Since a suspicious point was discovered, Wu Caiwei proposed to visit Zheng Yiming's home, and the prefect agreed.
The prefect's men were all veterans and searched very carefully, leaving no stone unturned, from the roof beams to the ground.
Finally, a note was found in one of his books.
The prefect took it and saw that it was clearly not Zheng Yiming's handwriting. The content of the note was also pleasing, considered a major discovery. The note stated that if he wanted revenge, he should come to meet at midnight, and provided an address.
They followed the address on the note and arrived at the destination. In the ruins, they observed carefully. There were footprints on the ground and traces of a lit candle, clearly indicating that someone had been there.
The next day, when the court reconvened, Zheng Yiming had regained his senses. He knew he had lost control yesterday and was very annoyed, thinking of ways to salvage the situation.
The official produced the evidence found in his home the previous day. Zheng Yiming vehemently denied it, saying that although he received the note, he did not go.
The prefect knew he was hiding many things. Seeing that he refused to tell the truth, he directly ordered twenty heavy planks.
Although Zheng Yiming had the intention of revenge, he had lived a life of luxury since childhood and had never suffered hardship. As each plank fell on him, he realized how painful caning was.
He thought, what would happen if he confessed? It wasn't him who killed the person anyway. If they continued to beat him like this, he felt he would either be beaten to death or die of pain.
He honestly recounted the events.
Although the person was not killed by Zheng Yiming, Zheng Yiming was an accomplice and had also given false testimony. The official sentenced him to two years.
The matter became another dead end, as no one had seen the appearance of the man in black, only that he was a man of short stature.
As for the person who pushed Master Zheng into the pond, his appearance was ordinary, and he would be lost in a crowd. Even if the whole city were looking for him, if he intended to hide or had gone elsewhere, it would be extremely difficult to find one person in the vast sea of humanity.
Wu Caiwei and Li Yuqun were declared innocent and released from court.
The old lady personally welcomed them back at the entrance of the Li mansion. Seeing her grandson and granddaughter-in-law, she breathed a sigh of relief. Although they had lost some money and encountered some setbacks, they had returned safely without incident.
The Li family had few masters but strict rules. Bags and jade pendants were managed by designated personnel. The butler summoned everyone in the young master and young madam's courtyard for a meticulous investigation. The result was that someone had seen Mei'er, a third-rank maid in the courtyard, secretly slip into the young master and madam's room.
At first, Mei'er denied it. Later, fifty taels of silver were found in her home. Given her family's situation, it was impossible for her to have so much money. Seeing that the matter was exposed, Mei'er had no choice but to confess. A man in black had given her fifty taels of silver and asked her to steal two items that could represent the young master and young madam's identity.
The clue led back to the starting point. Who was this man in black?
The Li mansion did not tolerate such behavior. She was beaten twenty planks and immediately handed over to a slave trader.
The mansion was peaceful for a while, and life returned to its former state. They all knew this was just a superficial phenomenon, and a pair of eyes were watching them closely from behind the scenes.
Zhao Qianhe, Li Yuqun's exclusive physician, was taking a stroll in his small courtyard when a stone was suddenly thrown from outside. A strip of cloth was tied to the stone. He quickly opened the door and chased after it, but there was no one outside. He stomped his foot in annoyance.
This had happened many times. Each time, he wanted to know who was manipulating him from behind the scenes, but there had been no progress over the years.
He returned to his courtyard, opened the cloth strip, and sighed as he read its contents, not knowing what to do.
He was originally an imperial physician. He had offended the Noble Consort, which led him to hide his identity and live precariously. He didn't know how others had discovered his secret, but he had been manipulated by someone for so many years.
Originally, the old lady and the young master liked to chat with him and discuss the young master's health. But since he married the young madam, the young master had been recovering day by day. He had not been summoned once. He knew that the young master had become suspicious of him, and might even have known the truth.
Wasn't going to them now equivalent to waiting for death? But if he didn't go, he was afraid that the person behind him would expose his identity now, and he wouldn't see the sun tomorrow.
So, the couple sunbathing in the courtyard were visited by an unexpected person, Liu Qianhe.
"It's been a while, and the Third Young Master has improved a lot," Liu Qianhe said, stepping forward. Li Yuqun, to prevent him from noticing anything, extended his hand as usual to let him take his pulse.
After taking his pulse, Liu Qianhe looked at him with surprise. If he hadn't misread the pulse, the Third Young Master's illness was completely cured. He must have met a divine doctor. To be honest, after prescribing medicine for him for so long, the poison had already entered his vital organs. With his medical skills and maximum effort, he could only prolong his life by another twenty years. Yet, this person had completely cured his illness. Truly, there was always someone better.
"May I know who treated Third Young Master? Could you introduce me? Liu, I wish to become his disciple, or at least learn from him," Liu Qianhe said to Li Yuqun with an expectant look.
"I'm truly sorry, Doctor Liu. The other party is unwilling to reveal their name," Li Yuqun said, wanting to shield Wu Caiwei's medical skills from public view.
"Since Third Young Master's illness is cured, my trip was in vain. I presume Third Young Master already knows about my inaction over the years. In fact, a physician's heart is benevolent, and I have that too, but I have my own unavoidable circumstances," Liu Qianhe said helplessly.
He paused and continued, "Third Young Master might have obstructed someone's path. The reason I came today is that someone asked me to continue poisoning you. This is not my wish, but I have been caught by someone. If they expose me, my life and fortune will be lost. Unfortunately, I don't even know who that person is. Every time, the orders are conveyed by note."
After sending Liu Qianhe away, Li Yuqun looked at Wu Caiwei, "Can his words be trusted?"
"I had my suspicions last time. Today, I am even more certain. His needling techniques and the details of his pulse-taking are very similar to those of a court physician. Hiding his identity here must mean he offended someone, either the Emperor or a consort in the palace. With his medical skills, if he wanted to harm you, you would have died a hundred times over by now. Clearly, this person has medical ethics. He was likely discovered and forced to do this," Wu Caiwei said with certainty after careful consideration.
Li Yuqun never expected that the family physician would have such a background. Previously, he only thought that the man was knowledgeable and particularly enjoyed chatting with him.
"This makes me even more curious about the person behind it all, whom even he hasn't met," Wu Caiwei said with great interest.
"Being led by the nose by others all the time is quite unpleasant. How about we take the initiative and lure the fish out of the water?" Li Yuqun thought of a plan and asked Wu Caiwei.