Three punches shattered the demonic soul, young hero, I'm an honest man!

Chapter 78 Undercurrents and Bait

South City, Chang Le Lane.

This place is a melting pot of all sorts of people, from all walks of life.

The sounds of hawking, laughter, and the hustle and bustle of vehicles create a vivid picture of everyday life in the city.

Not far from the alley entrance.

A small embroidery workshop stands quietly in the middle, somewhat out of place with the bustling surroundings.

Several strings of plain, faded tassels hung from the eaves, swaying gently in the wind.

Today, Zhou Yusheng changed out of his usual brocade robes and put on a simple blue cloth robe, typical of a wealthy young man.

He lurked outside the embroidery shop for a moment, looking rather furtive.

Seeing that no one was paying attention, he crouched down and slipped inside.

The embroidery workshop was dimly lit, and the air was filled with the faint scent of soap and silk thread.

A young woman in simple clothes and a simple hairpin is engrossed in embroidery.

Her slender fingers deftly weave through flowers and leaves, her expression focused.

The girl was about seventeen or eighteen years old.

She wore simple clothes and a plain hairpin, without any makeup, yet her features were delicate and her lips were slightly pursed.

She exudes a heroic spirit rarely seen in ordinary women.

It was Su Qiao'er, the owner of this embroidery shop.

Zhou Yusheng coughed lightly, walked over to Su Qiao'er, and picked up the cheapest plain hair ribbon from the table.

She casually twirled the fabric, then feigned a critical sneer: "Tsk, this skill—Su Qiao'er, how come your embroidery hasn't improved at all?"

"I'd be ashamed to wear it out in public."

Zhou Yusheng's voice carried his usual flippancy, along with a hint of deliberately suppressed smugness.

Su Qiao'er didn't even look up; the embroidery needle at her fingertips continued to fly up and down.

"Young Master Zhou has high standards; naturally, the items in my humble shop are not worthy of your attention."

"Please take your time and don't let me interrupt your business."

His tone was flat, but it revealed a hint of impatience.

Zhou Yusheng seemed not to have heard him, and instead moved even closer.

"Hey, don't be so unapproachable."

Zhou Yusheng grinned and showed no intention of leaving.

Instead, he picked up a half-finished purse and examined it closely.

"I'm just concerned about how your business is doing."

"The stitches are quite dense, but the style is rather tacky, wasting the essence of Suzhou embroidery."

"Next time, try a more elegant design; perhaps this young master will do me the honor of buying one."

Su Qiao'er finally stopped what she was doing.

She raised her head, her clear eyes staring at Zhou Yusheng.

"Zhou Yusheng!"

Su Qiao'er's voice was clear and crisp, tinged with slight anger.

"Your husband just passed away, the mourning hall is still set up, why aren't you there to keep vigil and show filial piety, what are you doing here?"

"Aren't you afraid of what your neighbors will say behind your back!"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yusheng's smile froze for a moment.

He then reverted to his usual nonchalant demeanor, even giving a slight smirk.

Zhou Yusheng tossed the purse onto the table and spoke nonchalantly.

"Keeping vigil? What's the point of all that formalities?"

"The old man was nagging when he was alive, and now he's dead and still trying to control me?"

Zhou Yusheng's words were light and casual.

It was as if Li Qingzhu's death was nothing more than a trivial matter to him.

Seeing his demeanor, Su Qiao'er felt a surge of anger. "Mr. Li has always treated Zhou Yusheng like his own son, imparting all his knowledge to him."

"Now that the master has just left, this guy actually—"

What a heartless, ungrateful wretch!

But then Su Qiao'er remembered that she had been busy with the embroidery workshop last time.

When his father had the accident, it was Zhou Yusheng, who seemed the most unreliable person on the surface, who suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

She carried her father to the clinic and even paid for the medicine herself.

She wouldn't have known about this at all if her father hadn't told her about it later!

The Zhou Yusheng of that time was completely different from the纨绔 (playboy/spoiled brat) he appeared to be now.

This person is indeed despicable, and his words can bring the dead back to life, but he is not entirely without merit.

But this personality is really not likable.

"you----"

Su Qiao'er was about to say something more, but then she felt that saying more would be pointless.

