Pei You was stunned, still somewhat incredulous, and asked, "Her deep affection for Chen Zhou, could it all be an act?"
Zuan sighed: "It's because they acted so convincingly, otherwise we wouldn't have been so easily fooled."
He wouldn't think much of it if Tao Hong stayed there.
But as luck would have it, it simply disappeared, clearly because it felt guilty.
Pei You was still somewhat incredulous: "But the Duke of Yunzhong has returned safely now, can't we just ask him if there's anything we need to ask?"
Why does the escape passage in the secluded chamber of the Duke of Yunzhong lead to Biyufang? Asking the person in charge can indeed solve the mystery.
Zu An's expression froze: "The Duke is currently recuperating from his injuries and is not receiving any guests. Moreover, even if we ask him, he may not tell us the truth."
He is the current Duke of Yunzhong. Who can we ask?
They chatted along the way and soon arrived at Biyufang.
Zuan went straight to the madam and asked her about Tao Hong.
At first, when the madam learned that the two were not there for fun, she was somewhat indifferent, but Zu'an didn't waste any words and directly revealed his identity as an imperial envoy.
The madam's expression immediately changed: "My lord, I knew Tao Hong was definitely up to something. That little hussy's business isn't that good, so how could she have saved up so much money to redeem herself?"
"When did she come to your Jade Brothel?" Led by the madam, the two arrived at Peach Blossom's room.
Returning to this place, everything has changed.
"Her? I think she transferred from the neighboring county about two years ago. We usually don't take in people like her, but she sounded pitiful, and she's quite pretty, so we figured we wouldn't lose money in the future, so we took her in." The madam noticed the situation in the room and explained, "We were planning to make room for another girl, but it's not ready yet."
"I'm afraid they slipped you some money." Pei You was an old hand at this; he knew that brothels generally wouldn't accept adult girls from outside just anywhere.
The madam chuckled awkwardly, "That girl Tao Hong knows how to handle things, we can't possibly refuse her."
“Two years ago…” Zu An fell into deep thought. Jian Yanyou’s accident happened more than a year ago. It seems that she came here in advance to make arrangements. He then casually asked, “Which county are you referring to, the neighboring county?”
“Yi County,” the madam replied.
"Yi County?" Zu An stopped in his tracks, and even Pei You realized something was wrong.
"What happened to Yi County?" the madam asked, puzzled.
"It's nothing." Zu'an didn't want her to know more. He searched the room and found many clothes still there. He frowned. "Tao Hong still has so many clothes that she didn't take?"
The madam replied, "That's normal. In our line of work, if someone wants to leave their past behind and doesn't want to have anything to do with it, they wouldn't take these clothes back with them. After all, what respectable woman would dare to wear such revealing clothes?"
"Did Tao Hong go back to her hometown? Where is her hometown?" Pei You asked from the side, feeling very annoyed that he had been deceived by this woman's feigned affection during this period.
"It seems to be in Qianshui City, Qianshui City in Yi County," the madam added.
"Yi County again?" Pei You frowned.
Zuan didn't pay much attention to this information. Even ordinary courtesans might not leave their real hometown address, let alone someone like her who came with a mission.
Zuan then looked at the madam: "Who is your boss? Take him... take us to see him."
I had intended to bring him to see me, but I was worried that he might tip me off and run away, so I decided to go in person.
The madam dared not disobey and hurriedly led him to the backyard.
Soon a man who looked like a wealthy man came out to greet them. Zu An questioned him thoroughly, but the man seemed to be just an ordinary merchant, and he couldn't get any useful information out of him.
Before leaving, Zu An suddenly remembered something and asked, "Has the Duke had any lovers in Biyufang over the years?"
The shopkeeper hurriedly smiled and said, "Sir, you are joking. The concubines in the Duke's household are all beauties, and there is even a fairy-like woman like Madam Yu. How could they possibly be interested in the ordinary beauties of our Jade Pavilion?"
"Oh, that's true." Zuan smiled and didn't press the matter further.
After the two left Biyufang, Pei You couldn't help but complain, "Brother Zu, why did you ask that question at the end? No matter how you look at it, the Duke wouldn't come to a place like this. With the most beautiful woman as his wife, no one would come to a brothel like this."
Zu An thought to himself, "You don't know that the number one beauty can only be kept at home and can't be touched at all, so Jian Yanyou still has a motive."
However, due to various reasons that were inconvenient to explain to him, he could only say, "When you get back, send someone to investigate the background of Biyufang. It's impossible for a brothel to be so large in a place like this to be without a background. Find out who is behind them."
"Also, send someone to investigate Tao Hong's whereabouts, including the hometown she mentioned and any other places she might have gone."
Although we know the chances are slim, we can't just let it go.
Just then, a clear, crisp female voice rang out: "Young Master Zu?"
Zuan turned around and saw a girl in yellow with dimples on her face waving at him on the street with a sweet smile.
Zuan's eyes lit up, and he walked over to greet him, "What are you doing here?"
Pei You, standing to the side, was initially puzzled, then suddenly realized and pointed at the girl: "You're not... not that girl from Xiaoyao Tower..."
Tang Tian'er bowed to him and said, "Greetings, Young Master Pei. I didn't expect you to remember me."
Pei You thought to himself, "Who could forget someone so beautiful, especially one like her, especially since she was in a private room with my brother Zu..."
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