The little heroine investigates a mysterious case

Chapter 325 The Mysterious Disappearance of the Orphan (1)

Gu Jiancheng saw Yang Liuming looking at Yang Zilan with the same gaze a landlord would give his foolish son, and couldn't help but chuckle.

"Lord Yang, please rest assured, I will take good care of Zilan!"

Yang Liuming withdrew his gaze and hurriedly waved to Gu Jiancheng.

"Don't take care of him! If there's any hard, tiring, or life-threatening job, just send him there!"

If you protect him out of consideration for me and prevent him from showing his true abilities, he'll come back and make a scene, complaining that I, as his father, am too powerful!

Yang Zilan stuck out her neck, her face full of resentment.

"That's right. I was thinking of secretly enlisting in the army, but you insisted on coming with me. Look, now everyone knows I'm your son."

"If I go to the battlefield later, will I still be able to fight as hard as I used to? You made your name in the Battle of Fengcheng back then, why can't I achieve success through my own abilities?!"

Yang Liuming habitually reached out and patted Yang Zilan's head again.

"You little brat, you think you're right? What do you know!"

Yang Zilan's eyes widened, and she spoke with conviction.

"Father, I am not only your son now, but also a soldier under Prince Cheng. You cannot hit me without Prince Cheng's permission!"

Everyone found the father and son's banter both heartwarming and amusing.

Gu Zhanghua walked up to Yang Zilan and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Zilan, I'm so proud of you! Work hard with my second brother, and I'll be waiting for your triumphant return! We'll celebrate your victory!"

As he spoke, he reached out and patted Yang Zilan's chest.

"Really sturdy! Stronger than mine!"

Gu Zhanghua's envious and jealous but not hateful look was obvious. Zhao Xuan couldn't help but roll her eyes. It turned out that her efforts to help Gu Zhanghua were in vain. She was protecting him but he didn't appreciate it!

Yang Zilan wanted to punch Gu Zhanghua as well, but he subconsciously glanced at Zhao Xuan and saw her giving him a "wicked" smile.

Why are you staring at me like that? Is Xiao Wu some kind of porcelain doll that I can't even touch?

Consort Shu was renowned for her fierce protection of her own, and Zhao Xuan was no less so.

Yang Zilan muttered to herself, but eventually her fist turned into a palm, and she gently stroked Gu Zhanghua's chest while saying something that didn't mean what she said.

"You're not bad either. With more practice, you'll definitely catch up to me."

Gu Jiancheng watched the two interact amicably and said with a smile.

"From now on, Zilan will stay by my side and be my personal guard."

"Your Highness is wise and mighty!"

Yang Zilan was overjoyed and jumped for joy.

Seeing that he had finished all the necessary tasks, Yang Liuming cupped his hands in greeting to Gu Jiancheng and the others.

"I'm taking my son back to make some preparations. I'll take my leave now."

The crowd bowed to Yang Liuming and his son to say goodbye, and the two then boarded their carriage and left.

Gu Jiancheng watched the carriage gradually disappear into the distance, then turned to look at Gu Zhanghua and Zhao Xuan.

"Just now, Lord Yang said that Zilan didn't understand the deeper meaning behind his accompanying her to register. Do you two understand?"

Gu Zhanghua and Zhao Xuan looked at each other, unable to figure it out for a moment, and both shook their heads.

Gu Jiancheng said as he walked toward the mansion:

"Lord Yang's move is truly painstaking! Firstly, it fulfills his son's wish; secondly, as a dignified prime minister, his personal escort of his son to the army will naturally make the recruitment process smoother; and thirdly, as the prime minister's son, Zilan's arrival in the army will surely boost our morale!"

"I see," Gu Zhanghua clapped his hands and said, "Teacher Yang is willing to let his son take the lead in order to protect the country. He truly has the demeanor of a prime minister!"

Zhao Xuan belatedly realized that Yang Liuming's actions were truly admirable.

"Teacher Yang has truly set a good example for us! Like father, like son. I take back what I said. How could Yang Zilan be foolish? He's just wise in disguise, isn't he?"

The three returned to Prince Cheng's residence, chatting and laughing. Gu Jiancheng led the two directly to the study, had them sit down opposite the desk, and took out a list from a stack of files, handing it to Gu Zhanghua.

"Fifth brother, sister-in-law, look, this is the list of orphans who were registered as citizens in batches by the Liyang branch back then. There are a total of eighty-three people, and the government has records of them."

Gu Zhanghua and Zhao Xuan carefully flipped through the list one by one.

Gu Zhanghua was the first to notice something odd about the list and asked Gu Jiancheng for confirmation.

