword at his waist.
“Ah!” Physician Yang, terrified, collapsed to the ground, covering his head with one hand. “It’s really black, just like… like those carriages outside!”
As he spoke, he pointed to a carriage parked in front of the shop opposite them.
Zhong Li looked over. The opposite was a jewelry shop, and the carriage was a common single-horse, covered type, merely painted brown.
She shifted her gaze back to Physician Yang. Seeing his trembling, fear-stricken expression, she knew he was likely telling the truth. She reached out and patted Lin Jin’s arm.
After Lin Jin sheathed his sword, Zhong Li signaled the Hua family elites who had accompanied them to keep Physician Yang under watch. She then walked towards the back door of the shop.
“Miss Zhong, have you found anything?” Lin Jin asked, following behind her.
Zhong Li shook her head. What could she possibly find? Just ordinary carriages. She was worried that with these people being so careful and cautious, the clues might be lost.
“I want to go to the back door and see if there’s anything to be found.”
Lin Jin understood her unspoken meaning and asked with a worried frown, “The last time a carriage came was probably when Young Master Wuyou was here. It’s been several days, can we still see any clues?”
Zhong Li glanced at Lin Jin, pushed open the back door of the clinic, and said, “This clinic’s business is not good. On one hand, it’s because Physician Yang’s medical skills are limited. On the other hand, it’s located in a remote area, with very few residents scattered around.
In such a special location, the alley behind the main street might have even fewer people passing by. Let’s try our luck, perhaps we can find something.”
She said this and walked out the back door.
As Zhong Li had predicted, this alley was not just sparsely populated; it was completely deserted.
There seemed to be a few houses in the deepest part, but a closer look at the broken windows and doors suggested they had long been abandoned and were now derelict.
“There’s a place like this in Jincheng?” Lin Jin also looked around, unable to help but sigh.
Zhong Li observed the alley while replying, “It is precisely because there are few people that it can become a place for Ah Wu and others to conduct transactions and do dirty deeds. Of course, everything has two sides. What is beneficial to the enemy is not necessarily bad for me.”
As she spoke, she pointed to the soil near a withered scholar tree in the alley.
“Miss Zhong, have you found something?” Lin Jin leaned closer and saw that where Zhong Li was pointing, there were indeed traces of carriage wheels.
“What… does this indicate?” he furrowed his brows, somewhat confused.
Zhong Li smiled and looked up at their carriage at the mouth of the alley. “Compare the marks of these wheels with those of our carriage.”
Lin Jin looked closely. “These marks seem larger than the wheels of a normal carriage. And it seems the wheels have patterns. Look, there’s a groove about a finger wide at each indentation.”
“Have you discovered something? What do you think this suggests?” Zhong Li asked.
Lin Jin thought for a moment and shook his head. Although he had always driven for his master, he had never observed the construction of a carriage.
“Wheels like these, wide with grooves, are generally seen on vehicles specially designed for mountain travel,” Zhong Li said.
“For mountains?” Lin Jin asked, puzzled.
Zhong Li explained, “For mountains or places with poor road conditions, it’s one thing that narrow, smooth wheels are prone to bumps. More importantly, some stones can be pressed into the wheels, making it dangerous.
If the carriage wheels are modified, with grooves made on them, and using less hard wood to widen the wheels, it ensures the comfort of the passengers on one hand, and on the other hand, the grooves will cushion the impact of stones, reducing the danger.
However, such a design creates more resistance on flat ground, making it cumbersome and slower than ordinary carriages.”
“Ah!” Lin Jin listened to Zhong Li’s explanation with a bewildered expression. He could still understand the first part, but he completely missed the later points about resistance.
Zhong Li stopped talking to him and changed the subject. “There are certainly no mountains in Jincheng. Are there any surrounding areas where such carriages might be used?”
Lin Jin heard this and, like Zhong Li, took out a map to examine it.
After a while, he murmured to himself, “The northern suburbs have this possibility. The further north, the more remote it becomes, suitable for some unsavory activities. Also, the Baolin Temple in the northern part of the western suburbs, that area also has mountain roads.”
Zhong Li took the map from Lin Jin and examined it.
She first looked at the northern suburbs, then placed her finger on Baolin Temple and said, “It should be here.”
“How does Miss Zhong know?” Lin Jin asked, following behind her.
Zhong Li returned the map to Lin Jin. “When Mo Cang and I went to Linzhou, we passed through the northern area. We took the official road on the way there and a small path on the way back. It was vast and desolate, and even bandits were unwilling to set up camps there.
Since these people are transporting children in their carriages, the surroundings must be convenient for living and working.
Furthermore, as they are engaged in such shady dealings, their requirements for the environment are even stricter. This northern area is not very feasible.”
Lin Jin heard this and looked enlightened.
He nodded and followed Zhong Li out of the clinic, getting into the carriage.
Then, he felt something was amiss and said, “No, Miss Zhong, you might not know, that place is Baolin Temple, the imperial temple of the Southern Yue Kingdom. How could these people be so audacious as to conduct their business right under the eyes of Buddha and the Emperor?
Aren't they afraid of being discovered?”
Zhong Li lowered her gaze and thought for a moment. She did not answer Lin Jin immediately but took out the imperial decree the Emperor had previously given her. “Lin Jin, I need to go to the Ministry of Justice.”