Chapter 68 Only then did he slowly loosen his grip…

Only then did he slowly release his grip.

The attendant he had grabbed was nearly strangled, but he quickly slipped away as if he had been saved, breathing in the fresh air.

The strong young man in front of her, dressed in a close-fitting outfit, was none other than Ji Jiayu, the son of the Imperial Censor Ji, who had proposed to Wei Yin before Wei Yin married He Wenqing.

On the day Wei's father arrived in the desolate state, he mentioned him to Wei's wife.

After a moment of disbelief, Ji Jiayu still couldn't believe it. "But I did see a child, a boy, about eight or nine years old, with delicate features. He was wearing an extremely large white linen robe, several sizes too big for him. I bumped into him in the city of Huangzhou. I was wondering why this child was wandering around outside dressed like that in the middle of the night. So I followed him all the way here, but I couldn't keep up with him until we got here. He disappeared in this garden."

"Fine linen clothing".

Lu Hun, who was standing far away in the corner, suddenly murmured softly. His fingers, which were hanging at his sides, trembled violently as if in a spasm, but it was only for a moment. Everyone was focused on listening to Ji Jiayu speak and did not notice his momentary unease.

If Ji Jiayu had misjudged and was talking nonsense, she probably wouldn't have been able to describe the color and type of clothes the child was wearing.

This made Wei's father somewhat suspicious, and he instructed his attendants, "Search the entire house carefully again to see if a child has really come in."

The attendant had no choice but to search everywhere again as instructed, even looking for places where rats might hide. When he returned, he shook his head at Wei's father.

“Lord Wei, if a child really did come in, we were all at the garden gate at that time, so we would have seen him no matter what. Even though we heard this young master Ji’s voice coming later, we left someone at the gate to keep watch just in case. We would never let that child take the opportunity to slip away.”

Seeing that he had explained it so carefully, Ji Jiayu was a little confused herself. "Uncle Wei, could it be that I'm seeing things? Now that you mention it, I feel a little dizzy. I've been traveling all day and haven't eaten yet."

Standing beside her father, Wei Yin couldn't help but smile as she watched the young master Ji remain as unreliable as ever. Ji Jiayu lowered his head in shame, not daring to look at her.

Mr. Wei seemed to quite like Ji Jiayu's personality, and said nonchalantly, "It just so happens that Elder Pei has hosted a banquet tonight, why don't you go and have some with him?"

Ji Jiayu quickly had a servant raise the lantern, tidied his clothes, and then cupped his hands, saying, "Thank you, Uncle Wei. I'm sorry you had to see this."

Ji Jiayu was a bit muddle-headed, but he was still a well-mannered son of an official. Although he was starving, he didn't rush to the banquet immediately. Instead, he asked his father, Wei, to lead him to pay his respects to Elder Pei. Elder Pei had gone to bed and was too lazy to get up, so he didn't see him. Therefore, Ji Jiayu greeted him from outside the door and apologized to Elder Pei for the commotion he had caused. Only after Elder Pei agreed not to pursue the matter did he return to the dining hall.

Ji Jiayu sat to the left of Wei's father, while Wei Yin and Lu Hun sat to the right of Wei's father.

Fortunately, the banquet dishes had not yet been removed, but they had already been eaten. Ji Jiayu had a big appetite, so Wei's father had two more dishes served to him.

While Ji Jiayu and Wei's father were having dinner together, Wei Yin noticed that Lu Hun's expression was different from usual. He was very silent, but unlike his usual taciturn silence, he was frowning and thinking about something, so silent that he almost forgot everything around him.

Wei Yin noticed that his hands were absentmindedly rubbing his cuffs, making them wrinkled.

She asked in confusion, "Lu Hun, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

Lu Hun seemed to have suddenly come to his senses, looked up at her, and then shook his head.

Wei Yin paused for a moment, then laughed, "Do you remember that Young Master Ji? He used to come to the school for a couple of days as an adjunct student."

Lu Hun glanced in Ji Jiayu's direction and nodded. "I remember, Young Master Ji is the only son of Imperial Censor Ji, and he has always been personally taught by Imperial Censor Ji. The two days he came to the school were because he wanted to ask his sister for her hand in marriage, so he coaxed Imperial Censor Ji by saying that he was coming to the Wei family to study hard. However, after only two days, Imperial Censor Ji found out and beat him up, forbidding him from coming to the school to cause trouble again."

Wei Yin: "I didn't expect you to remember so clearly..."

“Someone came to propose to my sister.” Lu Hun looked at her and replied slowly, “How could I not remember?”

His tone remained calm as always, without any fluctuations, but Wei Yin suddenly felt that she could detect a hint of sullenness in his last sentence.

It was from Ji Jiayu's conversation with Wei's father that we learned why Ji Jiayu had appeared in the desolate state.

It turned out that after Ji Jiayu obtained his official title, he quickly took up his post. Not long after he took up his post, a case occurred in his office. Apparently, someone accidentally dug up a pair of skeletons in a secluded place in the capital. They were a boy and a girl. According to the coroner's examination, they had been dead for at least seven or eight years. Although they were murdered, what was unbelievable was that the two children's bodies had clearly been severely violated before they were alive.

