Luo Wuxie arrived to the sound of laughter from the inner hall.
"Wonderful, if Young Master Tuo is willing to help, it's only a matter of time before these villains are apprehended."
"What... what can I help with? I just want to avenge my brother's death. I heard from Brother Dan that the Dali Temple sent Junior Secretary Zhong, and I thought there was hope, so I rushed to see."
"Lord Zhong, what do you think? Is the clue provided by Young Master Tuo good news?"
"Yes, they say knowing yourself and your enemy leads to victory. This is knowing the enemy, so our chances of winning are even greater."
"See, I told you, you can definitely help Lord Zhong!"
...
Luo Wuxie slowly approached the inner hall door, peeking his head in to observe everything inside.
Zhong Li sat in an official's hat chair, surrounded by three people. He recognized Tian You and Ah Li. As for the other man...
He narrowed his eyes, looking closely. The man seemed to have something to say to Zhong Li, leaning very close to her, in a seemingly fawning manner.
"Cough, cough!" Luo Wuxie coughed lightly. The people in the hall heard him and quickly looked towards the door.
Tian You was the first to see Luo Wuxie and quickly pulled Ah Li to bow to him.
The man next to Zhong Li looked at him with a confused expression.
"Who is this?" Luo Wuxie walked over to the man, glancing back at Tian You who was following, and asked.
The man reacted and said, "Your humble servant is Tuo Bai of the Tuo clan from Beidi. This is His Highness the Crown Prince, is it not? Greetings, Your Highness."
Luo Wuxie nodded, "The Tuo clan of Beidi? Are you that famous medicinal family in Beidi?"
"Your Highness is very knowledgeable, indeed." Tuo Bai nodded, his cheeks flushing with a hint of shyness.
Zhong Li glanced at him and said, "Young Master Tuo, don't feel awkward. His Highness is quite easygoing."
"Yes!" Tuo Bai said, moving a chair and sitting next to Zhong Li.
Luo Wuxie's eyebrows subtly rose as he watched him.
Tuo Bai seemed oblivious and took something out of his embrace, presenting it to Zhong Li.
Seeing this, Tian You quickly walked over to Luo Wuxie and explained, "Your Highness, it's like this. Two years ago, the second son of the Tuo family, Tuo Lou, was also a victim. The Tuo family spent a lot of money trying to retrieve Tuo Lou's body back then, but only found half of it. Now, the Tuo family has a shop in Linzhou. Tuo Bai, a member of the Tuo clan responsible for Linzhou, heard from this subordinate that the imperial court sent an official to investigate this case, and he is prepared to contribute."
Luo Wuxie nodded and asked Tian You, "Then what is he doing now? Leaning so close to Lord Zhong?"
"Ah?" Tian You was first stunned by Luo Wuxie's words. After Ah Li's quiet reminder, he said, "It's like this, when Tuo Lou had the accident back then, he left some clues. Tuo Bai is showing them to Lord Zhong."
"Is that so? I'll take a look too."
Luo Wuxie said this, picked up a chair, and walked to the space between Tuo Bai and Zhong Li.
"Your Highness!" Tuo Bai quickly stood up.
Luo Wuxie took the opportunity to place the chair on Tuo Bai's side, sat in Tuo Bai's place, and said, "Continue!"
Tuo Bai was bewildered, just staring at Luo Wuxie.
Luo Wuxie acted as if nothing had happened, picking up something that looked like a letter from the table and asking, "What is this?"
Tuo Bai reacted and quickly replied, "Your Highness, it's like this. My second brother came to Linzhou two years ago to scout locations to open a medical clinic. By chance, he met a woman named Chang Shuyi in Linzhou. He even wrote a letter home saying he planned to bring this woman back to Beidi to get married after finishing his business. Everyone at home was very happy. But we waited and waited, and never saw my second brother. Half a month later, we received a letter asking us to ransom his body."
After listening to Tuo Bai's account, Luo Wuxie picked up the two letters on the table to examine them. After a while, he asked Zhong Li, "Li'er, are you finished?"
Zhong Li was about to agree, but upon hearing his address, her eyes showed a hint of confusion.
"Are you finished?" Luo Wuxie asked again.
