Chapter 166: The Person Who Gave the Flowers
It doesn't matter if I don't remember much; at least it's better than not remembering at all. So, Wuqing still let Sikong Zhaixing draw it.
Sikong Zhaixing couldn't refuse, nor dared he refuse. He steeled himself and recalled the shape of the jade pendant for a while, then steeled himself and began to draw it on the paper. His drawing skills weren't very good. After wandering the martial arts world for so many years, he wasn't like Chu Liuxiang, the "Marshal of Thieves, Young Master of Thieves," who would leave a note or poem after every robbery. Naturally, his skill in this area was only enough—enough generally meaning that when he was arguing with Lu Xiaofeng, he could draw an ugly chicken on the ground to attack him.
Therefore, although he tried his best, the jade pendant pattern that appeared on the paper was still filled with a free and unrestrained, wild and arrogant spirit. It was truly a case of the brush moving like dragons and snakes, the strokes like calligraphy, yet unpredictable, each stroke landing in a ruthless and unexpected place. There was no way around it; the style of the jade pendant in his memory was simply too complicated, and it was too difficult for Sikong Zhaixing to draw it from memory.
After finishing the drawing, looking at the silent and ruthless scene, Sikong Zhaixing felt guilty. Out of fear of going to jail, he added, "The patterns on the jade pendant were too intricate, so this was the best I could do... But I vaguely remember that they were carved with some kind of flowers, and they didn't look square; they were more like a flowerbed. Also, I remember that the center of the jade pendant was hollow, with a small silver ball about the thickness of a finger joint, carved with a 'control' symbol, and something else inside, but it was burned to ashes."
Do you remember what kind of flowers were carved on the jade pendant and the silver ball?
"Uh..." If Lu Xiaofeng himself were here, he might be able to say something, but Sikong Zhaixing really knows nothing about this, he only has Lu Xiaofeng's face. "Captain, I really don't know. I can't tell those flowers apart even if you put them in front of me."
That makes sense, and you're absolutely right. Asking Sikong Zhaixing again won't yield any results. Wuqing nodded, then fell into deep thought.
The silver ball inside the jade pendant was probably used to hold incense. Wuqing had seen many precious jewels and jewelry and had some knowledge of them. In addition, the jade pendant itself, which was carved like a flower cluster, sounded very valuable. It was not something that girls who were captured and made concubines could wear. It must be related to the person behind the scenes.
Such a jade pendant could not have belonged to a man. The fact that it could be crafted so exquisitely suggests a considerable fortune and a high standard of appearance. Many people love jade pendants, but most would not carve them to this extent. Excessive ornamentation would be counterproductive, unless the owner wore only this jade pendant and made no other adornments.
Thinking aimlessly like this, a name suddenly popped into Wuqing's mind.
Among the girls he knew in Bianjing, there happened to be one who would change her jade pendant and her fragrance every time they met. She really didn't like to adorn herself; she was always rich and elegant, but she only wore a small hairpin and a jade pendant.
Wuqing realized that he felt somewhat guilty towards Xie Huailing at this moment, as he couldn't doubt people without reason. He put that thought aside and turned his attention back to Zhu Qiqi.
After their conversation, Wuqing parted ways with Sikong Zhaixing. Sikong Zhaixing left feeling uneasy. When he heard Wuqing say that he would need to see him again and that he should stay in Bianjing for the next few days, he was so annoyed that he wished he could strangle himself for wanting to come to Bianjing to see the excitement a month ago. Now, he was stuck there for the time being.
But there was nothing she could do. Sikong Zhaixing made an appointment with Wuqing for their next meeting, then changed her face and slipped out the window.
Wuqing sat inside, watching Sikong Zhaixing disappear from the eaves outside the window, his pursed lips showing no sign of softening, seemingly silent and still.
To investigate this matter further, we must start with Zhu Qiqi. The tomb must be related to the fire in the mansion. The letter from Ren Ci in her possession is probably also significant. The "Living God of Wealth" has no connection with the Beggars' Sect, so why would she have a letter written by Ren Ci? And why did Ren Ci decide to deal with Jin Buhuan right after Jin Buhuan wrongly accused Zhu Qiqi and her group?
Thinking about this, Wuqing then thought of the assassination attempts on Sikong Zhaixing and Zhu Qiqi. Sikong Zhaixing had a jade pendant, so it was almost natural for him to be targeted, but Zhu Qiqi had been gone for so long, so why was she also assassinated?
He had long anticipated that there was a deeper secret behind Fu Zongshu's death, and as a result, his heart sank and grew increasingly desolate, as if he had been immersed in ice water.
He no longer thought of the carved jade pendant.
Actually, it's not that he suspected Xie Huailing for no reason. Firstly, she was indeed someone Wuqing had met, so it wouldn't be surprising if she had such a jade pendant. Secondly, when it comes to flowers, Wuqing occasionally thinks of her.
Xie Huailing gave him a bouquet of flowers, a bouquet of flowers given to him without any reason. When he first met her, she made an appearance that was hard to forget. Only after he took it home did he realize how precious and rare the bouquet was. Holding such a bouquet in his arms in the autumn was no different from holding a pile of gold.
Logically, even if he didn't return the gift, he should at least thank her. But every subsequent meeting was so inappropriate, with constant business and awkward surprises making it so difficult to say "thank you." To this day, even making a special effort to express his gratitude feels awkward. "Thank you" has become a memory, and the mention of flowers occasionally reminds him of her.
