Chapter 184: The Silence

After Ming Huashang was fed by his brother, he still had to do his work. This place was close to the teahouse, so Ming Huashang digested his food while holding hands with Li Huazhang and strolled to the teahouse to ask questions.

Li Huazhang did not allow the Feng family to follow them. No one knew where they were going, so when the teahouse staff looked up and saw the famous Prince Yong and Princess Yong coming, they were all stunned. Li Huazhang kindly asked him to sit down and asked, "Are you the teahouse manager? How long have you been in the teahouse?"

The teahouse steward was flattered and said, "Your Highness, it is me. Including the time when I was an apprentice, I have been working in the teahouse for more than ten years."

Li Huazhang asked, "Were you on duty in the tea room last night?"

It was the first time for the steward to meet such an important person. This prince was not only of noble status, but also elegant and graceful. He also spoke in a gentle and elegant manner. The steward was very excited and could hardly speak straight: "It is me."

"Who did you see while on duty last night?"

The steward said without hesitation, "Da Lang has been here."

Li Huazhang's face was full of warmth and kindness, but his eyes were frozen in ice. He looked at the steward calmly and said, "Really? There must be quite a few people coming to the teahouse to get tea every time. You remember it without even thinking about it?"

The steward said, "There are few people who want tea at night, so it's easy to remember. In the past, only the old lady wanted tea before going to bed. Yesterday, it was Dalang who came to get it, so I remembered it."

Ming Huashang interrupted and asked, "Old Lady Feng has always had the habit of drinking tea before going to bed?"

"Yes." The teahouse steward said, "The old lady loves to drink Yinsheng tea the most. In the past, Miss Baozhu always came to get it. Oh, yes, Miss Baozhu also came yesterday, and she came with Dalang."

Li Huazhang asked: "When?"

The steward thought for a moment and said uncertainly, "It was probably around 15:00. I didn't check the time, so I can't remember."

Li Huazhang seemed to be thinking about something, and Ming Huashang took over and asked, "What did Baozhu and Dalang do after they came?"

"Miss Baozhu said she was afraid that Dalang didn't know what the old lady liked to drink, so she came to tell me to make two cups of silver tea as usual, and then she left. Dalang couldn't stand the stuffiness in the room, so he went outside to get some fresh air. When the tea was ready, Dalang still hadn't come back. I was afraid that I would get old if I continued to make tea, so I went out to look for Dalang. Dalang was standing in the corner, looking down at something, which scared me. Fortunately, Dalang didn't pursue my rudeness, and he took the tea and left."

Ming Huashang said "Oh" and curiously asked, "What is he looking at?"

"It was dark, I really couldn't see it." The steward scratched his head, uncertain, "But Dalang held it in his hand, I guess it was something to eat."

After leaving the teahouse, Li Huazhang and Ming Huashang went to the courtyard of old lady Feng. When they first entered, Ming Huashang thought she had entered the wrong place. There were so many young and beautiful girls in the courtyard that she almost thought it was the concubine of a young lady. These maids suddenly lost their master and were at a loss. When they suddenly saw Li Huazhang and Ming Huashang, they were like frightened birds, and they knelt down in a rush.

Ming Huashang hurriedly said, "Don't be afraid. We are not here to accuse you of anything. We just stopped by to ask you some questions. Who is your leader?"

A maid had already gone in to call Baozhu. Baozhu lifted the curtain and came out, hurriedly stepped forward and bowed: "I didn't know that Prince Yong and Princess Yong were coming. I am sorry for not coming to greet you. I deserve to die."

"Let's just take a walk. Don't be nervous." Ming Huashang helped Baozhu up and asked, "Where is the parrot from yesterday? Did you find it?"

Princess Yong was very familiar with them. Baozhu was afraid of neglecting Prince Yong, so she looked at Li Huazhang carefully. Prince Yong was noble and calm, with no evil look on his face, but he didn't look like he wanted to talk to them. Baozhu retracted her gaze and concentrated on replying to Ming Huachang: "Thank you for your concern, Princess. I have found it. Amber, bring the parrot over."

"Don't bother." Ming Huashang walked inside with great interest without any hesitation. "I'll just go over and take a look."

Baozhu had not expected Princess Yong to be so... warm, and was stunned for a moment before following. Li Huazhang was the last one to come. Although he was handsome and had a calm temperament, the maids inexplicably avoided him and only dared to watch from afar. No one dared to approach him.

