A four-year-old medical prodigy descended to the mortal realm, and the entire capital sought her tre

Sure enough, that very night, Zhao Jinzhong and An Chang spotted a familiar figure near the orphanage.

An Chang pulled Zhao Jinzhong aside and hid in an alley near the orphanage to secretly observe the man's movements.

"Did you notice that person looks familiar?" An asked.

Zhao Jinzhong looked closely and said, "It does look somewhat familiar, but it's too dark to see clearly."

"Let's go! Follow them!" An Chang led the way.

The two climbed over the wall into the orphanage and found a high place to hide.

The familiar person and their companion entered the nursery through the back door, where someone was already waiting to meet them.

By the candlelight of the lantern, Zhao Jinzhong could vaguely make out the man's face.

"An Chang, I think I know who that person is."

"Who?"

"Do you remember the servant boy who serves Ling San? We met him at Jumanlou."

Hearing Zhao Jinzhong's words, An Chang was very surprised. He looked at the man more carefully and it really was him!

Zhao Jinzhong had seen the servant boy not only at Jumanlou, but also in the alleys of the city and at the Duke of Ling's mansion.

Therefore, he had a deep impression of this person.

In addition, yesterday at the Prince An's residence, I heard the Dowager Princess say that Tonggu County is the hometown of the Duke of Ling.

Therefore, Zhao Jinzhong always subconsciously gravitated towards the people of the Duke of Ling's mansion.

"How could it be him?" An Chang asked, surprised and puzzled.

At this moment, there was a commotion in the orphanage. Two people carried a sack to the back door and handed it to Ling San's servant.

Then, the servant secretly slipped some silver to the people at the orphanage, and together with his companions, carried the sack out of the orphanage, loaded it onto the carriage, and drove away.

Zhao Jinzhong and An Chang chased after them, but after a while they were too tired to keep up, so they had to give up and head back to the inn.

Thinking that I would go to the orphanage the next morning to find out more, I decided to go there first thing the next morning.

Back at the inn, Zhao Jinzhong and An Chang discussed what they had discovered that night.

An Chang found Zhao Jinzhong's analysis unbelievable. "You suspect that Duke Ling is involved in the disappearance of these children?"

"Hmm. Before coming here, I only had a vague feeling that it was related to the Duke of Ling."

But after seeing Ling San's servant tonight, I'm even more convinced that it's true.

At that time, Zhao Jinzhong and Zhou Ruo were under house arrest by the Duke of Ling. When the Duke of Ling forced Zhou Ruo to treat Ling San's syphilis,

He felt that the Duke of Ling was a man who would stop at nothing.

He analyzed that it was not impossible for the Duke of Ling to help Lü Qingchen steal the child for some purpose.

The next morning, Zhao Jinzhong took Zhou Ruo and An Chang to the orphanage.

The gatekeeper at the orphanage thought Zhao Jinzhong and his companions looked unfamiliar and refused to let them in, displaying a very rude attitude.

Zhao Jinzhong took out the Dowager Consort's jade token, "Have your hall master come out to greet the guests!"

The gatekeeper didn't recognize the imperial concubine's jade token, but fearing Zhao Jinzhong's imposing presence, he reluctantly went to inform the hall master.

After the hall master came out, he saw the jade tablet of the Empress Dowager and immediately bowed respectfully.

Upon further inquiry, it was discovered that the man before them, An Chang, was none other than the Dowager Consort's grandson, Prince An.

Zhao Jinzhong and Zhou Ru did not reveal their identities here to avoid any unforeseen complications.

Zhou Ruo pointed at the gatekeeper and asked the hall master, "Uncle, why do you recognize our jade pendant, but he doesn't? He looks fierce."

The gatekeeper broke out in a cold sweat when he heard Zhou Ruo say that.

The hall master glared angrily at the gatekeeper and scolded, "You don't even recognize the Dowager Consort's jade token? You've neglected the young master! From tomorrow on, you'll be guarding the back gate!"

The gatekeeper was filled with remorse; he was paid half the wages for guarding the back gate compared to the front gate.

An Chang and the other two were invited to the guest hall by the hall master, where they were served tea and snacks.

Shortly after, a man came in to report something to the head of the hall.

