About ten days ago, Lu Wusibu's secret agents in the east of the city noticed a suspicious mansion.
A household reported that a merchant who sold cloth and silk in the East Market had rented an empty house here, moved in, and brought in goods.
This was nothing. Almost every day, new merchants arrived from all directions in the city. But now the situation was special, and merchants were the most convenient identity in Chang'an City to cover up illegal activities. They could be equipped with manpower and had reasons to move around. Therefore, there was an order from above that any new arrivals, especially merchants, must be investigated to eliminate suspicion.
The spy paid attention as usual and then found something wrong.
Unlike normal merchants, this group of people did not go out frequently every day. After settling down, they only drove trucks in and out in the morning and evening. When they arrived in the downtown area, the team often lost a few people and disappeared. So they instructed the merchants in the market to approach them and said they wanted to buy a large amount of goods. The other party's reaction was not as enthusiastic as that of normal vendors, so they reported the situation and received instructions to strengthen surveillance around them. Unexpectedly, no one came out for two days.
Liu Bo, who was in charge of this matter, felt something was wrong and ordered an inspection. He found that the house was empty except for cloth. He guessed that the surveillance was discovered by the other party. There are many woodlands in this neighborhood, which is good for hiding. Those people quietly left the house at night, dispersed to other places at dawn, and then disappeared.
This was what he had hurriedly gone to Pei Xiaoyuan to report early that morning.
After receiving the news, Pei Xiaoyuan went to check in person that day. Although the other party acted cautiously and did not leave any valuable traces of life, after a careful search, he still found something unusual behind the house and dug out a pile of buried medicine residues. The doctor identified one of them as Xue Jie, also known as Qilin Jie, which is a magical medicine for treating trauma and ulcers. It can be inferred that someone had been hiding here to recuperate. The other party moved in a hurry, and it is very likely that the injury has not healed. This herb comes from overseas southern continents such as Zhenla and Linyi. It is expensive and in small quantities. Many herb shops in Chang'an do not have stocks.
Lu Wusi then conducted a lot of secret investigations and found that more than a hundred people in the city had bought this medicine in the past five or six days. After eliminating them one by one, only one medicine shop in Pingkangfang remained. No one used the medicine, and the medicine was sold at night when the gates of the town were closed. It was unlikely that the people who bought the medicine came from other towns.
Based on the above inference, the suspicious person who escaped earlier is most likely still hiding in Pingkangfang and recuperating from his injuries.
This is the reason for the sudden curfew in the neighborhood tonight.
Liu Bo brought a few men to search here. He never expected to run into an acquaintance. He was surprised to see that Young Master Ye also recognized him. He seemed to be frightened by him and hurriedly explained: "We are catching thieves tonight. The neighborhood is under curfew, so I just broke in. How come you are here, Young Master?"
Xuyu came to her senses: "So that's how it is. I came here tonight to paint a portrait of Madam Yumian. I was so engrossed in the painting just now that I didn't hear the noise outside. This is really wrong!" As she said this, she was about to put down her pen and go to greet him.
Liu Bo waved his hand to signal her to do as she pleased, and walked to a long table covered with a piece of drawing paper as long as a person, and took a look at the portrait she had just drawn. Although the outlines and bones had just been drawn, and the eyebrows and facial features had just begun to take shape, the person in the painting was already clear at a glance, leaning against a table and half lying, and it was Qiu Niang who was facing the opposite side, with her back turned and hurriedly putting on clothes.