Bao Zhu returned to her room, opened the window, and gazed outside.

The sun was setting in the west, and the Precious Pagoda stood amidst the brilliant evening glow. Over a thousand bells swayed in the wind, refracting the rosy light, making the entire pagoda flow with gold and overflow with color, dreamlike and fantastical.

With such a major case having occurred, the area must already be heavily guarded by soldiers, with ordinary pilgrims unable to approach. When the three of them had visited Lotus Temple for sightseeing just two days ago, the bustling, lively scene in the temple seemed to be right before her eyes. At that time, Wei Xun had been preoccupied, staring fixedly at the Precious Pagoda outside the window. Looking back now, how could this not arouse suspicion?

What exactly had he been watching? Guard rotation times? Patrol routes? Or was he simply daydreaming?

Seeing that she wasn’t as friendly as usual, her face cold and thoughtful, Shisan Lang felt uneasy and didn’t dare speak carelessly in her presence. He could only comment on the news they’d just heard: “It’s just catching thieves – why seal the entire city? That County Magistrate Wu is so confused!”

Bao Zhu actually shook her head and said slowly, “How can a country bumpkin’s words be taken seriously? When a heavily guarded treasury is robbed, nine times out of ten it involves inside accomplices. County Magistrate Wu immediately arrested related personnel and sealed the city to prevent bandits from escaping with the stolen goods – this could be considered decisive action and resolute handling. It’s just that using severe torture for interrogation wasn’t very clever.”

Shisan Lang asked, “What do you mean?”

Bao Zhu said, “If it were a cruel official investigating a treason case, under torture the suspect would surely confess. Treason is a fabricated crime that can be established simply by admitting rebellious intentions – no evidence is needed, and officials can complete their duties with just a confession. Theft cases are different. Even if severe torture forces someone to admit they committed the theft, an innocent person cannot conjure up stolen goods from thin air. Without the stolen goods, the case cannot be solved, so torture is inappropriate.”

Shisan Lang found her analysis remarkably thorough and felt very strange. After all, she previously couldn’t distinguish between different grains or separate wheat from weeds, walking the streets like a young child who constantly needed looking after.

What he didn’t know was that Princess Wangshou, born in the deep palace, was naturally ignorant about marketplace affairs – sending her to buy food could very well result in her being cheated by dishonest scales. But the various instances of bureaucratic negligence, false accusations, and underhanded schemes among high officials in the court were things she had heard and witnessed since childhood, becoming more familiar with them than familiar could be.

“So Jiu Niang means the arrested people are innocent?”

Bao Zhu sighed, “I don’t know the other details, so how could I judge the case without evidence? It’s just that I’m probably going to be in trouble.”

Shisan Lang asked in alarm, “How so?”

Bao Zhu said with heavy thoughts, “If interrogation still fails to recover Cui Keyong’s belongings, the county magistrate won’t be able to bear this responsibility and will send people to search and arrest throughout the city – otherwise why make such a big show of sealing the city? Even if they can’t find the treasure immediately, they’ll still need to arrest and interrogate a batch of people to show they’re doing everything possible. When that time comes, vagrants without proper documents will bear the brunt, being treated as suspects and dragged to the county office for trial. Even if they’re innocent and blameless, dozens of beatings will leave them either dead or crippled – wouldn’t that be terrible luck?”

When Prince Shao was a candidate for heir apparent, he had received several years of education in “hearing litigation.” Each time he returned to the palace from the front court, he would tell Bao Zhu about the interesting cases he’d heard that day. The actual records of ministers famous throughout dynasties for their case investigations, like Xu Yougong and Su Wuming, were read by the siblings like storybooks until they were worn out. As for the investigation methods of cruel and incompetent officials, they didn’t need to specifically look for those – they could see them every day.

Her prediction of the authorities’ next actions was quite accurate. That very afternoon, word spread through the streets that all bailiffs had been mobilized, searching house by house for thieves with such momentum that they seemed ready to overturn the entire city. Not only were they catching thieves, but all people of suspicious identity in the marketplace – from wandering monks to traveling entertainers who performed with monkeys and snakes, brothel and gambling house workers, and even beggars in the streets – all had to be investigated.

The neighborhood head of this district came rushing to the Sun Family Inn in a panic, informing the innkeeper to prepare the guest registration ledger for inspection. The innkeeper then knocked on doors room by room, notifying the guests staying at the inn about the inspection.

When Shisan Lang received this news and saw disaster approaching, he became as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. Though he had grown up struggling on the streets and was quite familiar with human relations involving small amounts of money, he had never experienced such a major case involving powerful figures. Being young and with Wei Xun absent, he immediately lost his composure.