The person who came was the same one that Zhao Jinzhong and An Chang had seen at the back gate last night, the one who handed the sack to Ling San's servant.

After the man finished speaking to the hall master, the hall master's expression changed slightly, and he gestured for the man to leave.

The man turned to leave.

"Wait!" An Chang called out to him.

The man stopped, turned around, and looked back at An Chang with a puzzled expression.

The head of the hall didn't understand An Chang's intention either, so he took the initiative to introduce him: "Young Master, this is the deputy manager of the Orphanage."

"What did he just say to you?"

An Chang pressed for answers, and both the hall master and the deputy steward were stunned, their faces showing panic.

The hall master said somewhat awkwardly, "Your Highness, something happened in the hall last night. How about I investigate the situation before reporting back to you?"

"There's no need to wait until the investigation is complete; just tell me now." An Chang had been influenced by the powerful and wealthy since childhood.

Despite his young age, his stern demeanor made the hall master mistake him for a judge, causing him to become nervous.

The head of the hall said to the deputy steward, "Siyong, come and give the young master a detailed report."

The deputy steward named Siyong turned around and walked back to An Chang, reporting, "Your Highness, last night, a child went missing from the hall..."

An Chang: "Lost? Are you sure it didn't just run off to play and not come back?"

The head of the hall said with certainty, "They couldn't have run away. Ever since the children went missing, we've increased the number of people guarding the orphanage."

It's unlikely the child could run away on their own; there's only one possibility: they've been stolen.

"Stolen?" Zhao Jinzhong, who had been sitting silently to the side, finally spoke up. "Didn't we increase the number of guards?"

The hall master was momentarily speechless: "This..."

Zhao Jinzhong shifted his gaze to Siyong. "Deputy Steward, tell me, why was the child stolen? And who stole him?"

Si Yong trembled and stammered, "This humble subject didn't know, this humble subject didn't know!"

An Chang: "Why are you so nervous? We didn't say you were the one who stole the child."

The hall master also noticed that something was wrong with Si Yong. "Si Yong, when did the child go missing last night?"

Si Yong was hunched over, extremely nervous, and didn't dare to lift his head. "Zi...Zi Shi..."

An Chang lost patience with his act and slammed his hand on the table. Si Yong immediately knelt down.

"So, last night you put the child in a sack and gave it to the people who came to pick you up!"

An Chang suddenly regretted it. If he had known last night that there was a child in the sack, he would have stepped forward to stop them!

"Huh?" Si Yong's mind went blank, and he unconsciously blurted out the time when the child was sent away.

An Chang also pointed out that the child in the sack had been given away. Si Yong felt guilty and didn't know how to defend himself for a moment.

The hall master saw that the four warriors did not resist, but his eyes were shifty.

She suddenly stood up, pointed at Si Yong, and said, "Is it really you?"

The head of the hall had long suspected that the disappearance of the children in the hall was related to the Four Warriors, but he had been unable to find any evidence.

"Young Master, spare us! Hall Master, spare us!" Si Yong first grabbed the Hall Master's trouser leg and begged for mercy.

The hall master was both shocked and furious, and kicked Si Yong away.

Si Yong crawled down to An Chang's feet and begged for mercy.

An Chang said in a low voice, "Explain things clearly!"

Si Yong knelt on the ground and confessed everything in detail.

According to Si Yong, Ling San's servant was named Yu Zhong, who found him about half a year ago and made a deal with him.

Yu Zhong gave Si Yong enough silver, and Si Yong helped him get the child out of the orphanage.

At first, Yu Zhong did not tell Si Yong what his real purpose was in taking the child away.

They said that the Duke had just lost his son, and that the Third Young Master Ling had passed away in great pain, so they wanted to find some young boys to perform a ritual for him.

We will return the child after we have seen Young Master Ling off.

But the children who were sent away never returned.

Later, Siyong felt something was wrong. When Yu Zhong came to him again to ask for the child back, he refused.

But Yu Zhong wouldn't let him go, threatening him that if he didn't continue to provide children, he would expose what had happened before.

The Four Warriors will definitely not survive, and besides, the Duke will not let him go.

From then on, Siyong went against his conscience and helped Yu Zhong continue stealing children.