Sizhou Thirteen
In the inner courtyard of the official post station, inside the wing rooms.
With his left hand stretched out on the table, Aruo rested his chin on his right hand and thought about Chun'er's words, "Intentionally, to make people think..."
These words were like a bolt of lightning, and new ideas flashed through her mind.
When Zui Haitang died, it fell on her head, and Yanhong also threw it at her, but she had a casual relationship with both of them. If someone really wanted to use the troupe to frame her, why did they wait almost two months after traveling all the way from the capital to act?
Yanhong had been dead for a while before she left the house. Does that mean... Yanhong's death wasn't caused by her? But rather, she was out, and the murderer was trying to tie Yanhong's death to Zui Haitang?
Could it be that... Drunken Begonia actually had nothing to do with her? What Aruo had never understood was why it had to fall on her head. It couldn't be revenge, like when she threw silver at the Fang family back then, right? It had caused quite a stir in Sizhou, but her feud with Fang Jingsheng back then was just a show...
"Wait, so the murderer has no idea what happened back then?" Aruo suddenly said in surprise, touching his chin.
"What's the inside story?" A low, soft and cold voice came from the door.
Aruo suddenly came back to her senses and saw Su Zirui sitting next to her uninvited. She looked at him in surprise, "Why are you here?"
Isn’t he going to see his junior sister off?
"Doesn't your hand hurt?" Su Zirui poked her left elbow with his long fingers.
A sore and numb feeling surged up, and Aruo almost burst into tears. She slapped his hand away angrily, "It hurts!"
"You still feel the pain?" Su Zirui avoided her hand and said sarcastically, "Haven't you had enough of the hero-saving-the-beauty trick on stage? Why join in the fun if you don't have the ability?"
"I saved your junior sister." Aruo glanced at him sideways, clenched her fists, and said patiently, "Sister Yurong is so fragile, what if she gets hurt?"
She wasn't hurt, she was just frightened and her face turned pale. If he hadn't happened to come, Aruo would probably have to find a way to find out if she had any mental trauma.
A cold look flashed in his eyes, and Su Zirui sneered, "She's delicate, but you're thick-skinned and thick-fleshed? How many times have I told you to be quiet? Are you a flea? Can't you sit still for a moment? Do I need to be locked up before you behave yourself?"
This person is really unreasonable.
Hearing this, Aruo was furious. Just as she was about to flip the table, he grabbed her wrist. She widened her eyes and said, "Su Feng, what do you want to do?"
Su Zirui casually took out a small bottle from his arms and threw it over, "Use this ointment."
"You...are you here to give me medicine?" Aruo looked at him suspiciously. She wanted to refuse it, but then she remembered that even Aunt Song thought the ointment was very good last time, so she took it readily. "Thank you."
After saying so much, aren't you still grateful to her for saving your junior sister?
There was almost no concealment of her thoughts in her eyes. Su Zirui tapped the table with his fingers, not bothering to look at her again. "What did you just say about the inside story? But what did you find in the forest before?"
Solving the case was something she really couldn't do, so Ah Ru simply told him what she had just thought and waited eagerly for his reaction.
The handsome man in front of him slowly raised his eyes, a rare hint of surprise flashing across his eyes. His eyebrows raised slightly, and after a moment of hesitation, he said, "You... just realized it now?"
The hand holding the small bottle tightened, and Aruo twitched her lips with a forced smile, "I have great faith in the almighty Lord Su, and I thought that Lord Su would be able to bring the murderer to justice soon. But who knew that Lord Su would not be able to solve the case for a long time, so I can only try my best to speculate. It turns out that one can only rely on oneself."
Don't think that she can't see the sarcasm in his eyes just by turning her face away.
"It's good that you have such awareness." Su Zirui nodded expressionlessly. Seeing that anger was about to burn in her sparkling eyes, he slowly said, "Zui Haitang and Yanhong were indeed not killed by the same person."
