After deceiving the villain, I was forced to love him.

As luck would have it, after staying up for several nights in a row, Baili Ce fell ill.

Unfortunately, the illness wasn't serious, and after a good night's sleep, I was almost fully recovered and it didn't delay my journey at all.

"Young lady, something terrible has happened!!" As soon as she got up, Bi Cui brought her several pieces of big news.

The Investigation Department, having somehow obtained information, uncovered several of the He family's secret kilns and arrested a large number of high-ranking officials and nobles who had violated the law.

Several scoundrels have even caused deaths.

Lu Jian was furious and ordered Xie Yunxiang to be severely tortured, which led to the exposure of several more cases of embezzlement and bribery.

Immediately afterwards, all the officials and businessmen involved were imprisoned. Except for the old man who was just reciting some sentimental poems and drinking a little wine, the others were severely punished.

"This..." The surprise came too fast, and Baili Ce felt a sense of unreality.

Bicui was clearly much more excited than her. "Isn't the young lady happy?"

Why should we be happy?

"The He family suffered a severe blow as a result, and several major businesses that had business dealings with him were also investigated and dealt with by the Criminal Investigation Department."

"Isn't this a good thing for us?"

To be fair, the pressure on her side has indeed decreased a lot.

But this is by no means a good thing.

This is especially true for the victims.

"Although the He family has suffered a major blow, He Shoufeng may not necessarily be in mortal danger."

"How did you know?" Bicui was very surprised. Baili Ce had been ill for the past few days, so he shouldn't have known about this.

how come......

"Because it's not the right time yet."

The He family is indeed a gold mine, but if we act now, all we'll get is a gold mine.

However, Bai Lize did not elaborate further, saying, "With such a commotion this time, the He family will probably not be able to extricate themselves so easily."

"Yes, if it weren't for the He family stepping forward, reporting Xie Yunxiang's misdeeds when the Criminal Investigation Department came to their door, and fully cooperating with the investigation, he would probably have been imprisoned too."

"To report? Who is the He family's first accusation?"

"She's a young lady from a collateral branch of the He family. She hasn't been in the capital for long. I heard... on the day of the incident, she was almost..."

"It is said that the He family originally wanted to keep this matter hidden for the sake of their daughter's reputation, but unfortunately, Consort Xuan found out about it."

"Consort Xuan felt that such a villain should not be allowed to go unpunished, so she strongly supported her in reporting Xie Yunxiang."

What a brave man cutting off his own arm!

No, it's the dung beetle that abandons its dung to save its life.

"What about the He family's hidden kilns?" Lin Yuchuan wasn't someone who was easily fooled.

Bicui shook her head. "I don't know."

"But I heard that the people in the Investigation Division are furious, probably because... they didn't get any solid evidence."

"That's strange." In terms of He Shoufeng's style, he's good at being shameless, but it's really unlikely that he can do things without leaving a trace.

Moreover, those underground kilns were located within the He family's properties, unless...

"I asked you to investigate whether the He family had been in contact with any unusual people in recent years, and what was the result?"

Bicui quickly presented a booklet, saying, "Have a meal first, then you can look at it. Otherwise, you'll be hungry again in the middle of the night."

"It's alright, we'll eat later." She waved for Bicui to leave; she was leaving tomorrow and needed to understand these matters.

But after reading it, I not only didn't find a single useful clue, but I also got a headache.

Hiss... I simply closed the booklet and continued lying down.

Looking at the figures retreating outside the door, her intuition told her that not only was Baili Mansion unclean, but this trip out of the capital would also be very dangerous.

......

The next morning, feeling refreshed once again, Baili Ce finished checking his luggage and set off with Bi Cui.

"Aren't we waiting for the young lady?"

"No wait."

"What about the He family?" Bicui asked tentatively.

Bai Li Ce looked helpless. "Forget it, since we can't figure it out in a short time, why bother thinking about it anymore?"

Anyway, the He family should keep quiet for a while, and there are experienced stewards in charge of everything at the mansion, so there's nothing to worry about for the time being.

As for seventeen...

There's been no news for so long, and even after sending people to look for him, they couldn't find him. He's probably either dead or someone kidnapped him to be a child groom.

