If it was just Gu Lingze's own business today, he would definitely not let it go so lightly, but it is different now. If it gets out of hand, someone will definitely report it to the police.

If this matter went to the government office, it would affect Xu Mingyan's provincial examination. I believe Zhao Chengmo also understood this, so he did not continue to take action.

But there is another reason...

Gu Lingze understood it in his heart, but did not show it on his face.

He walked to the counter, raised his hand and tapped the counter with his fingers, and said to the shopkeeper who was still in a daze: "Can you arrange a room for us now?"

After arranging accommodation, I asked for hot water to wash up. I was a little tired after a whole day of traveling, so I had dinner and went to bed early.

The next few days were peaceful. Xu Mingyan studied in his room, Gu Lingze ate the champion crispy chicken at Sanyuanlou, and took a few trips around the city with Zhao Chengmo.

That day, the two of them came back from outside and passed by a door, but Gu Lingze stopped.

"What's wrong?" Zhao Chengmo asked.

Gu Lingze took another look, said "it's okay", and returned to his room as usual.

At night, after everyone had gone to bed, Gu Lingze blew out the candle in his room, opened the window in the darkness, and nimbly climbed onto the roof.

There was actually another person on the roof.

"What are you doing here?" Gu Lingze asked.

"Wait for you."

Gu Lingze looked at Zhao Chengmo in silence for a while, but the corners of his mouth curled up.

The two men estimated the location, walked to the top of the guest room that was used during the day, lifted the roof tiles and looked inside for a while, then quietly put the tiles back in place and returned to the room together.

"Tsk, it turns out to be him. There's no need to worry about it then." Gu Lingze lit the candle, picked up the teapot and poured two cups of hot tea.

Zhao Chengmo picked up the teacup and took a sip. He didn't ask any further questions and went back to his room after finishing it.

A scream broke the silence in the early morning, and a moment later, there were knocks on Gu Lingze's door.

"What's the matter?" When Gu Lingze opened the door, he found many police officers with knives standing at the door. Zhao Chengmo, Xu Mingyan and others were also standing at the door of his room.

There was a man kneeling on the ground, and when he saw him he shouted, "Sir, it's him!"

Captain Ge frowned, looked at them and asked, "Do you know Zou Yingguang?"

"I know him. He and I studied under the same teacher." Xu Mingyan replied.

"I heard from people around him that you had an argument before and even used violence to injure someone?"

Gu Lingze then said, "It was me who did it, it has nothing to do with anyone else."

"And me." Ignoring his gaze, Zhao Chengmo also stood up.

"Sir, they are all involved in my young master's affairs. Arrest them all immediately."

Captain Ge ignored him, looked at Gu Lingze for a few times, and said in a deep voice: "Zou Yingguang died this morning."

"He died in his own room. You live on the first floor. Didn't you notice any noise?"

"I went to bed early last night and vaguely heard a few shouting this morning, but there was no other sound." Gu Lingze replied calmly.

Others gave roughly the same answer as him.

"You two come with me to the government office. The rest of you stay here for now, but you are not allowed to leave your rooms."

"Sir..." Xu Mingyan was about to speak, but Gu Lingze looked at him and shook his head gently, so he had to give up.

After Gu Lingze and Zhao Chengmo followed the group away, Aunt Tao and the others returned to their room.

"What should we do?" Aunt Tao said anxiously, and Uncle Xu also sat aside and sighed.

Now that the two of them were taken to the government office, they both felt that it was their family that had caused trouble for Gu Lingze and the others, and they became worried.

Xu Mingyan said comfortingly: "We didn't harm anyone. The government probably took them away just to question them. They shouldn't be in any trouble."

Xu Mingyan asked his parents to relax and wait for news, and he went back to his room first.

After returning to his room, Xu Mingyan's expression became solemn, not as relaxed as he said.

Because he knew that Zou Yingguang's identity was not simple. His uncle was Zou Guanghong, the Right Vice-Censor of the Censorate, and his father Zou Guangmao was also the head of the Qingli Division of Beiyong Prefecture.

That's why Zou Yingguang was so arrogant and looked down on others. When they were in the academy, the other party always made trouble for him. Later, the two of them even worshipped the same teacher, which deepened the conflict.

Later, after Xu Mingyan fell ill, the other party often ridiculed him in the academy, but was always scolded by the teacher.

So even though they hadn't seen each other for three years, Zou Yingguang still harbored ill will towards him, which was why he picked trouble that day.

Thinking of this, Xu Mingyan gritted his teeth, turned around and took out a box from the package. As soon as he opened it, he couldn't help but feel his nose sore and his eyes hot when he saw the things inside.

He took a deep breath, put other things aside, took out the pen and inkstone, and wrote a letter in one go.

He gave ten taels of silver and the letter to the waiter who delivered the meal, told him an address, and asked him to make sure to deliver it.

As for Gu Lingze, after being taken to the government office by the police, they were first locked up in a cell.

Gu Lingze now finally understood why the word "airtight" came from "airtight prison". There was not even a window in the cell, and the only lighting during the day was the torches on the wall.

The cells were small and crowded. Even though it was still early spring, there was only one straw mat in the cell. No wonder ancient books said that people who went to prison were often "prepared for pain, and only one out of ten survived."

Zhao Chengmo folded the straw mat and let him sit on it, while he sat on the ground.

Gu Lingze pulled him to sit with him, and the two of them waited for time side by side. It was unknown what Gu Lingze was thinking about, but he suddenly chuckled.

"What's wrong?" Zhao Chengmo looked at him and asked.

"I wonder what Master's expression would be if he saw me in jail."

After hearing this, Zhao Chengmo laughed for some reason.

A low laugh came from his ears, and Gu Lingze couldn't help but turn red.

"You two little lovers can still be so cheerful here, but I'm afraid you'll be a pair of miserable lovers in court." The jailer on the side said sarcastically.

"Don't worry. When the time comes that you die in this prison, I will stuff you two out of that hole together, and that will be considered as a blessing for you."

There is a small hole in the wall base at the entrance of the prison, which is specially used to transport corpses.

If a prisoner died of illness or was beaten to death in prison, he could not be carried out through the main gate and could only be pulled out through this small hole.

Gu Lingze looked up at him and said, "We won't live or die, so you don't need to worry about it. But your wife has been running away for so long, have you found her now?"

"You!" The jailer looked around quickly and asked in a low voice, "How did you know this?"

Gu Lingze just put on an unfathomable expression and refused to speak no matter what he said.

The jailer was about to explode when footsteps were heard at the door.

"Captain Ge."

"Well, sir, summon them to court for questioning now."