Chapter 29: Riding in the same carriage, I also like it
From the Red Mansion, they traced the clues to the Brothel, and then got clues about Kantang County from the people in the Brothel.
Today, the shady organization in Kantang County has been eradicated.
The county magistrate was dismissed and the murder case was left unsolved. Jiang Cichen sternly demanded that Li Ma's body be taken back to the Imperial City.
He put a platycodon in it and took Li Ma away from Luo Wan.
Luo Wan couldn't stand it any longer and looked up to ask, "Young General, are you deliberately going against me?"
A corner of the car curtain was lifted by the wind, revealing half of Jiang Cichen's handsome profile.
"The Imperial City Division is investigating—" Jiang Cichen lowered his eyes to look at her, his voice deliberately pausing, "Official business."
Luo Wan said, "A murder case in such a small Kantang County actually required the Imperial City Bureau to come to our aid."
Jiang Cichen said indifferently, "Officials in Kantang County are involved in corruption and smuggling. Before the new officials took office, all cases in Kantang County, big or small, were handled by the Imperial City Division. Miss Chi, do you have any objections?"
Luo Wan said, "First it was Zi Wu, then Aunt Li. Is it that if I want something, the Major General will take it away?"
Jiang Cichen said, "I'm helping you. Don't you think it's unlucky for a woman to constantly be dealing with corpses?"
Luo Wan narrowed his eyes and saw the corpse covered with a white cloth in the carriage behind him. He looked calm and said, "I just like dealing with corpses."
Jiang Cichen raised his eyebrows slightly: "What a coincidence, I like it too."
Just as they were in a stalemate, Chen Nanyuan came from not far away, breaking the stagnant air between the two.
"Sir, arrest them all. Not a single one escaped." Chen Nanyuan handed over an item. "We found it in the county magistrate's lair. I'm not sure what it is."
Luo Wan looked closely and saw a golden, human-shaped sculpture similar to a Buddha statue.
What is unusual is that the sculpture is not the usual adult image, but rather a child, with none of the solemnity and compassion of a Buddha statue on his face.
The sculpture's mouth was stiffly raised in a smile, its eyes were open but its pupils were unfocused, and the corners of its clothes were covered with curse patterns.
Luo Wan felt that the curse pattern on the corner of the sculpture's clothes looked familiar. When he wanted to take a closer look, he saw a bony hand taking the sculpture, and the clear blue veins were reflected on the back of the white hand.
The moment Jiang Cichen took over the strange golden statue, he suddenly sneered.
Chen Nanyuan asked doubtfully, "Sir, do you know this thing?"
Jiang Cichen said, "When I was away on the expedition, I heard that there's a sorcery in the East that promises promotion and wealth. Why do you think the Duke would cooperate with a mere monk?"
Chen Nanyuan was surprised: "The Gu family worships this kind of evil magic?"
Jiang Cichen said, "The fact that this thing was found in the magistrate's residence in Kantang County shows that it is no longer just the Gu family that worships it."
Luo Wan finally remembered why he felt those curse patterns looked familiar.
She had seen it before, in the Chi Mansion Ancestral Hall.
Jiang Cichen suddenly held the golden statue in front of her, close enough for her to see the strange curve of the child's mouth. He said, "Miss Chi's father and Gu Guogong have a deep relationship. Miss Chi must be very aware of this."
Luo Wan said: "I have never seen it, nor have I heard of it."
Jiang Cichen said, "Take the baby's body, fill it with mercury, and wrap it in gold foil."
Luo Wan frowned slightly.
Jiang Cichen threw the golden statue to Chen Nanyuan; "But there is no baby corpse inside this one."
Chen Nanyuan took a deep breath and made a light sound, as if he had encountered something dirty.
Jiang Cichen lowered the curtains and said, "Return to Beijing."
Chen Nanyuan glanced at Luo Wan and asked through the curtain: "How should we arrange for Miss Chi?"
A cold response came from inside the car: "What does she have to do with you?"
