The dense, desolate woods southwest of Jinzhou were silent.
The deeper Zhong Li and Lu Wuxie ventured, the more the chilling air pressed in.
Their guide, a tall man named A'wang, was the oldest and most experienced at the Jinzhou yamen. He remained unmarried due to his poverty and the need to care for his ailing mother.
Lu Wuxie's hundred taels of silver reward had made him the most eager volunteer.
Ren Zhong had always trusted A'wang and understood his character; he was one of the few yamen runners who hadn't been replaced.
"A'wang, how much further?"
Zhong Li had already draped her sable fur cloak around herself.
A'wang gently reined in his horse, surveyed their surroundings, and produced a map. "To Lord Zhong, sir, we cross this small grove ahead, then there is a hill, and the residence is built at the foot of the hill."
Zhong Li glanced at the map as A'wang indicated, "It's a bit further than I imagined. I'm curious why the Wu Family Bank would build their residence so far out."
A'wang put away the map and looked at Zhong Li and Lu Wuxie beside him. "My lords, to be frank, this residence didn't belong to the Wu Family Bank before."
"Could it really be as the locals say, that after the owner died, the Wu Family Bank took it over?" Lu Wuxie asked.
A'wang smiled and shook his head. "My mother is a native of Jinzhou. She told me that a hundred years ago, this residence was originally a Zhuangzi (a type of ancestral hall or mortuary)."
Hearing this, Zhong Li nodded. The woods were colder than the city, making it a suitable place for a Zhuangzi.
"And then?" she asked.
"Something happened during the Lin Kingdom. Rumor has it that the corpse watcher at the Zhuangzi was discovered molesting bodies. Everyone thought the place was unlucky, and it was gradually abandoned." A'wang said.
"Is that so."
"In the past few years, the Zhuangzi was bought by the Wu Family Bank and renovated into a residence. As for the 'Hanba' that people talk about, I'm not sure, but it's said that when the Wu Family Bank renovated it, they indeed found over a dozen desiccated corpses. They looked as if all their moisture had been drained. I believe this is the original reason for the talk of the Hanba's haunting," A'wang said, continuing to walk into the woods.
Zhong Li followed behind him, glancing at Lu Wuxie beside her. "What does Your Highness think?"
Lu Wuxie tightened his reins, a blade of grass held between his teeth, swaying casually. He looked less like an investigator and more like someone out for a stroll.
He heard Zhong Li's question and gently nudged his horse's head towards her. "Those dozen corpses must have been the deceased left over from the original Zhuangzi."
"Mhm, and then?" Zhong Li asked.
Lu Wuxie smiled. "And then... shall I tell you something you don't know?"
Zhong Li was quite surprised. Ever since she had known Lu Wuxie, this man's mind had always been occupied with matters beyond his years.
"Jinzhou was rebuilt after the Southern Yue Kingdom, its predecessor being the Linzhou region of the previous dynasty."
Zhong Li raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue.
"Linzhou's location was special. During the Lin Kingdom, it housed the largest ice cellar, responsible for supplying ice to the court every summer. With the onset of war, this small county, dedicated to supplying ice, disappeared from the map. The late emperor, in his search for Empress Ruan, had sought this place but couldn't find it. Later, he chose the Qingliang Hall in Yuxian county."
Lu Wuxie said this, casting a casual glance at Zhong Li.
As expected, Zhong Li's expression changed completely. She recalled the smelly fish in the carriage where Tian Lianxue's body had been, and the excessive moisture. If this were true, they might have found where Tian Lianxue died.
"A'wang, we need to hurry," she said with a serious expression.
A'wang nodded. Though he didn't understand why Zhong Li was so concerned, he nonetheless urged his horse onward.
Half an hour later.
Zhong Li gazed at the grand residence before her, with its blue-tiled, vermillion-eaved architecture. Had A'wang not told her it was once a Zhuangzi, she would never have been able to connect such elaborately carved buildings with a desolate place of the dead.
"Such a large residence, comparable to Prince Xian's manor. It seems the Wu Family Bank has invested a lot of money here," Lu Wuxie also remarked.
Zhong Li sneered and threw back, "That is still the hard-earned money of the common people." She then dismounted and walked towards the entrance of the residence.
A'wang first knocked a few times and, following yamen protocol, shouted a few times.
There was no response from within.
Seeing this, Lu Wuxie stepped forward and pushed the door, finding it locked from the inside. He then went around to the side of the residence. After a moment, his voice came from nearby, "This way."
Zhong Li tied up her horse and, with A'wang, followed the sound.
She saw that Lu Wuxie now held an opened lock in his hand, and the door that had been barring their way was now ajar.
Zhong Li exchanged a look with him, and the two, with unspoken understanding, entered the residence one after the other.
At first, Zhong Li expected to find a different world upon entering, with birds singing and flowers blooming in the courtyard. But when she saw the scene before her, her eyebrows furrowed deeply.
The courtyard seemed not to have been cleaned for a long time. The flowers and trees were nearly withered, and the moss on the rockery was somewhat yellowed.
Lu Wuxie walked to a rockery and crouched down, picking up a pinch of soil to finely crush between his fingers. After a long while, he said, "Judging by the circumstances, no one has lived here for about a month."
"A month... that would be around the time the Wu Family Bank incident occurred and Jinzhou began its thorough investigation?" Zhong Li said.
Lu Wuxie nodded in agreement with Zhong Li's assessment. "It seems that after the Wu Family Bank incident, no one resided here anymore. But..."
He said this while looking at a stilted building behind the garden, "Who lived here and built it so luxuriously?"
Zhong Li followed his gaze and said, "We'll know once we go and see."
The stilted building had three floors. The wood was sturdy, and the paint was vibrant. Several flowers and plants were planted around the stilted building, but due to the lack of care recently, they were somewhat wilted.
Lu Wuxie scanned the corner and said, "The tools for cleaning the courtyard are still out of place. It seems the person left in a hurry."
Zhong Li nodded, her gaze fixed on the third floor of the stilted building. "The window is also open, and there's a potted plant on the windowsill, teetering precariously. It was likely taken out to sunbathe this morning, and forgotten in their haste."
With that, the two ascended to the second floor with practiced ease.
The interior of the building was kept relatively clean. The second floor had four rooms. Apart from two locked rooms that contained miscellaneous items when opened, Zhong Li inspected the remaining two rooms. Based on the objects inside, she judged them to be servants' quarters.
The two continued to the third floor.
Zhong Li had expected the structure of the second and third floors to be the same. However, upon ascending, she discovered that the third floor had only one room, essentially combining the four rooms of the second floor into one.
There was a lock hanging above. With Lu Wuxie's efforts, the lock was opened, and the situation inside the room was revealed.
"This..." Zhong Li looked at everything in the room, her words failing her. Golden nanmu beams, inlaid gold tables and chairs, and gilded glass cups. She remembered the last time she had seen such extravagance was in the home of Li Kun in Suqing County.