"What? The murderer is really not the same person?" Aruo stood up in surprise and realized instantly, "Someone imitated the murder method of Zui Haitang? Why? Is he trying to stop something? Or does he have other goals?"
"This is an official secret. I can't tell you." Su Zirui crossed his arms and gestured with his eyes, "You'd better take the medicine quickly."
Aruo stared at his businesslike appearance and said with a grin through gritted teeth, "Sir Su, people who tell half of the story are the most hateful. You will be put in a sack and beaten if you do that."
"That can't be helped. Who made me so naturally unpleasant?" Su Zirui sneered. "Besides, I'd like to see who dares to be the one wearing this sack."
This arrogant tone really deserves a beating. Aruo bit the back of his teeth and endured it. He would definitely wait for a dark and windy night...
"If you keep glaring at me, my eyeballs will pop out." Su Zirui felt inexplicably amused by the pair of round eyes staring at him. "You are not a member of the government family, so it would be bad for you to know too much."
As the saying goes, those who know too much die the fastest.
Aruo understood this, but this state of being in suspense while having a clue was truly unsettling. He seemed to be so naive that he wouldn't reveal it even if he acted coquettishly. Aruo lowered her eyes, unzipped the ribbon at her cuff, and rolled up her sleeve to apply the medicine. "What about the man in black I stabbed with a needle in the woods? Is he... dead?"
Her tone was calm, but Su Zirui could still detect a hint of fear. He lowered his eyes to glance at her blue elbow, tapping his fingertips on the table. He said absentmindedly, "That man wanted to kidnap you. Regardless of his purpose, it was dangerous for you. It's not unfair that he was killed in return. What's wrong? Are you still afraid of killing him yourself?"
"I don't think so. It's just... rather than killing someone, I prefer to seek justice through the law. I've always believed that the rules of this world should be based on morality and the rule of law, not violence." Aruo wasn't a Saint Mother Lotus, but she couldn't accept killing people at will. In fact, aside from Qinggong, she didn't have any other killing abilities. Someone had poked her head, hoping she'd learn, but she couldn't.
"That's simply because you haven't encountered a desperate situation yet." A hint of hatred was hidden in his eyes. After he was thrown into the Northwest Military Camp, the law of the jungle and fighting violence with violence was once the only way to survive.
"If everything depends on power and violence, then what's the meaning of the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple's existence? Lord Su, aren't you working hard to solve cases just to ensure that all perpetrators are punished by law?" Aruo looked at him with frank eyes without a trace of hesitation.
Su Zirui lowered his eyes slightly, avoiding her gaze. Her words were like the innocence of a child, believing that everything in the world was fair. Though her words were ridiculously innocent, he unconsciously dropped his usual irony.
Seeing that she was still looking at him intently, thinking that she was just an ordinary girl, he finally revealed the follow-up, "When Beili and the others rushed over, she was gone. There were no traces left at the scene. She must have been rescued."
Unable to bear her perfunctory attitude of just rubbing it twice, Su Zirui sighed and simply reached out to take the medicine bottle, "This is medicine for bruises, you need to use internal energy to rub it out."
Where did she get her inner strength from? Aruo suppressed the action of rolling her eyes and looked at his slender fingers covering her elbow. She sadly discovered that her skin was not as white as his!
His fingers were distinctly knuckled, their tips tinged with a faint pink, and their pads slightly calloused, but this didn't detract from their graceful beauty. His hand was much larger than hers, and when he spread it out and pressed it against her elbow, it covered her entire arm.
Aruo wasn't a hand control, but he did have the ability to appreciate beauty. He stared for a long time before calmly saying, "I was once captured by counterfeiters and nearly sold to a brothel. I was once falsely accused of murder and imprisoned. I also stayed in a shady hotel and was almost killed in the middle of the night... I don't know if this counts as a desperate situation. But I was really scared at the time. There were just too many people to kill and I couldn't fight them, so I might as well find a way to escape."
Su Zirui paused with his fingertips, lowered his head and said nothing. The skin under his palm was still a little cold. He knew without looking that the girl still had a nonchalant smile in her eyes.
