Ma Bing and Xie Yu immediately decided to pay a visit to Huang Fu’s residence. If he was there, they would bring him back to the Kaifeng Prefecture for questioning. If he wasn’t there… his suspicion would only grow stronger.
“It’s pitch dark; we don’t know if he’s asleep or has fled,” Ma Bing remarked, looking at the small courtyard that showed no sign of light.
“You stay by the entrance,” Xie Yu said, “I’ll go inside and check.”
Ma Bing nodded. “Alright.”
After a pause, he added, “Be careful.”
Xie Yu seemed to smile slightly, or perhaps not at all, and then leapt over the wall with even more ease than when he had scaled the wall at Zhang’s house.
After a while, Ma Bing heard Xie Yu’s footsteps inside the house, followed by the creaking sound of the door opening. “Come in. No one’s here.”
The two carefully examined the interior and found that what the night watchman had said was indeed true. The Huang family had once been wealthy, and Huang Fu was indeed a wastrel.
There were barely any intact pieces of furniture left in the entire house, and the empty spaces were glaringly obvious.
Xie Yu pointed at the ornate bed inside and the table outside, saying, “Judging from the material and craftsmanship, these two pieces belong to the same set. Besides these, there should have originally been wardrobes, cabinets, chairs, and dozens of other items. A complete set like this would cost at least several hundred taels of silver.”
If it weren’t for the fact that the bed was necessary for sleeping and the table for eating, they probably would have been sold off already.
“What a disgraceful descendant,” Ma Bing shook his head. “The oil in the lamp hasn’t dried yet. He must have left not long ago.”
Xie Yu ran his finger across the table surface and examined it with a lighted match, revealing a thin layer of dust.
“It’s been about two or three days since anyone’s been here.”
“Two or three days,” Ma Bing repeated thoughtfully. “That’s just enough to coincide with the time when Zhang Baozhu disappeared, and he just happened to be away…”
Xie Yu walked around the house once more to confirm there were no other clues. “Let’s go. We’ll ask his neighbors.”
The left neighbor’s house had lights on, but no one answered the door, probably because they had all gone out together. However, the right neighbor was at home.
It was unclear what he had been doing inside, and he initially seemed annoyed at being interrupted by the knocking. But upon hearing that they were officers from the Kaifeng Prefecture, he quickly ran to open the door.
He was a young man in his early twenties. After confirming Xie Yu’s credentials, he invited them inside to sit down.
However, Xie Yu noticed his disheveled clothes and messy hair, while Ma Bing caught a strong scent of women’s perfume on him. It was likely that he had been engaged in some intimate activity with his wife that was beneficial for producing offspring. Both of them firmly declined the invitation.
“It’s late, and we wouldn’t want to disturb your family’s rest,” Ma Bing said. “We’ll just talk here.”
The young man wasn’t stupid either; his face turned bright red with embarrassment.
Xie Yu asked, “Do you know Huang Fu? Do you know where he went?”
“Huang Fu?” Upon hearing the name, the man shook his head vigorously, clearly wanting to distance himself. “Officer, I really don’t know him well. It’s just our bad luck to be neighbors. We usually avoid him as much as possible. How would I know when he left home?”
“Do you know if Huang Fu likes to peek over walls?” Ma Bing asked.
“What?!” The man was greatly startled and nervously looked toward the wall shared between his house and Huang’s. “Does that bastard have such a habit?!”
If that were indeed the case, wouldn’t it mean that everything in his house was visible to Huang Fu?
Ma Bing and Xie Yu found the man’s exaggerated reaction both amusing and alarming, but it also illustrated Huang Fu’s despicable and detestable nature.
“Alright, speculating won’t help,” Ma Bing interrupted the unfortunate neighbor’s thoughts. “Please go inside and ask your family when they last saw Huang Fu, what he was doing, and whether there was anything unusual about him.”
The man indeed went inside. About the time it takes to burn an incense stick, he hurriedly came back.
“Reporting to you, sir, I’ve inquired with everyone. My father mentioned that it was approximately three or four days ago when he last saw Huang Fu. He appeared to be in good spirits at the time. After that, there was no further news.”
Three or four days ago?
That time frame precisely covered the period around when Zhang Baozhu had gone missing.
Xie Yu noticed that the man had tidied up his clothes and hair upon returning, obviously having taken the opportunity to fix himself up inside. He said, “In that case, come with us back to the Kaifeng Prefecture.”
