Chapter 128 Were you bribed, Lord Bai?
When Bai Xiuming arrived at Changpingfang, the snow had already stopped.
Some of the snow in front of the incense shop had been shoveled away, leaving a thin layer. Scattered footprints and tire tracks were faintly visible on the ground.
His gaze swept past the marks, he pushed open the shop door, and stepped inside.
As soon as he entered, Bai Xiuming felt a warmth. He turned his head and saw Achan sitting in a chair, dozing off. There was a charcoal stove for warmth next to her, and she was holding a hand warmer in her arms. A faint fragrance of plum blossoms wafted from the hand warmer.
Bai Xiuming walked in without waking her.
He didn't wake Ah Chan, but walked to the chair next to her, sat down, poured himself a glass of water, and then picked up the hazelnuts on the plate and began to crush them one by one.
Achan was awakened by a series of clicking sounds. She tightened the hand warmer in her arms, turned her head, and saw someone sitting next to her, which startled her so much that she was no longer sleepy.
When she looked closely, she realized it was Bai Xiuming.
"Why are you here?" As her heartbeat gradually subsided, Achan yawned, her voice lazy.
"Why can't I come?"
"Isn't today a birthday banquet..." Achan's words were cut short by the other person's ambiguous smile.
Bai Xiuming put the shelled hazelnuts back on the plate and pushed them to her side: "You know that today is the Emperor's birthday banquet."
Ah Chan blinked: "It's not a secret, everyone on the street knows."
Bai Xiuming spoke slowly and deliberately: "But in the entire street, you must be the only one who knows what happened at the birthday banquet, right?"
Of course not, Hui Niang knew that too. A Chan muttered to herself, then feigned surprise: "Huh, did something happen at the birthday banquet?"
Bai Xiuming remained silent, simply gazing at her.
His dark eyes were deep, and instead of an eagerness to know the truth, they held a burning intensity.
Achan's fingers scratched haphazardly on the hand warmer, and she inexplicably felt her heartbeat become a little erratic.
"At the birthday banquet, Princess Xin'an's face suddenly fell," Bai Xiuming said.
His gaze remained fixed on her. For the first time, Achan felt uncomfortable under the watchful eyes of others. She should have shown surprise, but she failed to react in time.
She subtly looked away from him, pretending to be nonchalant, and said, "Why would a perfectly fine person suddenly become so displeased?"
"Perhaps it's because someone used some kind of magical powder that caused her face to fall off?"
"What kind of perfume powder is so powerful?"
"I'd also like to know, so I came here specifically to ask for your advice."
Achan immediately turned her head back, looking wronged: "Don't slander me for no reason. I have always been law-abiding and have never done anything bad."
Then she saw Bai Xiuming smile.
It wasn't a forced smile; he seemed genuinely amused by her words.
"You really don't intend to teach me?" His words lacked the usual probing; instead, they were direct, waiting for her response.
A Chan's eyes held a hint of hesitation. She never doubted Bai Xiuming's keenness; he knew perfectly well what she had done, but he had never been able to find any fault with her.
That's not quite accurate enough; it should be said that he didn't intend to get to the bottom of it.
The only thing Bai Xiuming ever investigated about her was whether her body had been possessed.
His suspicions were also correct, but unfortunately, all the methods he used were merely to verify her identity. Only this matter was his true bottom line.
In other matters, his bottom line is quite lenient. Not only that, he's also very easy to appease.
Ah Chan knew this, which is why she dared to cross his bottom line.
Before, they were only familiar with each other's true nature, but now, their relationship should be more than just acquaintances? Ah Chan wondered, perhaps she could trust him a little bit more?
Seeing Ah Chan's expression shift between hesitation and seriousness, Bai Xiuming found it amusing and asked, "So troubled?"
“I’m your savior,” she suddenly said.
Bai Xiuming was taken aback at first, then nodded: "Of course."
“Logically speaking, even if I asked you to repay me with your body, you couldn’t refuse me.” Achan’s expression grew increasingly serious.
Bai Xiuming raised an eyebrow, not denying it.
"If you dare to suddenly turn your back on me..."
Seeing that she had spent so much time building up before finally getting to the point, Bai Xiuming couldn't help but smile: "I wouldn't dare."
"Really?" Her almond-shaped eyes were filled with doubt.
"What kind of guarantee do you want?" Bai Xiuming asked. "How about I offer myself to you first, and then you can talk?"
"Dream on!"
Achan rolled her eyes at him and then beckoned to him with her finger.
Bai Xiuming leaned forward slightly and heard Achan say, "After the black flint is crushed and calcined, it is soaked in mermaid oil and processed. With the addition of a little sand pear tree sap, it can be used to air-dry corpses."
Seeing him turn his head to look at her, Achan said with a smug look, "Of course, it can also be used to dry your face, and the effect is particularly good."
Now that she had already said it, she became even more assertive and confident: "When you came last time, I already said I would teach you, but why didn't you learn?"
Bai Xiuming thought back and realized that she had indeed said she would teach him.
In front of Achan, his attitude of admitting his mistakes was always good: "It really was my fault."
"Good to know."
"Why get involved in this? Did that fake county magistrate offend you?" This was the most plausible reason Bai Xiuming could think of.
"No, I was just helping out when I saw injustice on the road."
"Really?" He was skeptical.
"Of course." Achan looked at me with an expression that said, "How could you doubt me?"
