Chapter 79 Chapter 79 I told you before, a person like you...
Fang Ying thought the whole time. When the car reached Zhou's residence, she stopped and sent the accompanying maid to the mansion to pass on a message, "Just tell her I'll be visiting later to speak with the Zhou family's daughter. Let's go buy some sweets and cakes on the street ahead. When you come out, meet us there."
The maidservant went away as instructed, and the coachman drove the carriage to the front street where there were shops. Fang Ying asked them to pull over and sent Lichun to buy some sweet cakes. Lichun went for a while and came back with not only sweet cakes but also a small basket of bright red cherries.
"I saw an old man squatting on the street corner with only this small basket in front of him. He didn't shout to sell anything. I guessed it was his first time and he couldn't open his mouth, so I went over to ask. To my surprise, he was selling cherries that were just picked from the tree this morning." Lichun smiled, his eyes full of surprise as if he had found a treasure unexpectedly.
Fang Ying loved cherries, but they were just about to ripen, and she hadn't seen anyone selling them yet. She hadn't tasted any of this year's new cherries yet. Seeing the cherries in the basket, though tiny, each one glowed bright red, some still covered in dew, she felt a bit pleasantly surprised. "Perfect! I'll bring them over to Sister Zhou to try later."
"Yeah. But the old man said these are the first crop of cherries. Because the trees are on a sunny slope, they are extra red. They look beautiful, but they taste a bit sour."
"This old man is quite honest. It's nothing serious. He just wants to try something new."
The master and servant talked for a while, and the maid who had gone to Zhou's house earlier finally came back and said, "Mrs. Zhou said she was thinking about you. Please come over as soon as possible."
Fang Ying nodded to indicate that she understood, but she still stopped by the roadside for a while before telling the driver to take a detour to Zhou's house.
When Zhou Congshan saw her, he waited for tea to be served, then sent away all the maids, and the two of them talked alone in the inner room.
"Why did you come here suddenly today? Is there something wrong?"
Fang Ying nodded: "My father said that the real murderer of Mo Hongzhao has been caught."
Zhou Congshan was stunned: "Who caught him?"
"Kaifeng Prefecture." Fang Ying recounted the events. "I asked my father who the murderer was, but he refused to tell me. However, after thinking about what's been happening in Kaifeng Prefecture lately, I think the murderer is either among the thieves in South City, or the Taoist who made the medicinal gold."
"How do you know?"
"Kaifeng Prefecture has long since closed the case of Mo Hongzhao's death as a drunken drowning and is no longer investigating. Therefore, the murderer could only be from another case. Kaifeng Prefecture has been busy with two major theft cases in South City and the Taoist priest's medicinal gold case. Coincidentally, the King of Qin told you personally that the thieves, realizing they had been deceived by the Taoist priest, have turned around and exposed many of his evil deeds."
Zhou Congshan's expression suddenly dawned on him. "Right! In that case, someone must have seen Mo Hongzhao being murdered. Otherwise, why would the murderer admit to a case that had already been closed?"
"That's my guess. There's another thing. Yesterday, Ji Liulang went to Kaifeng Prefecture to see the King of Qin. He wanted to ask him to recommend an imperial physician, but he said it wasn't convenient right now and that we had to wait until the emperor returned to the palace. At the time, we didn't think much of it, thinking it was some kind of taboo in the palace. Now, I think he might have already checked with the Medical Officers' Office."
Zhou Congshan's expression changed. She couldn't help but stand up and walk around on the ground. After turning around a few times, she suddenly stopped and clapped her hands, saying, "I know! This murderer not only killed Mo Hongzhao, but also Yang Sheng..."
Before she could finish her words, the maid outside came closer and asked loudly, "Madam?"
Zhou Congshan replied first: "Nothing, I didn't call you." Then he sat back down and whispered to Fang Ying, "You heard me clapping."
Fang Ying smiled and took her hand, "No wonder they all clapped their hands red when they heard it."
Zhou Congshan was still very excited, thinking to himself, "The investigation has led him all the way to the Medical Officers' Hospital. This means he didn't know about this before... Now that Yang Sheng is involved, and seeing his resume, it's impossible for him not to think it's related to my cousin. He must continue to investigate..."
