Following behind the mother and child, Ye Ziāan slipped the moment he heard those words. Could he say that he didnāt want his sonās company?
"Handsome daddy!" Just as the thought crossed Ye Ziāanās mind, his sharp-eyed son caught sight of him and called out excitedly.
The boy wriggled free from Yang Chuxiaās grasp and toddled towards Ye Ziāan as if they hadnāt seen each other for many years.
"Handsome daddy, I missed you so much."
Ye Ziāan shook his head with a wry smile at these words, "You little rascal, missing me is fine, but letās skip the āmiss you to deathā part."
Yang Xiayun and Luo Linyu, holding hands at the side, chimed in, "Yangyang has been talking about his brother-in-law since last night; heās been going on all night."
"Back so early? Is the interrogation over?" Yang Chuxia had thought it would take at least until noon.
"It canāt be that quick; there are so many people."
As soon as they sat down inside the house, someone came to report Ming Yuās death.
Yang Chuxia showed little reaction upon hearing the news, "Find a place to bury her. Her master wanted her dead; we couldnāt have stopped it."
After a pause, he continued, "Luckily, I had sent the two boys and Linyu out in advance. Otherwise, it would have been us in chaos today."
The mastermind would know something went wrong with Ming Yu; it was tantamount to betrayal, and they would surely return to silence her eventually.
"But I feel like somethingās off with the timing of our investigation?" Yang Chuxia said while arranging for breakfast, passing a wrung-out wet towel to Ye Ziāan.
"What do you mean?"
Ye Ziāan took the towel and wiped his face.
"Look, the imperial decree just arrived, and we found the results the same night. Wouldnāt that make people think we werenāt diligent in our investigation before? Or might they suspect that we framed Fancy Red Pavilion because of the decree?"
"Framing isnāt quite the right word, since those hidden passages are real, and framing them wouldnāt be feasible. As for whether we were diligent or not, some people would indeed talk. But what can we do when the imperial decreeās arrival is such a coincidence?"
Ye Ziāan wasnāt worried about these things. He was more concerned about whether they could reveal the big fish behind it all. Someone knew his mother had taken something all those years ago, and he couldnāt help but ponder deeply.
"Letās rest a bit after breakfast. We can talk about it later."
~~~~
Overwhelmed with numerous matters, Ye Ziāan didnāt sleep much before he got up, and his movement awakened Yang Chuxia too.
"You sleep a bit more. Iāll go and check on things at the office."
"I might as well get up too; I canāt sleep anymore."
Dressing quickly and carelessly coiling her hair into a bun, securing it with a hairpin, she deemed it good enough; there were no important guests to see anyway.
"Later, we must focus our interrogation on that old madam. She has seen her master and should know who they are," Yang Chuxia said as they left the bedroom. "I suspect the person I followed last night is the master of Fancy Red Pavilion."
"Hmm, Iāve already had Ye Yi start the interrogation," Ye Ziāan replied.
What Ye Ziāan didnāt expect was that the old madam would commit suicideāby swallowing a blade no less. Some would hide pills in their teeth, others medicine packets, but she had a blade the size of a tooth.
With the old madamās death, nobody else knew who the other party was.
As for the old man who watched the house, he knew nothing.
However, through the mouths of Fancy Red Pavilionās thugs, they learned of another house and found the remaining three girls.
As for the rest, all were dead. It was said that those taken to Fancy Red Pavilion were beaten to death for disobedience. Their bodies were dismembered and transported through the hidden passages to the inn, from where inn workers moved the remains to boats. The boats would dispose of the bodies along the way, and upon reaching the next dock, the boat would be left there, taking another to return.