When the book-traveling little detective meets the two-faced prince

Chapter 75 Snowy Winter Meets Warm Sunshine

Zhao Tinglan originally wanted to wait until there were fewer people concerned about the affairs of the mansion, and then go to the mansion to take a look, perhaps she could find some clues.

However, within a few days, everyone started to spread the rumor that a wealthy man named Duan had moved into the mansion where someone had died, and he had a brother named Liang.

Zhao Tinglan had no choice but to give up the idea.

There was a rumor circulating among the people that the newly moved rich man was the same group of robbers who killed the previous family.

Because most of the servants in the mansion were rude and difficult to get along with, and they seldom interacted with the common people, and because someone had died in the house before, the people in the town kept their distance from the rich man's family.

Although Zhao Tinglan never left Chunhua Tower, she always sent people to keep an eye on the movements of Yulong Village and the rich man's family, and knew everything about Changluan County.

But Zhao Tinglan still couldn't find any clues.

To be able to do things so flawlessly, there must be something more complicated behind the scenes.

After a year of peace and tranquility, the servant of Chunhua Tower suddenly rushed back in a hurry and knocked on Zhao Tinglan's door.

Zhao Tinglan was watering the orchids in the house. The sudden sound caused the water to spill out of the pots.

"Come in."

As Zhao Tinglan spoke, she slowly walked to get the cloth to wipe the water.

The servant pushed the door open and came in. He closed the door with a panicked look on his face and said breathlessly, "Mother Zhao...Mother Zhao...no...something's wrong. Li...Li Weisheng...he..."

"Why are you panicking? Have a drink of water first."

The servant clasped his fists to express his gratitude to Mother Zhao, poured herself a cup of tea and drank it, and then her expression eased a little.

Zhao Tinglan wiped away the spilled water with a cloth, lowered her eyes and said slowly: "Didn't Li Weisheng go to participate in the special examination a while ago? What's wrong with that?"

"That's... that's why it's bad."

Zhao Tinglan paused for a moment while wiping the water, put away the cloth and looked at the servant, and asked with some concern: "What happened?"

"Not long after Li Weisheng left, for some unknown reason, the wealthy man in town came to the He family and said that he had taken a fancy to He Yuqing and wanted her to marry him. He also said that if she didn't marry him, he would kill the two elders of the He family."

"There is such a thing. Did He Yuqing agree to it?"

"I originally refused to comply, but for some reason He Yuqing agreed and said that the wedding would be held tomorrow."

Zhao Tinglan tightened her grip on the cloth, and her eyes darkened.

"Hurry up and find a few people to go to Yulong Village and bring the He family here as soon as possible. Go!"

The servant looked hesitant, but still responded, "Yes!"

In order to take good care of the He family, Zhao Tinglan also prepared a room for them, wanting to take care of them until Li Weisheng returned.

Li Weisheng is well-read and a famous student. He will definitely be able to find an official position. When he comes back, he can not only protect the safety of the He family, but he may also be able to thoroughly investigate the case from a year ago, and the Xing family's affairs will be resolved.

Zhao Tinglan hoped silently in her heart.

Unfortunately, the servant did not bring the He family back, but brought back the bad news of the He family on the next afternoon. He Yuqing jumped into the river and drowned before getting married, and her body was never found. The two elders of the He family also died tragically in Yulong Village.

Upon hearing the news, Zhao Tinglan's breathing was trembling. She clenched her fists so tightly that the joints turned white. Zhao Tinglan took a few quick steps, raised her hand and slapped the boy's face, which instantly turned red.

The servant immediately knelt down in front of Zhao Tinglan, lowered his head, and hurriedly explained: "I'm sorry, it's my fault, please punish me, Mother Zhao!"

"Ineffective?" Zhao Tinglan said with hidden anger: "Didn't I ask you to bring the He family here as soon as possible? Didn't you wait until all the He family members died before you went to pick them up?"

"I……"

"to be frank!"

The servant lowered his head even lower, not daring to look up at Zhao Tinglan.

"I'm sorry, I didn't take anyone to Yulong Village."

"Human life is at stake. I trusted you so much, but you actually..."

The servant lowered his head and interrupted Zhao Tinglan for the first time. He said with a hint of displeasure, "Human life is of paramount importance. Are the lives of the people in Chunhua Tower not lives?"

"What……"

The servant suddenly raised his head, looking at Zhao Tinglan with a pair of eyes that did not think he was wrong, and said, "All the people who lived in that house before are dead. If we bring them here, what if those robbers target our Chunhua Tower? Will the lives of those people in our Chunhua Tower no longer matter?"

The servant turned his head to one side and said, "I don't know why you care about the affairs of those irrelevant people, such as the Wuming Mansion and the He family in Yulong Village. Their lives are not worth mentioning to me."

"you……"

Zhao Tinglan took a few steps back unsteadily.

