The night air was freezing, but Chen Yuan’s heart was even colder.
Judging from Zhang Hong’s words, he probably wanted the two of them to share the blame.
From Chen Yuan’s perspective, if Zhang Hong hadn’t gone to the bathroom, none of this would have happened. But nature called, and he couldn’t just hold it in. From Zhang Hong’s perspective, the precious medicine was stolen in the less than five minutes he was away—wasn’t he just as wronged? Yet, Chen Yuan couldn’t exactly fight for his life unarmed.
They could only blame their rotten luck.
About ten minutes later, Li Song arrived on the scene first, completely alone. Chen Yuan had expected this. General Manager Li was highly skilled, so it wasn’t surprising he was the first to arrive. Zhang Hong acted the same way, his eyes devoid of surprise. Catching this from the corner of his eye, Chen Yuan’s thoughts stirred.
Seeing only Zhang Hong and Chen Yuan in the Medicinal Garden, Li Song quickly asked for a report. Chen Yuan recounted what had just happened, while Zhang Hong nodded along, corroborating his story.
Li Song furrowed his brows. "Zhang Hong, which way did the thief run? Do you have a rough location?"
Zhang Hong gave a convincing description of the events, then said with a face full of remorse, "General Manager Li, your subordinate is incompetent. I let the thief escape right under my nose. Please punish me!"
Li Song scoffed. "Whether he can actually escape is another matter. I’ll have people search that area. Did he really think the Li Family’s Medicinal Garden would be so easy to break into?"
Clearly, aside from the two guards in the open, there were hidden sentries, likely with far greater skills.
A short while later, Huang Yongbo and the Steward in charge of the Medicinal Garden’s accounts also arrived. Chen Yuan glanced at Zhang Hong, thoughtfully noting that his expression remained completely calm.
The Steward immediately began checking the Stone Scale Flowers for losses. "Over a dozen mature Stone Scale Flowers are missing, resulting in a loss of several dozen taels of silver," he finally said in a deep voice.
Li Song’s expression softened slightly. The only silver lining was that the thief hadn’t gone to extremes. Harvesting took time, but destruction took only an instant. If the thief had wanted to, the entire field of Stone Scale Flowers would have been left in ruins.
He looked at Zhang Hong and Chen Yuan, his voice stern. "Although the thief came prepared, your negligence also played a part. If the precious medicine isn’t recovered, your monthly wages will be halved, and your quota of Bone Strengthening Pills will be revoked. Any objections?"
Both men bowed their heads and cupped their hands, accepting the punishment. This was already very lenient. The loss amounted to several dozen taels of silver, but their combined fine was less than twenty taels. The blame hadn’t been entirely pinned on them.
"Alright, you’re dismissed." Li Song waved his hand, signaling them to leave. He needed to coordinate his men—partly to catch the thief, and partly to remind the guards at the other Medicinal Gardens to stay on high alert.
Chen Yuan let out a sigh of relief. This level of punishment was still within his acceptable range. However, losing seven taels of silver for nothing still hurt his wallet.
Moreover, the more he thought about today’s events, the stranger they seemed. As he went into the back room of the Medicinal Garden to grab his belongings, his gaze swept over the spot where his bow and arrows were usually kept. It was completely empty. Only after scanning the room did he spot the bow case and quiver in a dim corner, but the quiver itself was missing all its arrows.
Chen Yuan’s heart skipped a beat as he seemed to realize something.
Stepping outside, he saw Zhang Hong still quietly chatting with Huang Yongbo, seemingly complaining about what had just happened. Without giving anything away, Chen Yuan shouldered his pack and headed toward the Medicinal Garden’s exit. His footsteps soon faded into the night.
He didn’t go far. Instead, he lay in wait along the path Zhang Hong always took after his shift.
Soon, the sound of approaching footsteps echoed, and Zhang Hong’s figure appeared on the road. He was highly vigilant. Stopping at a certain spot, he looked around. Once he was certain no one was watching, he ducked into the dense woods nearby.
