Guogong Yé frowned deeply and asked, “No one knows their whereabouts?”

“One of the farmers mentioned to his wife and children the night before he left that he would bring them Chunjia Restaurant’s braised duck when he returned. This suggests that the farmers were heading to the capital. However, now that the heir of Cheng Guogong is dead, why have they not returned? Could it be that they know their plot has been exposed and are hiding in some obscure corner to wait out the storm, or… have they all been silenced?” Xiangzhong couldn’t be certain.

Guogong Yé remained silent for a moment, then rose and walked outside.

In Linde Hall, Wu Taitai was feeding Lao Taitai medicine.

Lao Taitai lay paralysed on the bed, barely able to sit up against the embroidered pillow with Yichai’s support. Her mouth was askew, her eyes slanted, and her expression was one of utter confusion. Half the medicine spilled as it was fed to her.

Moreover, in her current state, she had lost control over her bowels and bladder, so everything was discharged directly onto the bed.

Wu Taitai had been tending to her for only half a day, yet she was already overwhelmed and had no idea how she would endure the days to come. But this was her own mother-in-law, there was no one else she could rely on.

It wasn’t until she heard a servant greeting Guogong Yé that she snapped out of her gloomy and anxious thoughts. Hurriedly, she picked up the medicine bowl, stepped aside, and greeted Guogong Yé with a bow.

Guogong Yé said nothing and walked straight to the bedside to examine Lao Taitai.

As Xiangzhong had said, her condition couldn’t be feigned. She had indeed suffered a stroke.

The beating-to-death of Nanny Li had provoked her to the point of a strok, something Guogong Yé had not anticipated. With such little courage, could she really have dared to frame Huanxi by killing the heir of Cheng Guogong?

“Did you have any involvement in this matter?” Guogong Yé suddenly asked Wu Taitai.

Wu Taitai raised her head in confusion, her eyes filled with bewilderment. “One wonders what Gongdiē is referring to?”

“Nevermind,” Guogong Yé replied, turning and leaving the room.

Returning to Dunyi Hall, Guogong Yé instructed Xiangzhong, “Tomorrow, take more men and search the area surrounding the alley in the northern part of the city where the incident occurred. Also, go to the Imperial Court of Judicial Review and have a word with Zhan He. It’s fine to interrogate Huanxi, but no torture is allowed. If anyone from above puts pressure on him, have him send someone to inform me.”

“Yes,” Xiangzhong replied and left to make the arrangements.

The next morning, Cen Yuanzhi, the Chief of the Imperial Court of Judicial Review, summoned Zhao Huanxi for interrogation.

The prison guards brought Zhao Huanxi out of his cell and handed him over to two officers.

Zhao Huanxi followed the officers to a room adorned with torture instruments. Apart from the Chief and the clerk responsible for recording, there was also a eunuch with a pale, beardless face dressed in court attire.

As soon as the eunuch saw Zhao Huanxi enter, he cast a sideways glance over him from head to toe. In a shrill voice, he questioned Cen Yuanzhi, “Why wasn’t the criminal changed into prison garb? Why aren’t there shackles or leg irons on him? Look at him, clean from head to toe, not a single hair out of place. If one didn’t know he was brought out from Imperial Court of Judicial Review prison, one might think he was being invited over from Jing Guogong Residence instead.”

Cen Yuanzhi responded calmly, neither servile nor overbearing, “Xi Gonggong, Zhao Huanxi is currently only a suspect. It has yet to be confirmed whether he is the murderer. Before a verdict is reached, the law prohibits the use of shackles or leg irons.”

Eunuch Xi raised his eyebrows and retorted, “You can not confirm he’s the murderer, but can you confirm he isn’t?”

“We won’t know for sure until the interrogation is conducted,” Cen Yuanzhi replied with an impassive expression.

As Eunuch Xi was about to continue, Cen Yuanzhi interjected, “Xi Gonggong, your time outside the palace is limited, isn’t it? Why don’t we start earlier so you can return to Chenyi Palace to report back sooner?”

Eunuch Xi finally closed his mouth, drawing out a long sound of “Mmm.”

Zhao Huanxi didn’t know who was staying in Chenyi Palace, but it was definitely not the Emperor. Since it wasn’t the Emperor, the person who has the leisure to send someone to supervise his interrogation with such grace must be the younger sister of Cheng Guogong, Consort Zhen.

He knew that Cen Yuanzhi was subtly reminding him of the other person’s identity, and he felt grateful, though he didn’t show it on his face. He quietly sat down on the chair in the room that was designated for prisoners.

