Wu Zhong and Wu You watched the man and woman standing behind them. It was none other than Lu Wuxie and Zhong Li, who had just disappeared from under their noses.
"We..." Wu Zhong's face was filled with panic.
"Yes, you guessed correctly. The plan was mine from the very beginning," Lu Wuxie finished Wu Zhong's sentence.
He then clapped his hands three times in the air. In an instant, several men with weapons surrounded them from all directions, completely encircling Wu Zhong and Wu You.
Wu Zhong recognized two of them. One was the boatman steering the vessel, and the other was the constable who had clashed with Ren Zhong in the previous residence. If he remembered correctly, his name was Ah Wang.
"The boat is full of your men?" Wu Zhong questioned indignantly.
Seeing that he would not shed a tear until he saw the coffin, Lu Wuxie casually replied, "Since you don't believe me, you can try taking out the knife at your waist and cutting the rope that ties the small boat. See if they don't poke you full of holes."
"Brother... we... we're finished!" Wu You was a little scared, tugging at Wu Zhong's clothes, not knowing what to do.
Wu Zhong closed his eyes and said resignedly, "Lu Wuxie, you are truly remarkable. This strategy of not entering the tiger's lair to catch its cubs, you've executed it so flawlessly."
"Otherwise? Your accomplices, where would I find the time to look for them one by one?" Lu Wuxie retorted with a smile.
Wu Zhong's body trembled with anger.
Lu Wuxie waved his hand and said, "Arrest them."
As soon as he spoke, everyone surged forward. Wu Zhong and Wu You were already thin, and after being tossed around like this, they were like little chicks, shrinking their necks and accepting their fate.
The next day.
Zhong Li stood on the shore, watching Wu Zhong and Wu You being escorted ashore. She spoke a few words to some constables and walked towards Ah Wang, who was not far away.
"My lord!" Ah Wang immediately cupped his hands in a salute upon seeing Zhong Li.
Zhong Li waved her hand to dismiss the formalities and asked, "Besides the Chater grass found on Wu Zhong and Wu You's boat, were there any on the boats of their other accomplices?"
Ah Wang shook his head and replied, "Reporting to my lord, not yet. However, my subordinate found a map from them, with several marked locations, which might be where the stolen goods are hidden. We will need to take them back for interrogation."
"Good, thank you for your trouble!" Zhong Li nodded, signaling Ah Wang to proceed.
After bowing, Ah Wang escorted a group of Wu Zhong and Wu You's accomplices, apprehended at sea, towards the yamen.
Zhong Li shifted her gaze and saw Lu Wuxie still busy counting the seized goods from the Wu family's silver house. Just as she was about to leave with the others, a young girl in a green ruqun blocked her path.
"May I ask if you are Zhong Li, the Vice Minister of Dali Temple?" the young girl asked respectfully, bowing to Zhong Li.
"Yes, and who is this young lady...?"
"My master requests your presence."
"Your master...?" Zhong Li looked confused and followed the direction the young girl indicated.
A luxurious carriage made of water pine wood was parked at the entrance of a nearby alley. As the carriage curtain was lifted, a face, both familiar and strange, appeared in Zhong Li's sight.
Guo Xin.
Zhong Li glanced at the young girl and said, "Let's go."
The first floor of the Jinzhou Restaurant was crowded with people, and every table was occupied. Especially during lunchtime, there were diners queuing at the entrance.
Zhong Li sat in a private room on the second floor, watching the diners outside arguing heatedly about cutting in line, pursing her lips slightly.
"Miss... Zhong," Guo Xin placed a cup of clear tea in front of Zhong Li and asked, "May I call you that? I always feel that addressing you as 'my lord' is too formal."
Zhong Li withdrew her gaze and looked at the woman opposite her, who was being very cautious. She nodded in agreement.
Seeing that Zhong Li was more approachable than she had imagined, Guo Xin breathed a sigh of relief and said, "It's so difficult to get a table at this Jinzhou Restaurant during lunchtime."
