“You’ve really found him?” Cheng Maoming believed Qi Shuo’s words without a shred of doubt, but this pleasant surprise came so suddenly and was so tremendous that he felt like he was dreaming.

Qi Shuo remained very calm: “He appears to match the person in the portrait. Does the Grand Commander want to go take a look?”

What else could Cheng Maoming say? He immediately led people to Du Qing’s residence. Upon arriving there, one of them said in surprise: “Eh, this place has been searched before.”

Cheng Maoming glanced at that Jinlin Guard: “When?”

“It was when pursuing the fish that escaped the net from that gang hiding gunpowder—” The subordinate answered while secretly regretting speaking too quickly just now.

“A bunch of worthless fools!” Cheng Maoming cursed once and strode inside.

Chen Mu had already been moved to the eastern room, his mouth stuffed with a wad of cloth, his hands bound tightly.

Cheng Maoming looked once and couldn’t help but laugh aloud: “Excellent, excellent, excellent! It’s indeed this villain. First take him back to the office.”

The subordinates he’d brought all acknowledged in unison, stepped forward to firmly restrain Chen Mu, and escorted him out the door.

Though Cheng Maoming was anxious, he deliberately lagged behind and met up with Qi Shuo, who hadn’t followed inside.

“The Heir has truly done me a tremendous favor.” Cheng Maoming gave Qi Shuo a deep bow.

Qi Shuo’s expression remained indifferent: “The Grand Commander is too kind.”

“This isn’t being kind—I truly am grateful to the Heir.” Cheng Maoming grasped Qi Shuo’s hand, his tone especially earnest.

Qi Shuo’s gaze fell on that hand, and his mouth twitched slightly.

There was really no need to grip quite so tightly.

He imperceptibly withdrew his hand and smiled: “The villain not only killed innocents indiscriminately but also attempted to provoke conflict between two nations—his intentions were sinister. Any Great Zhou person with the nation at heart would do the same, let alone a member of the imperial clan like myself.”

Cheng Maoming’s eyes brimmed with tears: “I understand.”

These courteous words were fine to hear in passing. When all was said and done, it was still the Heir of Prince Jing delivering benefits to him. If he didn’t know how to appreciate it, he would be too ignorant of propriety.

“How did the Heir discover this person?”

“It’s a long story. After the Grand Commander finishes this busy period, I’ll explain in detail.”

“But that villain—”

Qi Shuo smiled slightly: “Many people today could see that the person was taken away by the Jinlin Guard.”

“Such a great merit—how could I be so shameless—”

“In my view, this merit should belong to the Grand Commander. The Jinlin Guard began pursuing this person very early on and put in far more effort than offices like the Ministry of Justice and the Five-City Military Commissioner…”

Cheng Maoming listened, feeling both pleased and moved.

Look at the Heir of Prince Jing—at such a young age, how well he spoke, how well he handled matters. If only his son could be like this—bah, he had no son.

Reining in his wandering thoughts, Cheng Maoming felt a pang of sourness in his heart.

Why didn’t he have a son!

Qi Shuo keenly caught the flash of regret in Cheng Maoming’s eyes and rarely felt somewhat bewildered: This person’s reaction deviated somewhat from expectations.

“Heir, I must first return to interrogate that villain, and afterward I still need to report the situation to His Majesty. Please excuse me.”

After bidding farewell to Qi Shuo, Cheng Maoming hurried back to the Jinlin Guard office.

The wad of cloth stuffed in Chen Mu’s mouth had already been removed, and the two poison teeth he’d hidden had also been found.

Cheng Maoming glanced at the man whose hands and feet were secured with iron rings and asked: “What is your name?”

Chen Mu raised his eyelids but made no sound.

Even now, he was still puzzled about his capture. After much thought, he could only attribute it to the person disguised as Du Qing somehow revealing a flaw at some point.

“Why did you murder the Yuliu princess?”

Chen Mu still didn’t speak.