Zhong Li didn't know what he was trying to do, but felt that it was just a term of endearment and harmless. She nodded, "Yes, the content of the letters is as Tuo Gongzi described, with no discrepancies. What puzzles me is, since Tuo Lou had this accident, where is this woman named Chang Shuyi now?" She looked up at Tuo Bai as she spoke.
Tuo Bai shook his head, "We searched back then, and even asked the governor's office for help."
"And the result?"
Tian You also leaned in and shook his head, "As Lord Zhong probably expected, we searched through all the household registration books in Linzhou. There were two women with this name, but after further investigation, we ruled out those two women as the ones mentioned in Tuo Lou's letter."
"Oh?"
"One is an old woman around eighty, who has likely been buried this year, and the other is a child of eight, not yet of age," Tian You said.
"So, what do you think?" Zhong Li asked, turning to look at Luo Wuxie after listening.
Luo Wuxie didn't answer immediately. Instead, he held up the second letter and asked Tuo Bai, "This is..."
"This is the letter we received from the killer back then, demanding that we bring silver to exchange for my second brother's body," Tuo Bai said.
Luo Wuxie nodded, comparing the note the ruffians had thrown into their carriage with the letter in his hand.
Zhong Li also leaned in to examine it, "At first glance, the handwriting doesn't seem to be from the same person, but if you look closely, at the stroke of each character, the writer involuntarily lifts it. It's not hard to guess that it was written by the same person."
Luo Wuxie nodded, "Yes. And this woman named Chang Shuyi, if she was reputable, why would her information be missing from the Linzhou household registration books? So, there's only one possibility: this woman does exist, but her name has been changed."
"The purpose was likely to lure Tuo Lou, and to disappear completely after the deed was done," Zhong Li added.
"Scoundrels, my brother was indeed deceived!" Tuo Bai's heart burned with anger upon hearing Zhong Li and Luo Wuxie's words. He stamped his foot in anger and asked, "What do we do now?"
Zhong Li slowly took out another note from her embrace and placed it on the table. Luo Wuxie unfolded it and saw the content: Tomorrow, five hundred taels of silver, Qin Guan North Street, head.
"Li'er, where did you get this?"
Zhong Li replied, "This morning, I was having breakfast in the inn's lobby, and the waiter gave it to me, saying that a man dressed in black with a hooded hat came early this morning and gave him a few copper coins to pass to me."
"So, what is Li'er's idea?" Luo Wuxie asked again.
Zhong Li pondered for a moment and said, "Currently, there doesn't seem to be a better method. These people are very brazen. They know the court is after them, but the enemy is in the dark while we are in the light. They are like rats in a sewer, impossible to find. If we were to infiltrate their ranks, it would take too long. For now, we can only take it one step at a time. Before, they took five hundred taels for ease of escape and relocation. They couldn't possibly carry this five hundred taels with them all the time, nor could they dig a cellar to bury it. So, we can follow them and make two plans..."
As she spoke, everyone around them leaned in to hear her arrangements and plans.
By the time Zhong Li finished her work and walked out of the governor's mansion, it was already noon.
Luo Wuxie, seeing that she was finally free, walked up to her and wanted to invite her to tour Linzhou and scout the remaining two Wu family silver houses. However, before he could even speak, a voice sounded from not far behind them: "Lord Zhong."
Zhong Li and Luo Wuxie both turned their heads. They saw Tuo Bai rushing towards them anxiously.
Luo Wuxie felt a premonition of unease.
"Why, Young Master Tuo..."
Tuo Bai smiled and said, "It's like this. I heard from the governor that Miss Zhong also has research in medicine?"
"Mm!"
"Then that's perfect. My family's medicine shop just opened not long ago, and my medical skills are not very refined. I have some complicated illnesses and would like to learn from Lord Zhong." Tuo Bai cupped his hands.
"Young Master Tuo comes from a family of medicine. Complicated illnesses should also be difficult for Zhong Li," Zhong Li said with a smile.
Luo Wuxie stood beside them, hearing Zhong Li say this, and nodded repeatedly.
Zhong Li glanced back, then let out a cold laugh. Changing the subject, she said, "However, we can discuss it. Young Master Tuo, please lead the way."
"Good! Good!" Upon hearing this, Tuo Bai quickly ran to the door to call for his attendant to bring the horses, and then welcomed Zhong Li into the carriage.