He was used to observing people and had known for a long time that the girl beside him was very good at enjoying life in the moment. She could enthusiastically embrace any new life, but she could also turn away ruthlessly, as if nothing could make her nostalgic or worried. At first, he thought she was just heartless, but now he felt that she had been through too much and no longer cared.
"As for me, I only have two creeds: if I can't beat him, I hide; if I can't hide, I join him." Aruo said with a smile, "Before I left the sect, my master read my fortune. He said that my life would be smooth. Even if there are many difficulties, there will be light at the end of the tunnel. As long as I keep a normal heart, I will have a good ending. So no matter what I encounter, I just need to live well."
In a world where even sanitary pads were scarce, she lacked everything she needed. What hope was there? Just being alive was enough. The old man, until his death, felt guilty about her. After divination, he remained silent for a long time. His words might have been merely the good wishes of an elder for a child, but she was willing to believe them, and would often bring them up to comfort her near-despair.
Perhaps it was this sentence that kept her going until now. She wanted to see what her happy ending would be like, and whether it would be what she expected.
"Is that so?" After a long silence, Su Zirui said softly, and suddenly poked hard with his finger.
"It hurts! Su Feng!" Suddenly waking up from her fantasy, Aruo realized that this man always had a way to make her escape from her melancholy mood in an instant, and she just wanted to curse.
"Be polite. I've saved you many times. Your master taught you to be sincere in your dealings with others, but didn't he teach you to return the favor?"
"No." Aruo shook his head decisively.
Are you kidding? Peaches are so much bigger than plums. Who would be so disappointed? She was determined to trade papaya for jade.
"Master Su?" Cai Xin saw the two men's eye contact as she entered the room. She paused, her gaze fixed on her daughter Aruo's arm, which was being held by Su Zirui. Cai Xin paused, then smiled and walked over to Aruo, sitting next to him and naturally taking his hand. "I can handle this kind of rough work."
"What rough work?" Aruo turned and glared at her, "How are my hands rough? Is helping me apply medicine rough work?"
She just worked a lot in the past two years, so her skin is not as delicate as before!
"How did you hurt your hand again?" Pulling down her turned-up sleeve, Cai Xin gave her a coquettish look. "Lord Su is of noble status. How can you order him around? I'm so sorry, Lord Su, we're so rude."
Aruo glanced thoughtfully at the sleeve that Caixin was holding tightly, then turned his head and smiled at Su Zirui, "Thank you for your help, Master Su."
Su Zirui's smile faded, his expression indifferent, his eyes cold and frosty. He placed the medicine bottle on the table and said, "Stay at home at the official post for the next few days. Don't run around if you don't have anything to do. I have something else to do, so I'll take my leave now."
The two of them stood up and said goodbye. After the person had gone far away, Aruo slowly looked at Caixin with his chin raised, "What's wrong with you?"
"What's wrong with me?" Cai Xin asked curiously, "Lord Su is an official from the Ministry of Justice, and we are ordinary people. Isn't it natural for us to be respectful to him? Besides, he has helped you now and is our benefactor. We should not be ungrateful and cause him trouble."
Her matter-of-fact attitude made Aruo doubt her memory. Could it be that the person who said Su Zirui cared about her was not Cai Xin?
Speaking of trouble, Aruo blinked. She really didn't do it on purpose. She was just unlucky enough to be used as a target. Speaking of this trouble...
Looking down at Cai Xin carefully wrapping the ribbon back around her wrist, Aruo said softly, "It's still unclear who caused trouble for whom."
Cai Xin, who didn't hear her words clearly, tied the ribbon and looked up at Aruo Xiu Ya's face, feeling a little melancholy.
Cai Xin felt a tinge of discontent as she recalled the gossip from the yamen runners she'd overheard in the kitchen. Just a few days had already produced so many different versions of the story. Tsk, Lord Su was a pearl, and Aruo was a treasure to her, too. Why then was her Aruo a shameless, lowly woman? Cai Xin secretly resolved that once this case was resolved, she would drag Aruo out of here, even if it took some time.
