Chapter 330 The Cursed Will (16)

Hua Man Lou.

Zhong Li sat in the building, looking at the madam, who seemed to have something to say but hesitated.

She tapped the autopsy report on the table with her fingertip and said, "Madam, you don't have to say it, but you also know that in the Dali Temple, I am the only official who has not used any of the cruel officials re-employed by His Majesty so far. If this case cannot be solved, it will be handed over to another adult, or..."

"I..." Hearing Zhong Li's words, the madam's face fell, and she looked pitifully, saying, "Lord Zhong, to tell you the truth, this old servant's Hua Man Lou has been in business in Jincheng for more than ten years. From a small building to its current scale, it is all the old servant's hard work. Now that Hua Man Lou has been sealed by the court, this old servant doesn't want this, but these girls committed suicide..."

"Madam!" Zhong Li slammed the table coldly. For a moment, all eyes in the empty hall turned back, startling the madam, who quickly covered her mouth. "I don't like to hear these irrelevant things. If you like playing word games, the Dali Temple prison has plenty of space."

"Yes! This old servant will speak!" The madam shivered, picked up the autopsy report from the table, and read it again. "Earlier, you asked if the two deceased had anything in common. This old servant really remembered one thing."

"Speak!" Zhong Li sneered.

"They both served the same guest." The madam didn't waste any words this time, and answered fluently.

"Who is it?"

"Wang Pizi from the east of the city."

"What kind of person is this?" Zhong Li asked.

The madam smiled awkwardly and mumbled, "This Wang Pizi's family has some money. He idles around during the day and comes to my Hua Man Lou for drinks at night. But his temper is a bit eccentric. The girls under him are basically not intact the next day."

"What do you mean?" Zhong Li glanced at the autopsy report in front of her, and a guess began to form in her mind.

"Wang Pizi once broke Jin Yi and Qiong'er's bodies," the madam replied truthfully.

"Hey!" Hua Yao heard this and put her hands on her hips, looking at the madam. "Broke the girls' bodies, isn't that madness? You even make this kind of black-hearted money?"

The madam, already cunning and sharp-tongued, was already angry because Hua Man Lou had been sealed these past few days. Now, being reprimanded by a young girl, she angrily put her hands on her hips and said, "What black-hearted money? Those girls were all bought by this old servant. We can't treat them like fairies, can we? You young ladies don't have to worry about food and clothing, do you understand the feelings of us people at the bottom?"

"You..." Hua Yao was retorted and trembled with anger.

Zhong Li looked at the madam. She couldn't decide on the matter of Hua Man Lou's hospitality. After all, it was the social system, and one couldn't fight against power. However, all the clues seemed to point to this Wang Pizi.

"Call him here!" She glanced at the constable who was following her and gave the order.

About half an hour later, a disheveled Wang Pizi knelt before Zhong Li.

Zhong Li looked at the loose-fitting clothes hanging on him. As the madam said, Wang Pizi did have some money; at least the clothes had gold thread trim and were valuable.

"Wang Pizi, I ask, you answer," she said coldly.

Wang Pizi looked up at the woman sitting opposite him. He had learned some information about Hua Man Lou on the way. Now that Dali Temple had found him, to avoid physical suffering, he certainly would not dare to speak nonsense.

"Your... Your Excellency!" Wang Pizi wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "Your Excellency is asking about Jin Yi and Qiong'er, right?"

Zhong Li nodded, waiting for his next words.

"Their deaths really have nothing to do with me," Wang Pizi said, looking at the madam beside him, pondering for a moment. "Indeed, I used some inhumane methods on them, but... I guarantee they were fine at the time."

Zhong Li glanced at Wang Pizi and casually picked up the ledger of Hua Man Lou from the table to examine it.

The madam of Hua Man Lou kept detailed records of her accounts. Each girl had her own entry, which was done to make it easier for the madam to calculate the profit and loss for each person.

Zhong Li first casually flipped through others' records. Except for Tian Lianxue, who had the highest bid and did not receive guests daily, everyone else was in business, and the difference in earnings was no more than ten taels. It was not until she flipped to Jin Yi and Qiong'er's records that her expression became confused.

"Who received ten taels of reward last time in this ledger?" Zhong Li threw the ledger to the madam.

The madam finished reading and glanced at Wang Pizi.

Zhong Li understood and said, "Are Jin Yi and Qiong'er short of money?"

For normal girls, even if they received fewer guests, it was better than earning ten taels and suffering physical pain. The only explanation was that Jin Yi and Qiong'er were short of money.

She could understand Qiong'er, as she had a mother and three younger brothers to support. As for Jin Yi...

"Actually..."

"They are not short of money, they lose things a lot!" Before the madam could finish speaking, Wang Pizi reacted and quickly said.

"Lose things?" Zhong Li pressed.

Wang Pizi nodded. "This is something I learned by chance.

Miss Jin Yi has no family, but I heard that she wanted to earn more money to redeem herself and leave Jincheng to live the rest of her life peacefully, so she always worked hard to earn money.

One day she told me that she had saved enough money and was planning to redeem herself, so she would stop receiving me. At first, I was quite regretful, but soon after, she suddenly started receiving me again. I casually asked and found out that the money she had saved was stolen."

"What about Qiong'er?" Zhong Li asked.

Wang Pizi said, "Don't look at Qiong'er having a mother and three younger brothers, but in fact, she had already broken ties with her family since she was sold into Hua Man Lou."

Upon hearing this, Zhong Li turned her head and exchanged a glance with Hua Yao.

She now understood why Qiong'er's mother kept shouting 'raised in vain' next to Qiong'er's body. It turned out that Qiong'er had never supported her mother and younger brothers, so her mother had decided to sell Qiong'er's body to Dali Temple.

"What happened next?" Zhong Li asked Wang Pizi.

Wang Pizi replied, "Miss Qiong'er also wanted to redeem herself, so she tried every means to earn money. When Miss Jin Yi stopped receiving me for a period, it was Miss Qiong'er who received me.

Don't look at me breaking her arm, I paid her a lot of money, almost... fifty taels! By rights, it should be enough for her to redeem herself."

Wang Pizi said, extending his hand and turning it.

Zhong Li looked at Wang Pizi, remembering that the incident of breaking her arm happened a year ago. Qiong'er had saved enough money a year ago, but she had not left yet. Could it be...

"Then I saw that she seemed to have received you a few days ago. Was it also because the money was gone?"

Wang Pizi shook his head. "This... you'll have to ask the madam."