Chapter 94

Chapter 94

•Don't forget me, Miss•

Xie Heng boarded the carriage and closed his eyes, remaining silent.

Luo Wanqing dared not disturb his rest and had no intention of conversing with him. She directly opened the dossier he had given her and began searching for the phoenix hairpin she sought.

All confiscated assets were recorded in an official ledger. Luo Wanqing quickly found the page listing jewelry and soon located the "Gilt Phoenix Feather Hairpin with Red Gemstone." Behind the hairpin was the name of the purchaser, "Fang Miao," along with his residence.

He lived on the outskirts of Yangzhou, quite far away. Luo Wanqing considered the location and was about to ask Xie Heng's permission to go there when the carriage came to a stop.

"Good afternoon!"

As soon as the carriage stopped, Cui Heng lifted the curtain and entered. As soon as he did, the Starling, Zhang Yiran, followed him into the carriage.

The Starling saw Xie Heng and was about to pay respects when Xie Heng said, "No need."

Xie Heng opened his eyes and looked at Luo Wanqing. "Where is the hairpin?"

"Oh." Luo Wanqing realized that Xie Heng knew what she had been doing. She hurriedly reported the address outside the city and Xie Heng closed his eyes again. "Zhuque, let's go."

The county office carriage was small, and with three people inside, it felt particularly cramped. Luo Wanqing and the Starling sat on one side, while Zhang Yiran and Cui Heng sat on the other. Xie Heng sat alone in the middle.

The atmosphere was somewhat tense for some reason. Cui Heng looked around and pulled out an orange from his sleeve. Observing Xie Heng, he asked, "Director Xie, what's wrong? You don't look too happy?"

"Give Zhang Qiuzhi's dossier to Director Zhang."

Xie Heng ignored Cui Heng's question. Although he didn't specify who he was addressing, Luo Wanqing understood that he was speaking to her.

After all, she was the only one who knew about the dossiers.

To avoid others discovering her purpose through the dossiers she had requested, Luo Wanqing had taken a pile of miscellaneous dossiers and ledgers this time. The cases involving the Luo family and Zhang Qiuzhi were just two among them.

Luo Wanqing searched through the documents and handed Zhang Qiuzhi's dossier to Zhang Yiran across from her.

Zhang Yiran was surprised that they had also brought his father's dossier. He quickly took it and began looking through it. Xie Heng, supporting his forehead, said calmly, "When Fengyu Pavilion attacked Zhang Qiuzhi years ago, they might have left some traces. If the trail ends with Luo Qushu, we'll search for more clues with Zhang Qiuzhi."

Luo Wanqing wasn't sure why Xie Heng thought the trail would end with her father, but since meeting him, she had learned that most of what he said had its reasons.

Although Zhang Yiran didn't fully understand their ultimate goal, he roughly knew that his father's case was related to something Cui Qingping had sent from the border, which was received by Luo Qushu of the Luo family. After both families suffered misfortunes, the Supervision Division was now pursuing that item.

Taking the dossier, Zhang Yiran said seriously, "I will inform you if I find anything unusual."

With that, he lowered his head and focused on reading.

The carriage fell quiet. Cui Heng glanced at Xie Heng and then at Luo Wanqing, not daring to speak much. In the end, he could only turn to the Starling opposite him and offer a flattering smile. "Here, Starling, have an orange."

The Starling gave him a cold glance and declined. "No, thank you."

Cui Heng subconsciously wanted to share the orange with Luo Wanqing, but suddenly remembered something and quickly withdrew his hand, stuffing the whole orange into his mouth.

After half an hour, the carriage finally arrived at the village where the buyer "Fang Miao" lived. There weren't many people in this village, and it didn't appear prosperous. Following the address, Luo Wanqing reached Fang Miao's door and saw that the house was dilapidated, with cobwebs even on the door, indicating that it had been vacant for a long time.

"This family seems impoverished, not like they could afford a gilt phoenix feather hairpin."

Zhang Yiran looked at the house and frowned.

Cui Heng crossed his arms and surveyed the surroundings. "Do I need to tell you that?"

As he spoke, a neighbor poked their head out curiously, staring at their group. An elderly woman couldn't help but ask, "Who are you?"

"Lady," Luo Wanqing turned and faced the woman, who was eyeing them warily. She smiled kindly and asked, "May I ask if Fang Miao lives here and if he's home?"

"He hasn't been here for a long time."

The woman seemed impatient. "A few months ago, he went to the city and never returned. You should leave."

"Doesn't he have any family?" The Starling wondered. "Hasn't anyone come looking for him?"

"What family does he have?" The woman shook her head. "For the past six years, he's been living alone here, making a living by hunting. Every day, he goes into the mountains to gather wild delicacies and sells them in the city. I've never seen anyone from his family visit. Who are you?"