Old Lady Feng's residence was very spacious, with seven tall and bright main rooms. A bird cage was hung in front of the easternmost window. Ming Huashang took a feather and gently reached into the cage to play with the bird. The parrot was not afraid of strangers. It tilted its head to look, then suddenly flew over and clung to the cage, shouting loudly, "Wanfu, Wanfu."

Everyone in the room laughed. A maid bravely said jokingly, "Princess, you are very blessed. It is here to congratulate you."

Ming Huashang smiled and praised: "You have taken good care of it. How did you train this parrot? It speaks so clearly, and its pronunciation is almost the same as that of a human."

Seeing that Ming Huashang was not arrogant, the maids gradually relaxed and said in unison, "It was Sister Baozhu who taught her. Even the old lady said that Sister Baozhu taught her well."

Baozhu bowed slightly amid the praises from the crowd and said, "I don't deserve it. It's because the old lady and Princess Yong have great blessings. The animals are blessed with good fortune and can be enlightened after a short teaching."

Ming Huashang put down the feather and said with a smile: "Baozhu is really good at talking. I will be bold this time and hope to borrow your good words."

Ming Huachang had been to Old Lady Feng's house the last time she checked the thief's letter, but she only took a quick glance and obviously didn't look as carefully as she did now. She walked around the rooms, stopped at one place, and moved her nose: "Why do I smell a smell of medicine?"

Baozhu turned around, opened the cupboard and took out a few sachets. "These are the sachets that the old lady replaced. I thought it was a pity to throw them away, so I put them in the cupboard to fumigate clothes. Is this the smell that the princess smelled?"

Ming Huashang nodded hurriedly: "Yes, that's the smell. What is this recipe, and why is it used to fumigate clothes?"

"This is a folk remedy I heard about in the countryside before I entered the palace. It is said to strengthen the body and prolong life." Baozhu laughed, "Country people are short-sighted. This is not a brilliant remedy. I'm sorry to make you laugh at me, Princess."

Ming Huashang took the sachet curiously and said, "Not necessarily. A good prescription is not only one prescribed by a famous doctor. What is most important is that it can actually cure the disease. Folk prescriptions are passed down by word of mouth by many people. They may be better than those prescribed by the court doctors. Baozhu, can you give me a copy of this prescription? My father is old and has not been in good health in recent years. I want to send it back to Chang'an for him to try."

When Baozhu heard this, she hurriedly said, "My princess, it is a blessing for this recipe to be favored by you. Please wait a moment, my princess. I will go find paper and pen."

Another housekeeper saw this and said, "Even if the princess gets the prescription, she can't use it right away. Anyway, there are ready-made medicines in the pharmacy, so why not prepare a few complete sets for the princess, so that you don't have to go outside to find a pharmacy, where the medicine may not be as good as it could be."

Ming Huashang said embarrassedly: "Isn't this too troublesome..."

"It's no trouble, no trouble." The housekeeper's wife was attentive and reached out to take Baozhu's prescription. "Baozhu, you stay here with the princess. I'll go to the pharmacy to get the medicine."

Baozhu hesitated for a moment, dodged the housekeeper's hand, held the paper in her hand, and said, "You don't know how old the herbs should be and how ripe they should be. I'm used to it, so I'll go. Please forgive me, my lord and princess. I'll leave you alone."

Li Huazhang silently looked at Ming Huashang, who was smiling innocently. He said considerately, "It's okay. We'll wait for you here. Go slowly on your way. Don't worry."

There is no sign at all that she is the culprit behind the "bribery demand".

After Baozhu left, Ming Huashang put the old sachet into her sleeve as if it was hers. Ming Huashang curiously checked the room. The maids surrounded her and introduced her to others. No one remembered that there was a young, beautiful and powerful governor of the state in the room. Li Huazhang followed quietly behind, watching Ming Huashang like a fish in water, getting along with everyone. He thought that his wife was too good at pleasing others, which might not be a good thing.

Li Huazhang sighed in his heart.

Ming Huashang flirted with the young beauties, no, when she was gathering intelligence, she accidentally got a lot of information. The maids received a temporary notice yesterday that Old Lady Feng would stay at the Zhaixing Tower and would not come back to sleep. Baozhu was afraid that the old lady would have something to do at night, so she would not come back either, and would stay in the flower room to wait for instructions.

The maids were busy packing up old lady Feng's personal belongings, and they were busy until 3:00 p.m. before they could finally breathe a sigh of relief. Although old lady Feng and Sister Baozhu were not there, the rules of the courtyard could not be relaxed. When the maids went to check everywhere, they found that the door of the parrot's cage was loose at some point, and the bird quietly flew out while they were busy.

