Upon hearing his words, Xiao Qingyin was utterly bewildered.

Accompanying someone in the room?

What kind of roommate?

Is it the maid she knows?

How could a high-ranking official like the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review have to serve as her servant?

What merit does she possess?

"You want to resign from your official post and become my steward?"

Bai Yanzhang shook his head: "I won't leave the Dali Temple, but I can run errands for you in my spare time."

Xiao Qingyin: "..."

Did Yi Shuihan reduce the salaries of officials?

Otherwise, why would Lord Shaoqing have started looking for a side job?

Unfortunately, she had plenty of manpower and didn't need to run errands.

"I don't need to run errands for you, you can ask around elsewhere."

Bai Yanzhang pursed his thin lips slightly.

"Can you accept having your roommate stay overnight outside the house?"

Xiao Qingyin didn't understand what he meant.

"What do you mean by 'accompanying someone to stay overnight'?"

"It means letting Wenjun live outside."

Xiao Qingyin suddenly realized.

This person went through all this trouble, only to find out he just wanted to be with Wenjun.

She was both amused and exasperated.

“Wenjun is not my servant, she just helps me with my work. She can stay wherever she wants.”

Bai Yanzhang had already guessed this, but only now did he feel relieved.

As he had expected, Wenjun was indeed a free woman.

But she was stubborn and determined to stay by Xiao Qingyin's side and serve her.

Since Xiao Qingyin doesn't restrict her daily life, she can marry him, live in the Bai residence, and work for Xiao Qingyin just like he does when he goes to the Dali Temple to handle cases.

Wouldn't that be the best of both worlds?

He quickly thanked Xiao Qingyin and went to find Qin Wenjun.

“Wenjun, your daughter said you can live wherever you want. Marrying me won’t affect your ability to serve her.”

Qin Wenjun's eyes widened: "What did you say to our young lady?!"

Bai Yanzhang told Xiao Qingyin everything about his conversation.

Qin Wenjun was so angry that she wanted to hit him with a feather duster.

"Who told you to go looking for our girl? I never said I wanted to marry you. Get the hell out of here."

Bai Yanzhang glanced at her sideways: "Long-term separation between husband and wife will affect the children."

Qin Wenjun: "???"

Who's married to him!

She sneered, "Don't worry, I'll find a guard to marry as soon as possible so he can be a maid for the young lady. At that time, Tianci's parents will be by his side, so you don't need to worry about him being affected."

Bai Yanzhang: "..."

Does she dislike him so much that she'd rather marry anyone else than marry her?

It seems she doesn't respond well to gentle persuasion.

Maybe he should be more assertive?

Just as I was thinking this, I heard Qin Wenjun say, "Stop talking nonsense and hurry up and find the mastermind behind the murder of Tianci."

"Okay, I'll go find it right away."

Bai Yanzhang readily accepted good advice.

Pressuring them too much isn't good either. Let's give her a break for now and first find out who's been causing trouble for this family of three.

Although there are many people in the capital, there are not many street vendors selling candied hawthorns.

In just half a day, he found out the vendor's name, address, and number of family members.

However, the other party had already fled.

Fortunately, he didn't escape alone; he took his lover with him.

That lover wasn't a peaceful person; he caused a lot of trouble on the road and left his mark.

It was found right away.

According to the vendor, someone slipped him a note, a handkerchief, and fifty taels of silver, promising to give him another one hundred taels after the deed was done.

His lover happened to offend the mistress of the house, and the mistress found a matchmaker to sell him off.

The matchmaker asked for one hundred taels.

He was penniless, but in order to buy his mistress, he took the risk and accepted the deal.

After the matter was settled, the other party secretly slipped over another hundred taels of silver.

He then left the capital with his lover.

This modus operandi felt very familiar to Bai Yanzhang.

That scoundrel who impersonated Tianci's father on the street last time was also bribed in the same way.

He interrogated the hooligan and the peddler in turn, and found a mutual acquaintance—the matchmaker who had sold her lover to the peddler.

When the matchmaker was summoned to the Dali Temple, she turned pale with fright.

According to her confession, a girl who looked like a maid from a wealthy family came to her to inquire about people in the marketplace, and hooligans and peddlers were on the list she provided.

"Your Honor, please understand! I truly do not know why she inquired about these people. I only wanted the one tael of silver she offered."

Bai Yanzhang and Qin Wenjun discussed the matter of the scoundrel last time; it was probably Meng Qi who did it.

The maid the matchmaker mentioned must be someone close to Meng Qi.

He had someone draw portraits of Meng Qi's maids, and after showing them to the matchmaker, she pointed to a maid with an oval face and said, "That's her."

Bai Yanzhang immediately issued an arrest warrant and arrested the maid and Meng Qi.

Minister Meng was extremely shocked.

They came to his door, demanding that he let Meng Qi go.

They said that all these things were done by the maid on her own initiative to vent Meng Qi's anger, and that she was a wicked servant who harmed her master.

Bai Yanzhang remained unmoved.

The fact that Meng Qi would treat even a five-year-old child so cruelly is enough to show how utterly depraved she is.

He would never make an exception for such a person.

After the case was handed over to the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, Meng Qi was sentenced to exile.

Unable to endure the arduous journey, Meng Qi committed suicide in prison the day before he was to set off.

Madam Meng fell ill after receiving the news.

Mengzhu was heartbroken and uneasy, never expecting her elder sister to do such a thing.

Fearing that Xiao Qingyin might refuse to teach her medical skills because of her elder sister's plot to harm those around her.

Studying medicine is the best way out she can think of. If this path is blocked, what hope will she have for the rest of her life?

She hesitated for two days before finally mustering the courage to go find Xiao Qingyin.

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