Chapter 21 A Despicable Scheme
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The notice posted at the Wen residence disappeared overnight, leading Wen Zhixu to suspect that someone had set a trap.
"Second Young Master, the waiter at Xianqing Tower saw two people, one fat and one thin, and they tore down all the notices in the vicinity."
Wen Zhixu unfolded the notice with the pig's head drawn on it, without even looking up: "Appearance?"
He had high suspicions about Lin Xihe.
But motives must be considered in everything. Was it revenge, or to stop him from finding the bird? Upon closer examination, Lin Xihe, as the legitimate daughter of the Lin family, would not stoop to such despicable acts.
Wen Zhixu had long heard Lin Pinyan's tearful complaint that his dear sister had swindled him out of all his money.
Whoever finds Cuihuang will be rewarded with a thousand taels of silver. Could it be that Lin Xihe is also short of money, which is why she has this idea?
The gatekeeper announced that someone outside claimed to have found Cuihuang and requested an audience with the Second Young Master.
Could Lin Xihe have been wronged? Wen Zhixu suppressed his doubts and instructed his servants to invite someone in.
Led by a servant of the Wen family, a man carrying a birdcage tiptoed briskly along the bluestone path. Just past the winding corridor, they arrived at the main hall of the Duke of Wen's mansion.
The hall was filled with shifting light and shadow, and twelve rosewood screens blocked the view.
The man's knees buckled, and he said respectfully, "This humble one greets Young Master Wen."
Wen Qi came out, his tone turning serious, "You're the one who tore down the notice?"
"Reporting to Second Young Master, I did not take down any notices. This bird flew to my persimmon tree and is very talkative, definitely not an ordinary bird. I took good care of it for several days before I learned that a bird had gone missing from your residence."
Wen Qi walked to the birdcage. "How can you prove that this bird is the one that went missing from my house?"
The birds in the cage seemed to sense something and uneasily jumped off the perch, chirping, "Coo-cheep, coo-cheep."
The man lowered his body: "Second Young Master, why don't we let it say a few words?"
Wen Qi: "Okay."
The man said something, and the sparrow repeated it.
Wen Qi exclaimed, "Just as you said, it is very clever."
"Of course!"
"Bought from Yulin Garden?"
"ah."
"It must have cost a lot of money, right?"
"It's alright, only five taels!"
After he finished speaking, the main hall fell into a deathly silence.
"Do you think the Wen family is a pushover?" Wen Qi's expression changed. "How dare you try to trick my young master with a sparrow you bought!"
The man's expression changed drastically. It turned out that the person who had spoken to him just now was not the famous Wen Zhixu of Shengjing.
He crawled forward, climbed behind the screen, and shouted, "I want to see Young Master Wen!"
The area behind the screen was empty.
Wen Zhixu is too lazy to even meet a greedy man who would risk five taels of silver for a thousand taels.
"Are you worthy?" Wen Qi rudely shooed him away. "Take the birdcage and get out of here!"
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The maid came running, panting, "Miss, Miss..."
Hearing the commotion, Lin Xihe shook her head: "With this kind of physical condition, he should jog around the Lin residence tomorrow."
The maidservant said with a bitter face, "Miss, I really can't run anymore..." It was clearly Qingwu who was fat!
Lin Xihe glanced at her, noting her slender arms and legs: "You've reminded me, on top of aerobic exercise, you should add dumbbell training."
Health is the foundation of everything. In short, she needs to train!
This maid was sent by Madam Min, and her mission was to report everything about the young lady in great detail.
"Miss, what are dumbbells?" The maid had a bad feeling.
Lin Xihe revealed an innocent smile: "It's a good thing, it'll suit you perfectly!"
She has to practice on ten different eyeliner styles.
Lin Xihe had just finished changing Bu Bu's dressing and was carefully wrapping the bandage. In her previous life, she had experience rescuing stray dogs.
The maids and servants attending to Bu Bu looked at her with pity—Que'er looked like a bandaged, dried-up corpse.
Mummy Bubu: "Gah..."
If you keep pestering her, she'll really get it.
Qingwu hurriedly returned to Tinghe Pavilion from outside the mansion.
"Really?" Lin Xihe asked, looking up.
