A divine healer, a general, a young marquis! Who can rival them!

Meanwhile, life in the west of the city continued day by day.

The clinic was found by the Zhou family. It was a three-courtyard brick building with a clinic in the front, living quarters in the back, and a pharmacy and warehouse in the middle.

As more patients came to him, he hired two young assistants and an old woman to do the laundry.

As soon as Lu Yan entered the pharmacy, she arranged the medicinal herbs until they were spotless.

Lu Rou held the abacus and clearly listed the daily income and expenditure, as well as the details of various purchases. She even pointed out the pharmacy's practice of adding some dregs to increase the weight of the medicine.

Liu Ye continued to be in charge of the medicinal herb garden on the outskirts of the city, and every few days she would run to the city to deliver some freshly picked herbs, and casually throw a couple of wild animals over as well.

His earnings grew higher every day, but Yang Hu didn't save a single penny. He would reinvest most of the money from the treatments back into his medicinal garden, and use the rest to help the disaster victims in and outside the city. After all, he often said that money held in one's hand is dead, but once it's spent, it becomes a matter of goodwill.

Even though life had improved, Yang Hu still had a lingering thought in his mind. Ever since Manager Sun uttered those words, "Prefectural Governor's Office," that thought had been hanging over his mind.

Now that he has moved to the west of the city and stepped into the territory of Zhao Tongpan and the prefectural magistrate's mansion, he pretends to treat patients, but in reality, his eyes have never left this line.

One evening, Scarface from the south of the city sent a stranger to deliver two messages to him.

Scarface, whose face was covered in scars, had become friends with Yang Hu ever since he helped suppress the rumors. Yang Hu asked Scarface to keep an eye on news from the Chengxi County Magistrate's Office, and Scarface readily agreed. He did indeed send people to keep an eye on things for quite some time.

"Scarface said," the shopkeeper swallowed hard, his voice low and suppressed, "that the most prestigious silk shop in town sends a batch of fine fabric to the Prefectural Magistrate's office every month. After it's unloaded there, it's quietly moved out of town not long after!"

Yang Hu paused, his hand holding the calligraphy brush still.

The silk entered the prefectural magistrate's mansion to cover his face, but the unloaded material was then transferred out of the city.

Who knows how many things are mixed in with it!

He was all too familiar with the phrase "leaving the city." Zhou's rice in the east of the city and the military supplies leaked by Zhao, the sergeant in the west camp, were all heading out of the city, towards the direction of the pass!

"There's a second thing," the waiter said. "Scarface said that Master Wei the Second has been going to the Prefectural Magistrate's residence every few days lately."

Yang Hu frowned.

Master Wei the Second.

That was Old Master Wei's younger brother. He had noticed him during the major surgery that day at the Wei residence. When his elder brother was sick, he acted like a filial son and nephew, but he had other plans in his heart. When his elder brother's condition improved, his expression became even more unpleasant.

A brother who wanted to seize his family's wealth is now frequently visiting the prefectural magistrate's residence.

The Guard's Residence, the Prefect's Residence, outside the city!

The thread that had been lurking in the shadows was becoming increasingly clear thanks to this series of events.

The clearer it becomes, the more I understand that this segment still can't reach the person hidden deepest inside.

Was Master Wei truly involved in the affair? Or was he trying to curry favor with the Prefectural Magistrate's family to grab his share of the family fortune? It's all unclear!

He didn't rush to conclusions. Medicine must be appropriate for the condition; you have to take the pulse first. Similarly, if you want to remove the sutures completely, you have to remove them piece by piece; you can't rush it.

In the past two days, he had Liu Ye go to the vicinity of the Prefectural Magistrate's Mansion in the west of the city to take stock, from a distance.

Liu Ye was a complete stranger, having grown up in the mountains, she was an expert at spotting people and finding her way around. Disguised as a country girl selling vegetables, she spent two days observing people near the city wall of the prefectural governor's residence.

When he came back, he said: He left from the prefectural magistrate's office. He sneaked out of the west side of the city at night, carrying loads of goods out in baskets, pretending to be a peddler selling secondhand goods.

