Ao Jing glanced around to try and see if Shangguan Yu had gotten away or if he was still somewhere around. He couldn’t see him so he relaxed slightly. Apparently, he didn’t need to worry.

He had followed Liangqiu Huang until the door of the study but stepped to the side just in case that merchant Wang came out. It would be best if that man didn’t know that he was here. After all, he had seen him together with Shangguan Yu before so that might expose something before they had time to reveal things.

The servant girl knocked on the door and then walked in when merchant Wang called out. "Master, Mister Liangqiu is here."

Merchant Wang furrowed his brows. "Liangqiu Huang? What did he come for?" Before she could answer, he turned to the man at the table. "Have you finished the letter yet?"

The man hurried to nod and leaped to his feet to hand the letter to merchant Wang.

The merchant looked at it and nodded with a satisfied smile. "Very well. That should convince him." He folded the letter up and put it into the prepared envelope before turning back to the servant girl. "Serve him some refreshments in the front hall first. I’ll be there in a minute."

The servant girl looked at him in confusion, wanting to tell him that she had already brought the guest over as he had ordered.

Merchant Wang didn’t want to hear anything though. "What are you still standing here for? Go and move your lazy ass!"

Outside the door, Liangqiu Huang raised his brows in surprise. This really wasn’t the impression he had gotten off merchant Wang. Well, anyway, this girl was a servant. There was nothing he had to say about that. Thus, he just stepped to the side, waiting for the girl to do is her master had asked.

Being scared by merchant Wang, the girl did indeed not inform him and just hurriedly nodded and closed the door. She turned back to Liangqiu Huang and mumbled a few words before leading the way over to the front hall and then rushing off to get the refreshments that her master had told her to serve.

Ao Jing cleared his throat with a smile. "So far, everything seems quite calm. I’ll go and check on Young Lady Mo and the others just in case. Should you need help, have merchant Wang sent a servant to notify us."

Liangqiu Huang nodded, feeling that this was a sensible suggestion.

Thus, Ao Jing managed to leave without making him suspicious. He didn’t actually go back though and instead just stayed out of sight. He needed to know what was going to be spoken about, after all. He couldn’t let anything happen this close to victory. Anyway, it seemed that merchant Wang had made trouble for himself already with what he had said just now in the study. But in any case, it might be best if he helped out a little more.

Opening the chat window, Ao Jing messaged Zhou Ming who was still waiting at the entrance with Mo Ju An and the servant girl. [Can you find a way to leave the others and go to the study? See if merchant Wang took the letter with him or if there is some other evidence against him that we can bring outside. Maybe we can have it blown to Liangqiu Huang’s feet by a very coincidental gust of wind or something."]

Zhou Ming’s brows shot up when he saw the message and then he looked at the people around him. There were Mo Ju An, that servant girl, as well as her lover, and the two other guards. That really were quite a few NPCs to get away from. He needed a good excuse to do this.

He furrowed his brows and gave a hum, looking as if deep in thought.

Mo Ju An couldn’t help but give him a worried look. "Mister Zhou, is something the matter? Did you notice something? Is my future brother-in-law in danger?"

Zhou Ming shook his head. "No."

Mo Ju An was even more confused. "Then what’s the matter?"

"I … I’m hungry." He smoothed out his expression and then turned toward her, giving her a deep look. "Would you mind if I went to get something to eat from one of the stalls on the street? I actually don’t think that something is happening here. That brother-in-law of yours and that friend of my friend are just being worrywarts over nothing."

Mo Ju An didn’t quite know how to react but Zhou Ming was already nodding.

"Thank you very much. I knew you would understand this! Do any of you want something as well? No? Alright, then I’ll be back in a minute!" He gave all of them a glance and then walked back out of the gate, going to a stall to actually pick up some food. Anyway, he couldn’t come back without any food afterward, could he? No, that wouldn’t do. If you made an excuse, then you definitely had to go the whole way.

After putting the food in his inventory so he would have his hands free, he flipped over one of the walls in merchant Wang’s estate and tried to find out where the study was. Unfortunately, it really wasn’t so easy to find a specific place in a house that you had never been to and the mini-map always confused him.

He stopped on the path, once again furrowing his brows, and finally, his expression lit up. Right! He should just ask somebody. He looked around and finally spotted a servant at the side. Going over, he tapped the person on the shoulder. "Hey, where’s your master’s study? I was supposed to go there but I must have lost my way."

The servant looked up, his expression turning overstrained at the orange monstrosity that Zhou Ming was still wearing. But after a quick adjustment, he managed to give a faint smile. "But of course. Please let me bring you over, distinguished guest."

Zhou Ming smiled happily and then followed the servant over, arriving right after merchant Wang had left the study for the front hall. In front of the door, Zhou Ming turned to the servant and gave a nod. "Thank you so much."

The servant nodded as well and then left to continue with his original task, leaving Zhou Ming alone in front of the study.