Du Huoguan flicked the gemstone in his hand into the pool from a distance and asked without turning around, "Are you pleading for those two thieves?"
Lan Qiaoyan said, "I wouldn't call it pleading. If it's established that they really stole it, then whatever punishment they get, even death or dismemberment, is their own doing."
Du Huoguan stopped before a tall basin, stirring through the gemstones with one finger as he asked, "What's your connection to those two thieves?"
Lan Qiaoyan stopped before him. "They're just two local natives. What connection could I have with them? They often come to Wangbo Tower to sell things. Over time, their faces became familiar. That's all."
Du Huoguan picked up a gemstone between both hands and examined it. "Plenty of people sell things at Wangbo Tower. You know Ba Yingshan well. Was this little matter worth coming to me over? Girl, are you taking me for a fool?"
Lan Qiaoyan hastily adopted an apologetic air. "I wouldn't dare! Compared with the other natives, I do know those two somewhat better. You could call them friends of my daughter."
Du Huoguan's expressionless eyes suddenly lit up. He turned to face her, looking thoroughly intrigued. "You mean that prospective son-in-law of yours?"
At those words, Lan Qiaoyan's expression instinctively tightened. She had never expected even him to have heard about it. Thinking of her daughter's reputation, she looked increasingly uncomfortable, and her tone grew less respectful. "Prison Inspector, rumors aren't to be trusted. My daughter is still unmarried. Spreading rumors everywhere will tarnish her good name."
Du Huoguan seemed to be holding back a laugh. "What's the fuss? If it's true, it's true; if it isn't, it isn't. That said, if he really is your prospective son-in-law, petty theft isn't such a big deal anyway. So long as the victim receives the compensation he's owed and has no further objections, what harm is there in making an exception for you?"
Lan Qiaoyan said emphatically, "I can understand other people's foolish notions, but why must you make sport of me, Prison Inspector? My daughter may not be heaven's favored daughter, but she isn't someone just anyone can aspire to marry."
Du Huoguan looked her in the eye. "If you don't think he's good enough, why go to all this trouble?"
Lan Qiaoyan fell briefly silent, then said slowly, "I truly don't think he's good enough. The differences in status and circumstances are there for all to see. Willing hearts alone cannot bridge them. He cannot give my daughter what she needs, and I cannot let him ruin her future..."
At that, she lowered her head, paused, then raised it again. "But although I don't think he's good enough for her, there is something about that boy I admire: loyalty and devotion! In this life, we must face reality, but surely we should leave room for something to cherish. To meet someone who can move me to speak on his behalf-I feel he has fulfilled something in me!"
Du Huoguan's gaze kept shifting, the gemstone turning over and over between his fingers. After a long while, he coldly spat out, "I want the truth!"
Lan Qiaoyan choked on her words, truly at a loss for what to say. She felt that what she had just said had come straight from her heart. It was the truth, yet he simply did not believe it. She was left utterly speechless.
And yet, she could understand why.
Her thoughts shifted, and she put away the emotion on her face, adopting a matter-of-fact manner. "Nothing escapes your discerning eye, Prison Inspector. Then I won't beat around the bush. That boy is the so-called chief of the Eastern Nine Plains. A month ago, something strange happened there. They suddenly sold an enormous quantity of supplies at Wangbo Tower, enough to send more than a hundred people from the Eastern Nine Plains out in one go.
"Recently, I heard something strange had happened in the Eastern Nine Plains, and today that chief was arrested. I don't know whether it has anything to do with that enormous batch of supplies.
"I know many people are spreading rumors about him and my daughter. Whatever outsiders may imagine about how close he is to Wangbo Tower, I feel I must make one thing clear to you, Prison Inspector: those supplies were absolutely not smuggled in for them from the outside world by Wangbo Tower. As I said, if they really stole anything, death or dismemberment would be their own doing. But I certainly don't want someone deliberately framing them in order to implicate Wangbo Tower."
Having said her piece, she inclined herself slightly, offered no further words, and turned to walk gracefully away.
Crossing the threshold, she faced the daylight outside once more, her expression calm and composed, even tinged with a certain indifference.
Since he could not understand some things, she had no choice but to speak in a way he could understand.
Du Huoguan watched her retreating figure. The gemstone turning in his hand had gone still, and his thoughts were clearly still caught on the information she had suddenly provided.
A short while later, he came back to himself, casually tossed the gemstone into the tall basin, and flashed onto the stairs inside the hall. With several more swift movements, he reached the top floor.
The elegant space at the top was brightly lit, its principal furnishings no more than a desk and chair.
The man wearing the Violet Gauze Robe was not seated in the chair behind the desk. Instead, he sat on the steps before it, with the Great Black Umbrella beside him, brush in hand as he painted an erotic scene on its canopy. The figures were vividly lifelike, while the desk beside him had become a place to set out his paints.
Du Huoguan approached him and glanced at the indecent images on the umbrella. He had long since grown accustomed to this man's peculiar tastes.
He still remembered asking him years ago why he painted erotic pictures on an umbrella.
The man had pointed his brush at the sky and said that if someone liked looking, he might as well let him feast his eyes.
Still, he had to admit that practice really did make perfect. His painting skills now were far beyond what they had been back then.
