Chapter 1019: A Slight Oversight

Zu'an looked at the child, hesitant to speak.

The woman understood and patted her son: "Hu Zi, go play in the backyard."

"Alright!" The child, who had long wanted to try out his new weapon, ran excitedly towards the back upon hearing her words.

"Be careful not to get cut by the sword," Zu'an warned. After all, the child was still young, and it wouldn't be good if he accidentally got injured.

"It's fine, he often secretly played with his father's sword before and got spanked several times," the woman said. Her expression softened considerably when she heard his genuine concern for her son. "Why have I never heard my husband mention friends like you before?"

"Greetings, ma'am, my name is Anman. Years ago, Brother Shen saved me during a mission. Later, our duties took us to different places. This time, returning to Yunzhong Commandery, I originally planned to catch up with him and thank him for saving my life, but instead, I heard the tragic news of his death," Zu'an sighed, his voice tinged with sadness.

Pei Mianman glanced at him in surprise. This guy's acting was too good; he could slip into character instantly.

She had worried before that he might be deceived by women, but now she realized women should be grateful if they weren't deceived by him.

Then she thought, he called himself Anman—wasn't that a combination of their names?

A hint of sweetness rose in her heart at the thought.

At that moment, the woman's eyes reddened instantly, clearly overcome by the pain of losing her husband. "It's all because of those damned smugglers…"

"My deepest condolences, ma'am," Zu'an said. He took out one hundred taels of silver from a glazed jewel, placed it in a wooden box, and handed it over. "This is a small token of my regard; please accept it."

"Oh no, no, this is too much…" The woman looked flustered, quickly stood up to decline, rubbing her hands repeatedly on her apron, not knowing where to put them.

One hundred taels of silver was nothing to wealthy nobles, but for ordinary commoners, it was a substantial sum.

"How can a life-saving kindness be measured by money?" Zu'an said seriously. "I only regret that I arrived too late to save Brother Shen. Now, the only thing I can do is to look after his family."

Seeing that she still wouldn't accept it, Pei Mianman, standing nearby, also smiled and said, "Ma'am, even if you don't consider yourself, please think of your child. Wouldn't it be better for the child to grow up in a more comfortable environment?"

Hearing her mention her son, the woman finally accepted the money. While thanking them both, she looked at Pei Mianman and asked, "This young lady is truly beautiful, is she your wife?"

Zu'an nodded and held Pei Mianman's hand. "Yes, she is my wife."

Hearing him introduce her this way, Pei Mianman's eyes reddened slightly. Due to her friendship with Chu Chuyan, she had always somewhat deliberately avoided defining their relationship. However, her own mother had died of sorrow because she never had a proper status, so how could Pei Mianman not care about this in her heart?

Now, hearing him say this, she suddenly felt that all her previous efforts had been worth it.

"What good fortune! You two look perfectly matched," the woman exclaimed. "Shen Zhou wasn't so lucky…"

As she spoke, she quietly wiped away tears.

Pei Mianman offered a handkerchief, but the woman didn't take it, worried about dirtying the pristine white cloth. Instead, she casually used her apron to wipe her eyes.

"Ma'am, do you know where Brother Shen was investigating the smugglers? I'm wondering if there's a chance I can help avenge him," Zu'an asked, seizing the opportunity.

The woman shook her head. "He never told me about his work, and this investigation was particularly secretive, so he definitely wouldn't have told me. Only the authorities would know the specifics… Brother An, please don't get involved in this. Your Brother Shen already lost his life; if you were implicated, we would never have peace of mind."

"Don't worry, ma'am, I know my limits and won't act rashly," Zu'an reassured her. He then asked, "By the way, after Brother Shen's accident, was the compensation from the government disbursed to you? If not, I can help you follow up; we can't let our comrades' families be disheartened."

"It has been disbursed. A few days after my husband's accident, government officials came to our door. The leader was the former Grand Commander, whose surname seemed to be Gong or something…" The woman momentarily struggled to recall.

"Gong Pan?"

"Yes, yes, that's him," the woman continued. "Lord Gong is a good official. After my husband's accident, I felt like the sky had fallen, but thankfully, Lord Gong brought his subordinates to help with the funeral arrangements. That's how my son and I got through the hardest days."

"Lord Gong also personally delivered the official compensation to us. I later inquired and found it was even more than the standard amount, so I believe Lord Gong paid some out of his own pocket."

"I've been wanting to find a chance to return it to him, but I'm busy taking care of Hu Zi and can't leave. Lord Gong is also extremely busy, and I'm worried about disturbing him. Brother An, perhaps you could take the money to Lord Gong for me?"

Zu'an quickly declined. "Ma'am, you're being too formal. That was likely Lord Gong's personal gesture of goodwill towards a comrade. If you return it, how would he feel? Please, just keep it."

