“Who are you? Who let you in?” Interrupted in his boasting, Master Hu squinted his already small eyes at the person in the doorway, clearly displeased.
“I’m a nobody, known as Shun Hou’er,” the man said with a grin, sitting down next to Master Hu. He grabbed a wine jug and poured it directly into his mouth, then smiled, “Master Hu, I have some business with Brother Cao. I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to step out for a moment.”
“Don’t mind him, Master Hu,” Cao Wanrong said, his eyelid twitching uncontrollably. He snorted loudly and sneered, “Where did this lowly slave come from, daring to barge in here and spout nonsense? This isn’t a place for the likes of you. Someone, throw this ignorant fool out!” He recognized this man as one of Mudan’s attendants.
“Throw me out? Cao Wanrong, you found yourself a vicious dog for a godfather, and now you’re acting like his little lapdog? Listen to your bark,” Shun Hou’er tossed aside the wine jug and said coldly, “Men, take this fool who doesn’t know when to quit away!”
Three or four burly men rushed in from the doorway, their faces grim as they pounced on Cao Wanrong. They overturned the table, sending dishes, cups, and bowls crashing to the floor. The songstresses screamed and fled in terror.
Where were his men? Cao Wanrong broke out in a cold sweat, his heart pounding. He struggled desperately, shouting, “On what grounds? Who are you people? Master Hu, you can’t let them bully me like this!”
“There aren’t many who dare to be so brazen in front of me. Men!” Master Hu sneered, clapping his fat hands. “Let’s see whose little dog dares to bark here, not fearing for its life.”
Six or seven armed servants rushed in. Seeing the situation, they wordlessly drew their blades and attacked the burly men. Cao Wanrong tried to slip away along the wall, but Shun Hou’er moved swiftly, placing a sharp knife against his throat. As Cao Wanrong tried to struggle, he felt a heavy blow to his lower back, leaving him weak and powerless.
Shun Hou’er shouted, “Internal guards on official business! Come at us if you’re not afraid of death or trouble!”
Internal guards? Cao Wanrong’s eyelid twitched again. Since when did Mudan have connections with the internal guards? He looked pleadingly at Master Hu and rasped, “Master Hu, he’s lying. He’s Jiang’s servant, I’ve seen him myself.”
But Master Hu raised a hand slightly, signaling his men to stop. He squinted at Shun Hou’er, “You’re with the internal guards? Do you have proof?”
Shun Hou’er glanced at one of the burly men, who understood and tossed over an official badge. Master Hu examined it and found it genuine. He said calmly, “I don’t know how our Prince Min’s people have offended the internal guards. If you don’t explain clearly, I can’t report back to His Highness. What am I supposed to say when he asks?”
Hearing that he was from Prince Min’s household, Cao Wanrong was so moved he almost cried. Surely these people wouldn’t dare to go against Prince Min?
But Shun Hou’er smiled slightly, “It’s not about offending, but about an investigation. If His Highness asks, please tell him the truth, Master Hu. We suspect him of involvement in the five murders from a while back. We’re just asking him to assist with our inquiries.”
Master Hu’s expression changed slightly, and he took a small step back.
“What nonsense are you talking about? You’re framing an innocent man for personal revenge!” Cao Wanrong exclaimed in shock, struggling to appeal to Master Hu, “Master Hu, I’m innocent! You know my character better than anyone…”
But Master Hu looked at him calmly and said, “If you’ve done nothing wrong, you won’t be wronged. Go peacefully. The internal guards are reasonable, and there’s the Emperor above them.”
Catching his eye, Cao Wanrong felt somewhat reassured. He stopped struggling and pushed Shun Hou’er away, “Let go of me. I can walk on my own.”
Shun Hou’er didn’t get angry. He grinned and bowed to Master Hu, “Excuse us, much obliged.” Then he turned and said through gritted teeth, “Tie up the suspect!”
Watching Shun Hou’er and his men push Cao Wanrong out and down the stairs, Master Hu squinted thoughtfully and said, “Let’s go.” He needed to report this to Prince Min quickly, waiting for a chance to catch Jiang Changyang out. Using public office for private gain, seeking personal revenge—this was Jiang Changyang’s doing.
Cold wind mixed with fine rain fell incessantly, quickly soaking through their clothes. Water ran down their hair and into their garments, repeating the cycle. An ordinary person would have been shivering from the cold by now. But Cao Wanrong didn’t feel cold at all. His body was burning hot as he desperately ran behind Shun Hou’er’s horse. Shun Hou’er’s horse wasn’t moving fast, but Cao Wanrong’s two legs couldn’t outrun a horse’s four, especially in this damned mud. The slightest lapse meant even greater suffering. In his mind, Cao Wanrong cursed Jiang Changyang and Mudan countless times, but it didn’t give him any more strength to ease his burning lungs and legs or run faster.
His stamina was impressive. Shun Hou’er and his men exchanged glances and grinned. They whipped the horse’s rump, causing it to suddenly speed up. Cao Wanrong, unprepared and inexperienced in such situations, fell face-first into the mud, his mouth full of sludge and half a front tooth broken.
“How careless of you, Master Cao! It’s dark and slippery, and these beasts are unruly. I wanted to invite you to ride, but that wouldn’t be proper, would it?” Shun Hou’er kindly stopped, waiting for him to get up. Cao Wanrong wanted to curse loudly but, thinking of the bigger picture swallowed his anger.
He thought the worst would be a beating, and indeed he was beaten. But he hadn’t expected the beating to be so thorough and varied. Most terrifyingly, apart from his broken tooth, there were no visible marks on his body. Yet the slightest touch caused excruciating pain all over. In the middle of the night, when he could barely breathe from the pain and was almost ready to confess to any crime they wanted to pin on him, he finally saw Jiang Changyang. Seeing Xiao Er Gou and several others standing beside Jiang Changyang, he cursed, “Jiang, you’re seeking personal revenge. You’ll regret this.”
Jiang Changyang ignored him completely. With a nod of his chin, one person stepped forward and said, “It’s him. He paid the money on the day of the murders.” Another said, “I saw him talking to the customer who died.” Yet another added, “I saw him lurking around that day. He looked suspicious, and sure enough, he’s no good.”
“Did you hear that?” Jiang Changyang smiled sinisterly. “Who would dare associate with you now? I guess you don’t know who the dead man was.” He leaned close to Cao Wanrong’s ear and whispered a few words. Seeing Cao Wanrong’s pupils suddenly constrict, he then glanced meaningfully at Xiao Er Gou beside him and said slowly, “Of course, I think you recognize this person. Life or death, you choose.”
At dawn, Cao Wanrong and his confession were transferred to the Capital Prefecture. Jiang Changyang’s original words were that this matter came to light through another case, involving his household affairs, so he couldn’t handle it himself and requested the Capital Prefecture to deal with it according to the law.
In front of the Prefect, Cao Wanrong confessed that out of jealousy, he had been waiting for an opportunity to take revenge on Mudan. After Jin Buyan purchased a large quantity of peonies from Fang Garden, he had been looking for the right person and opportunity to make Mudan suffer a great loss. He had connections with local ruffians and through them hired the acrobat Xiao Er Gou. He instructed Xiao Er Gou to use his flying anchor skills to secretly climb into Fang Garden’s nursery, maliciously damage the peonies inside, and attempt to frame Lü Fang and his servants. He also drugged Yu He, took advantage of Zheng Huajiang’s absence to go home, and bribed and incited Zheng Huajiang to spread rumors, among other misdeeds.
With both testimonial and physical evidence complete, Cao Wanrong was charged with theft. In addition to being ordered to compensate Fang Garden for all losses, his remaining property was confiscated, and he was exiled three thousand li away. The people from Prince Min’s household, whom he had been desperately counting on, had vanished without a trace.
As the news spread, Lü Chun immediately jumped out to declare that Cao Wanrong was a disgrace to the peony cultivation industry. He admitted that he had been misled by Cao Wanrong’s provocations and had misunderstood Mudan. He expressed willingness to reconcile with Mudan and invited her to join the guild as a deputy head.
Mudan smiled as she looked over the fragrant gold-inked invitation in front of her, shaking her head lightly. “This Lü Chun is truly cunning and sly.” She had no interest in becoming a guild official, but peaceful coexistence was the best outcome.
Mama Lin couldn’t help but sigh, “I never imagined Cao Wanrong would be so bold and vicious.” It was one thing in the past, but now Mudan was married into an official family. How could he still be so daring?
Shun Hou’er smiled, “Because he believed Prince Min’s household would back him up. That fat Hu is one of Prince Min’s most capable men. He had given him quite a few benefits, even sent women, all for protection.” As for those people, they naturally had their thoughts. Some were waiting to watch the show, while others hoped to catch some mistakes. Many people thought Jiang Changyang would use his power to finish off Cao Wanrong, but Jiang Changyang didn’t. In the end, he chose the proper legal channels, which disappointed many people. But from Cao Wanrong’s perspective, his biggest mistake was not knowing that Jiang Changyang was with the internal guards. Someone had deliberately concealed this information from him.
Mudan let out a soft sigh. Now, except for not being able to contact Jin Buyan, everything at Fang Garden was finally running smoothly. With Cao Wanrong gone and Lü Chun and the guild finally accepting her, she no longer had to rack her brains trying to break through.
Yu He smiled, “What about that little thief Xiao Er Gou? I haven’t heard how he’ll be dealt with.”
Shun Hou’er said, “He’s just a poor kid with a skill. His greatest wish was for his family to be able to eat meat and for his younger siblings not to be sold. Locking him up for a year or two, letting him suffer a bit, and giving him a chance to reform might turn him into a useful person.” If it weren’t for encountering him, Xiao Er Gou might have gotten away.
A couple of days later, some clues about Zheng Yugui’s death emerged, and surprisingly, all signs pointed toward Prince Ning.