Chapter 106: The Truth!

Night had fallen upon the Ministry of Justice prison.

In a solitary cell, Li Yi stood facing the wall, clutching a stone and carving something stroke by stroke. His posture, his movements, and even the sound of the stone against the wall were imbued with a faint, tragic sense of indignation.

After a short while, Li Yi carved the final character. He let out a long, dramatic sigh toward the ceiling, feeling genuinely moved by his own performance.

"You brat, what are you doing?"

Just as Li Yi was lost in his sentimentality, a voice he knew all too well rang out from behind him. He didn't need to turn around to know it was Li Er; he was so intimately familiar with the man’s voice that it was etched into his very marrow. *Damn it,* he thought, *I was too focused on my carving! I didn't even notice someone had entered.* Then, a realization hit him—who had come? Li Er?

Li Yi jumped in shock and hurriedly began scrubbing at the wall with his hand, desperate to erase what he had written. As he rubbed, he stammered, "Oh, Uncle Li! Just a moment! Just a moment, please!"

But he had carved too deeply for his hands to destroy the evidence, and Li Er was not about to give him the chance.

"Get out of the way!"

Li Er kicked Li Yi aside and peered intently at the writing on the wall:

*Ode to Lime*

*Tempered by a thousand blows, dragged from the deep mountain,*
*The raging fire’s burning is treated as a trifle.*
*Fearless of being crushed to powder or shattered to bone,*
*Only to leave purity behind in the world of men!*

After reading it, black lines of frustration creased Li Er’s forehead.

"What do you think you're doing, boy? What is the meaning of this? Huh?"

Li Yi offered a fawning smile. "Well, Uncle Li, please, calm your anger! This is my first time in prison, isn't it? I figured I might not have another chance to experience this, so I wanted to see what it felt like to be someone who was wronged. I just... I might have gotten a bit too into character!"

Li Er was so incensed he actually laughed. "Gotten too into character, have you? Fine, then you can just stay here and never leave!"

"Don't say that, Uncle Li! If I don't get out, who’s going to investigate the case for you?"

"You still have the nerve to bring that up? I haven't even finished with you yet! You kept insisting I trust you, promising you’d give me a result. Well? Is this prison your 'result'? Are the clues you need hidden in this dungeon?"

"An accident! A pure accident! That’s just a small matter, a trifle. Please, Uncle Li, calm down—it’s not good for your health to get so worked up! By the way, what brings you to the Ministry of Justice prison?"

"Is that a rhetorical question? How else am I supposed to see you? You’ve turned the entire city of Chang'an upside down; if I don't come to look for you, who else would I look for?"

"Turned it upside down? What do you mean?"

"Hmph! You ordered Cheng Chumuo to arrest everyone at the Xiaoxiang Pavilion. Do you have any idea how many people are connected to that place? It’s no wonder the capital is in chaos—I’ve been pestered to death by the complaints!"

"Oh! Brother Chumuo took action? What were the results?"

"Don't even get me started. Of all the people you could have picked, why did you choose that blockhead Cheng Chumuo? If it had been anyone else, how could they have let the suspect escape?"

Li Yi’s expression changed drastically. "Who escaped?"

Li Er replied testily, "Who else? Mei Ling, of course!"

"What about Ugly Auntie?"

"They caught her, but catching her is useless!"

Li Yi let out a sigh of relief. "Phew! You scared me. As long as they have Ugly Auntie, it’s fine! Wait... Uncle Li, judging by your tone, was Brother Chumuo punished?"

"How could he not be? He made such a massive blunder that his own father kicked him on the spot. Zhijie was about to beat him further, but I stopped him and ordered him to atone for his sins by continuing the search."

Li Yi gave an awkward laugh. "Well, Uncle Li, this really isn't Brother Chumuo’s fault. Actually, he’s rendered a great service this time. It’s my fault for not explaining clearly—no, wait, it’s Li Yuanchang’s fault for not giving me the chance to explain!"

"What kind of gibberish is this? Hurry up and tell me what’s going on! You wouldn't speak when I asked you in the palace, so now, in this prison, I’ll let you talk until you’ve had your fill!"

"That last time, there really wasn't time... Alright, alright, let’s talk business. Please, keep your feet to yourself! Ever since you ordered me to investigate the Xiaoxiang Pavilion, I haven't dared to slack off. I went the next afternoon but found nothing. However, I noticed that Ugly Auntie was a bit unusual. I couldn't put my finger on it, so I deliberately gave her a hard time, hoping to provoke her into showing her true colors. I didn't expect it to actually work!"

Li Er immediately asked, "What true colors?"

"Heh, I went early the next day so she wouldn't have time to prepare. When I saw her again, I caught a whiff of a specific scent on her!"

"A scent? What kind of scent?"

"Uncle Li, do you remember the handkerchief we recovered from Li Zihao?"

"Of course I remember. It was based on that handkerchief that you deduced the Green Dragon Gang’s stronghold might be in a brothel. Wait... are you saying?" Li Er raised an eyebrow, sounding uncertain.

"Exactly! It was that very scent. At that moment, I knew we had found the right place. But I had one question: according to my findings, Li Zihao was deeply infatuated with the owner of that handkerchief, but you’ve seen Ugly Auntie’s appearance. So, I wondered if that scent could be a type of perfume. That’s why, after entering the Xiaoxiang Pavilion, I called for a dozen girls to see if I could find a lead."

"You called for a dozen girls? You really have thick skin, don't you? And what was the result?"

"The result was that I found nothing. The scent on those girls was just ordinary perfume—it couldn't compare to the scent on Ugly Auntie at all! So, I set my sights on the 'Four Heavenly Beauties' and entered the competition."

"Haha, you brat, I thought you were just trying to win yourself a beauty."

"How could that be? I am utterly devoted to Changle and Xueyan!"

"Get to the point!"

"Cough, right! After I passed the three trials and met the three beauties, I realized the scent on them was only slightly better than the others, but still far inferior to Ugly Auntie’s. So, I focused on the final target."

"Mei Ling?"

"Exactly. Since I passed the trials, she had to see me. When I entered her room, I discovered a shocking truth: that scent was everywhere!"

"What?"

"It’s true, it was everywhere! That confirmed that the person Li Zihao was infatuated with was indeed Mei Ling. But then a new question arose: what about the scent on Ugly Auntie? Was it just a coincidence? I forced Mei Ling to meet me. You know how people in their position can be—haughty, usually hiding behind a curtain to speak. I kept provoking her until I succeeded, and that allowed me to get close enough to reach a stunning conclusion: the scent on Mei Ling was actually her natural body fragrance!"

"What? What did you say? Body fragrance? Are you certain?"

"I am certain. There is a vast difference between the scent of perfume and natural body fragrance. Natural fragrance doesn't change over time, whereas perfume shifts as one moves or as time passes. The scent on Mei Ling never changed from start to finish."

"So that means?"

"It means Mei Ling is Ugly Auntie, and Ugly Auntie is Mei Ling! The reason I didn't smell it on her earlier was likely because she used some method to mask her natural scent. That is why the scent on the handkerchief Li Zihao possessed remained so persistent, and why he cared for it so deeply—because it held Mei Ling’s essence."