Suspect

Kyoto was placed under martial law overnight, with soldiers swarming the streets and alleys. Teahouses, inns, taverns, and pharmacies were all heavily patrolled.

Xiao Liao waited and waited for news for a long time without any response; his head was about to explode.

"Have you checked everything?" He leaned back in his gold-threaded wooden chair, his elbows propped on the table, rubbing his temples in discomfort.

Wu Da replied, "Except for the Crown Prince's residence."

Mentioning the Crown Prince's residence, Xiao Liao's head twitched. "Just send someone to keep an eye on the Crown Prince's residence. There's no need to investigate."

Wu Da replied, then suddenly remembered, "Oh, Your Highness, there's still one place we haven't investigated."

"where?"

Wu Da replied, "The Princess's residence. There was no one there, so we couldn't force our way in. We went to the Duke of Dingguo's residence to ask the Princess for instructions. The Princess said that the Princess's residence was bestowed by the Emperor, and if we wanted to investigate, we needed to bring the imperial edict."

It was another imperial edict. Xiao Liao was immediately furious but helpless, so he simply summoned Dao Wuqing and his three companions and ordered them to infiltrate the princess's residence at night.

That night, at Wangning Pavilion.

Qinglian reported: "The King of Qin's men have gone to the Princess's residence."

Gu Jinning, with a chicken leg in her mouth, asked, "Is everything ready?"

"yes."

"Then let them do what they want. Investigate however they want."

She finished the chicken leg in her hand and then went to break off the other leg. When a person is injured, they need to eat more and replenish their body to heal faster.

"How's it going at the tea plantation?"

Qinglian replied, "The tea garden has been searched, and the eldest young master is unharmed."

Gu Jinning nodded and instructed, "Although the whole city is under martial law, the tea business cannot be delayed. Tell Zhao Yi that the tea will be sold as usual."

Qinglian responded.

Gu Jinning added, "Tell Bai Sheng to hide well and wait until things calm down before leaving the city. The stored medicine and food are enough for a while."

She wanted to see how long Xiao Liao could keep causing trouble.

Summer has quietly passed, and the late summer nights are no longer excessively hot, with a touch of early autumn coolness.

The princess's residence was completely silent. Only a few candlelight flickered and moved about at the west corner.

Dao Wuqing and his three companions scurried through the mansion in the dark, searching for that flickering candlelight.

A servant carrying a lantern entered the large house in the west corner.

"Ouch, how did you get injured too? It's hard to buy Chinese medicine in Beijing lately, can you guys just shut up for a bit?"

"And you, your leg is broken and you still won't behave. Wait, I'll go find you some cloth."

As soon as the servant left the room, the men who had been eavesdropping slipped inside.

Inside the gate was a huge open space, with piles of hay stacked along the corners of the walls.

On the other side was a row of houses covered with black cloth, which smelled of excrement and made gurgling sounds.

Dao Wuqing gestured to the other three to split up and search.

Wu Yizhao, who was wielding a large knife, was quick and lifted the black cloth first. A scream of pain rang out, and he staggered out of the cloth he had just crawled under. "What was that that pounced on me?"

A black-feathered fighting rooster jumped out, pecked him on the head again, flapped its wings, and flew to the haystack opposite.

The other three also lifted the curtain, and the chickens, seeing the light, all fluttered out.

"It's chickens! This is a chicken farm!"

The injured ones the servant mentioned were several lame chickens.

Dao Wuqing realized he had come to the wrong place and was about to leave when the servant returned, carrying a medicine box.

Who are you?

He was terrified and accidentally knocked over the tray, his hand quickly reaching for the long rope on the door frame.

Dao Wuqing reacted swiftly, immediately throwing his knife to cut the rope. The rope snapped with a "crack," and the servant fell to the ground.

The four walls swung open with a loud clang, and countless arrows shot out with a whoosh.

"careful!"

The four men quickly drew their swords or knives.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, the servant climbed over the threshold, slammed the iron gate shut, and ran out shouting, "Help! Help! The mansion has been robbed! Someone has stolen chickens!"

Dao Wuqing heard the sound and knew he was in trouble. He hurriedly tried to retreat, but the door was locked from the outside.

The curtain covering the chicken coop was hit by an arrow and fell down with a rustling sound. More than a dozen fighting roosters flew out with joyful cries and pounced on the four men.

"Why are there so many chickens?"

