“Wait, Cripple, I have something to tell you.”

Wu Qing and the others hadn’t walked far when they were called back by a breathless voice. Turning around, they saw Lian Xin waving while looking strangely at Leng Xue.

Leng Xue had no good feelings toward Lian Xin and sneered: “Don’t worry, I’m not interested in your conversation.”

With that, he quickly stepped aside.

Wu Qing slowly walked over. Seeing him frown slightly as he looked at her, Lian Xin’s heart jumped and she turned her head away slightly: “What do you think of this – Li Huaisu lacks evidence, right? We still have seven days. We could go investigate those suspicious people again, then casually let her know what we find.”

Wu Qing’s gaze grew heavy: “You agree with Little Zhou’s opinion?”

Hearing him say Little Zhou’s name with a slightly hoarse voice, Lian Xin’s heart twisted inexplicably and she almost immediately retorted: “Isn’t this what you originally wanted? What does it have to do with her!”

Wu Qing looked at her thoughtfully, about to speak when Lian Xin quickly ran away, only leaving behind “I’ll find you tomorrow morning” from afar.

Little Zhou slowly emerged from a nearby corridor, pulling at the corners of her mouth. She took one step, then quickly stopped in place. Since someone had already said what she wanted to say, what was the point of going over? Lian Xin was a golden branch and jade leaf – what was she in comparison?

Leng Xue naturally wouldn’t ask Wu Qing about gossip, but Wu Qing seemed to have no intention of hiding from Leng Xue. He shared Lian Xin’s idea and even asked: “Would you go?”

Leng Xue said coldly: “You already knew my answer, but if you want to go, I won’t stop you.”

Wu Qing’s expression was somewhat inscrutable as he said calmly: “I don’t want her to give up, which is why I made this suggestion. But you and Huo Chang’an are also right – if she thought there was a possibility of handling it, she would have gone back when she left earlier. She didn’t, which shows she truly can’t manage it. Besides, no one wants to face their own failure. If we continue telling her about our investigation, it would undoubtedly embarrass her.”

But Leng Xue said: “Though you say this, you’ll still go with the Princess tomorrow. Otherwise, you had no need to tell me about this. Wu Qing, you and Little Zhou are actually the same type of people. What kind of person are you really?”

Wu Qing suddenly smiled, his eyes showing rare wickedness: “So you don’t just want to have a drink with me – it’s more complicated than that.”

Later that night, Qing Long knocked on Lian Yu’s door and delivered a letter.

Lian Yu had already retired. He dismissed Qing Long and opened the envelope.

Inside were only two simple lines:

According to what she said, she has no solution. The situation seems genuine – in short, her talents are exhausted. As for the specific situation, further observation needed.

After reading the letter, Lian Yu held the paper to the candle on the table and burned it.

On the table lay a flute askew, as if it had been carelessly dropped or thrown aside moments before.

The next day, everything at the inn seemed increasingly calm, yet made people uneasy – like the suffocating oppression before a storm.

With nothing to do, Su Zhen was confined to her room. Fearing Leng Xue would worry, she took him for a casual stroll around the inn. Along the way, they encountered several famous doctors who had been brought from elsewhere, testing medicines in the courtyard.

Fearing Su Zhen might be affected by the scene, Leng Xue said: “How about we eat out today?”

Su Zhen naturally knew what he was thinking and shook her head with a smile: “No need to be so deliberate. I’m fine, Leng Xue. Since we’ve run into them, let me ask these respected masters about something.”

Leng Xue thought she still couldn’t let go of the case, but unexpectedly heard her ask: “Masters, my friend has a relatively new leg injury – the bones were shattered and healed crookedly. Though he can walk now, it limits his speed. After you finish testing the medicines, could you examine him?”

She then elaborated on how difficult the leg condition was to treat, which famous doctors had seen it, and how even Seventh Prince Lian Jie, a medical sage, was helpless.

Though these veteran practitioners weren’t imperial physicians, they were famous in neighboring provinces as old Chinese medicine doctors specializing in difficult cases. They immediately showed great interest, saying they would come discuss it with her as soon as they finished their work. She asked if they had similar cases before, and they immediately had their servants return home to bring batches of diagnostic records and medical cases for joint study that evening.

Su Zhen was delighted. Seeing the many medicines before them, she worried: “With so many medicinal materials, there must be much to test. Can you masters finish testing by tonight? I know some medicine myself, and if my friend’s leg isn’t treated early, I fear…”

One elder stroked his beard: “Young master need not worry. We’ve tested most of it and confirmed they’re all good goods. It seems this entire batch of medicines is genuine – if there were fakes, they would have been destroyed long ago.”

Su Zhen: “But wouldn’t destroying so much cause huge losses?”

The elder: “More than losses – it would be ruinous. For a pharmacy of that scale, at least ten thousand taels of silver in goods.”

Su Zhen was somewhat shocked. Realizing she had strayed into case matters again, she bowed and left.

Leng Xue habitually threw cold water on her: “You can barely take care of yourself now, yet you’re managing someone of unknown origin?”

