The homing pigeon was entirely black except for a tuft of white feathers on its forehead; it was the special pigeon he used to communicate with Prince Gong.

After finishing writing the letter, Uncle Zhou raised his hand to smooth the white feathers on the carrier pigeon's forehead, grinning as he did so: "Old friend, we've been waiting for so many years, and finally our young master has blossomed like an iron tree."

You must quickly pass this good news on to our Prince, understand?

"Coo coo coo—" The carrier pigeon nodded its little head excitedly, then opened its beak and gently pecked him before skillfully extending its right claw so that Uncle Zhou could hang up the mail tube.

Immediately, it shot into the sky with incredible speed, like a black lightning bolt, and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Uncle Zhou looked at the empty sky, tears glistening in his smiling eyes.

The old prince had been seriously wounded on the battlefield before. Although he had been treated by the imperial physician, his health was still severely damaged. In addition, the death of his daughter, a white-haired man burying a black-haired one, made his health deteriorate day by day.

Fortunately, I met the young master ten years ago. Over the years, I have finally had something to look forward to. However, as the young master grows up year by year, the old prince has started to worry about the young master's life. In the capital, young men start getting engaged at the age of fourteen or fifteen. By the time they are nineteen or twenty, they are already quite old.

But the young master himself wasn't in a hurry, and even if the old prince was anxious, he could only nudge him from time to time. Now it's all good. This Miss Su is not only beautiful and eloquent, but more importantly, the young master dotes on her as if she were his own eyes.

If the old prince knew this news, he would be overjoyed. When a person is happy, most of their ailments will automatically disappear.

*****

After shopping, Su Hua and her group left Tangshan Prefecture and headed to Qingshui County.

In early May, the afternoon sun wasn't very strong, so it wasn't stuffy sitting in the carriage. However, we had bought quite a lot of things, which filled almost half of the carriage.

They bought everything they could want – food, clothes, daily necessities, toys – and even two bags of rice and flour from the city.

The rice they planted in Shanghe Village was not yet ripe, and the family had been buying staple food from the town or county for the time being. Qingshui County is a major rice-producing area, so the price of flour was two coins more per pound than in Tangshan Prefecture. Moreover, the rice sold in the grain shops in the prefectural city was not the long-grain rice they usually ate, but rather round and plump, which was very good for making porridge.

In addition, we bought a new carriage, as we already had only one, which was no longer sufficient.

The group returned to Qingshui County around 5:00 PM.

As soon as the carriage stopped in front of the restaurant, Yu Feng was already waiting at the door.

Su Hua raised an eyebrow and let the two Su brothers go into the restaurant first. Then, she went to the end of the alley with Xiao Jinhan.

"Have you found the source of the information?"

"Yes, the news first came from the Earth God Temple in the west of the city." Yu Feng clasped his hands in a fist and bowed, his voice somewhat low. "The Earth God Temple in the west of the city has been abandoned for many years and is now occupied by a group of beggars. Half a month ago, a young woman found the leader of the beggars, gave him ten taels of silver, and asked him to spread the news about Miss Su."

Su Hua was taken aback. Half a month ago, it was the day she and Su Dahu attended the Hundred Flowers Banquet. Sure enough, this matter was related to the people at the Hundred Flowers Banquet.

"A young woman?" Xiao Jinhan murmured, a cold glint flashing in his deep eyes. "Who is this young woman? Have you found out?"

Yu Feng pursed his lips. "That woman was very well prepared. She wore a cone-shaped hat, so her face couldn't be seen. Her whole body was covered by loose clothes, so it was impossible to tell if she was fat or thin. Even the ten taels of silver she gave to the beggar was in copper coins, without any markings."

Judging from her voice, she was a young woman, and in terms of stature, she was about half a head shorter than Miss Su.

After saying that, he took out a piece of parchment from his chest. "This is a portrait drawn by the artist based on the description of the beggar's head."

Su Hua looked up at the portrait and was speechless for a moment.

On an A4 sheet of paper, a mere dozen or so strokes have captured the entire person from head to toe, but apart from an oversized garment and a large hat, nothing else can be discerned.

Can this be called a portrait? It's more like a walking robe!

If he hadn't said it was a young woman, she probably would have thought someone's clothes had been blown away by the wind while they were hanging out to dry.

She couldn't help but think of the wanted posters she usually saw under the city wall, each one more abstract than the last. No wonder the posters had faded from the wind and sun, and the wanted criminals still couldn't be found.

These artists really need to learn sketching properly.

Xiao Jinhan's expression was also grim. "Besides this portrait, have you found anything else?"

The man's voice was cold and icy, as if it had been chilled to the bone, causing Yu Feng's heart to skip a beat. "There's... there's one more thing. The beggar leader said that he had heard the woman's voice before, and that it was a gentle and soft voice, like water. If he listened to it again, he would definitely be able to recognize it."

“The voice…” Xiao Jinhan’s deep eyes narrowed slightly.

Hua'er had previously suspected it was Wei Jianjia. Wei Jianjia's voice was indeed quite gentle, but her height was about the same as Hua'er's.

The man was well-prepared, but his height was something that was hard to hide. Even if he put in shoes to increase his height, it was impossible for him to be half a head taller.

Moreover, Wei Jianjia was proud and aloof. In her eyes, beggars were probably not even as good as filthy rats, so how could she possibly go and negotiate with them herself?

However, if the master cannot do it, his subordinates can do it on his behalf.

Su Hua also thought of Qiu Shuang. Qiu Shuang was exactly half a head shorter than her, but Qiu Shuang's voice was not gentle at all. It wasn't exactly like a duck's quack, but it wasn't too far off.

She decided that she still needed to see the beggar leader first.

Where is that beggar's head now?

Yu Feng cupped his hands and said, "It's still at the Earth God Temple in the west of the city, but we've already sent people to guard it secretly."

Su Hua nodded and looked at the man beside her. "Zichen, let's go to the local temple first. I want to have a portrait redrawn."

"Okay, let's go now."

Xiao Jinhan nodded in agreement. He had personally witnessed Hua'er's painting skills. The portrait of Sanhua was painted by her, and one glance was enough to clearly identify the appearance of Sanhua.

This is the complete opposite of the so-called portrait in his hand.

Before setting off, Su Hua reminded Su Erhu to tell Su Bai that she would stay at the restaurant for the night and return to Shanghe Village the next day.

After all, the portrait project wouldn't be completed so quickly, and she didn't want Su Bai to worry at home.

Su Ji Restaurant is located at the junction of the east and west sides of the city, while the Land God Temple is on the far west edge of the city. It takes about half an incense stick's time to get from the restaurant to the Land God Temple by horse-drawn carriage.

The local temple was dilapidated; half of the eaves in front had collapsed, many of the roof tiles were broken, and the couplets pasted at the entrance had turned white and the characters on them were blurred. The surrounding area was covered with weeds and spider webs.

There were four or five clotheslines set up at the entrance, with some scraps of cloth hanging out to dry here and there.

There was only one beggar in the temple, a man in his thirties or forties. As soon as he saw Yu Feng, he immediately bowed and said, "Sir, you've arrived!"

I, this old beggar, swear that I have told you everything I know. If I have withheld even a single word, may I be struck by lightning and never be able to beg for even half a steamed bun…