Lu Tong put on her face veil and left the Bamboo Grove Pavilion. Yin Zheng came up to meet her from outside.

She walked to Lu Tong’s side and said in a low voice: “Miss, the bank notes have all been handed over to Manager Cao.”

Lu Tong nodded: “Good.”

Manager Cao of Kuaihuo Tower was originally from rogue origins. Somehow he gained good fortune and attached himself to an important person, allowing him to open a gambling house on Qinghe Street in the southern part of the city.

Manager Cao had originally made his fortune lending money and collecting interest at gambling venues, so he was naturally bold. Now with an important person backing him, he looked down on people even more. When Lu Tong went to the gambling house that day, Manager Cao wasn’t blind to Yin Zheng’s cheating and scheming. However, when Lu Tong handed over the two thousand taels of bank notes that Yin Zheng had won to Manager Cao, he was very happy to help Lu Tong with this favor.

Manager Cao only wanted silver—as for any underlying undercurrents and lawsuits, he didn’t care at all. Besides, anyone who could open a gambling house in the southern part of the city surely had powerful backing. Even if Wan Quan moved out the Ke family name, Wan Fu was ultimately just a servant of the Ke family.

Manager Cao truly didn’t take a mere servant seriously.

The information about Manager Cao had been learned from Du Changqing during idle conversation at the medical clinic. He used to be a wastrel, and when it came to brothels and gambling houses in the capital, he knew them better than anyone. His casual mention of Manager Cao had stuck in Lu Tong’s mind, so she set up this scheme to lure Wan Quan into the trap.

Now that Manager Cao had received such a large sum of silver, he was happy to do Lu Tong the favor of detaining Wan Quan, which saved Lu Tong a lot of trouble.

Yin Zheng saw that the carriage they had summoned earlier had arrived, so she quickly pulled Lu Tong onto the carriage together.

The carriage circled around the capital’s streets several times. Lu Tong and Yin Zheng also changed carriages a few times. Only when they were certain no one was following them did the two leisurely return to the medical clinic.

At the medical clinic, Du Changqing was lying against the medicine cabinet watching the rain. Seeing the two return, he lifted his eyelids and complained: “Doctor Lu, going out in such heavy rain—aren’t you afraid of getting your shoes wet?”

Yin Zheng put away her umbrella while glancing at him: “Anyway, there have been few people buying medicinal teas at the clinic these past few days, so Shopkeeper Du alone is sufficient. I accompanied Miss out for a walk and happened to take in the rain scenery of the capital.”

Du Changqing chuckled twice: “Such refined interests. But if you really wanted to appreciate the rain, why not go to Yuxian Tower in the southern part of the city? That tower overlooks the river with willows—when it rains, the misty drizzle makes even the river water look green. It would be even better to find a pleasure boat to sit in, invite a boat singer to play a few tunes, drink some warm wine, and order a plate of goose oil rolls—now that’s what I call worldly pleasure…”

He was speaking with such intoxication that when he looked up, he found no one in front of him. Only A’Cheng pointed toward the inner room and winked at him: “They went inside.”

Du Changqing said irritably: “How rude—at least listen to someone finish speaking!”

Lu Tong at this moment truly had no mood to listen to Du Changqing’s showing off.

Going around the small courtyard and entering the room, Yin Zheng helped Lu Tong remove her rain-dampened clothes and changed her into a gray-blue thin silk shirt, then took the wet clothes to wash under the eaves.

Lu Tong sat down at the table.

In the old bamboo pen holder on the table, two wolf-hair brushes were inserted at an angle, with ink and paper arranged by the window.

These were items Yin Zheng had found in the yellow wooden cabinet compartments in the room—probably old belongings left by the previous occupant of this place. Sometimes Yin Zheng would write by the window, reflecting against plum branches, accompanied by wind and moon, which was quite interesting.

Lu Tong rarely wrote.

Most of the time, she was in the courtyard grinding medicine. Today, however, she sat at the table, took paper and brush, dipped it in ink, and wrote the character “Ke.”

The handwriting was different from Yin Zheng’s delicate small script—not only was it not graceful, but it was quite sloppy and wild.

Lu Tong looked at that character “Ke” and became slightly lost in thought.

Her father was a teacher, and all three children in the family received their early education directly from him. Lu Rou’s writing was gentle and elegant, beautiful and graceful. Lu Qian’s writing was strictly structured, vigorous and dignified. Only Lu Tong’s writing was wildly scribbled, following her emotions at will.

Her father was always driven to fury by the calligraphy she handed in—the more he punished her, the sloppier she wrote, and the sloppier she wrote, the more he punished her. So Lu Qian secretly found a calligraphy model and secretly gave it to her, saying: “This is Master Cheng’s calligraphy model—a famous expert. His characters are strange and bizarre, aiming for novelty, making it more suitable for you than other models. Practice properly and stop scribbling randomly, so father won’t scold you every day—it’s annoying to listen to.”

Lu Tong looked through that calligraphy model and found it truly suited her taste, so she copied it over and over until she nearly wore out the model. Only later did she learn that the model was very expensive—a full tael of silver. To save money to buy this calligraphy model, Lu Qian had spent a full six months copying manuscripts for wealthy classmates.