The peddler, carrying his load, ran north out of the city along an official road leading to the border. He carried his goods into a small courtyard by the roadside, then returned empty-handed, in a hurry, without uttering a single word.

Yang Hu's eyes hardened at the words "north" and "towards the border." The grain from Zhou Ji in the east of the city and the military supplies from the leaking camp in the west were all heading that way. Now, the goods transferred from the prefectural governor's office were also traveling along the same route.

"Layer upon layer, the messenger may not even know who the recipient is..." Lu Yan couldn't help but speak up upon hearing this. After all, she came from the Duke's mansion and understood the intricacies of officialdom better than anyone else. This evasiveness must mean that something from the Prefectural Magistrate's mansion is something that can't be brought to light. The deeper it's hidden, the more important it is.

Yang Hu also traveled to that area as a doctor.

In the large mansion in the west of the city, it was common for the servants to ask him to take a look when they had minor ailments like headaches or fevers. He would use the pretext of seeing a doctor to loiter around the two black and red lacquered gates of the prefectural governor's mansion, keeping an eye out for people and carriages coming and going.

The gate was guarded by stone lions, and two henchmen with knives had eyes far sharper than those of ordinary gatekeepers. For a gatehouse to house such a guarded unit was strangely unusual in itself.

But the only clue we can grasp is these two doors. What lies beyond, who lives there, remains hidden behind the two black and red lacquered panels. There's no time to rush; everyone knows that taking another step inside is like dancing on a knife's edge.

In the evening, in the backyard,

Yang Hu told Qin Ying what he had said.

Qin Ying listened for a long time and then fell silent.

"To be able to openly enter the prefectural governor's office with this load of goods and then quietly transport it out," she said, keeping a very low voice, "is something that wasn't checked or questioned at any of the city gates or checkpoints along the way. Only someone like someone in the prefectural governor's office has that kind of power."

She paused for a moment.

"Back then, I was ambushed on the border. Every checkpoint and document along the way was meticulously handled; that ambush was truly flawless. Those who can get things done are no ordinary people!"

Yang Hu looked at her.

Under the lamplight, her face, weathered by wind and frost, appeared more serious than when she met guests during the day.

From the granddaughter of a noble family, she became a dead woman who couldn't be seen in public. All the injustices she suffered were related to such a powerful figure.

"We can find it," Yang Hu said. "We can find it layer by layer."

Qin Ying looked up at him, and after a while, her eyes seemed to have been weathered by wind and snow, and a warm feeling slowly rose within them, even though she herself was unaware of it.

"But in the west of the city," she said, her expression growing serious, "it's Zhao Tongpan's territory, right under the nose of the Prefect. There are far more officials, ladies, and maids who have seen me on the streets than in the east of the city."

Yang Hu's heart tightened.

That's right.

In the east of the city, she smeared ash and blended in with ordinary citizens, managing to disguise herself somewhat. But here, this was where the powerful and wealthy congregated! Magistrate Zhao had already become aware of her presence, and although he dared not make a scene, he might bump into an acquaintance at any moment!

The closer she is to this place, the more dangerous her shady identities become!

"Don't worry," he said, taking her hand. "Once we find that clue, once we find that person who made you dead, you won't have to hide anymore."

Qin Ying didn't speak, but gently squeezed his hand.

In the courtyard, it was the darkness of the western part of the city.

Since the rumors were debunked, things have quieted down considerably at the Zhao family's place. Unusually quiet. That unlucky young master Zhao, though he's stumbled several times, isn't exactly settling down.

Listening to the gossip around me, I learned that these days, Zhao Yanei, along with a few lackeys, often spends half a day sitting in restaurants in the city without going back, and I wonder what he's thinking about.

Yang Hu knew that he had finally gotten his revenge and was now thinking of even better ways to deal with the other party.

The issues, both overt and covert, remain unresolved.

And the thread that has always connected the Wei family and the prefectural governor's mansion extends little by little into the deepest and darkest house in the west of the city.