Chapter 75 The Immortal in the Hermitage (18) Save some energy for Du Zhongcao...

Logically speaking, Chen Jia, seeing that the uncle and nephew were both cold-faced and cold-tongued, and neither of them were very attentive or warm towards him, was able to tolerate it. Under their cold gazes, he lifted his robe and sat down, fanning himself with his folding fan, his smile unchanged.

“It’s not fair to say that. What commoner or nobleman? If you trace your ancestors back, whose family hasn’t been poor? You’re being incredibly rude, young lady.” Seeing that the two of them were still standing, he closed his fan and stood up again. “My apologies, my apologies.”

Yu Qi had no choice but to sit down first, and then he also sat down, each occupying one end. When Jiu Li saw that there was no place for her to sit, she had no choice but to go back to her room.

Chen Jia, with a forced smile, asked Yu Qi, "Mr. Yu, I just saw Zhang Da rushing out. Was he going to catch the murderer?"

When Ah Liu brought the luggage, he specifically relayed Lord Yan's message, saying that this Second Master Chen was young and loved to join in the fun, and since he had come in high spirits, it wouldn't be good to let him leave disappointed. Yu Qi had no choice but to tell him, "Whether he is the murderer or not is still undetermined, but there is a nun at Qinglian Temple who is said to be staying there temporarily. Now that two deaths have occurred at Qinglian Temple, everyone who should be investigated has been investigated, but there is still no news about her. We will have to call her back to ask."

"Oh, so that's how it is." Chen Jia frowned, slowly tapping his fan in his palm. "Why do you think the murderer always has a problem with Qinglian Temple? Is there something shady going on at Qinglian Temple?"

Yu Qi's heart skipped a beat. He glanced at him with cold eyes, his dark pupils unfathomable. "In your opinion, Second Master Chen, what kind of shady dealings could be going on in this sacred Buddhist sanctuary?"

Chen Jia glanced at him sideways, unfolded his fan, and laughed, "I was just making things up and guessing wildly, don't take it seriously." He then slowly stood up, "I shouldn't disturb Mr. Yu's investigation here, I'll take my leave and go for a stroll."

Yu Qi got up and saw him to the door, his gaze following his figure further and further away, becoming more and more intense. Jiu Li came out from the next room at some point, watched Yu Qi quietly for a while, and then silently moved to his side. Just as she was about to speak, Yu Qi's expression changed, his ambiguous smile vanished, and he turned and went back into the house with a cold face.

As the sundial slanted downwards, he walked into the screen-like enclosure. Jiu Li followed him in, seeing the diamond pattern on the window reflected on his back. He wore a lake-green gauze robe, and the sunlight fell in square patches, like it was being cast into the water.

Although she liked him, she glared at him several times behind his back, thinking, "This Chen Jia doesn't seem like a good person."

Yu Qi turned and sat on the couch. "Just because he offended the deceased with his inappropriate words?"

“No, that’s not it.” Jiuli raised her hands and made a hook at the corners of her eyes. “It’s just that I feel like he smiles like a fox, with a cunning look that seems fake.”

Yu Qi glanced at her with a cold smile, "Even more fake than your Qi Xubai?"

"Stop talking bad about Xu Bai, I won't take it to heart!" Jiu Li walked up to him, raised her chin and looked down at him. "Haven't you heard that women start acting silly when they like someone?"

He looked utterly disdainful. "Ha, so you know you're being stupid?"

She turned her face away. "Then I'm willing to do it, how about that?"

Yu Qi looked up and saw her tilting her chin, looking unrepentant. He suddenly felt a sense of relief and helplessly lowered his head to pour himself a cup of tea. "You're not taking the right path. It's either me or Qi Xubai. Why do you have to jump into a fire pit?"

The moment I heard "Nine Carp," I felt he was hypocritical. Did he offer her another path? Replacing Qi Xubai with Wei Hong would have yielded the same result.

Actually, it's not necessarily true. What if he really could bear to part with her? That's why she didn't dare to use Wei Hong as a shield to gamble with him. What if he really married her off to Wei Hong? Wouldn't that be a miscalculation? Besides, Xu Bai was willing to help her find out her biological father, which was killing two birds with one stone.

She walked to the window and sat down, placing her hands on the armrests of the chair, adopting a strategizing posture. "Xu Bai is not a pit of fire. I believe he will achieve great things in the future. You said he is scheming, but does that mean a carefree young man like Chen Jia is better?"

"How do you know he's not scheming? Didn't you say he looked cunning?"

"His cunning is all over his face, how deep can his scheming be?" Jiu Li glanced at him disdainfully.

Yu Qi scoffed at her, “The purse found in Madam Gu’s room belonged to a friend of Chen Jia named Wei Xiao. Not long ago, they traveled south by boat together. Wei Xiao disembarked in Nanjing and stayed at Qinglian Temple for a few days. Chen Jia went to Wuxi on business. You tell me, why did Wei Xiao choose Qinglian Temple when he came to Nanjing to travel? There are so many beautiful places to visit. I think it’s probably because there are better views at Qinglian Temple than elsewhere.”

Jiuli circled Qinglian Temple, frowning. "There are many places in Nanjing with better scenery than here, unless—"

He took a sip of tea and smiled faintly, "Unless what?"

She stared blankly, lost in thought, her expression grave. "Unless... the women here are as alluring as those on the Qinhuai River."

"Yet it's two times more exciting than the Qinhuai River."