“What?!” The man was startled. “Sir, I really don’t know that guy at all!”
He had vaguely heard that the old Zhang family’s daughter had gone missing. Could it be that this beast Huang Fu had done something?
No, no, it really had nothing to do with him!
“Don’t think too much,” Ma Bing said helplessly. “We just need you to come back with us to help make a sketch.”
At this point, it was clear that Huang Fu was indeed suspicious and must be brought in for questioning first.
As the three of them entered Kaifeng Prefecture, they immediately sensed an unusual atmosphere. Sure enough, A De rushed over excitedly and said, “Sir, Miss Ma, we’ve found the sedan chair!”
Soon after, Wang Heng’s apprentice came to report that Zhang Laosan had woken up. His condition was relatively stable, aside from some nausea and vomiting. A messenger had already been sent to inform the Zhang family.
It was indeed a double celebration!
The group of officers sent out to search for the sedan chair that had taken Zhang Baozhu had not even stopped for a meal, working busily until now. As soon as they confirmed its location, they brought the sedan chair bearers back.
When Xie Yu and Ma Bing arrived, the Prefect Song was already interrogating them. Three men were kneeling on the ground. Two were dressed simply, wearing ordinary short jackets and loose trousers, while the third wore an additional robe, indicating a slightly higher status within the sedan chair business.
“…The man specifically hired a red sedan chair, but his request was quite strange, unlike someone arranging for a wedding, so it left an impression.”
“How was it strange?”
“He only said that after picking someone up, the chair should be parked outside a small grove, and then they would come back to retrieve it. He didn’t ride in it on the return trip.”
Xie Yu stepped forward and whispered something to Prefect Song, who nodded and continued, “What’s the name of the person who hired the sedan chair? What did he look like?”
The two men in simple attire described his appearance briefly, and their description was quite close to the information Xie Yu and Ma Bing had heard about Huang Fu’s appearance.
However, when it came to names, they hesitated.
The man who appeared to be the manager spoke up, “Reporting to you, sir, he did provide a name, but it seems… it doesn’t appear to be genuine. He only mentioned that he would go early on the first day of the fifth lunar month to fetch a young lady surnamed Zhang—that was all he said.”
“How do you know it’s not real? What proof do you have?” Prefect Song asked impatiently.
Soon after, someone indeed presented evidence. When Prefect Song looked at it, his face turned dark. It had the characters for “Zhao Da” scrawled on it in a messy handwriting.
Is that even a name?!
Even though people often used such nicknames casually, official records would never list names like that!
Zhao Da, Zhao Da—there were hundreds of thousands of people in and around Kaifeng Prefecture surnamed Zhao. How were they supposed to find him?!
Damn it, it really didn’t seem genuine.
“Nonsense!” Prefect Song barked angrily. “When customers come to rent sedan chairs, why didn’t you question them thoroughly?”
The manager explained, “He paid the silver upfront, so we, we didn’t think it necessary…”
Although their business usually required documentation for rentals, it was mostly for convenience in later settlements and to prevent fraud.
As for the customer’s real name… only official household records had the truth, but who would carry such documents around all the time?
Even if they did, how many people would willingly reveal their private information to strangers?
There were many customers hiring sedan chairs during the festival season, and even their small shop had twenty or thirty customers coming in and out every day, keeping them very busy. If they were to thoroughly investigate every customer, how would they have time to run their business?
Prefect Song pondered for a moment and ordered someone to hurry the sketch artists.
“Bring several copies when you deliver them, to prevent them from falsely accusing others.”
He had already sent people to search the grove, but the suspect wasn’t stupid, and had likely already moved.
Let’s hope… they don’t bring back bad news.
The questioning temporarily reached an impasse.
Ma Bing couldn’t help but ask, “Since you found it so strange, why did you accept this job?”
Hiring a red sedan chair and having it wait outside a small grove in the city outskirts was suspicious enough, wasn’t it?
Besides, it was a single young lady. What if something happened to her?
The manager was clearly still shaken by Prefect Song’s dark expression. He quickly glanced at him first, and seeing no objection, replied nervously:
“Young lady, you’re joking. We run a small business; how can we refuse money when it’s offered?
Moreover, nowadays is not like the old days. It’s common for young people to secretly meet outside the city walls… Besides, we were cautious too. Before the young lady got into the sedan chair, the person called out, ‘Please help Lady Zhang into the chair.’ And she indeed obediently got in, which showed that they had made prior arrangements. We didn’t make a mistake in picking up the wrong person…”
Everyone frowned.
