Soon, the four treasures of the study—brush, ink, paper, and inkstone—were laid out before Qi Shuo.

Qi Shuo selected a fine brush and signaled to the clerk that he could begin speaking.

“That customer looked to be in his thirties, rather thin, with thick black eyebrows, and his eyes…”

Qi Shuo sketched a few strokes and asked the clerk, “Do the eyes look like this?”

The clerk examined them carefully with some hesitation. “They seem like they should be a bit narrower.”

Qi Shuo nodded and redrew a pair of eyes with a few strokes. “What about now?”

“Yes, yes, yes! That’s exactly it!” The clerk grew excited.

“What did his nose look like?”

“His nose…”

And so it went, question and answer, with time slipping by unknowingly.

Chief Jia’s eyes never left the paper. He was anxious but didn’t dare disturb Qi Shuo as he worked on the portrait.

Lin Hao was much calmer, sitting quietly to the side watching the young man wielding the brush.

She hadn’t expected A’Shuo to be skilled at portrait painting as well.

After an unknown amount of time, Qi Shuo suddenly stopped his brush. The ink at the tip congealed and dripped onto the white paper, bleeding into a blot.

“Why has the Heir stopped painting?” Chief Jia asked in puzzlement.

Qi Shuo suddenly tossed the paper aside.

Chief Jia was greatly alarmed.

After painting for so long, why throw it away?

Just as he was about to pick up the paper, he saw Qi Shuo unfold a fresh sheet and begin painting again. This time he painted very quickly, almost in one fluid motion. In less than half an hour, a portrait was complete.

The young man, his pale fingertips stained with ink, stared fixedly at the portrait, his brows slightly furrowed. “Ah Hao, take a look.”

Looking at the lifelike portrait, Lin Hao felt a chill rise from her heart.

It was Chen Mu!

Though there were slight differences from Chen Mu’s actual features, she could still recognize at a glance that the person in the painting was him.

This discovery made Lin Hao’s expression grave. She pressed her lips together without making a sound.

Chen Mu had led a group attempting to blow up Jinxiu Street. The others had all been captured by the Jinlin Guard, leaving only Chen Mu as a fish that slipped through the net, his whereabouts unknown to this day. Unexpectedly, when he resurfaced, it was for such a major matter as the murder of Princess Yulin.

“Is this the person?” Qi Shuo set down his brush and asked the clerk.

The clerk nodded vigorously. “That’s right, it’s him!”

He was clearly shocked by Qi Shuo’s miraculous painting skill. “It looks just like him! Just like him!”

Chief Jia suppressed his admiration and tapped the table with his finger. “Everyone else, look as well. Has anyone seen this person?”

Another clerk recognized him. “This man entered the teahouse under this humble one’s direction.”

“Did he come in before or after the two princesses?” Chief Jia asked.

“After the two princesses,” the clerk answered without hesitation.

“Are you certain?”

“When the two princesses entered, this humble one couldn’t help but steal a few extra glances and momentarily didn’t notice the customer behind them. This man even coughed to remind me…” the clerk explained.

Chief Jia secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Setting aside whether they could find this person, at least having such a person would allow him to report something to his superiors.

“Today we are greatly indebted to the Heir,” Chief Jia thanked Qi Shuo with sincere gratitude.

Qi Shuo smiled. “I’m glad I could help Chief Jia.”

Chief Jia carefully picked up the portrait. “This humble official must take this portrait. After reporting the situation to my superiors, we will still need to use the portrait to post a wanted notice for this person.”

Chief Jia was very clear about his superiors’ attitude. Posting the portrait and offering a reward for his capture was imperative. Only in this way could they inform as many people as possible in the shortest time that someone else had killed Princess Lingque, thereby clearing Princess Yi’an’s name of the murder charge.

“Another day I will certainly invite the Heir for tea.” Chief Jia cupped his hands and hurriedly left with his men.

Qi Shuo looked toward Lin Hao. “Let’s go back as well.”

As soon as the two departed, the clerks began discussing heatedly.

“Don’t speak carelessly—be careful of bringing trouble upon yourselves,” the proprietor rebuked.