The servant wanted to stand up and help, but in the end he knelt on the ground with his fists clenched.

"Mother Zhao, you have treated us well. The brothers of Chunhua Tower all remember this in their hearts. This Chunhua Tower is my home to me. I will not sacrifice your life for these insignificant people..."

The servant paused for a moment, then continued, "And everyone in Chunhua Tower received half the damage."

"Anyway, I don't think I did anything wrong! If you are really angry and feel that I have betrayed your trust, at worst, I will give my life to the He family as compensation."

After saying that, the boy took out the knife from his waist and was about to stab himself in the neck.

"What are you doing!" Zhao Tinglan stepped forward and knocked the knife out of the servant's hand. Then she was in a trance and sat on the round stool next to her, holding her forehead with trembling hands.

Zhao Tinglan said slowly: "Go down, I want to be alone."

The servant wanted to say something, but Zhao Tinglan waved her hand and told him to go down quickly. The servant had no choice but to bow respectfully and leave Zhao Tinglan's room.

After the servant left the room, Zhao Tinglan closed her eyes to hide the sadness in them, but her brows remained furrowed.

The servant's words made Zhao Tinglan wake up from a dream. Zhao Tinglan then realized that she was wrong. It was her own business to want to avenge the Xing family, and she shouldn't drag others into this quagmire.

A few days later, the rich man's family, including the servants in the mansion, did not leave any body like the Xing family. Instead, they all died in an accidental death, and their deaths were extremely cruel. Their bodies were chopped into a bloody mess, and no one even came to collect the bodies.

Not wanting to involve the lives of any more innocent people, Zhao Tinglan went to the abandoned house in disguise one night when no one was paying attention.

Because no one collected the bodies, the stench of corpses was everywhere in the house, and the stench was overwhelming. Looking at the courtyard full of corpses and knife marks, Zhao Tinglan was frightened and stayed away from going any further.

But in the end, the desire to find out the truth overcame her fear. Zhao Tinglan covered her mouth and nose with a handkerchief and stepped into the mansion.

Walking carefully to a place, Zhao Tinglan smelled a familiar scent, which seemed to be the same smell in Ren Mama's room in Chunhua Building.

Just as she was about to go over to take a closer look, a figure suddenly appeared behind her, covered Zhao Tinglan's mouth and nose, and took Zhao Tinglan to a dark corner in the house.

Zhao Tinglan was frightened, but she was out of strength and couldn't break free.

In the dark, Zhao Tinglan saw a man in black covering his left shoulder and coming out of a room. After making sure that there was no one around, he left the courtyard.

When there was completely no movement, the person behind him let go of Zhao Tinglan's mouth and nose.

Zhao Tinglan turned around with a look of surprise on her face. She said in disbelief, "Rong Dong, why is it you?"

Rong Dong was the servant that Zhao Tinglan had been sending out to investigate. Rong Dong did not explain, but observed the surrounding situation nervously and whispered, "Let's leave here first. It's not safe here."

Back at Chunhua Tower, Rong Dong knelt down in front of Zhao Tinglan, lowered his head and said, "I found you disguised yourself and left Chunhua Tower. I was worried that something might happen to you, so I followed you out. Please punish me."

"Did you know there was something wrong with that house?"

Rong Dong said respectfully and truthfully: "After I left that day, I thought a lot. Since you asked me to go out and help you, you must have your reasons. If you don't tell me, I won't ask, but I want to help you, so I secretly went to the house several times to explore."

"There should be no one alive in that house, but every time I go there, I hear noises coming from one of the houses, but I never see anyone coming out."

"So that's how it is... I understand, get up."

But Rong Dong did not stand up. He knelt on the ground and said, "I was wrong before. I shouldn't have gone against your wishes and betrayed your trust in me."

Zhao Tinglan shook her head after hearing this, and said slowly with confusion and guilt in her eyes: "How could it be, it's my fault, this is my own business, I shouldn't have dragged you into this, it's my fault..."

Rong Dong clasped his fists and said, "You saved my life. My life and death are all from Chunhua Tower. If it's only my life that matters, I'm willing to help you. Please let me help you!"

It snowed heavily a year and a half ago. Xing Haocang had only been gone for half a cup of tea when Zhao Tinglan chased him out, but Xing Haocang was nowhere to be seen.

It was snowing heavily and there were few pedestrians on the road.

When he was about to turn around and go back to the house, he suddenly heard a sound of falling from another direction. Zhao Tinglan looked in the direction of the sound and saw Rong Dong, covered in blood, lying in front of Chunhua Tower.

"Save...save me, I don't want to die..."

Judging from their clothes, they should be soldiers of Northern Qi. However, they should be fighting at this time, and there are no other soldiers around. Could they be deserters?

If a deserter is caught, he will be sentenced to death.