“He’s my friend.”

“Maybe he won’t be in the future.”

“But he still is now. Even if we cross swords tomorrow, today we’re still friends. Besides, I have some selfish motives too.”

Leng Xue was puzzled: “Selfish motives?”

Su Zhen smiled without explaining, her gaze only falling on several women heading out ahead.

Among these women, Shuangcheng was missing. Su Zhen seemed to understand something and quickly left. Leng Xue increasingly felt the former Su Zhen was gradually disappearing. He suddenly remembered a poem: “The good time cannot come again, wind and rain distant as years.”

After returning to the room, Leng Xue obviously felt Su Zhen still cared about the case, because she suddenly rolled up her sleeves, ground ink, and began copying calligraphy.

Whenever she did this, she was trying to calm herself down.

Two hours passed before she put down her brush, then immediately asked: “Do you know why Shuangcheng wasn’t among those people?”

This sudden question startled Leng Xue, but he obviously didn’t believe her and snorted: “You actually know about people’s movements?”

“I really do know.”

“Shuangcheng must have thought of some way to solve the case, so she didn’t go out again but concentrated on thinking about the case. According to little Xin, she took the first case, the first case.”

She smiled, but her delicate nose wrinkled with fine lines. Leng Xue’s heart sank – she had no solution but actually couldn’t let go.

Before Leng Xue needed to comfort her, the door was pushed open and Lian Xin and Wu Qing appeared before them. Su Zhen was somewhat surprised: “How did you two come together?”

Lian Xin still had sweat on her forehead, her cheeks rosy red in an endearing way. She picked up a cup from the table, poured herself tea, and gulped it down. She looked extremely thirsty.

Su Zhen and Leng Xue exchanged glances. Neither planned to tell Lian Xin that the water had been used to wash brushes. Of course, only briefly.

Wu Qing was clever and immediately understood.

Lian Xin put down the cup and smacked her lips several times. Su Zhen carefully asked: “Little Xin, were you very thirsty?”

Lian Xin glared at her: “This palace stood with Wu Qing under the blazing sun for a full two hours today.”

Su Zhen looked at Wu Qing: “Wu Qing, don’t you care about water for a princess?”

Wu Qing: “The Princess didn’t say anything.”

Seeing Wu Qing look over, Lian Xin quickly waved: “I’m not that pampered. I wasn’t thirsty just now.”

Looking at Lian Xin’s hesitant eyes, Su Zhen immediately understood something, though she was still somewhat puzzled: “How did you two end up together today?”

Wu Qing glanced at Lian Xin, who understood and quickly said: “You… temporarily don’t want to investigate cases, but we’re interested in case investigation, so we went to see what other leads there might be. Of course, we watched from hiding.”

Though Su Zhen no longer planned to take any cases, she didn’t avoid the question and almost immediately asked: “How was it? Where did you go? Any new discoveries?”

Lian Xin grinned: “Young Master Cheng’s shop.”

Gu Shuangcheng’s case wasn’t simple – rivalry aside, one couldn’t take it on impulsively. Lian Yue’s case involved Li Huaisu and Huo Chang’an’s friendship, so competing with his wife wasn’t very honorable. That left the case Wei Wu Yan and Miao Yin took. Anyway, Wei Wu Yan’s attitude toward Su Zhen was really poor, so competing with her was fine. So they went to the pharmacy.

She continued: “On the surface, there really weren’t any new leads. But there was something interesting – this Young Master Cheng really isn’t easy to deal with. Last time he knew to use uninformed people to pressure us. This time he went even further – guess who he brought out?”

“Who?”

The questioner was Huo Chang’an, who had just entered, smiling slightly but not hiding his curiosity.

Everyone nodded in greeting. Huo Chang’an was naturally sociable and didn’t mind, just listening as Lian Xin said: “His wife. His wife is pregnant, looking close to delivery with a round belly. She came with a maid, saying the home’s pregnancy-preserving medicine was used up and they needed to get some. Would it kill the maid to get it alone? Not only that, everyone from the manager to the assistants acted extremely busy, putting customers first, asking the young mistress to wait while they served customers first.”

She brightened up here, putting a finger to her lips: “I saw that beautiful young mistress waiting very agreeably. Wait, let me add – she could have sat down to wait, but insisted on standing while supporting her back, sweating profusely, making her maid very nervous. Then the supporting cast appeared. Just then – note, just then – it was a pregnant woman’s turn to get medicine. The maid asked if that pregnant woman could let her mistress go first, saying they were both getting ordinary pregnancy medicine plus some ginseng for energy – they could all use it. Of course the pregnant woman wouldn’t object.”

Huo Chang’an laughed heartily: “This Young Master Cheng is indeed quite a character. His own wife using his own medicine – how could others doubt? This way, the Guan He-shi incident becomes even more beneficial for future business. But that delicate little lady suffered for it.”

Wu Qing added: “Killing three birds with one stone. Consort Wei and Miss Miao’s investigation was very unpopular.”

Huo Chang’an curled his lips: “Oh, Wei Wu Yan and them?”