Tang Dynasty: A Guide to Avoiding Pitfalls for Li Er at the Start

Chapter 335 This is called luring the snake out of its hole.
After searching for so long, we finally have some news.

There's no rush now. The weather outside is so cold, and Sun Simiao is too old to wander around outside.

Let's deal with the immediate issues first.

That's a year's salary!

He gathered his thoughts and turned his gaze back to the young man. His brows furrowed, and his tone became scrutinizing: "You said Chen Gui went to Huazhou three days ago, but why didn't he take a carriage? Why didn't he have any servants with him? Where are the grooms in your household?"

The young man lowered his head, his fingers unconsciously fidgeting with his cuffs, his voice weak: "The coachman said a few days ago that something had happened back home and asked for leave to go home. Young master couldn't find a suitable person for the time being, so he didn't take the carriage."

"Oh? What a coincidence?"

Wen He raised an eyebrow, then chuckled softly, stepped forward, and walked slowly around the young man and the beautiful woman.

His steps were slow, but his gaze seemed heavy as it fell on the two of them, causing them to subconsciously tense up.

The young man felt uneasy under Wen He's gaze and couldn't help but look up at him, his eyes full of doubt.

The boy looked to be no more than ten years old. Although his clothes were exquisite, his official rank was not obvious. Yet Fan Biao and the other thugs treated him with such respect. Who exactly was he?

"May I ask who the young master is...?"

The young man hesitated before speaking, his tone somewhat tentative.

Wen He stopped and looked up at him, her tone flat: "Wen He."

"The Little Killer of a Hundred Riders!"

As soon as she finished speaking, the beautiful woman exclaimed in surprise, her face turning deathly pale. She stumbled back two steps and bumped into a pillar behind her.

The young man froze, his pupils contracted sharply, and his eyes were filled with fear as he looked at Wen He.

"presumptuous!"

Fan Biao immediately roared and placed his hand on the hilt of the knife at his waist, which frightened the two men so much that they quickly shrank back and dared not utter another sound.

Wen He turned to look at Fan Biao, raised an eyebrow, and asked, "What 'Hundred Riders Little Killer Star'? Where did this saying come from?"

Fan Biao chuckled twice and quickly bowed to explain, "Your Excellency, please don't take offense. This is a nickname given to you by the common people. It's because you've solved many corruption cases and arrested many corrupt officials. Those criminals are afraid of you, so they call you that in private... In reality, it's out of respect for your integrity and uprightness!"

Upon hearing this, Wen He's facial muscles twitched involuntarily a few times.

Does the person who named this person have any culture?

Both came from the Hundred Riders Division, yet one jinx was called the Tiger of the Hundred Riders.

Did he become a little jinx?
To put it nicely, it's out of respect; to put it bluntly, it's clearly because they think he's bad luck and want to stay far away from him!
He suppressed his inner complaints, walked back to the young man, and curled up a half-smile: "So, you mean that Chen Gui didn't even have time to hire a carriage to go to Huazhou to invite Master Sun, and had to walk there himself?"

He paused, then turned his gaze to the beautiful woman, his tone laced with sarcasm: "I wonder what sudden illness has struck you, Madam, that you're in such a hurry? You don't even have time to wait for the coachman to return, or to rent a carriage from the caravan shop, and you insist that Chen Gui brave the freezing cold and walk hundreds of miles to Huazhou?"

Wen He had already made up her mind.

If these two people in front of me say there's no problem, then I, Wen He, will change my name!

Chen Gui was a wealthy merchant in Chang'an. Although his family did not own thousands of acres of fertile land, they were still quite well-off. They could easily afford to rent a carriage or even buy ten or eight.

If a groom needs to take leave, he can be temporarily hired or replaced by other servants in the household; there is no way the master should have to travel on foot.

Moreover, his wife was pregnant. Even if he wanted to ask Sun Simiao to treat her, he should have asked a local midwife from Chang'an to take care of her first. How could he leave a pregnant woman alone at home?

This explanation is full of holes!
The beautiful woman was speechless at Wen He's question. Her lips trembled, and tears began to fall again, but she couldn't utter a complete sentence for a long time: "I...I...my husband is worried about me..."

"If we are truly worried about you, is there a midwife arranged at home?"

Wen He interrupted her, her tone suddenly becoming serious.

"Did Chen Gui say when he would be back before he left? Did anyone see him leave on the day he left? You said he went to Huazhou to invite Sun Simiao. Besides you, did you tell anyone else about this?"

"Who has he handed over your family business to?"

As a series of questions were posed, the beautiful woman's face grew paler and paler, and her body trembled even more violently.

Upon seeing this, the young man quickly stepped forward, blocking the beautiful woman's path, and said with feigned composure, "Your Excellency is wise! My lord did indeed go to Huazhou to invite Mr. Sun. On the day he left, I personally escorted him to the city gate. My wife is still in her early stages of pregnancy, so we haven't invited a midwife yet."

