Ten miles of Qinhuai in Jinling, at the Lanyue House.
Awoken early in the morning by an aggressive knocking on the door, Li Xuan was immediately hit by the hangover; his stomach churned as if the sea roiled in it, his limbs felt weak, his head pounded as if a thousand gongs and drums were sounding inside. The pain was such that he felt his head was about to explode.
For a moment he forgot who he was and subconsciously reached for his cell phone on the bedside table. It wasn't until several seconds later, that Li Xuan remembered there were no cell phones in this world, and he is no longer in that modern world.
His identity now is Li Xuan, Li Qianzhi the second son of the Earl Chengyi's mansion in the Jin Dynasty. Today is his tenth day since he arrived in this world.
"Qianzhi!"
The knock on the door outside became more intense and a loud voice came in: "How long are you going to sleep? If you don't return home soon, be careful of your dad finding out and punishing you by making you kneel at the ancestral hall."
A chill ran through Li Xuan and he quickly sprung up from his bed. Not caring about washing himself, he hurriedly threw his clothes on and rushed out of the door.
Waiting outside were his former self's two good friends, the second son of Earl Huaiyuan, Zhang Yuexing, and the eldest son of the wealthy Peng family in Yangzhou, Peng Fulai. The former one was tall and sturdy, with a compelling masculinity, his entire body full of steely muscles.
The latter was a chubby man who was less than 1.6 meters tall, his whole body full of fat, making him look like a rolling ball of flesh when he moved.
Both were shocked to see Li Xuan's post-hangover pale face. Zhang Taishan glanced at him and then scoffed, "Had I not known your room was empty last night, I would have taken your appearance as evidence that you had crossed over."
"Get out!"
Li Xuan uttered a furious curse and then held his throbbing head weakly: "Don't provoke me. I drunk too much by accident last night, and now my head is throbbing."
"But why did you drink so much?"
Peng Fulai asked with a Maitreya Buddha-like smile, "We didn't come out just for that, did we? But you, instead of enjoying, you kept drinking. There are a million places to drink. I saw two girls yesterday who were dying to approach you."
Li Xuan hadn't always looked like this, but lately, he seemed to have grown more handsome, with his facial features becoming more and more refined, and his demeanor gaining more and more elegance. His conversations had also become more refined, humorous, and interesting.
Li Xuan gave an embarrassed smile but said nothing.
As an upright man of a new era who valued his honor, how could he entail this reeling confusion? He wasn't even interested in the women here.
If it weren't for the fear of appearing out of place after crossing over, he wouldn't have even come here.
The original Li Xuan intended to pretend to be drunk, but after three drinks, he remembered everything from his past in that era and couldn't help but drown his sorrows in drink.
The alcohol of this world was stronger than he expected, and he got drunk without realizing it.
Zhang Taishan looked at him with scorn, "In the end, it's because you're too weak!"
He patted his own chest, face full of color, saying: "Look at me, I've been with nine girls through the night, but I'm still as strong as a dragon and tiger."
Peng Fulai also gave a 'heh' of laughter: "I must admit I'm slightly inferior to you, only managing seven times."
He paused for a moment, savoring the memory: "Our Wei Xingshou, although she looks thin and fragile, is extremely voluptuous under her clothes, slender but robust, her fullness is evenly proportioned. She fills the hands just right, which greatly boosted my fighting spirit!"
Li Xuan expressed his disgust: "Enough, stop boasting. If you don't want to get beaten up, let's get going."
By the time they had reached this point in their conversation, they had already descended to the second floor of the Lanyue House.
At this moment, all three of them stopped short, noticing through the window that numerous constables had swarmed the Lanyue House, blocking off every exit.
A few unsatisfied clients were left with bleeding heads from the constable's sheath, causing screams from the girls inside the house.
"What's going on?"
"Is there a criminal in the building? Or perhaps a significant thief is hiding?"
Li Xuan was equally surprised. To his knowledge, Lanyue House had a profound background, and officials usually did not dare to intrude. These constables from the Ying Tian Government, had they mustered extraordinary courage today?