Knowingly harboring a criminal is also a capital crime.

After much deliberation, Zhao Tinglanhua spent a large sum of money to save Rong Dong's life.

I wanted Rong Dong to leave, but he stayed, saying that going home would only cause trouble for the family, so he stayed in Chunhua Building and did odd jobs carefully.

He also said that he was grateful to Zhao Tinglan for giving him a place to stay on that snowy winter day, so he named himself Rongdong.

"No one's life can be abandoned. Go down."

Zhao Tinglan rejected Rong Dong, but Rong Dong still secretly helped Zhao Tinglan and kept inquiring about the news in that house.

It was not until Li Weisheng, who had been away from home for several months, returned home after graduating from high school that people heard that after learning about He Yuqing's situation, he had been in a daze in Yulong Village for three days and three nights, and had asked someone to build a Hongzhu Temple for He Yuqing to commemorate her.

A few months later, Rong Dong came to Zhao Tinglan's room with a happy face and said that he had found the whereabouts of the rich man Duan. He saw him doing human trafficking in Ya Ren Village on the border with his own eyes.

After confirming that the location of Yarenzhuang was the former Xingjiazhuang, Zhao Tinglan took Rong Dong there when she heard that Yarenzhuang also wanted to have business dealings.

Because he was brought here many times when he was young, even without Rong Dong's guidance, he could accurately find the location of Yaren Village.

Xingjiazhuang has changed a lot.

After seeing Manor Master Xing wearing a black veiled hat and the jade seal hanging around his waist, Zhao Tinglan felt dazed and thought Xing Haocang was still alive.

But it was only for a moment.

No matter the voice or the figure of the owner of Xing Manor in front of him, they were completely different from Xing Haocang. He did not have the slightest bit of Xing Haocang's gentle temperament.

But he still used the identity of Xing Haocang, which meant that the death of the Xing family must have something to do with him.

The fake Xing Haocang walked up to Zhao Tinglan and said in a low voice, "If you want to do business with our Ya Ren Zhuang, that's fine, but we don't need sneaky rats here. Mr. Zhao, do you understand what I mean?"

Fake Xing Haocang looked at Rong Dong, his words were cold: "The person who has been gathering intelligence at Yarenzhuang these days must be you."

How could Zhao Tinglan not understand the meaning of the fake Xing Haocang's words? He wanted to kill the chicken to scare the monkey, to warn herself that if she leaked the matter of Yarenzhuang, the next person to die might be herself, or everyone in Chunhua Tower.

Zhao Tinglan stood in front of Rong Dong fearlessly and said with a firm look in her eyes: "Master Xing opened the door to do business, are you afraid of others seeing it?"

Fake Xing Haocang turned his back and said, "Every industry has its own rules. This is the rule I follow when I open my business. Could it be that Mr. Zhao wants to break the rules? If Mr. Zhao doesn't want to do business with our Ya Ren Zhuang, then... I can only use my own way."

After saying that, the fake Xing Haocang raised his hand slightly, and a group of people in black surrounded him.

Fake Xing Haocang walked forward slowly, took out a dagger from his arms and handed it to Zhao Tinglan. It was a somewhat old hand with some brown spots visible.

Zhao Tinglan had no intention of reaching out to take it, and looked away. Fake Xing Haocang smiled and said with some appreciation: "It seems... Mr. Zhao still doesn't want to do business with me."

As he said this, Fake Xing Haocang was about to take back the knife in his hand, but the next second the knife was taken away by Rong Dong who was standing beside him. Rong Dong smiled calmly and said, "Don't be embarrassed, Mother Zhao. Do you remember what I said?"

"don't want--!"

Zhao Tinglan stepped forward quickly, trying to knock the knife out of Rong Dong's hand, but this time she was a step too slow. Rong Dong did not hesitate at all, and the sharp blade cut her throat.

Blood gushed out all of a sudden, splashing onto Zhao Tinglan's clothes, face, and even eyes. Then the blood that dripped into her left eye mixed with tears and slid down, like tears of blood.

“Rong Dong——!”

Rong Dong was speechless, but he forced a smile and gently stroked Zhao Tinglan's face.

It was a snowy winter that year, the weather was freezing cold, but Rongdong seemed to see the warm sun.

In fact, he had wanted to do this for a long time. He knew that Zhao Tinglan always cried silently in the house at night.

Wiping away the tears, a trace of blood was left on Zhao Tinglan's face.

‘Bang’ sound.

The warm hands slipped away in an instant, and the eyes lost their luster, and the faint smile on his face froze.

Zhao Tinglan picked up her fallen hand and clenched it again.

Can……

This hand will never return the handshake.

Fake Xing Haocang walked forward slowly, picked up the blood-stained knife from the ground, smiled with satisfaction and said, "Madam Zhao, I wish our business will be prosperous and our wealth will increase."