"Second brother, I found that the time when these orphans were registered as citizens was mainly concentrated in two periods. There was a group of 30 people at the beginning of the ninth year of Xuanhe, and the rest were basically from mid-September to the end of the ninth year of Xuanhe, a total of 53 people."

Zhao Xuan, who had been staring intently at the list, looked up and pointed to one of the names with her finger.

"Qian Bin, who committed suicide by poisoning himself in the early part of the ninth year of Xuanhe!"

"Yes, come with me."

Gu Jiancheng nodded and walked to a map hanging nearby, followed closely by Gu Zhanghua and Zhao Xuan.

There are several locations marked on the map.

"After receiving this list, I analyzed it carefully. The group of thirty people at the beginning of the year all returned to the main hospital and branch hospitals where they used to live."

Of the eleven people who returned to the main hospital in Jing'an Prefecture, ten were missing, excluding Qian Bin who was already dead.

Of the remaining twenty-nine people, nine returned to the Fucheng branch and ten returned to the Tianning branch.

I've already asked Xu Hu to investigate. These people were all resettled in nearby counties or villages back then. Take a look, are there any strange things about these counties and villages?

The locations marked on the map are where the orphans were placed.

Zhao Xuan spotted three familiar place names: Luoba County, Xunyang County, and Nanxi County.

Her father, Huang Shuo, had mentioned these three counties to her. They were the counties that Zhao Xiaoman had sent Huang Shuo to investigate the real culprit after Wang Sheng's incident.

Huang Shuo was able to track down Qian Bin when he ran into Qian Bin while staking out Nanxi County. At that time, Qian Bin had changed his name to Chen Yongbin.

(Readers who have forgotten this content can go back and read it again; of course, those who find the crime-solving process mind-bending can skip this:)

Chapter 232: The Flame Organization, dormant for many years; Chapter 233: The rose cake has the fragrance of osmanthus; Chapter 303: Tracing clues from the source)

"They look very close together, not far from each other," Zhao Xuan concluded with a frown.

"What's so strange about that? Isn't it normal to settle them nearby?"

Gu Zhanghua was utterly puzzled.

Gu Jiancheng wasn't in a hurry to explain to the two of them. He walked to the table next to him, brewed a pot of tea, poured one for each of them, and poured one for himself as well. He blew on the foam in his teacup and took a small sip.

"There's something you might not know. You were too young back then, but I vaguely remember it, so I went to the palace to ask Father Emperor, and that's how I finally confirmed it."

The places where these orphans were placed were all not far from the trade routes that the Wuwei Escort Agency used to escort royal caravans back then!

Gu Jiancheng looked at Gu Zhanghua and Zhao Xuan, gently placed the teacup on the table, put his hands on his knees, sat up straight, and looked extremely solemn.

"Xu Hu handed me this list seven days ago, but I didn't inform you in time because some things still need to be verified."

Five days ago, I had Xu Hu secretly test these orphans with his men, and they all possessed martial arts skills!

Moreover, of the nine people placed in the Fucheng branch, only five are still alive, and of the ten people placed in Tianning Prefecture, only eight are still alive. The remaining six all disappeared two days before and after the beginning of autumn in the ninth year of Xuanhe, and their whereabouts are still unknown!

I have already informed my father, the Emperor, of this matter. He told me that the timing of these orphans' disappearance coincides perfectly with the time when the Wuwei Escort Agency's caravan was last robbed!

(At the beginning of the ninth year of Xuanhe: a total of 30 people.)

静安府总院11人-钱斌已死=10人+富城分院9人+天宁府分院10人=29人。

However, after Xu Hu's investigation, only the following remains:

(10 staff members at the main hospital in Jing'anfu + 5 staff members at the Fucheng branch + 8 staff members at the Tianningfu branch = 23 staff members)

Zhao Xuan's breath hitched after hearing Gu Jiancheng's story!

Around the beginning of autumn in the ninth year of Xuanhe? Uncle Wang Sheng was the head镖师 (bodyguard/escort) who escorted the last merchant caravan! He died at the hands of the Flame Organization!

"Could it be that……"

Zhao Xuan felt a vein throbbing on her forehead, and she asked cautiously:

"Second brother, could these missing people be members of the Flame Organization who robbed the caravans back then?"

"You actually know about the Flame Organization?"

Gu Jiancheng was very surprised.

“I forgot to tell you, my dad was the first to find out about Qian Bin, and that’s how we ended up at Fuze Relief Home and all the subsequent events.”

Zhao Xuan hurriedly explained.

"No wonder!"

Gu Jiancheng nodded slightly to Zhao Xuan.

"The six missing people were very likely involved in the final robbery and murder!"