Chapter 508 Clues

Lin Yuesha looked in the mirror and was surprised to find that the silk flowers in the capital were so exquisite, with gold trim and gemstones. A pair of silk flowers cost over a hundred taels of silver.

"Young Master Luo, do we need to return this prop after we're done using it?"

Lin Yuesha looked pleased with herself and pointed to her outfit, asking a question.

"No need, consider it compensation for you."

Luo Wang smiled, suddenly feeling a sense of raising a daughter. If he had a daughter, it would be much the same: buy the best fabrics, choose the most expensive jewelry, and dress her up beautifully.

"Why haven't I received any compensation?"

Xu Da felt wronged, as he had sacrificed too much.

"You've damaged my reputation, and you still want compensation?"

Luo Wang crossed his arms and gave Xu Da a cool look. He had now become a fickle homosexual who had found a new love, and as a member of the royal family of Da Qi, he was unable to clear his name.

Xu Da: ...

Well, by comparison, Luo Wang is even worse off than him.

However, those cunning young ladies were no simpletons; they even knew to come to him with such a roundabout strategy. Xu Da had always wanted to know which bastard was the strategist who came up with such a terrible idea.

Lin Yuesha took a few steps back subtly, trying her best to hide herself behind Luo Wang, so that Xu Da couldn't see her.

...

With everything prepared, the group went to Taipingfang. As agreed, Lin Yuesha and her maid Baicha flew kites together.

After the kite landed accurately in Young Master Yu's courtyard, Bai Cha went up and knocked on the door.

The master and servant knocked on the door for a long time before it was opened a crack. A servant boy of about thirteen or fourteen years old peeked in and, seeing only Bai Cha and the other person at the door, asked in confusion, "Who are you looking for?"

"Young man, we're not here to find anyone."

Bai Cha handed the servant a handful of copper coins and explained, "Our master went to the north a while ago and brought Miss a kite with an eagle on it. Miss liked it very much, but unexpectedly, when she went out to fly the kite today, the string suddenly broke."

By sheer coincidence, the kite landed in the courtyard, so the two decided to go inside to look for it.

"That won't work."

The servant shook his head. The courtyard was quite large; who knew where the kite had fallen? Young Master Yu had instructed that no one was allowed to enter the courtyard.

If you're delivering vegetables, just leave them at the side gate.

They wouldn't let her in, and Lin Yuesha was so anxious she was about to cry. Bai Cha had no choice but to ask, "We're just looking for something; we won't damage a single tree or blade of grass in the manor."

Kites are very important to the young lady; a kite with a broken string is considered unlucky, especially since the master is away on business.

The people of Daqi were extremely superstitious, so Lin Yuesha's words were not excessive at all. She squeezed out two tears and said softly, "How about I give you some silver? I just want a kite..."

The fact that they won't let people in and are so wary of outsiders suggests there's something wrong with the situation.

The courtyard should have two sections. Lin Yuesha peeked through the crack in the door and saw that it was quiet inside, and there should be very few people living there.

Could it be that besides Young Master Yu, this servant is the only one?

"No, no means no."

The servant, unable to bear the pestering any longer, decided to close the gate and search the courtyard himself, promising to bring the item out if found.

Bai Cha was very anxious. If things continued like this, the master and servant would not be able to see anyone other than the servant boy, and they would not get any useful information.

Lin Yuesha subtly probed the information and learned that people delivered vegetables and firewood every afternoon, all through the side gate of the backyard.

"It is only me and our young master in the manor. You are women, so it is not convenient for you to enter."

The servant brought up the rules, and Lin Yuesha had no choice. Rules were paramount, and coming to someone's door like this would damage her reputation.

"An old nanny would also be fine."

Lin Yuesha stubbornly delayed.

"No."

The servant shook his head and pointed to his hands, saying, "Look at my hands. I just finished burning firewood. I'm the only one who cooks and tends the fire. If I hadn't come to the front yard, I wouldn't have heard you knocking at the door."

Lin Yuesha sniffed and noticed a faint medicinal smell on the other person.

"Xiao Wu, who's here?"

A cough was heard, and then a frail-looking young man in a white robe walked out. He was pale but had a handsome face. He bowed to Lin Yuesha and asked, "What brings you here, Miss?"

"It was my kite that fell into the courtyard."

Lin Yuesha blushed, truly impressed by the gentleman before her, who was so refined and dignified.

"But this?"

The man's hand reached out from behind him, holding the kite that Lin Yuesha had dropped.

"Young master, why did you come out? You shouldn't be exposed to the wind while you're ill!"

The servant boy, Xiao Wu, was very anxious. He glared at Lin Yuesha and Bai Cha, and then stood in front of his young master.

"It's alright, the weather is nice today, I'm just going for a walk."

As the young master was speaking, he suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, which landed right on the servant's back.

Wearing little clothing in the summer, the blood quickly soaked through her clothes. When the servant turned around, Lin Yuesha clearly saw the bloodstains.

"Is this young master ill? I know a good doctor..."

The task wasn't finished yet, so Lin Yuesha had to stay a while. However, Xiao Wu replied, "Now that you've got the kite, please go back!"

As for the young master's illness, even Master Yu couldn't cure it, so how could anyone in Daqi possibly cure it?

Xiao Wu shook his head, pulled the young master towards the door, and slammed the door shut.

"Miss, what should we do?"

Before she even entered the house, the kite was delivered, and the young lady's plan fell through.

"Nothing much, let's get out of here first."

Although they didn't go inside, they gathered the necessary information. Besides Yu Zicheng, there were at least two other people in the courtyard: a servant named Xiao Wu and the seriously ill young master.

Lin Yuesha told Luo Wang about the situation, saying, "It's not difficult to find out now whether those missing pregnant women are alive or not."

If the pregnant woman was hiding inside the house, there must have been some clues.

"How so?"

Luo Wang was very interested and gestured for Lin Yuesha to continue.

"Although the servant named Xiao Wu didn't let us in, he said that he was the only one in the courtyard who ran errands and did odd jobs in the kitchen."

Lin Yuesha smelled the medicine on Xiao Wu, which meant he was probably brewing medicine for the young master, so he probably wasn't lying.

"He gave the girl a crucial piece of information: someone was delivering vegetables to the back door every day."

How much food can a patient, a servant, and Young Master Yu possibly eat? Look at that young master, he's already terminally ill, relying on medicine to stay alive all day.

Therefore, the amount of vegetables delivered each day is the amount for one day. If you stop the delivery person and ask how many vegetables they delivered, you should be able to find out how many people live inside.

"clever!"

Luo Wang stood up and gave Lin Yuesha a very appreciative look.

Lord Yu has many unorthodox methods for navigating the inner palace, especially regarding unborn children. In earlier years, some concubines actually used unborn male fetuses to make soup in hopes of having a son. I wonder if he's resorting to some crooked tricks again this time.