"We're from the government," Luo Wanqing said solemnly. "We have some matters to discuss with him. What does he look like? Does he have any distinctive features?"

Hearing this, the woman became nervous. "What did he do?"

"Just answer the questions," the Starling reminded her coldly.

The woman nodded hastily and tried to recall Fang Miao's appearance. She described him: "He's a middle-aged man in his thirties, with a square face, neither tall nor short, neither fat nor thin. He has a scar on his face, but otherwise, he looks quite ordinary."

Luo Wanqing listened and asked the woman a few more questions. The woman didn't know much about Fang Miao. Seeing that she wouldn't be able to obtain any more information, Luo Wanqing bowed and said, "Thank you, Lady."

Then, Luo Wanqing pretended to leave with everyone. Before they departed, she glanced at the Starling, who then slipped into an alley beside them and searched Fang Miao's house.

Luo Wanqing waited at the village entrance for the Starling. Soon, he emerged, and Luo Wanqing immediately asked, "Did you find any clues?"

"No," the Starling shook his head. "But the house was tidy. Ordinary clothes and silver were still there, suggesting he didn't plan to travel far."

If he wasn't traveling far but had disappeared for months, it meant he had encountered an accident.

Luo Wanqing pondered this and looked at Xie Heng, who seemed to have anticipated this outcome.

Xie Heng stood on the country path, watching children play in the distance. Hearing Luo Wanqing's inquiries, he suggested, raising his hand, "Let's return."

"Yes, yes," Cui Heng agreed, reassuring everyone. "We'll go back and get the government to help us find him. There must be a way."

As they spoke, they returned to the carriage. Zhang Yiran was deep in thought during the journey. Once they were back in the carriage, he thought for a moment, took out Zhang Qiuzhi's dossier, and after a while, he suddenly realized something and shouted, "To the prison!"

Everyone was startled by his sudden outburst. Without hesitation, Xie Heng ordered, "To the prison."

The Vermillion Bird shouted cheerfully from outside, "Got it."

As he spoke, the carriage changed direction. Luo Wanqing looked at Zhang Yiran and asked curiously, "What did you discover, Sir Zhang?"

"The victim is not right."

Zhang Yiran quickly pulled out a portrait, which had the name "Wang Hu" written on it. He stared at Luo Wanqing and said quickly, "This isn't Uncle Wang."

Upon hearing this, Luo Wanqing took the dossier and glanced at it, immediately understanding that the portraits depicted were all of the people killed during the Fengyu Pavilion's ambush on Zhang Qiuzhi's escort mission. Zhang Yiran explained, "I know everyone in this escort mission. Uncle Wang watched me grow up as our family's escort master. I'm very clear that he doesn't look like this. He has a square face with a scar... "

"Fang Miao?"

Luo Wanqing immediately caught on, and Zhang Yiran nodded. "That's right."

"So why did you go to the prison?"

Luo Wanqing couldn't figure it out. Zhang Yiran thought for a moment and said, "Earlier, I saw someone who looked a lot like Wang Hu in the prison."

Hearing this, everyone was stunned. Cui Heng drew a sharp breath and exclaimed, "What luck is this? Hurry up," Cui Heng urged Zhuque outside, "speed up, we're in a hurry to catch someone!"

The carriage moved much faster than before, rushing towards the prison. As soon as they got out of the carriage, Zhang Yiran rushed inside, followed by Luo Wanqing and the others. They headed straight for the cell where Xing Ling had been held earlier.

He scanned the area and his gaze fell on a man in the corner of the cell. His expression turned serious, and he immediately ordered the jailer to step forward, saying coldly, "Open the door!"

The jailer didn't dare to disobey and hurriedly opened the door for Zhang Yiran.

As soon as the door opened, Zhang Yiran strode in and reached out to grab the man.

However, the man quickly covered his head and hurriedly kowtowed, pleading, "Mercy, Your Excellency!"

Zhang Yiran ignored him and struggled with him for a while, urging, "Let go, let me see your face!"

"Mercy, Your Excellency, spare this humble one."

"Let go!"

Although Zhang Yiran was a civil official, he wasn't weak due to his constant work. He could handle most people.

However, no matter how he tried to pull, the man always kept his face covered, clearly indicating some martial arts training.

Seeing this, Luo Wanqing stepped forward, stomped her foot on the man's knees, grabbed his hair, and pulled him up.

The man raised his head in pain, and the moment his face was revealed, Zhang Yiran was taken aback and couldn't help but exclaim, "Uncle Wang?"

The man looked at Zhang Yiran in a daze, seemingly disbelieving.

Zhang Yiran hurriedly said, "Uncle Wang, it's me, it's Yiran!"

The man didn't dare to speak, looking at him warily and fearfully.

Xie Heng's expression was calm as he ordered the jailer beside him, "Remove the leg irons, we're taking him away."

"No!"

