In the packed restaurant, some customers were intimidated by the sudden arrival of this plague-like Liaodan man, secretly watching him with awe written all over their faces. However, others were too engrossed in their drinking and chatting to notice his entrance.
"Is it strange or not, overnight, the food storages in seven or eight estates were completely robbed, especially the old miser Zhang Shoucai’s warehouse, which held thirty to forty thousand dans of food that was looted without a single grain left! The old miser Zhang Shoucai is going mad..."
"Not only him, the manor owners who were robbed are all just as bad off, I heard they are frantically searching for the thief!"
"It’s a joke. If the thief was competent enough to rob all over Lin’an Prefecture in a single night without disturbing anyone, they must be extraordinary. How could any of them find him?"
"Who said he couldn’t be found? Right now, there is a clue..."
Around a table in the back of the hall, several men were having a loud discussion while sipping their drinks.
People in Lin’an Prefecture had been discussing the recent robbery of food from several local estates for quite some time. This news had been the hottest gossip topic in tea lounges and taverns for days. Everyone was speculating about who would have been capable of removing so much in a single night unnoticed.
Some said heavenly soldiers did it, others claimed it was the work of fox spirits, but no one could provide an exact answer. Hence, when news of a clue was mentioned, the entire tavern turned their eyes and ears to the men at the table.
Enjoying the attention, the man cleared his throat before saying: "I heard that the theft was carried out by that young woman from the orphanage run by Young Master Huo Yuan in the outskirts of the city. The day before, she and our city’s Zhao Zhongren were going door-to-door to collect food. When these families refused to sell to them, their food miraculously disappeared overnight. Can this really be a coincidence?"
"My word, looking at it this way, that young woman does indeed seem suspicious. Why didn’t the manor owners report her to the authorities? She would surely confess!"
"Not so simple, that young woman is Young Master Huo’s mistress, and who is Young Master Huo? The richest man in Great Jin, the brother of the Virtuous Consort. Moreover, that young woman is no ordinary person either. I heard that she was even titled Princess An Le by the Emperor..."
Without warning, the Liaodan man’s table was smashed into pieces. After the loud noise, the tall Liaodan man stood up from the shattered table, slowly turned around and walked step by step to the gossipy man. His eagle-like sharp eyes stared at him while the eagle-shaped earrings flared with cold light, inducing fear.
"What...what do you want to do?"
The gossipy man was hoisted up by the Liaodan man and was instantly terrified. He stuttered as he tried to pry the giant hand from his throat, but it was as firm as an iron clamp and wouldn’t budge.
"Is what you said all true?"
The Liaodan man asked coldly, his words exuding a chill that made it seem like he would kill the man if he dared lie.
"Yes yes...yes yes yes..."
The man nodded like a pecking chicken, his words were muddled, "Zhao...Zhongren...he...can...testify..."