It rained again today, a light drizzle, carried by the June breeze, dispelling some of the summer heat and bringing a touch of coolness.
Qingying stepped down from the carriage, and Yu Yue held an oil-paper umbrella over her head, protecting her from a single raindrop.
Lu Jingyan stood by the carriage, holding an oil-paper umbrella painted with bamboo. Upon seeing her, he happily called out, "Miss Liu."
Qingying stopped and gave him a slight curtsy. "Greetings, Young Master Lu."
"It's still raining, let's go inside quickly."
Lu Jingyan deliberately slowed his pace and walked beside her.
She looked ahead, keeping her distance from him, and said, "I heard that Sister Lu was quite frightened. Are you feeling better now?"
"Thank you for your concern, she's fine."
"It's good that you're alright."
"You were scared that night too, weren't you? It's all my fault for being late and letting you two girls get bullied."
Qingying looked straight ahead and did not deny what he said.
Lu Jingyan glanced at her sideways, feeling a little uneasy. "But... I'm really curious, how exactly did those villains die?"
"Sister Lu was there too, didn't she tell you?"
"She said the thugs were killed by hidden weapons, but we didn't see who they were. We only found a few darts at the scene."
"That's it then. I didn't see clearly who did it either."
Lu Jingyan had some doubts about what she said, but since she didn't admit it, he had no way to prove it.
They soon arrived at Lu Xingli's dormitory, where she greeted Qingying with the same warm welcome as always.
Although she had dressed up carefully, Qingying could still see her haggard appearance through the thick layers of rouge and powder.
She hasn't been doing well these past few days.
Qingying pretended not to know anything, and after taking a seat, she started chatting with her. After a few words of nonsense, she still circled back to that matter.
She asked, "Sister Lu, do you know why those thugs attacked us?"
Lu Xingli paused for a moment, her gaze sweeping over Lu Jingyan, and said, "My brother said they are convicts, and some of them have defiled women..."
She paused, then covered her lips.
Qingying understood her meaning, nodded slightly, and asked, "Did Young Master Lu find any survivors that night?"
Lu Jingyan said, "There were five people in total, and none of them survived."
"Five people?" Qingying frowned and said, "Sister Lu, I seem to remember there were seven people back then."
Lu Xingli said, "Two people were stabbed to death by you from the very beginning."
Qingying smiled. "Is that so? I meant there were seven people." She looked at Lu Jingyan and asked, "Young Master Lu, didn't you find the bodies of the other two?"
Lu Jingyan looked back, scratched his head, and said, "We searched the whole place and only found five corpses."
“Impossible!” Lu Xingli said, “There were indeed seven people at the time. I remember it clearly. Because Sister Liu killed the other two first, we were able to escape temporarily. Later, we were surrounded by the other five.”
"Oh dear!" Qingying suddenly slapped her forehead and said in annoyance, "Sister Lu, I forgot to mention that the crossbows I used can only be used for self-defense and cannot kill people. I just knocked them unconscious."
The Lu siblings looked at each other in bewilderment.
Lu Jingyan asked hesitantly, "Does Miss Liu mean... the other two have already run away?"
Qingying shook her head and said, "The anesthetic I used is extremely strong. They will be unconscious for at least ten hours before they wake up."
Lu Xingli belatedly realized what was happening and stared at her with wide eyes, "You...you kidnapped them?!"
"Looks like she's not completely stupid yet," Qingying thought to herself.
“How can you call it kidnapping? You yourselves said they are just two deserving exiles.” Qingying admired the two men’s increasingly colorful expressions and felt a strange sense of pleasure.
She calmly picked up her cup, took a sip, and then gave a faint smile. "After I went back that night, I was still worried, so I secretly investigated. Guess what? I actually found some things. Do you want to know, Sister Lu?"
Lu Xingli gritted her teeth and didn't answer.
It was Lu Jingyan who spoke first, though his voice trembled slightly: "I wonder what Miss Liu has found out? Could you tell me?"
Qingying revealed a mysterious smile, and then ordered Tongxia to take out the cloth bag and place it on the table in front of her.
Upon opening it, the contents were laid out before the Lu siblings.
Lu Xingli's hand, hidden beneath her sleeve, clenched tightly. She tried to keep her tone calm, but it was still somewhat stiff: "What do you mean by that, Sister Liu?"
“Sister Lu, Young Master Lu…” Qingying’s gaze swept over the two of them, her expression showing a hint of innocence. “I don’t understand, why do you want to harm me?”
Lu Jingyan panicked even more, "Miss Liu, I never intended to harm you!"
Lu Xingli chimed in, "Yes, Sister Liu... isn't there some misunderstanding?"
"A misunderstanding?" Qingying looked at the two of them, who seemed determined to play dumb to the end, and suddenly felt extremely bored.
She scoffed, casually took out a silver ingot from her cloth bag, and slowly said, "A silver ingot is worth fifty taels. My life is only worth a mere thousand taels?"
Looking at the relaxed and playful expression on her face, Lu Xingli felt a chill in her heart, and cold sweat even broke out on her forehead. She took a deep breath and said, "Whether you believe it or not, my brother and I have never thought of harming you."
"Oh? Is that so?" She slowly opened the two blood-stained confessions and said, "But the two men said that a man named Jiang Si gave them money to buy my life. I did a little research and found that the man happened to work at the Duke of Lu's mansion."
Lu Jingyan knew he could no longer deny it, so he could only say sincerely, "Yes, Miss Liu, it was indeed me who ordered it, but I did not intend to kill you."
Seeing this, Lu Xingli explained to me, "Sister Liu, you've misunderstood. Second brother did this because he loves you. If you want to blame someone, blame me. This idea was mine."
"You like me?"
Qingying thought this was the funniest joke in the world.
Lu Jingyan's face flushed red with embarrassment, his hands crumpling his clothes on his knees. "I... Miss Liu, I sincerely apologize to you. What happened that night was indeed my fault..."
Seeing that he couldn't explain clearly, Lu Xingli hurriedly said, "Sister Liu, my second brother really loves you, so he asked me to help him find a way to win your heart. I was stupid to give him such a bad idea, to have someone pretend to bully you and then have him come to your rescue. We really never thought of harming you."
Qingying frowned. These things were actually clearly written in the confession. The two convicts confessed everything in order to avoid punishment, saying that they did not really want to harm her. But the Lu siblings could not stand up to scrutiny at all and gave their explanations without even looking at the confession.
However, this also matches their statements, indicating that they were not lying.
Qingying narrowed her eyes in satisfaction, put down the things, took out a handkerchief and gently wiped her fingers, saying, "I am grateful for your kindness, Young Master Lu, but please forgive me for not being able to respond."
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