Chapter 34 Riot
In the private room on the second floor of the riverside building, a river breeze blew in, carrying a touch of the unique moisture of Jiangnan.
Pei Zhiwei had just picked up a piece of sashimi with her chopsticks and put it in her mouth when the delicate texture melted on her tongue.
She was just about to tell Xiao Yunzhan that the fish sashimi was more tender and fresher than any she had eaten before when she heard hurried footsteps downstairs, followed shortly by a soft knock on the door.
A tentative voice came from outside the door: "Your Highness, this humble servant Zhou Wenbin requests an audience."
Xiao Yunzhan and Pei Zhiwei exchanged a glance, then put down their chopsticks. "Come in."
The door to the private room was pushed open.
Zhou Wenbin bowed to Xiao Yunzhan, speaking slightly breathlessly: "Your Highness...Your Highness, Madam Pei, I've finally found you."
Xiao Yunzhan pointed to the empty chair next to him: "Sit down and catch your breath before we talk."
He did not bring up the previous accountability measures again.
After all, the investigation is the priority right now, and further criticism will be of no use.
After Zhou Wenbin thanked him, he didn't dare to sit down properly. He only leaned against the edge of the chair for a short while before speaking:
"As you instructed, I investigated the unreported disappearances and found that more than a dozen poor women had indeed gone missing."
They all left home after finding jobs as laborers; some said they were going to embroidery workshops outside the city, while others said they were going to work as maids in wealthy households.
But after leaving, she never contacted her family again, and her family couldn't find the so-called employer when they went to look for her.
He paused, then quickly added, "I have already instructed the best painter in the government office to begin the portrait painting."
He was drawing people recruiting for jobs while simultaneously drawing the missing woman.
This time, I specifically instructed the artist to draw exactly as my family described the details, ensuring the drawing is nearly indistinguishable from the real person, and definitely not as vague as before.
Pei Zhiwei silently put down her chopsticks. When she was looking at the case files last night, she remembered that teenagers and young children had also gone missing in the past three years. Why is it that this time, only women have been found?
She was puzzled, so she asked directly, "Lord Zhou, this time the investigation only found women? There were no other cases of missing teenagers or young children that were not reported to the authorities?"
Zhou Wenbin paused for a moment, then shook his head, speaking with certainty.
"Reporting to Madam Pei, there really isn't any."
I had people inquire about it from one neighborhood to another, and the village heads also checked it carefully.
Everyone says that in the past six months, apart from these women, no one has heard of any teenagers or children going missing.
There were a few such cases in the past two years, but they were all reported to the authorities and recorded in the case files.
So, are these recent disappearances specifically targeting women?
If they can abduct large numbers of women, why risk being discovered and target a single woman in a crowd?
Pei Zhiwei was pondering this when she heard Xiao Yunzhan speak.
"Send two groups of people to investigate," Xiao Yunzhan instructed.
"A group of people then kept an eye on those recruiters, investigating along the places they might appear, to see if they could find any clues."
Another group went to check the pharmacies in Suzhou, focusing on whether anyone had recently purchased 'charming grass' in bulk.
He paused, then specifically instructed: "This herb is controlled by the imperial court. According to regulations, each pharmacy has a limited stock, and it won't be too much."
Check if anyone has recently purchased from different pharmacies in multiple separate transactions.
Zhou Wenbin nodded quickly, keeping the words in mind. Afraid of missing anything, he repeated them again: "This humble official has remembered."
One group was investigating job postings, another was investigating pharmacies selling "love potion," especially bulk purchases.
Seeing Xiao Yunzhan nod, he stood up and bowed again: "Then this humble official will make the arrangements immediately and report back as soon as there is any news."
Once Zhou Wenbin's footsteps disappeared at the top of the stairs, Pei Zhiwei spoke again, her voice tinged with uncertainty.
"Your Highness, you said that they could have easily lured a group of women to follow them willingly, so why did they still attack a particular woman when there were many people around?"
With so many women still missing, did they simply hide them nearby, or were they transported away?
"If they were hiding nearby, where in Suzhou city would there be such a large place to hide so many people without being discovered?"
She suddenly remembered the hidden compartment of the official ship she had explored the night before last.
“I previously scouted the official boat we were on at night. If the hull compartments were filled with people, dozens of women could definitely fit inside.”
Suzhou is located by water, making it the most convenient and least likely place to transport people by boat.
Do you think it's possible they used the canal boats to transport the people away?
Before Xiao Yunzhan could reply, another series of chaotic footsteps came from the stairwell, followed by Zhou Wenbin's voice, even more urgent than before.
"Your Highness! Lady Pei! Your humble servant is back again!"
The two turned their heads and saw that there was another person following behind Zhou Wenbin.
The man was wearing a light scarlet official robe and looked to be around forty years old.
Zhou Wenbin led them inside while introducing them.
"Your Highness, Madam Pei, this is Lord Yu Haijing, the Maritime Trade Commissioner of Suzhou."
"I just went downstairs and happened to run into Lord Yu at the door. I mentioned the case to him, and I didn't expect that Lord Yu actually remembered 'Charming Grass'."
Yu Haijing stepped forward and bowed to Xiao Yunzhan: "This humble official, Yu Haijing, greets Your Highness Prince Rui."
