The Hu Prefecture massacre case quickly reached a resolution after the capture of Zou Qing. The scattered traces of the anesthetic, the body disguised as Zou Qing, and Zou Qing's behavior in Luzhou all became the strongest evidence proving him to be the murderer. Shen Tingwei arranged for soldiers to surround the entire wealthy merchant's house and meticulously search every inch inside. Finally, at a place where a fire had started, they found a ring belonging to Zou Qing. As daybreak approached, they were lucky enough to discover clues related to the ingredients for making the anesthetic that Zou Qing had sent someone to buy at a pharmacy. Following these leads, the soldiers painstakingly traced the evidence and astonishingly revealed that the body dressed as Zou Qing was actually the person who had bought the ingredients for the anesthetic. Meanwhile, the coroners dispatched by Shen Tingwei found new evidence on the charred bodies...
At this point, Zou Qing's guilt was firmly established, and there was no longer any possibility of reopening the Hu Prefecture case.
The day after receiving the final verdict, Shen Tingwei personally oversaw the Hu Prefecture officials in issuing a public announcement. Two days later, news of the gruesome massacre in Hu Prefecture swept through the capital like a raging storm, and Zou Qing's name began to be frequently mentioned by everyone.
The case had caused a tremendous uproar and had a profoundly negative impact. Even before the official case files from Hu Prefecture arrived at the imperial court, the emperor had already decreed a death sentence for Zou Qing. Out of consideration for Zou Qing's family and Shen Tingwei's efforts, the emperor did not punish his family but ordered the execution of Zou Qing alone. Nevertheless, Zou Qing still suffered a reprimand from the emperor, resulting in a brief suspension from his duties. Yang Dexuan, unhappy with this outcome, was furious but unable to change the emperor's decision, so he silently added all of the Zou family members to his blacklist.
The Hu Prefecture case had stirred up the entire gossip scene in the capital. As a partner of Ye Zhizhou, Fei Jinchu sent an urgent letter to inquire about the situation. Ye Zhizhou was deeply moved upon receiving the letter, and he decided to play a little trick in his response. He provided a vague and ambiguous description of Zou Qing, sparking Fei Jinchu's curiosity. Fei Jinchu personally delved into Zou Qing's background, and the little tidbits of gossip he had planted earlier began to circulate wildly. They covered Zou Qing's malicious mother, his own arrogant and villainous nature, and his deep cunning.
[The probability of a romantic relationship between Fei Jinchu and the protagonist has decreased to 20%. Please continue to work hard, Host.]
[The probability of a romantic relationship between Yang Qi and the protagonist has decreased to 0%. The second soul flag has been removed. Congratulations, Host. Please continue to work hard.]
Ye Zhizhou shifted his gaze away from the screen, tugging at Shen Tingwei beside him. "Have they still not captured Kang Run?"
"Don't worry; the mountain has been sealed off. We'll catch him sooner or later," Shen Tingwei reassured him. He set aside the case files sent by the Hu Prefecture officials and handed them to a guard for urgent delivery. Then, he turned to Ye Zhizhou and adjusted his cloak. "I'm sorry; I've been too busy to spend time with you."
"Business matters take precedence," Ye Zhizhou leaned closer, rubbing his shoulder against his lover's, and casually asked about the timeline for resolving the current situation. "How many more days do you think it will take to handle things here?"
"At most two days," Shen Tingwei replied, embracing him and running his fingers through his hair, gently pinching his earlobe. "How's your father's side?"
"He's still angry," their younger son, Zou Qing, had been completely unable to accept this turn of events. He had sent several angry letters, at times even threatening to sever ties with them. Ye Zhizhou shrugged it off. "Let him be angry. Zou Lao Tai Tai and Yuan Hui are probably dealing with some awkward tension at home."
Knowing that he had something else on his mind, Shen Tingwei didn't dwell on the topic and returned to discussing the capture of Kang Run.
Listening attentively, he absentmindedly tapped the small mirror tucked into his belt, his thoughts racing. Kang Run remained elusive, Zou Qing had strangely become quiet, and there was still one soul flag left... Something felt off, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Zou Qing didn't seem like someone who would quietly await execution.
He suddenly thought of a possibility and quickly raised his head to ask, "Where is Zou Qing currently held?"
"He was transferred to the authorities this morning. He should be in the main prison in Luzhou now."
The official prison... Shen Tingwei furrowed his brow, and then he asked, "Did any of you come face to face with him when you went to capture Kang Run?"