"It can be seen that this matter has nothing to do with the King of Qin." Fang Ying continued for her.
Zhou Congshan suddenly came back to his senses: "Ah? Did I... did I say something out loud?"
Fang Ying chuckled and patted her friend's palm: "No, I can read minds."
Zhou Congshan pulled his hand back and glared at her: "Did your father ask you to say this? You're still trying to trick me."
"Don't worry about him. The King of Qin might not even be able to find you. He's just worried about himself."
Zhou Congshan said, "Your words are unreasonable. Your father doesn't know if I'm reliable, so it's natural for him to be worried. Besides, your father is in Kaifeng Prefecture, and he might already know that this matter involves the imperial court and is of great importance. Please go back and tell them, please..."
She paused, then suddenly smiled. "We should have dispensed with these formalities long ago. Tell my uncle, don't worry. Although I've sent for the coroner and the police to question us, I've given them bribes, so they probably won't bring it up. Even if someone does, my men haven't revealed their identities. Even if the King of Qin is incredibly powerful and really finds our family, he won't care about such a trivial matter."
"Yes, if he knew that you had been investigating this matter for a long time, he would be more concerned about what you found out rather than these trivial details." Fang Ying had figured this out when she was guessing by herself last night, so she didn't take it seriously.
"Don't say that to your uncle. It will make you seem like you know too much. He'll be worried."
She kept calling him "Uncle" in a very intimate way, but Fang Ying felt a little embarrassed: "Okay, I know how to deal with him." Then she changed the subject and asked, "So what do you think of the King of Qin..."
Unexpectedly, Zhou Congshan also spoke at the same time: "Your Ji Liulang..."
They both stopped at the same time, and Fang Ying spoke first, "Let me ask first—will the King of Qin come to see you?"
"No," Zhou Congshan replied briefly. "Why did Ji Liulang seek out the imperial physician? Who is ill?"
"Why?" Fang Ying did not answer and continued to ask.
"What do you mean? I'm asking you, why are you pretending to be stupid?" Zhou Congshan reached out to pinch his friend's cheek.
Fang Ying smiled and dodged, "I'm not playing dumb. Why do you think the King of Qin won't come looking for you?"
"He's not a fool like the King of Wei. The more it involves my cousin, the less likely he is to communicate with our family, especially since he doesn't know the emperor's will."
As Zhou Congshan spoke, her expression gradually darkened. Seeing this, Fang Ying gently held her hand and comforted her, "Although the divine will remains unknown, it's clear that Heaven is punishing evil and promoting good. Otherwise, how could a murderer who had been elusive suddenly fall into the hands of the law, and even bring up an old case?"
"Yes..." Zhou Congshan nodded, looking out the window at the sky. "Perhaps their spirits are still in heaven."
Fang Ying didn't say anything. At this moment, her friend must be feeling mixed emotions, so she just wanted to accompany him.
Zhou Congshan quickly recovered and said to Fang Ying with a smile, "I've got you confused again. You haven't told me why Ji Liulang is looking for the imperial physician."
"Ah... I'm not here to see a doctor. It's about what I told you last time."
Zhou Congshan thought about it, then suddenly widened his eyes and asked, "Have you told Ji Liulang?"
Fang Ying said: "This is a long story..."
"Tsk tsk, who said last time, 'What's the point of talking to him? He doesn't even know where the baby is born'?" Zhou Congshan imitated the pretentious tone and shook his head, deliberately teasing Fang Ying.
Fang Ying was so angry that she tickled her. Zhou Congshan laughed for a while, then quickly begged for mercy: "Good sister, I was wrong. I won't laugh at you again."
Fang Ying took her hand back and said to her with a smile: "I don't believe it. You are always like this. You admit your mistakes very quickly, but you dare to do it again next time."
Zhou Congshan smiled and leaned on her shoulder, "I didn't say anything, it was all you said..."
Fang Ying reached out her hand again, but Zhou Congshan hurriedly pressed it down. "Okay, no more talking." He continued, "Ji Liulang is quite good. He was even willing to ask the King of Qin to recommend an imperial physician for you."
"Ah, he didn't go there on purpose. He had something else to do and just mentioned it by the way." As for what the "other thing" was, it was really difficult to talk about it with Zhou Congshan, so Fang Ying just glossed over it.
