Zhong Li stood in a cold, damp room in a separate courtyard, looking at the corpse of Madam Tao on a wooden bed.
Fan Ren’s heart-wrenching screams were still echoing in her ears, and she frowned with slight displeasure.
“Miss Zhong, how should Fan Ren be dealt with?” Lin Jin entered from outside, holding a whip mixed with blood and flesh.
Zhong Li glanced at the whip, saw the blood dripping onto the ground, and asked, “Is the person still alive?”
“Still breathing,” Lin Jin replied.
“Hand him over to the Hua family and detain him for the time being. He is a witness in the Wu You case,” Zhong Li said.
“Alright!” Lin Jin agreed after a moment’s thought. Although he felt Fan Ren deserved to die, for the sake of the bigger picture, Fan Ren was still useful.
He turned and walked out of the room, giving instructions to someone outside. When he returned, he found that Zhong Li had almost finished writing Madam Tao’s autopsy report.
“Miss Zhong, do you have any clues?” Lin Jin inquired. He knew that the more clues Zhong Li found, the faster the case would be solved, and his master could be released sooner.
Zhong Li casually handed him the autopsy report and said, “Madam Tao was killed with a single sword thrust to the throat. Based on the rigor mortis and lividity of the body, she died three days ago. That is… after Wu You went missing, Madam Tao was murdered.”
“That scoundrel A Wu!” Lin Jin clenched the autopsy report tightly, his eyes filled with anger. He never imagined that A Wu would become so frenzied because of a woman who used him.
“However, Madam Tao was very smart,” Zhong Li’s eyes felt a little hot. After calming her emotions for a while, she said, “Before she died, she left us a clue.”
As she spoke, she walked to Madam Tao’s body, picked up a copper coin placed aside, and handed it to Lin Jin.
Lin Jin looked at Zhong Li, puzzled.
Zhong Li said, “This was found in Madam Tao’s mouth. She must have been holding it before she died. At first glance, it’s just an ordinary copper coin, but upon closer inspection, you’ll notice something.”
Lin Jin took it and began to examine it closely as Zhong Li instructed.
“This is from the twenty-ninth year of An He?”
Zhong Li nodded and replied, “Yes. This copper coin was recently issued. According to the imperial regulations for issuing copper coins, only the Imperial Treasury’s bank and the Wu family’s bank are authorized to issue them.”
As she spoke, she took out a map of Jincheng from a small drawer.
Then, she picked up the small brush dipped in cinnabar from the table and marked all the Imperial Treasury’s banks and the Wu family’s banks on the map.
Lin Jin looked confused and asked, “Miss Zhong, what is the connection between these banks and the information Madam Tao provided?”
Zhong Li said, “Although Madam Tao was just a woman, she followed me for a long time and learned a lot. She must have been quite astute. A Wu knew that the best excuse to gain Madam Tao’s trust and lure Zhong Wu You was to take her to find a doctor’s clinic. Therefore, the place where Madam Tao last took Zhong Wu You before disappearing must be closest to a doctor’s clinic. Look at the map, where are the doctor’s clinics near these banks?”
Lin Jin followed Zhong Li’s instructions, eliminating many unsuitable locations, and finally pinpointed a Wu family bank on Wenchang West Street.
“Here!” he pointed.
Zhong Li followed his gaze and murmured, “Yang Family Clinic? Let’s go take a look.”
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Yang Family Clinic.
The physician on duty knelt on the ground, looking at the man and woman opposite him, his body trembling. “Heroes, I truly don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Zhong Li looked at the old man, who was nearly fifty years old. Seeing his timid expression but his eyes darting around, clearly lying, she didn’t rush to interrogate him like Fan Ren. Instead, she went to the medicine cabinet behind him and pulled open all the drawers to examine them.
After a while, she returned to the old man and squatted down, asking, “Physician Yang, how is your shop’s business?”
Physician Yang did not expect Zhong Li to suddenly ask such a strange question. After hesitating for a moment, he nodded repeatedly, “Good, very good!”
Zhong Li sneered and presented a handful of herbs she held in her hand to him. “This is Bai Tou Weng from your herb shop. I see you have a sallow complexion and are suffering from toxic heat dysentery. Perhaps eating some of this will cure you instantly.”
Saying that, she prepared to stuff the herbs into Physician Yang’s mouth.
Physician Yang froze, instinctively covered his mouth, and repeatedly shook his head, “No… this… this cannot be eaten, this…”
“Why can’t it be eaten?” Zhong Li sneered, her gaze towards Physician Yang turning angry. “Is it because you will be poisoned if you eat this Bai Tou Weng?”
“You…” Physician Yang was shocked that Zhong Li had seen through his thoughts and didn’t know how to answer.
“I just inspected your shop’s medicinal ingredients, and they are all expired. You say your business is good? There is dust in the gaps and on the ledges of your medicine cabinets. If you are going to lie, at least have some basis for it!” Zhong Li scoffed.
Hearing this, Lin Jin had a look of realization. “So, you were selling substandard Chinese medicine here. If I report this to the authorities, according to the laws of the Southern Yue Kingdom, your entire family will be buried with you!”
“Ah!” Physician Yang’s eyes widened in fright, and he kowtowed repeatedly. “This humble one, this humble one knows his mistake. My shop’s business is actually not good. Because business is not good, I don’t have money to buy new stock, so the medicinal ingredients have expired. Please, sirs, be merciful.”
Hearing Physician Yang’s capitulation, Zhong Li repeated her earlier question. “I ask you, has Magistrate A Wu of the Dali Temple been here or not?”
Physician Yang dared not lie any further and nodded, “Yes, he has been here.”
“When did he come, how did he come, and are you familiar with him?” Zhong Li asked.
Physician Yang cleared his throat and replied, “He came about four nights ago, in the evening. He arrived in a carriage with a woman holding a child. As for my relationship with Master A Wu, to be honest, I haven’t known A Wu for long. He passed by my shop once, saw that my business was not good, and decided to cooperate with me, which is how we became acquainted.”
“A woman? Is it this person?” Zhong Li suspected it was Madam Tao and unfurled a painting of Madam Tao she was holding to ask.
Physician Yang, being near-sighted, leaned in to look for a while before answering, “Yes, it was her. She was holding a baby in her arms.”
“Good. I’ll ask you again, what kind of cooperation was A Wu doing with you?”
Upon hearing this, Physician Yang’s expression stiffened, and he stammered, “Actually… it was just… just some fake medicinal ingredients…”
“Physician Yang.” Zhong Li knew he was about to try and deceive her again. She grabbed his collar and placed a scalpel across his neck. “I don’t mind telling you that I am now a wanted criminal by the court. Committing murder and arson is commonplace. If you don’t want to die, tell me the truth!”
As she spoke, she waved her hand, cutting the ribbon tied around Physician Yang’s hair, and a cascade of black and white hair fell down. Physician Yang had never witnessed such a scene and stammered in fear, “I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you!”