Schemes and Intrigue

"Father, Father, are you in the study?"

A clear, melodious voice came from outside, as pleasant as a lark's song.

Without looking, the Family Head knew his daughters had arrived. He called out in confusion.

"Come in. Didn't you go check on that little boy? Why have you come here instead?"

Creak!

The door was pushed open, and Shui Bing'er and Shui Yue'er rushed in energetically on their pale little legs.

Having run too quickly, both of them were slightly out of breath.

"What happened? Why were you running so fast?" the Family Head asked again, puzzled.

"Father, we found a clue!" Shui Bing'er said happily, clenching her little fist.

"A clue? What clue?"

The Family Head asked blankly. The clues regarding the threatening letter were far too difficult to find, and he did not believe his daughters could have uncovered one.

Thus, he instinctively assumed they were talking about something else.

"Of course it's about the threatening letter. We found a clue, and we only just discovered it," Shui Bing'er continued.

"A clue about the threatening letter? Are you sure?!"

Hearing this, the Family Head instantly rose to his feet and stared sternly at Shui Bing'er and Shui Yue'er.

This threatening letter was no joking matter. It concerned the safety of everyone in the family.

More importantly, they had searched for several days without finding anything, yet his daughters claimed to have found a clue. This made the Family Head doubtful.

"Of course we're sure. We found two people acting suspiciously by the main gate. They weren't there before—they just appeared."

"Two people? Is that true?!" The Family Head looked questioningly at the butler.

"Family Head, the area around the estate was inspected, and there were no suspicious individuals before. They may indeed have only just appeared," the butler hurriedly said.

"Let's go take a look."

The group made their way toward the main gate in grand procession.

When they arrived, they peered through the gap in the gate and indeed spotted two suspicious-looking people outside.

"They really are suspicious. Guards, take them down!" the Family Head ordered.

"Yes!"

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! The estate guards were all fairly powerful Spirit Masters. They pounced like wolves and tigers, instantly frightening the two men into trying to flee, but it was already too late.

Before High-level Spirit Masters, the two were easily captured. Their martial souls were restrained, leaving them unable to fight.

"Take them to the basement and interrogate them under severe torture!!"

"Yes!"

The guards took the two men toward the basement with grim expressions, preparing to torture them for answers.

Meanwhile, the Family Head smiled at his two daughters.

"Not bad, not bad. I never expected the clue we had been unable to find would be discovered by you two. My daughters are truly impressive."

"Actually, we didn't find it. Li Xuan did," Shui Bing'er said, not daring to take credit.

"Li Xuan? Who is Li Xuan?!" the Family Head asked in confusion, not knowing who this was.

"He's the little boy we rescued. Earlier, he saw someone lurking nearby and told us, which is how we found the clue."

"That happened?" The Family Head was surprised.

"Yes. We didn't believe him at first either. We only believed it after seeing those two people at the gate."

"I see. Good deeds truly bring good rewards. You saved someone out of kindness, and you received a good outcome in return. Good, good, good."

The Family Head was greatly comforted, feeling that life's twists of fate were truly wondrous.

Originally, he had been unwilling to let his daughters rescue people so casually, but he had not expected it to bring such a good result. This made him very happy.

"You two go entertain young Li Xuan first. I'll go to the basement and verify the clue. If it proves true, I'll definitely reward Li Xuan well."

"Okay, Father."

The two little girls skipped away happily toward where Li Xuan was staying.

Meanwhile.

Li Xuan was using God's Perspective to track the bald man.

He watched the man enter a large herbal medicine shop, but he did not come back out after entering.

Using God's Perspective, Li Xuan examined the shop's name. The five large characters, Qin Family Pharmacy, were easily caught by his gaze.

"Qin Family Pharmacy? Could it be a shop owned by a family?" Li Xuan secretly guessed.

"Once Shui Yue'er and Shui Bing'er get here, I'll ask for more information and find out what this Qin Family Pharmacy is about."

Li Xuan muttered to himself as God's Perspective continued observing the surroundings, taking in countless beautiful sights. He also easily spotted Shui Bing'er and Shui Yue'er.

"They came at just the right time."

Li Xuan rose and walked to the door, opening it to welcome Shui Bing'er and Shui Yue'er as they arrived.

"Huh? You knew we were coming?"

Shui Bing'er looked at Li Xuan in surprise. His timing in opening the door had been too perfect, as though he had known they were coming, which amazed her.

"No." Li Xuan waved his hand and turned back to his seat.

"Really?"

Shui Bing'er was full of doubts. She felt that Li Xuan had just opened the door specifically for them.

But Li Xuan would not admit it, leaving Shui Bing'er wondering whether she had guessed wrong.

"Come in. So, were they caught?" Li Xuan asked, though he already knew the answer.

"Of course. Those two have already been locked in the basement and are being interrogated under severe torture. We should soon learn who the mastermind behind this is," Shui Bing'er explained.

"That's good. By the way, let me ask you something. Do you know Qin Family Pharmacy?" Li Xuan asked.

"Qin Family Pharmacy? Yes, it belongs to the Qin Family. Like us, they deal in medicinal herbs, but they're very kind. When we first came to this city to open our shop, they even came to befriend us."

Shui Yue'er explained everything she knew about the Qin Family.

Yet Li Xuan only grew more confused as he listened. He felt that the Qin Family was not as friendly as it appeared on the surface.

Especially after learning that Shui Yue'er's family also dealt in medicinal herbs, something felt even more off.

However, Li Xuan did not say anything further. Once the interrogation was over, everything would become clear.

Half an hour later.

After severe torture, the interrogation results finally came out, but the outcome struck Li Xuan as very strange.

The mastermind the two men confessed to was actually the Zhao Family, an underground force that ran gambling dens, rather than the Qin Family, which operated herbal medicine shops. Something was wrong.

"Shui Bing'er, are you sure those two said it was the Zhao Family?" Li Xuan asked with a frown.

"Yes. They denied it at first and were very stubborn. Only after being beaten did they confess that it was the Zhao Family. But the Zhao Family has ties to the Royal Family, so this is troublesome."

Shui Bing'er explained with her lovely brows tightly furrowed, feeling that the matter would be difficult to handle.

Li Xuan frowned even more deeply.

"Something's wrong. The Zhao Family has no conflict of interest with your family, so how could they possibly be behind this?"

"We're confused too. Those two said the location of our shop had been intended for the Zhao Family to open a gambling den, but we bought it first and opened our shop there, which caused the conflict," Shui Bing'er explained.

"That doesn't sound right. You said earlier that your shop is on a bustling commercial street. Gambling dens generally wouldn't open in such a place. It would be like opening a jewelry store in a vegetable market—it's strange."

"Could it be that those two were still lying even after being tortured?" Shui Bing'er asked in surprise.