"No, we only found some traces of his presence and some items he left behind," Shen Tingwei replied, slowly realizing that something was amiss. His expression grew serious, and he got up, heading towards the exit. "I need to visit the prison."
Ye Zhizhou quickly followed. "I'm coming with you." He had been too reliant on the information provided by the system and had overlooked this obvious change in the plot logic. He should have realized this when Zou Qing met with Zhang Xuemi in advance of their scheduled encounter.
Arriving at the prison in a hurry, they found Zhang Xuemi squatting in front of Zou Qing's cell, holding a large food box and chatting incessantly.
"What are you doing here?" Ye Zhizhou walked over briskly, glanced at the cell where Zou Qing remained huddled in a corner, and felt a sense of relief. He looked at Zhang Xuemi with a slight headache. "Didn't we arrange for someone to send you back to the capital? Why did you come back?"
This young master from the Hou family was truly like a child who never grew up, causing headaches every time he appeared.
"I just wanted to see this bad man who looks like a good person before I left..." Zhang Xuemi weakly looked at Shen Tingwei, shrank his neck, and swallowed back the words he was about to blurt out upon seeing the handsome man approaching him. In a low voice, he said, "When I came earlier, I happened to run into the kitchen maid delivering food to the prisoner. The food didn't look fit for human consumption at all. Since Zou Qing will be executed once he returns to the capital, I thought I'd at least let him have a good meal before that, so I went to a restaurant and bought him some..."
He added, sounding somewhat aggrieved, "I'm just being kind-hearted. He didn't even acknowledge me. It's not like I told him to commit murder, and I'm not the one beheading him, right?"
Shen Tingwei's expression changed. "You said the person delivering food was a kitchen maid?"
"Yes," Zhang Xuemi confirmed. As Shen Tingwei's face darkened, he became even more alarmed. "She was a strong kitchen maid who even greeted me respectfully. She seemed very polite..."
This is bad!
Shen Tingwei and Ye Zhizhou exchanged a glance. Shen Tingwei then directly kicked open the cell door.
"What are you doing?" Zhang Xuemi was startled by his sudden action and stared wide-eyed at the two of them. He nervously asked, "Are you trying to stage a prison break? That's not a good idea. Although this guy is your relative, he's really, really bad, you know..."
"The person who delivered the food to the prison couldn't have been a kitchen maid," Ye Zhizhou said with a heavy gaze fixed on the seemingly immobile "Zou Qing" in the cell. He clenched his fists. "The kitchen maid you saw is the real person behind the prison break."
"What?!" Zhang Xuemi was in shock.
The iron lock on the door seemed tightly secured, but it had actually been cut earlier. Shen Tingwei kicked the door with a little force, and the iron chains all snapped and fell to the ground. Shen Tingwei pushed the door open and stepped inside. He brushed aside the hair covering "Zou Qing's" face, touched his neck, and then shook his head with a grave expression as he turned to Ye Zhizhou. "It's a human skin mask. The person is already dead, but there's still warmth. He must have died not long ago."
The bailiffs outside, hearing the commotion, hurriedly approached and happened to overhear Shen Tingwei's words, leaving them all dumbfounded.
Shen Tingwei stood up straight and said in a deep voice, "Issue orders to seal the city gates and conduct a citywide search."
The baffled bailiffs snapped back to their senses and rushed outside. The fact that the prisoner had been taken away shortly after being transferred to the Luzhou prison meant trouble for their master. If their master was in trouble, how could they, the prison guards, expect to have good days ahead?
Ye Zhizhou took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and rubbed his forehead. "It's definitely Kang Run... What was he thinking? Even though assassins do it for money, given how big this case has become and the attention it drew from the Emperor, anyone with a bit of intelligence wouldn't have gotten involved. Is Kang Run really that foolish?"
"I shouldn't have handed him over to the Luzhou authorities," Shen Tingwei said as he approached, comforting him with a gentle touch on his hair.
"You were just following the imperial regulations," Ye Zhizhou sighed and waved his hand as he walked toward the exit. "They probably haven't gone far yet. Don't rely on the Luzhou officials to conduct the citywide search; let's handle it ourselves."
Shen Tingwei followed him and nodded obediently. "Okay, I'll mobilize the troops."
As they left, Zhang Xuemi watched them from afar, then turned his attention to the lifeless body in the cell that nobody was attending to. He shivered in fear and sprinted outside, exclaiming, "Mom! I won't run around and play recklessly anymore; the outside world is so scary!"
The citywide search continued throughout the day but yielded no results.
