"Lord Zeng, could you please arrange a room for the patient to rest?" Leng Ruo Li requested.
"Of course, of course. Take her to the courtyard where she used to stay. I'll have servants guide the divine healer there immediately," Zeng Yi Hong said.
Following that, Zeng Yi Hong promptly had a passing young servant escort Leng Ruo Li to the small courtyard where Li Ke Xin had previously resided. He then instructed someone to retrieve five taels of silver from the storeroom as a reward for the old man's efforts.
The old man glanced at the silver in his hand with disappointment. Hadn't the previous reward for capturing this concubine named Li Ke Xin been one hundred taels of silver? Why was he only receiving five taels of silver as a hardship fee now?
He stood dazed at the entrance of the Zeng residence for a while. He had initially intended to seek an explanation from Prefect Zeng regarding the silver. However, recalling Prefect Zeng's past cruel methods, he quickly retreated, shamefully driving his donkey cart towards the bustling street.
Meanwhile, Leng Ruo Li, carrying Li Ke Xin, followed the young servant to the outside of the room where she had previously stayed in the Zeng residence.
The young servant gently pushed open the door and stepped inside, only to be startled. There was a female corpse in Li Ke Xin's former room. The corpse lay by the bedside, a knife wound in its chest. Its wide eyes were staring, fixed in terror at a certain direction, appearing as though it had died with grievances.
Leng Ruo Li also walked in, took a brief glance at the deceased from a distance, and then said to the servant, "Go and call Lord Zeng here to deal with this."
The young servant then scurried out to fetch Zeng Yi Hong. Leng Ruo Li had no choice but to carry Li Ke Xin into the adjacent厢房 (xiāngfáng - side room) not far away to treat her.
Leng Ruo Li first measured Li Ke Xin's temperature, finding that she had a fever of 40.5 degrees Celsius. She then drew a small blood sample from her finger for testing. Afterward, she utilized the equipment from her system space to conduct a full body scan. Fortunately, there were no major issues with her body, only some minor injuries. Notably, there were some tears in her private areas.
Subsequently, Leng Ruo Li administered an antipyretic injection and applied ointment to her wounds. She then found a clean set of clothes for her to change into before leaving the room.
When Leng Ruo Li emerged, Jun Mo Han was seated in the pavilion in the courtyard. Zeng Yi Hong had already had the corpse in Li Ke Xin's room cleared away. He heard from a servant that the deceased woman in the room was originally Li Ke Xin's maid, Xia Guo. It was likely that she had attempted to help Li Ke Xin escape by actively seducing the fake Zeng Yi Hong, only to be killed by him.
"Divine Healer, how is she?" Zeng Yi Hong asked with concern.
"She merely has a fever and is otherwise fine," Leng Ruo Li replied indifferently.
"That's good!" Zeng Yi Hong nodded upon hearing this.
At this moment, Leng Ruo Li remembered something.
"Lord Zeng, could you trouble someone to go out and search for Li Ke Xin's husband, Qiao Jian Hua, and see where he is now?" Leng Ruo Li asked Zeng Yi Hong.
"Yes, I'll have someone go to the street to find him immediately," Zeng Yi Hong nodded vigorously.
On the street, Qiao Jian Hua walked like a wraith, searching for his wife, Li Ke Xin. He had searched all night without seeing any sign of his wife. At this moment, he was utterly exhausted, his hair disheveled, his clothes ragged, completely devoid of his usual spirit. He looked like a beggar.
At this time, Yin Chen and Chu Ming Xuan were with the grandmother and grandson, having ordered bowls of bone noodles for each of them at a roadside food stall. As they were halfway through their meal, Qiao Jian Hua, dragging his weary body, walked past them and accidentally bumped into Chu Ming Xuan, who was sitting by the roadside. After getting up, he left without apologizing to Chu Ming Xuan. Chu Ming Xuan turned around and glanced at the man, feeling somewhat annoyed.
However, as Chu Ming Xuan turned back, the old woman sitting to his left pulled her grandson and chased after Qiao Jian Hua. Following them, Yin Chen also took out a tael of silver from his sleeve and placed it on the table before swiftly pursuing them. Chu Ming Xuan then reacted and also caught up to the old woman's side.
When Yin Chen caught up with the grandmother and grandson, they had already stopped Qiao Jian Hua.
"Jian Hua, Jian Hua, my son, mother has finally found you."
The old woman released her grandson's hand, brushed the hair away from Qiao Jian Hua's face, and looked at her haggard son with a heart full of pain. She had not expected her son, whom she hadn't seen in three years, to become this way.
Hearing the familiar voice, Qiao Jian Hua instantly regained his senses. He looked intently at the old woman and the little boy beside her, his eyes widening slightly. He then embraced the grandmother and grandson and began to sob loudly.
"Mother, mother, is it really you?" Qiao Jian Hua asked incredulously.
"Jian Hua, I am truly your birth mother. I traveled thousands of miles with Xi'er to find you in Linzhou City," the old woman said, tears streaming down her face.
"Mother, Ke Xin is gone. I searched for her all night but couldn't find her. What should I do?" Qiao Jian Hua said breakdown.
"Jian Hua, don't be afraid. Mother will help you find her," the old woman said tenderly.
Xi'er, caught between them, seeing his grandmother cry, also began to cry loudly. The three of them hugged each other and cried sorrowfully for a long time, soon attracting a crowd of onlookers.
Before long, a group of constables pushed through the crowd and approached the three of them from behind.
"Qiao Jian Hua, you must come with us to the Zeng residence immediately," the leading constable said loudly.
Qiao Jian Hua, who was pulled back to his senses, saw that they were constables from the prefectural yamen and immediately refused them.
"I'm not going!"
"Your wife, Li Ke Xin, is currently at the Zeng residence. Are you sure you're not going?" the leading constable said helplessly.
Upon hearing this, Qiao Jian Hua was surprised.
"What did you just say? My wife is at the Zeng residence?" Qiao Jian Hua asked, a hint of belief returning as he sought confirmation.
"Yes, early this morning someone found your wife unconscious and sent her to the Zeng residence. She is currently recuperating there. Lord Zeng has asked us to find you to see her," the leading constable explained.
"Let's go, I'll go with you to the Zeng residence now."
Upon hearing that Li Ke Xin was at the Zeng residence, Qiao Jian Hua immediately agreed to go with the constables. However, when he heard the constables say that Lord Zeng had summoned him, he became very confused. Hadn't that Prefect Zeng Yi Hong been beaten to death last night? How could there still be a Lord Zeng? Could it be that Zeng Yi Hong hadn't died last night... If Zeng Yi Hong hadn't died, then his wife couldn't escape Zeng Yi Hong's confinement and control. What could be done?
Thinking about what had happened last night, Qiao Jian Hua felt like crying without tears.
Yin Chen and Chu Ming Xuan saw Qiao Jian Hua's brow furrow in a complicated expression. Chu Ming Xuan patted Qiao Jian Hua's shoulder in comfort, "Don't be afraid, we will accompany you to the Zeng residence. No one will dare to bully you." This was because he had heard from Yin Chen last night that the Cold King and the Cold King's Consort were currently at the Zeng residence handling matters. He and Yin Chen were planning to find Jun Mo Han and Leng Ruo Li.