Wang Hu suddenly reacted and exclaimed in horror, "I won't go! I want to stay here!"

"Uncle Wang!" Zhang Yiran urged, "Tell me about any injustice you've suffered. I'm an official now, you don't have to be afraid..."

"I won't..."

"This is Zhang Qiuzhi's son."

Xie Heng suddenly spoke, and everyone fell silent. It seemed he knew everything. Staring at Wang Hu, he calmly said, "Are you going to hold out until death or speak up? At least listen to what he has to say. I'll take responsibility for everything, so what do you have to fear?"

"You..." Wang Hu looked at Xie Heng in surprise and suspicion, unable to help asking, "Who are you?"

"Supervision Division, Xie Heng."

At the mention of this name, Wang Hu held his breath.

Xie Heng looked at him calmly and simply asked, "Will you come?"

No one dared to speak. Wang Hu stared at Xie Heng for a long time before gritting his teeth and saying, "I'll come."

Hearing this, everyone present sighed in relief. Luo Wanqing hurriedly instructed someone to take Wang Hu and escorted him out.

Everyone followed the jailers out. Luo Wanqing walked behind Xie Heng, but after only a few steps, she suddenly realized something and stopped abruptly.

Xie Heng noticed that the person behind him had stopped and turned around indifferently, following Luo Wanqing's gaze towards the nearby cell.

In an instant, the name "Jiang Shaoyan" flooded into Xie Heng's sight. His pupils constricted, and he stood silently with Luo Wanqing.

Luo Wanqing stared at those words, which hadn't faded even after all this time.

It was as if this room had only ever housed her, and thus every trace she had left was preserved intact.

The walls were filled with Jiang Shaoyan's name, from orderly inscriptions in the center to nearly chaotic ones at the edges, from deeply etched ones to casually scratched ones, and even some stained with blood. Each name represented her state of mind at that moment, and now they seemed to reach out like icy hands from hell, pulling her back into the molten lava.

Luo Wanqing stared at those names when a calm, puzzled voice came from beside her, "What is this?"

This voice jolted Luo Wanqing awake. She regained her composure, forcing herself to lower her head and respond as calmly as possible, "These are the names I carved out of boredom when I was imprisoned here."

"Boredom?"

Xie Heng looked quietly at the names on the wall, his expression unreadable. He asked, "A person who queued up to buy osmanthus cakes for you, went to the East Sea to fetch agarwood for your favorite incense, and was always there whenever you turned around—when you wrote his name here, was it just because you were bored?"

Luo Wanqing didn't dare to speak. She hadn't expected Xie Heng to notice so much. For every shop she introduced to him, he seemed to know the shadow Jiang Shaoyan cast upon them.

These were their five years, an unbreachable span of time.

For the first time in five years, it appeared before them in such a tangible form. The names of Jiang Shaoyan that filled the wall seemed etched into her flesh and bones, seeping through her veins with her blood, saturating every inch of her with love and hate.

It made her recall so vividly, once again, where she came from.

Liu Xiniang, disfigured and broken in the Yangzhou Prison, reborn for Li Guiyu, come for Li Guiyu's sake.

She didn't dare to think more, forcing herself to calm down as she lowered her eyes and stood before Xie Heng.

Xie Heng looked at her silently, as if he wanted to say something. However, after a long while, he finally sighed softly and turned around, saying, "Let's go."

Luo Wanqing followed Xie Heng as he stepped away. Before they went too far, she couldn't help but look back.

Jiang Shaoyan.

Xie Heng noticed her turning back and urged her with a lowered gaze, "Hurry up."

Luo Wanqing snapped out of her thoughts and quickly caught up with Xie Heng, following him as they briskly walked out of the prison.

They brought Wang Hu back to Xie Heng's residence. The steward took Wang Hu to wash up first. After he was done, Xie Heng instructed Zhang Yiran to speak with Wang Hu alone, while everyone else waited outside.

After some time, Zhang Yiran opened the door and smiled, saying, "Alright, Uncle Wang is willing to talk."

Upon hearing this, Luo Wanqing immediately led everyone inside. She lifted her eyes to see Wang Hu sitting at the table, looking somewhat weary.

He was covered in injuries, clearly having endured torture. Seeing everyone enter, Wang Hu immediately stood up and respectfully said, "Honorable sirs."

"Sit down and talk," Xie Heng gestured, and everyone found their own seats.

Xie Heng sat at the highest seat on the side, with Xing Ling preparing ink and brush to take notes beside him. Zhang Yiran and Cui Heng sat on either side, leaving Luo Wanqing and Wang Hu to sit across from each other at the round table. Luo Wanqing thought for a moment before pouring tea for Wang Hu and gently saying, "Uncle Wang, start from the incident six years ago when things went wrong."