After asking the basic information such as name and place of origin, Cen Yuanzhi said, “Please tell me about the situation before and after the incident yesterday.”

Zhao Huanxi said, “At the beginning of the Chen hour (Chen hour = 7-9 a.m.) yesterday, I left home to visit my teacher Shang Xiansheng, at his residence to discuss painting matters. I left Shang Xiansheng’s residence at the beginning of the Si hour (9-11 a.m.) and went to Liuli Street, where I saw a man holding a jade pendant exactly the same as the one I gave to my wife…”

Eunuch Xi interrupted at this point, “Saw him? How did you see him? Did you bump into him face to face?”

Zhao Huanxi seemed to have not heard him, and continued looking at Cen Yuanzhi as he spoke, “Because that jade pendant was designed by me personally, and I had instructed the jade craftsman not to make a second one identical to it, I became suspicious and went to catch that man and questioned him about where the pendant came from.”

“And where is the jade pendant now?” Cen Yuanzhi asked.

Zhao Huanxi took the jade pendant from his chest (inside his clothes) and handed it to the constable to pass it to Cen Yuanzhi.

Cen Yuanzhi examined the pendant, turning it over in his hands for a while, before gesturing for Zhao Huanxi to continue.

Seeing that neither of them paid attention to him, Eunuch Xi became irritated.

Zhao Huanxi continued, and when he reached the part where he was lured to a remote alley in the northern part of the city by the man, Eunuch Xi interrupted, “This is complete nonsense! You believe him when he says he saw a woman who looked like your wife being kidnapped? With that kind of reasoning, how did you manage to get into the Canglan Academy? This is just a story made up to avoid punishment!”

Zhao Huanxi still ignored him and proceeded to tell the rest of the story about entering the house.

Eunuch Xi, seeing that Zhao Huanxi repeatedly ignored him, was enraged. He stood up and said, “Zhao Huanxi, Zajia is questioning what you’ve said. Are you deaf or just foolish?”

Zhao Huanxi flared up, turned to him, and shouted, “Who do you think you are? Just because you speak doesn’t mean I have to listen to you! Why dont you go back to the Palace and get an imperial decree to take charge of this case, I’ll definitely listen to you. And as for doubting my trust in that man, calling it a fabricated story, how can someone like you, who isn’t even a real man, understand the feelings I have for my wife?”

Eunuch Xi not being a "real man" is an insult based on the fact that Eunuch Xi is a eunuch, someone who has been castrated and thus unable to have the same physical characteristics or capabilities traditionally associated with manhood.

Eunuch Xi was left red-faced and speechless. He pointed his trembling finger at Zhao Huanxi, and said “You, you, you,” but unable to say anything else.

“Zhu Zhifu was murdered, and I understand Cheng Guogong Residence desire to quickly find the killer. But I didn’t kill him. I’m here to explain everything I know, hoping the authorities will quickly find the true culprit. Yet, you keep babbling on, trying to pin the murder on me, why? Could it be that you’re the real murderer and want me to take the blame?” Zhao Huanxi said, holding his head high.

Eunuch Xi, enraged, rushed towards him. Cen Yuanzhi noticed something was wrong and hurriedly stood up, saying some conciliatory words to lead the eunuch out.

After a moment, Cen Yuanzhi returned alone and said that the eunuch had gone back to the Palace, and asked Zhao Huanxi to continue with his account.

At noon, Yin Luochen took Fu Yunjin to Desheng Restaurant, not far from the Shuntian Prefecture, for a meal. Before long, Wu Dechun, the Assistant Judge of Shuntian Prefecture, and a few colleagues also arrived at Desheng Restaurant to eat.

After their meal, Yin Luochen and Fu Yunjin strolled around the street for a while before returning to the Jing Guogong Residence. Once back, they didn’t go to Jiaxiang House but had a young maid from the guest courtyard send a box of pastries bought from the street to Yin Furen.

Yin Furen found the message sent by Wu Dechun from the layer in the box beneath the pastries and read it with Zhao Jiazhen and Xu Nian’an.

“This person is actually from Lintao. Lintao is so far away, sending someone to inquire may not make it in time,” Zhao Jiazhen said with a frown.

Yin Furen shared the same thoughts.

