“Yes.” Chuyi could see that Li Shimin’s expression was off. Although he was full of questions, he didn’t dare ask more and quickly followed his orders.

As the servants carefully removed the bones, Li Yuan asked in confusion: “Since that female assassin wasn’t Wu Meixue, how did she manage to disguise herself without being discovered?”

Li Shimin shook his head: “This matter puzzles me endlessly as well.” At the time, besides specifically asking Nanny Qi to conduct a body search, he had also examined her himself, and there were indeed no traces of any skin grafting at the neck. Could there really be a disguise technique so sophisticated that it left absolutely no flaws or traces?

While Li Shimin was puzzled, Li Yuan continued: “The most confused one is that Wu Laosan. We clearly told him that woman was a female assassin, but he refused to believe it and even helped the female assassin escape, so that we still haven’t been able to capture her.”

Li Shimin was silent for a moment, then suddenly bowed and said: “Father, my body is no longer seriously injured. I want to join you in capturing the female assassin!”

“There’s no need, this matter…” Before Li Yuan could finish, he interrupted: “Father, the reason the female assassin remains at large, and even killed Xuanba…” Mentioning the deceased Li Xuanba, his eyes became moist, and he said hoarsely: “It’s all because of my carelessness. Now the only thing I can do for Xuanba is to personally catch the female assassin to comfort Xuanba’s spirit in heaven!” As he spoke, he knelt on one knee and bowed: “I beg Father to grant this!”

Li Yuan sighed deeply and helped him up: “Very well, we’ll do as you wish.” He understood this was Li Shimin’s psychological burden, and only by personally catching the female assassin could it be resolved.

“Thank you, Father!” Li Shimin said gratefully, then ordered people to accompany him to the Wu family’s old residence for another investigation. County Magistrate Qin was still there, and seeing Li Shimin arrive, he asked in surprise: “Second Young Master, have your injuries healed?”

“It’s nothing serious now.” After answering casually, Li Shimin asked with a serious expression: “How are things going? Have you found anything?”

County Magistrate Qin shook his head: “I’ve already ordered people to question everyone within a three-li radius, but we still haven’t found anything. No one has seen them, and no one noticed them leaving. This female assassin’s hiding skills are truly formidable.”

Li Shimin pondered briefly: “Since there’s nothing within three li, expand the range. Search and question areas within five li, even ten li. The female assassin is wounded, and Wu Laosan is just an ordinary person. They shouldn’t be able to go far, much less leave the city.”

“I understand.” County Magistrate Qin agreed and called over the constables: “By my order, expand the search range to five… no, ten li. Search house by house, don’t miss a single place. We must find Wu Laosan and that Wu Meixue.”

“She’s not Wu Meixue.” Li Shimin’s sudden comment confused County Magistrate Qin, who asked tentatively: “Second Young Master, that woman…”

Li Shimin knew what he wanted to ask and said coldly: “She’s not Wu Meixue, just someone disguised to look like Wu Meixue. She might have already changed to a different appearance by now, so when you search, don’t just look at appearance, but also pay attention to whether they have wounds.”

County Magistrate Qin nodded and said to the constables and soldiers: “You all heard Second Young Master’s words. The female assassin knows disguise techniques. No one knows what she looks like now. She might be mixed in among people you’ve seen before, so you must be extremely vigilant. Whoever catches the female assassin and Wu Laosan, besides the two hundred strings of cash the Governor mentioned, this county office will also provide one hundred strings, for a total reward of three hundred strings.”

The somewhat weary crowd immediately became energized upon hearing of the three-hundred-string reward. Three hundred strings! They would have to work as constables for ten to twenty years to earn that much money, and now they only needed to catch two people. This was truly an excellent assignment. They must catch those two assassins!

Everyone responded in unison and scattered to search. A ten-li radius was quite a large area, and with Li Shimin saying the assassin might disguise herself as anyone, this search took several times longer than before. When they returned, the sky had already darkened, but the results were deeply disappointing.

“Still nothing?” Hearing County Magistrate Qin’s report, Li Shimin frowned deeply.

County Magistrate Qin nodded heavily: “Yes, they’ve searched the entire ten-li area and indeed found no assassin. In my opinion, the assassin has very likely already escaped from Guijing Village. Should I… should I accompany Second Young Master to search elsewhere?”

Li Shimin ignored his words and instead turned to enter the inner room where Yunyi and the others had stayed. After ordering someone to light a lamp, he carefully examined every item. County Magistrate Qin waited for a while, but seeing that Li Shimin showed no intention of leaving, he said somewhat anxiously: “Second Young Master, both I and Governor Li have already examined this place. There are no clues here. We should hurry to search elsewhere, lest the female assassin escape too far.”

Li Shimin picked up a partially burned tree branch and examined it, then said: “County Magistrate Qin, does the Wu family only have this one old residence?”

County Magistrate Qin was stunned for a moment before answering: “Yes, over thirty years ago, they left this place and moved to Shuangqiao Village. Given the Wu family’s circumstances, this should be their only old residence.” As soon as he finished speaking, he heard Li Shimin ask again: “When you brought people here, did you see anyone leaving? And when did you surround this place?”

“No!” County Magistrate Qin said with certainty: “If there really had been someone, I definitely would have stopped them. As for the surrounding, I ordered people to surround this alley as soon as I arrived, but unfortunately we were still a step too late.”

Li Shimin threw down what he was holding and said coldly: “We weren’t late. If I’m not mistaken, they should still be near this place.”

County Magistrate Qin said in shock: “How is that possible? I’ve searched this entire area thoroughly. If they were still here, it would be impossible not to discover them.”

“You suddenly came with constables and ordered people to completely surround this place. Unless they could predict the future, they couldn’t possibly escape from Guijing Village in such a short time, unless they weren’t here at all. But the clay pot and tree branches on the ground all indicate they had hidden here, so the only explanation is that they never left at all, just hid in a place we haven’t discovered.”

Hearing him put it this way, County Magistrate Qin also thought it quite possible, but then he became troubled. They had searched these few rooms inside and out three or four times and really couldn’t think of where the female assassin and her companion could be hiding. While he was pondering, Li Shimin had already taken Duan Zhihong toward the back room, and he quickly followed.

Li Shimin searched very slowly. Every time he passed a wall, he would tap it lightly with his fingers to determine whether the wall was solid or hollow. After checking them all, there was nothing unusual—every wall was built with bricks and showed no abnormalities. He also checked the beams and even the roof, but found no one hiding.