Zhong Li smiled and replied, "But it's not the same for Madam, as it is your own family's establishment, isn't it?"
Guo Xin curved her lips, implicitly admitting it.
"Actually, if Madam hadn't come to find me, I would have visited the Li mansion after this case was concluded," Zhong Li said.
Guo Xin showed a hint of apology and replied, "Regarding Mr. Ren's matter, I truly feel guilty. I wasn't at the mansion at the time, and my husband happened to miss Mr. Ren. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been captured by Wu Zhong and Wu You. Now it has come to this..." She said with a look of regret.
Zhong Li looked at her and shook her head, "But we were able to catch Wu Zhong and Wu You with Madam's help. After all, the laborers on the merchant ship were all people from the Li mansion. No one expected that Young Master Li would be using a ship from the Wu family's silver house for his business, and he just happened to miss Mr. Ren. As the saying goes, man proposes, but God disposes. Things have happened as they have, and thankfully, Mr. Ren is safe."
"Mmm!" Guo Xin nodded, her expression softening slightly, "However, it was still wise of Miss Zhong to have Mr. Ren leave me a message. Otherwise, our Li mansion would have almost become an accomplice in this matter."
Zhong Li gave her a look that conveyed that the matter was settled and picked up the clear tea on the table to sip it.
After a while, the dishes were served, and Guo Xin began to invite Zhong Li to eat.
"I heard that Miss Zhong likes Jinzhou's 'Ten Mile Fragrance'. When you leave, I'll have someone send some to you," Guo Xin said while serving Zhong Li.
Zhong Li observed her meticulous etiquette and recalled that during the Guo Qi case, she was still a young girl. In just one year, she had become a gentle and dignified wife, and her actions seemed somewhat cautious.
"How has Madam been after marrying into the Li family?" she asked.
Guo Xin's busy movements paused, and she looked up at Zhong Li.
"Does Miss Zhong know about my affairs?"
Zhong Li recalled what Ren Wenshu had casually told her about the Li family. "That incident was not your fault, and you shouldn't feel burdened by it."
Guo Xin smiled with relief and said, "Actually, I hated you at first."
"Mmm?" Zhong Li, holding wooden chopsticks, looked at Guo Xin in confusion.
Guo Xin took a deep breath and continued, "My father was a scoundrel, and he deserved to die. My mother did what she did only to avenge my elder brother and to get me out of trouble as soon as possible. And you arrested my mother, and from then on, no one sheltered me from the wind and rain or cared about me in the cold and heat."
"I apologize," Zhong Li sighed. When she arrested Madam Luo, she had considered Guo Xin's feelings, but she was from Dali Temple. If she herself neglected the law, how could she expect others to respect it.
"It's alright," Guo Xin shook her head. "I understand you now."
"Why?" Zhong Li was curious about what had changed Guo Xin's mind.
"You should know that I was pregnant when I married into the Li family," Guo Xin said.
Zhong Li suddenly realized she probably knew the reason.
"The Li family knew about my situation. When I gave birth, my husband was outside. Actually, my husband was alright. He could understand my situation to some extent, but he wasn't as affectionate towards me as before. But no matter what, the Li family is a prominent family in Jinzhou, so my in-laws naturally didn't want to keep this child. I was very weak at the time, and I watched as my frail child was taken away by the midwife. I didn't even have a chance to look at him. The Li family thought he was a disgrace, and I... he is the flesh from my own body... sob sob..."
At this point, Guo Xin broke down and cried, unable to hold back any longer. Fortunately, they were the only two people in the room, and no one knew that in the bustling and lively city of Jinzhou, a woman was grieving and sad.
Zhong Li just watched her, occasionally handing her a clean handkerchief.
After a long while, Guo Xin recovered and said, "It was then that I realized how precious a living life is. You have your position, and my mother had her helplessness. Neither of them was wrong. The only mistake was that my father was Guo Qi."
Zhong Li ate the food in front of her, listening to Guo Xin's words, and suddenly felt that it had lost its flavor. She wanted to say something, but felt as if something was stuck in her throat.