With the help of the villagers, the brick and tile house is almost finished. It will be ready to be completed tomorrow after the roof beam is raised.

Su Husheng gradually made the necessary furniture for the house, and the house can be moved in after the roof beam is raised and the house is ready for occupancy.

In Shanghe Village, the raising of the roof beam of a new house is a traditional celebration that involves hosting a banquet for villagers and relatives and friends, and the Su family was no exception.

Originally, they were going to hire a chef to prepare the banquet, but Madam Su was reluctant to spend money. She had already spent several dozen taels of silver on building the house and making the furniture, so she only invited Aunt Zhou and a few others with whom she had a good relationship to help with the work.

Qin Yucheng swallowed a mouthful of noodles and quickly nodded in agreement, "Okay, I will definitely come tomorrow."

Her delicate lips unconsciously curled up high.

The roof-raising banquet has always only invited villagers and important people. He is not from Shanghe Village, so he must be the latter.

Although Su Hua was preoccupied with the matter of the portraits, she waited until he had finished his breakfast before gently asking, "I wonder if the paintings by the young masters and ladies at Qichi Manor from that day are still preserved?"

Qin Yucheng wiped his mouth with a handkerchief, somewhat unsure of her meaning. "Except for Hua'er's paintings, which were taken by Dean Ouyang, the rest are still kept in the manor."

Actually, it's not really a matter of preservation. When the Hundred Flowers Banquet ended that day, all the young masters and ladies left without taking their paintings with them, so he had the servants of the manor gather them together.

Su Hua's heart tightened. "Could Yu Cheng take me to see those paintings?"

“Of course,” Qin Yucheng nodded. “But why does Hua’er suddenly want to see those paintings?”

In his opinion, those worthless paintings were just taking up space at the manor, and the paintings he most wanted to preserve had long been snatched away by that old fox, Dean Ouyang.

Su Hua didn't hide anything and directly took out the portrait from her sleeve. "I found this in the bandit's den. It's what I looked like playing the zither at the Hundred Flowers Banquet."

Qin Yucheng took the portrait and was stunned when he saw what it depicted.

Besides Hua'er's figure, the painting also depicts the Hundred Flowers Garden and the Rainbow Phoenix Song that she played that day. Not only are the seven or eight flowers in the painting perfectly positioned, but even the fine ice cracks on the song are clearly depicted.

"Does Hua'er mean to suspect that the person who painted this is the one who harmed you?"

The painting is so exquisite that only those who attended the meeting that day could have copied it.

The fact that this painting was found in a bandit's den inevitably raises suspicions that the artist had connections with the Black Wind Village bandits.

“Yes.” Su Hua nodded slightly. “However, it’s just a preliminary suspicion, and it may not be accurate.”

Xiao Jinhan had personally interrogated Heimu and Master Xu, but he had previously learned from Heimu using Xue Lao's medicine powder that her portrait was something they had obtained by chance in Qingshui County, and no one had ever had direct contact with the people of Black Wind Village.

Strangely, news of her at the Hundred Flowers Banquet spread to every household in Qingshui County overnight, and she was then targeted by the Black Wind Village and kidnapped to their den, as if a mastermind was manipulating everything behind the scenes.

The source of the rumor is hard to trace, but the portrait is easy to find.

Qin Yucheng was quick-witted and understood the seriousness of the matter. He immediately nodded in agreement, "I will take you to Qichi Manor right away."

To avoid worrying her family, Su Hua informed Su Bai before boarding the carriage. The journey from Shanghe Village to Qichi Villa, which normally takes an hour and a half, was completed in an hour by Ah Cai riding at full speed.

The paintings were all stored in a storage room in Qin Yucheng's courtyard. Su Hua was the first to examine Wei Jianjia's paintings. The painting contest that day was also a two-person contest, with Wei Jianjia and Liu Yuxian competing in the painting contest.

Sure enough, Wei Jianjia's painting of a hundred flowers was very different from her portrait style, and it was not her.

The three of them looked at each one one by one, and finally discovered that Wu Xingcheng's rose painting and portrait had very similar brushstrokes.

Qin Yucheng frowned as he looked at the rose painting. "Wu Xingcheng, how could it be him!"

"But is there something wrong with it?"

Su Hua had a very shallow impression of Wu Xingcheng. She had only seen him once at the Hundred Flowers Banquet and had never heard of him before. She didn't even remember what he looked like.

Qin Yucheng shook his head. "It's not inappropriate. I studied at Baichuan Academy for half a year, and Wu Xingcheng was my classmate."

He was intelligent and eager to learn, and was often praised by the school teacher. He was the top scorer in the last county-level imperial examination.

He doesn't seem like one of those demons and monsters.

Even so, Qin Yucheng still took Su Hua to the Wu family.

The Wu family also lived in the east of the city, five lanes away from the Qin family's Wuyi Lane. Their home was just a simple small courtyard with an old gatekeeper outside.

Qin Yucheng was the son of the county magistrate and a wealthy man in Qingshui County. Everyone knew him. When his servants saw Qin Yucheng get off the carriage, they immediately ran into the courtyard to report.

A moment later, Wu Xingcheng appeared at the door.

The boy looked to be sixteen or seventeen, with delicate features. His moon-colored robe was still stained with ink, and he exuded an air of scholarly refinement.

Upon seeing Qin Yucheng, he quickly bowed and performed a fellow disciple's greeting, "Young Master Qin, is there something you need today?"

Qin Yucheng returned the greeting, and after Su Hua alighted from the carriage, he said slowly, "We two have come today to ask you something. Let's go inside and talk."

Wu Xingcheng, who was usually quite composed, gasped in shock upon seeing the red figure leaping from the carriage. He stood frozen in place, unable to move.

His tongue was tied in knots as he stammered, "Miss Su, Miss Su, you've come too! Good, it's been a long time."

Su Hua: "???"

Although she had a very shallow impression of Wu Xingcheng, she vaguely remembered that he was an eloquent person.

Now that he's blushing and speechless, could it be that he feels guilty in front of me?

When Wu Xingcheng saw the girl looking at him, his tongue became even more useless. "Young Master Qin, please. Miss Su, please come in..."

He wanted to walk ahead and lead the way for the two, but as soon as he took a step, he seemed to be walking in sync.

He hadn't taken two steps when his left foot stepped on his right foot, and he fell to the ground with a thud.

Qin Yucheng reached out to help, but before he could, his hands were frozen in mid-air.

Su Hua's almond-shaped eyes widened in surprise, "!!!"

This doesn't seem like someone who could meticulously plan and utilize Black Wind Stronghold.