“Really?” Grace Taylor's eyes sparkled, clearly delighted. “Young master is still willing to come see me?”

　　“Of course, of course.” Olivia Miller replied hastily.

　　“But I don't believe you.”

　　As Grace Taylor spoke, she suddenly yanked off his belt.

　　Olivia Miller was startled and quickly shut his eyes... but after a while, nothing else happened.

　　When he opened his eyes again, he saw Grace Taylor had already unfastened the jade pendant from his belt.

　　“This will serve as your token. If you don't come in the future, I'll report you to Master Wang,” Grace Taylor said. “I'll say... you got me pregnant.”

　　Olivia Miller was at a loss for words. He didn't even know if the jade pendant was valuable, and for the moment, he had no better idea.

　　He saw Grace Taylor stand up, put away the jade pendant, and open the door to call out, “Hazel.”

　　Soon, a rather ugly maid appeared from who knows where.

　　This ugly maid named Hazel entered the room, just in time to see Olivia Miller getting up from the bed and tying his belt.

　　The two exchanged a glance, and Hazel turned her face away, composing herself.

　　Olivia Miller felt rather innocent in all this.

　　Grace Taylor said coolly, “The ‘master’ you were looking for is dead. Go to the Qingshuifang yamen and file a report.”

　　“Oh.” Hazel replied softly, then turned and ran out.

　　Grace Taylor leaned close to Olivia Miller's ear, her voice silky and seductive as she whispered, “When the yamen officers arrive, we’ll need to make up a story, so they don’t find out our secret…”

　　She put extra emphasis on the word “secret.”

　　Olivia Miller felt flustered, and his ears tingled.

　　Then he heard Grace Taylor say, “Here’s what you should say…”

　　Olivia Miller was stunned, thinking this was all so baffling.

Chapter 3 Samuel Foster

　　There are countless people living in the capital who are as insignificant as ants.

　　But there are also quite a few with impressive backgrounds or powerful connections.

　　Among them, the arrogant and domineering ones aren’t so scary—you can just avoid them. The worst are those with high status who insist on acting like ordinary folks, making them impossible to guard against and easy to offend by accident.

　　“So, as a constable in the capital, you must always be careful—extra careful!”—This was what Emily Foster's master told him on his first day as a constable.

　　It was this bit of advice that kept Emily Foster safe and sound for sixteen years, and eventually earned him the position of head constable at the Qingshuifang yamen. Everyone who knew him called him ‘Samuel Foster’—Feng Who Misses Nothing.

　　‘Qingshuifang yamen’ isn’t the same as ‘Qingshui yamen’; it’s just that the yamen is located in Qingshuifang, so that’s what people call it. In fact, there’s plenty of “oil and water” (profit) to be had there.

　　Emily Foster cherished his job. When he received a report this day and heard the case had happened in Jixue Alley, he decided to go in person.

　　Because Jixue Alley was Wang family property.

　　The Wang family were just wine merchants, but in these times, what merchant who made it big didn’t have powerful backers?

　　If you asked exactly who the Wang family’s backers were, Emily Foster wasn’t sure. He’d only vaguely heard that both the Ministry of Revenue and the Five City Patrol had people looking out for them. But he did know the Wang family was about to become imperial relatives.

　　With a murder happening in Jixue Alley at such a time, Emily Foster became even more cautious.

　　The ugly maid named Hazel pushed open the courtyard gate, but Emily Foster didn’t rush in. He first looked around carefully.

　　Jixue Alley ran from east to west. On the south side was the Wang family’s high wall; on the north, a row of courtyards.

　　These courtyards faced south, but the Wang family’s tall wall blocked the sunlight, making things a bit gloomy. Still, the overall environment was decent. Most residents worked for the Wang family as stewards, and a few units were rented out to fairly respectable families.

　　After surveying the scene, Emily Foster entered the courtyard.

　　The deceased was fat-faced and big-eared, dressed like a scholar, and even wore official boots—clearly a troublesome case.

　　Emily Foster couldn’t help cursing inwardly—Of all places to die, why here in my jurisdiction?

　　“Greetings, officer.”

　　Emily Foster looked up and was momentarily stunned.

　　Though it was just a fleeting glance, he saw that the woman was breathtakingly beautiful, enough to steal one’s soul.

　　From his experience, any case involving such a femme fatale was bound to have powerful, dangerous people entangled behind the scenes.

　　So he quickly held his breath and turned away, not daring to look again.

　　Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a young man, and Emily Foster secretly sized him up.

　　Judging by the youth’s looks, bearing, and attire, Emily Foster felt the case was already clear in his mind.

　　It must be another young noble seducing someone’s beautiful wife or concubine! Murdering the husband to steal the wife—truly outrageous… and yet, what a stroke of luck.

　　A bad thing turned good.

　　Emily Foster tapped his fingers lightly on his robe, his mood brightening.

　　From past experience, this young man would probably slip him some silver soon, as a fee for closing the case and keeping quiet.

　　He suppressed his anticipation and decided to first learn the details.

　　The deceased was named Edward Cooper, a newly minted jinshi who hadn’t yet received an official post—Emily Foster thought to himself: “A jinshi! A victim of this status will make the case harder and more complicated to settle, but the payoff will be bigger too.”