TGCFNM -Chapter 364 I Have a Plan

The sky gradually darkened as Wan Sanjin and Su He returned one after the other.

Han Jin and the others who had been sent out also came back in succession, delivering the information they had gathered to Chu Ling.

In the front hall—

Steward Liu had tea prepared. Just then, a servant came to report that people had arrived at the back gate—quite a few of them—and they were carrying something that squealed noisily, though no one could tell what it was.

Steward Liu glanced at Chu Ling, then straightened his back and said, “I’ll go take a look.”

Chu Ling looked at him with slight apology before turning back to organize the information everyone had brought back.

First, on Wan Sanjin’s side: through Uncle Hong’s connections, he had met Cui Wan and successfully persuaded him to help. However, Cui Wan loved excitement and insisted on joining them in investigating the case.

So Wan Sanjin agreed.

His reasoning was: “He’s rich. Anywhere money needs to be spent, we’ll just go to him. He already agreed.”

Chu Ling felt that reasoning was unbeatable, so she agreed as well.

“Oh, right,” Wan Sanjin added. “Cui Wan said the reason he wanted to buy the painting was because someone he knew bought one. When he saw it, he thought it was breathtaking, so he wanted one too. But after finding out there was something wrong with the painting, he said he’d go look for that person tomorrow and see if they’d be willing to bring out the painting they collected for us to examine.”

Chu Ling’s eyes lit up. “That’s really good news!”

Wan Sanjin thought so too. After all, the problem had always revolved around the paintings. Maybe they could find some clues there.

As for Su He, he had gone to the charity cemetery and sought out the coroner. Only after gifting him a few knives did he finally manage to get some information.

“…The bodies aren’t in the mass grave. They’ve never seen the courtesans’ corpses.”

Chu Ling looked at him. “Does it pain you to give up your knives?”

Su He turned his head away. “They were old ones I used anyway. I didn’t know how to deal with them.”

“Oh right, my lord,” Wan Sanjin said, lifting his teacup. “What did you send Steward Liu to do?”

“To collect pregnant female rats.”

“Pfft—”

Chu Ling shot him a look of disgust. “What? What?”

Wan Sanjin coughed violently and pointed at her. “Cough, cough—my lord, have you—cough—gone mad again?”

“I haven’t gone mad. I have a plan.” Chu Ling then explained her scheme to release the rats into the Canghua Tower. At the end, she added, “Oh, right. You’re all coming with me to release the rats.”

Everyone: “…”

Wan Sanjin rubbed his arms. “My lord, you really—really can come up with any underhanded trick.”

“It’s a brilliant strategy!” Chu Ling bared her teeth.

At that moment, Han Jin spoke up. “My lord, today we also followed your instructions to investigate. As for the families of the former courtesans, some said they had left the capital. Others said they didn’t have enough money and were still staying in Sin Street. But when we tried to go to Sin Street, we found people watching us—and some even blocking us—so we withdrew for now.”

Chu Ling gave a soft acknowledgment. That meant someone was controlling Crime Street from behind the scenes—and someone was profiting from it.

“There’s one more thing, my lord.” Wang Wei’s expression turned rather unpleasant. “It seems that since last year, every courtesan queen has come from Crime Street.”

Chu Ling froze and instinctively asked again, “What did you say?”

Wan Sanjin’s expression also grew grave. “So the previous courtesan queens who died… they were originally daughters of wealthy or official families, but because their fathers committed crimes, their entire families were exiled to Crime Street?”

Wang Wei nodded.

Chu Ling thought of what Shiyu had said, then of Yunliu—how they needed to earn money to rescue their families, and thus had no choice but to become courtesan queens.

So what if becoming a courtesan queen meant death? At the very least, they could die with their innocence intact—and save their families.

But what if all of this… was a conspiracy?

What if someone was deliberately exploiting these once high-and-mighty young ladies for malicious profit?

Chu Ling braced herself against the table, the veins on the back of her hand bulging. “Inhuman!”

Wan Sanjin exhaled softly and looked toward Su He, his expression serious. “Besides the painting, we still need to figure out where the bodies went. The corpses are key.”

Su He frowned deeply. “They’re not at the mortuary, and no coroner has seen them. That means the claim that the brothel madam simply threw the bodies away must be false. She probably stored them somewhere else… We need to investigate that brothel madam.”

“There’ll be a chance.” Chu Ling took a deep breath, calculating the days. “Tonight we’ll release the mice. If the pregnant ones are about to give birth, it’ll be tomorrow or the day after. Then we’ll have someone deliberately carry a scented sachet inside to lure the mice out and cause chaos.”

“And at that time, since I’m the only one who bought the mice, I’ll definitely be reported to the authorities… Wan Sanjin, you’ll go to Uncle Hong and have him contact Minister Lu Shi of the Court of Judicial Review. Before I’m taken to the prefectural office, have me detained in the Grand Court’s prison on the grounds that I’m a court official.”

“With rats appearing in the brothel, they’ll have to close temporarily. And when the brothel madam is overwhelmed, that’ll be Yunliu and Shiyu’s opportunity. Tomorrow, give Shiyu more silver and have her bribe some of the newly sold girls to search the building and find that Hundred-Flower Soup.”

After hearing the plan, the others all nodded. It was feasible.

“It would be best if Cui Wan can bring the painting tomorrow. With the sudden cold weather the day after, we might be able to stake out that painter… After I escape from prison, I can knock the painter unconscious and detain him temporarily. Once the painter disappears, the brothel madam will definitely panic. And when she panics, she’ll make the most regrettable decision of her life—she’ll report the situation to the higher-ups.”

After saying this, Chu Ling looked at Wan Sanjin.

Wan Sanjin nodded. “I understand. That’s when we seize the chance—catch them red-handed. But we don’t have enough manpower, so we must draw attention… We’ll have to trouble Qingyu. As long as Qingyu is present, he’ll attract plenty of onlookers.”

Su He suddenly looked up. “I’ve got it. The bodies weren’t buried or thrown away. They would’ve rotted, and no one could endure that smell—it’d be impossible to hide them. So they must have been frozen!”

Chu Ling narrowed her eyes. “If they’re frozen, then there aren’t many places in the capital capable of storing ice—or having large quantities of it. If we investigate them one by one, we’ll get our answer.”

Su He nodded and looked at Han Jin and the other three. “I’ll have to trouble you to help eliminate the possibilities.”

The four immediately agreed.

Ghost Scholar looked at Chu Ling with approval and added softly, “Once you catch someone, contact Minister Lu Shi of the Court of Judicial Review immediately. He’s a white line—neutral.”

Chu Ling turned to Wan Sanjin. “Notify Minister Lu at the same time, have the Grand Court intervene, report it again to the prefectural office, and spread the news throughout the streets and alleys of the capital.”

She wanted this matter to grow as large as possible—so large that no one could suppress it single-handedly.

Ghost Scholar’s eyes gleamed faintly. “The capital’s fig leaf… it’s about time it was torn away. Once it is, others will enter the battlefield.”