Before Mister Mo had time to say anything, the servant girl already leaped to her feet and rushed over, trying to pull the guard back up but failing to do so. Thus, she could only start to sob, barely getting out any words through the tears. "What are you doing?! I know he’s your brother but you can’t always try to make up for his mistakes. If you keep this up, then how will he ever learn to behave properly? He will always continue to do these kinds of things and you’ll always have to beg for forgiveness on his behalf and take the punishment. Then what about me? What about our child? Is your brother really more important than your own son?!"

The guard finally raised his head at that, looking more than just a little stunned. "What child?"

Well, he was not the only one who thought that. Mister Mo also looked from one person to the other, not quite understanding what was going on and so did Shangguan Yu.

Seriously though, these game developers had really gone a little overboard here. Was it really necessary to make such an elaborate drama out of everything? What were they trying to achieve with that? It was hard enough getting around all the traps they had put in this quest so far. Was there really a need to add this dog-blood drama of giving this guy a reason to decide between his own child and his brother?

Shangguan Yu narrowed his eyes at that. Wait. Maybe this was actually it. Whether the next clue could be obtained might depend on this guard. Somehow, he would have to convince him of giving up what he knew to get the next clue. If he couldn’t, then in the end, Liangqiu Min’s brother would blame him for the death of his brother and the task would be failed.

This would have been even more troublesome if he hadn’t actually managed to save Liangqiu before. Because then, most likely, his brother would have found him somehow, confronted him about his brother’s death which would have been a fact in that scenario and not just an assumption of his, and then he’d have needed to propose to investigate together with him to find out what really happened.

So this drama with the two brothers would be the actual next part of the task. And it was also something the players couldn’t get around even if they actually did manage to save Liangqiu Min it seemed. Well, it was still good to have figured that out.

After pondering for a bit, Shangguan Yu opened the chat after all and sent Ao Jing a message: [I don’t know where you currently are but I just found out that the one who stole the painting from the Mo family was likely one of their servants. His big brother is a guard and involved with some servant girl. I think that brother is the key to solving this mystery.]

Ao Jing’s brows slightly raised when the chat window popped open and he saw the message in there. His fingers were really itching to ask just how Shangguan Yu knew about what was going on in the Mo family but with Liangqiu Huang, as well as Madam Mo and Mo Ju An, standing right next to him, there was no way he would be able to do that inconspicuously. While he could probably explain some things away with being a talisman forger, that only went so far.

His gaze darted around, trying to get a hold of some kind of clue but there was nothing. Whenever Shangguan Yu was, it wasn’t in his line of sight. It shouldn’t be too far away though considering that this interrogation was happening right in the hall in front of him. Ah, he just hoped that his husband was alright and wouldn’t run into Liangqiu Huang.

Inside the hall, the big spectacle was still going on. The servant girl clung to her lover, crying bitterly, while he was just looking at her in stunned silence, not saying anything but just holding onto her, his shock clearly visible on his face. Meanwhile, his younger brother had tightened his lips and was refusing to speak even when Mister Mo tried to get the truth out of him. Things had gotten to a standstill.

On top of the roof, Shangguan Yu pursed his lips. It was difficult to do anything in his current situation and it wasn’t made any easier by the fact that everyone was gathered in this hall. He would only have a chance to make a move if these three people were separated from the rest.

Mister Mo thankfully gave him a chance soon enough. Mister Mo was fed up when his own servant refused to answer after likely stealing property from the family that might be incriminating and even cost his daughter her marriage.

He motioned at the two guards and then pointed at the younger servant. "You two go and lock him up for me. We’ll see if he still refuses to speak afterward."

"Yes, Master." The two of them went and grabbed the servant, finally pulling him to his feet and out of the hall. They felt a bit bad to do this to the younger brother of their friend but what else could they do? This was their Master’s order after all. If they refused … What about their own families?

Seeing his brother being dragged out, the guard finally reacted. He once again wanted to kowtow to his Master to ask for forgiveness but the servant girl held him back.

"We have to think of ourselves too. Please just let them take them away. Please!"

The guard looked from his brother’s back to her and back again when the door already closed behind him. He slumped back down to the ground, looking utterly defeated. Well, looking after that kind of brother couldn’t be easy.

Shangguan Yu rubbed his chin when he thought of that. Having that kind of attachment to your brother … There was likely yet another story hidden beneath this. It seemed that it would be difficult to solve this issue in a short amount of time.

Well, at the very least, they likely wouldn’t be able to do it today.