Having suffered a loss, Wu Yizhao raised his knife to chop at the chickens, but Dao Wuqing hurriedly stopped him, saying, "We can't hurt them. Our mission is to investigate. If we destroy this place, the princess will become suspicious, and it will be difficult to explain to the Prince of Qin."

"What should we do? They're not ordinary chickens."

Wu Yizhao dodged left and right, but his heavy body couldn't withstand the roosters' attack, and he was covered in cuts.

"The wings feel like knives, they hurt!"

Swordsmen Sun Li and Sun Ren were also covered in chicken feathers, and couldn't help but wonder if the princess had nothing better to do than raise so many chickens.

There were guards approaching from outside.

Dao Wuqing said, "We have no choice but to escape first."

The chicken coop was surrounded by corrugated iron sheets, and there were people outside the windows, so the only way to get out was to break through the roof.

The four exchanged a knowing glance, then leaped into the air. With a loud crash, the roof tiles shattered, and a net caught the four who were about to fly out, swiftly closing in to gather them up.

The four men were thrown back to the ground, trapped in the net, while a dozen or so fighting roosters arrogantly circled around them, crowing.

Before they could break free, the door opened, and several guards drew their swords and held them to their necks.

The servant followed him back, clapping and exclaiming, "That's brilliant! The net the princess used to catch chickens is perfect for catching thieves!"

"Quickly, quickly, disarm them and take them away to await the princess's judgment."

Gu Jinning received the news overnight. She laughed for a while before saying, "Stealing chickens, and carrying weapons, they're quite skilled. This isn't like an ordinary petty thief. Could they be the ones causing the burglary in the city today?"

Gu Jinning pretended to think for a moment, "This matter could be big or small, let's leave it to the prefect to investigate. Qinglian, go there."

Qinglian understood and personally went to the capital prefecture. First, she suspected the identity of the thief and asked the prefect to investigate him thoroughly. Then, she specifically emphasized that the princess's fighting cocks cost 100 taels each and would be useless if they were frightened.

Kyoto Prefect Li Huan repeatedly assured that he would thoroughly investigate the matter and punish the perpetrators according to the law.

Just after Qinglian left, the King of Qin's men arrived, wanting to transfer several people away.

Li Huan was old-fashioned and only cared about following the rules. The King of Qin was in charge of investigating the prison breakers, and it was correct to arrest them, but he had to first mark the names and origins of these thieves in the case file.

Wu Da's expression was grim. "Lord Li, there's no need for that. Once we arrive at the Prince of Qin's residence, they will question us thoroughly."

Li Huan reasoned, “It’s different. Since the princess has handed the thief over to me for investigation, the case file must be clearly written before the case can be transferred.”

Wu Dadao: "Then you write that the Princess's mansion was burgled, and the King of Qin suspects that it is related to the prison break case, and has people brought in for questioning."

Li Huan stated frankly that the terms were too general and did not conform to regulations, insisting on reviewing them before forwarding them.

Wu Da had no choice but to pull him into the shadows and tell them that they were on the orders of the Prince of Qin to secretly search for prison breakers and had mistakenly entered the Princess's mansion.

Li Huan let out a long "Oh," opened the file, and asked, "What are their names?"

Wu Da was at his wits' end, so he had no choice but to tell them all their names and backgrounds.

After submitting the case file, Li Huan demanded compensation be paid first, otherwise he would not be able to explain it to the princess.

Dao Wuqing and his companions had no money to pay compensation, so Wu Da had to ask Xiao Liao for instructions. Xiao Liao secretly paid 1,500 taels of silver, which allowed them to successfully take the men away.

Before leaving, Li Huan kindly reminded him, "His Majesty is most averse to people in the court getting too close to people from the martial arts world. Your Highness, you should be careful."

The gleaming silver ingots were laid out right in front of Gu Jinning.

Gu Jinning couldn't put it down, smelling the silver ingot again and again, "If I had known money came so easily, I would have deliberately swindled people."

Qinglian asked, "Are we just going to let them go like this?"

Gu Jinning said, "Xiao Liao is in a hurry to use them, and he will try to get people out of trouble no matter what. It's not advisable to confront him directly. It's good to make money for free."

She's drowning in debt and desperately needs money. If she'd known Xiao Liao was so generous, she should have asked for two hundred taels each.

Gu Jinning regretted her kindness and angrily ate two blackfish to make up for it.

Dao Wuqing and his companions returned to the Qin residence in a sorry state, where they were thoroughly scolded by Xiao Liao.