"So, on which road did you encounter this injustice? Was it the road we took from Jiaozhou back to Shangjing?"
This person is incredibly perceptive. Instead of telling him, Achan asked with great interest, "What did you find out?"
“I found the ghost opera troupe.” Bai Xiuming didn’t hide anything. “I heard that there is a master named Yu in the ghost opera troupe. He doesn’t wear a mask when he performs. Instead, he uses a family-inherited ghost mask. The ghost mask seems to grow on his face. It’s very magical. I happen to remember that you listened to ghost opera when you were in Jiaozhou. You seemed to like it very much.”
"You're investigating this case far too hastily. You suspect someone just because I might have had contact with them? Where's the evidence?"
“The Mingjing Division can handle cases without evidence.”
"A corrupt official!"
"So, I checked correctly?" Bai Xiuming was not fooled at all.
Achan did not deny it: "You really doubt her based on just this?"
"One reason is that she has suspicious points, which makes her worthy of suspicion."
Ah Chan pouted, thankfully she had the foresight.
She casually picked up a few hazelnuts from the plate beside her, put them in her mouth and chewed them; they were delicious.
"What else did you suspect?" she asked.
Bai Xiuming snatched a hazelnut from her hand and said, "I also suspect that Feng Yang might not be able to see her at the Ghost Opera Troupe, don't you think?"
"How would I know? Her legs aren't attached to my body."
Although Achan told Bai Xiuming the truth, she would never reveal Yu Dajia's whereabouts.
Bai Xiuming poured her a glass of water and said calmly, "It's snowing heavily today, but Chen Hui isn't in the shop. She left in her carriage; did she go outside the city?"
"It's almost the end of the year, and the farm is slaughtering chickens and sheep. Hui Niang has gone to get the meat."
Bai Xiuming remained noncommittal and continued, "Today is His Majesty's birthday. If such a thing happens at the birthday banquet, the Mingjing Division will definitely intervene to investigate. If she doesn't want to implicate others, leaving the capital as quickly as possible is a good idea."
Achan remained calm and listened to him continue.
“You avenged her, she must be very grateful to you. She should at least say goodbye before leaving, and coincidentally, a carriage is about to leave the city. Of course, it's also possible that she was leaving, and that's why the carriage was planning to leave?” He looked at Achan, “Am I right?”
Achan didn't answer him, but said, "Why do you insist on knowing her whereabouts? Maybe she just doesn't want you to find her. In fact, she's the victim. Shouldn't you be investigating who harmed her?"
“I need to see her alive or dead. His Majesty needs an explanation. Now that I’ve found out she’s still alive, I can’t deceive the Emperor.”
Achan placed the hand warmer on the table, then stood up and nimbly circled behind Bai Xiuming. Sensing a fragrance of plum blossoms wafting over, Bai Xiuming lowered his eyes slightly, and a pair of delicate hands pressed against his shoulders, giving them a gentle squeeze.
It took him a while to realize that she was massaging his shoulders, and although the force was pitifully weak, the intention was indeed conveyed.
“Lord Bai,” Achan whispered in his ear, “Can’t you just stop looking? Anyway, His Majesty doesn’t know the person is still alive.”
"If she is dead, then who was the person who attacked the fake county magistrate at the birthday banquet?"
Ah Chan racked her brains to find an excuse for him: "Couldn't it be that the skin just fell off by itself after being used for a long time?"
"This answer will make His Majesty think I am incompetent."
Achan immediately became unhappy: "How did the emperor make things difficult for you?"
"It's probably because someone made things difficult for him at his birthday banquet. He gave His Majesty such a big gift, and he didn't lose his head; it's all thanks to His Majesty's mercy."
Achan reluctantly shut her mouth, pinched it hard a couple more times, and then muttered softly, "Isn't it said that His Majesty loves his people like his own children? He can definitely understand our predicament."
"Is your predicament that you first create a hole in the sky, and then try to bribe the officials handling the case?"
"So, were you bribed, Lord Bai?" Ah Chan asked in his ear, her breath sweet as orchids.
"I don't feel anything, try harder."
Ah Chan obediently squeezed it hard: "How does it feel now?"
Bai Xiuming offered a scathing critique: "The craftsmanship is mediocre."
Although her skills weren't great, that didn't stop her from having a bad temper. When bribery failed, Achan immediately turned hostile and refused to continue.
The pressure on his shoulder suddenly disappeared, and Bai Xiuming asked, "Why did you stop?"
"My hands are sore from pressing." Achan stretched out her hand for him to see. Her arm was wrapped around his neck, and from behind, it looked like Achan was hugging him.
Bai Xiuming looked at the delicate little hand reaching out from behind, raised his hand to grasp it, and gently rubbed it.
"Why didn't she choose to report it to the authorities back then?" he asked.
Ah Chan sighed: "She lost her memory years ago. When she regained it, she went to report it to the authorities, but she failed at the bloodline verification step."
Bai Xiuming frowned: "She was drugged?"
Clearly, he also knew about the medicine that could alter one's bloodline.
"Well, she had no choice. She finally came to the capital with the ghost opera troupe, hoping that the prince and princess would have some suspicions, but instead she found the whole family happy."
Bai Xiuming held her hand and turned to look at her: "You feel indignant for her?"
"Shouldn't it be like this?" Achan asked seriously. "Only when things get out of hand will everyone who wronged her receive the punishment they deserve."
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