“Won’t talk?” Cheng Maoming looked at the prisoner below who was as hard as stone, and his temper flared.

If not for this bastard causing chaos, how would he have been worked to the bone and still worried about being scolded!

“Go summon those teahouse servers.” Cheng Maoming gave the order.

The Jinlin Guard worked quite efficiently. Before long, several teahouse servers were brought in, each one looking quite frightened.

Cheng Maoming spoke soothingly: “Don’t be afraid. We’ve called you here to identify whether this person is the suspect you saw that day.”

“It’s him!” Upon seeing Chen Mu, one server immediately cried out.

Another server also recognized him: “That’s right, it’s him!”

“You’re certain?”

“There’s no mistake—he’s the one who went to the back area that day.”

Having received the witnesses’ definite answer, a smile appeared at the corners of Cheng Maoming’s mouth, and he ordered his subordinates to escort the witnesses out.

“Even if you say nothing, you’ll still be convicted.” Cheng Maoming walked several steps closer, staring at the expressionless prisoner.

Chen Mu finally spoke, his voice hoarse: “So what if I’m convicted?”

Having fallen into the Jinlin Guard’s hands, he had never expected to survive anyway. One life stirring up such a huge upheaval—it was worth it.

Cheng Maoming couldn’t help but frown.

This was a tough nut to crack.

“Not talking is fine—let’s see if you can withstand those torture instruments.” Cheng Maoming sneered.

Chen Mu glanced at him and also sneered.

“Proceed.”

Following Cheng Maoming’s order, agonized screams soon rang out in the torture chamber.

After an unknown amount of time had passed, the Jinlin Guard administering torture had sore hands: “Grand Commander, he’s passed out.”

Cheng Maoming silently cursed his bad luck and could only first enter the palace to report the situation to Emperor Tai’an.

The matter of the missing Yuliu maidservant simply couldn’t be concealed for long. If someone reported it to His Majesty before him, he would be in deep trouble. Fortunately, the Heir of Prince Jing had given him such a great merit, providing him with a protective talisman.

On the way to the palace, Cheng Maoming once again sincerely felt grateful to Qi Shuo.

When Emperor Tai’an heard the palace attendant’s announcement, he knew there was new development regarding Princess Lingque’s murder. Perhaps because there had been nothing but bad news for so long, he had an ominous premonition. After Cheng Maoming entered and knelt to plead guilty, the Emperor surprisingly felt a sense of calm detachment.

He might as well see what else could possibly happen.

“This subject received news that a Yuliu maidservant has disappeared… This subject is guilty!” Cheng Maoming knelt on the ground, bowing his head in contrition.

Emperor Tai’an reached out to grasp the white jade paperweight and took a deep breath, ultimately not throwing the paperweight.

It wouldn’t matter to smash a worthless wastrel or two to death, but he couldn’t waste a white jade paperweight.

“How did she disappear?” Emperor Tai’an practically ground out these words between his teeth.

Cheng Maoming listened with bowed head, silently breathing a sigh of relief.

Based on his understanding of His Majesty, the calmer the Emperor appeared, the more furious he was. Fortunately, he hadn’t yet deployed his protective talisman.

“The lodge has been watched day and night on all sides. No Yuliu maidservant has been seen leaving. We’re currently searching the lodge’s interior and have notified all city gates to carefully inspect people coming and going…”

After hearing Cheng Maoming’s report, Emperor Tai’an laughed in extreme anger: “No one was seen leaving, and she’s not in the lodge either—could a living person transform into a bird and fly out?”

Cheng Maoming felt like crying.

He had thought the same thing! Who knew how a living person could just disappear?

Sneaking a glance at Emperor Tai’an’s expression, Cheng Maoming decisively deployed his protective talisman: “This subject has one more matter to report.”

“Speak.” As he uttered this word, veins bulged at Emperor Tai’an’s temples.

Could there be even more vexing news?

Cheng Maoming steadied his voice: “The murderer who killed Princess Lingque has been captured.”