Zhong Li entered the room on the second floor where Lu Wu Xie had vanished. It was the same as her previous inspection: a small room that could be taken in at a glance, with a small en-suite featuring only a bed, seemingly embedded within the wall. If anyone had been hiding there, one standing at the doorway could easily spot them.
"Could there be a hidden door?" Tian You followed her in, asking.
Zhong Li didn't answer immediately. Instead, she meticulously checked every corner of the room. There were no hidden doors or secret compartments.
Moreover, the room had no window shutters, and the bolt showed no signs of being tampered with by simple mechanisms. This proved that when she had rushed in last time, the room had genuinely been locked from the inside. So, how had the person inside disappeared?
"Perhaps there's a secret passage?" Tian You suggested, then began to crawl on the floor, tapping the ground.
Initially, Zhong Li dismissed it, considering they were on the second floor and there must be a room directly below. It wasn't until she saw Tian You carefully examining the bed on his hands and knees that an idea suddenly struck her.
"Follow me!"
With that, Zhong Li hurried downstairs.
The first floor of the Drunken Red Pavilion appeared ordinary at first glance, with rooms lining the perimeter of the main hall. However, it wasn't impossible to tamper with things in each en-suite.
She recalled searching the room directly beneath Lu Wu Xie's vanished one. There was a large bronze mirror there, as tall as a person. She had found it strange before – why would such a tall mirror be in a side room rather than in the rooms of courtesans like Xiao Hong or Xiao Lu, who were known for their vanity? Now, she suspected the problem lay there.
With this thought, Zhong Li pushed open the door and entered.
She bypassed the screen, and facing her was that very bronze mirror.
"Lord Tian, please help me move this."
As Zhong Li finished speaking, Tian You called out to the bailiffs behind him to assist.
As the bronze mirror was moved, a hidden door appeared behind it.
"This... this is impossible. The young prince disappeared from the room above. How can there be a hidden door in this room? Moreover, we just checked; this room is about the same size as the one above. How can there be an extra small room appearing out of nowhere?" Tian You looked perplexed.
Zhong Li smiled faintly, glanced at the madam standing at the doorway with a solicitous expression, and said to Lord Tian, "Let's open it and see."
Tian You looked at the madam and said, "Open it."
The madam twitched her lips, about to say something. Tian You sternly ordered, "Open it!"
The madam nodded, walked to the hidden door, and twisted the candlestick beside it. Simultaneously, a square room, large enough to accommodate a bed, was revealed.
Tian You was the first to enter and take a look. He turned to Zhong Li and said, "My lady, there is nothing inside."
The madam, eavesdropping, coyly waved her handkerchief and said, "This is the storeroom where this old servant usually keeps the food. Your excellencies are worrying yourselves needlessly."
"Is that so?" Zhong Li glanced at the madam and then entered the hidden room. After observing for a while, she noticed a raised protrusion on the wall that resembled a hand lever and pulled it forcefully.
Suddenly, a tremor and the sound of chains twisting echoed within the room. As Zhong Li exited the hidden room, something slowly descended from the second floor above. Everyone looked closely and realized it was the bed that had been partitioned off separately on the second floor.
"So, that's how it is," Tian You said, a look of realization dawning on his face.
Zhong Li walked over to the madam and said, "Mother, aren't you going to tell the truth?"
Seeing that her scheme had been exposed and fearing Zhong Li might have her head, the madam fell to her knees with a thud. "My lady, my lady! This old servant was merely greedy. I truly didn't take anyone's life, nor did I commit any heinous acts!"
Zhong Li ignored her, circled the room, then opened a cosmetic box in the corner and examined it for a moment. She then approached the madam and asked, "Who lived in this room?"
The madam froze.
"Answer truthfully!" Tian You sharply rebuked.
The madam shivered and said, "It... it was Miss Yi Yi."
"Yi Yi?" Zhong Li raised an eyebrow and asked, "Which Yi?"
"The Yi from 'talent and artistry'."
"Where is she?" Zhong Li asked again.
The madam was now completely flustered. "Madam Zhong, this old servant merely provided Miss Yi Yi with lodging. As for anything else, how could I control her? I truly don't know where she is now."
"Is that so? Providing lodging?" Zhong Li crouched down, looking directly into the madam's eyes, and said, "Let me guess, you and this Miss Yi Yi are in partnership, aren't you? She's responsible for luring the gullible ones to the Drunken Red Pavilion, and after you extort them, she takes them away. Am I right?"
The madam tried to argue, but seeing this, Zhong Li feigned a sigh, "It seems that wealth, this external possession, is more important to you than your life."
"My lady, I'll tell you, I'll tell you!" The madam, terrified, quickly stepped forward and grabbed her leg. "This old servant met her five years ago. As you've seen, my place is remote, and the building is dilapidated. I only had two girls, Xiao Hong and Xiao Lu, and at one point, I was on the verge of closing down. Then I met Miss Yi Yi.
She gave this old servant a sum of money and said she wanted to rent this room. She told this old servant not to ask what she was doing, and since I was at my wit's end, I agreed.
Ever since Miss Yi Yi came, more guests started coming to my establishment, most of them looking for her. Initially, I followed our agreement and never inquired about these matters. It wasn't until I discovered that the men looking for Miss Yi Yi were all wealthy individuals that I started engaging in the business of extorting money."
"Is that all?" Zhong Li inquired.
The madam nodded her head like a hammer, wearing a wronged and bitter expression. "My lady Zhong, this old servant was blinded by profit. If you are magnanimous and consider my sincere confession, please show leniency and spare this old servant's life."
Zhong Li remained silent, merely glancing at Tuo Bai standing not far away.
Tuo Bai reacted and quickly took out a portrait from his embrace.
"Have you seen this person?" Zhong Li pointed at the person in the painting and asked the madam.
The madam squinted and looked for a moment. "I think I've seen him somewhere."
"You've seen him?" Tuo Bai exclaimed excitedly upon hearing this.
The madam nodded, looking bewildered. "It was about two years ago, if this old servant remembers correctly. He often came to find Miss Yi Yi."
"Then where is he now?" Tuo Bai pressed.
The madam was startled by Tuo Bai's actions and shivered slightly. "How would this old servant know? So many men came looking for Miss Yi Yi; how could I remember so clearly?"
Upon hearing this, Tuo Bai lowered his head, lost in thought.
"I advise you to speak the truth!" Zhong Li sneered.
Under Zhong Li's glare, the madam swallowed a few times with difficulty and said, "This old servant only knows that they have a small wooden house somewhere in the northern part of the city. People taken from here are all brought to that wooden house."
Zhong Li squinted at the madam, confirmed she wasn't lying, and asked her final question: "What does this Miss Yi Yi look like? Does she have any distinguishing features?"
"Miss Yi Yi is very beautiful, with thick eyebrows and large eyes. As for features..." the madam thought for a moment and said, "The scent of the perfume she wears is very strange; I don't know if that counts."
"How so?"
"Normal perfumes are very fragrant. The perfume she uses seems to be a blend of sweat and some kind of fragrance."
Zhong Li nodded, a deduction forming in her mind.
"Lord Tian!" She walked to the cosmetic box, pulled open a drawer, took out the perfume, and sniffed it. She then found a few women's hairpins, swirled them in the perfume, and said, "Take this with you. Go to the yamen and find some hounds to search the city. Young Master Tuo and I will go find the young prince first!"
"Alright!" Tian You took it, and then, escorting the madam, quickly walked out of the pleasure house.