The two people who had always been in sync with each other were each thinking about their own things and had nothing to say for a while.
Outside the door, the sunlight was gradually blocked, the clouds became thicker and darker, and the sultry wind changed from slow to fast. A summer thunderstorm was about to come.
Wanxing Class.
The owner of Wanxing Troupe has been very unlucky recently. The mainstay Zui Haitang died suddenly, and then Yanhong who just left also died. If the popularity of Taohua Ji had not been affected by these things, he would really have lost more than he gained.
"When she first came south from the capital, she was hoping to play a female role. Unexpectedly, just as she landed a popular script, she rushed off to follow Young Master Zhao... Alas, if she hadn't followed that man, she might not have died." The troupe owner spoke of Yanhong with a mixture of regret and a touch of schadenfreude. Who had told Yanhong to leave the troupe without a backward glance when she was most needed?
"I heard that Yanhong joined the opera troupe when she left Beijing?" Aruo asked casually as he sat opposite him and watched the troupe members practicing dance steps in the yard.
"Yes, she's an apprentice at the Yuxing Troupe, a well-known troupe in the capital. Unfortunately, there were so many famous actors there that she couldn't even get the leading role after years of practice, so she came to our troupe." The troupe owner felt a little guilty towards Aruo. He hadn't helped Zhu Zhizhou when he tried to convict her, so now that he knew she wanted to know about this, he didn't hide it from her. "Come to think of it, she only started half a month earlier than you."
Aruo was stunned. She and Caixin were in a hurry to leave Beijing. They had originally joined a merchant caravan, but when they met the actor Zhang, they joined him. Joining the troupe was a last-minute decision, and Yanhong wasn't really going after her... So why did the murderer hit her?
If it wasn't aimed at her, why didn't Yanhong's body appear during the days when she stayed at the official post station?
Suddenly, a strange thought flashed through his mind. Aruo remembered that after Sizhou's first performance, Yanhong, as a female role, went to toast with the troupe owner. At that time, besides Zui Haitang and Zhu Jiazhen, that Young Master Zhao, there was also the fake Fang Shouren...
"No, Zui Haitang is an old woman, and she and Zhu Jiazhen have been in love for many years?"
Then why did she follow the opera troupe to Beijing?
"Our troupe has been performing back and forth from Beijing to Yangzhou. Mrs. Zhu is jealous, so Zui Haitang followed us." After all, Aruo was an unmarried girl, and the troupe owner didn't want to say it too bluntly, so he just mentioned it vaguely.
"What about Yanhong? Has she known Young Master Zhao for a long time?" Aruo asked curiously.
The troupe owner shook his head. "How could that be? Yanhong is from the capital. She only met Young Master Zhao after she came to Sizhou with us."
Something is wrong. Yanhong is from the capital, and the Wanxing Troupe has always been sought after by nobles. She is beautiful and has met many princes and marquises. How could she hastily give herself to that fat pig Zhao because of a murder case in which she has no suspicion?
Could it be that she was too hungry?
"Did she say anything strange before she died?" Aruo really couldn't figure it out. Yanhong was too out of place in this matter, as if her purpose was just to be used by the murderer to harm Aruo with her body.
The female doctor had told them that the strange fragrance that poisoned Aruo was mixed with ylang-ylang... Why ylang-ylang? This spice had appeared far too often in Aruo's life. And the strangest thing was, Aruo had been in the same opera troupe with Yanhong for over a month, and she had never once smelled this fragrance.
Did the Yilanxiang City murderer intentionally stain Yanhong's clothes? Not many people knew she was carrying a mugwort bag, so was the murderer intent on killing her, or was it an accident?
"Miss Aruo?" The troupe owner saw her staring blankly at the young man doing somersaults, his eyes wide open, and couldn't help but wave his hand in front of her. "But what's wrong?"
