After eliminating the Fu Fa, they found a patch of oleander bushes at the end of the mountain behind Chen Chen's secret chamber, where swarms of butterflies gathered.
Later, Lu Wuxie dug up a good amount of gold and silver from the kitchen floor in Zhao Jun's house. It was estimated to be about two hundred taels of gold. This much money was enough to support the annual income of a hundred households in Suqing County. It seemed that Zhao Jun's pretense of poverty was due to genuine timidity, fearing that if he spent too much, others would find an excuse to expose him.
As for Chen Chen, the money he had embezzled had never been found, making it an unsolved case for Lingshan Temple.
At this moment, Lu Wuxie and Zhong Li were at the Li mansion. Li Kun had embezzled the most, and almost the entire Li mansion was evidence of his insatiable greed.
Just the gold and jewelry moved from Li Kun's various wives' rooms was worth over a thousand taels of gold, not to mention the jade carvings and lacquered gold decorations Li Kun had commissioned to expand the Li mansion.
"It's still not enough," Lu Wuxie said, his brow furrowed as he looked at the ledger in his hand.
"How much is missing?" Zhong Li asked.
"Ten thousand taels of gold, quite a sum," Lu Wuxie said. As he watched the female members of the Li family being escorted out of the mansion by officials, he seemed to have an idea. He casually handed the ledger to Lin Jin beside him, lifted his robes, and followed them.
***
Late at night, a dark figure appeared at the entrance of the Li mansion.
Black pupils scrutinized the seal on the door. With a gentle breeze, the door was silently opened, and the seal fluttered to the ground.
Li Kun's study was located next to the pavilion in the backyard of the Li mansion. The figure seemed familiar with the layout. Its light body flashed to the front of the study. As its fingertips touched the copper lock, before it could pick it, a "click" was heard, and the copper lock fell to the ground.
The dark figure froze for a moment. Hesitantly, it pushed the door open and entered.
The study was enveloped in darkness. Only by the moonlight filtering through the window lattices could the layout of the study be vaguely discerned.
The dark figure fumbled inside, skirted the screen, and arrived at the Luohan bed. Its fingertips searched beneath the jade pillow and the bed board. After a long time, the dark figure seemed to realize that what it was looking for was not there. Just as it was wondering, a calm, indifferent voice came from behind:
"Li'er, are you addicted to being a cat burglar? First the Jia mansion, and now the Li mansion?"
Zhong Li was startled. As she turned back, a light shone down from above. Lu Wuxie was wearing a light, thin shirt and holding a candlestick, leaning against the screen. He gazed at her with a lazy expression, a faint smile playing on his lips.
"Young Master, why are you here?"
Lu Wuxie's smile widened. He casually took something from his sleeve and dangled it in front of her, saying, "Li'er, are you looking for this?"
Hearing this, Zhong Li got up and took it.
It was a small hexagonal box with a knob. As the knob turned, the small box instantly transformed into a hexagram.
"Why is this thing with you?" Zhong Li asked, confused.
Lu Wuxie took the hexagram from Zhong Li's hand and walked towards a tall table placed opposite the screen. He removed a vase from the top and placed the hexagram in its position.
A sound of flowing water was heard, followed by a crisp, rotating sound from the shelf behind Jia Kun's desk.
The two of them looked towards the source of the sound. It turned out that Jia Kun's study had a secret passage. Behind the shelf, there was another secret chamber.
"How did you know the mechanism was here?" Zhong Li asked, looking at the secret chamber and then at Lu Wuxie.
Lu Wuxie gave a look towards the secret chamber and said, "Shall we go inside and talk?"
Zhong Li raised her eyebrows and followed him.
Lu Wuxie walked ahead, his candlestick illuminating the scene in front.
The secret chamber was not large. Passing through the shelf led to a room about the same size as Li Kun's study. It seemed that Li Kun frequently visited this place, as the secret chamber, filled with books, did not carry the slightest scent of tree sap.
Lu Wuxie casually placed the candlestick on a table inside the secret chamber and said, "Yesterday, I went to the prison to see Madam Fu."
Zhong Li knew that the Madam Fu he mentioned was Li Kun's first wife. "Did she tell you?"
Lu Wuxie nodded. "Yes. Li Kun is no ordinary man. Not only could he openly make the Li mansion so luxurious and marry Madam Fu, but he could also control the medicinal materials industry in Suqing County for five whole years without being detected by the Dali Temple in Jincheng. He must have many secrets."
"So what was your exchange?" Zhong Li, knowing what Lu Wuxie meant, asked. Li Kun's identity was linked to the imperial court. He was just a small figure, and there were certainly bigger fish behind him. His downfall in the gutter today was beyond the foresight of the forces behind him. If Lu Wuxie wanted to gain the lead in obtaining clues, he could only start with Madam Fu.
Madam Fu, facing the fate of exile or being forced into prostitution, would find that the fastest way to deal with Li Kun was through an exchange.
"Give her a new identity and help her leave Suqing County," Lu Wuxie said calmly, his gaze already sweeping over the only shelf in Li Kun's secret chamber.
After a moment, he held something in his hand.
As he flipped through it, he asked Zhong Li, "Where did Li'er learn that Li Kun had secrets?"
"Do you remember the Bodhi leaf I gave you?" Zhong Li asked.
Lu Wuxie raised his eyes and looked through the darkness of the secret chamber towards the Luohan bed and the area under it. "Did you find it while picking up leaves?"
Zhong Li nodded. When she was picking up leaves, she noticed something wrong with the north side of Li Kun's bed board, but Steward Chen was there at the time, so she didn't make a sound.
This morning, Lu Wuxie mentioned that the ledger had problems, and many accounts were not found in Li Kun's mansion, even disappearing without a trace. She began to suspect that the Luohan bed might be involved.
"I didn't tell you, Young Master, for fear that I would come here in vain tonight. After all, I only suspected it at the time," Zhong Li explained.
Lu Wuxie looked deeply at Zhong Li. In fact, Li Kun's case was almost solved. She didn't need to take such a risk to come here. If she were discovered by unrelated people, she might be accused of being Li Kun's accomplice.
At that time, it would be impossible to clear her name even if she jumped into the Yellow River.
"Thank you," Lu Wuxie murmured, looking at the ledger in his hand, after an unknown amount of time.
Zhong Li was already standing in front of the shelf, searching for clues. Her mind was so focused that she hadn't heard him clearly.
She frowned and looked back, just about to ask something, when she saw a silver light flash in the darkness.
"Be careful," she shouted.
The next moment, Zhong Li yanked Lu Wuxie towards her and threw the book in her hand in the direction of the silver light.
With a "clang," the book was pierced by the silver light. A flying dart passed through Zhong Li's flying hair and embedded itself firmly in the shelf.
Lu Wuxie reacted quickly, blew out the candlestick, preventing anyone hiding in the dark from attacking them again. He then drew a dagger from his boot, his eyes sharpening, and threw it in the direction from which the silver light had come.
A scream was heard from the darkness. Zhong Li and Lu Wuxie exchanged glances. Lu Wuxie reached into his other boot again, a dagger appearing in his palm. Just as he was about to rush out of the secret chamber, a gust of smoke billowed towards them.
"Someone set fire!" Zhong Li realized and whispered to remind him.