The woman looked deeply moved. "You are all good people. Although my husband didn't have good fortune, having comrades like you makes his life worth it."

Zu'an chatted with her for a while, then casually brought up, "By the way, I once heard Brother Shen mention that his leg broke years ago. Although the wound healed, it would ache on windy or rainy days. I specifically acquired some 'Jade Break Ointment' hoping to alleviate his pain, but now it seems I won't need it. Please keep it, ma'am."

As he spoke, he took out a bottle of ointment.

The woman looked bewildered. "Shen Zhou broke his leg? I don't recall that."

"Perhaps he didn't tell his family, worried you'd be concerned," Zu'an thought to himself, confirming his suspicion.

The woman looked puzzled, clearly trying to recall her past interactions with her husband.

Zu'an had intended to ask if Shen Zhou had left any last words or belongings, but realizing it would be too abrupt, he changed his approach. "Oh, by the way, ma'am, since Brother Shen's case hasn't been solved yet, I'd like to see if there are any new clues to bring the culprit to justice and avenge him."

"Do you recall if Brother Shen showed any unusual behavior the last day you saw him?"

After their casual chat, during which they had given her silver and gifts, the woman's suspicions had long been dispelled. Hearing his question, she replied, "There didn't seem to be anything unusual."

Just as Zu'an was feeling disappointed, he suddenly heard the woman say, "There is one thing, though I'm not sure if it counts."

"Any small detail could hide a clue," Zu'an said, overjoyed, and quickly pressed for more information.

The woman fell into thought. "That day, my husband didn't say much to me, but he seemed troubled. He held Hu Zi and played with him for a long time. You know, he never usually spent time with the child, so I suppose he must have had some premonition before he died."

As she spoke, she couldn't help but wipe away tears again.

The two comforted her for a while. Just then, Hu Zi came charging over, waving his short sword and muttering "Charge!" Zu'an took the opportunity to pull him aside and ask what his father had told him that day.

"I don't remember very well…" Hu Zi scratched his head, thinking for a long time before saying, "He didn't really say anything, just played war games with me."

Zu'an asked for more details, but it was just the most ordinary role-playing game, with no hidden messages or codes.

At this point, Pei Mianman also spoke up. "Ma'am, could we perhaps look at Brother Shen's room? There might be clues he left behind."

She was exceptionally beautiful, and her charming "peach blossom" eyes naturally held a hint of a smile, giving her an inexplicable warmth. During their conversation, she had addressed the woman so affectionately that she had completely won her over.

"Of course," the woman said, unable to resist taking Pei Mianman's hand and exclaiming, "Young lady, you are truly stunning!"

Pei Mianman felt a bit embarrassed and quickly joined Zu'an to investigate Shen Zhou's room.

Unfortunately, after searching the room for a long time, they found nothing of value, only ordinary household items.

"Oh, right," the woman said from the side. "The authorities also came once before and took away many of his work-related items, saying it was standard procedure for investigation."

Zu'an thought, *No wonder the room is so sparse.* He then asked, "Ma'am, do you know the name of that official?"

"It was Lord Gong," the woman replied.

"Oh?" Zu'an raised an eyebrow, looking thoughtful.

After chatting with the mother and son for a bit longer, they stood up to leave. On the way back, Pei Mianman finally couldn't hold back her curiosity. "Aren't you going to investigate the families of the other two men? Why did you come directly to Shen Zhou's house?"

"There's no need to go to the other two families," Zu'an explained. "I've already analyzed Cheng Ba's case; the probability of forging his death so flawlessly is too small. As for Yu Li, he was drained of his cultivation by the 'Thick-Browed Daoist.' I can personally confirm that, and even though his face was severely altered as a dried corpse, his family members would not fail to recognize him. So, there are no issues with the identities of those two."

"However, with Shen Zhou, although he was indeed burned to death, his face was destroyed, making it impossible to confirm it was truly him. I noticed some abnormalities in the leg bones of the charred corpse, and the injury was an old one that had already healed, clearly sustained before death. So, I specifically came here to ask his wife, and she told me Shen Zhou had never broken his leg before."

"Clearly, the charred corpse was not Shen Zhou himself, but someone of similar build used as a substitute. In their elaborate scheme, they overlooked one crucial detail: the person they chose had a past leg fracture, which revealed the flaw."

"So, Shen Zhou is the person you're looking for, the one who went to the capital to report?" Pei Mianman asked, somewhat confused. "But why would he travel all that distance to the capital to report? Couldn't he just notify his superior Gong Pan or Lady Yu?"

"There are two possibilities. First, he was unable to contact either of them at the time. Second…" Zu'an paused, his expression quite complex, "he didn't trust them."