Jian Zhaoxing

Chapter 284 The big fish takes the bait
Apart from a few people directly involved, no one else knew what happened at Shuqing Pavilion that night.

The next day, apart from a few maids and servants who were confined in Shuqing Pavilion asking for leave, everything was normal at the Lin family's residence.

Before breakfast time even arrived, a rumor had already spread among the Lin family's servants.

The message was forwarded several times, and by the time Asagao heard it, it had evolved into a message about a pearl of exceptional quality in the garden, which only those with a special destiny could see.

When Asagao reported this to Lin Zhiqing, Lin Zhiqing was having breakfast.

During this time, several servants who wanted to ask for a reward came to Shuqing Pavilion to report the matter, but Lin Zhiqing turned them away with the words "rumors".

That's how her persona of not being interested in the pearls in the garden was established.

Lin Zhiqing quietly left the courtyard only after nightfall.

She first went to the maid to get the list of people who were inquiring about Pearl, and then went to the garden to meet Lin Yangyang.

After hiding on the towering artificial hill, Lin Zhiqing opened the booklet and began to read.

The view from the artificial hill is very open, but people below cannot see the view above, making it a very safe place to hide.

At this moment, Lin Yangyang asked with some worry, "Qing-meimei, will this really work?"

"Of course." Lin Zhiqing didn't look up.
"Once the news is out, those who feel guilty will naturally return to the garden to search."

"Just like we observed before, that person even cleaned the scene very thoroughly, clearly afraid that people would notice something amiss."

"She couldn't possibly ignore such a flaw as the bead."

Lin Yangyang then had a new question: "But what if there are people with ulterior motives who want to monopolize the pearls and sneak over? How can we tell them apart?"

"We can't just arrest everyone and interrogate them one by one, can we?"

“This is the worst-case scenario,” Lin Zhiqing replied.
“The state and expression of a guilty person are different from those of a person with ill intentions, and I can tell the difference.”

"Changes?" Lin Yangyang scratched her head. "What changes could there be?"

Just as Lin Zhiqing was about to answer, her eyes narrowed when her gaze fell on a certain name on the list.

In just a short while, a series of deliberately lowered footsteps suddenly came from the entrance of the garden.

Lin Zhiqing and Lin Yangyang exchanged a glance. Here they come!

As the footsteps drew closer, the two women saw two women dressed as old women enter the garden and begin to talk to each other.

Do you think there are really pearls in this place?

"Wouldn't it be clear if we looked for it?"

"I didn't see it when I was cleaning the garden before. Could it be that someone left something behind?"

"Whether it falls or not, if we can find it, it's ours."

"Two old hags!" Lin Yangyang couldn't help but roll her eyes upon hearing this.

Lin Zhiqing gently tapped the back of her hand, signaling her to be quiet.

Soon, the two old women were huffing and puffing as they searched the garden.

However, they were destined to find nothing.

After a while, the two of them were clearly tired, and their breathing became very rapid.

After a lot of wasted effort, they finally came out of the garden, then walked away grumbling.

Subsequently, other people visited the garden.

Servants, handymen, and even the cooks from the east kitchen appeared.

However, they all arrived happily but left grumbling. Taking advantage of a lull when no one else was around, Lin Zhiqing explained to Lin Yangyang:

"The person we're looking for isn't among those people; they're after money."

"Why?" Lin Yangyang asked.

"First of all, there's the time. As you and I know, we're looking for the owner of the bead, because the owner of the bead is very likely the mastermind behind it all."

In this case, the bead becomes a handle and evidence of guilt.

This is also why Lin Zhiqing was certain that the owner of the bead would come.

Besides, the owner would definitely want to destroy the evidence, so they would patiently search several times.

The people who came in earlier searched very carefully, but they had a feeling that "if they find it, they've made a profit; if they don't, they haven't lost anything."

Besides, the area they were searching for was very large, because the garden was very big.

This was also the scope that Lin Zhiqing deliberately defined through the maid's words.

It's inside the garden, not next to the rockery or anywhere else.

If they are people seeking wealth, they will mostly choose the nearest location when selecting a place to look for, and will not go to the vicinity of the artificial mountain to observe it from the beginning.

Then, it will gradually spread throughout the entire garden.

But the owner of the beads knew perfectly well that the area near the artificial hill was the most likely place where the beads would fall.

He might not have noticed it at the time, but when he discovered the bead was missing, he would surely connect Asagao's fall with the bead.

Driven by their eagerness to find the bead, the owner of the bead will most likely start their search near the artificial hill, where the bead is most likely to be found.

Of course, it's also possible that it won't.

However, if the search starts from other places, the owner of the bead is very likely to spend the longest time at the artificial hill.

After listening to Lin Zhiqing's words, Lin Yangyang felt as if she had suddenly understood.

Just as she was about to speak, a rustling sound came from the garden exit.

Lin Zhiqing and Lin Yangyang fell silent instantly, staring intently at the entrance to the garden.

A thin person entered the garden. By the moonlight, Lin Yangyang could barely make out that it was a woman.

Lin Zhiqing narrowed his eyes when he saw the woman's figure.

The two held their breath, becoming extremely alert as they watched the woman approach the artificial hill.

The woman wasn't moving very fast, but her search was very obvious; she kept rummaging through the grass or piles of dead leaves.

After searching for a long time without finding the bead, she became visibly anxious and began to move more vigorously, searching the area outside the artificial hill.

She returned to the artificial hill after searching for a short while.

She still seemed unwilling to give up, so she bent down and walked to the path where Asagao had fallen, and began to search very carefully.

Her actions were quite different from others, and all her behaviors suggested that she was very likely the owner of the beads!
Lin Yangyang looked at Lin Zhiqing and raised an eyebrow. Is it her?
Lin Zhiqing understood what she meant and nodded: "That's right, it's her, the big fish has taken the bait!"

The moment Lin Zhiqing nodded, Lin Yangyang seemed to receive some kind of signal and quickly flew up to take Lin Zhiqing down the artificial hill.

Hearing the noise, the woman paused for a moment, then quickly got up and ran outside.

"Trying to run? You underestimate your grandma, don't you!" Lin Yangyang was obviously much faster than the woman. She only touched the ground slightly and quickly appeared behind the woman.

She grabbed the woman's shoulder and pressed her down onto the grass.

At the same time, Lin Zhiqing also arrived. When she saw the woman's face, she frowned:
"It's really you!"