After receiving his assignment, Yinzhen had already figured things out on his way back to the mansion. He immediately led his men to seal off Wenyunxuan, and their head was surnamed Liu.
Manager Liu was dressed as a poor scholar, but the fabric of his clothes shimmered with iridescent light, which seemed quite different from his usual appearance. He was also holding a fan, which looked rather incongruous.
Seeing that Yinzhen's visit was ill-intentioned, he was not afraid. Instead, he swayed his waist and leaned closer, saying in a hoarse voice, "Your Highness, this is a legitimate shop. Please do not bring weapons. What if you frighten my customers?"
Yinzhen was already there. He had just asked the steward, but had been passed around several times, which annoyed him: "Did I scare your guests? Wouldn't dying scare your guests then!"
"Oh dear, how can you say such things in public? Gentlemen, please come with me." Steward Liu had done many welcoming and seeing-off duties and could tell that these were two men with yellow belts. He led them to Young Master Rong's room.
"This is Young Master Rong's residence. He calls himself Rong Zuping, but I don't know if that's true or not. Everyone here calls him Young Master Rong, and those who are close to him call him Rong'er." Steward Liu gestured for Yinzhen and the others to look around as they pleased. "Since Young Master Rong committed suicide, I haven't let anyone touch this place, since it involves the Tenth Prince."
"You just said that you and your friend are close, but you keep calling him Young Master Rong. Don't you two have a good relationship?" Yinzhen looked at the messy bed and gestured for Yintang to rummage through it.
Manager Liu sighed, "The dead should be respected, and I shouldn't say much, but Tenth Master's innocence is more important, so I have to speak up."
"Young Master Rong is skilled in poetry and calligraphy, as well as music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. Although he is not an expert in any of them, he is more than capable of charming the young masters in the capital. Once a person is fawned over, he easily becomes arrogant. Young Master Rong was initially a shy and humble person, but later he became arrogant and disdainful of everyone. Ordinary people could not catch his eye."
Steward Liu glanced at Yin Tang: "Later, the two gentlemen came to see something new. The Tenth Prince was captivated by Young Master Rong and spent lavishly. During that time, Young Master Rong did not entertain guests, so he was essentially being kept here by the Tenth Prince."
"After the Tenth Prince's wedding, he didn't visit Young Master Rong for a long time. Only then did he gradually resume business. During that time, there were indeed customers with unusual tastes. But the two gentlemen understand that we're in business, and there's no reason to turn away customers." Manager Liu recounted the story between the Tenth Prince and Young Master Rong in fits and starts.
"Just then, the Tenth Master returned. Young Master Rong was overjoyed, but who knew that such a tragedy would occur when he was too happy?"
Yinzhen carefully looked around the room: "I suppose the Tenth Prince was a regular visitor to your place before."
"Yes."
"And as far as you know, would he be so cruel and abusive to your... subordinates?"
Manager Liu hesitated for a long time before replying, "Sir, we have quite a few guests who come here to play, and there are indeed some who are ruthless. Tenth Master is not among them."
"But after all this time, and with Tenth Master back, I can't be sure if something has happened that might have caused a drastic change in his character."
"Hmm." Yinzhen nodded upon hearing this: "No one is allowed to enter this room until the truth comes out. Ninth Prince, move the things out of the room."
"Yes," Manager Liu replied.
"By the way, has anyone recently sought out this Young Master Rong alone?"
Manager Liu scratched his head: "Sir, we operate on a membership system here. You pay a certain amount of silver each month and can come and play anytime. Anything given to you as a special reward belongs to you. I didn't know that you didn't mention it."
Is your house soundproof?
Manager Liu was a little embarrassed: "The soundproofing is excellent. After all, this is a place for relaxation. It would be quite unpleasant to be heard by others or to hear other people's voices."
"Which one lives close to Young Master Rong? Call them over."
Manager Liu thought for a moment and said, "Young Master Rong's room is against the wall, and Young Master Yue's room is next to it. Please wait a moment."
A moment later, Young Master Yue walked over slowly. He was thin, dressed in a moon-white robe, with his hair half-down and a small white flower pinned to the top. He spoke softly and gently. If one did not look closely at his Adam's apple and ignore his height, it would be easy to mistake him for a woman.
"Yue'er greets Fourth Prince and Ninth Prince."
"What sounds did you hear the night Young Master Rong committed suicide?"
Yue'er's face suddenly turned red: "That day, Rong'er shouted very loudly, and I could hear a little bit of it from my room. Tenth Master hasn't come for many days, but he is even more vigorous than before."
Yinzhen glanced over coldly, utterly unable to understand what was so appealing about such a effeminate man.
"Ninth Prince, you go with me to see the coroner's autopsy results. I'll go compare the handwriting in the suicide note." Yinzhen didn't want to stay here for even a quarter of an hour. "Steward Liu, and this Young Master Yue, if you think of anything unusual, tell the guards and have them go to the Prince's residence to find me."
******
After returning to his residence, Yinzhen took a bath, sniffed the air to make sure the strong, cheap fragrance was gone, and then went to the main courtyard.
"Father!" Liu Liu rushed over like a small cannonball. Fortunately, Yinzhen anticipated this, otherwise he might have been knocked over.
What did Liu Liu do today?
"Father, Liu Liu learned five big characters today, taught by Mother." Liu Liu proudly took out a wooden plaque with the big characters engraved on it. The plaque looked quite old, with its edges polished very smooth, so it wouldn't hurt the child.
Yinzhen valued the educational tool for Honghui's early life and nodded. It was made by Yihua when Honghui was a child, and it was well preserved.
Honghui also returned and was busy building a swing for Liuliu. The little girl saw that other families had swings and wanted one too, so she couldn't wait even a quarter of an hour after returning.
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