Zu'an led a group of embroidered messengers to the outskirts of the city in a flurry of activity, searching for Xinrui's mother and younger brother according to the address recorded by the Imperial Household Department.
These embroidered-robed envoys, unlike him who had just arrived in the capital, were very familiar with the city's streets and alleys.
They soon found a courtyard.
The embroidered messengers professionally divided into several teams: one team circled around to guard the back gate of the courtyard, another team occupied the surrounding high ground to monitor the surroundings, and the third team guarded the entrances to the alleys.
The remaining people knocked on the front door, but there was no response after a few knocks. So they kicked the door open and rushed in menacingly.
Zuan slowly walked in. Now that he didn't have to do the searching himself, he had more time to carefully observe his surroundings.
Seeing the scene in the courtyard, he sighed inwardly, realizing he was probably too late.
Sure enough, someone soon reported: "Eleventh Master, no target found. Judging from the scene inside, no one has lived here for several days."
Zuan nodded: "Dig up the yard and see if there are any corpses or anything. Also, ask the neighbors around here if they have any clues."
The group quickly divided the work and plowed the yard three feet deep in the blink of an eye. Even cultivators could plow much faster than ordinary people.
Unfortunately, nothing was found.
Just then, someone returned with an old woman: "Eleventh Master, she was just sneaking around here looking this way."
The old woman hurriedly waved her hands: "I'm innocent! I was just curious what the Hua family had done wrong. They're definitely not bad people. That damned Hua woman is indeed a wicked devil."
"The Hua family?" Zu An remembered that Xin Rui's original surname was Hua before she entered the palace. Hearing the old woman's cursing, he asked, "Do you have a grudge against this family?"
The old woman's face changed: "No grudge, no grudge, how could I possibly have a grudge against them?"
Given the current situation, how could she dare to get involved? What if this family were harmed, and she claimed to have a grudge, becoming a scapegoat for these officials?
Zuan coldly said, "That's not entirely true. Take him back and interrogate him severely."
The old woman was so frightened that her whole body went limp. She hurriedly said, "I'll talk, I'll talk. I really don't have any grudges against their family. I just can't stand that they're idle and live a better life than us."
"Idle and lazy?" Zu An frowned.
“Yes,” the old woman said hastily, afraid he wouldn’t believe her. “This family moved here three years ago. At first, it was just Sister Hua and her son. That son of hers, oh dear, he’s really idle all day long. He does nothing but ask his mother for money to gamble. I saw that Sister Hua was a bit pitiful, so I helped her find a job mending clothes for wealthy families. They managed to make ends meet.”
"But I later found out that her daughter worked in the palace, and even this house was bought for them with money saved up by her daughter. Oh, how wonderful it would be if I had such a successful daughter."
"However, the eldest sister of the Hua family has always been conscientious in continuing to mend clothes to supplement the family income."
...
Hearing her rambling on and on without getting to the point, Zu'an interrupted her impatiently, "From what you've said, you two should have a good relationship, so why were you so resentful just now?"
"Hmph, people change," the old woman said sullenly. "One day she suddenly stopped doing that job. I was curious about how they lived. Her daughter worked in the palace, but these outsiders had almost spent all their savings to buy this house. They shouldn't have any spare money left."
“But their lives didn’t get worse. Instead, the eldest sister of the Hua family started wearing gold and silver. Tsk tsk tsk, my husband and I have worked hard all our lives and never dared to buy those kinds of jewelry.” The old woman’s tone was full of jealousy. “She said that her daughter was appreciated by a nobleman in the palace, but I think she probably secretly stole things from the palace. Now she’s in trouble.”
Zuan frowned: "You're gloating over this?"
“If it were just this, I wouldn’t be so angry,” the old woman said, her eyes filled with resentment. “My son is of marriageable age, and I’ve found a wife for him, but we’re short of the dowry. I was thinking of borrowing some money from the Hua family, but who knew that woman would refuse me without hesitation, saying that her daughter has it tough too. Bah! If I hadn’t later found out that she was also arranging a wife for her idle son, I would have actually believed her.”
Zuan was speechless for a moment: "It's his own money, and it's understandable that he wants to leave it to his son."
The old woman became anxious: "But they were so destitute when they first came to the capital. If it weren't for my help, they probably would have starved to death long ago. Now that I need help, she turns her back on me. You know, she could easily pawn any one of her gold and silver jewelry to lend me the money."
Listening to her various complaints, I realized that she was a typical Beijing native who felt resentful seeing her family, who were originally less fortunate than her, suddenly become successful.
Zuan didn't have time to concern himself with their personal matters: "When was the last time you saw them?"
The old woman replied, "About half a month ago."
"Did they leave on their own or were they taken away by someone?" Zuan asked.
"I don't know about that," the old woman shook her head.
"Did anything unusual happen here during that time?" Zu'an pressed. He knew that unlike later generations, the population mobility in this era was much greater. Here, almost everyone was a neighbor they saw every day. If a stranger came, they would definitely leave a trace.
"It seems a carriage came by those few days. Wow, we've never seen such a magnificent carriage around here before," the old woman said with envy.
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