But in just a moment, Wuqing thought of investigating Zhu Qiqi's matter again.
.
A newly opened letter was casually placed on a corner of a table, teetering on the edge, like half a piece of light gauze. One would not doubt that even the slightest breeze, just the breeze of someone passing by, would blow it to the ground.
Su Mengzhen saw this letter. He didn't like to pry into other people's private affairs, so he didn't look at it. After scanning the dense text at first glance, he called out to Xie Huailing, "It's not appropriate to leave your letter here. You should put it somewhere else."
"Then you can keep it. I'm too lazy to move. You can take a look if you want. It's just some stuff Zhu Qiqi wrote. I need you to write a reply for her later." Xie Huailing was half-lying in the spot where Su Mengzhen usually sat, leaning to one side as if floating on clouds. Her posture was not very proper. A light fragrance of incense rose in front of her. Looking at her through these incense sticks was like looking at flowers through clouds.
This is his room. This is the tenth day since he claimed to be "seriously ill" and closed the door to see anyone.
Only Xie Huailing knew how to use the medicine and incense she brought, and how to change the treatment course. She didn't trust anyone else with these things, so she came three times a day. In order to match Su Mengzhen's schedule, she even had to get up early, which meant she couldn't take a nap and had to keep an eye on Su Mengzhen at night until he fell asleep.
As time went on, Xie Huailing not only had to keep an eye on his condition daily, but also had to teach Su Mengzhen things for the future. So, she simply spent all her time in his bedroom. Aside from sleeping, the two were practically inseparable. A few times, seeing Xie Huailing so sleepy she could barely keep her eyes open in the early morning, Su Mengzhen vaguely sensed that she wanted nothing more than to drag him out of bed and lie down herself. If he weren't truly weak, she definitely would have done so.
However, Su Mengzhen, who was undergoing treatment, was indeed so weak that even handling official business was considered too much of a worry, which affected her condition. The only things she could do were chat with her, help her with her writing, and in the evenings, she could be her student and learn some things. So she didn't make things difficult for the patient.
Xie Huailing hadn't changed at all; the only one who had changed was him. Su Mengzhen couldn't keep an eye on her all the time. When people have some free time, they tend to overthink, especially in this kind of atmosphere. He saw her almost all day and night, and she was always in her room. Even he couldn't help but lose control of his thoughts. He could only restrain himself and look away when he heard her reply.
Su Mengzhen didn't intend to read Zhu Qiqi's letter. He found a pen and ink, rolled up his sleeves, and began grinding ink, the scent of ink mingling with the sweet incense.
He asked, "How should I write a reply?"
“Just write something like I’m doing well, so she doesn’t need to worry. Even though you’re sick, you’re not to the point where the entire Golden Breeze and Drizzle Pavilion is on my shoulders. I’ll be grateful if she doesn’t worry about me and just takes care of herself and doesn’t cause any trouble that drags everyone down with her.” Xie Huailing said while looking at the official documents that Shaman had sent over. “And remember to write at the beginning that this letter was written by you. If you don’t specify who wrote each letter for me, there’s a risk that she’ll get angry with me.”
Su Mengzhen couldn't possibly just write it down as Xie Huailing had stated so plainly. After a moment's thought, she used some more intimate language and wrote a sentence like this, pausing at the part that mentioned herself, and then asked, "How do you usually address me?"
Xie Huailing was annoyed. She couldn't handle these kinds of things. After only a couple of glances, her aversion to stupidity kicked in, and she just wanted to drag all these people out and chop them up. Heaven knows if they even had brains. It seems that she's been spoiled too much by Shaman Yang Wuxie, who has only ever been around her. She replied, "Just call me cousin, or if you can't write it, I'll write your full name."
She then instructed: "What is all this nonsense? Can the people in this building who use their brains to live their lives even have two hands? After you finish writing this, turn the page and write again. I have seen what she wrote to me and I will deal with it. She doesn't need to rush. She can just do her own thing. If the Divine Marquis's Mansion wants to investigate, let the Divine Marquis's Mansion investigate. I know what I'm doing."
Hearing this, Su Mengzhen raised her head.
But he knew what Xie Huailing was going to do, so he didn't ask. He saw that she finally couldn't take it anymore, threw a stack of official documents on the ground, buried her head in her arms, leaving only the back of her head for him to see.
"Perfect, let the Divine Marquis's Mansion keep me company. Smart people are great, they're so much better than idiots. Are there really any humans left in this building? I need a tutorial on having a pig fill in for me—no need to write that part." Her voice came through in a muffled tone.
After finishing speaking, Xie Huailing didn't forget to kick the document next to the chair.
Seeing her like this, feeling inexplicably depressed from doing his work, as if she had been wronged by him, Su Mengzhen couldn't help but speak up. Considering his own physical condition, he realized that she really wasn't completely incapable of caring for him, and said, "Give it to me. You go and rest first. I can manage to read a few pages."
Xie Huailing stirred her buried head, revealing a pair of eyes that gazed at her with a chilling look: "Can you hold on? That's not up to you, it's up to me. You might as well tell me why you get up so early and go to bed so late every day. Do you just want me to be with you all day long?"
Completely unable to cope with such words, before she could even think of anything, a cough welled up and, along with the blood, spilled into the bedroom. Su Mengzhen covered her lips with the back of her hand, and then Xie Huailing predicted her next move.
She buried it again, let out an exaggerated sigh, and with a soft murmur, Su Mengzhen's movements stopped.
She said, "People who can't take a joke will be afraid to look at me again."
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