Chapter 171: The White Album
"Please reply to this letter as well."
Xie Huailing made another gesture, handing another sheet of paper filled with writing to Su Mengzhen. By this time, Su Mengzhen's desk was already piled high with books Xie Huailing had brought over, and with the paper, it formed a small mountain. Seeing her actions, Su Mengzhen stared intently at her, and Xie Huailing, seemingly not wanting to miss out on any trouble, blew a breath of air onto the pile of papers.
The paper, which was already restless from the wind, suddenly set sail, adding fuel to the fire she had started, and smeared it all over Su Mengzhen's face.
Su Mengzhen: "..."
He calmly took the letter down, calmly looked at Xie Huailing, calmly regretted his decision to open the window a crack for ventilation, and calmly prepared to say something. Xie Huailing anticipated this and put her finger to her lips, gesturing for silence.
She spoke to Su Mengzhen, reminding him, "I'm busy with important matters, Master. What are you doing?"
"Nothing." Su Mengzhen glanced at her, really wanting to say something to deal with her, but considering other things, she didn't say it. "What should be written in this reply?"
Xie Huailing knew that his concerns were not out of shyness towards her, but rather the lingering worries of a gentleman. He didn't want her to do anything else after he spoke his mind. Since his intentions were impure, it wouldn't be good for her. So she deliberately teased, "You are so tolerant, Master Su. You have such a good temper, and it's getting better and better."
She then instructed him: "Write a reply to Wuqing saying that I agree to the place he suggested for our next meeting."
Yesterday, Wuqing finally sent a letter saying she wanted to meet again, but Xie Huailing rejected it. She didn't want to set the meeting place at Jinfeng Xiyu Tower again and told Wuqing to choose whatever she wanted. However, she wouldn't go if she didn't like it. Today was the day Wuqing would choose.
This was blatant obstruction. Su Mengzhen knew that she liked everyone to go along with her, and that she would try her best even if they didn't. However, if he said anything in defense of Wuqing, it would probably have a very strong backlash. He didn't intend to interfere with any of her plans and asked her, "When did he ask you to meet?"
"The day after tomorrow." Xie Huailing hadn't mentioned it when he asked him to write back yesterday, but he did this now. He yawned, leaned back in his chair, and a few tears welled up in his eyes. "Isn't it strange? He should have solved my puzzle three days ago, but he only sent the message yesterday and will only meet me the day after tomorrow. What was that thing I said about you before?"
She answered her own question: "Men are truly born masters of emotional abuse—emotional abuse is ignoring people and leaving girls hanging."
Even Su Mengzhen had to defend himself. He had always guessed that Xie Huailing would complain about him. As he wrote, he said, "Absolutely not. No matter how you look at it, I have never ignored you."
Xie Huailing lifted her eyelids, propped her head up on one side, and looked over. It would be a shame not to bring up old grievances in this situation: "When I first came here, the day you asked me my name, you didn't talk to me for two whole days after that. You don't even remember that, do you?"
Su Mengzhen hadn't completely forgotten, but he didn't remember clearly either. He and Xie Huailing shared the same tacit understanding, so they never brought up the time when she arrived. He didn't pry into her background, and she didn't pry into anything else. Therefore, he deliberately avoided recalling anything that happened before she joined the Golden Wind and Drizzle Pavilion.
Now, he couldn't help but recall it. When the old grievances were brought up to this point, he paused, then put his strength back on and finished writing, continuing to write smoothly and without hindrance: "At that time, I didn't know your background, nor was I sure how to arrange things for you. I thought about it for two more days."
Xie Huailing mimicked his tone and repeated his last sentence: "Oh, I've thought about it for two more days."
She shook her head and dragged out her words, which were always bad news. She spoke in a pitiful tone, as if she had suffered a great injustice in front of Su Mengzhen: "Heavens, wasn't I the most confused one at that time? Some people asked for my name and then didn't come to check on me for days. Those were days! That person was so bad, the worst person in Jinfeng Xiyu Tower, right?"
Su Mengzhen had nothing to say, so he remained silent and focused on writing the letter.
But the silence couldn't last. This person wasn't going to let him off the hook. They insisted on making him step on the line they had drawn for him, and pressed on, "Why aren't you saying anything? OP, say something! OP, OP, why are you so focused? Are you closer to Wuqing or to me?"
As she wished, Su Mengzhen stopped writing again. This time, he didn't just pause; he actually put down his pen and turned his head. He asked her in return, "For whom am I writing this letter?"
Xie Huailing blinked, but didn't speak.
Su Mengzhen insisted that she speak. For a brief moment, he put aside all considerations; these were the only things he couldn't remain silent about, and he had to talk to her properly. He was willing to wait patiently, for a very long time.
When Xie Huailing wanted to move the chair away, he would put his hand on the armrest, regaining some strength, which was enough to keep her sitting properly in place.
So Xie Huailing had no choice but to speak. Forced into it, she didn't feel discouraged. She looked into Su Mengzhen's eyes, their gazes meeting. It was difficult to make her shy; at most, she would only occasionally act awkwardly, then look at Su Mengzhen with curiosity at the change in her current state.
"Does this mean I won't be able to play anymore?" she said with a hint of regret. Not wanting to grant his wish, she passed the buck back to him. "You expect me to understand something you don't just say directly? Dream on. I'd better read the letter first."