After some contemplation, Xu Nian’an said, “Although the Fifth Branch has been preparing to design the jade pendant for Sanlang since half a year ago, tue Second Branch has been keeping an eye on them from that time as well. However, they couldn’t have known that Fifth Branch was targeting Zhu Zhifu. Second Branch must have only realized Fifth Branch’s intentions when they were preparing to take action against Zhu Zhifu. In other words, the time Second Branch had to find such a killer was not long. This person is from Lintao, but it’s unlikely that Second Branch suddenly hired someone from there. The most probable scenario is that this person came from Lintao, worked somewhere in Second Branch or the Ning Family, or perhaps had no direct connection to them. It’s likely that someone from the Second Branch or Ning Family knows him and is aware that he recently encountered an insurmountable obstacle. Second Branch probably offered to help him overcome this obstacle in exchange for his life.”

“If that’s the case, then inquiring about this person is like searching for a needle in a haystack. One wrong move and we might alert the Second Branch,” Yin Furen said with worry.

Xu Nian’an thought for a moment, then looked up at Yin Furen and Zhao Jiazhen and said, “Mom, San Jie, we must rescue Sanlang from the prison as soon as possible. Otherwise, if something happens to him, it will be too late.”

“You’re right,” Yin Furen said anxiously.

“At this point, everything is just speculation. If we try to verify whether this speculation is true, it will waste time and could easily alert the Second Branch. The only feasible option now seems to be taking a risky move,” Xu Nian’an said, her gaze steady and resolute.

Zhao Jiazhen’s response was always quicker than Yin Furen’s, as she asked, “Do you mean to directly deceive the killer?”

The word used here was 诈 which could mean to extract information from someone by deceiving them.

Xu Nian’an nodded. “If successful, this is the fastest way to rescue Sanlang from the prison, and it would also catch the Second Branch off guard.”

“And if it fails?” Yin Furen asked.

“If it fails, we’ll have no choice but to confess everything to Zufu. From his words and actions, it’s clear that he hasn’t suspected the Second Branch at all. If we bring Second Branch before him and show that we are abandoning the Fifth Branch, with whom we’ve always had conflicts, but instead accuse Second Branch, he will surely begin to doubt. If Second Branch tries to hide, we’ll force them into the light of day! Even if this tactic doesn’t cause Second Branch to falter, Mother can still use her household manager authority to tightly guard all the gates and prevent anyone from Second Branch from going in and out. Then, we can cut off communications and deceive the Ning Family. I don’t believe every member of the Ning Family is as calculating and unflinching as Er Taitai,” Xu Nian’an said.

Yin Furen thought for a moment, seemingly unable to come up with any other approach, and asked, “If we need to deceive the killer, who should we send? It can’t be a woman. Should we send Luochen? His mind is sharp, and he’s reliable.”

Zhao Jiazhen remembered how Lu Feng handled the matter at Xiangfeng Tower last time and thought he could do the job. However, since Lu Feng wasn’t yet considered part of the family, she didn’t bring it up.

To their surprise, Xu Nian’an shook her head and rejected Yin Furen’s suggestion.

“Someone willing to sacrifice their life for others must have a strong and resolute character. People like that are usually tough and straightforward. Although Yin Biao Ge is sharp, his aggressive demeanor might not help us achieve the desired outcome. In my opinion, it would be better to send Fu Biao Ge.”

“Yunjin?” When Yin Furen heard she mentioned Fu Yunjin, his melancholic eyes and the faint redness at the corners of his eyes, as if he were on the verge of tears, immediately appeared in her mind. She couldn’t help but doubt, “Can he… do it?”

Xu Nian’an said, “Fu Biao Ge’s wife passed away not long ago, and that has left him with an air of sorrow and heartache. If the killer truly took this desperate path out of loyalty to their family, Fu Biao Ge’s demeanor would be the most likely to make him lower his guard.”

Yin Furen replied, “Then there’s no time to waste. I’ll send someone to call Yunjin over right away.”

“Wait a moment. Let’s have Hu Gang come over first. Didn’t Zufu send someone today to inquire about the whereabouts of Fifth Branch’s people in the northern part of the city, near the crime scene? Have Hu Gang send someone to spread the news as if they were local commoners, so that the information will be passed to Zufu. This way, it will not only divert Second Branch’s attention but also, regardless of whether our plan succeeds or not, once Zufu learns that the disappearance of the Fifth Branch is related to the Ning Family, our later accusation of Second Branch will be more easily accepted,” Xu Nian’an said.

Yin Furen fully agreed. She immediately walked to the door and called out, “Qianhe, send someone to call Hu Gang over.”