A piece of Japanese incense

"Who is hiding in the cupboard in the woodshed? Does the jade ring really belong to the man in white shirt? Is Xiaozhu really dead?" I bombarded Yu Nian with my confusions.

Yu Nian still had a serious expression and said softly, "It seems we still have many mysteries to solve."

As we were talking, an old woman peeked in front of the Huang residence's door. When she saw us discovering her, she quickly turned around and ran away.

"Old woman!" I shouted and followed closely behind.

"Who... are you?" The old woman trembled and her whole body tensed up when I caught up with her.

"Please rest assured, we are assistants sent by the government to investigate the Huang family murder case. Seeing you lingering outside the door, I believe you must have something to say?" Yu Nian said in a calm tone with a kind smile.

The old woman's expression softened and she stammered, "Humph! You don't have to check. It's been so long. What's there to check? People in the government are the best at pretending."

"Then why did you run away just now? It was as if we were going to eat people." I asked in doubt.

"That night, there was also a man and a woman standing where you were just now. I thought I had seen a ghost!"

Hearing this, Yu Nian and I's eyes lit up and we asked the old woman in unison, "Which night was it?"

"Ouch! Keep your voices down. My heart is still beating wildly." The old woman covered her chest.

I took the basket full of vegetables from her hand and handed it to Yu Nian, shaking her arm and deliberately dragging out the syllables: "Grandma, we are here because you are so kind. Where is your home? This big basket of vegetables is so heavy. We will deliver it to your home for you."

The old woman smiled brightly and led us deeper into the alley. “It was the night of the Lantern Festival. When we were making Yuanxiao dumplings, we felt that we didn’t have enough glutinous rice flour, so we wanted to borrow some from Lao Zhong’s restaurant. When we passed Lao Huang’s house, we saw that his house was full of people, and there was a man and a woman standing in the middle. I was dazzled and couldn’t see clearly, so I wanted to go in and take a look, but the door was closed. When I saw you two standing there today, I thought I was too old and the King of Hell wanted to take me away, hahaha.”

We sent the old lady home safely, and as we walked slowly in the alley, Yu Nian said, "The incident with the Huang family might have happened on the night of the Lantern Festival."

"Well, that day the whole city was filled with fireworks, lion dance performances, loud gongs and drums, and firecrackers. It's possible that the neighbors would have had difficulty hearing any unusual movements," I agreed.

"I've been looking for you everywhere, and now you two are wandering around here." The cousin walked out of the Huang family's house.

We told our uncle about our encounter with the old woman.

My uncle put his hands behind his back, paced and thought, "That day, maybe Bai Yan broke into the Huang family and tried to take Xiao Zhu away. Mr. Huang hid her in the woodshed. Bai Yan and others searched everywhere and found Xiao Zhu in the cabinet of the woodshed. They wanted to take her away by force. Mr. Huang and his family had a dispute with Bai Yan, which eventually led to a tragedy. Bai Yan was panicked and took Xiao Zhu away, and ordered his men to clean up the mess."

"My cousin's analysis makes sense, but it's hard to convict Bai Xian based on just a jade ring." Yu Nian responded calmly.

"Pei Du just found out that at the end of last year, Bai Xuan indeed sent the famous matchmaker Shi to the Huang family with betrothal gifts to propose marriage, but was driven out by Mr. Huang."

"What are you still hesitating about! Summon Bai Xuan immediately! Find out his whereabouts on the night of the Lantern Festival. With all the evidence and witnesses, the case will be solved!" I spread my hands excitedly, feeling happy.

My cousin said goodbye to us, and Yu Nian and I got on the carriage to meet Yu Yi and Yu Tuan at San Sheng Tang.

"It's really unexpected that a case that has troubled the government for three months was solved by us in just one morning. We can be called famous detectives!" I sipped a cup of hot tea and crossed my legs comfortably.

"This Bai Xun has done many evil things, bullying men and women. If Brother Jinqi can use this case to find the real culprit and eliminate this villain in one fell swoop, it will be considered as eliminating harm for the people and a great achievement!"

"That's right! I avenged you and made you rich!" I was overjoyed.

"Girl! Girl!" The carriage was suddenly stopped.

Yu Nian lifted the carriage curtain and saw Yu Tuan, crying like rain, standing behind Yu Yi.

"Yuyi, didn't you take Master Liu to Zhou Song's house to see a doctor?" I asked puzzledly.

"We were driven out by Zhou Song's sister, and they wouldn't even let us in!" Yu Yi replied with a frown.

"Get in the car, let's go to Zhou's house together!" I held Yuyi's hand, and without waiting for Yuzhu to put down the pedal, Yutuan jumped hard and got into the car.

When we arrived at Zhou's house, the door was closed. I asked Yu Tuan and Yu Yi to wait in the carriage, while Yu Nian and I got out and stood in front of the carriage.

Yuzhu went to knock on the door, only to hear a noisy and chaotic stream of scolding coming from inside.

Soon, a woman in a light purple pleated skirt appeared in front of the door. There were a few dancing butterflies embroidered on the hem of her skirt, sparkling orchids dotted between her eyebrows, purple tassels in her hair, and bright red lips. The word "disdain" seemed to be engraved between her proud brows.

"You are Brother Zhou's younger sister, right?" Yu Nian asked gently.

The woman glanced at the carriage, leaned against the door frame, and asked absentmindedly, "Who are you?"

I replied with a smile, "How is your sister? My name is Ah He, my father is the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, Zhi Yian, and this is my brother, who passed the imperial examination this spring. I was recuperating in Sui Garden, and thanks to the care of Guard Zhou, I have only come to thank Guard Zhou now because I am busy with my brother's imperial examination."

"Oh! It turns out to be Miss Zhi! My brother has mentioned you before. Are you feeling better? Come in and sit down! Come in and sit down!"

The originally cold and frosty woman's expression melted away as quickly as spring snow. The corners of her mouth raised in a perfect arc, like a newly blossoming peach blossom, delicate and charming. The speed of the change was like the face-changing in Sichuan Opera, which was jaw-dropping.

The woman made tea for us, and an old woman came out of the house hobbling with a cane.

"Sanniang, who's here?"

"What are you doing out here!" The woman pushed the old lady into the house with a bad attitude, then walked out twisting her body with a smile on her face.

"That's my mother. She's blind and her legs and feet are not very useful. I feel sorry for her and don't let her walk around much."

I forced a smile and said, "Where's Guard Zhou? Isn't he off duty today?"

"Miss Zhi, you don't know, my stupid brother was beaten with a stick for a maid. I thought he would be fine in two days, but the doctor diagnosed that he would be paralyzed in bed from now on..." The woman said while covering her face with a handkerchief, as if she was about to cry.

"In that case, can I let my brother treat Guard Zhou? My family runs a pharmacy, and my brother has been influenced by it since he was a child, so he also knows a little about medicine."

The woman raised her head, hesitated for a moment, and said with a half smile: "That couldn't be better. Please follow me."

Yu Nian followed the woman slowly. I waited alone in the hall, watching the two figures walking away.