After saying that, she shoved the heartless letter back onto Su Mengzhen's face as a reminder. Su Mengzhen took the letter off and was about to speak when he inadvertently glanced at it first.
Upon seeing this, he froze.
.
After receiving Xie Huailing's reply yesterday, Wuqing immediately opened the letter and read it without wasting a moment.
It was still Su Mengzhen's handwriting, and this time the writing style had even completely adopted Su Mengzhen's writing habits, and the tone was also completely similar to Su Mengzhen's. It must have been a letter written by Su Mengzhen; Xie Huailing had only provided a general meaning. Only then did Wuqing realize that he had never seen Xie Huailing's handwriting before. Whenever she needed to write something, it was either Su Mengzhen or Shaman who did it for her. He didn't know if it was because her handwriting was special, or if there was some other purpose.
Because of his impression of Xie Huailing as being incredibly intelligent, he never considered the possibility that her handwriting was simply ugly and completely unreadable. He felt that everything she did had a purpose, so it wouldn't be surprising if she hid her handwriting.
The letter stated the time she agreed to meet, but the location could no longer be the Golden Wind and Drizzle Pavilion. In fact, Wuqing was not surprised. After being well-behaved for more than half a month, the Seven Saints of the Bewitching Heaven Alliance finally couldn't sit still anymore. They wanted to take advantage of Su Mengzhen's serious illness and Di Feijing's recent takeover of the position of the head of the Six and a Half Hall to regroup. It was normal that the Golden Wind and Drizzle Pavilion would be busy again and unable to receive him.
Rather, he had considered that Xie Huailing might postpone the event, which wouldn't be a problem, as it would give him more time to prepare.
After solving the mystery, the Divine Marquis's Mansion began investigating Chai Yuguan's affairs. Xie Huailing emphasized that he could not involve others in the game, but he did not object to him using the strength of others and gaining their assistance. Therefore, with the help of Zhuge Zhengwo and several other junior brothers, as well as the intentional or unintentional help from Jinfeng Xiyulou, Xie Huailing intentionally or unintentionally released clues. The truth about the Hengshan disaster was placed in the Divine Marquis's Mansion's cabinet within a day or two.
Chai Yuguan did not die at Wang Yunmeng's hands. He was just another "righteous and courageous" Jin Buhuan who deceived everyone back then, using fake death as an excuse to flee far beyond the Great Wall with countless martial arts manuals. Since Xie Huailing mentioned him, it means that he has returned and returned to the Central Plains.
Having found this out, Wuqing recalled the strange things that Sikong Zhaixing had mentioned about the city. The girls who had been captured and forced to become concubines had mentioned that they had two black moles on the corners of their mouths and a fleshy growth on their foreheads. Their appearance was strange and far from beautiful, but they were unforgettable at first sight.
This is precisely the characteristic of Chai Yuguan, which is enough to prove that the owner of the house that was burned to ruins was Chai Yuguan.
After the investigation was completed, more and more doubts arose. Could Fu Zongshu's death in this city be related to Chai Yuguan? Why did Chai Yuguan return to the Central Plains at this time? What did he do outside the pass? And what about Wang Yunmeng?
The body he used to escape was the one that died from "Tianyun Wuhua Mian" (a type of cotton), that's for sure. So why would Wang Yunmeng play along? Chai Yuguan was no match for Wang Yunmeng. He couldn't possibly take Tianyun Wuhua Mian from Wang Yunmeng. In terms of intelligence and cunning, he might not be able to fool Wang Yunmeng.
If that's the case, is Wang Yunmeng really dead?
Besides Fu Zongshu's death, what other secrets are hidden in that city?
Filled with countless questions, Wuqing devised a location to invite Xie Huailing. Since she said she wouldn't go if she didn't like it, he naturally had to go somewhere a girl would like. He asked around the sect where it would be suitable to take a girl, somewhere that would appeal to girls with unusual personalities. He was met with speechless glances from a courtyard full of bachelors, each of them seemingly having their own failures.
Asking this question at the Divine Marquis's Mansion—no, asking this question at the Free Gate—perhaps indicates a bit of unease.
As for the Divine Marquis's Mansion, there was still a young lady there who pointed out a good option to Wuqing. Since the Bian River would be bustling the day after tomorrow, why not get a boat and take Xie Huailing aboard? In any case, their sincerity would be evident. Wuqing thought it was a good idea and wrote another letter to Xie Huailing, inviting her to meet on the Bian River.
However, Wuqing was unaware that the lively scene at Bianhe was closely related to the story between the young men and women. So when he finally realized it today, Xie Huailing's reply had already arrived.
The letter was still written by Su Mengzhen, who again improvised based on Xie Huailing's words. This led to Wuqing feeling that something was off and strange about the letter when he received it, but he couldn't think about it too much, because thinking about it would only make him terrified. This was perfectly demonstrated by Xie Huailing, who always loved a good show and was willing to do anything for fun, when he agreed to the location Wuqing suggested.
Ruthless has an excellent memory, so good that it is both timely and inappropriate.
He wanted to back out, but it was too late.
Wuqing felt the letter was burning hot, and when he recalled the words "only you and I" he had written, the scorching heat of the summer sun seemed to burn him.
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