Chapter 91: Borrowing Flowers, Not Offering Them to Buddha
At seven o'clock in the evening, just after dusk, Yin Chuan and Linlang appeared in the main hall of the Lu family's residence. Du Yunzhang and Baohan had also arrived. After the four of them met, Du Yunzhang discussed the progress of his investigation that day. As Yin Chuan had discovered, Lu Changhua had already reached an agreement with the abbot of Xingquan Temple, a temple 150 miles east of Linqing City, to become a Taoist monk there and offer a small amount of money. However, due to the long journey, Du Yunzhang had not yet had time to visit him and planned to visit Xingquan Temple in person the next morning.
Soon, the Lu family arrived. This time, Lu Changhua sat at the center of the round table. To his left sat his great-uncle Lu Tai and his son Lu Enting. To his right sat his wife Gao, his eldest son-in-law Hai Yifan, his second son-in-law Gu Yan, his third daughter Lu Shuiling and her husband Yu Jintang. Then came his great-uncle's two apprentices, Jin Gui and Zhang Dafang. Yin Chuan and four other members of the Cao Gang sat at the outermost guest seats. Everyone seemed preoccupied; no one spoke, and the atmosphere in the main hall was quite subdued.
At that moment, the large round table was empty, with only a teacup per person. Yin Chuan felt strange. This didn't look like a grand banquet. He glanced at Du Yunzhang, who was quite careless. He casually picked up the cup and poured it into his mouth, but there was nothing in it, which really spoiled his mood. Helplessly, he had to wait for the Lu family to bring tea before drinking.
"Ahem..." Lu Changhua suddenly coughed a few times, drawing everyone's attention. "Everyone...everyone knows what I announced to the entire Lu Overtime team at noon, so I won't repeat it here. I said we were having a banquet today, but Shuixian and Shuiqing have suffered such a sudden misfortune that I'm sure no one here will be in the mood for food or drink, so I've arranged some vegetarian refreshments." As he spoke, servants arrived, bringing in some cold dishes, fruits, and pastries, and placing them on the table. "I trust you won't find fault with this, will you?" Lu Changhua asked.
No one in the main hall answered.
"The reason I'm holding this symbolic banquet in the main hall is, firstly, to demonstrate my sincerity in conversion, and secondly, to take this opportunity to announce something to everyone in the Lu family," Lu Changhua continued. "That is, in the few days before I become a nun, I intend to impart my three unique skills without reservation to my only surviving daughter, Lu Shuiling."
As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere at the scene suddenly became strange. Some were whispering, some had a sudden change of expression, and some remained sitting upright, unmoved. Yin Chuan stole a glance at Lu Shuiling and Yu Jintang. Yu Jintang, the third uncle-in-law, looked somewhat bewildered. Although he didn't say anything, his changing expression showed that he was very surprised by his father-in-law's decision. Lu Shuiling, on the other hand, looked nonchalant, her eyelids drooping, as if this matter had nothing to do with her.
"Ah...ah..." Uncle Lu Tai was the first to react. He slammed the table and shook his head, looking extremely dissatisfied.
"Uncle, this is a decision I made after careful consideration. I hope you can understand that I am also doing this for the sake of passing on the Lu family's unique skills so that they will not be lost in my generation." Lu Changhua consoled him.
Lu Tai could tell there was something else behind his words and turned his face away angrily.
"Also," Lu Changhua continued, "Yifan, as long as you don't marry another woman from another family, you will be responsible for all matters related to the Lu family's external performances from now on. However, you will need to discuss this with your uncle."
Hai Yifan stood up and said, "Don't worry, father-in-law. I certainly hope to stay in the Lu family and will definitely live up to your expectations."
Lu Changhua nodded with satisfaction.
Du Yunzhang covered his mouth with his hand and whispered to Yin Chuan, "What do you think Lu Changhua was thinking? He became a monk and let Lu Tai take charge of the Lu Family Troupe, but he also brought in Hai Yifan to be in charge of the performance business. I thought he was going to borrow flowers to offer to Buddha, but it turned out that he borrowed flowers but did not offer them to Buddha. It was just a feint."
Yin Chuan chuckled and said nothing.
"Ah...ah..." Lu Tai pointed to the teacup in front of him. Lu Enting understood and said to Lu Changhua, "My father is thirsty. It's not appropriate to drink at this time. How about bringing something to drink?"
Lü Changhua nodded and asked his eldest son-in-law, Hai Yifan, to prepare. Lü Tai waved to Lü Enting. Lü Enting understood his father's intention and stood up and said to Hai Yifan, "I'll help you too. My father's family sent some perfectly pickled black plums. I'll make some sour plum soup for everyone to cool down." Everyone praised him.
After waiting for a long time, the two returned to the main hall with trays. Hai Yifan's tray held a soup bowl filled with ice, while Lu Enting's tray held three wide-bellied bottles filled with sour plum soup. As soon as they entered the room, Yin Chuan felt that something was wrong with the scene, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
"Come on, let's all have some iced sour plum soup to cool down," Hai Yifan said with a smile. Then Lu Enting placed two or three ice cubes in each person's cup, and then Mrs. Gao poured in the sour plum soup. The soup even had quite a few dried sour plums in it, looking quite tempting.
After everyone's cups were filled with iced sour plum soup, Du Yunzhang was so impatient that he picked up the cup and drank it all in one gulp, even swallowing the dried sour plums in it whole.
"Not bad, not bad!" He licked his lips. "Freshly brewed sour plum soup is indeed the best!"
Yin Chuan couldn't help but laugh at his lackluster appearance. Linlang sipped the tea politely, while Baohan picked up a thin spoon and pressed the dried plums floating on the ice under it.
"Hey? Lao Bao, what are you doing?" Yin Chuan asked in confusion.
"You don't understand, right? The core of the freshly soaked dried plums is still hard, so you have to soak them for a while longer to get a stronger flavor. Don't forget, I've been practicing medicine for so many years, and dried plums are a frequently used medicinal ingredient. Naturally, I know their properties better than you do." Baohan became more and more proud as he spoke. After pressing three dried plums to the bottom of the cup, he began to press the ice down hard with a spoon. He watched as the dried plums at the bottom of the cup were flattened and broken by the ice. It seemed that this was the only way to fully release the flavor of the dried fruit.
However, as Bao Han soaked the dried black plums, Yin Chuan suddenly had an epiphany, as if he had figured out the mystery that had been lingering in his mind - could it be that Lu Jiye's death was caused by that method? If so, perhaps the series of murders in the Lu family were all related to Feng Shijiu!
Just as he was lost in thought, he suddenly heard someone scream "Ah!" and he quickly looked up. He saw his third son-in-law, Yu Jintang, looking at him in horror. It was his third daughter, Lü Shuiling, who was covering her mouth tightly, her eyes wide open, her face full of pain.
Yin Chuan thought, "Oh no! Someone must have murdered Lü Shuiling!" But it was too late to save her. Before anyone could react, Lü Shuiling staggered out of her seat and collapsed to the ground. Her body stiffened, trembling a few times before she stopped moving.
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