```
Zhao Wancang struggled desperately, his arms pinned down, unable to move.
Painful moans kept seeping out from the wet cloth.
The intense suffocation and choking on water made him unbearably uncomfortable, his body convulsing uncontrollably.
Soon, a pot of water was emptied.
Jiang Shouzhong put down the water jug, kicked off the wet cloth from Zhao Wancang's face with the tip of his foot, his handsome face wearing a gentle yet chilling smile, "Sobered up yet?"
Zhao Wancang was coughing violently, with the water choked from his nose mixing with snot and tears, smearing his face, making him look particularly wretched.
Having caught his breath with great difficulty, and hearing Jiang Shouzhong's inquiry, his eyes immediately filled with fear.
"Sobered up! Sobered up!"
"Truly sobered up?" Jiang Shouzhong asked, his face gentle.
"Sobered up! Truly sobered up!"
Zhao Wancang struggled to grasp Jiang Shouzhong's pant leg, pleading, "My lord, I was wrong, I will never again recklessly speak ill of the We Family's young lady, please spare me, my lord..."
"It seems you haven't sobered up yet."
Jiang Shouzhong expressionless, had Lu Renjia bring over another jug of cold water.
Zhao Wancang did have some wits about him, realizing he had misspoken, and began slapping his own face in haste, crying out, "My lord, I've sobered up, truly this time! My lord is only helping me sober up, there's no other meaning."
After watching him for a while, Jiang Shouzhong set down the water jug and smiled, "Good that you've sobered up. After all, some misunderstandings between neighbors are normal. Now that you've sobered up, some misunderstandings should also be cleared up, right?"
"Right, right, right."
Zhao Wancang was quick on the uptake, continuing to slap his own face, "The lord was kindly helping me sober up, and yet I misunderstood the lord to be abusing power for personal grievances and deliberately bullying me, such a sin!"
Only then did Jiang Shouzhong signal Lu Renjia to open the windows for ventilation.
Whether people are kind or evil, they all bow before power.
Though these three were minor officials, wielding insignificant power, they were nonetheless an inch higher than the commoners toiling in the soil and had no reason to watch their family members being bullied.
Great officials have the stomach of a prime minister, while small officials have narrower views.
Most of their daily interactions, after all, were with these grassroots minor clerks.
Jiang Shouzhong truly was not afraid of the other party complaining later.
Disliking the unpleasant odor in the room, Jiang Shouzhong picked up a chair to sit by the window and asked Zhao Wancang, "Was your house burglarized four nights ago?"
Wiping the water off his face with a sleeve, Zhao Wancang knelt on the ground and honestly replied:
"Yes, I had just returned home that night when I found a thief had broken in. I was already angry over my wife's affairs, so I gave him a good beating."
"How many thieves?"
"Just... just one."
Zhao Wancang instinctively spoke, then suddenly shook his head vehemently, "No, no, there were two."
Jiang Shouzhong stared at the apprehensive Zhao Wancang, his gaze icy, "One, or two?"
"Two! Two!"
The cold winter air rolling in through the window caused Zhao Wancang, already drenched, to shiver.
Trembling, he said, "At first I thought there was only one, but then I heard the kid calling his accomplice's name, and I knew there were two."
Jiang Shouzhong inquired, "Did you see the other one?"
Zhao Wancang shook his head vigorously, "Didn't see."
Zhao Wancang's response did match the account given by Zheng Shanqi, confirming that Ge Dasheng had indeed left suddenly halfway through that night, leaving his partner behind.
So why did Ge Dasheng leave halfway? It couldn't really be because of an upset stomach, could it?
Even Zheng Shanqi, a friend in cahoots, didn't believe it, so Jiang Shouzhong naturally didn't either. There was only one possibility—Ge Dasheng had seen something that drew him away.
But what had he seen?
Midnight theft... leaving halfway... extortion... going to Wufeng Temple alone at midnight... death...
Linking a string of information into a thread, Jiang Shouzhong, stepping slowly, thought with each step and arrived outside Zhao Wancang's courtyard gate.
After observing left and right for a long time, he crouched down at a corner of the courtyard wall that was particularly suitable for keeping watch.
This spot was not only easy to hide in, but it also offered a view of the adjacent roads and the surroundings of the neighbors' homes.
Imagining himself as Ge Dasheng on that night, sneaking around as lookout for his accomplice, Jiang Shouzhong looked around. Suddenly, his gaze fixed on a deserted mill's little shed.
The shed was made of rough wood.
Inside the shed stood an old stone mill, covered in a thick layer of dust, obviously unused for a long time.
Jiang Shouzhong stepped into the shed, where on one wooden wall hung hammers, shovels, baskets, and other tools, all woven together by dust and spider webs.
