At the same time.
The constable Li Yi, who had no use for his skills, stepped forward, clasped his hands, and said, "Sir, are there any tasks you wish to assign to your subordinates?"
"Constable Li, divide your men into two groups. One group will question the nearby residents to see if they noticed anyone arguing with the deceased last night, and the other group will search along this Willow River in both directions, focusing on secluded areas, looking for any fresh footprints or drag marks."
"Yes!"
Perhaps to compete with the prisoner team led by Yan Tinghao, Li Yi's response was exceptionally loud.
After Li Yi and his men left, Murong Bai took out a handkerchief, slowly wiped his fingers, and asked with certainty:
"Lord Lin, do you think the deceased was thrown into the river from elsewhere?"
"Although this location is not overly prosperous, it is still a place with a lot of foot traffic.
Unless they wished to be discovered, anyone with a bit of sense wouldn't dump a body here.
And as far as I know, this Willow River connects to the Changsha River outside the city through an underground riverbed. While there's a chance of it drifting from there, the timing makes this possibility unlikely.
Therefore, only the areas along the Willow River remain."
"Sir, after my investigation, the deceased Zhao Si lived in Shuanggui Lane in the eastern part of the city. He was a loafer, indulging in drinking, whoring, and gambling. Later, due to overwhelming gambling debts, he began working at the Hengtong Gambling House as a debt collector.
And ten percent of the debt he collected was used to repay his own gambling debts."
Lin Qingge raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, "Oh, this Hengtong Gambling House is quite shrewd in its business dealings."
At this moment, Ye Shengxiao, who had been kicked into the river, poked his head out miserably like a drowned rat and shouted plaintively to the shore:
"Sir, there are no personal belongings of the deceased down here, nor even a decent piece of clothing. Sir, please be merciful and let this humble servant go, oh no, let me go!"
Lin Qingge, who had long found this fellow annoying, unhesitatingly added insult to injury:
"Ling Han, keep an eye on him. Don't let him come up until he's searched for an hour. Make sure he doesn't escape."
Of course, it wouldn't matter if he really escaped, because as long as Leng Ningyue snapped her fingers, this guy would obediently come running, unable to be driven away.
Lin Qingge didn't voice the latter half of her thought, but she believed that no matter how cunning a weasel was, it couldn't escape the keen eyes of a hawk...
Seeing Ling Han being heavily relied upon, Yan Tinghao, feeling his position as the left and right arm severely threatened, tried to recall the lord's previous investigation procedures and tentatively asked:
"Sir, should we go and inspect Zhao Si's home?"
But Lin Qingge, who never followed the conventional path, shook her head and asked the crowd again:
"Is anyone skilled in gambling?"
Yan Tinghao shook his head. Lu Mingxuan, standing beside him, raised his hand and weakly said:
"Well sir, while I can't claim to be an expert in gambling, I do have some understanding of its intricacies."
As a habitual offender in scams and trickery, gambling was one of the essential skills for navigating the martial world.
"Knowing it is enough."
After speaking, Lin Qingge looked at Hua Jinrong beside her, "Did you bring any money?"
"Besides the bag of silver I just gave you, sir, I only have twenty taels of loose silver left. However, I do have quite a bit of silver notes."
"It's good that you brought them. But speaking of which, are medical clinics really that profitable nowadays?"
Meeting those particularly bright, almost dazzling eyes, Hua Jinrong instinctively tightened his collar, "It... it should be quite considerable, I suppose~"
Following this, Lin Qingge and her group arrived at the Hengtong Gambling House.
Upon entering, they were immediately swallowed by the noisy and lively environment.
Everyone was dressed in casual attire. Apart from being glanced at a few extra times due to their exceptionally outstanding appearance and demeanor, no significant attention was drawn.
Hua Jinrong handed his twenty taels of loose silver to Lu Mingxuan.
In a short while, Lu Mingxuan, who had gone to play Leaf Cards, turned twenty taels into two hundred.
"Not bad, you've got some skills."
Lin Qingge nodded approvingly while unceremoniously tucking the extra silver into her sleeve.
...
Lu Mingxuan, who dared not express his anger or dare to speak, continued to play with the twenty taels of silver.
After another two rounds, the silver in Lin Qingge's sleeve became five hundred taels.
She still showed no sign of stopping. Lu Mingxuan hesitated for a long time before speaking:
"Um, Big Brother, when I was poor and had no money to eat, I used to gamble a little at the gambling house to barely make a living.
But I never dared to be greedy.
After all, gambling houses open for business, they aren't here to lose money and gain popularity.
So, Big Brother, if we continue like this, I'm afraid we won't get away unscathed today."
Lu Mingxuan said this while repeatedly winking.
Lin Qingge, who had already noticed the watchful eyes of the thugs on their group, looked dismissive and instructed him to continue.
Lu Mingxuan nervously sat back down at the table, his peripheral vision darting left and right, calculating which route to escape by would be the fastest.
The most secure Ling Han saw that Ye Shengxiao wasn't following. Er Niu accompanied Constable Murong to wait for Qin Han to pull the body.
Of their group of four, he, Lord Lin, and Advisor Hua were all without any fighting ability.
Even the only combatant, Constable Yan, however capable, could only fight two fists against four hands. Therefore, when the fight started, he had to be the first to flee!
Nervously, Lu Mingxuan accidentally won another two hundred taels, and what he had feared finally happened.
Several fierce-looking men cleared the surroundings and then surrounded them.
The leader, a fierce-looking man, greeted them with a forced smile, "Yo, you guys have won quite a bit?"
"The money was won by him, we don't know him."
Lu Mingxuan: ???
Stunned by Lin Qingge's actions, everyone else hesitated, then angrily exposed her:
"Hmph, you pretty boy, don't play tricks on me. I clearly saw this kid hand over the money he won to you, and you still have the audacity to say you don't know him!"
"I've only known him for less than a month, and we've spent no more than two days together in total, so how can you say we're familiar?
However—
My father passed away many years ago. If you wish to meet the old man, it's not impossible."
As he spoke the last words, Lin Qingge's eyes turned cold.
"Constable Yan, this person has spoken disrespectfully to me. Slap him twenty times!"
"Yes!"
As his lord's most loyal supporter, Yan Tinghao immediately strode forward and delivered a resounding slap.
Just as Yan Tinghao was about to deliver the second slap, the others finally reacted and rushed forward to fight Yan Tinghao.
Yan Tinghao was not wearing his constable uniform today, so he did not have his sword. He could only meet them with his fists.
Despite this, he was not at a disadvantage, knocking down one opponent with almost every punch.
Seeing this, the gambling house thugs shifted their target to Lin Qingge and the other two.
Facing the surging thugs, Lin Qingge stretched her wrists, grabbed a nearby long bench, and began to swing, targeting the lower bodies with a steady, accurate, and fierce hand.
Lu Mingxuan, hiding under a table, trembled at the sight.
For a moment, he even suspected that Lord Lin, with that unrestrained curve at the corner of her lips, swinging the long bench like a broadsword, was also one of their 'kind.'
"Oh no, help me, sir~"
Lu Mingxuan looked over and saw Advisor Hua shouting exaggeratedly while dodging and weaving. Every time he accidentally knocked over an object, it coincidentally tripped a thug.
...
This was quite miraculous.
Only after all the thugs were taken down did Lin Qingge clap her hands with lingering enjoyment, then looked up and said:
"Those watching from upstairs have seen enough, please come out!"