Just a few moments later, he emerged from the woods, now carrying a bulging sack over his shoulder. Under the moonlight, a clear smile appeared on his face. Humming a little tune, he walked away with a spring in his step.
Chen Yuan’s face, however, was filled with cold fury. He cursed inwardly, "Son of a bitch, did he really think he could play me for a fool?"
He had completely figured out the whole story. This attack was an act entirely orchestrated by Zhang Hong.
First, Zhang Hong used the excuse of using the bathroom to leave, leaving Chen Yuan alone to create an opportunity for his partner to strike. There were no glaring flaws in this part of the plan. Using the bathroom was a normal bodily function, and the thief seizing that moment could easily be explained as him lying in ambush nearby, waiting for the perfect chance.
However, the bow and arrows were a major discrepancy. Why was the spot where the weapons were normally kept empty? Why was the quiver missing all its arrows?
It was obvious that Zhang Hong had tampered with them beforehand, worried that Chen Yuan might shoot his partner dead. In the heat of the moment, Chen Yuan hadn’t had time to think much of it. He had assumed Zhang Hong simply tossed them aside somewhere. But in hindsight, an empty quiver was incredibly suspicious. Of course, this could only serve as circumstantial evidence.
After that, Zhang Hong rushed back and scared the thief off. Yet, he actually dared to chase after a ruthless thief while completely unarmed? How did he have the guts? Because he was highly skilled and daring? Because he was willing to go through fire and water for the Li Family? Ha.
Thinking back on it now, it was clearly an act put on by him and his partner. Both of them running off was obviously part of their follow-up plan. Zhang Hong’s partner was Huang Yongbo! He had hypocritically run over to ask what happened, naturally inserting himself into the crime scene. Who on earth could possibly catch the thief then?
The two of them likely knew about the hidden sentries set up by the Li Family, so they didn’t dare flee toward the perimeter. Instead, they devised this whole ruse. As for Zhang Hong, he naturally went to hide the precious medicine. Based on what Chen Yuan had just witnessed, he had stashed it in the dense woods along his route home, allowing him to easily retrieve it later and dispose of the stolen goods.
The scheme was incredibly meticulous and clever. After all, who would suspect that the precious medicine was smuggled out by one of the victims involved? No matter how hard the Li Family’s hidden sentries searched, they would never find the so-called thief—because he had never tried to escape outward in the first place.
Chen Yuan couldn’t help but feel a twinge of admiration. By putting himself directly into the scheme, Zhang Hong had attempted to pull off an impossibly daring gambit. All of this could only be deduced because Chen Yuan had seen the final result. The plan and its execution had been practically flawless.
After all, who would suspect the victim of the crime? Because of this, Chen Yuan had almost been completely fooled. The recent string of Medicinal Garden attacks also provided perfect cover for him. They were natural scapegoats. The moment the incident occurred, everyone would immediately assume it was the work of that same group. Chen Yuan had also been misled by this preconception, subconsciously believing it was that gang.
Unfortunately for Zhang Hong, even the most meticulous plans had flaws. He had still revealed a slight opening that sparked Chen Yuan’s suspicion. That opening was when Li Song unexpectedly arrived. Zhang Hong hadn’t been surprised at all, as if he had anticipated it.
Yet Chen Yuan remembered clearly: he had never told Zhang Hong that Huang Yongbo had visited earlier and gone to report to their superiors. Furthermore, when Huang Yongbo arrived with the others, Zhang Hong’s eyes remained completely calm. Obviously, having orchestrated the whole thing, he knew Huang Yongbo would show up. He had expected it all, so he showed no reaction.
Little did Zhang Hong know, from Chen Yuan’s perspective, there was a glaring information gap between them regarding Huang Yongbo’s arrival. Zhang Hong’s subconscious had glossed over this discrepancy, making his lack of reaction highly suspicious to Chen Yuan!
This single detail had directly triggered Chen Yuan’s doubts. Checking the status of the bow and arrows in the back room only further corroborated his theory, and the scene he just witnessed fully confirmed it, allowing him to reverse-engineer the entire plot.
Zhang Hong and Huang Yongbo were the thieves who stole the precious medicine!