The weather was indeed not good. Although it was broad daylight, it was overcast and gloomy, with not even a glimpse of the sun! The weather forecast from the Imperial Observatory also indicated a high probability of snow.

While those people were inaccurate in their weather predictions nine out of ten times, the bad weather was undeniable! Zhao Mengzhuo glanced at the sky for a moment, thought for a moment, and then accepted the braised duck from Wen Mingtang, saying, “Master Wen is right, the weather is indeed not very good. It’s better to leave the city as soon as possible! Otherwise, if we encounter rain or snow on the way, we might be stranded halfway and have to turn back!”

Wen Mingtang nodded and smiled. “Ji Caimai said the same thing! He said he was worried that the bad weather would be a hassle, but we can’t let the weather spoil Lord Zhao’s enjoyment!”

Zhao Mengzhuo nodded repeatedly, glanced at the two bamboo tubes of caramel milk tea beside him, coughed lightly, and said, “You are very thoughtful. Thank you for the snacks on the road. Well then… I will take my leave first!”

…

After Shenshi (3-5 PM), the sky grew even darker! A strong wind swept in, and the constables pacing back and forth wrapped their coats tighter. Looking at the dark, gloomy sky, they couldn’t help but mutter, “This weather… is it going to rain?”

Whether it was their imagination or not, the sweeping wind seemed to carry a strange dampness. The constables weren’t the only ones with this feeling; Liu Yuan felt the same way. Looking at the dark sky, as if suddenly remembering something, Liu Yuan’s expression changed, and he quickly turned and hurried inside.

“Young Master Lin, could it be that Lord Zhao has turned back because of this weather?”

Lin Fei, who was intently studying the map, asked. “If they were setting off now, that’s possible! But half an hour ago, Lord Zhao’s carriage passed through the city gate ahead!”

This meant that Lord Zhao had actually set off ahead of time? Then his men should already be halfway there; there was no need to worry!

Liu Yuan breathed a sigh of relief but was also puzzled: “Why did Lord Zhao set off early? He’s usually such a slowpoke; if he sets a departure time for noon, he usually doesn’t leave until a quarter past noon!”

“I don’t know!” Lin Fei shook his head, his gaze still fixed on the map in his hands, but said, “However, when we passed the city gate, I saw Lord Zhao stick his head out of the carriage, holding a cup of milk tea, his face beaming!”

Liu Yuan: “…”

These past few days, because of the students scrambling for snacks, they haven’t had milk tea for several days. He hadn’t expected Lord Zhao to be able to drink it! It seemed he probably managed to grab some snacks and happily left early!

The cooks were really something! With such a good relationship with them, why didn’t they save some for them? Oh well… if some snacks could make Lord Zhao leave early, it was not such a bad thing!

“Make preparations!” Lin Fei said, putting away the map in his hand and standing up. “It’s time to pull in the nets!”

The weather was bad, so the nets could be pulled in earlier.

“If we pull in the nets outside the city early, we can still catch dinner,” Lin Fei said. “Let’s go!”

…

…

By the time Wei Fu, who was staying at the Dali Temple, learned of this, Zhao Mengzhuo had already left!

When Chao Ji returned from shopping, Wen Mingtang gave a thumbs-up. Holding the files in his hand, Wei Fu smiled and said, “The one in prison has finally agreed to talk. I’ll go have a word with him!”

The one in jail that Wei Fu was referring to was the Second Master Su, who had been crying foul all this time! There had been no news for so many days, and Second Master Su was really getting anxious. It wasn’t until these past few days that he finally managed to “bribe” two jailers with silver notes hidden in the soles of his shoes and managed to get some information from them.

After hearing the news, the Second Master Su’s face turned green. After two days of anxiety, he finally asked to see Lord Wei.

Wei Fu and the others had been waiting for this day for quite some time!

The words Second Master Su spoke on his own were completely different from those he was forced to speak.

Sure enough, as soon as Wei Fu entered the prison, Second Master Su began to speak. Unlike the previous times when he kept crying injustice, this time he said directly, “Wei Sicheng, I know what you want to ask. My foster father, Master Wen, was poisoned to death by me. The wealth supposedly gifted by that rich merchant was actually what I gained through murder for money!”

Wei Fu glanced at Second Master Su, who had directly confessed, and calmly said, “The coroner has already confirmed that Master Wen was murdered by someone else! Since you were the only one there before his death, you are naturally the most likely murderer! Even if you didn’t say it, we could still find out!”

Second Master Su gave a bitter smile at Wei Fu’s calmness and could only say, “I know you can find out. What I want to say is something else!”

Wei Fu raised his eyelids: “Are you saying that you are one of those petty scoundrels who killed Master Wen and his family?”

Going out to make a name for oneself was not without its challenges; one could always turn over a new leaf and return with success. Birds of a feather flocked together. After achieving fame and fortune, just look at the circles he frequented; they hadn’t changed. That told them that Second Master Su had never changed—he was still the same petty scoundrel!

Before he could even speak, Wei Fu calmly continued, making Second Master Su’s heart sink even deeper. Wei Fu continued, “After you returned, besides your old cronies, we also know about those so-called powerful and wealthy people you associated with, like the Master of Linliu Manor, who wants to enjoy himself even after death, using living people for burial.”

“Although you, Master Su, are outwardly a wealthy man with immense riches, in the end, you’re nothing more than a pawn in a game of matchmaking!” Wei Fu said. “Just like when you were Master Wen’s adopted son, you were nothing more than a pawn in the hands of those villains, doing their bidding!”

Second Master Su’s face paled, his lips trembling: these officials of the Dali Temple knew far more than he had thought!

He opened his mouth, about to speak, when Wei Fu continued, “You’re not the only one working for those thugs!” After a pause, seeing Second Master Su’s increasingly grim expression, Wei Fu spoke, “There was a cloth shop owner surnamed Yang, wasn’t there?”

…

…

These days, the young ladies who had been rescued from the pit stayed in the courtyard, afraid to run around! But after being in the courtyard for so long, they were getting restless, so they simply gathered together and chatted about family matters.

Taking a sip of her milk tea from the bamboo tube, Miss Chang sighed softly and began, “My family has run a rice shop in the city for generations, but the Yang family hasn’t. We met because of one incident!”

“My grandfather was robbed by bandits on his way home from buying rice in another region! They took the goods and everything, but the bandits were ruthless. Not only did they take the goods, but they also hung my grandfather up, intending to torture him to death. Later, it was Grandfather Yang who saved him!”

“How did Grandfather Yang save your grandfather? ” A young woman asked curiously. “Was Grandfather Yang very skilled? Could he have fought off those bandits all by himself? ”

“No!” Miss Chang shook her head, hesitated for a moment, and then said, “Grandfather Yang said that he, like my grandfather, had been captured by bandits and taken to their stronghold! He saw my grandfather hanging outside the stronghold in the middle of the night, so he let him down, and the two of them fled down the mountain together!”

“And then?” The young woman, who had asked curiously earlier, couldn’t help but ask again, pressing for details. “Did you report it to the authorities?”

“No!” Miss Chang shook her head, a hint of doubt flashing in her eyes. “I heard from my grandfather that Grandfather Yang said those bandits weren’t ordinary people, and we shouldn’t get involved with them, so we didn’t report it to the authorities!”

(End of Chapter)