Zhong Li walked towards the pawnshop opposite, holding a beaded hairpin.
A young constable trailing behind her, surprised that she had learned the whereabouts of Qiong'er’s hairpin after merely inquiring at a few places, couldn't help but ask, "Your Excellency, how did you know that pawnshop assistant was telling the truth?"
"Some things are only considered valuable when they are complete. Didn't that assistant mention earlier that this hairpin was the work of Master Jin Cheng, Zhou Qiang?" Zhong Li explained as they walked.
The young constable nodded.
"As far as I know, Zhou Qiang is over sixty and is near death," Zhong Li said, holding the beaded hairpin up to the sunlight for a look. "Some things, once the creator dies, the value of their possessions will increase, especially those in the pawn business who are particularly sensitive to such matters.
If someone suddenly brings an item from a famous artist who is on their deathbed to pawn, tell me, for such a large transaction, can paper truly wrap fire?"
The young constable shook his head.
Zhong Li smiled and continued, "But the person pawning it has an incomplete item. What would the surrounding pawnshops do?"
"They would try their best to find the other part, and then..."
"Exactly!" Zhong Li nodded. "They would find the other part and sell it at a high price. But what if the other part is involved in a murder case, what would happen then?"
The young constable scratched his head; he couldn't figure it out at this moment.
Zhong Li said, "If they are competitors, they wouldn't wish well for others. They would think that if they can't make the deal, no one else should either. It would be even more satisfying if they could make a loss."
"I understand, Your Excellency Zhong's plan is brilliant!" the young constable exclaimed, giving a thumbs up.
Zhong Li said no more, pushed open the pawnshop door, and walked in.
This time, she did not follow the usual procedure of tracing leads but directly revealed her identity, holding the beaded hairpin and requesting to see the shopkeeper.
As she had expected, no matter how unwilling the shopkeeper was, he feared being accused of dealing in stolen goods. Before long, all the account books were in Zhong Li's hands.
Zhong Li flipped through them casually and placed the beaded hairpin on the counter. "Find the account for pawning this item."
Upon hearing this, the shopkeeper busied himself. In a short while, the account book and the hairpin with the missing bead were presented to Zhong Li.
"Do you recognize the person who pawned this hairpin?" Zhong Li asked.
The shopkeeper smiled awkwardly twice and nodded. "Replying to Your Excellency, I do. It was Gu Ling, a maid from Hua Man Lou next door."
"Good, find all the pawned accounts she has with you," Zhong Li said, returning the account book to the shopkeeper.
After a while, the shopkeeper had found most of them and pointed out the marked entries to Zhong Li.
As Zhong Li reviewed them, the shopkeeper said, "To tell you the truth, this girl Gu Ling, she basically comes to me to pawn things every seven days or so. If Your Excellency hadn't said that there was something wrong with what she pawned, I would still be in the dark."
"You didn't know these were stolen goods?" Zhong Li asked.
The shopkeeper shook his head. "How could I know? I didn't ask before."
"What did she say?"
"She said it was a reward for her after treating the ladies at Hua Man Lou. We around here know a bit about what happens at Hua Man Lou."
"Then do you know what she did with all the money she got from pawning these items?" Zhong Li pondered for a moment before changing the subject.
"I don't know about that, but she seemed to be short of money," the shopkeeper scratched his head, his bewilderment evident on his face.
Zhong Li gave the shopkeeper a deep look, confirming he was speaking the truth, and then stood up, leading the constables behind her away.
On the way, inside the carriage.
Zhong Li looked at the various pieces of jewelry and gems laid out on the table. These were all pawned by Gu Ling. A rough estimate put the value at least at seven to eight hundred taels, enough for several families in Jincheng to live for four to five years. What exactly was Gu Ling doing with this money?
Thinking of this, she picked up a slightly outdated pair of earrings from the corner.
They were made of red coral, but the color of the coral was average and not worth much. Zhong Li's fingertips gently stroked the red coral on the earrings, and she could faintly see a hint of crimson.
Is this...
Rouge?
Zhong Li brought her fingertip to her nose and sniffed, reaching a conclusion.
Afterward, she placed the earrings in the sunlight to examine their style more closely.
According to the records in the shopkeeper's ledger, Gu Ling pawned these earrings three years ago. Due to their simple style and slightly crude craftsmanship, no one had taken interest in them. Why would Gu Ling pawn such an inexpensive item at that time?
Wait!
Inexpensive?
At this thought, Zhong Li realized something. Looking at the dozen or so pieces of jewelry before her, she recalled them and laid them out in chronological order. Just as she had expected, the items Gu Ling pawned were arranged by time, with the more recent ones being more exquisite and valuable.
It seemed that Gu Ling had become increasingly shrewd during her time at Hua Man Lou over the past three years.
As for why she stole these jewelry items to pawn them, she could only wait for the final results that Hua Yao would bring back.
"Return to Dali Temple," she thought, lifting the curtain and instructing the driver outside.
Dawn always arrived unknowingly after everyone had fallen asleep.
When Zhong Li's eyes fluttered open, the sky was already bright.
She looked at her surroundings and then at the open door. Last night, after returning to Dali Temple, she had waited for Hua Yao in the inner hall and had fallen asleep without realizing it. Seeing the empty courtyard, it seemed Hua Yao had not returned yet.
"Someone," she stood up, preparing to find Hua Yao. Just then, the voice of the Dali Temple gatekeeper sounded from outside: "She's back, she's back, Miss Hua is back."
Zhong Li looked in the direction of the sound and saw Hua Yao, with dark circles under her eyes, rushing in. She didn't even have time to greet Zhong Li, grabbed the purple clay teapot from the table, and started drinking water.
"Drink slowly," Zhong Li, seeing her like this, guessed that she must be exhausted. She quickly instructed a few constables to go to the gate and buy some snacks.
After a cup of tea.
Hua Yao finally quenched her thirst and sat opposite Zhong Li, saying, "Li'er, this Gu Ling is indeed not simple."
"How so?" Zhong Li asked.
Hua Yao said, "Gu Ling's home is in the mud-brick houses in the refugee area southwest of the city. I inquired and learned that Gu Ling has never had a father and has been living with her mother since childhood.
Just a few years ago, Gu Ling's mother suddenly contracted a strange illness."
"A strange illness? How was it strange?" Zhong Li asked.
"She drank a lot, urinated a lot, ate a lot, but was very thin. In severe cases, she had nausea, vomiting, and coma!" Hua Yao replied.
"Diabetes?" Zhong Li murmured.
"What?" Hua Yao was a little stunned.
Zhong Li came back to her senses. "I mean, thirsty disease."
"Is this illness difficult to treat?" Hua Yao had not been with Zhong Li for too long and did not have a thorough understanding of pathology, especially regarding some difficult and rare diseases she had never heard of.
"It's not difficult, but one of the herbs needed to treat this illness might be hard to buy."
"What is it?" Hua Yao pressed.
"Tian Hua Fen."