"My lord said he would be right back, so he entrusted the family business to me."

"Oh? You escorted him to the city gate?" Wen He's eyes turned cold.

"When did you see him off out of the city? Which gate did you use? Why didn't you go with Chen Gui?"

The young man's facial muscles twitched uncontrollably as he forced himself to remain calm and replied, "Yes... we left the city at dawn, passing through Mingde Gate. My lord said he was worried that my wife would be alone at home without anyone to look after her, which is why he told me not to follow."

"Take care of?" Wen He's lips curled slightly, but there was no hint of a smile in her eyes. Her tone abruptly changed. "How old are you?"

"Huh?" The young man was taken aback, not expecting him to suddenly ask about his age, and hesitated for a moment before answering.

"I am twenty-five years old this year."

"How many years have you been living at the Chen residence?"

"It's been...a year."

"You're so young, yet you've managed things in just one year. Chen Gui even entrusted his wife to your care. It seems he values ​​you highly."

Wen He spoke calmly, but she had already become suspicious.

He sensed something was wrong as soon as he entered the Chen residence; the young man was far too young.

At twenty-five, he was just starting out. Chen Gui had been in the silk business for many years and was quite wealthy. Why would he appoint a young man who had only been in the household for a year as a manager? There must be something fishy going on behind the scenes.

The young man's eyes flickered, a hint of guilt flashing across his face. He quickly nodded, "Yes...yes, sir, your kindness to me is as heavy as a mountain."

Wen He didn't press further, but instead suddenly turned to look at the beautiful woman beside her, asking casually, "Your child, is it Chen Gui's?"

"Yes! Of course!"

The beautiful woman shuddered, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, and nodded hurriedly, her voice trembling slightly.

“Young master, why do you say that? This is naturally my husband’s and my child.”

"Just kidding."

Wen He smiled, her tone becoming nonchalant again.

"By the way, you don't need to worry. The coroner has already found a fingerprint on Chen Gui's neck. As long as we compare it with the fingerprint, we will find the real culprit within a day. Oh, by the way, just in case, you two should put your fingerprints on the paper. Don't think too much about it, it's just a formality to clear up any suspicion."

As he spoke, he secretly winked at Fan Biao.

Fan Biao was taken aback at first.

Investigating cases based on fingerprints?
When did this skill come about?

The coroner clearly didn't mention it yesterday!

But he reacted quickly and immediately realized that Wen He was setting a trap. He immediately ordered his men, "Quick! Go and get the red clay and paper!"

The beautiful woman panicked and shrank back: "Fingerprint? Why do we need to put our handprints? Don't tell me you suspect us?"

"Cut the nonsense!"

Fan Biao was never one to have a good temper, and seeing her making excuses, he immediately roared, his hand on the hilt of his knife at his waist, his eyes fierce. "The county magistrate told you to press it, so press it! If you dare to dawdle again, don't blame me for being impolite!"

Seeing this, the young man quickly stepped forward, helped the beautiful woman up, gave her a subtle wink, and then turned to Fan Biao with a smile, saying, "Press! We'll press! Please don't be angry, Shangguan. The lady is just frightened. Shangguan is only trying to help the young master seek justice, so we should cooperate."

The beautiful woman was reminded by his gaze and barely managed to calm down. She trembled as she reached out and pressed her handprint into the red clay.

The young man followed closely behind, and after pressing his handprint, both of their palms were sweaty.

Wen He put away the printing paper, still smiling, "Thank you both for your cooperation. We won't bother you any longer. We'll let you know as soon as we have any news."

After saying that, he turned and left the Chen residence with Fan Biao and the others.

Watching their figures disappear at the alley entrance, the beautiful woman and the young man finally breathed a sigh of relief, though their faces remained deathly pale.

"That was the Hundred Riders Demon King!"

The beautiful woman grabbed the young man's sleeve, her voice trembling with tears.

"Did he already guess what was going on when he asked about the child? What if... what if we get found out?"

"It's all your fault!"

The young man abruptly shook off her hand, his tone angry.

“I told you before to bury Chen Gui’s body in the yard, so no one would know, but you wouldn’t listen. You said you were afraid he would come back to haunt you at night and insisted on throwing him into the Wei River!”

The beautiful woman covered her face and wept bitterly: "It's all because of you that I had to keep this child. Chen Gui noticed that I hadn't been feeling well lately, so he went to fetch a doctor, and that's how he found out I was pregnant. If he hadn't found out... we wouldn't have ended up like this!"

"Alright, stop fooling around. That handprint thing is just to scare us. As long as you don't go out and talk nonsense, nothing will happen!" The young man glared impatiently at the beautiful woman, frowning as he forced himself to calm down.

At the same time, Wen He led Fan Biao to a clinic not far from the Chen residence.

The doctor in charge was an elderly traditional Chinese medicine doctor with gray hair.

The criminals discovered that he was the same doctor who had diagnosed the beautiful woman as pregnant.