Lu Tong gazed at the black characters on white paper.

That calligraphy model had long since been lost somewhere, but now when she put brush to paper, it was still the same handwriting from years ago.

She looked silently for a while, then picked up the brush again and added the names “Grand Tutor Qi” and “Court of Judicial Review” after the character “Ke.”

Today she had met with Wan Fu. Though Wan Fu had concealed some things, it was very clear that the overall thread of the entire matter was now quite clear.

In the thirty-seventh year of Yongchang, in March after the Awakening of Insects, Lu Rou had unfortunately encountered assault by a young master from the Grand Tutor’s mansion at Fengle Tower.

The Ke family, fearing the Grand Tutor’s mansion’s power, suppressed this matter. To seek advancement, they were even willing to become accomplices, locking Lu Rou at home and slandering her as having contracted a mad illness.

But Lu Rou was not someone who would submit meekly. Having suffered such a disaster, she absolutely had to seek justice and was unwilling to be imprisoned in the Ke mansion as a madwoman. So she wrote letters to Changwu County seeking help from Lu Qian.

Somehow Ke Chengxing learned about Lu Rou’s letter-writing, and at the same time the Ke family discovered that Lu Rou was pregnant. In June of that same year, people from the Grand Tutor’s mansion pressured the Ke family, so the Ke family—or rather Ke Chengxing—killed Lu Rou to silence her. Otherwise, there was no way to explain why the day after people from the Grand Tutor’s mansion visited, Lu Rou threw herself into the pond, and shortly after Lu Rou’s death, the Ke family’s porcelain business gained favor with the Grand Tutor’s mansion.

All these actions seemed more like the Grand Tutor’s mansion threatening with both stick and carrot, exchanging Lu Rou’s life for the Ke family’s prosperity.

Shortly after Lu Rou’s death, Lu Qian came to the capital, first going to the Ke family to question Lu Rou’s death. Soon after, Lu Qian was thrown into prison, and Presiding Judge Fan of the Court of Judicial Review sentenced Lu Qian.

Lu Tong drew a heavy circle around the three characters “Court of Judicial Review.”

Lu Qian must have discovered something, otherwise he wouldn’t have inexplicably received such a charge. It looked exactly like Lu Qian’s actions had implicated their father and mother as well.

The clues Lu Qian discovered must have been very important…

Lu Tong gripped her brush tightly.

The people from Changwu County said Lu Qian had received news of Lu Rou’s death in March, but at that time Lu Rou was clearly still alive. Who had bribed or misled the neighbors in Changwu County? Who exactly had such great resources?

Could the Grand Tutor’s mansion alone cover the sky with one hand to such an extent?

A flash of coldness passed through Lu Tong’s eyes.

Yin Zheng finished washing and hanging the clothes, then came in from outside. Seeing the characters Lu Tong had written on paper, she couldn’t help but be slightly startled. After hesitating for a while, Yin Zheng finally spoke: “Miss, today you met with Master Ke’s servant. If he’s willing to work for you…”

“…Are you planning to find out the truth and clear the Lu family’s name?”

“Clear their name?” Lu Tong looked out the window and murmured to herself.

The season was approaching summer. Today there was rain, so the sky wasn’t as clear as usual—black clouds rolled like ink with light thunder rumbling.

She raised her head, her cold black eyes reflecting the dense clouds, with a flash of hostile energy passing through them.

What use was clearing their name?

What good was the truth?

Lu Rou was defiled and refused to swallow her anger, desperately trying to seek justice, only to be drowned in a cold pond, becoming nothing but a handful of fragrant soul.

Lu Qian, heartbroken over his elder sister and filled with righteous indignation, disregarded the world’s callousness to personally search for evidence, only to have his reputation completely ruined. Even unto death, he couldn’t uncover the truth for the world to see.

And her parents, who had been good people their entire lives, yet met such a tragic end of family annihilation.

Would finding the truth allow them to clear their names?

Even if their names were cleared, would it ensure those people received their just punishment?

Since Grand Tutor Qi could bribe the Ke family and the Court of Judicial Review, perhaps in the future he could also bribe the Court of Imperial Appeals. Or perhaps he had blood relations with imperial relatives—even if the truth came to light, with the emperor’s protection, he wouldn’t receive the death penalty. After being confined for three to five years, he’d be released again—lifted up heavily, set down lightly.

But her Lu family’s four lives would never return.

Why should it be so?

Why should the lives of powerful officials be noble while common people’s lives be cheap?

Why should they be able to act as if nothing happened after killing a family of four?

Lu Tong said: “No, I don’t plan to clear our name.”

Yin Zheng looked at her in surprise.

The young girl’s form was slender, her black hair slightly damp hanging over her shoulders. In the cold wind and fine rain, she was like a wisp of cloud soaked by rain—vast and easily scattered.

She lowered her head, staring at the wild cursive characters on the white paper, slowly reaching out to crumple the paper and place it before the lamp to burn.

The white paper instantly became smoke and ash, then was blown away by the wind.

“My sister is already dead.”

Lu Tong murmured: “I want him to be buried with her.”