In short, I hope he is still alive.

......

"Bang!" Inside the investigation department, the clerks responsible for verifying testimonies were angrily throwing things around.

"That's infuriating!"

"Who says it isn't?"

"Who would have thought that that son of a bitch He Shoufeng wouldn't have registered those businesses under his own name?"

"It's disgusting. I looked at the ledgers more than a dozen times overnight, and there wasn't a single income recorded under the He family's name."

"That's right, that's why you can't convict him even if you want to."

"Come on, convict him? That girl risked her reputation to report Xie Yunxiang, and now he can just get away with it by saying he didn't manage his household properly."

"He has a favored daughter, so who can do anything to him?"

"Sigh, that's right. I heard that the prefect was so angry about this that he didn't sleep a wink all night. I'm really so frustrated!"

"Sigh, anyone would feel frustrated in this situation."

"We thought it was a great achievement, but who would have thought it would fall apart halfway through and the mastermind would escape."

"But this hidden kiln is clearly..."

"What's the use of saying all this? Where's the evidence?! Who can produce evidence to prove that these belong to the He family?"

"If I had evidence, I'd be the first to sue the He family!"

"You're kidding me. Even the Lin family chief himself couldn't find any evidence after searching. How could you possibly have any?"

"Alright, alright, stop complaining and hurry up and finish your work so you can go home."

The older clerk sighed helplessly, "Well, that's all we can do."

"No!" the young clerk was still unwilling to give up.

Picking up the pen he had just thrown away, he rechecked the documents in his hand. "I need to look at the testimony again and see if I can find anything else."

"I've watched it so many times, if there was anything wrong, I would have found it long ago."

"Let him be. He's young, it's good for him to be persistent."

Just when everyone had given up hope, the young clerk suddenly shouted.

"Have it!"

"I've got it!!"

"What?! They've got it?!" His colleagues quickly gathered around.

The young clerk quickly grabbed a pen and underlined a passage of testimony, "Look at this—"

On the day of the birthday banquet, Madam He was unable to hold her liquor, and He Xi accompanied her back to her room to rest. Xie Yunxiang followed her into the room and, taking advantage of her returning to fetch water, attempted to take advantage of her.

Then he drew another paragraph on another testimony, "Look at this one—"

On the day of the birthday banquet, Madam He was unable to hold her liquor, and He Xi accompanied her back to her room to rest. Xie Yunxiang, seeing her fetch water, followed her into the room, intending to commit an indecent act.

"At first glance, these two paragraphs seem to mean the same thing, but if you think about it carefully, isn't the second paragraph saying that Xie Yunxiang didn't actually come from He Shoufeng's birthday banquet at all?"

!!!

"Let me see," the older clerk quickly took it and examined it carefully.

"That's really it!"

"Furthermore, since the testimonies all say that Xie Yunxiang followed the He family's daughter, and the birthday banquet was held in the inner courtyard, then he must have been in the inner courtyard of the He family at that time."

"But if he didn't show up at the birthday banquet, what was he doing in the inner courtyard during the time before Xie Yunxiang attempted his indecent acts? Who did he meet?"

His colleagues nodded in agreement, "Yes, yes..."

"He Shoufeng's testimony said that he was entertaining guests at his birthday banquet before the incident, so the person Xie Yunxiang met could not have been him!"

“If the speculation is true…” A clerk recalled another matter, “Xie Yunxiang also seemed to be present at the He family banquet on April 26th.”

What's so special about this?

"It is said that Xie Yunxiang almost incurred the wrath of the masses at the time, and it was only after being taught a lesson by the young lady of the Baili family that things calmed down. Originally, the Xie family was quite annoyed by this matter."

"But later... he did not hold a grudge against He Shoufeng because of this."

"So that's how it is..." The young clerk thought about it more and more and found it suspicious, just like the day the underground kiln was raided.

Xie Yunxiang's palm was clearly pierced, yet the fact that He Shoufeng could coax that young master so easily with just a few words shows...

"I'll go and explain the situation to Prefect Lin right away! I'll leave the rest to you all!"

"Sure, sure."

"I'll also ask Registrar Xue for help."

......