Chapter 34 Chapter 34 Duan Wenpei, are you very proud?

Liu Hui gave the things that Madam Hou had sent last night to the maids, and then had someone bring the novice monk in.

He was a very handsome young man.

Even through the beaded curtain, Nan Xu still recognized him following the abbot at the Big Buddha Temple.

The novice monk put his hands together and performed a Buddhist salute, waiting for Nan Xu to ask questions.

Buddhists cannot be neglected, so Nan Xu put on a plain silk hairpin and asked the maids to help her out of the inner room.

"Thank you for bringing Master here. Ah Xu, I'm sorry for being so rude. I really have something to ask you. I hope Master will forgive me."

The novice monk lowered his eyebrows and recited a Buddhist saying, "The Buddha said that all beings are equal. When it comes to human life, I don't deserve your forgiveness. This is also my merit."

After getting the approval, Nan Xu stopped beating around the bush and told him what happened yesterday, and asked the monk if he had seen Yu Ming in the backyard.

The novice monk thought for a moment and said that he happened to meet Yu Ming asking for directions. Because he recognized her as the maidservant of the uncle's wife and saw that she was anxious, he took her to the room where Duan Wenpei was resting.

"The abbot instructed that no one in the temple should disturb the donors' resting places. So, I just walked to the flowerbed outside the wing room and pointed out the location to Donor Yu. Then I returned to the main hall. I don't remember much of what happened next."

In other words, no one knew who had entered the middle room and what had happened.

Nan Xu pondered for a moment and asked the monk to think again whether he had met anyone on the way back, so as to at least give a new clue.

The novice monk thought about it, shook his head and said that he had not met anyone.

Nan Xu's eager anticipation gradually cooled. She leaned back, touching the wound on her foot, and frowned slightly.

"Thank you, Master. Please have a vegetarian meal before leaving."

When Liu Hui saw Nan Xu had finished his questions, he had the novice monk escorted out. The novice monk seemed lost in thought when he heard the word "vegetarian food." Just as he was about to step out of the room, he stepped back and said, "I remember something. The other day, two donors came to the front hall to burn incense and said they wanted to try the temple's vegetarian food. They don't usually offer vegetarian food, but because they've been here many times, the temple felt they were thoughtful and agreed to their request. The vegetarian food place is on the west side of the backyard. If you want to get there, you have to go through the yard. Perhaps they know something."

Apart from them, there were no other dignitaries entering or leaving the Big Buddha Temple that day. Why were these two people mentioned alone?

Nan Xu leaned forward and asked, "Master, do you think there's something wrong with these two?"

The novice monk smiled, put his hands together and said "Amitabha".

"Monks don't lie, but these two aren't exactly good people. I heard outside that they specialize in selling drugs that can cause muteness and other illicit goods. In their early years, they also engaged in some petty thefts, but they've stopped in recent years and turned to Buddhism. Since Madam is asking,

This also concerns the life of the benefactor Yu, so I dare not conceal it."

He spoke sincerely and solemnly, as if the Buddha's light of the Big Buddha Temple was shining brightly behind him, and it was like a calming force injected into the heart, rekindling hope in people's hearts.

Nan Xu stood up on one leg and returned the Buddhist salute.

"Master, be merciful."

*

Yuxiang fed Yuming the ginseng soup. When he heard that the person who had seen Yuming in the Big Buddha Temple yesterday had been found, he hurried over. However, the novice monk was no longer in the flower hall. Only two or three maids were sweeping the floor.

Yuxiang turned around to look for Nanxu, but found nothing in the inner room. On the way, he happened to meet Nanny Jiang and learned that Nanxu was practicing archery in the garden.

Nanny Jiang's eyes widened as she rushed to the garden. Even if it cost her own life, she would persuade Nan Xu to come back and recuperate.

But before she could finish her words, they were stuck in her throat.

The man who was shooting arrows at Nanxu under the shade of the tree was none other than his own son-in-law.

Nanny Jiang was so happy to see this that she stopped Yuxiang who was about to go over and told her not to disturb the couple.

"Hey... Ma'am, I want to ask about Yuming..."

Nanny Jiang's dry hands clenched tightly, and a cold look flashed in her slightly cloudy eyes.

On the other side, the two archers did not notice the movement here.

Nan Xu stared straight at the target in front of him, but his mind was not on the target.

A warm breath blew on the back of her neck, adding another wave of heat to the already hot weather. She shrank her neck calmly, but was forcefully pulled back by the person behind her.

She gritted her teeth, feeling angry.

“Look at the bull’s eye, look carefully.”

Nanxu tilted her head and looked at the flowers and plants beside her.

"Keep your hands straight, your waist tight, your eyes level, and imagine yourself as the arrow." Because of Nan Xu's sudden inspiration, Chunya had someone add a small stool with a cotton pad under her injured foot for her to rest her foot.

Hearing this, Nan Xu lowered her head and looked at the small stool at her feet. She seemed to be interested as she looked at it. She stretched her head and called Chunya over, "Chunya, the pattern of this cotton cushion is quite beautiful, but the color is too bright. It's glaring in the sun. Why don't you change it?"

She spoke happily, as if the man behind her didn't exist. Although Chunya was smart, she had never seen Duan Wenpei in action. She had only heard of his reputation as a vicious villain. Seeing that her brother-in-law's face was getting darker and darker, Chunya hurriedly said yes and went back to work.

Nan Xu was a little dumbfounded.

Two inexplicable laughs came from behind me, not loud, but extremely harsh.