Although they were naturally indignant, what he said wasn’t without merit.
It could only be said that the suspect was too cunning, skillfully exploiting the timing so that no one suspected anything, allowing him to escape smoothly.
Meanwhile, inside a house outside the city.
Zhang Baozhu looked at the wedding attire in front of her with terror, then at the table with dragon and phoenix candles placed upon it. She tried to suppress her fear as she asked, “Do… do you really like me?”
The man sitting opposite was putting on his groom’s outfit. Upon hearing her words, he chuckled, revealing a row of yellow teeth. “We’re about to get married, my dear wife, why would you say such things?”
The man was around twenty years old, with a sharp face and narrow eyes, and a pair of three-white eyes flickering with lustful light. It was none other than Huang Fu.
Zhang Baozhu was visibly trembling with fear, her eyes brimming with tears, afraid to cry out loud.
She didn’t even know this man. She had no idea how she had ended up in this situation.
Early yesterday morning, she had boarded the sedan chair as agreed. Inside the chair were two plates of delicate pastries and a pot of hot tea. At the time, she was quite pleased, thinking that her fiancé indeed knew how to be considerate. Since she was hungry, she took some and ate.
But after eating a few bites, she felt drowsy and eventually lost consciousness.
When she opened her eyes again, she was here, with a man of hideous appearance staring at her with a lecherous grin.
Finding that her jewelry and belongings were gone, Zhang Baozhu begged him to let her go home. “You can pretend nothing ever happened. It was just a misunderstanding. My family won’t report you to the authorities, and we’ll even give you a generous sum of silver.”
The man was busy arranging things around the room and initially ignored her.
Zhang Baozhu pleaded several times without any response, and finally, she burst into tears out of fear.
But then the man suddenly flew into a rage, rushing over and tightly gripping her neck, viciously threatening, “Cry, cry, cry! All women know how to do is cry! Cry again, and I’ll kill you, I swear!”
He really would kill me!
As she struggled to breathe, the thought crossed Zhang Baozhu’s mind.
What could she, a weak woman, do in the hands of such a cruel and violent man?
Zhang Baozhu felt deep sorrow in her heart. She both resented Li Er for failing in his duty and herself for being too hasty, not thoroughly questioning the sedan bearers before getting into the chair, leading to this calamity.
She had resigned herself to death, but unexpectedly, after threatening her, the villain dragged out a large trunk from the room and began busying himself with it.
Zhang Baozhu watched helplessly as he pulled out a quilt embroidered with dragons and phoenixes, a pair of wedding candles… and finally, two sets of wedding clothes.
What exactly did he want to do?
Zhang Baozhu thought anxiously.
And when Huang Fu started putting on the groom’s clothes, a bold idea suddenly came to her mind:
Perhaps, perhaps she still had a chance!
She had been unconscious for so long. If he were just a common bandit who lusted after her beauty, he would have already taken advantage of her. Yet the man hadn’t done so. Instead, he had gone to the trouble of preparing all these items. Why?
Zhang Baozhu didn’t have time to consider whether this man was a habitual criminal or whether he treated every kidnapped woman this way. But the longer he delayed, the more advantageous it would be for her.
After the Zhang and Li families had their falling out, surely both sides would soon realize she had gotten into the wrong sedan chair. It had already been over a day. Perhaps the authorities were already looking for her!
Zhang Baozhu trembled with excitement, and she felt wronged enough to cry. However, the burning pain on her neck constantly reminded her: she must not cry.
If she could just hold on a little longer, maybe the authorities would find her?
If she could survive, what did a little compliance matter?
In the past, Zhang Baozhu would never have thought she could make such a decision.
After realizing this, she calmed down a bit.
Therefore, when Huang Fu later threw the wedding clothes at her and told her to put them on, Zhang Baozhu cautiously observed his expression. She first tried to refuse twice, and seeing that he indeed started to become impatient and raised his fist, she quickly put them on.
This man is a madman, Zhang Baozhu thought silently.
Could she really manage to deal with a madman?
Frankly, she wasn’t confident.
But could obedience really save her life?
The desire to live overpowered everything else. She was still so young, and she still had her parents…
She decided to give it her best shot.
So when Huang Fu urged her to get married, Zhang Baozhu forced herself to ask with fear, “Do… do you really like me?”
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage