After the portrait was taken away.

Ji Yinshu said, “Minister Li, now that the portrait is completed, we can only continue the investigation once the deceased’s identity has been confirmed.”

Li Cheng replied, “Then I’ll have to trouble Master Ji with the follow-up matters as well.”

He wore a smile on his face as he leaned toward Ji Yinshu’s shoulder.

Looking like a complete wolf!

Leering lecherously.

The two of them like this made the bystanders extremely uncomfortable.

Ji Yinshu’s mouth twitched.

She silently stepped back several paces.

Li Cheng moved closer to her again.

Before he could get near—

Jingrong, who had been sitting and drinking tea, suddenly stood up, grasped Ji Yinshu’s hand inside her sleeve, and pulled her behind him.

Protecting her firmly.

His ice-cold eyes stared coldly at that wolf.

Li Cheng’s body froze, nearly crashing into his embrace.

Fortunately, he stopped himself in time.

“You…”

He hadn’t noticed at all before that Jingrong was actually here.

Jingrong’s gaze was stern, carrying a sense of asserting ownership.

Li Cheng swallowed and took two steps back.

He didn’t know why, but he was inexplicably afraid of Jingrong.

Afraid of him from the bottom of his heart.

Afterward, he could only say to the officials with an embarrassed expression, “Well… you all should leave first. Once there’s news about the deceased’s identity, inform me immediately.”

“Yes!”

The officials exchanged glances.

They withdrew one by one.

Only the three of them remained.

Once the room emptied, Li Cheng smiled and said to Jingrong, “Master Jing, you don’t need to guard against me like this, do you? I’m not going to eat anyone.”

Jingrong replied, “If Young Master Cheng hadn’t done things he shouldn’t have done, why would I need to guard against you?”

“The way you talk—this young master has been completely sincere toward you two. How could I do anything improper? On the contrary, you two are the ones guarding against me at every turn.”

This baby is angry now.

Li Cheng went to sit in the chair Jingrong had been sitting in.

He grabbed the snacks on it and started eating.

Jingrong gave a cold laugh.

Speechless.

Ji Yinshu said, “Young Master Cheng, since there’s nothing else, we’ll take our leave first. Just notify me once the deceased’s identity is determined.”

Preparing to leave.

Hearing she wanted to go.

Li Cheng hastily threw down the fruit in his hand.

He called out to them, “Wait.”

He blocked their path.

“Aren’t you looking for someone? This young master promised that as long as you help me solve this case, I’ll help you find the person. Now the portrait is complete, and the truth isn’t far off. So, shouldn’t you also tell me… exactly who you’re looking for? So I can make arrangements right away.”

Ji Yinshu glanced at Jingrong.

Waiting for him to speak.

Jingrong still wore his unsmiling face and asked Li Cheng, “Are you certain you can find them?”

“As long as they’re from Huyi, whether dead or alive, even if I have to turn all of Huyi upside down, I’ll find them for you. I keep my word.”

He patted his chest.

Extremely confident.

However—

With Li Cheng’s personality, if he searched for someone, wouldn’t everyone know about it?

Third Master had instructed them not to make it public.

Jingrong said, “Regarding this matter, we don’t want too many people to know. So if you help us search, you cannot do so in a high-profile manner.”

“Can’t be high-profile? Search discreetly?”

“Correct! Moreover… even if searching discreetly, absolutely not too many people can know. At the very least, it cannot be done openly.” Jingrong made his requirements clear.

“You can rest assured about that. When I handle matters, I’m absolutely reliable,” Li Cheng asked. “What’s the person’s name?”

Jingrong first gave him a warning, “You must guarantee this matter won’t spread.”

“I guarantee it.”

Jingrong considered once more before saying, “Chahe!”

“From where in Huyi?”

“Gaoding.”

“Gaoding City? That shouldn’t be hard to investigate. Leave it to me.”

“Don’t speak too soon. We’ve already searched for this person in Gaoding City. There’s no such person at all—not even anyone with this surname.”

“Oh?” Li Cheng pondered. “From what you’re saying, finding this person should be quite difficult.”

“If it weren’t difficult, we wouldn’t have accepted your hot potato.”

Haha—

“That’s true.” Li Cheng laughed awkwardly again and asked, “So besides the name, is there nothing else? For instance, how tall, how old, or… any distinctive features in appearance? Or perhaps…”

Before he finished speaking—

Jingrong tossed him two words: “Nothing else.”

Li Cheng’s words were instantly swallowed.

He nearly choked himself.

“Only a name, nothing else—searching for this will be… rather difficult, I’m afraid.”

Difficult!

Jingrong’s expression changed drastically!

Li Cheng observed his expression and quickly added, “Difficult! But not impossible. After all, solutions are thought up by people.”

Cunning ideas emerging.

Ji Yinshu quickly asked, “What method do you have?”

“Isn’t it simple?” Li Cheng paced around the room as he spoke. “Right now, the most important thing isn’t to find whether this person is in Gaoding or not, but to know whether this person exists at all. If not, no matter how you search it’s useless, or you’ve simply been given a false name. If this person does exist, then see where their household registration is, who else is in their family? Once you know these things, naturally it becomes much simpler.”

This young fellow’s mind was actually pretty sharp.

Jingrong said, “To check household registrations… we’d need to go to the Ministry of Personnel.”

“Then go to the Ministry of Personnel to check!”

“I told you, this matter cannot be done in a high-profile manner.”

“I didn’t say to do it in a high-profile manner.”

Hmm?

Li Cheng stroked his chin and said, “We… personally go to the Ministry of Personnel to check ourselves.”

When he said this—

Jingrong probably already understood his meaning.

“So you want to take us to the Ministry of Personnel?”

“Is it difficult? Just bringing a few people to the Ministry of Personnel. You can disguise yourselves and follow me—no one will dare stop us. We’ll go to the Ministry of Personnel and check openly and proudly.”

Looking completely arrogant.

However, Jingrong looked at him as if looking at an idiot.

Reminding him, “Young Master Cheng, you probably don’t know the Ministry of Personnel’s regulations.”

“What do you mean?”

“All household registration records are collected and stored in one place in the Ministry of Personnel, heavily guarded outside. Those who can enter, besides Ministry of Personnel officials, anyone else must have an imperial decree to enter. Otherwise, they’ll be punished for disrupting order.”

Those regulations of the official court—Li Cheng was a naive fool about them.

But Jingrong had been navigating the halls of power for many years and knew these departmental regulations inside and out.

Even in Huyi, it was the same.

Li Cheng frowned. “There’s such a thing?”

Astonished!

“So it’s completely impossible.”

If it were possible, Jingrong would have broken in with Bai Yin on the first day.

Li Cheng sat back in the chair again.

Deep in thought.

What he had promised, he must accomplish.

He couldn’t go back on his word!

Thinking it over…

A person suddenly came to mind.

Gong Shilin! That person he still had locked in the morgue.