"That's pretty good too."
Fang Ying nodded in acknowledgment: "I didn't expect that either." Men in this world always take childbirth as a matter of course and push it to women, as if it has nothing to do with them. If they can ask a few questions about whether the women have eaten well and slept well, they can be regarded as considerate and understanding people.
If a woman really complains like this, she will inevitably be accused of being spoiled - "Other people have given birth to several children and don't say this", "Everyone has gone through this, just bear with it and it will be over", "Isn't it hard for men to support the family outside" - and so on, the list goes on.
And that was even after she was pregnant. For someone like her who wasn't pregnant yet and was already afraid, Fang Ying guessed that even with the Ji family's upbringing, Ji Yanlang would at best offer a few words of comfort—just like he did when Liu was giving birth.
Zhou Congshan couldn't help laughing after hearing her guess. "You guessed wrong, didn't you? I told you before that with someone like you, Ji Liulang would fall deeply in love with you sooner or later."
"Go!" Fang Ying shuddered. "Where did you learn those nonsense words? And you're still deeply in love..."
Zhou Congshan grinned, "Isn't it? If he didn't have some genuine feelings for you, would he be able to do this?"
Fang Ying opened her mouth to refute, but in the end she only uttered five words: "That's hard to say."
Zhou Congshan saw that although she tried her best to control herself, she still couldn't hide her shyness, and he felt very curious - Fang Ying always spoke and acted frankly, sometimes even boldly, and he had never seen her shy.
She curled the corners of her lips, but did not joke about it anymore - the couple had finally come to this point and they were kind of moving on, and she couldn't let Fang Ying be annoyed by her joke and cause anything else to go wrong.
"Hey, you went back to your mother's house early in the morning. What did you tell Ji Liulang?" Zhou Congshan asked as if he had just thought of it.
Fang Ying's ears had been burning with excitement since she heard Zhou Congshan's words of deep affection. When she heard her recall the past, she breathed a sigh of relief and told him the truth. Finally, she said, "Don't worry, I won't tell him."
"Then when you go back, if he asks you what your father asked you for, what will you say?" If you tell a lie, you have to cover it up, which is a bit troublesome.
"I have my own plans for this, so don't ask." Fang Ying said with a smile.
Zhou Congshan was worried, "Why don't you tell him the truth? I once begged my uncle..."
Fang Ying quickly waved her hands: "It's not a good idea to bring this up. My father wouldn't agree."
"Just tell me one thing, and I can't tell you the details because of me. Is that okay?"
Fang Ying still shook her head: "This matter involves Kaifeng Prefecture. Even if he doesn't ask for the time being, he will still remember it. I really have something to say to him, don't worry. Oh, by the way, on the way here, I saw someone selling small cherries..."
She called out and asked if the cherries Lichun brought had been washed. The maids quickly brought them over. The two sisters ate the cherries and chatted about family matters for a while. Fang Ying saw that it was almost time and said goodbye.
Zhou Congshan stood up to see her off, saying, "Don't bother looking for the imperial physician there." She winked, "It's too much trouble. I'll recommend one to you later. You and Ji Liulang can go see him together."
This was obviously not a sudden idea. I'm afraid my friend has been paying attention to it since the last time we talked about it.
Fang Ying felt warm in her heart and held her hand tightly, "Okay." Before leaving, he advised her, "Look how beautiful the sun is. The sky is bright and clear, and all evil will naturally retreat. Let's just watch."
Zhou Congshan raised his hands to shield his eyes, looked up at the sky and sighed softly, "I hope so."
After the two said goodbye, Fang Ying returned to the Ji Mansion, met Li, and went back to her room for a nap. Not long after she got up, Ji Yanlang came back. As soon as he entered the room, he asked her what was going on at her parents' home.
Fang Ying helped him take off his outer robe while smiling, "What else could it be? Just asking how you could be deceived by a charlatan."
Ji Yanlang: “…”
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The author has something to say: Happy holidays!
Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated nutrient solution between 2021-12-23 01:01:19 and 2021-12-25 23:50:12~
Thanks to the little angel who irrigated the nutrient solution: avahgao 20 bottles;
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