This was the old lady's favorite, and the maids quickly lit up the lantern to look for it. Fortunately, the parrot didn't fly far and landed on a tree not far away. They tried for a long time but couldn't lure the parrot down. They had no choice but to send someone to the greenhouse to tell Baozhu to come back quickly.

Baozhu came back at 15:25. She said she came back from the teahouse and had to go back to serve Old Lady Feng. So after catching the parrot, she left in a hurry. The maids closed the gate and went to bed. Unexpectedly, they were awakened by the sound of cannon at midnight. People outside were running around, saying that the old lady had an accident.

These maids did not go to the Star Picking Tower last night, and that was all they knew. Ming Huashang talked with the beauties for a while, and soon Baozhu came back with two medicine bags. Ming Huashang smiled and thanked Baozhu, then left with the things.

After leaving the main courtyard of Old Lady Feng, Ming Huashang's throat was a little dry. Li Huazhang lowered his head, sniffed her body, stood up straight, and hummed softly: "A smell of perfumed powder."

As a qualified monitor of Li Huazhang's mood, Ming Huashang immediately realized that he was unhappy. Ming Huashang deliberately hugged Li Huazhang tightly, and Li Huazhang reached out and pushed slightly, but when he couldn't push him, he stopped. Ming Huashang rubbed against him and raised her head proudly: "Now, you and I both smell like perfume powder."

Li Huazhang's lips curled up slightly. He knew her tricks clearly, but he was still foolishly coaxed into it.

While the two of them were resting, they arrived at the steward's room, but the steward had gone to look for the guard leader and was not in the steward's room. Seeing this, the servant hurried to call the steward back, but Li Huazhang stopped him and said, "No need, we also have something to ask the guard, let's go by ourselves."

Li Huazhang did not allow anyone to report the news, and took Ming Huashang to the back duty room. The people in charge of the room did not expect that the dignified Prince Yong would be so unpicky. That was a place where rough people lived, and a group of men lived in a big shop. I don't know how shabby it must be. He actually took the princess to such a place without hesitation, leisurely as if he was going to appreciate flowers.

The servants in the housekeeping room looked pale and embarrassed, but Li Huazhang looked at Wen Wenya with a venomous look in his eyes. They couldn't leave to inform the housekeeper, so they could only shout loudly when entering the courtyard: "Housekeeper, His Royal Highness Prince Yong and Princess Yong are here, why don't you come out to greet them!"

Li Huazhang did not stop the servant's action, and quietly looked around. The Feng family was a large family in Shangzhou, and the house was very large. The master of the Feng family lived and worked inside the second gate, but in fact, there was a huge outer courtyard surrounding the second gate, such as the chief steward's room, the account room, the treasury, the servants' room, etc., which ensured the operation of the inner house. This is why the women of the Feng family had a refined life that they never left the main gate or the second gate.

The place they came to was the servants' quarters. Unlike the exquisite luxury of the inner house, these were two long rows of bungalows, low and compact, without any unnecessary decorations. Originally, this was for the male servants of the Feng family to live in. The maids all lived with their masters inside the second gate, but in order to protect the treasure, Old Lady Feng recruited many young and strong men into the mansion, and this row of rooms was also cleared out and specially set aside for temporary guards.

The wall simply enclosed a large courtyard. It was winter, and the courtyard was bare without any bright colors. Straw and other debris were piled up in the corners. In front was the main house with three partitions. The door and windows of the middle one were closed. Li Huazhang calmly withdrew his gaze and waited for the person inside to open the door.

According to the butler, this group of guards live here together. Li Huazhang thought that many people would come out, but when the door was opened, only the butler ran out in fear and trepidation: "Greetings to Prince Yong and Princess Yong. I am sorry for not welcoming you. I deserve to die. I don't know what wind blew these two nobles here?"

Li Huazhang passed the housekeeper and walked through the dimly lit room, and saw a strong man sitting on his seat with his feet raised, without any intention of greeting. Li Huazhang recognized that this was the leader who guarded the gate of Zhaixing Tower last night, and his name seemed to be Dong Hai.

Dong Hai noticed the sight and glanced towards Li Huazhang fiercely. Li Huazhang calmly withdrew his gaze, nodded slightly and greeted the housekeeper: "I just came to ask something casually, the housekeeper doesn't need to pay attention. Were you talking about something just now? Why did you close the doors and windows?"