She just gave a heavy snort, then lowered her head and continued her embroidery.

Perhaps Zhou Yusheng's true nature is not like this, but sometimes you can never wake up someone who is pretending to be asleep.

Not far away, at the corner of Changle Lane, there is a teahouse with a private room on the second floor.

Pei Yun and Li Xuanping sat by the window.

A pot of clear tea allows one to take in the entire scene inside the embroidery workshop.

Li Xuanping frowned slightly as he looked at Zhou Yusheng's spoiled and dissolute appearance.

"Commander Pei, we have painstakingly tracked down Mr. Li as a lead."

"Now he has passed away unexpectedly, and the trail has gone cold."

"Why are we focusing on these spoiled brats instead of investigating these oddities?"

Li Xuanping's tone carried a hint of doubt.

"This person's words and actions are frivolous and his behavior is indecent. He seems to have no connection whatsoever with the matter we are investigating."

In Li Xuanping's view, Zhou Yusheng was glib, frivolous, and an ignorant rich kid.

This had absolutely nothing to do with the heavy old case they were investigating.

Pei Yun picked up his teacup and took a small sip.

He slowly took out a slightly worn booklet from his pocket and pushed it in front of Li Xuanping.

"Master Li, don't be anxious."

"This was something that Master Zhou belatedly remembered and gave to me just before we left."

"It is said to be Mr. Li Qingzhu's personal notes."

Li Xuanping took the booklet and opened it to read it carefully.

The handwriting in the booklet is neat and powerful, and it records everyday trivia and insights into teaching students.

Among them, "Yu Sheng" was mentioned quite a few times.

Between the lines, there is both disappointment and anger at the child's lack of ambition, as well as a hint of unspoken expectation and care.

"Mr. Li seems to care quite a bit about this disciple," Li Xuanping pondered.

Pei Yun spoke slowly and deliberately, his voice steady.

"We searched the Zhou residence for half a day, but found nothing."

"Mr. Li Qingzhu's death was suspicious, and the clues came to an abrupt end."

"Since there is no trace left to be found within the Zhou residence, perhaps we should shift our attention elsewhere."

"This week, Yu Sheng was the person Li Qingzhu had the most contact with during her lifetime."

"Perhaps he holds the answers we need."

Upon hearing this, Li Xuanping's eyes flashed with a hint of realization, and then he looked at Pei Yun with a touch of admiration.

"Commander Pei is meticulous and observant; I admire him greatly."

"As expected of a centurion of the Northern Garrison, his investigative approach is indeed quite different from that of us Xuanmen people."

Li Xuanping thought to himself, no wonder there are rumors that this Commander Pei is a genius at solving cases and always carries a mysterious booklet in his pocket.

It can know the past and the future, and understand the secrets of ghosts and gods.

Everyone in the capital felt insecure.

He had previously thought the rumors might be exaggerated, but now that he had witnessed Pei Yun meticulously unraveling the mystery, he began to believe them to some extent.

If someone else had said that, he might have just taken it as a joke.

However, Pei Yun is a man whose actions often defy expectations, so it is possible that the rumors have some credibility.

Upon hearing this, Pei Yun chuckled inwardly.

This booklet is indeed Li Qingzhu's relic, and it does mention Zhou Yusheng quite a bit.

But that wasn't the real reason he paid attention to Zhou Yusheng.

His true reliance, of course, was the "Daily Intelligence" that had just been updated in his mind.

[Intelligence Update]

[A remnant of the Xiao family from the previous dynasty is secretly watching Zhou Yusheng, the eldest son of the Zhou family, with unclear motives, but seemingly related to the items left behind by Su Wenruo.]

[Number of refreshes: 0]

Previously, the leads had gone cold, and he had no idea how to investigate further.

I casually refreshed the information, and unexpectedly found a pleasant surprise.

Li Qingzhu died under mysterious circumstances, and now the remnants of the previous dynasty have been implicated.

Pei Yun would never believe that there was no connection between the two.

Now that the remnants of the previous dynasty have their eyes on Zhou Yusheng, things have become much simpler.

What the enemy focuses on is often the key to breaking the deadlock.

As for Pei Yun, he would rather be the fisherman who sits calmly on the fishing platform.

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