Chen Nanyuan explained seriously, "It's fine for Miss Chi to travel from the capital to Kantang County alone. But now that something serious has happened in Kantang County, it would be unsafe for her to return to the capital alone. Since we just happened to meet, why not let Miss Chi and the young master ride in the same carriage? After all, the young master's carriage is big and stable enough."
A wisp of tea fragrance wafted from the car.
Chen Nanyuan knew his son's temperament, so he didn't refute it, which meant he agreed.
Chen Nanyuan swiftly pulled out a stool from the front of the carriage and said courteously, "Miss Chi, come on up!"
Luo Wan looked at the closed car curtains and really didn't want to be with the cold-faced devil inside.
But Chen Nanyuan smiled, so she said, "Don't bother, I can go back by myself."
Chen Nanyuan said warmly, "Miss Chi, please don't be so polite! This isn't the first day you've known my young master, so please don't be so reserved! It was you who came up with my young master's title, which shows that you and my young master are destined to be together. Normally, my young master never comes for this kind of small-time job, but today he made an exception and met you. What do you call this? Ah... yes! Fate upon fate!"
A leisurely voice came from inside the car: "Chen Nanyuan, she won't appreciate your kindness."
So we were in a very embarrassing situation.
Luo Wan suddenly raised her foot and stepped on the pedal: "Thank you, Young General and Master Chen, for your kind invitation."
Lifting the car curtain, Luo Wan's fingertips paused slightly on the brocade.
The carriages of the Imperial City Bureau are indeed extravagant and inhumane.
Inside the carriage, Jiang Cichen was leaning against a green satin pillow, his slender fingers holding a celadon teacup, the misty heat blurring his sharp outlines.
Seeing her come in, he didn't even raise his eyelids, but just put the teacup on the small table.
Angry? Luo Wan thought.
So angry! Is there any other way to make Jiang Cichen angry? She needs ten thousand ways.
"I heard that Miss Chi's grandfather's family was a tea merchant?" Jiang Cichen suddenly spoke.
Almost at the same time, Chen Nanyuan outside the car suddenly whipped the horse, and the two of them swayed slightly.
Luo Wan said directly: "If you still doubt my identity, General, feel free to ask whatever you want."
Jiang Cichen leaned back on the soft pillow and asked a question that had nothing to do with her identity: "Are the Pei family and the Ye family old friends?"
Luo Wan frowned slightly, barely perceptible.
In the entire capital, Luo Wan only knew one person with the surname Pei, and that was Pei Shaochuan. If Jiang Cichen was referring to the Pei in Pei Shaochuan's name, then the latter's behavior of climbing over the wall would make sense.
But she really didn't know about the relationship between the Pei and Ye families.
She heard most of the news about Chi Wanwan and Ye from Tangli. Tangli was still young when she left Beijing, so it was normal that she didn't know much.
Jiang Cichen, on the other hand, should have thoroughly investigated Chi Wanwan's identity because he was suspicious of her, and he might know more than she did.
He must also know why Luo Wan did this, but he just wanted to make things difficult for her.
Luo Wan said: "It shouldn't be difficult for the young general to check the relationship between the Pei and Ye families."
Jiang Cichen said: "But I want to hear you say it."
Luo Wan said, "I said I don't know, do you believe me?"
Jiang Cichen said, "I believe it."
This answer almost made Luo Wan think that Jiang Cichen had been possessed, so she asked tentatively, "Where's my identity?"
Jiang Cichen: "I don't believe it."
It’s still the same Jiang Cichen.
Dusk was falling, and the last ray of setting sun slanted across the bluestone street, casting a long shadow on the carriage.
The carriage has entered the capital and is heading towards Chi Mansion.
Luo Wan said to Chen Nanyuan, "Let's stop here."
Chen Nanyuan said, "Miss Chi, this is still some distance from the Chi Mansion."
Luo Wan said: "It's okay, I'll just walk back."
Chen Nanyuan was a little embarrassed and looked at Jiang Cichen.
Before Jiang Cichen could speak, Luo Wan said calmly, "The young general left in a hurry on the day of the wild hunt. I think he had the same idea as me."
——I don’t want to be misunderstood.
*
Luo Wan originally thought that Feng Yuyun would make some small moves after returning to the Chi Mansion, but the opposite was true. The East Courtyard was extremely quiet.