```
In the back of the wooden shed, there were several bundles of straw.
One bundle, unraveled, was hidden behind the stone mill.
Jiang Shouzhong kicked around nonchalantly a few times and discovered the straw bundle had little dust on it, bearing obvious signs of having been slept in.
Jiang Shouzhong touched it with his hand, picked up a clump of straw, and sniffed it at the tip of his nose, squinting his eyes slightly.
"What are you looking at?"
Lu Renjia blew on his hands and came over, curiously asking.
Jiang Shouzhong glanced at the neighboring room and said, "I remember that previously Ms. Zhang lived here, but after she left, the room has been unoccupied."
"Yeah, the Zhang Jiegui household," Lu Renjia said, knowledgeable about the local residents. He continued, "Last year, Ms. Zhang's daughter became a maid very close to an imperial concubine in the Capital and was greatly favored. Since then, Ms. Zhang moved to Confucian Street outside the city, which is closer to the Imperial City."
At this point, Lu Renjia laughed and said,
"When old Zhang was working as a constable at the government office, Ms. Zhang's daughter actually liked him a lot. However, Ms. Zhang, being mercenary, didn't think highly of Liao and went through a lot of trouble to send her daughter to the palace.
People who stand low also look shallow, thinking that entering the palace is like becoming a phoenix. Although her daughter is now a favored maid of an imperial concubine, accompanying a monarch is like accompanying a tiger; who knows when Ms. Zhang might lament from white hair sending off someone younger.
It would've been better to seek a peaceful life, alas."
Ignoring the haggard man's sighs, Jiang Shouzhong returned to the room and continued questioning Zhao Wancang, "Earlier you said that on the night of the twelfth, Wen Ba had seen someone having an affair in the grinding mill shed of the neighboring, abandoned Ms. Zhang's house?"
Zhao Wancang, who was sitting on a stool rubbing his knees, saw Jiang Shouzhong return and quickly knelt down again.
Accidentally kneeling too hard, he winced in pain.
Zhao Wancang grimaced and, enduring the pain, said, "My wife told me that on the night of the twelfth, Wen Ba saw someone... having an affair with me in the shed of Ms. Zhang's mill. My wife actually believed it, she has a pig's brain! Wen Ba likes to talk big and make up nonsense.
Now my wife has gone back to her parents' house, and even when I went to find her, she doesn't want to come back. Sir, how can my life be so bitter?"
Zhao Wancang emphasized once more that his wife had returned to her parents' house.
Jiang Shouzhong stroked his chin, his handsome face reflecting moments of contemplation before he asked again, "Normally, do people use that place for illicit encounters?"
Zhao Wancang shook his head with a bitter smile, "I really wouldn't know about that."
...
At the Zhang Family's kitchen.
The potion on the stove kept boiling, emitting white foam, with occasional droplets of the potion spilling onto the stove surface and sizzling quietly.
Wei Zhaodi stared blankly as if her soul had left her body.
In her hands, she clutched a porcelain bottle.
After a while, she glanced at the small room where Ms Zhaodi was sleeping, then forcefully pulled out the stopper.
The porcelain bottle tipped slowly.
A wisp of red gas fell into the potion.
Demon energy wafted about.
——
Inside the county jail.
After being interrogated by Jiang Shouzhong, Zheng Shanqi still wore a servile expression, talking non-stop to Liao, the constable,
"Constable Liao, I'm telling the truth this time; I really saw someone trafficking young girls. If you let me out to atone for my sins, I'll personally lead you to save them... Constable Liao? Say something."
Liao, deep in thought, said irritably, "Shut up, stay there. When you decide to turn over a new leaf, then I'll let you out!"
He had caught Zheng Shanqi too many times, his lies never-ending.
Not a single word that came out of his mouth was truthful.
Liao couldn't be bothered to listen to his nonsense and turned to leave.
"Constable Liao!"
Seeing Liao leave, Zheng Shanqi became anxious and called out loudly, "I'm absolutely not lying this time, Constable Liao. In the yard behind Xichu Pavilion, they're holding several girls captive. There's one... there's one I think I've seen before..."
Suddenly, something came to Zheng Shanqi's mind, and he said urgently, "It seemed like she was from Antai Street, the daughter of He Daya, He Lianlan! It's true. Believe me, Constable Liao."
Liao frowned, disregarding the other's shouts.
Stepping out of the jail, Liao hesitated whether to believe Zheng Shanqi once more when a government official hurriedly approached.
"Constable Liao, a fool has come to file a report."
"File a report?"
Liao showed confusion, "What kind of report?"
The government official said, "He claims that he saw someone disposing of a corpse and committing murder by Cloud Lake the other night. He says the killer was Zhao Wancang from Dongping Street and that the person thrown into the lake was a woman who looked a lot like his wife."