She left behind the nanny and maid, instructing the nanny to supervise the new maid as she lifted dumbbells, while she followed Qingwu toward the side gate.
"Miss, look." The two men crept furtively behind the carriage, peering through a side door toward the main gate of the Wen residence.
Beneath the solemn plaque of the Duke of Wen's mansion, a long, winding queue had formed.
The crowd was completely silent, save for the chirping and twittering of the various birds in their cages. Some carried birdcages, while others held falcons on their arms—a truly rare sight.
The gates opened, and the steward stepped out, saying, "If you have indeed found a myna bird, please come in. If not, please leave."
Ninety percent of the team has fallen apart.
Lin Xihe pouted: Is this the allure of a thousand taels?
"May I offer this falcon to the Second Young Master for his enjoyment?" someone said, raising their arm. "How can a myna be as majestic as a falcon? This falcon can even catch rabbits."
The steward solemnly said, "My second young master only likes his picky, mute myna bird that doesn't wake up until late morning."
"Perfect!" Lin Xihe slapped her thigh. When she first adopted Bubu, it couldn't talk, and she initially thought it was a crow.
Bubu is indeed a picky eater, but she likes to eat nymphs, so she has to get her cheap little brother to dig up more.
Her sharp eagle eyes had somehow settled on Lin Xihe, and she scolded it from afar: "The little rabbit is so cute, how could you bear to catch it? Bullying the weak, you wish!"
"If you scold it, can it understand?" someone nearby chimed in.
"Everything has a spirit." Lin Xihe said without turning her head.
The man warned, "Watch out, it might peck your head."
"It's locked, what are you afraid of?"
Before he finished speaking, the man who presented the eagle unlocked its chains and said to the steward, "I'll have it catch a sparrow right now!"
With a flap of its wings, the eagle can take off more than a meter long, and after a couple of flaps, it can soar into the air.
Lin Xihe raised her head high, her gaze following the hawk. The familiar voice beside her rang out again, with undisguised mockery: "It's here to peck your head, run!"
The voice sounded more and more familiar. Lin Xihe glanced to the side and met Shang Wenzhi's ambiguous smile. She saw him straighten up with a relaxed air.
The next instant, a huge shadow loomed over her, and Lin Xihe's vision suddenly went dark.
The hawk hovered in mid-air, its two black feathers drifting down in slow motion. Before she could react, its sharp talons hooked onto her hairpin and yanked it down—
Lin Xihe felt a sudden tightness in her scalp and cried out in pain.
"Get out of here! Get out of here!"
Seeing the woman beside him with her hair disheveled, like a black cloud pouring down, Wen Zhixu felt no sense of satisfaction at having a great grudge to avenge.
Lin Xihe completely lost her composure, swinging her arms like a small pendulum, yelling, "Don't scratch my face, you'll disfigure me!"
In her panic, she grabbed onto a lifeline—Wen Zhixu's sleeve, which she gripped tightly. Feeling that wasn't secure enough, she buried her entire head under his arm.
When disaster struck, she didn't care about any grudges anymore and grabbed whatever she could get her hands on.
The preface to the text that became someone's shelter: "..."
The scene was chaotic.
The eagle was extremely intelligent and, seeing that someone was "protecting" the girl who had scolded it, it simply turned its attention to Wen Zhixu and pecked at him.
A sudden pain shot through his neck, and Wen Zhixu's eyes instantly turned cold.
The eagle's owner turned ashen-faced. He had intended to curry favor with the Second Young Master Wen, but instead, he had caused the young master's injury. He hurriedly and fiercely berated the eagle in the air.
Seeing that things were not going well, the eagle decisively withdrew, its sharp talons gripping the girl's hairpin tightly, and instantly disappeared into the clouds.
"Young Master Wen!" the man cried out as he slid to his knees. "I deserve to die!"
Wen Zhixu glared at him coldly: "If you don't want to die, then get out of here."
The crowd that had been trying to extort a thousand taels of silver dispersed in an instant.
Lin Xihe lifted Wen Zhixu's sleeve, her gaze slowly rising until it finally landed on the side of his neck.
She stood frozen in place, her usually bright eyes now fixed straight ahead.
Her hair was disheveled, with strands of hair sticking up at her temples, forming two messy parentheses.
“There’s a hole in your neck,” she pointed blankly.
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