Jiuli didn't quite understand what he meant, so she quickly got up and sat down next to him. "Why?"

“Wei Xiao is a son of an official in the capital. What kind of woman wouldn’t he have at his fingertips? There’s only one kind of woman who transcends worldly affairs and is not involved in the mundane world.” She interrupted, “A nun in a temple!”

He nodded. “That’s right. You might as well think about those rich and powerful men. They’re probably already tired of the common women in the mortal world. The women in the temple might be more novel to them. And doing shameful things under the watchful eyes of the Bodhisattva is even more exciting.”

Jiuli cursed inwardly, but then, glancing at him, she couldn't help but think that he was also a man. "Aren't you the same?"

Yu Qi glanced at her. "Why are you dragging me into this again?"

But after observing him for over a decade, she trusted his character. However, she couldn't help but want to provoke him. So she braced herself on the edge of the bed, lowered her head, and swung her legs, saying, "You're a man too. Don't you have any of the bad traits that men have?"

Her arm brushed against his, and he had no choice but to avoid this alluring body. He got up and walked to the other side. "Fine, just treat me as an ordinary man, and you'll forget about me sooner rather than later."

Jiuli tilted her head and glanced at him, amused. "You're too confident. Haven't I already forgotten about you? What kind of stability can a girl not even twenty years old like me have? I'm still busy making hairpins and jewelry today and sewing clothes tomorrow. Once the novelty wears off in a few days, what can I not let go of?"

"You!" Yu Qici paused for a long time, then laughed angrily, "Fine, fine, then it's a blessing for you, me, and the entire Yu family!"

Jiuli bit her lip and smiled, then put her hands together in prayer. "Yu Jiuli has finally realized her mistake and returned to the right path. This is a great fortune for the Yu family. Amitabha, I will recite this Amitabha for you."

"No need!"

"This is not a good thing." She lowered her hand, glanced at him for a moment, then patted the kang table twice with a sense of relief, as if she had accomplished something great. "Alright, I'm no longer a rebellious little girl, so you don't need to worry about me anymore. Save your energy for worrying about Du Zhong."

Yu Qi's gaze sharpened. "What's wrong with him now?"

She tilted her head to that side, "I can't say, but it's enough to make you anxious and stressed. Let me remind you, you really need to take good care of yourself, so you don't end up looking like a wretched old man when you're thirty. Tsk tsk, look at your bad luck, having to raise two troublemakers. You should really reflect on whether you did something terrible in your past life."

Yu Qiren was not old yet, but he felt his eyesight was failing. He gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, clenched his fists on the table, and chanted Buddhist prayers in his heart.

Suddenly hearing footsteps, he opened his eyes and saw Du Zhong, whose face was even more ashen, his gaze as sharp as a knife as he pressed against him. "What have you done that you shouldn't have done lately?"

Du Zhong was taken aback by the question, looking at him and then at Jiu Li, "No, what can I do?"

He gave a cold laugh. "The fish have already told me."

Du Zhong immediately felt guilty, lowered his head and rolled his eyes. He thought that he hadn't done anything lately, so if Xiao Yu'er told him anything, it could only be about Xiu Zhi.

He was about to kneel down and admit his mistake when Jiu Li coughed and said, "I didn't say anything." She turned to Yu Qi, pouting, "Don't use me as a pretext to deceive people."

It turned out to be a false alarm. Du Zhong glanced gratefully at Jiu Li, his face immediately breaking into a smile. "Master, don't worry. There are advantages to being a fool. A fool like me is the most disciplined."

Yu Qi wasn't sure if Jiu Li was telling the truth or not, but Du Zhong was much more obedient than her. At most, he would just say something wrong because he was young and impetuous, but he wouldn't do anything as shocking as her.

Thinking of Jiuli again, his mind started pounding. He really didn't know what to do with her. He couldn't allow her to like him, nor could he allow her to like Xubai. When he calmed down and thought about it, he realized that he wouldn't necessarily be happy if she liked anyone else. Did he expect her to become someone's grandmother without any feelings for him?

This is too cruel for a woman; no wonder she was angry with him.

Seeing that his expression had softened slightly, Du Zhong stepped forward and said, "I just saw Huixin carrying a bundle out of the temple. I inquired and found out that Dajue Temple was holding a grand assembly and sent out invitations to nuns from Qinglian Temple who were well-versed in Buddhism. Jingzhen sent Huixin to attend."

Jiuli immediately straightened her expression and looked at Yu Qi, "Why did you send Huixin? Is it because you're afraid Huixin will say something to me again, so you deliberately sent her away?"

Yu Qi nodded slowly. "That's possible. Did anyone see her call you to speak?"

"Yes, Jueming and Jueguang were standing in front of the house at the time, and they must have seen me enter Huixin's room."

Du Zhong walked up to her again and nodded emphatically, "That's right. These two old nuns must be afraid that Huixin will reveal some secrets of the temple, so they simply lured her away. Master, they wouldn't kill her to cover it up, would they?"

Jiuli pondered and shook her head. "If they wanted to kill her to silence her, wouldn't it be easier to do it in the temple? I don't think so. They probably just wanted to get her away from them so she wouldn't get in their way."

Du Zhongyin asked, "What's wrong with them? What do they want to do?"

Yu Qi did not answer, but turned to look at Jiu Li, his gaze following the darkening of the sky.

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Author's note: Thank you for reading.