Only when the man paused to dip his brush in paint did Du Huoguan speak. "Prison Master, those two thieves and that enormous batch of supplies the girl mentioned may be connected to the matter at hand. It's worth investigating."
Nie said nothing, as though he had heard nothing at all. He lowered his brush to the umbrella again, wholly absorbed in his painting.
Seeing no response from him, Du Huoguan said nothing more. He bowed slightly and withdrew.
Elsewhere, just as Lan Qiaoyan was about to leave the inner city, she glanced aside and saw Ba Yingshan emerging from a side road. The two happened to have a "chance encounter."
Ba Yingshan looked quite surprised. Glancing in the direction she had come from, he asked, "Proprietress, have you been to see the Prison Master?"
Lan Qiaoyan smiled. "You jest, City Lord Ba. The Prison Master is revered by heaven and mortals alike. How could I see him whenever I wished? I merely came to ask the Prison Inspector about something."
Ba Yingshan murmured an acknowledgment, then asked, "What could require a visit to the Prison Inspector?"
The implication-why had she not come to him?-was obvious. He was also fishing for information.
Lan Qiaoyan did not conceal much. "The city guards just arrested two people outside my door, didn't they? I happen to know those two fairly well, and I don't believe they would steal anything. Then I heard the Prison Inspector had arrived too. Such a coincidence? I was worried this might be aimed at Wangbo Tower, so I came to ask him. Rest assured, City Lord Ba, I meant nothing else by it. As long as it has nothing to do with Wangbo Tower, that's all I ask."
Ba Yingshan's face tightened before he smiled. "An arrest outside your door? Something like that happened? I'll look into it immediately. Proprietress, if anything like this happens again, just come straight to me. There's no need to disturb the Prison Inspector."
Lan Qiaoyan smiled back. "I haven't seen him in so long. I would have disturbed him even without this matter. I still have accounts to check back at the tower. If you have no other instructions, City Lord Ba..." She raised a hand toward the gate.
Ba Yingshan stepped aside, still smiling. "I won't see you out."
They parted there. Only after the woman's figure had vanished beyond the arched gateway did Ba Yingshan turn away with a dark expression.
Yet he had only gone halfway when a subordinate came to report, "City Lord, the Prison Inspector has gone to the Prison."
Ba Yingshan's heart tightened. He gave a grunt. "Understood."
He was about to hurry to the Prison when his subordinate hastily added, "The Prison Inspector personally selected a few men to take over the Prison and drove all the other brothers out. No one may approach without permission. The victim who identified them has also been kept inside."
Ba Yingshan's pupils suddenly contracted. He hurriedly lowered his voice. "What about the man who instructed the victim?"
His subordinate replied quietly, "Rest assured, City Lord. He was dealt with as soon as he left the city. I checked repeatedly. There's absolutely no way to trace it back to me."
Ba Yingshan breathed a little easier. Tilting his head to signal that the man should keep watch, he strode away himself.
The Prison in Zhixu City was empty and silent, its light wavering between dimness and brightness. Most of its cells stood vacant. Apart from those arrested today, no prisoners were being held there.
In just a short time, Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang had been covered in bloody welts from the whip, their clothes shredded to rags. All of Shi Chun's toes had burst out through his shoes.
Although the two were separated into different interrogation rooms, their attitude was the same. Neither would admit to theft, and both protested their innocence, saying they had been framed.
After learning what they had said, Du Huoguan appeared briefly before Shi Chun, mainly to take the opportunity to see the young man rumored to be courting Lan Qiaoyan's daughter.
After looking him over, he left. Someone immediately took over the questioning, asking about the origins and details of that enormous batch of supplies from the Eastern Nine Plains. There were no further questions about the theft.
Shi Chun keenly sensed that the direction of the interrogation had changed.
Wu Jinliang sensed the same in the other room.
Though they were being questioned separately, both knew what they could and could not say.
The theft case had not been set aside, however. Du Huoguan handled it himself, personally confronting the victim who had made the accusation.
The moment the guard assisting with the questioning revealed Du Huoguan's identity, the victim's expression changed drastically. He had never imagined he would receive such momentous attention.
In the Land of Exile, Du Huoguan was unquestionably a terrifying presence.
For the victim, this was entirely outside the arrangements.
Du Huoguan calmly offered him a word of advice. "Is this a frame-up? If it is, tell me who instructed you. I'll consider you to have been misled and let bygones be bygones. My promise carries weight."
There was not a single threat in his words, yet the pressure they exerted on the victim was suffocating.
The victim's Adam's apple bobbed. Cold sweat broke out inexplicably, and for a moment he could not answer.
But Du Huoguan had already seen the answer in his reaction. He took just one step forward, and the victim suddenly dropped to his knees with a thud, confessing the truth in a trembling voice.
The victim admitted that someone had instructed him to deliberately frame Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang. The instigator was his chief, the chief of Seven Bends Bay.
The victim said he had originally not dared to frame anyone inside Zhixu City and had wanted to refuse. Only after his chief revealed that someone among the city guards had authorized it did he find the courage. The chief, however, had not said which city guard had given the instructions.
He addressed that final part of his confession to the guard assisting with the questioning, looking eager to come clean.
Du Huoguan did not hear it. Seemingly uninterested in even hearing the confession through, he had already turned and left.