Nan Xu could tell that he was making fun of her, so she didn't argue with him. She gave him a fake smile from the side and suddenly bent her elbow to bump into him. This bump was no joke, and she used a lot of strength.

"I told you not to laugh at me!"

Nan Xu was talking without slowing down his hands at all. Just as he was about to hit the little stool, the little stool tilted for some reason, and without support on its feet, it fell straight back.

She exclaimed and came into close contact with the grass.

The moment she fell to the ground, a thought flashed through her mind: Duan Wenpei did not catch her!

hateful!

"Why did Madam fall down out of nowhere?"

Above her head was Duan Wenpei's face turned upside down. He actually asked her with a puzzled look on his face, and his indifferent eyes were full of ridicule.

She laughed out of anger, and the anger hidden in her heart was aroused by his few words.

"Duan Wenpei, are you very proud?"

There was a pergola under the shade of the tree, and underneath it was a soft couch for people to rest on. Duan Wenpei lifted up his skirt and leaned on the couch, and asked her coldly, "What am I proud of?"

The medicine from the Imperial Hospital was indeed good. Nan Xu's foot had gotten much better. Seeing that he had no intention of helping her, she didn't restrain herself and simply sat up with her arms, leaning against a nearby tree trunk and sitting cross-legged on the ground.

"Humph, of course you're proud of yourself. You used Ruizhu and me as bait to hook a fish as big as Zhao Huaijue. The mastermind behind the assassination has been found, and I'm afraid the clues to the armory theft have also been found!" She spread her hands towards him and said, "My Lord, using women as bait doesn't show your ability very well."

The dark brown trunk looked very ancient after years of baptism. Some of the roots under his feet were arched and half extended. Nan Xu was leaning against the roots, as if sitting in an armchair.

She didn't wear much makeup today, just a light layer of powder, her fair skin was tinged with red, and the few strands of hair hanging down from her temples fluttered playfully up and down.

Duan Wenpei was stunned for a moment.

"I was right, wasn't I? Wei Yangbo!" Nan Xu saw that he was lost in thought and thought that she had guessed what he was thinking, feeling a little proud.

She raised her head, as if responding to his laughter.

Duan Wenpei curled his lips, his eyes filled with a soft light that he himself didn't even notice. He poured a cup of tea and slowly put it to his lips to taste it.

Nan Xu was so angry that she wanted to bite him.

Just pretend! Let's see how long you can keep pretending.

Nan Xu snorted coldly, folded her arms across her chest, and waited to see how he would respond.

But someone didn't respond to her.

"Your archery skills are terrible. Didn't your father-in-law find you a better archery master?"

"Or... I heard that the late emperor even sent the best archery instructors from the Imperial Guards to teach you specifically. Madam... does this count as a successful study?"

He pointed at the scattered arrows around the target and said something with hidden meaning.

Just when Nan Xu thought she had the upper hand, she was beaten back to her original form.

She looked at the bow and arrow at her hand and really wanted to shoot him with an arrow. It was just that she had no talent in this area.

She naturally would not be questioned in vain, and her archery instruction back then was indeed quite good.

She retorted to Duan Wenpei, "Whether the archery is good or not, hasn't your uncle experienced it a long time ago? Could it be that your uncle has forgotten the pain now that the wound has healed?" After saying that, she pointed to the shoulder blade, reminding him not to forget the arrow shot at Tianxiang Tower.

Nan Xu felt no guilt at all about exposing someone's scars. She spoke as if it was a matter of course and even gave him a provocative smile.

Duan Wenpei felt a tingling sensation in his heart when he saw his smile, and the teacup in his hand lost its flavor.

"Madam, that was a stroke of luck. If you were truly good at archery, you should have shot the arrow in the cave into Zhao Huaijue's heart. Then, everything would have been resolved."

Nan Xu was stunned, thinking she had heard wrongly.

When she saw his smile fade and there was no trace of joking on his face, she realized that he was talking to her seriously.

She suddenly felt something sink in her heart. "Duan Wenpei, you're not going to say that all of this is because I didn't shoot Zhao Huaijue to death, are you?"

As soon as she said this, the anger in her heart could no longer be suppressed.

"Duan Wenpei, what's the relationship between Zhao Huaijue and me? What's the relationship between Ruizhu and him? Yes, I know Ruizhu has feelings for him, but so what? If it weren't for the imperial decree granting the marriage, perhaps Zhao Huaijue would have been just a man in Ruizhu's life that she could remember. But because of you, because of the old things in your Zhao family, he wanted to kill you, so he used Ruizhu to trick you into meeting him, and he didn't hesitate to use my life and Ruizhu's life to kill you. Duan Wenpei, shouldn't you say sorry?"

Duan Wenpei's expression became a little strange as he listened, as if he hadn't expected Nan Xu to understand him so well. He put down his teacup and was eager to explain, "Ah Xu, you're wrong. I was just using this incident to tell you that archery skills are very important. Sometimes they can save your life..."

Nan Xu couldn't listen any more. She didn't want to see Duan Wenpei's face right now. She struggled to her feet and tiptoed out. "Of course, if I were a good archer, I could not only kill Zhao Huaijue with one arrow, but I could also kill you with one arrow in Tianxiang Tower."

Because she was angry, she walked a little faster despite the injury on her foot, but no matter how fast she walked, she could never be faster than Duan Wenpei.

Duan Wenpei took two steps at a time, trying to hold her back. "Ah Xu, listen to me."

'Snap'

Nan Xu swung her hand back and hit him in the face.