allonlinenovel Chapter 313 The News Xu Hu Brings Back
Chapter 313 The News Xu Hu Brings Back
Xu Hu rushed to the workshop to see Gu Zhanghua. Zhao Xuan ordered someone to find Huang Shuo. The father and daughter had been investigating the Fuze Relief Home together, and now they had new leads, so naturally they wanted to let Huang Shuo know.
Water was boiling on the stove inside the house, bubbling away, and Gu Zhanghua sat at the table making tea.
Zhao Xuan threw a handful of chestnuts into the ashes in the furnace, used a small shovel to shovel the ashes over the chestnuts, clapped her hands, sat down at the table, and accepted a cup of tea from Gu Zhanghua.
Gu Zhanghua pushed the other two cups of tea in front of Huang Shuo and Xu Hu respectively.
"Please use!"
Xu Hu had dealt with the Wise King and his consort quite a bit before. Back then, he went to the Yue Kingdom to contact the exiled Crown Prince Tian Yuan. On Gu Jiancheng's orders, he wanted to exchange the God-Slaying Sword for the Evil-Slaying Blade to solve the urgent problem of Jiaoyang Valley.
Later, under Little Fairy Doctor's influence, two fresh corpses and skeletons were obtained from the Ministry of Justice prison, which Little Fairy Doctor used to give the wise king a popular science lesson on the differences between men and women.
It's funny to think about it now.
Over time, Xu Hu felt less inferior to the Prince and his wife and more naturally close to them.
Xu Hu didn't stand on ceremony, picked up his teacup, and said, "Thank you, Your Highness!"
Having been traveling back and forth since early morning, Xu Hu was already parched. He gulped down a cup of tea, put down the cup, wiped his mouth, and then began to report.
“This morning, I went to Kyoto Prefecture and quickly found the relevant records of the Fukuzawa Relief Center’s Liyang Branch.”
"Oh? Tell me, what did you find out?"
Gu Zhanghua blew away the foam on the tea and asked Xu Hu.
"The Liyang branch was established on the eighth day of the third month of the second year of Xuanhe, and closed on the eighth day of the eighth month of the ninth year of Xuanhe due to insufficient funds. During the seven years that the branch existed, a woman named Li Chongxi served as the branch director!"
Xu Hu said slowly.
"Li Chongxi?!"
"Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!"
The sound of chestnuts popping in the furnace ash rang out simultaneously with Zhao Xuan's questioning voice.
Zhao Xuan jumped off the chair, ran to the stove, used a small shovel to shovel away the ashes, picked up the roasted chestnuts one by one and put them into a small bowl next to her, while constantly grimacing and pinching her ears with her fingers to relieve the burning sensation.
"You're so spineless! It's just eating a chestnut. How old are you? Why are you still acting like a little monkey?"
Huang Shuo couldn't help but laugh and scold.
Zhao Xuan didn't take it to heart, and stuck her tongue out at Huang Shuo with a smile. She picked up a chestnut, blew on it to cool it down, and deftly peeled it with her fingers, then tossed it to Xu Hu.
"A reward for you! Are you sure it's from Li Chongxi?"
Xu Hu reached out and caught the chestnut, ignoring the heat, and threw it into his mouth, chewing it heartily.
"Thank you, Your Highness! It's definitely Li Chongxi!"
Zhao Xuan looked surprised as she peeled chestnuts and looked up at Huang Shuo.
"Father, isn't she the woman who later became the president of the main hospital, the one you met? Why didn't she mention this?"
Huang Shuo didn't know how to explain it either.
“I didn’t ask her at the time who the director of the Liyang branch was. Maybe it was because I had a preconceived notion, but I always thought that the director of the Liyang branch was the former director she mentioned.”
Gu Zhanghua looked at everyone with a solemn expression.
"Now, can we infer that this Li Chongxi must have a close relationship with the mysterious former dean, and that she knows more than we think? We can start with her and conduct an in-depth investigation."
Zhao Xuan really wanted to continue investigating, but she and Huang Shuo were too busy in the workshop to find the time.
She popped a chestnut into Gu Zhanghua's mouth and then handed one to Huang Shuo.
"My father and I are both too busy right now, Lord Xu, it seems we can only ask you to continue to keep an eye on this matter."
"Your Highness is too kind. I will do my utmost."
As Gu Zhanghua ate the sweet and soft chestnuts, he remembered something and asked Xu Hu about it.
Do you know what happened to the orphans in the orphanage after the branch campus closed down?
“I didn’t ask about that,” Xu Hu shook his head, “but the records should be available.”
