"A tall man was beating a 15 or 16-year-old girl. Her mouth was blocked and she looked like she was about to die."

Fu Yin informed Shen Huaixu of what he had discovered in real time, "... A man with a mole on the corner of his mouth spoke out to stop them. It seemed that the two were about to come out."

Soon, a small flame appeared faintly in the tallest attic of the courtyard. Shen Huaixu walked lightly between the roof and the courtyard wall, and soon shortened the distance between himself and the light.

Two men appeared from nowhere and were walking silently in the attic corridor.

Shen Huaixu sat on the courtyard wall, and in the dim light of the fire he could clearly see the faces of the two men: one tall and strong, the other short.

The tall and strong one had a gangster-like look on his face, and even without speaking, he gave people a frightening feeling. He also held a long whip in his hand.

There was a shrewd gleam in the short man's eyes. Under his crooked nose, the end of his mustache curled slightly upwards, and there was a very obvious black mole below the corner of his lip.

The short man was wearing a dark blue satin garment and looked to be of higher status than the tall man.

When they reached a door, Shen Huaixu saw two figures flash and walk into the house. Soon, a dim candlelight was lit in a room on the east side of the second floor of the attic. Shen Huaixu could vaguely hear the conversation between the two, and Fu Yin could also supplement what he couldn't hear clearly.

"Manager Cao, this is the list delivered today. Please take a look."

The man called Manager Cao raised his eyelids and put down the list in his hand. He leaned back in the ebony carved chair and looked at the man in front of him with a cold expression.

"Didn't I tell you not to touch that Bai Tang these days? Did you turn a deaf ear to my words?"

The tall and strong man couldn't help but bulge his veins. "Manager, that Bai Tang has been trying to commit suicide time and time again. She's a stubborn person who won't give in to any push or action. It's better to kill her, otherwise we'll get into trouble sooner or later. Her death is one thing, but it would be bad if it implicated Youhe and the young master."

The man known as 'Manager Cao' slammed the table in front of him. He suppressed his anger and said in a low voice, "You uncivilized beast! Don't think I don't know how you and Bai Tang got together? Isn't it just that you liked her but were rejected many times? She's from Youhe, and you're so audacious as to want to attack her, but what if you kill her? You'll have to pay for the loss? There are all kinds of women in brothels and brothels. Why do you have to go to this extent!"

The tall and strong man was indignant. The women in the brothels were all soft and effeminate. How could they have the fiery temper of Bai Tang? But it was precisely because of her fiery temper that he gnashed his teeth in hatred.

As Cao Guanshi calmed down, he threatened with a sinister look in his eyes, "I'm warning you, don't touch her. It's my will. If she's gone, you'll bring her head to me!"

After a while, the tall and strong man reluctantly responded "yes".

Manager Cao picked up a booklet on the desk, flipped it open, and pointed at a few names on one page. "These obedient ones can be taken care of now. When we send them to Mother Fan, ask her to put in more effort and not to cause any more trouble."

"Also, tell your men to be careful. I've repeatedly warned you that torture should only injure their insides, not their skin. If anyone injures their skin again, I won't forgive them."

The conversation between the two did not last long, and soon they went downstairs to rest.

Chen Huaixu climbed up the courtyard wall to the corridor on the second floor of the attic, took out a key-like object from the space, inserted it into the keyhole, fiddled with it for a while, and soon the lock was opened.

The key was called the Master Key, made of a special memory metal, which she had looted from Qiao Man. For Shen Huaixu, it was more than enough.

After opening the door, she dodged lightly and peeked out before closing the door. After finding nothing unusual, she closed the door tightly.

Fu Yin came out of the space and helped Shen Huaixu look for clues in this room.

He touched a book on the bookshelf, opened it and took a look. There were three big words on the cover - "Lotus Sutra".

"Chen Huaixu." He called out in a low voice.

Shen Huaixu walked over to him, first looking at the bookshelf, then touching it. The owner of the study room obviously didn't read much, and there was some dust on the books. However, the Lotus Sutra in Fu Yin's hand was not stained with dust at all.

She didn't know much about Buddhism, and even less about Buddhist scriptures, but she did know that the Lotus Sutra was a Buddhist scripture.

"Some places in it are marked, they must be useful." Fu Yin handed the book in his hand to Shen Huaixu.

Shen Huaixu flipped through it roughly and said, "It should be a password. We need to find the master copy to crack it."

As a special forces soldier, she has come into contact with this method of hiding information quite often.

She walked back to the desk, picking up and putting down each item. Finally, Shen Huaixu's attention was drawn to an account book. She couldn't tell what business it was, but after flipping through two pages, she could tell it was a fake account. The edges of the paper were slightly curled and felt smooth to the touch, obviously someone who looked at it frequently. What was there to read in a fake account book?

After throwing the book and the account book into the space, Fu Yin handed over a note.

"Found it in the cracks of the list." Fu Yin pointed to a booklet that Shen Huaixu had not yet read.

Using the dim moonlight to clearly see the words above, Shen Huaixu raised his eyebrows slightly, "It seems that this is the order of the young master that the steward mentioned."

The piece of paper was slightly curled up, and on it was written a name that Shen Huaixu was very familiar with - Jiang Xun, a Juren from Ganzhou.

Putting the note back into the list, she said to Fu Yin, "Let's go. I have to analyze the contents of the Thousand Character Sutra tonight."

Fu Yin pursed his thin lips and said nothing.

After an incense stick of time, the two reappeared in the capital and quickly returned to their rooms. Shen Huaixu placed the account book and Buddhist scriptures in front of the desk and took out the night pearl to challenge the night battle.

Fu Yin sat aside and watched for a long while, curling his slender fingers and tapping the table lightly. He couldn't help but say, "You are still young, how can you stay up late? If it really doesn't work, I can reluctantly help you."

Shen Huaixu didn't even raise his head, "You'll be busy later."

Before dawn, Chen Huaixu and Fu Yin finally cracked all the codes, and what they cracked was a list of names. The list included talented scholars, teachers with many students, wealthy businessmen, and people in the court.

"Who are these people?" Fu Yin's narrow eyes were a little tired.

"If my guess is correct, it should be someone who has been spying on him."

Fu Yin closed his eyes and thought carefully, and soon understood the meaning of Shen Huaixu's words.

"You mean that the people sent out by Youhe were all sent to the people on the list for various reasons, used as spies to gather information. Your second brother is their next target."

Chen Huaixu had a smile on his lips, but it didn't reach his eyes. "The next target isn't my second brother, it's clearly me. No wonder Shangguan Zhu loves his son Shangguan Yi so much. It turns out Shangguan Yi spent all the years he was banished from the capital pursuing these crooked ways."

"If anyone plays dirty with me, I'll play dirty with him and pay him back a hundredfold."