As they rode in the carriage, Jia Hu asked the little girl her name and about her family.
The little girl answered timidly, "My name is Zhen Yinglian. I only remember that there was a temple near my home. I think it was called Hulu Temple. I can't remember anything else."
Liu Zhong raised an eyebrow.
In the original story, hadn't Xiangling completely forgotten her birth name and anything about her family?
But this little girl remembered her name and the crucial clue of Hulu Temple.
After thinking it over, Liu Zhong understood why.
The traffickers had beaten and berated the children, forcing them to forget their pasts.
In the original story, Xiangling had been so frightened by the traffickers' abuse that she might have forgotten everything because she was ill as well.
But the girl now was Zhen Yinglian, not Xiangling. She hadn't yet been beaten into submission by the traffickers, as her escape from them showed.
Naturally, Zhen Yinglian still remembered her name and details about her family.
Perhaps if Liu Zhong and Jia Hu hadn't happened upon the moment the traffickers recaptured Zhen Yinglian and stopped them, she would have suffered greatly after being taken back.
It was quite possible that the traffickers had beaten her so badly that she was left with a serious injury and a fever, damaging her brain and making her forget her name.
That was probably the effect of Liu Zhong unwittingly setting off a butterfly's wings.
When they returned to Lin Mansion, everything had already settled down, as though nothing had happened.
But there were several fewer people in Jia Min's courtyard.
One of them had been a trusted servant of Jia Min's.
Jia Hu and Liu Zhong asked no questions. They only brought up Zhen Yinglian.
Lin Daiyu led Zhen Yinglian over to show her to Jia Min.
Jia Min must have inherited Lady Jia Shi's fondness for beautiful faces. The moment she saw the lovely, well-behaved little girl, her heart melted. She immediately agreed to her daughter's request and let Zhen Yinglian stay at Lin Mansion to keep Lin Daiyu company.
She also sent someone to find out where Hulu Temple was.
The officials would help kidnapped children find their birth parents, but with so many children to look for, they couldn't investigate any one child's origins as thoroughly as someone could if they focused on her alone.
After dinner, Liu Zhong and Jia Hu returned to the guest courtyard.
When Liu Zhong entered his room, he saw Jiqiu waiting for him, her eyes practically blazing with gossip.
He couldn't help smiling. The girl really was suited to becoming an information broker.
Should I start an intelligence-selling organization?
But he immediately dismissed the idea.
Better not. It would only invite trouble.
Liu Zhong sat down in a chair. Jiqiu promptly poured him a cup of tea and brought it over.
He took a sip. The temperature was just right. Not bad.
"Sit down and tell me about it," he said.
Jiqiu did as she was told, sitting across from him. Then she began quietly recounting what she had found out.
The person who had poisoned Jia Min was the servant Jia Min had dealt with.
She was born into a family of servants at Rongguo Mansion and was quite pretty. Lady Jia Shi had chosen her as a potential concubine for Jia Min.
Lady Jia Shi had thought the woman's parents and family were all at Rongguo Mansion, so Jia Min would easily be able to control her. Having her serve as Lin Ruhai's bedchamber concubine would be better than having a maid from the Lin family do so.
But Jia Min hadn't let her serve as Lin Ruhai's bedchamber concubine. Instead, she had chosen a maid who was less attractive but more honest and simple-minded.
Jia Min had married the woman off to a steward at Lin Mansion, thinking she was doing her a favor by finding her a good match.
She had no idea that after meeting the young and handsome Lin Ruhai, the woman had set her heart on becoming his.
Jia Min had cut off any chance of her marrying Lin Ruhai, so the woman had naturally grown to hate her.
She was calculating and never showed Jia Min how much she resented her.
Then, some time ago, she discovered that adding a certain medicinal ingredient to the pregnancy-stabilizing medicine would turn it into a slow-acting poison.
So she put her plan into action.
She had been Jia Min's trusted aide and personal servant, staying by her side for more than ten years.
Jia Min had never imagined that the woman would betray her.
Even after Lin Ruhai uncovered the truth, Jia Min could hardly believe it.
Jia Min was heartbroken, but she didn't show the slightest mercy.
The woman had betrayed her and harmed her and her child. Jia Min dealt with her ruthlessly.
Though she didn't kill her outright, she forced her to swallow a drug that made her mute, then sold her to a black coal mine.
Jia Min also dealt with everyone connected to the woman, selling them all off.
This time, Lin Mansion had lost a fifth of its servants.
"Well done." Liu Zhong praised Jiqiu and gave her a silver ingot as a tangible reward.
Jiqiu happily took the silver and left Liu Zhong's room.
Liu Zhong sat in his room for a while before he heard a knock at the door.
After he called for the person to come in, Jia Hu entered.
Liu Zhong couldn't help laughing. "You're a gossip, too?"
Jia Hu kept a straight face. "I'm just concerned about my aunt and uncle."
Liu Zhong said, "Are you sure Jiqiu would be able to find out what really happened?"
Jia Hu replied, "You trained her so carefully. I trust her abilities."
Liu Zhong said, "Jiqiu will be very happy to hear that."
Jia Hu asked, "What did Jiqiu find out? Who harmed my aunt and cousin?"
Liu Zhong told Jia Hu what Jiqiu had discovered.
Jia Hu gritted his teeth. "When I get back to Rongguo Mansion, I'll drive her parents and the rest of her family out."
They had raised a daughter like that. They couldn't be good people, either.
Liu Zhong nodded in agreement.
The woman came from the family of Shan Daliang, a steward at Rongguo Mansion.
In the original story, she had been one of Wang's most loyal lackeys. Along with Lai Da and Wu Dengxin, she had stolen and replaced countless valuable items from Rongguo Mansion. Her family had at least a hundred thousand taels to their name.
Many branches of the Jia family lived less comfortably than these servants.
In this world, Wang hadn't gained control of the household affairs, so it was unclear whether Shan Daliang had secretly replaced genuine pieces from Rongguo Mansion's storehouse with counterfeits.
Jia Hu and Liu Zhong stayed in Yangzhou for ten days.
Apart from visiting the scenic spots, they kept track of the developments with the traffickers.
The authorities acted quickly. Catching traffickers was a major achievement.
Once they learned from Zhen Yinglian where she had escaped from, the officials went to arrest the traffickers.
The traffickers had waited a long time for their accomplice to return. Realizing something had gone wrong, they were about to move the children they had kidnapped when the constables blocked the entrance.
Not a single trafficker got away. They were all arrested.
The children were taken to the authorities.
Some remembered details about their families and were soon taken home by their relatives.
The younger children who couldn't remember where they lived had all been kidnapped from the area around Yangzhou. The authorities posted a notice, and the parents of the missing children came forward and recognized their own.
The only difficult case was Zhen Yinglian's. She had been kidnapped years ago and wasn't from near Yangzhou, so the authorities couldn't find her family.
Fortunately, the Lin family took over the search for Zhen Yinglian's relatives, so the authorities set her case aside.
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