"You've been trapped in a chicken farm and turned into this mess. You're utterly useless. How dare you call yourselves martial arts masters?"

Wu Yizhao said aggrievedly, "Your Highness, it's not that we're useless. It's just that, firstly, we were afraid of alerting the enemy and not being able to hurt them, secondly, the princess's chickens are really ferocious, and thirdly, we never expected there to be a net on the roof."

Xiao Liao glanced at him disdainfully, "Are you sure the Princess's residence is alright?"

Wu Yizhao repeatedly assured, "Apart from servants, it's all chickens, absolutely no problem."

Xiao Liao refused to believe it. The capital was heavily guarded; not even a fly could get out. Could they have escaped the city? And how did those thieves manage to get out?

Dao Wuqing, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up, "Your Highness, I thought of something while I was in prison. The fact that this group of people were able to disappear without a trace means they must have been hiding."

Xiao Liao said coldly, "Do you even need to tell me that?"

Dao Wuqing said, "It is rumored that a new sect has emerged in the martial arts world in recent years, called the Thousand Faces Sect, which is most skilled in the art of face-changing. The people who broke into the prison should be them. Since they can change their faces, they can hide themselves invisibly and are extremely difficult to detect."

Upon hearing about the Thousand Faces Sect, the Sun brothers' expressions changed drastically.

Wu Yizhao also said, "I know that. The Thousand Faces Sect takes money to do things and never shows their true faces. They have connections in both the legitimate and criminal worlds. They disappear after they finish their work, and no one knows where their hideout is. It could very well be them. However, I've never heard of them being so skilled in martial arts."

Xiao Liao extinguished the remaining flame in the incense burner and said unhappily, "So, we can't find anything then."

Dao Wuqing replied, “People are alive, things are dead. Although they are skilled in disguise, their habits, preferred weapons, and body odor are difficult to change. Moreover, Zuo Wenzhong is seriously injured and needs to be treated as soon as possible. They will definitely need to buy medicine, and the handwriting is extremely crucial evidence.”

"Has anyone seen his handwriting?"

Xiao Liao finally showed some interest. He glanced at everyone and his gaze fell on Sun Li and Sun Ren. "Do you have something to say?"

After hesitating for a moment, Sun Li took out a letter from his pocket and presented it to the emperor.

“Your Highness, this is a letter of appeal given to my brother and me by our uncle in our clan. It contains a blackmail letter from someone who calls himself the Thousand-Faced Sect's Hundred-Faced Young Master. One of the reasons my brother and I came to the capital this time is to find the whereabouts of the Hundred-Faced Young Master.”

Xiao Liao had already taken the letter and read it. As they said, the letter recounted how the Sun family had suffered heavy losses, including being warned and plotted against by the Hundred-Faced Young Man, losing thousands of taels of silver, and witnessing the mysterious disappearance of their bride. They hoped their two nephews would help them find the Hundred-Faced Young Man and avenge their family.

The blackmail letter was signed by the ever-changing young man.

Xiao Liao examined the letter again and again, seemingly recognizing something. He took out another slip of paper from his sleeve to compare. The handwriting wasn't exactly the same, but there was a vague, indescribable similarity.

"Wu Da, send it to the Dali Temple for handwriting comparison. Also, search all the handwriting in the city."

He rose, rolled up his sleeves, and strode out of the room. "Get up, all of you. Speaking of weapons, let's go to the scene again."

The prison has been thoroughly cleaned inside and out, and all items left at the scene of the fight have been marked and sealed. This includes a silver needle and a fallen leaf.

"Look more closely, have you seen any of these before?"

Silver needles are common, and hidden weapons are ordinary; neither has any special markings and cannot be used as evidence.

Seeing that they had returned empty-handed, Xiao Liao ordered his men to spread out the leaves and look for any omissions. Suddenly, they discovered a tattered leaf of an unusual shape.

He picked it up, brought it to his nose, and a natural, fresh fragrance wafted into his nostrils. It was faint, but distinct; it wasn't the grassy smell of ordinary tree leaves, but rather the aroma of tea.

"tea?"

Xiao Liao still remembered the man in white, whose figure was graceful and aloof, and whose inner strength was enough to power the leaf. He had only witnessed such powerful inner strength and outstanding demeanor at the martial arts tournament three years ago.

"The Hua family, the tea plantation, Hua Lingchen!"