But soon, he saw a cart pulled by a donkey and carrying a coffin following behind the constables.
In front of the cart, there was a middle-aged knight dressed in a purple uniform, wore a black cloak, and had a scar on his face. The knight scrutinized Lanyue House, his eyes narrowing slightly at the sight of Li Xuan. He then dismounted and stepped briskly into the grand lobby of Lanyue House.
At this time, a constable was already roaring loudly inside the building, "Who is the brothel owner? Get out here! Everyone else in the building, get to the lobby immediately. We are acting on orders from the Ying Tian Government to conduct an investigation. We have questions for all of you."
Li Xuan and the two people with him exchanged glances, seeing apprehension on each other's faces. The ways they left their homes were quite irregular, and if they delayed here for too long, their consequences could be dire.
"Should we just break out?" Zhang Taishan suggested a rash idea.
Li Xuan immediately refused: "Break out? That purple-clothed head constable is Situ Zhong, the Iron Heart, infamous for his temper. If we dare to barge our way out, he will undoubtedly pursue us relentlessly."
In the end, Zhang Taishan and Peng Fulai had no choice but to follow Li Xuan to the grand lobby of Lanyue House. Not long after, the coffin from the donkey cart was brought in.
The coffin had no lid, and the sight inside made many people involuntarily back away. Only a few burly men dressed as servants stood their ground, their faces as white as sheets.
Li Xuan glanced inside the coffin. When he saw the bloated figure inside, he was briefly stunned.
Although the corpse's face was unrecognizable due to swelling, he recognized it. This was Cui Hongshu, one of the renowned dandies from south Zhili and the youngest son of Princess BoPing—his predecessor's mortal enemy.
"About an hour ago, a houseboat reported they found this man's body two hundred yards downstream from Lanyue House. After identification, this man was the scholar from Boling, Cui Hongshu."
Situ Zhong was already sat at a round table in a domineering pose, "Someone reported seeing Cui Hongshu enter Lanyue House last night, I want to know if that is true? When did he leave?"
"Sir, Lord Cui was drinking in Lanyue House until midnight last night. Because it was so late, he stayed overnight." The madam of Lanyue House spoke, her face equally pale, "I arranged for him to stay in the elegant room number four on the fourth floor."
Situ Zhong nodded slightly, "So, did he have a conflict with anyone in the building? Or meet any enemies?"
The madam's breath hitched, and she covertly glanced at Li Xuan.
Li Xuan was also puzzled. Under normal circumstances, as an experienced investigator, Situ Zhong shouldn't be asking this question unless he already had a suspect in mind. This sparked a hint of foreboding in Li Xuan's heart.
At this moment, a servant carrying a sword stood up and pointed angrily at Li Xuan, "Head constable Situ, our young master has always had a grudge with Li Xuan. Last night, they had a verbal conflict in the building."
Situ Zhong raised an eyebrow instantly and locked his gaze onto Li Xuan.
"Li Xuan, the second son of Earl Chengyi and the heir to the 'Yihan Saber' Li Lexing, who once froze three hundred miles of the Huai River with a single slash during the founding of our dynasty?
Where were you between the time of 1 am and 3 am last night? Do you have any witnesses? And —"
His gaze became icy, like a sharpened blade, "Our coroners found a pale red palm print on the victim's body, suspected to be inflicted by a cold-type palm technique. How would you explain that?"
Before Situ Zhong even finished speaking, there was an uproar in the hall. Zhang Taishan and Peng Fulai were both shocked, and turned to look at Li Xuan. The pale-faced servants also stared at Li Xuan angrily.
Li Xuan was even more baffled. The 'Cold Breath Fierce Palm', the family martial art of Earl Chengyi's mansion, was known as one of the world-famous cold-style palm techniques, only passed down to sons, unparalleled.
That confusing time was between 1 am and 3 am. But last night, he was senselessly drunk by 11 o'clock.
"You can't answer, can you?" Situ Zhong's voice thundered, "Arrest him!"