Chapter Sixteen: An Unexpected Encounter in the Capital

  Jian Ma San Gunzi suddenly died of poisoning, and everyone looked at Old Master Zhou Shiming in shock, speechless.

  Zhou Shiming looked at the deceased Ma San Gunzi, sighed softly, and turned to the steward Liang Xingchu: "You arrange for someone to choose a place, buy a coffin, and bury him. Take good care of his family. Although he didn't do right by our Zhou family this time, after all, he was someone who had worked hard for us." Then, he said to everyone present: "Regarding Ma San Gunzi's death, you must keep your mouths shut and not say a word about it. Do you understand?"

  "Yes!" everyone said in unison.

  Zhou Zhuang's master said to Liang Guan Jia, "You go and ask the remaining few people what they were doing that night. Be careful not to make a fuss, don't let this matter stir up trouble throughout the city and disturb the whole family."

  Liang Guanjia agreed to leave...

  As he came out of Ma San Gunzi's house, Zhou Shiming's inner string that was tightly strung relaxed a little, but his mood couldn't completely relax. Although the internal ghost had been identified, who his superior was, what factional forces Ma San Gunzi served, and what other bad things he had done were still unclear to him. Especially, what made him most afraid was whether Ma San Gunzi was sent by the government. If so, the Zhou family would be in danger of being exterminated. If that's the case, the news might have already been leaked, but why hasn't the government taken action yet? If it wasn't the government, then maybe it was the best result, and the Zhou family was safe for the time being. But who was the mastermind behind Ma San Gunzi? These questions lingered in his mind, refusing to go away, making him feel anxious and flustered. At the same time, he blamed himself, a meticulous person like him, how could he have neglected to close the door of the secret room that night... No, it couldn't end like this. He told himself, he must continue to investigate along this thread. For now, maybe that's all he could do.

  Zhou Shiming called over a few servants and asked them: "Normally, who does Ma Sanbang often come into contact with?"

  "It's Liu Ergui."

  "Yes, it's him." The two servants said in unison.

  "You two bring Liu Ergui here for me." Master Zhou ordered the two men.

  Before long, Liu Ergui came to the house of Old Master Zhou Shiming. After greeting and paying respects, he stood below, not daring to look up at Master Zhou. Zhou Shiming spoke in a calm tone: "Ergui, I'll ask you a few more questions, and you must answer truthfully."

  "I must tell the truth, sir!" Liu Ergui's voice was a little shaky.

  "Don't be afraid, I just want to ask you a few questions. Ma Sanpao usually comes and goes with you the most, right?" asked Zhou Shiming.

  "Yes, oh no. It's just that Ma San Gun is usually secretive and often comes and goes alone, not very social with others... Compared to others, our interactions are more frequent..." Liu Er Gui was a bit incoherent, afraid that Ma San Gun's affairs would implicate him.

  "What did he say to you when you were drinking together that night?" asked Zhou Shiming.

  "I had a lot to drink before that, and that night I only remember us talking about some trivial family matters, without mentioning anything about our official business." Liu Ergui said after thinking for a moment.

  "Tell me some things you know about Ma San's stick." Zhou Shiming said to Liu Ergui.

  "Alright." Liu Ergui replied. He swallowed his saliva and continued, "Ma San's movements are usually very secretive, I only know that he has a wife and a child at home. He often comes and goes alone, usually just sleeping in the house, and frequently gets up in the middle of the night to go to the toilet. Usually, he is responsible for delivering water to Master and the few madams. The fourth madam uses the most water, so he goes there the most often. Once, he broke the fourth madam's water bucket, and she even made him stand for half an hour..."

  "How did Ma San come to our mansion?" asked Zhou Zhuang's master, interrupting.

  "I heard that it was the fourth madam who met him on her way back from worshiping ancestors a year ago. He looked pitiful begging for food, and since they were short-handed at home at the time, she let him into the Zhou household..."

  "Be more careful, drink less wine usually. This time you were taken advantage of by others because of drinking too much. Remember: excessive drinking leads to trouble! Go back now and don't talk about today's events outside, got it?" said Zhou Zhuang with a serious tone.

  "Remember! Thank you, sir, thank you, sir!" Liu Ergui said and hastily retreated.

  Could it be that this matter is related to Fourth Madam Sun Lianxiang? Liu Ergui was brought into the mansion by him. He usually delivers water to Fourth Madam the most, but others haven't discovered them having excessive interactions, besides, Old Four is very simple-minded, she doesn't ask about anything, would she go and do these kinds of things? After Liu Ergui left, Master Zhou Shiming fell into deep thought once again. He recalled the scene when he met Fourth Madam and her entering the Zhou household...

  Four years ago, Master Zhou went to the capital city to do business. One evening, Master Zhou Shiming was riding a horse-drawn carriage in a hurry from the suburbs to the capital city, when he unexpectedly met a woman hitchhiking by the roadside. As night was falling, the woman was also in a hurry to get to the capital city and was worried about having no way to get there.

  She met Zhou Shiming, the woman said all good things, wanting to sit in his car. Seeing that it was already late, Zhou Shiming ordered the coachman to stop the carriage and let the woman get on. The girl was about twenty years old, with a medium build, plump and symmetrical, a melon-shaped face, willow-leaf eyebrows, and long black hair that was smooth and shiny. Her bangs were flat in front, and the two ends of her bangs fell to her shoulders in front of her ears, tied back with a pink silk ribbon. A silver pin held up her hair... Her features were enticing.

  Sitting in the car, bouncing all the way, Zhou Shiming was extremely tired and couldn't help but doze off. But just as he was half asleep, he suddenly felt a slight weight on his shoulder, and when he turned his head, he saw that the beautiful girl had leaned against his shoulder and fallen asleep...

  The carriage was about to arrive in the capital, but the girl had not woken up yet. It seemed she was really sleepy... The carriage stopped inside the city, and he was just about to wake her when the girl's long eyelashes moved slightly, and those bright beautiful eyes opened slightly. She suddenly became aware of her awkward position and immediately left Zhou Zhuang's shoulder.

  Her face turned crimson with shame. "I'm sorry, I was just too sleepy earlier......" Her tender lips moved.

  Zhou Shiming simply said, "...... Never mind. Miss, we've arrived in the capital..." The girl looked around and quickly said, "Thank you so much! I've troubled you all along the way, you're really good people!"

  The host hurriedly said: "It's just a small favor, don't be polite. It's getting dark, be careful and hurry back home!" The girl got off the carriage, bowed deeply to Master Zhou, and left.

  Zhou Zhuang and others found an inn to stay in, hastily finished dinner, washed up, and prepared to go to the toilet before going to bed. As he passed by a room in the inn, he was attracted by the conversation coming from inside...