"Qin Yurou has someone backing her up, we can’t arrest her right now."

"Why?" Shen Hao didn’t understand.

Tang Qingyuan explained, "Qin Yurou went to the Imperial City Government Office on the tenth of October to file for divorce. Which means she severed ties with the Wen Family before their arrest."

"What?!" Shen Hao was a little shocked. He’d kept track of Qin Yurou’s whereabouts, had people following her even, but in the Imperial City, all they could do was watch; as for what business she had at the Government Office, he really hadn’t known. So he hadn’t heard about this before.

According to the Jingjiu Dynasty’s marriage laws, as long as a couple—man or woman—had registered at the Government Office, they could divorce at any time. Of course, concubines didn’t have that right. So this kind of divorce was pretty common, especially among the nobles.

Normally, both parties need to be present for a divorce, and sometimes the Government Office would even make a ruling. But Qin Yurou didn’t need that—her father was the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, after all. No way the office wouldn’t show her that courtesy. So, legally, Qin Yurou had already drawn a line between herself and the Wen Family; it made sense she hadn’t been detained right away.

"But Qin Yurou was one of the main suspects in the dungeon attack. If we just let her go, that really doesn’t make sense, does it?" Shen Hao still felt they shouldn’t let her off so easily.

"You just said she’s a suspect, right? So what if Qin Yurou was really involved in the attack? Where’s your evidence? She went to rescue her son, but got intercepted on the way, and everyone else ended up dead. On what grounds are you going to arrest her? Just your speculation?"

The Xuanqing Guard had certainly arrested people on speculation before—once someone was brought in, confessions under torture weren’t hard to get. But this type of method probably wouldn’t work on Qin Yurou; she’d already gone back to her parents’ place.

"Tsk, Qin Yurou isn’t so simple. Supposedly, when the Wen Family was arrested, she was with the Empress, offering birthday wishes, got herself invited to drink at the Empress’s side, and scared off all the Xuanqing Guards who wanted to question her."

"So she knew ahead of time the Wen Family was doomed?" Shen Hao didn’t dwell on how Tang Qingyuan had such detailed information. Rather, Qin Yurou’s maneuvers made him inexplicably uneasy.

"Yeah, that’s what I think too. Otherwise why would she cut ties with the Wen Family conveniently just a day before?"

"Then why didn’t she warn the Wen Family?"

"That is strange. Either it was a coincidence, or Qin Yurou didn’t want to save them."

Shen Hao shook his head. "That doesn’t add up. Even if she realized it was the Wen Family who killed Wen Renhai, she still has two sons and a daughter with them. She couldn’t just abandon all three kids for revenge, could she?"

Tang Qingyuan didn’t get as hung up as Shen Hao. The Wen Family’s case was already decided—no one was overturning it—so as far as he was concerned, there was no point fixating on Qin Yurou’s role.

"Don’t waste your energy speculating. Maybe Qin Yurou didn’t care much for her other kids compared to Wen Renhai. Who knows? Besides, people have killed even their own parents to save themselves; what’s a few kids?"

Shen Hao couldn’t figure it out for now either, so he put it aside like Tang Qingyuan advised.

October 16th. Shen Hao personally led a team to escort the prisoners to Fengri City and hand them over. This included Wen Renhai, whom everyone thought was dead.

Once Wen Renhai showed up, practically all those who still harbored hopes immediately gave up any resistance.

...

Aunt Zhang made a big table of food to celebrate. Braised fish, sweet and sour pork, greens with tofu, soy-braised pig’s feet... and a pot of very special wine.

Xia Nu was drooling, thinking maybe there might be more in the kitchen? Maybe she’d get a taste later? But Shen Hao, finding her annoying, handed her a couple pig’s feet and sent her off to gnaw on them in the corner.

The one with a seat at the table was that short and chubby Chen Tianwen.

Since helping Shen Hao analyze the power-struggle issue, the two had grown close. On their recent joint raid at Bai Dang Mountain, they worked seamlessly. In fact, Shen Hao had once worked under Chen Tianwen, so they’d always had a natural rapport.

"Tsk tsk, Shen Zongqi, now you just sit at home and promotions come to you! Who knows, you might move up half a rank again—Hundred Households Officer. When I was your age, I was still just a Warrior. Damn, I’m jealous!"

"Chen Zongqi, didn’t you score some credit this time too? What’s there to be jealous of? Come on, let’s drink!"

Chen Tianwen really was happy. He figured the reason Tang Qingyuan gave him the joint mission with Black Banner Battalion at Bai Dang Mountain was precisely because he was close to Shen Hao. Otherwise, where would he get such a sweet deal?

"Alright, cheers!"

At home, there were no horn cups, but they didn’t use dainty cups either—their wine bowls held about one tael each, just enough.

"Whoa! This wine... is something else!" Chen Tianwen downed his in one go. At first, he just thought it smelled rich—a good wine, for sure—but after he’d tossed it back, he realized it was far better than he imagined. ’Good’ didn’t begin to cover it!

The scent barrelled right through his head, yet when swallowed the wine went down clean and smooth, icy but gentle, burning into his gut before exploding into a blazing heat that spread through his body, making him shiver with the kick.

Chen Tianwen had never drank Immortal Brew that cost hundreds of thousands of silver coins a jar, so when it came to spirits, he was about as sharp as the average guy.

"Well? Packs a punch, huh?"

"Damn right it does! Where’d you buy this?" Chen Tianwen was sure this stuff wasn’t cheap.

"Buy? There’s basically only one such strong wine on the market—ever hear of Immortal Brew?"

"Pfft! You’re not telling me this is Immortal Brew, are you?"

"Heh, you think I’d serve you something that costs over a hundred thousand a jar? It’s not Immortal Brew, but it’s close. I brewed it myself."

"Get outta here!" Chen Tianwen flat-out didn’t believe Shen Hao had that kind of skill. Brewing sounded easy, but actually doing it was a whole ’nother story—definitely not simple.

Shen Hao rubbed his nose, tried to keep up the act for three seconds, then got called out. He just laughed, "Well, okay, I didn’t make it personally, but I suggested the recipe changes that led to it. You know that Zhang Family’s Wine Shop in the south of the city? I bought it. This is their latest batch."

That made sense to Chen Tianwen—he knew Shen Hao was a bright guy who always looked at things differently. Giving an old wine shop new methods and getting a great liquor out of it wasn’t impossible; a little unbelievable, maybe, but he could buy it.

"Oh? You’ve got time for brewing too?"

"Hey, the family cook is actually the wife of the guy from Zhang Family’s Wine Shop. Their family was about to go bankrupt, so she came here as a cook—skilled and clever. I floated her a few ideas, she ran with them, and before I knew it, she’d come up with this. Wouldn’t launch the new wine unless I took over the shop. So that’s that. If you like it, take some home and help spread the word."

"You’re that free? Playing at business now?"

"Aren’t you just as free?"

"Not for long! Gui Mountain Cultivation Institute is opening its gates in mid-next month—plenty to do then."