He said frantically, “What should we do? With such a major case, the slightest mistake could bring disaster to wives and children – no amount of bribery could get us through!”

With the city gates already sealed, the situation was like catching a turtle in a jar – neither man nor ghost could escape on wings. Bao Zhu was also deeply worried and said gloomily, “Xiagui County isn’t large, but it has fifty to sixty thousand people registered – they probably can’t get here immediately. I just hope your senior brother returns quickly – there might still be a chance. It’s been two days already – what on earth has that brat been doing?!”

Shisan Lang bit his lips tightly and kept his head down without speaking.

Seeing that he dared to conceal things at such a critical time, Bao Zhu was so angry she wanted to find a bamboo ruler to strike his palms. But this child wasn’t her real younger brother after all, so beating him wouldn’t be entirely justified. She could only suppress her temper and ask in a roundabout way, “Before your senior brother left, he asked you to bring something back. Tell me honestly – what did he want?”

Shisan Lang thought that if he didn’t reveal even a hint, he definitely couldn’t escape this calamity, so he could only stammer, “He asked me to bring some refined charcoal…”

Bao Zhu said strangely, “I could understand if I lacked black stone for drawing eyebrows and occasionally needed a piece, but it’s so hot – what does he want charcoal for?”

“…” Shisan Lang again became a bald, mouthless stuffed gourd.

Suddenly, Bao Zhu’s mind flashed back to when they were in distress, temporarily staying at Cuiwei Temple in Chang’an, and Wei Xun had melted her jewelry into liquid gold over the furnace – stolen goods needed to be fenced, and the best way to fence them was to change the original object’s form.

After the sun set, Wei Xun still hadn’t returned, but instead a strange old man arrived at the Sun Family Inn with four attendants.

This man was over sixty years old, wearing simple short robes. He was short in stature and unremarkable in appearance, with eyes that formed slits and seemed somewhat dim with age. However, his four attendants were broad-backed and bear-shouldered, covered in tattoos, clearly not good people.

As soon as the old man stood in the inn, the innkeeper immediately panicked, fearfully rushing to greet him while stammering incoherently, “Why have you come! The small inn, the small inn – please have some tea first!” Unable to bear the pressure, he turned and shouted for his wife in fright, “Old woman, come out quickly! Old Master Liu is here!”

He very carefully rubbed his hands and explained, “We’ve already, already given this month’s tribute… I don’t know what other instructions you have…”

The old man waved for him to be quiet and said in a strong, clear voice, “Two days ago, a young man in a bamboo cloth green shirt came with a young novice monk and a young woman, leading a donkey to stay here. Go inform him that Liu Mao of Xiagui has come to visit and requests the honor of meeting him face to face. Remember – be respectful! Also, have the kitchen prepare a table of food and wine, especially the finest wine.”

How dare the innkeeper be negligent? He agreed repeatedly, had his wife urgently arrange the banquet, while he himself ran upstairs to call the person. He found it very strange – clearly it was a refined young lady with a green-robed house servant staying at the inn, so why did Liu Mao reverse it? He was also very afraid – if those guests angered this white-haired old man and blood splattered five steps in his inn, the Sun Family Inn’s business would probably be finished.

Hearing the innkeeper’s words, Bao Zhu felt even stranger. At this time of city lockdown and martial law, this man came aggressively to the inn, specifically asking to see Wei Xun – was he an enemy or an acquaintance? Shisan Lang sent the innkeeper away and quickly said, “I’ll go down and tell him that senior brother isn’t here now.”

Bao Zhu stopped him: “No hurry. Who knows when he’ll come back? I’ll go down and meet this old man – maybe he knows something.”

Shisan Lang said in alarm, “This man is the leader of the local underworld, Jiu Niang, you…”

Bao Zhu had been trapped in the room in fear for two days and was already in a foul mood. She sneered, “This young lady was once a Great Tang Princess Imperial who died once – I fear ghosts but not people, much less an old man about to be buried. Besides, since this man is from the underworld, if he really meant us harm and your worthless senior brother isn’t here, could he let it go if we hide and refuse to see him?”

Shisan Lang sighed and admitted she was right, “Certainly not – Jiu Niang is correct.”

Bao Zhu came from the Li Tang imperial family and from childhood preferred action to stillness, daily enjoying horseback riding, archery, polo, and ball games – she naturally had considerable courage. When she had just recovered from serious illness, her physical strength was weak and her courage was also weak, so when encountering troubles, she inevitably felt panicked and timid. Now that her body was gradually recovering, her courage was also gradually returning to normal.

Banqueting with ministers and receiving envoys – she had seen countless grand scenes following her parents and brothers since childhood. Though her status was gone, her courage remained. She smoothed her hair, straightened her clothes, and gracefully walked downstairs with Shisan Lang.