Huang Shuo thought of a possibility.
"Could it be following the usual practice of the Fuze Relief Home, cooperating with the government to register them as civilians and distribute them to various places?"
Gu Zhanghua nodded.
“Very likely, Captain Xu. Could you follow this lead and help us investigate? It would be best to provide me with a list of orphans from the branch hospital who were placed there and their whereabouts.”
"Yes! Then, should we secretly escort Li Chongxi to the capital for further interrogation?"
Xu Hu quickly offered a suggestion.
In his view, since Li Chongxi was a prime suspect, the Ministry of Justice should use her as a scapegoat in their investigation.
Everyone fell into deep thought. The more they learned, the more suspicious the matter seemed. Li Chongxi was not a simple woman. There must be a powerful force behind her, otherwise she would not be so fearless.
"Will it alert the enemy?"
Zhao Xuan looked at Gu Zhanghua with a worried expression and asked.
She was somewhat worried. So far, the Flame Organization's investigation had only led them to the Fuze Relief Home, and Li Chongxi was the most crucial suspect and insider. Taking action against her would mean alerting the people behind her.
Gu Zhanghua also had this concern. To put it bluntly, the evidence they currently possessed was simply insufficient to convict Li Chongxi.
Qian Bin is likely a member of the Flame Organization; this is currently just speculation and deduction on their part.
This is one of them.
Even if Li Chongxi was the dean of the Liyang branch and served in that position for seven years, so what? At least on the surface, she hasn't done anything illegal.
"Now we can only be sure of one thing: the Jing'an Prefecture branch of the Fuze Relief Home was founded by Elder Xuanji, and Elder Xuanji served as its director until the second year of Xuanhe."
After Zhao Xuan fed Gu Zhanghua another chestnut, he said again:
"From the second year of Xuanhe to the beginning of October of the ninth year of Xuanhe, the main hospital was always headed by a mysterious person. During this period, the Liyang branch was established in March of the second year of Xuanhe and closed in August of the ninth year of Xuanhe. The head of the branch was Li Chongxi."
Zhao Xuan popped the last chestnut into her mouth and picked up where Gu Zhanghua left off.
"In other words, during the time when the mysterious man was the president of the main hospital, Li Chongxi was always the president of the Liyang branch. After the mysterious man left office, he made Li Chongxi the president of the main hospital, and he has been there ever since. At the same time, the Liyang branch was closed."
Gu Jiancheng had always served as the Minister of Justice. As Gu Jiancheng's capable assistant, Xu Hu's years of experience in handling cases and his extraordinary sensitivity made him unconsciously furrow his brow.
"I take back what I just said. Li Chongxi cannot be touched right now!"
“That’s right!” Gu Zhanghua poured Xu Huxin more tea. “But we need to have someone keep a close eye on her every move. We must make sure she doesn’t notice anything. Let’s get the list first, and then we’ll see what to do next.”
Huang Shuo scratched his head somewhat belatedly, and muttered a curse in frustration.
"Damn it! Based on my interactions with Li Chongxi, this woman is unfathomable. On the surface, she seems harmless, but in reality, she has more tricks up her sleeve than anyone else."
"Seven years!"
Gu Zhanghua tapped the table with his slender fingers, a habitual action he took when deep in thought.
"During the seven years that the mysterious man and Li Chongxi served as the head of the main hospital and the head of the branch hospital respectively, I always felt that they were in cahoots and had something to hide!"
(Note: Please see the chart in the author's notes, Gu Zhanghua's summary of the past seven years, which coincides with the most important milestones in Qian Bin's life.)
"Your Highness, I will immediately go and check the list of those orphans you mentioned!"
After saying this, Xu Hu cupped his hands in a respectful gesture to the three of them and hurriedly ran away.
Gu Zhanghua took out a handkerchief, pulled Zhao Xuan's hand over, and carefully wiped the black ash off her fingers.
"Alright, let Xu Hu handle the almshouse for now. We need to hurry up and get the crossbows sorted out."
Why wipe it so clean?
Zhao Xuan pulled out her finger and, as if by magic, produced a small packet of raw chestnuts from somewhere.
"I haven't had enough yet, I'm planning to grill some more!"
Gu Zhanghua reached out and flicked Zhao Xuan's forehead, a doting smile on his face.
"Okay, you eat yours! I'm going with Dad to check on the progress!"
Just then, a blacksmith ran in, wiping the sweat from his brow, his voice brimming with excitement.
"It's done! It's done! Three shots in a row!"