“Sir, are you looking to buy silkworm cocoons?”
Lan Heng, following Hua Yao’s instructions, approached the old woman’s stall. Before he could speak, the old woman looked at him and asked with a smile.
“How much?” Lan Heng asked.
The old woman replied, “It depends on whether you want finished products or just the cocoons.”
“What do you mean?” Lan Heng inquired further.
“Finished products are silk garments, sold by the chi. The cocoons are sold by the liang,” the old woman said, sifting through the cocoons in front of her. “Sir, take a look. These are all top-quality cocoons. Do they catch your eye?”
Lan Heng smiled and his gaze fell upon a bamboo basket on the old woman’s back. He pointed to it and asked, “Would you be willing to sell me that basket of cocoons, Granny?”
The smile on the old woman’s face faltered. “Do you know what you are asking, sir?”
Lan Heng nodded. “I do.”
“Then…” The old woman slowly took off the basket, and with a sudden surge of strength, flung it towards Lan Heng. “Here, take it!”
As she spoke, the old woman quickly turned and ran towards the mud-brick house behind her.
Who was Lan Heng? He wouldn’t stumble on the same stone twice.
He had anticipated her move. He stretched out his arm, grabbed the old woman’s clothes, glanced at her back, and simultaneously pulled a piece of a human skin mask from her face. An old face, exactly like the one Hua Yao had drawn on the ground, appeared before him.
“You are a servant of Ning Qing, aren’t you? What is your name?”
Seeing that escape was impossible and resistance futile, the old woman finally knelt on the ground, her head bowed in silence.
Lan Heng sneered. Noticing his subordinates approaching, he handed the old woman to one of them and said, “Send her back to Dali Temple. I want the results in two hours.”
“Yes!”
Lan Heng first returned Hua Yao to the Hua Mansion. As he had expected, after Old General Hua berated him for Hua Yao’s injury, he took a carriage back to Dali Temple.
The interrogation of the captured old woman would take a while, so he decided to go to a medical clinic to have his wounds treated again.
The old man at the clinic, surnamed Wu, was said to have been a physician for generations, and the clinic had been around for a century.
As he watched the tattered pieces of cloth being painstakingly removed from his arm, about to be discarded into a bin for discarded items, he suddenly spoke, “Give them to me!”
Physician Wu was puzzled. Why would the Dali Temple Minister want this woman’s blood-stained garment? Nevertheless, he folded it neatly and handed it to Lan Heng.
Some gravel had lodged in the wound. By the time it was treated, two hours had passed.
Lan Heng returned to Dali Temple, casually placed the blood-stained clothes into a drawer, and picked up the indictment papers handed to him by a subordinate to study.
It turned out that the old woman he had captured was named Han, a wet nurse who served Ning Qing. She had been by Ning Qing’s side ever since Cui Nan married Ning Qing.
After Cui Nan was captured, Ning Qing, in her search for her husband, left behind their ten-year-old daughter, Cui Ning Ya, in Yu County. She then brought a considerable amount of gold and silver, along with Granny Han, to Jincheng.
Ning Qing originally intended to organize the remnants of the Goddess Sect to rescue Cui Nan from the water prison. However, she discovered that she was pregnant.
Knowing the bloodline that flowed within the child, Ning Qing feared that if the plan failed, the Cui family would have no heir. She abandoned the rescue plan for Cui Nan and prepared to conceal herself in the western suburbs of Jincheng to give birth.
However, Granny Han, who had been following Ning Qing, grew tired of the hardship of their journey. Upon seeing the considerable gold and silver Ning Qing carried, greediness took hold of her. She knew that the Cui family’s so-called restoration of the kingdom was nothing more than a fool’s dream, and that Cui Nan could not be rescued successfully.
Thus, she decided to go all the way, killing Ning Qing, and appropriating all her valuables. Afterward, she concealed her identity, settled in the western suburbs of Jincheng, and kept a constant watch for any news of the Goddess Sect.
Upon reading this, Lan Heng closed the indictment paper in his hand, put it into his sleeve, stood up, and put on his outer cloak before heading outside.
“Sir!” The constable who delivered the papers quickly followed him and asked, “How should Granny Han be dealt with?”
Lan Heng knew the interrogation methods of Dali Temple. Only Zhong Li treated human rights with respect; the rest treated prisoners like animals.
“If she can live, let her live for a few more days. If dying would be easier than living, then grant her a swift end!”
“Yes!”
After speaking, Lan Heng walked to his carriage, tossed a command to the driver, “Water Prison,” and slid into the carriage, lifting his robe.
Xuan Qingzi leaned against the iron bars, gazing at the candlelight on the wall, lost in thought.
He seemed to be feeling an itch and occasionally scratched off a water flea from his body.
Suddenly, there was a dull thud at the cell door. His movements paused, and he looked towards the door.
“You again?” Xuan Qingzi smiled, turning his head to look behind Lan Heng. Seeing no one else, he mocked, “Just you today? Where is that adorable little white rabbit? Is she scared? Or did that celestial beauty dump you?”
Lan Heng’s eyes met Xuan Qingzi’s.
He smiled helplessly at the taunt. “Cui Nan, sometimes I truly find you pathetic. Your own life is so messy, yet you have the heart to concern yourself with others’ affairs.”
“What do you mean?” Xuan Qingzi was taken aback.
Lan Heng had no intention of wasting words with him. He casually took out the paper signed by Granny Han from his懷 and handed it to him.
At first, Xuan Qingzi was bewildered. As he slowly unfolded it and read its contents, the flippancy and disdain that had been on his face vanished instantly, replaced by suppressed fear and panic.
“Granny Han is one of your Cui family, isn’t she? You should be familiar with this handwriting,” Lan Heng said.
“Impossible, Ning Qing is dead? Impossible!” Cui Nan staggered backward, his foot slipping and causing him to fall into the water.
“Why is it impossible? If she were alive, your child would be about nine years old now, wouldn’t she? With her pursuing you like this, and the Goddess Sect having so many followers, rescuing you from the Ministry of Justice should have been possible, right?” Lan Heng asked.
Xuan Qingzi shook his head frantically, his hand holding the paper clenching tightly. “Impossible, impossible!”
“The reason they haven’t come to rescue you is, I believe, twofold. Firstly, Ning Qing might be dead, and the Goddess Sect has a new leader. Secondly, your position as leader might have been abandoned by them long ago.”
“No! Lies, lies, you’re lying to me!” Xuan Qingzi roared in fury.
“I’m lying to you?” Lan Heng chuckled lightly and shook his head. “If that’s the case, then I haven’t said anything. But… you and Ning Qing have a daughter, don’t you? Named Cui Ning Ya?”
Xuan Qingzi froze, looking at Lan Heng. He didn’t understand the meaning of his words.
“The Zhong Temple official you met last time is currently in Yu County. I heard that the Goddess of the Goddess Sect is also in Yu County now. Seeing you like this, I doubt you have any interest in knowing.”
After speaking, Lan Heng turned to leave.
“Wait!” Xuan Qingzi suddenly called out to Lan Heng.
Lan Heng stopped without turning around.
“If I tell you, you must agree to one condition,” Xuan Qingzi said.
“Speak!”
“I want my daughter to live!”
“Agreed!” Lan Heng said, turning to face Xuan Qingzi.
Xuan Qingzi took a deep breath and slowly began to speak.