Pulling his wandering thoughts back abruptly, Aruo smiled and said, "No, there are just some things I can't figure out."
"What's the matter? But the question is whether the scholar wants a fox fairy or an evil ghost?" The class leader suddenly became nervous. Now the whole Sizhou is waiting for the ending of Peach Blossom Story, and he also wants to get first-hand information.
Aruo paused, "Why does a scholar want it? Is he worthy... It's a question whether the fox fairy and the evil spirit will want this kind of trash."
The troupe owner turned to look at her in astonishment, speechless for a moment. "This shocking idea... brilliant! I was originally thinking about whether the scholar should return to his former glory, but now that you've mentioned it, it seems like a cliché."
Ahaha…Ajuru smiled and looked away. Expecting a happy ending just because the prodigal son returns? Dream on.
The sudden thunderstorm started in the afternoon, and by nightfall it had turned into a drizzle, soft and dense. It fell on the umbrellas of pedestrians, leaving only tiny water droplets like catkins, adding a bit of desolation, and fell on the slippery stone road, leaving mottled shoe prints.
As the lights came on, Ah Chu sat under the eaves of the opera troupe's small door, holding his face with his hands and gazing at the hazy glow in the rainy night, his thoughts scattered.
She was still thinking about Yanhong, always feeling that her existence was too abrupt, yet related to her... If Yanhong hadn't died, Aruo might even have suspected her, because she left the troupe so easily. But now she was dead... This meant that there was someone else who was the murderer.
Who was it? His head ached from thinking about it, and Aruo sighed, resting his chin on his knees.
All the pedestrians passed by in a hurry, and no one noticed the woman standing by the door on the corner of the street. Tiny drops of water passed through the vines and unknown petals on the eaves, dripping onto the corners of her skirt, wetting the apricot-colored hem.
On the wet stone road, the young man held a red umbrella in his hand, walked steadily, the hem of his light blue brocade robe blown up by the cold wind, and walked slowly to the unnoticed corner.
The fine raindrops no longer fell on her shoulders, and her slender shadow covered her knees. Ah Chu slowly raised her head, and the face she saw was elegant and refined, with a hint of reproach in her eyes. She was shrouded in the dim yellow light, and her cold eyebrows and eyes had a kind of incongruous gentleness.
"Su Feng?" Achu murmured blankly for a long time.
"What are you doing?" Su Zirui asked, tilting the red umbrella towards her. He had seen the huddled figure from a distance, scattered among the pedestrians rushing to avoid the rain, quiet and lonely.
"I'm thinking." Ah Chu remained in the same posture, supporting his chin with both hands and looking up at him with empty eyes.
Su Zirui was speechless. Having worked in the Ministry of Justice for many years, observing people's expressions had become instinctive for him. Even if someone had a blank expression on their face, he could still tell whether the person was truly thinking or not.
"I... heard some things and tried hard to think about the connection between them, but I couldn't connect them." Ah Chu tilted his head, confused without realizing it.
"What you hear and what you see are not necessarily true. Everything in the world is a delusion." Su Zirui stared into her eyes, seeing through her doubts. "The truth must exist, it just hasn't been found."
"It's so complicated... I don't have a bird's-eye view, this is too difficult." She just wanted to live a peaceful life and had little interest in these mysteries. But she had almost been poisoned to death, and if she let it go, she didn't know what disaster would happen next. She had to fight for her life.
Su Zirui raised his sword-like eyebrows and curled his thin lips slightly when he heard this. "Aren't you the one who loves to meddle in other people's business?"
"No way... I'm most afraid of trouble." Ah Chu wrinkled his nose and looked rejecting.
"Just because there are many people taller than you, do you think the sky won't fall on you?" Su Zirui sneered. Seeing the light water stains on her skirt, he suddenly reached out and flicked her head. "Get up. Don't you think the ground is too cold?"
It seems to be true now... My butt is numb. Ah Chu stood up on his knees, and his legs felt numb and painful, and then instantly softened.