"Did Chen Gui bring his wife to see you for a medical check-up three days ago?"

Wen He got straight to the point, her tone somewhat polite.

The old doctor looked up at Wen He, then at the menacing Fan Biao behind him, and nodded: "Yes, that day, Young Master Chen came with his wife. I diagnosed that she was two months pregnant. I thought Young Master Chen would be happy, but I didn't expect him to be so gloomy. He left without even saying thank you. It was quite strange."

"Oh? He's unhappy?"

Wen He raised an eyebrow.

The old doctor stroked his beard, a meaningful smile playing on his lips: "Speaking of which, a year ago, Young Master Chen also came to see me. At that time, he said he was unwell, and I diagnosed him with kidney deficiency and impotence, fearing he would have difficulty conceiving in the future. Now that his wife is suddenly pregnant, he is somewhat..."

He had some doubts.

Wen He immediately smiled knowingly.

Chen Gui is infertile, so the child that beautiful woman is carrying must be that of a young man!

This explains why Chen Gui suddenly became dissatisfied with his wife's pregnancy, and also explains why the young man was able to become a manager within a year.

The two had been having an affair for a long time!

"Snapped!"

Fan Biao suddenly slammed his hand on the table, glared at the old doctor, and said angrily, "Old Zhang! Don't try to be mysterious here. This young man is of very high status! If you dare to take this opportunity to ask for money or talk nonsense, believe me, I will arrest you and take you to the county government for questioning!"

The old doctor, however, was not afraid of him and said calmly, "I am a doctor, how could I speak ill of others?"

He clearly saw through the trickery.

Wen He shook her head with a chuckle and waved her hand at Fan Biao: "Alright, don't make things difficult for this old man."

He had already roughly guessed what had happened.

The beautiful woman had an affair with the young man and became pregnant with his child. When Chen Gui found out, he wanted to investigate, but the two of them killed him together. Then they faked that Chen Gui had gone to Huazhou to seek medical treatment and dumped the body into the Wei River, trying to make it look like an accident.

Unfortunately, the rising tide of the Wei River washed Chen Gui's body to the south bank.

It can be considered fate.

"Thank you for letting us know, we won't bother you any longer."

Wen He got up to take her leave. After leaving the clinic, the smile on her face vanished instantly. She instructed Fan Biao, "Immediately send a few capable men to ambush near the Chen residence and keep watch day and night. If they find the young man and the beautiful woman packing their things to run away, arrest them immediately, separate them, and take them to the county government office. Don't let them collude to give a false testimony."

Fan Biao quickly bowed and replied, "Yes! I will arrange it right away!"

"I'll leave this place to you now, I'll be going now."

Wen He stretched, her tone resolute.

"If nothing unexpected happens, the couple will definitely run away at the earliest tonight, or at the latest tomorrow morning. They have something to hide, and since we put our fingerprints on their documents, they definitely won't sit still. This is called luring the snake out of its hole."

"promise!"

Fan Biao grinned.

If this case is solved so quickly, the higher-ups will surely reward the brothers.

At dawn, the sky was just beginning to lighten.

A figure darted out from behind the low wall behind the Chen family's house.

Seeing that no one was around, he quickly pulled down hard, snatched a package from the low wall, and turned to run away.

But he hadn't gone far when a fire suddenly appeared around the dark corner.

"I've been waiting for you here for a long time!"

Fan Biao's voice came from behind the firelight, sounding somewhat tired, but even more excited about catching a big fish.

He and four thugs had been guarding this low wall since the third watch of the night, their hands and feet numb with cold, until finally the person arrived.

Lin An was so frightened that his whole body stiffened, his hands holding the package tightened suddenly, and he subconsciously took two steps back.

He didn't see Fan Biao and the others' clothes clearly, and assumed they were highway robbers. His voice trembled as he exclaimed, "Who...who are you? How dare you rob people in broad daylight? Aren't you afraid of being investigated by the authorities?"

"The government?" Fan Biao sneered, stepped forward, and slapped Lin An across the face.

A crisp "snap" sounded especially clear in the quiet morning.

Lin An was knocked so hard he staggered, blood instantly trickling from the corner of his mouth, completely stunned.

"damn thing!"

Fan Biao pointed at his nose and cursed angrily, "You think I'm here to rob you? Open your dog eyes and look! I am Fan Biao, the head of the Wannian County Bad Guys! You made us freeze here for most of the night, and I won't be satisfied until I skin you alive!"

Only then did Lin An see clearly the Bad Guys' clothes on Fan Biao's body, as well as the Bad Guys behind him holding torches. His face turned deathly pale, his legs went weak, and he almost collapsed to the ground.

"Huh? There's only one person. Where's the woman?" Fan Biao was startled and immediately shouted, "Stop this person! The rest of you, come with me to the front!"

He was extremely flustered at that moment.

If that woman gets away, how will he explain this to the magistrate of Gaoyang County?
(End of this chapter)