“Didn’t that official say they would soon post a wanted notice? When that happens, won’t everyone know? It shouldn’t matter if we talk about it.”

The proprietor thought about it and realized this was true, so he said nothing more, only severely scolded the clerk who had let people casually go to the back.

The teahouse staff knew such shocking inside information and simply couldn’t keep their mouths shut. It quickly spread from one person to ten, from ten to a hundred.

Lin Hao and Qi Shuo returned to the Flower Dew Shop and, avoiding others, discussed the portrait.

“That person is Chen Mu,” Lin Hao said with certainty in her tone.

Qi Shuo had seen Chen Mu during the later surveillance. “I didn’t expect the person in the painting to be him. As expected, a fish that slips through the net leaves endless future troubles.”

Once Yulin chose to ally with the Qi Kingdom because of Princess Lingque’s death, when war broke out, the ones who would suffer most would still be the common people of Great Zhou.

“A’Shuo, what are your plans?” Lin Hao thought of Chen Mu’s cold face and felt heavy-hearted.

“I’ll go see Cheng Maoming.” Qi Shuo hesitated briefly, observing Lin Hao’s reaction. “Perhaps we can try to get Chen Mu’s whereabouts from Du Qing.”

“Du Qing is still at the Jinlin Guard, isn’t he?”

“Yes.”

Lin Hao thought for a moment and made her decision. “I’ll go see him.”

Qi Shuo hesitated slightly but still nodded. “All right.”

After the two had made their plans, they didn’t delay and headed straight for the Jinlin Guard headquarters.

When Cheng Maoming received his subordinate’s report that the Heir of Prince Jing had come to visit, he immediately perked up.

The Heir of Prince Jing was a refined person indeed. Every time they met, he brought benefits. What was it about this time?

“Show them in.”

Cheng Maoming waited with inexplicable anticipation for the Heir of Prince Jing and—staring at Lin Hao for a moment, Cheng Maoming froze.

His discerning eyes were still accurate. This was a young lady in men’s clothing, wasn’t it? Looking more carefully, he recognized her: the Second Miss of the General’s household, the Heir of Prince Jing’s betrothed who hadn’t yet crossed the threshold!

Cheng Maoming looked outside in bewilderment.

The sky was still bright—he wasn’t dreaming.

What was this? Was it now fashionable to bring one’s betrothed to tour the Jinlin Guard?

“This is Second Miss Lin.” Qi Shuo made Lin Hao’s identity clear, his attitude frank and open.

Cheng Maoming greeted her, growing even more bewildered. And they were being completely open about it too?

After exchanging pleasantries, Qi Shuo stated his purpose. “Grand Commander Cheng has heard about the matter of Princess Lingque’s murder, I presume?”

This topic made Cheng Maoming immediately forget everything else. “Cheng has naturally heard of it.”

Though the Emperor had handed the case over to the Ministry of Justice for investigation, the Jinlin Guard wasn’t idle either—the guesthouse was being quietly watched by the Jinlin Guard.

“Before the two princesses went to the teahouse, they stopped at a flower dew shop. That shop is a property of the General’s household, and Second Miss Lin happened to be there at the time—” Qi Shuo paused.

“Did people from the Ministry of Justice seek out Second Miss Lin?” Cheng Maoming asked calmly, thinking to himself that the Heir of Prince Jing had come this time to call in a favor.

“They did come to ask questions. By coincidence, I was also there.”

Cheng Maoming looked at Qi Shuo with somewhat peculiar eyes.

The dignified Heir of Prince Jing, for the sake of his betrothed, actually frequented a rouge and powder shop. If this were his son—oh, he didn’t have a son.

Qi Shuo paid no mind to what Cheng Maoming was thinking and continued, “Since we happened upon it, we exerted a little effort and helped Chief Jia track down a suspicious tea customer. After hearing the description from the clerk who had seen that person, I painted a portrait. The result was that we discovered that person was one of the group who had attempted to blow up Jinxiu Street.”

Cheng Maoming’s expression changed dramatically. “The Heir is certain?”