Chapter 1069: Chapter 905: Catching a Turtle in a Jar

The young girl was startled, touched the silver hairpin on her head, steadied her mind, and then continued to walk forward.

"Brother guard, I am Lian Xiang, the maid beside the Li family’s lady. The lady is not feeling well, and I need to go and ask the physician to see her."

Lian Xiang’s face was anxious, her pair of bright almond-shaped eyes looking at Bing Wu, yet her face was full of shy charm even before speaking.

Bing Wu frowned, he was only sixteen this year, and this girl called him brother, did he really appear that mature?

Bing Wu rubbed his rough chin, feeling somewhat displeased.

"My lord has ordered that no one from the Li Mansion may leave, you better go back!" Bing Wu waved his hand, then turned around, ignoring her further.

Lian Xiang nearly bit through a silver tooth, this clueless fool. She turned her gaze to another guard, but he wouldn’t even glance at her.

She became frustrated; she might not be as beautiful as the moon or too graceful for words, but she was at least as pretty as a flower, wasn’t she?

Yet these guards turned a blind eye to her, proving that the servants are just like their master.

Taking a deep breath, Lian Xiang still gently said again, "Brother guards, the lady of our mansion has a chronic illness, and if a physician isn’t summoned promptly, it might turn bad. Please show mercy."

Bing Wu contemplated for a moment, thinking it was sensible to call a physician. The lord only said to temporarily detain people, waiting for the court’s action.

If something were to happen to the lady of Li Mansion, trouble would surely follow.

"Lady, go back for now, I will send someone to fetch a physician for your lady."

Lian Xiang felt relieved, her eyes sparkling, "The lady often calls Doctor Yang from Chang’s Clinic, known for treating women’s diseases, please send someone for him. Thank you so much!"

Lian Xiang curtseyed and thanked the two of them.

Bing Wu watched Lian Xiang’s departing figure, with a faint sneer crossing his face.

"You stay here and keep watch, I will report to the lord!"

The lord had already ordered to closely observe this girl’s movements. Whether the lady of Li Mansion is truly sick can be verified easily.

Specifically naming Doctor Yang from Chang’s Clinic raised further suspicion.

"Lord, Bing Wu reports that the maid named Lian Xiang tried to leave the mansion earlier but was stopped. She also said the lady of Li Mansion is sick and wants to summon Doctor Yang from Chang’s Clinic to diagnose."

"Oh? Is it true that the lady of Li Mansion is sick? Send someone to find out. Also, investigate if Doctor Yang frequently visits the Li Mansion for diagnosis, have people secretly watch Chang’s Clinic, especially keeping an eye on Doctor Yang, and report any anomalies to me immediately."

Gu Chengyu recalled the two farmers who collected night fragrance that day, coupled with today’s disaster victims nearly turning violent again, suspected that the motives of those behind this were similar to the previous happenings at Yingnan Mansion.

The deceased victim had already been examined by Gu Chengyu, only finding a totem on his body, extremely similar to the last deceased man’s.

The difference being, the last man had a wolf head tattoo, whereas the impersonating victim did not.

Gu Chengyu speculated that the impersonating disaster victim’s status within the organization was likely not high.

"Lord, I found out that the lady of Li Mansion is indeed sick. Chang’s Clinic does have a Doctor Yang who frequently visits Li Mansion for diagnosis; the lady often feels unwell, and the physician is skilled in treating women’s diseases, he has been caring for her illness."

Ding Qi entered the room to report to Gu Chengyu.

Gu Chengyu nodded, "Investigate discreetly whether the Doctor Yang summoned is the original one."

That maid was very suspicious, Li Mansion was on lockdown, people inside couldn’t leave, and outsiders couldn’t enter.

Trying to pass messages was absolutely impossible; Gu Chengyu had instructed them to shoot down any birds flying over Li Mansion to check for message deliveries.

Every corner of Li Mansion had been thoroughly searched by Gu Chengyu, every secret passage was known to him.

Only one secret passage was found, and he had it blocked.

Perhaps this Li Mansion lockdown might lead to unexpected surprises.

About two quarters of an hour later, Ding Qi returned to report again.

"Lord, it turns out that the Doctor Yang is not the previous one, the previous Doctor Yang returned to his hometown half a month ago. This one just arrived, only five days ago."

Gu Chengyu raised an eyebrow, "Did you alert him?"

"No, our people invited him to Li Mansion for diagnosis, he’s already on his way."

"Good! Then we’ll catch them in a trap!" Gu Chengyu’s eyes gleamed sharply, a cold smile curling at his lips.

"Once Doctor Yang enters the mansion, keep a close watch on Lian Xiang and Lord Yang’s movements, observe if they have any contact. The moment anything unusual happens, arrest both of them."

"Yes!"

...

"Lord, we’ve collected quite a bit of grain. If we don’t stop now and get discovered by the imperial envoy, will it ruin the master’s plans?"

A man in a dark reddish brown cross-collared long robe cautiously looked at the person before him, his face displaying concern.

"Continue collecting as instructed. Rest assured, the master will not treat you unfairly. Just keep collecting, if the nearby villages can’t supply grain, go further, five thousand stone is still too little. Do not sell the grain now, the imperial envoy’s control is very strict. Wait until the price is raised higher, then find a way to sell, how could you not profit?"

"But? The current grain price is already more than three times more than before..." The man hesitated, collecting so much grain, if it piled up unsold, wouldn’t he face a huge loss?

Collecting grain these days wasn’t at the old price, his silver flowed like water, pouring away rapidly.

The surroundings were full of competitors vying for grain, naturally driving prices high.

Farmers were no fools; knowing the urgency to buy grain, they held onto it unless a big price was offered.

The increase of three times was the current market price, continuing to collect would surely push prices even higher.

"What? You don’t trust the master’s judgment? Look at Jiang Family, Sun Family from Hangtian Prefecture, and Xia Family, who has not collected over ten thousand stone? This is a rare opportunity to make a fortune, are you willing to let it go? If you’re not brave enough, I’ll find someone else, many would gladly work for the master."

The person scoffed with disdain, making the wealthy merchant Ju Haoming panic.

"My apologies, it’s my oversight; the master is brilliant, how could I distrust the master’s judgment? Serving the master is my honor!"

Hearing Ju Haoming’s flattery, the person finally nodded with satisfaction.

"Don’t worry, wait a few days until those victims and commoners almost starve, then when we sell, we’ll surely earn a great profit. You’ll get two percent, the master said it won’t be considered shortchanging you!"