Ye Zhizhou sat in their inn room, closed his eyes, and slowly extended his spiritual power, inch by inch, searching. Though he hadn't left his spiritual power on Zou Qing before, he had swept past him a few times, so he still retained some traces. Finding a person with just these remnants was challenging, but not impossible.
Meanwhile, Shen Tingwei, conducting investigations in a residential area not far from the city gates, seemed to sense something and glanced toward the inn where Ye Zhizhou was staying. His tense expression relaxed slightly.
In a house not far from the city gates, Zou Qing clung to himself in panic. Tears streamed down his face as he looked at Kang Run, dressed all in black, and anxiously asked, "Brother Kang Run, what should we do now?"
Kang Run lowered the curtains and turned to look at him, maintaining his expressionless demeanor. "Tao Auntie once did a favor for my master. Since I promised her to rescue you, I won't go back on my word. You can relax."
"But the city is already sealed off, and the soldiers will soon search this place. We..."
"I heard you applied a poisonous substance to change your appearance on your face, right? Once that poison wears off, your face will be ruined, won't it?"
"How did you know?" Zou Qing looked at him in astonishment. "Brother Kang Run, why are you asking about this?"
Kang Run took out a cherished porcelain bottle from his pocket, touched it lightly, and turned his head to look at Zou Qing. A faint smile appeared on his face. "It's a pity about this poison that my master left behind..."
Zou Qing, frightened by Kang Run's eerie smile, instinctively moved backward. Suddenly, he remembered that all his self-defense items had been confiscated by the soldiers. He grew increasingly uneasy and tugged at the corners of his mouth, showing an even more pitiable expression as he spoke softly, "Brother Kang Run, you are so capable. I believe you can get me out of here. You've also had a long day; you should get some rest. I'll keep watch over you."
"Then you'll have a chance to take my things and escape while I'm asleep, right?" Kang Run looked at him with a sly smile. He suddenly bent down and pulled a short dagger from his boot. "In this world, besides my master, I trust no one."
Zou Qing's internal alarm bells rang loudly, but his face still showed innocence. "Brother Kang Run, you're overthinking it. I'm just a weakling; how could I..."
"But you, this weakling, have killed more people than I have." Kang Run interrupted him, resuming his expressionless demeanor. "I've scratched your face, or you can eat this poison pill yourself. Which one do you choose?"
"Brother Kang Run..."
"Originally, I was ready to retire and live a normal life." Kang Run suddenly reached out and pinched his cheek. Holding the short dagger in his hand, he compared it to Zou Qing's face. "But it's because of your grandmother's damned favor and the leverage she holds over my master that I had to take risks to save you, this hot potato."
Zou Qing's eyes followed the movement of the dagger, and he was so scared that he shifted backward. He suddenly remembered that his self-defense items had all been confiscated by the soldiers. His unease grew, and he nervously tugged at the corners of his mouth, showing an even more pitiable expression. He spoke softly, "Brother Kang Run, you're thinking too much. I'm just a weak guy. How could I..."
"But you, this weak guy, have killed more people than I have," Kang Run interrupted him and resumed his expressionless demeanor. "I've scratched your face, or you can eat this poison pill yourself. Which one do you choose?"
Zou Qing's face had turned pale, and he dared not resist. He obediently swallowed the pill.
The poison in the pill was extremely potent. In just a few minutes, black-red pus began to seep from his face. The intense pain, as if ants were gnawing at his flesh, tortured him so much that he wanted to scream and roll around. However, his body was bound by Kang Run, and a cloth was stuffed into his mouth. He could only endure the pain.
After a quarter of an hour, the poison had been expelled from his body, and he fell unconscious.
Kang Run released his gaze from outside the window, threw a blood-replenishing pill into Zou Qing's mouth, and looked at Zou Qing's true face, now exposed under the pus and blood. He smirked. "Ugly trash."
[Kang Run's chances of falling in love with the protagonist have decreased to 50%. Please try harder, Host.]
A slight, peculiar fluctuation finally reached his spiritual power network. After noting the location, he quickly withdrew his spiritual power, swallowed a tranquillizing pill, and covered his forehead. Luzhou City was too large, and he had accidentally exhausted his spiritual power...
Glancing at the screen in front of him, he resisted the headache and sat up. He wondered what the protagonist had done; why had Kang Run's chances of falling in love decreased on their own?...
He opened the door and called the guards, giving them some instructions, before returning to his room and lying down on the bed. He inserted another tranquillizing pill into his mouth, closed his eyes, and hoped that his lover would lend a hand and quickly capture the person once he received the coordinates... He needed to rest for a while.