Who in the world does not know you?

Chapter 32 Unexpected Wealth

There's no need to make a fuss about the fact that a bracelet can't possibly grow legs and run away.

So when Yun Luobai looked at Ye Zi with an ambiguous gaze, the latter felt offended.

"Don't always act like you're so clever, making it seem like you can think of things that no one else can."

"Then tell me where that bracelet went?"

"..."

Ye Zi was speechless, her lips pursed and her eyes filled with resentment, and she stopped speaking.

"Her dress was loose, and although the fabric wasn't high-end, there were obvious oil stains on the hem, and they looked quite fresh. This was enough to show that she had gotten them in the kitchen recently, and not long ago. She rushed to find me without even changing into clean clothes, which shows that she searched frantically after discovering the gold bracelet was missing, and only after searching everywhere to no avail did she turn to my divination as a last resort. Since she valued that gold bracelet so much, it must have been missing for a very short time, because even if one's memory is hazy, subconsciously one will pay more attention to things that are valued."

"That doesn't necessarily mean her lost gold bracelet is in the kitchen, since she herself can't remember. Besides, didn't she say she already looked for it in the kitchen before she came?"

"First of all, I want to emphasize that I never told her that I thought the gold bracelet was in her kitchen, so even if she didn't find it, she can't cause me trouble because of my vague divination."

"..."

Ye Zi rolled her eyes at Yun Luobai in exasperation.

Isn't this still a scam?

"Her family is of modest means, so her kitchen must not be very spacious. If she took off that gold bracelet and placed it aside before cooking, where do you think she would put it?"

"Where else could it be? Even if real gold is not afraid of fire, it can't be placed on the stove, right? It would just be placed on the cutting board next to it, or on another table or shelf."

"Then she would have easily found it while searching around, since it was in such an obvious place, not hidden away. How could she not find it?"

"You're right... So where else could she have put that bracelet?"

"Where she put the bracelet is not important; what is important is how the bracelet was moved and changed position. I specifically asked her beforehand if her kitchen had tiled floors because if this gold bracelet were to accidentally fall onto a tiled floor, it would easily make a crisp sound and attract attention, but not on a solid surface."

Yun Luobai slowly explained to Ye Zi sitting opposite him, saying that he was quite free these days, so he had plenty of time.

"So I guess she was working in the kitchen when the hem of her dress accidentally touched the bracelet, which was lying on a flat surface. The bracelet was pulled off and fell into a hard-to-find corner. She didn't think of that, and naturally she would only search the surface and wouldn't look for such details, so she didn't find it."

Ye Zi frowned upon hearing this, and her expression became somewhat strange.

It is undeniable that Yun Luobai's conjecture has a probability of happening, but it does not mean that it will definitely happen.

"You've said so much, but you have no evidence. What if someone stole the gold bracelet when she wasn't looking? Aren't you just wasting your time thinking about it?"

"So I didn't tell her that the bracelet was in her kitchen. I just said that anything is possible."

Yun Luobai helplessly shrugged, and Ye Zi saw this and wanted to beat him up to vent her anger.

"Then weren't you using the Bagua and symbolism before, saying that southeast belongs to the Xun position and the element of wood? Weren't those things you were doing for her?"

"This is the Nine Palaces divination method, which has nothing to do with the Eight Trigrams themselves. The reason I said that is because in the fortune-telling profession, you have to speak in a profound and mysterious way, leaving people confused, so that they can believe you. I can't exactly tell her, 'I guess your bracelet is hidden in the gap between your rice jar and the wall in your kitchen, go find it yourself,' how can that convince anyone?"

"..."

"If she really finds the bracelet in the kitchen when she goes back, she will definitely mention it to everyone she meets. It will spread like wildfire, and before long the whole Ningzhou Prefecture will know that my divination is accurate and that I can predict things like a god. If she doesn't find it, and I didn't insist to her that the bracelet was in the kitchen, then it has nothing to do with me."

Ye Zi felt a tightness in her chest and a knot in her heart, and her already low opinion of Yun Luobai plummeted at this moment.

"fraud."

Yun Luobai was not angry when he heard this. He simply put the red cloth divination money back into the wooden box and closed the box.

He didn't seem to like exposing the contents of the box to Ye Zi, even though he used these items when telling fortunes.

Just as Ye Zi was feeling bored, Ning Qi, dressed in a constable's uniform, hurriedly walked towards Yun Luobai's direction from the other side of the long street.

Ye Zi quickly stood up to offer Ning Qi a seat, but Ning Qi did not sit down. Instead, he took out a piece of paper from his pocket, on which many names were written.

"Second brother, as you said, I've already investigated with the people from the yamen. The names recorded on this paper are those people you mentioned who had some dealings with Mu Li but didn't have much money. Logically speaking, these people shouldn't have the means to spend lavishly on a beauty like her, yet many men are infatuated with Mu Li's beauty and empty their pockets for her. Later, when they ran out of money, they were turned away by Rouge Pavilion. Such things are not uncommon in a brothel."

As Ning Qi spoke, he placed the paper with the names written on it in front of Yun Luobai. However, the latter did not look at it immediately. Instead, he looked up at his righteous older brother with a smile.

"Brother, since the investigation has made progress, the government can simply check the names listed above one by one. Why bother coming all this way just to let me take a look? I'm not a government official."

Ning Qi's face was expressionless and serious, which made Yun Luobai realize that things were not as simple as he had imagined.

You'll see when you see it.

Yun Luobai picked up the paper and glanced at the names on it. Soon his gaze settled on a name that was really special to him.

"Horse galloping?"

When he looked at Ning Qi again, the smile on his lips had completely vanished.

He understood why Ning Qi had made a special trip to tell him about this.

Ma Ben was a distant relative of the prefect, and also an ordinary jailer who wanted to use the disappearance of the female thief in the prison to compete with his father, Yunping, for the position of jail chief.

"How much could a jailer earn a month? Does he even deserve to drink and chat with the most beautiful courtesans at the Rouge Pavilion?"

"I specifically asked Liu Niang, the madam of the Rouge Pavilion. A while ago, Ma Ben suddenly struck it rich. He swaggered into the Rouge Pavilion, specifically asking to see Mu Li, and was incredibly generous. After a few times, he couldn't come back with that much money. Liu Niang is a money-grubber; she naturally treats people differently based on their status. Since he had no money, how could she let him see Mu Li? She immediately sent someone to throw him out. He even stood in the street cursing at the Rouge Pavilion, claiming that Liu Niang would regret it someday…"

Even Ning Qi realized that there was a problem.