The housekeeper's smile froze for a moment, and he said hurriedly, "No, I was afraid of the cold, so I just closed the door. Nothing much, I just came to chat with the boss."

Li Huazhang said calmly, "I'm glad I didn't disturb you. I also have something to ask Guard Dong. Shall we go in and talk together?"

The housekeeper was stunned and looked at Ming Huashang. Seeing this, Ming Huashang turned aside and hid behind Li Huazhang. Li Huazhang patted her hand soothingly and said to the housekeeper: "The thief has not been caught yet. I am worried about her being alone, so I brought her along."

The housekeeper said with a "oh" and a dry smile, "Your Highness has been very considerate. It is indeed unsafe now. I hope the princess does not mind living in the same room with a man from another world. Please come in."

Ming Huashang followed closely behind Li Huazhang, perfectly portraying a favored princess who was embarrassed but dared not leave. After entering the house, the housekeeper hurriedly asked Li Huazhang to sit in the main seat. Li Huazhang did not move, but helped Ming Huashang sit down first. The housekeeper saw this and laughed dryly: "Prince Yong is really considerate to the princess. The two of you are worthy of being a young couple, and your relationship is really good."

Ming Huashang thought that they were more than just a young couple. When Li Huazhang was still an infant, he knew how to give in to her. When Ming Huashang sat down, her eyes quickly swept to both sides and she noticed that Dong Hai sneered and looked them up and down. His eyes were definitely not friendly.

Here he comes again. Ming Huashang remembered that when they went to Zhaixing Tower for inspection yesterday, Dong Hai also showed this kind of look, and it was after Old Lady Feng introduced their identities. Why? He looked very unruly. Could it be that he had some grudge against the imperial court?

Ming Huachang was thinking a lot, but she didn't show it on her face. She leaned obediently beside Li Huazhang. After everyone was seated, Li Huazhang asked who had entered and left the Zhaixing Tower yesterday and at what time.

Li Huazhang asked very detailed questions. At first, Dong Hai replied impatiently. Later, he got annoyed and said with a curse: "Since you all know everything, why are you still asking?"

The butler quickly glanced at Li Huazhang and lowered his voice to scold him: "How dare you talk to His Royal Highness Prince Yong?"

Dong Hai sneered and rolled his eyes, obviously not taking Li Huazhang's status seriously. The housekeeper was sweating profusely and kept apologizing to Li Huazhang: "Prince Yong, please calm down. This is a rough and uncouth man who doesn't know etiquette. I hope that Lord Yong will be magnanimous and not bother with him."

Li Huazhang stared at Dong Hai. Even though he was being bumped, he was not impatient. He was very well-mannered. He raised his hand slightly to the housekeeper, and his voice was as calm as before: "It's okay. From the accent of guard Dong, it seems that he is not from Shangzhou. May I ask how did old lady Feng recruit him? How long has he been in the Feng family?"

The housekeeper was startled, as if he was afraid that Dong Hai would say something rude, so he answered before the other party: "To Prince Yong, he is a convoy escort. After the old lady received the warning letter from the Pirate Saint, she was worried that something might happen to Sui Houzhu, so she went to the escort agency to borrow someone. It happened that he was free, so the escort agency introduced them to the old lady."

Li Huazhang nodded calmly: "I see. Dong Shiwei has been to many places as an escort, so he must have seen a lot. I would like to ask Dong Shiwei, based on your experience, who do you think killed the old lady and stole the Suihou Pearl?"

Li Huazhang's eyes were open and he was neither humble nor arrogant. Dong Hai had just humiliated him, but in the blink of an eye, he could say the word "please advise" to Dong Hai without showing any embarrassment or anger. Dong Hai thought that he was indeed a tough guy who could overthrow his grandmother. He was indeed a character. Dong Hai sneered and said nonchalantly: "I don't know. Anyway, I was guarding the door yesterday and didn't see anyone approaching. Who knows what tricks those old masters and young masters are up to."

Li Huazhang was not discouraged by not getting an answer. He turned his eyes to the butler, who straightened his back and became nervous for some reason. Li Huazhang's tone was still as cold and calm as ever, and he asked, "Butler, I asked you to search the house today. Where did the fireworks come from? Did you find it?"

The butler seemed to be called by the teacher to answer a question, and he shook his head in shame: "No."

"What about the Suihou Pearl? Have you found it?"

The butler shook his head and lowered it even lower. Li Huazhang sighed: "Then you have to speed up. The city gates can't be closed for too long. Two days at most, the city gates must be opened. By then, it will be difficult to catch Miaoshoukongkong."