Qin Jiujiu clearly felt that Liu Jin had been looking for opportunities to set her up with Xie Yun these past few days, always secretly giving her meaningful glances. She truly hadn't expected Liu Jin to be so gossipy.
This made her try to avoid meeting Xie Yun for a while.
However, on the Mid-Autumn Festival, she couldn't avoid him any longer.
Xie Yun and Bai Qianluo had been busy investigating the case for the past few days but hadn't found any useful clues. Thus, they decided to lure the snake out of its hole.
Tonight, the Tian Waitian Restaurant would reopen.
They had already been preparing for the reopening of Tian Waitian Restaurant for the past two days. The patrols had been noticeably relaxed in recent days, in preparation for the capture that evening.
News of Tian Waitian Restaurant's reopening spread instantly. Two days prior, the authorities had announced that the culprit behind the face-gouging case had been imprisoned. Consequently, as soon as the restaurant reopened, customers flocked in.
It was rumored that Bai Yuanzheng would be performing "Farewell My Concubine" on stage tonight, and many people came specifically for this performance.
The first and second floors were quickly filled to capacity, and even the third floor, originally reserved for officials and dignitaries, was opened exceptionally to those with enough money.
Many people stood, or chose to sit on the ground, as there were no seats. At a glance, the crowd was a dense, dark mass of people.
Xie Yun and Wei Ting, the city's top constable, stood in a private room on the third floor and looked down, genuinely shocked by the throng below.
Wei Ting scanned the surroundings, his gaze settling on several areas where people from the yamen were disguised as patrons and waiters.
They all looked up and exchanged glances with Wei Ting, nodding to indicate they were in position before returning to their tasks.
The patrons continued to drink and enjoy themselves, while the waiters busied themselves serving guests. However, they would exchange subtle glances with each other from time to time, so discreetly that it would be difficult for anyone to notice their private gestures unless they were teammates trained and collaborating for many years.
After Wei Ting informed Xie Yun that everything was in place, they separated and, according to plan, descended to the floors, each to their own duties.
Xie Yun, disguised as a bouncer for Tian Waitian Restaurant today, went directly to the first floor and stood by the entrance.
Wei Ting, in plain clothes, quietly exited the restaurant through the back door.
Upon exiting, he quickly removed his plain clothes, revealing his official uniform. With a soft whistle, someone brought him a saber.
"My Lord, rest assured, all the brothers are in position! With a single command from Your Lordship, we will ensure the rogue cannot escape!"
Wei Ting took the saber and nodded. The young constable quickly retreated and hid in his ambush spot.
Bai Qianluo quietly observed the people backstage. They were all getting their makeup done. The noise from outside was kept out by the door, and inside, the others were quite quiet.
Except for Bai Yuanzheng!
Just as Jiujiu had said, this Bai Yuanzheng was not a well-behaved individual. Wherever he was, trouble would follow.
He was the only one in the room talking incessantly, either complaining about the crowd and demanding a private room or complaining that the cosmetics weren't good enough for his face.
In short, he caused a fuss for a long time, and his makeup was still not finished.
Although the others said nothing, they clearly showed their displeasure.
Bai Qianluo had initially turned a blind eye, but when someone quietly grumbled about the noisy room, Bai Yuanzheng began to clamor for a change of room.
This made Bai Qianluo uneasy. If the room were changed, their plan would be disrupted, so the room absolutely could not be changed!
Bai Qianluo put down the eyebrow pencil she was holding, quietly got up, walked over to Bai Yuanzheng, and deliberately coughed.
Successfully capturing his attention, he finally quieted down. Bai Qianluo continued, "Young Master Bai, my eyebrow pencil is broken, may I borrow yours?"
Borrowing the eyebrow pencil was a pretense; the real intention was to distract him.
Indeed, after glancing at Bai Qianluo, Bai Yuanzheng's eyes flickered, and he quietly said, "Use it!" then fell silent.
Bai Qianluo casually picked one up and returned to her seat, continuing to observe the others in the room.
Soon, someone came to call them to prepare to go on stage.
She was playing a minor role as a servant girl with no lines in "Farewell My Concubine," and would simply go on stage with the other servant girls.
The other lead actors had already gone on stage, while Bai Qianluo and the other minor characters silently waited backstage to go on.
She scanned the remaining few people. Taking advantage of the few people present, she looked at the makeup table but found nothing unusual.
Suddenly, she smelled a fragrance and scanned the crowd.
They all began to sway unsteadily, holding their foreheads. Someone said, "Why am I so dizzy..." and then fell to the ground.
Bai Qianluo quickly realized it was a sleeping incense. She immediately covered her nose with her sleeve. Fortunately, she had cultivated her inner strength, which prevented her from fainting. She sealed a few acupoints with her other hand before removing the hand covering her mouth and nose.
Watching as others in the room fell to the ground one by one, Bai Qianluo scanned the room. A device releasing sleeping incense must have been placed in the room, and she needed to find it.
She remembered a woman entering from outside earlier, carrying something that looked like an incense burner.
She hadn't thought much of it then, but now her intuition told her that the incense burner contained the sleeping incense.
As expected, Bai Qianluo found the burning incense burner in the corner of the room. It was so well hidden that it was no wonder no one had noticed it.
She opened the lid, took a water pitcher from the table, and poured all the water into it, extinguishing the incense.
Just then, Bai Qianluo saw that the tightly closed door had a crack. As her gaze fell on the door, a dark shadow flashed past.
Without time to think, she chased after it.
Judging by the back, it was a woman. She went left and right, then suddenly disappeared. With so many people inside, it was indeed easy to hide someone.
The person waiting to receive Bai Qianluo began to notify other insiders to track her as soon as she left the backstage. There were people disguised on the first, second, and even third floors. Exchanging glances, they all began the capture operation.
The woman suddenly reappeared before Bai Qianluo and then plunged into the crowd, disappearing without a trace.
Bai Qianluo dared not slacken even for a moment. She kept her eyes fixed ahead. As soon as she saw the woman's trace, she immediately pursued her. After turning left and right, she exited the restaurant through a secluded side door.
Upon exiting, Bai Qianluo sent a signal to Xie Yun and Wei Ting, informing them that the suspect had left the restaurant.
Upon receiving the signal, Wei Ting immediately became alert. Although Xie Yun was worried about Bai Qianluo's safety, to prevent a diversion, he remained with the other constables at their posts.
Also, due to the large crowd, these disturbances did not cause a major commotion. While the inside of the restaurant appeared calm, outside, it was a different story.
When Bai Qianluo chased after the woman out of the restaurant, the woman was waiting for her ahead.
But strangely, the surroundings were peaceful, quiet, and no government officials appeared.
She seemed to have entered a space that ordinary people could not access!
Realizing this, Bai Qianluo looked at the woman with scrutiny.
The woman standing in the darkness was dressed in white. Her hair was extremely long, and her skin was abnormally pale. In the darkness, she resembled a female ghost, beautiful and mysterious.
The woman was also looking at Bai Qianluo. Suddenly, she let out a sinister smile and revealed nine tails in front of Bai Qianluo.
It was a nine-tailed fox!