"Lord Yu, there's no need for such formalities."
Xiao Yunzhan asked, "Why does Lord Yu have expertise in bewitching plants?"
Yu Haijing straightened up. "I am in charge of the maritime trade, and this herb falls within my responsibilities. I have records of which pharmacies stock this herb and how much they have."
As Your Highness said, these herbs are regulated. According to regulations, pharmacies must keep records of their inventory, the quantity of goods purchased, who they sold to, and how much each person bought.
With these records, I can identify which pharmacies to focus on and compare them with their records to determine if they have made false claims.
However, my records are all at the yamen (government office), not on my person. But there is one place I'm certain of that regularly supplies this medicine.
He paused, then gave the name: "It's the largest pharmacy in Suzhou, Suhetang."
They always stocked more of the herb than other pharmacies. Although they didn't exceed the regulated quota, they were still the pharmacy with the largest stock in Suzhou.
Suhetang is a time-honored brand in Suzhou, located on the main street, attracting many visitors and enjoying a great reputation.
Everyone in Suzhou knows his family has the most complete selection of medicines; if they need to buy any hard-to-find herbs, his family is the first place they think of.
Pei Zhiwei glanced at Xiao Yunzhan, and seeing that he was also looking at her, she said, "Since we don't have any other clues right now, why don't we go and take a look at Suhetang?"
Xiao Yunzhan nodded, "Alright. Lord Yu, Lord Zhou, if it's convenient for you, please come along."
After leaving Linhe Tower, Xiao Yunzhan walked in front, with Pei Zhiwei following behind him, still pondering the suspicious points of the disappearance case.
Yu Haijing and Zhou Wenbin followed behind, occasionally exchanging a few words in hushed tones about the pharmacy.
Just after crossing a stone bridge, a commotion broke out ahead, mixed with screams and children's cries.
"What's going on?" Xiao Yunzhan frowned immediately and quickened his pace, heading towards the source of the sound.
Only when you get closer can you see that there is a crowd gathered in the middle of the main street.
In the crowd was a man who looked to be about forty or fifty years old, waving a machete and making strange "hoho" noises.
The voice was indistinct and unclear, sounding almost inhuman, sending a chill down one's spine for no apparent reason.
His eyes were bloodshot and his face was covered in blood, though it was unclear whether it was his own or someone else's.
Two people were already lying on the ground not far away. One of them had been slashed in the arm and was groaning in pain while clutching his arm.
The other one had a long gash in his back and was lying motionless on the ground; it was unknown whether he was dead or alive.
"Get out of the way! A madman is attacking people!" someone shouted from the crowd, and people retreated, but no one dared to step forward to stop him.
Just then, the madman suddenly turned to a child who looked about five or six years old.
The child stood there, terrified, crying, still clutching half a piece of sugar cake in his hand, his face covered in tears and snot.
A fierce glint flashed in the madman's eyes, and he raised his cleaver and chopped it down on the child's head!
"Not good!" Xiao Yunzhan's heart tightened. Before he could think any further, he pushed off with his toes and leaped half a zhang away.
He was the closest and thought he could get to the child first.
But just as he was rushing forward, a gust of wind suddenly swept past him from behind.
Pei Zhiwei's figure flashed past him like an arrow, and in the blink of an eye, she was in front of the child.
She grabbed the madman's wrist, which was holding the knife, and twisted it backward.
Caught off guard, the madman's wrist was twisted to the side, yet he still gripped the machete tightly.
Seeing that he had missed the child, the man let out a strange cry and turned to slash at Pei Zhiwei.
This madman is incredibly fast and has terrifying strength.
Pei Zhiwei was still gripping the man's wrist and hadn't even had time to let go.
She tried her best to resist, but to no avail, and watched as the machete drew ever closer to her.
At that critical moment, a hand suddenly reached out.
He grabbed the madman's wrist holding the knife, pulled him sharply to the side, and pressed his thumb against the man's wrist bone.
With a soft "thud," the madman's wrist went limp, and the cleaver clattered to the ground.
Before the madman could react, Xiao Yunzhan exerted force with his arm again, throwing him backward.
The madman fell heavily to the ground, but tried to struggle to get up. The constables immediately rushed over, grabbed him, and tied him up tightly with hemp rope.
Xiao Yunzhan ignored the madman, turned around and rushed to Pei Zhiwei's side, reaching out to grab her arm and carefully examining her from head to toe.
"How are you? Are you hurt?"
His gaze fell on her hands, noticing that her palms were red and trembling slightly from the exertion she had just used.
Pei Zhiwei shook her head and glanced at the child first.
The child was being held tightly in his mother's arms. Although he was still crying, he was finally alright.
She breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at Xiao Yunzhan: "I'm fine. I just didn't expect him to be so strong. I'll be fine after a while."
Xiao Yunzhan opened his mouth to say something, but then he heard a terrifying scream that was not human.
Both of them were startled and looked in the direction of the sound.
The madman, pinned to the ground, had his mouth agape, his neck arched back so high his head was almost touching his back, his eyes bulging with fury as he stared intently at the sky. Then, his body twitched, and he fell silent.
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