After a series of investigations, Ji Jiayu recently discovered a clue: the children were from Huangzhou. So, after Wei's father arrived in Huangzhou, he also came to investigate. What happened next was just as he had said in the garden.

After arriving in Huangzhou, Ji Jiayu intended to rest at an inn first, but she bumped into a boy. Feeling uneasy, she followed the boy to the vicinity of the Wen family's old residence.

Ji Jiayu didn't reveal too much, only giving a brief overview of the case. When Ji Jiayu talked about the case, Lu Hun seemed even more silent, his face appearing paler than usual.

Finally, Lu Hun stood up and said to Wei's father and sister, "Lord Wei, sister, I'm going back to my room now."

Before even Wei's father could nod after he finished speaking, he turned and strode away, his face showing that he could no longer contain himself.

Mr. Wei was taken aback as he watched his usually well-mannered and obedient son suddenly leave.

Wei Yin hesitated for a moment, then stood up as well. "Father, he may be in pain from his wound. I'll go check on him."

Mr. Wei waved his hand generously in acknowledgment.

Now that Ji Jiayu had eaten and drunk his fill, he finally noticed the presence of the young man, Lu Hun. He noticed that the young man's face was too pale to be considered alive, and he seemed to be living under a gloomy aura. Although he was not very reliable, he was used to solving cases and felt that this young man seemed a bit abnormal. He became a little suspicious and asked Wei's father without making a sound.

"Uncle Wei, who was that just now...?"

"Oh," Wei's father replied casually, "You should ask Yin'er about that."

Ji Jiayu's mind raced. "Last time I heard you say that Yin'er wanted to divorce He Wenqing, that's why you rushed to Huangzhou to see him and Yin'er... Could it be that he's the one who made Yin'er divorce He Wenqing... her lover?"

Father Wei coughed twice. “Why do you still speak so carelessly? What do you mean by ‘lover’? If word gets out, it will ruin my son-in-law’s reputation. He’s just a child who is close to him.”

Ji Jiayu recalled the scene of Wei Yin and Lu Hun quietly getting close to talk earlier, and her lips twitched. This didn't seem like "just a little close". Wei's father had always doted on Wei Yin, and he could make up such a lie without batting an eye.

Wei's father saw through his thoughts at a glance. "Jiayu, you don't need to worry about what's wrong with that child. I know him very well. If you really want to know what he is, you might scare yourself."

Ji Jiayu became even more interested.

What was said on one side of the dining room did not reach the other side.

After returning to his room, Lu Hun didn't even light a candle. He just sat blankly on the edge of the bed, lost in thought.

The house was too big, and Old Master Pei had few servants, so no one would come to add candles for him. This gave Lu Hun a quiet time to be lost in thought.

His face was very pale, his lips were pale, and his fingers, which were hidden in his sleeves and now resting on his legs, began to spasm again.

Lu Hun weakly closed his eyes, as if something painful was floating before his eyes, and he was trying his best to suppress this pain. After a long time, he opened his eyes again, his eyes filled with deep sorrow.

It seemed several times more gloomy than ever before.

Wei Yin appeared at this moment.

She brought a food box over and, seeing that there were no candles in the room, assumed that Lu Hun had not yet returned to his room. Just as she was about to go out and ask the servants, Lu Hun called out to her in time.

Wei Yin frowned. "Why didn't you light the lamp? I thought you weren't here."

"It's dark in the room, so stay still. I'll light a candle before you come over." Lu Hun didn't reply to her, but got up to get a tinderbox to light the lamp. Only after the lamp was lit did he let Wei Yin move.

At this moment, Lu Hun had completely concealed his deep sorrow and gloom, leaving no trace of it. Wei Yin looked at him closely and saw that apart from being a little paler than usual, he seemed normal. So she asked curiously, "What happened to you just now? Why did you look like that? Were you really feeling unwell?"

Lu Hun nodded.

Wei Yin was relieved. "You didn't eat anything at the banquet, so I brought you some food. Please have some. I still need to go see my father."

Lu Hun obediently took the food box from her hand. "This house is big, there aren't many people around, and it's dark at night. I'll have Po Jun take you there."

He shouted, "Po Jun!"

No response.

Wei Yin said, "Po Jun has probably fallen asleep somewhere again. I'll go there myself. There are always attendants patrolling the mansion, so there won't be any danger."

"Okay." Lu Hun had no choice but to say, "I'll go get you a lamp."

And Po Jun, who was supposedly playing somewhere and fell asleep, was indeed peeking around on the eaves of the house, flying back and forth. Occasionally, it would see the patrolling attendants and deliberately use the tip of its sword to pick off some broken tiles from the eaves, which would fall behind the attendants. This frightened several of the more timid attendants so much that they turned pale and were scolded by their leader for it.

However, after playing around for a while, it got bored and turned its sword around, preparing to find a comfortable place to sleep all night.

I found a nice large cave formed by the rocks in the garden, just the right size to hold the entire blade of the sword, and it was filled with a thick pile of soft ginkgo leaves.

Po Jun raised his sword and was about to turn his head inside when he suddenly saw a small white figure sitting with his back to him at the other end of the cave. Both Po Jun and the small white figure inside were startled and quickly ran away with their backs to each other.