Even Chi Mingli, who always loved to go to the west courtyard, was silent. It seemed that Feng Yuyun had not yet finished punishing him for entering the brothel.
There were always two maids guarding outside the Chi Mansion's ancestral hall, so Luo Wan entered the hall under the pretext of visiting Chi Mingli.
Although Feng Yuyun is a hypocrite, she is extremely strict in educating her children.
Chi Mingli knelt upright on a palm-leaf fan mat and was punished to copy scriptures.
When she first entered the ancestral hall, Luo Wan's attention was only focused on the ancestral tablets. Only now did she truly see what was enshrined in the ancestral hall.
At the top of the layers of spirit tablets, there is a shrine hanging on the wall cabinet, and the edge of the curtain covering the shrine is embroidered with the same mantra patterns as the corners of the golden statue's clothes.
However, the Buddha statues placed in the shrine and the wall cabinet were very different from the ones Chen Nanyuan found in the county magistrate's mansion in Kantang County. The ones in the Chifu ancestral hall were the common Buddha statues with kind faces.
Chi Mingli's hands and waist ached from copying scriptures, so he took the time to stretch his muscles. When he saw Luo Wan standing behind him, he asked in surprise, "Why are you here?"
He tried to stand up before he could finish his words, but because he had been kneeling for too long, his legs were numb and he couldn't get up.
Luo Wan withdrew his gaze from the shrine and said, "I came to see you."
Chi Mingli was dejected: "I thought you wouldn't come to see me. I've been copying here for several days, but you haven't come."
Luo Wan said, "You are imprisoned in the ancestral hall, and I am confined to the west courtyard. We can be considered to be in the same boat."
No matter how slow Chi Mingli is, he is still a teenager with normal IQ. These days, he can see that although his mother treats Luo Wan gently on the surface, she actually doesn't like her.
Not to mention Chi Mingshi and Liu Ma, they were too lazy to act.
At first, he didn't have a good impression of Luo Wan. He heard that she beat the nanny in the East Courtyard on the first day she returned home. Later, he found that she seemed to be a pretty good person.
He got lost in the hunting ground, and Luo Wanhui risked her life to find him. He said he wanted to see Jiang Cichen, and she really took him to see him.
Although it was only a short while and they didn't even have time to talk, he still heard many heroic stories about Jiang Cichen from Chen Nanyuan.
Chi Mingli felt a little guilty towards Luo Wan. He said dejectedly, "My mother didn't make things difficult for you, did she? It's all my fault. If I hadn't been clamoring to see Jiang Cichen, we wouldn't have ended up like this. I'm the only unlucky one who was locked up at home copying books during the break at Hongwenguan."
Although he never said who he went to the brothel with, Feng Yuyun had already subconsciously assumed it was Luo Wan.
I'm afraid that his eldest sister's life in the Chi Mansion will only become more and more difficult.
Luo Wan said: "Want to go out?"
Chi Mingli was copying scriptures day and night, so it was really inconvenient for her to search the ancestral hall.
Chi Mingli frowned: "Go out?"
Luo Wan said: "The Poetry and Martial Arts Conference is about to be held. As long as you study and practice martial arts under the pretext of participating in the Poetry and Martial Arts Conference, you can not only leave the ancestral hall, but also meet Jiang Cichen again at the Poetry and Martial Arts Conference."
Chi Mingli said: "Really?!"
Luo Wan said: "Really."
Feng Yuyun hopes her son and daughter will become successful. If Chi Mingli can achieve good results in the poetry and martial arts competition, it will naturally increase her reputation, so she will definitely not refuse Chi Mingli's proposal.
The next day, when Chi Mingli brought up this matter with Feng Yuyun, Feng Yuyun readily agreed without hesitation, and even hired a shooting teacher to teach Chi Mingli competition skills.
Although Chi Mingli had left, the maids were still guarding him day and night. Luo Wan was not in a hurry, so he continued the lazy life he had planned for the poetry and martial arts conference.
But that day Luo Wan did not see Shen Zhiyan in the study of the Shen Mansion.
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