A benefactor, an adopted son, immense wealth... a rich lord!
In an instant, Ye Ting outlined Zhang Xiangliang's progression path.
A nobleman—adopted son—wealthy master—wealthy master and his wife!
She was at the very top of the chain because Zhang Xiangliang listened to everything she said.
Zhang Xiangliang was supposed to return at 5 PM, but he didn't return until 7 PM.
As soon as he entered, he handed her ten taels of silver.
Ye Ting's eyes widened in disbelief. Ten taels of silver!
She weighed it in her hand, so excited she was about to cry, and asked, "Is it still a reward?"
"yes!"
Ye Ting hurriedly brought over the boiled water and gave him a foot soak.
"Xiang Liang, you've worked hard. Let me massage your feet."
"Tingting, you don't need to work so hard."
Here they come, here they come, the important person has arrived, the wealthy gentleman is starting...
“Those distinguished guests are very likely from Xingqing Prefecture,” Zhang Xiangliang said in a low voice. “They must be very wealthy people.”
"Why did they reward you so much? You can't even sing." Ye Ting thought of Sister Lin's neighbor, that wealthy old man, who gained the favor of a nobleman by singing folk songs.
"Hmm? No need for singing, the important person didn't say they wanted to hear any music."
"So, this benefactor gave it to you for nothing?"
"They called me over and asked if I was a long-time resident of the town. They wanted to know about Cui Fude's family, but after listening for a while, I realized they wanted to know about Jin Yi."
"That cripple?"
“Yes, they asked me where the Cui family members had gone, and I said they were all dead.”
He told those people everything that had happened three months ago.
Those people asked him where Jin Yi was.
Zhang Xiangliang figured everyone knew where Jin Yi lived, so he didn't hide it and told them where Jin Yi lived.
Then, the other party gave him a reward of ten taels of silver.
On his way back, Zhang Xiangliang felt increasingly uneasy. What were those people doing? Could they be family members of the Embroidered Uniform Guard?
Ye Ting was a little disappointed; listening to music was the ladder to heaven!
A distinguished guest has arrived, not to adopt Zhang Xiangliang as his godson, but to seek Jin Yi.
Jin Yi wasn't from the town; perhaps this important person was a member of Jin Yi's family.
"What else did they say?" Ye Ting asked anxiously. "Didn't they say they wanted to hear some music, like local folk tunes or something?"
Zhang Xiangliang was very puzzled. Ye Ting kept asking him since she entered the room if the other party wanted him to sing a song, and what that meant.
Ye Ting whispered, "It's said that many important people want to know about the rustic charm of the countryside when they go there, which is why I asked you."
Zhang Xiangliang was both amused and exasperated. The water under his feet had gotten cold, so he wiped his feet and said, "Let's go to sleep. The important people's business is none of our concern."
The bed started creaking and shaking.
*
The courtyard where Yin Jin'an and Jiu Tian lived.
One person stands on each of the east and west sides of the courtyard wall.
Both were dressed in black night clothes and their faces were covered with black veils.
There was no sound in the courtyard. They listened for a long time, but no one was there.
The person on the east wall held a pebble in his hand and flicked it against the wooden door with a "thud," making quite a sound in the dead of night.
But there was still no movement inside the house.
The two jumped into the courtyard with peace of mind. Finding nothing in the courtyard, they then tried to enter the main house.
However, no matter how hard they tried, they could not get a single step closer to the main house, which was a distance of ten feet.
An invisible barrier was blocking their way, preventing them from moving forward.
The two men took out tinderboxes and lit a torch. They could see the lock on the door clearly, but they still couldn't get close.
This is weird!
The two extinguished the fire by stuffing the torch into the water vat, and then leaped back to the inn.
"Master," the man in black called softly from the doorway.
"Come in."
The door opened, and the person went in.
The young nobleman in his fine clothes looked at the two of them and asked, "How is it?"
"Reporting to Master, there is no one in the courtyard, but something is strange."
"Um?"
"You may enter the courtyard, but you must not get within three feet of the main house."
The two men in black explained that there was an invisible barrier in the courtyard.
"Someone is protecting him?" The master in the high position said with cold eyes, "You few, search the whole town and listen for any strange howling or hitting sounds."
Just as the man in black was about to leave, the young nobleman said, "If we can't find him tonight, we can ask the stableman at the inn tomorrow. He seems to know that man very well."
"yes!"
The young man held his teacup, silently stirring the tea leaves with the lid. Tonight is the night of the full moon; if that person is not dead, there will surely be some movement.
Now, past midnight, there's been no movement in the entire town, and people still can't get into the courtyard.
Was he dead? Did he move away? Was he protected by a powerful figure? Or was the stableman lying?
In the middle of the night, a heavy snow began to fall, continuing from the early hours of the 16th until the morning of the 17th.
The courtyard in the alley was covered with half a foot of snow, and no one swept it or went in or out.
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