Su Yan turned around and exchanged a glance with Shen Yao. Both of them knew perfectly well that this was a trap.
He then followed Tang Rong into the private room.
Shen Yao wanted to follow them in, but Tang Rong, who was standing at the door, stopped him.
“My lord, my prefect just wants to have some tea and catch up with the magistrate. It’s not appropriate for outsiders to be present.”
With a cold face, Shen Yao retorted, "Then can't I stand guard outside the door?"
Tang Rong smiled, indicating that it was fine with him, "Of course..."
In fact, Shen Yao knew that Shi Zhongyu would not do anything to Su Yan in broad daylight, and at least for now, there was no danger to her life.
But better safe than sorry, Shen Yao still stood guard at the door.
As Su Yan entered the room, she cautiously looked around and found a chubby man sitting by the window, teasing a bird.
Su Yan looked Shi Zhongyu up and down and found that he was completely different from what she had imagined. He was a pot-bellied nouveau riche.
As soon as Shi Zhongyu saw Su Yan, he immediately put down the bird-teasing stick in his hand and went to greet her warmly.
"You must be Su Yan!" After saying that, Shi Zhongyu looked at Su Yan with great admiration. "You are indeed young and promising. At your age, I am still just a minor county magistrate."
The prefect of Suizhou is a third-rank official. Although Shi Zhongyu is still the acting prefect, barring any unforeseen circumstances, the official appointment letter from the court will arrive in Huai'an Prefecture in three months.
In terms of official rank, Shi Zhongyu was indeed Su Yan's superior.
"Prefect Shi, how have you been feeling lately?"
Shi Zhongyu waved his hand, "It's an old ailment that I've had for many years. As people get older, their health declines..."
"Let's not talk about that for now. Come and have some tea, try some of Suizhou's specialties. You can't find this kind of tea in Chang'an..." Shi Zhongyu said, sitting down at the table and pointing to the seat next to him.
Su Yan sat down, but her mind remained tense. She couldn't figure out what the jade gourd in the stone was up to.
Shi Zhongyu focused on brewing tea, and soon a steaming cup of tea was placed in front of Su Yan.
"Xiao Su, try the tea I brewed."
"good……"
Su Yan smiled, picked up the tea on the table, and took a sip. Actually, she didn't like drinking tea, but she had developed a habit of drinking alcohol.
Therefore, this cup of tea doesn't have any particularly special flavor.
But not wanting to offend Shi Zhongyu, he smiled and praised, "Good tea..."
Shi Zhongyu immediately noticed that Su Yan didn't like tea. "It seems that Su Yan isn't used to the tea from Suizhou!"
“Prefect Shi, this tea is indeed excellent. Giving it to someone like me who knows nothing about tea is a waste.”
"How could that be? Tea is meant for entertaining guests and for leisure. To discuss the social status of those who drink tea is to be outdated."
"What an unconventional approach..."
Su Yan was too lazy to waste any more words with Shi Zhongyu and went straight to the point: "Prefect Shi, you must know Li Qingming very well. He didn't commit suicide. He was strangled, right?"
Shi Zhongyu's calm and composed expression suddenly changed, and he looked at Su Yan with surprise.
Su Yan seemed surprised to learn the true cause of Li Qingming's death, but she quickly regained her composure.
“Xiao Su, you’re overthinking it. Li Qingming did indeed commit suicide by hanging. The coroner in the county office can testify to that. It’s a pity that Li Qingming’s body has been burned. If there are any doubts about the cause of death, I will personally overturn the case for Prefect Li.”
Shi Zhongyu was certain that Li Qingming's body had been burned. Although he didn't know where Su Yan had found the clue, there was no way to verify it since the dead had no one to tell him. Su Yan couldn't do anything about it.
Su Yan saw through Shi Zhongyu's thoughts at a glance, but she didn't say anything more.
After all, Shi Zhongyu was not trustworthy, so how could Su Yan possibly reveal that Li Qingming's body was still alive?
He just smiled and changed the subject, "I wonder if Prefect Shi really came to see me so late just for tea?"
"How could that be? I have some great news to share with you..."
Su Yan frowned and pressed, "What happy event?"
Shi Zhongyu smiled, took out a wedding invitation from his pocket, and placed it in front of Su Yan.
Su Yan was puzzled when she saw Shi Zhongyu take out a wedding invitation. "Whose happy event is this?"
"The wedding banquet for Luo Yan, the nephew of the Tusi of Suizhou, will be held in three days."
"Luo Yan?"
Su Yan thought about it and realized that when she came to Suizhou from Chang'an, she did know someone surnamed Luo, who was Luosang, the son of the chieftain of Suizhou.
But she really didn't know this Luo Yan, and she couldn't understand why he would suddenly invite her to a wedding banquet when she had only been in Suizhou for seven or eight days.
Why did the chieftain of Suizhou's nephew invite me to his wedding banquet?
Shi Zhongyu also said he didn't know, "I was just a messenger, and I really don't know the reason. It's probably because Xiao Su came from Chang'an."
"Yeah?"
Su Yan never expected that her identity would be so useful.
Of course, Su Yan knew very well that there was no such thing as a free lunch, and this invitation might just be her death warrant.
Su Yan decided to play along and accepted the invitation.
"Prefect Shi, please help me send a message saying that I, Su, will definitely attend the wedding banquet in three days."
Seeing that the task was completed, Shi Zhongyu stood up and said, "Now that the invitations have been delivered, it's getting late, so I should go back and rest."
Su Yan naturally didn't try to stop him. She saw Shi Zhongyu to the door of the inn and, watching his departing figure, said, "Take care, Prefect Shi..."
Soon, the carriage carrying Shi Zhongyu disappeared into the depths of the night.
Shen Yao remained at the door, unaware of what was happening inside.
"Su Yan, what did you two talk about in the room...?"
Su Yan stretched, tossed the invitation to Shen Yao beside her, yawned, and went back to her room.
Shen Yao followed her into the house, looking at the invitation in his hand with a blank expression. When he saw the name 'Luo Yan' written on the invitation, he was even more confused.
"Who is this Luo Yan?"
Su Yan lay exhausted on the bed, staring blankly at the bed curtains, and lazily answered Shen Yao's question, "The nephew of the Tusi of Suizhou, according to seniority, should be Luosang's cousin."
After running around all day, Su Yan was exhausted and could only barely muster her energy.
"Why would Luo Yan invite you to his wedding banquet? Logically speaking, you are neither a relative nor a friend, and we have never even met. Why would he send you an invitation for no reason?"
Su Yan waved her hand, indicating that she couldn't understand either.
“I’m not a mind reader, how could I possibly know what he’s thinking?”
Shen Yao stood by the bed, looking at Su Yan lying lazily on the bed, and asked, "You agreed to go to the wedding banquet?"
Su Yan nodded, "Of course I agreed..."
Shen Yao was puzzled. "Something is definitely amiss. Why did you agree so rashly?"
Upon hearing this, Su Yan propped herself up on one side, yawned again, and explained, "Precisely because it's unusual, I have to go..."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com