"Be careful!" Su Zirui reacted very quickly and reached out to support her. The slightly cold person leaned into his arms, and her breath filled the umbrella, which made him slightly stunned.
My heart felt like it had been struck by her, silently stopping for a beat. Then, as if to catch up with that beat, it suddenly began to beat rapidly. Her warmth penetrated the thin fabric and reached my palm, slightly cool, soft as if boneless, tempting me to squeeze harder.
"My legs... are numb." Ah Chu grabbed his sleeve pitifully. The numbness and pain made her unable to help but curl up her toes in her embroidered shoes.
His chaotic thoughts instantly calmed down. Su Zirui lowered his eyes and sighed slightly. He put the umbrella in her hand, bent down, found her knee through her skirt, pressed his fingertips on her knee, and said, "Don't move."
"This, Su Feng... isn't appropriate." Although there were few people on the street, in this less open era, it seemed inappropriate. Ah Chu muttered.
"Don't you feel any pain?" Su Zirui said without raising his head, without stopping his hands.
He pressed down on the leg that wanted to retreat, and the numbness and pain quickly dissipated. Ah Chu hesitated for a moment and then said, "You... know medicine?"
He paused, stood up, and took the umbrella as if nothing had happened. "Let's go."
"Hey, where are you going?" Ah Chu stared at him blankly. His face was expressionless against the backlight, but his pair of black eyes were like the deep night sky, making it impossible to see the secret inside.
"Official Inn." She looked a little cute in her attire tonight. Su Zirui laughed, gently pushed her, and walked into the increasingly dense drizzle with an umbrella.
"Aren't you going to a social event?" Ah Chu followed in small steps. She remembered hearing Bei Li mention that they would be meeting with Zhu Jiazhen and other Sizhou officials tonight, but she had no idea what they were going to discuss.
"On the way." Su Zirui turned his face away, his tone leisurely and light.
"But..." Ah Chu hesitated and pointed behind her. She remembered that Sizhou's most famous building, Xinghui Tower, was in that direction, on the other side of the canal. Besides, was he cold? Was the tip of his ear a little red beneath his half-disheveled hair?
"Are you going back in the rain?" Su Zirui tilted his head to look at her, his eyebrows slightly raised, and his tone was a little cold.
Ah Chu shook his head decisively, pulling his sleeve forward, "On the way."
Su Zirui hummed softly and followed her lead, "Slow down, it's going to rain."
Lord Su was so gentle at that moment that the troubles that had plagued her for so long seemed to be resolved. The figure beside her was hazy in the night, making his figure even more graceful. Ah Chu followed his steps, her gaze drawn to him.
Her eyes were so focused that Su Zirui could hardly fail to notice. "Look at the road. What are you looking at?"
"Look at you." Achu said honestly.
"What? You don't recognize me?" Su Zirui smiled faintly, and tilted the oil-paper umbrella slightly towards her to shield her from the drizzling rain.
"It looks good." Ah Chu gave him a bright and sincere smile in return.
Pausing for a moment, Su Zirui glanced at her, "Hasn't this always been the case?"
He'd been known as one of the Four Young Masters of the Capital since he was eighteen, and his looks had been half the reason. But so what? He wasn't one to rely on his looks to please anyone, and no one had ever been so blunt and foolish as to comment on his appearance in front of him. He should have been offended, but the girl beside him spoke so sincerely, smiling so brightly that the unpleasantness he should have felt was transformed into an inexplicable lightness by her smile.
Two figures stretched out on the stone road, interlaced with the lights in front of each house, as if leaning on each other. The woman's gentle mumbling and the man's casual whispers could be faintly heard through the misty rain.
"Master Su, I'll treat you to pumpkin pie. I made it."
"Sweet?"
“Salty ones don’t taste good.”
"Too greasy."
"Add some filling to your meal."
"Even more disgusting."
"But it's delicious. I like sweet ones best."
…
“Don’t put too much stuffing.”
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