“This servant greets Your Highness.”
Her body was almost pressed to the ground, she dared not raise her head.
Jing Yi asked, “Are you Caifeng?”
“Yes, my name… is Caifeng.”
“Good. Let me ask you, have you ever bought a dagger from a pawn shop that’s only four-inches long?”
“Yes.”
“Then is the dagger still with you?”
“Um…” Her voice trembled.
“Just answer ‘Yes’ or ‘No’, why do you hesitate?”
Caifeng replied hastily, “The dagger is no longer with me, Your Highness.”
“Where is it then?”
“It’s…”
“Raise your head,” Jing Yi ordered.
Caifeng trembled at his command and slowly raised her head, but she avoided the prince’s eyes. Jing Yi stood up from his seat and walked towards the maid step by step, until he loomed over her. “Listen closely, if you dare lie to me, you will be counted as a criminal and I will throw you into prison.”
“I’m not lying, I really lost that dagger.”
“Then why are you so nervous?”
“Because… that dagger belongs to the Young Miss. She had already lost it once, outside of the capital. Later, she saw it in the pawnshop and she told me to buy it back. But… I had just retrieved the dagger and kept it in my sleeve. When I came back, it was already gone.”
“Gone?”
“Yes, I was even punished by the Young Miss because of this. Everyone in the estate knows.”
“Was the dagger really lost or was it stolen?”
Caifeng paused to think, “At that time, on the way home, I bumped into a vegetable vendor, and knocked over his basket. I even helped him pick up the scattered vegetables. That was the only thing that happened on my way back.”
Wen Shisan followed up, “Do you know who that vegetable vendor is?”
“No. All I know is… “ She recollected,” He was dressed in plain clothes and carried a basket full of vegetables. He looked like a middle-aged man. Oh, and he had a lot of scars on his face, about six to seven scars. That’s all I can remember.”
She was terrified, and she did not sound like she was lying.
Jing Yi and Wen Shisan looked at each other, “Is she referring to Old Man Zhang’s son, Zhang Daqi?”