Hearing this, Wang Hu pondered for a moment before saying, "Six years ago, the boss's eldest daughter fell ill, and the boss was short on money. So, he returned to his old ways, taking any job for money. That time, we helped a wealthy merchant transport some goods from Yangzhou to the Northwest. When we arrived in the Northwest, the front lines erupted into battle. We didn't want to stay longer than necessary, so we planned to leave right after delivering the goods. But that night, several men in black arrived at our inn and found the boss, offering us another job to take back to Yangzhou. At first, none of us wanted to accept it, feeling something was off. But after the boss spoke with them privately for a while, he came back and told us that he had accepted the job, but it was very dangerous. He let us choose whether to stay or leave."

"So, did he know what he was supposed to deliver?"

Luo Wanqing understood and then asked, "What kind of box was it?"

"I've never seen it; it was always wrapped in black cloth." Wang Hu recalled, "But I carried it once and felt that it was an iron box, about the size of two palms, very heavy. Usually, the boss kept it close to him, not letting anyone touch it. When the boss told us to leave, no one wanted to because we were all brothers who had been through life and death together. So, we continued to escort it back. Everything went smoothly until we reached the outskirts of Yangzhou, where suddenly many assassins appeared."

As Wang Hu spoke, even after six years, his eyes reddened.

"These assassins were highly skilled. I was stabbed in the chest, but luckily, my heart was positioned further to the left than most people's, so the blow didn't kill me. When I woke up, I saw the bodies of my brothers around me. I tried to crawl away, but then I saw someone retrieve that box from between a tree trunk."

"Who was he?" Luo Wanqing furrowed her brows, finally understanding how her father had obtained the item when Zhang Qiuzhi died on the outskirts of Yangzhou.

It turned out that Zhang Qiuzhi had hidden the item in a tree trunk before dying, and the assassins hadn't found it. Later, someone else retrieved it.

"How did he know the item was hidden in the tree trunk?"

"Because he was one of those assassins."

Wang Hu explained, surprising everyone.

Wang Hu smiled, seemingly understanding their confusion, and explained, "When I saw him, I tried to run, but due to my severe injuries, I couldn't get away. I had resigned myself to my fate, but he saved me after taking the item. Then, he told me that if I wanted to live, I had to assume the identity of a man named Fang Miao and work for him, never returning home. Wanting to live, I agreed. He sent my wife and children to Liufeng Island, and I worked outside, visiting them every year when the island opened."

"So, that golden phoenix feather ruby hairpin, was it him who made you buy it?"

Luo Wanqing guessed, and Wang Hu nodded. "Yes, earlier this year, Luo Qushu died in prison, and the Luo family was exiled. Their assets were auctioned off, and he suddenly approached me, giving me a large sum of money to bid on that hairpin at any cost."

"What happened to the hairpin?"

"I gave it to him."

"And him?"

"I don't know."

Wang Hu shook his head, thinking, "I was imprisoned in March and haven't seen him since."

"Why were you in prison?"

Xie Heng asked calmly, as if he already knew something.

Wang Hu's expression became slightly stern. "In March, shortly after I bought the hairpin, a group of people captured me. They forced me to tell them who I had given the phoenix hairpin to. I told them I gambled it away. They tortured me for a long time, and recently, they threw me into prison."

"You were only imprisoned recently?!"

Luo Wanqing was surprised. "When exactly?"

"On the ninth day of the seventh month."

Wang Hu replied, and Luo Wanqing was stunned.

The ninth day of the seventh month was the day she left East Capital.

This meant that when she left East Capital, someone had arranged for Wang Hu to be waiting for her here.

Who could it be?

As the thought crossed her mind, the wall full of "Jiang Shaoyan" in the prison seemed to provide a silent answer, appearing before her eyes in an instant.

She felt as if she had returned to the prison corridor, turning around dazedly to see that person sitting in the prison. Behind him, the wall was filled with the names of Jiang Shaoyan, just like before. Dressed in black, with a long knife at his side, he sat upright, raising his head towards her with a gentle smile.

"Miss."

At that moment, the wall of writing seemed to serve as a silent warning and reminder.

He was her swamp, trying to drag her down into the mud for the rest of her life.

He would never allow her to escape, always by her side.

Don't forget me.

Miss.

Author's note:

"Side scene"

Luo Wanqing: "Young Master, this shop has delicious food, that shop smells wonderful, this tofu pudding is superb..."

Background noise: "Oh, this young lady looks like Doctor Luo; back then, Young Master Jiang also was..."

Xie Heng hears: "Young Master, this shop is where Jiang Shaoyan and I ate together, that shop is where Jiang Shaoyan fetched spices for me specifically, this tofu pudding is what I had for Jiang Shaoyan..."

Xie Heng: "I must have been kicked in the head by a donkey to come to Jiang Shaoyan's turf and challenge him. I'm done with this part of the river. I'm stirring things up, I'm leaving!!!"