Chapter 88: Jumping into the private door
Yin Chuan and Linlang returned to their temporary residence at the Lu family residence. After carefully closing the door, he continued, "Lu Changhua's mastery of Dragon Palace Water Play, Dragon Flame Sealing Throat, and Ice Dragon Escape—the Lu family's so-called 'Lu Family Taming Three Dragons'—is the Lu family's most valuable skill. Because magic tricks have an unwritten rule of passing down skills to males but not females, he originally planned to teach them all to his youngest son, Lu Jiye. But after Lu Jiye's tragic death three years ago, the idea of passing on the skills was put aside."
"It wasn't until a few months ago when he decided to become a monk—of course, he still hasn't explained his reasons to me—that he changed his mind and decided to pass on his three unique skills to his three daughters to prevent them from being lost. Furthermore, his eldest daughter, Lü Shuixian, has already begun practicing in secret with him, and his second daughter, Shuiqing, is also aware of her father's intentions. Only Shuiling is still in the dark."
Linlang blinked, as if understanding something. "Oh—you mean, when Lü Shuixian was murdered, the first skill, 'Dragon Palace Water Playing,' was used as the murder scene; and when Lü Shuiqing died of poisoning, the flaming snake from the second skill, 'Dragon Flame Sealing Throat,' was used as the murder weapon. So, by analogy, the third skill, 'Ice Dragon Escapes,' could very well mean that Lü Shuiling would also be murdered using a prop or method related to it?"
Yin Chuan sneered, "Do you still think that this was done by the Flying Thief Feng Shijiu?"
Linlang lowered her eyes and nodded slightly. "Indeed, this is completely unlike the behavior of a habitual thief like Feng Shijiu. So what exactly is the 'Ice Dragon Escape' method? We should take precautions in advance. We can't let the Third Young Lady lose her life again."
Yin Chuan thought about it and decided to tell Linlang. He whispered to her the details of Lu Changhua's "Ice Dragon Escape" technique, and finally warned her, "It's best not to let anyone else know about this unique technique. We just need to know it among ourselves. Otherwise, if Lu Changhua turns against us, it will be difficult for us to continue our investigation, and we'll lose any clues about the organization."
"I understand. But isn't he afraid that his only remaining daughter will be murdered again? Is the inheritance of their Lu family's unique skills more important than the lives of his own flesh and blood?"
"I've clearly explained the pros and cons to him, but I can see he's still a little skeptical. So we both need to be extra vigilant." Yin Chuan said, "By the way, when I came out, I saw you talking to Madam Gao. What information did you get from her?"
Linlang recounted to Yin Chuan all the information she had gathered from Gao, word for word, and then angrily said, "The Lu family is so patriarchal. Whether it's finding husbands for their three daughters or considering the contrasting attitudes towards Lu Jiye and the murder of their eldest and second daughters, it makes me feel very uncomfortable. Now they only have one little daughter left, and even so, Lu Changhua still doesn't seem to care about her safety at all. He only cares about the inheritance of their three unique skills. I really can't understand it!"
"Yes, it's a new era now, but those old ideas are still deeply rooted in the minds of these people." Yin Chuan sighed, "But from what Gao said, I noticed a detail. It seems that the marriages of the eldest daughter Shuixian and the second daughter Shuiqing were both interfered with by the uncle Lu Tai of the Lu family. This makes me a little puzzled. Don't forget, Lu Tai is mute and has difficulty communicating with others. How did he interfere with the marriages of these two young ladies?"
"After all, he has a son, Lu Enting, who can help him. This is not surprising." Linlang explained.
"Hmm... that's what they say."
"Although the third lady Lu Shuiling's marriage did not involve the interference of her uncle, it is still too abrupt for Yu Jintang to fall from a teacher in a girls' school to the lowest-ranking son-in-law in the Lu family." Linlang continued.
Yin Chuan remained silent. He always felt that the Third Young Lady's marriage to a son-in-law was not as simple as it seemed. Perhaps Lu Tai's failure to intervene was another trick.
"There's another thing. One of Uncle Lu Tai's most talented students, Jin Gui, seems to have had a secret crush on Lu Shuixian, the eldest daughter of the Lu family."
Linlang was a little surprised. "Oh? There's such gossip? Who told you that?"
"No one needs to tell me that after Lü Shuixian was murdered, Jin Gui was more emotional than his eldest son-in-law, Hai Yifan, in both his attitude and behavior. However, after experiencing Lü Shuiqing's murder again, he became much more indifferent. Doesn't this explain something?"
"Oh, right. Now that I remember, I remember the two of us went to ask Lü Shuiling and Yu Jintang about it. When we mentioned Jin Gui, Lü Shuiling hesitated, saying that his problem was more serious than Hai Yifan's, and then changed the subject. Was she implying that Jin Gui and the eldest lady were having an affair?"
Yin Chuan thought for a moment, then said, "No, I don't think she was referring to Jin Gui's private life. She brought up Jin Gui because I asked who had the highest level of skill in the magic troupe besides Lü Changhua. Judging from the relationship between the question and the answer, what she meant by 'more serious problems' must mean that Jin Gui has serious problems with her skills."
"Studying skills? What could be the problem?"
"Don't you think it's strange that Lü Changhua only passed on his unique skills to his sons or daughters? You know, my great-uncle Lü Tai was also the heir of the Lü family's magic tricks. Although he didn't have the three unique skills, he was certainly quite proficient in general magic tricks and even accepted two proud disciples - Zhang Dafang and Jingui. Moreover, he was not childless, but his son Lü Enting didn't receive much instruction from him. Of course, Lü Changhua also had many young disciples, but none of them could take on the responsibility of being a major figure. Anyway, I don't believe that he, over fifty years old, couldn't train even one skilled and proud disciple in all these years."
"So what do you mean?"
"When Lü Shuiling mentioned 'Jin Gui's problem is more serious,' I suspect that perhaps Jin Gui was originally Lü Changhua's favorite disciple, but for some reason, either Lü Changhua expelled him from the sect, or he himself severed the master-disciple relationship and turned to his uncle Lü Tai."
Linlang's eyes widened. "Oh my God! How could such a thing happen? Brother Yin, you know I have teachers, and more than one. Although the master-disciple inheritance in foreign countries is not as strict as in China, this kind of leapfrogging to become a disciple is something that no one would feel comfortable with, no matter who the previous teacher was. Especially since Lu Changhua is a conservative who attaches great importance to the master-disciple relationship. If it is really as you said, a disciple who was originally a generation younger than him suddenly became his peer, how could he accept it? And he stayed in the Lu family class openly?"
"That's right. I've been in the underworld for a long time. This kind of thing is a taboo among all walks of life. In the underworld, it's called 'jumping to a private sect'. But I've never heard of someone who jumped to a private sect being able to make a living without any scruples within their own sect. What's more, some of them are even the mainstay of the performance. So... there must be something hidden behind this."
Linlang slammed the table. "Maybe Jin Gui has some leverage over Lu Changhua, which is why he's so cautious?"
Yin Chuan pondered for a moment and whispered, "There's another possibility. The evidence isn't in Jin Gui's hands, but in Lu Tai's."
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