Chapter 80 The Immortal in the Hermitage (Twenty-Three) A certain sentiment emanated from his eyes…
About a quarter of an hour later, the nuns in front rushed over upon hearing the news. Outside, chaos reigned. When they heard Lord Qi say that Yu Qi had died from poisoning, and then heard everyone discussing that the same murderer had killed Yi Cilian, Granny Chen finally felt a little relieved. She pulled back the quilt a little, revealing her terrified eyes.
Her two maids rushed into the screen as the door closed, one of them exclaiming in a panic, "Grandma, something terrible has happened! Even Mr. Yu next door is dead!"
Another said, "That thief has some nerve! He even dares to harm people from the government office! Grandma, aren't you going out to check on him?!"
Grandma Chen was trying to avoid it, how could she dare to go and see? But now that everyone else had gone, it would seem guilty if she didn't go. Thinking this, she quickly threw off the covers, got up, and put on her shoes.
Unexpectedly, a maidservant became suspicious, "Eh? When did you get up, Madam? You're already dressed."
Upon hearing this, her heart pounded with panic. She lost her balance and slipped off the edge of the bed, falling to the floor. The two maids quickly helped her up, and she smiled at them, saying, "I woke up a while ago and went for a walk."
The two maids looked at each other, sensing something was amiss. They didn't know what to say for a moment, but helped her straighten her clothes and smooth her skirt before going out with her.
When they reached the east wing, they saw a large crowd gathered in front of the door. Xu Bai was standing inside, holding a teacup and questioning the young nun who had delivered the tea that morning. No one could get in for a moment, and they all turned their heads to look inside. They saw Du Zhong lying by the bed, wailing loudly.
Chen Jia was also standing at the door, feeling a little puzzled. He felt that things had gone too smoothly. In the past two days, he had seen that Yu Qi was a very meticulous person and a doctor with excellent skills. Could it be that Yu Qi could not detect the poison in his teacup?
Because Xu Bai dared not stop him, he stepped in and walked to the bedside. He saw that Yu Qi's face was pale and his lips were bluish. He put his hand under his nose and checked for a long time. Sure enough, he could not detect a breath. If he was not dead, how could he hold his breath for so long?
Du Zhongzheng covered his face and wept bitterly. He peeked at him through his fingers, grabbed his leg, and cried out, "Second Master Chen, this murderer has truly lost his mind! My master is a clerk in the yamen, practically a member of the government, yet he dared to poison even my master! Although you are not an official, you are the most powerful and influential person here. Even the county magistrate has to give you face. You must avenge my master and bring this murderer out to be executed by axe and boiling oil! Torture him by five horses! Cut him into a thousand pieces!"
This made Granny Chen's legs go weak, and she slumped down, but fortunately, her two maids held her tightly. Xu Bai saw this and had half an idea in his mind, but he didn't say anything. He glanced inside and then turned back to ask the little nun a question.
Inside, Chen Jia felt a wet patch on his leg, unsure whether it was from tears or snot. Unable to bear the filth, he shakily stepped aside. "It would be best to carry your master home to report the death first. Lord Qi and I are here."
Upon hearing this, Xu Bai instructed two yamen runners outside to bring over a board, which Du Zhong then escorted out. Jue Ming and Jue Guang quickly seized the opportunity to instruct Du Zhong, "Remember to have your family come and pack up Mr. Yu's things."
Du Zhong covered his face and wept bitterly, nodding in agreement as he followed two constables carrying the board out of the temple and straight to the main street.
At that time, there was no sign of human habitation. Two yamen runners carried the board into the alley. Yu Qi rolled off the board and got off. Du Zhong hurriedly handed him a handkerchief to wipe the bruises on his lips. "Master, will Chen Jia notice anything amiss?"
Yu Qi turned around and instructed the two constables, "Just in case, go back and talk to Lord Yan. Send a few more men to guard Qinglian Temple. Under the pretext of investigating the murder case, do not allow anyone to enter or leave at will."
By trapping Chen Jia and the nuns inside the temple, even if they became suspicious, they wouldn't be able to find out anything. As long as the yamen runners going into the temple all said that Yu Qi was dead, they would naturally believe it.
The two constables left after receiving their orders. At this time, it was still dark and the rain had not stopped. Du Zhong held up an umbrella and walked out of the alley with Yu Qi. After walking for a while, they managed to hire a mule cart to carry goods back to Liuli Street.
Summer rainy days are the best for sleeping. Kuang Jiuli woke up once in the middle of the night and it took him an hour or so to fall asleep again. When he woke up, he could still hear the pattering of rain. The tent was very dark and he didn't know what time it was. He just groggily got up and hung up a tent.
Suddenly, she saw Yu Qi standing by the bed, amused by her yawning and slacking off. She knelt on the bed, stunned for a moment, vaguely thinking it was a dream. Shouldn't he be at Qinglian Temple? So she reached out and pinched his arm twice, "Uncle?"
Seeing that her hair was messy and her eyes were still half-closed, Yu Qi couldn't help but smile and softly reply with an "Mmm." He brushed the hair off her face with one hand and then put his hands behind her back.
Why have you come home?
He laughed and said, "He died and came back to life."
Her eyes widened. "How did he die?"
“The nuns at Qinglian Temple poisoned me to death.”
Jiuli was startled and, after regaining her composure, saw that he was still smiling in front of her. She knew he was joking, but then she remembered that he had kissed her yesterday, which made her even angrier. She snorted, "Coming back to scare people so early in the morning."
Suddenly, Xiuzhi came in carrying a basin of water and said, "It's still early in the morning, it's almost lunchtime. I told you not to drink that wine yesterday, but you didn't listen. You ate and then went to sleep. I think you woke up in the middle of the night and didn't go back to sleep until almost dawn?"
Yu Qi walked out of the screen and told her to get up. "Did you drink yesterday?"
Xiuzhi put the water on the washbasin stand and said, "Yesterday, Second Master Wei brought her back, and the old lady invited her to stay for dinner, so we drank some wine."
Upon hearing this, Yu Qi turned his head and glanced at Jiu Li. She was wiping her face in front of a small square mirror embedded in the washbasin stand, not paying any attention to him or looking at him. He lifted his robe and sat on the couch, his heart heavy, but he couldn't say anything. He had already pointed out all the bad things about Xu Bai, and now he was talking about Wei Hong, which would make him seem too scheming.
His smile became somewhat ambiguous. "Why did Wei Hong send you back?"
Jiuli then chattered on about how she had teased Wang the Cripple the day before, and said, "I made an appointment with Brother Zhang to go to Lion Bridge to find Miaohua today, but he hasn't come yet. I guess he overslept."
Yu Qi kept his head down and didn't say anything. Jiu Li saw that his face was pale and thought for a moment before realizing that it was probably because of Wei Hong.
Hmph, that's what you call deserved!
She insisted on praising Wei Hong, and as she walked towards the dressing table, she enthusiastically began to compliment him, "Brother Wei said yesterday that he wasn't very good at acting and was afraid he would mess things up for me, but who knew that he actually acted so well at Brother Zhang's house. As long as he's not talking to me, he's very efficient in his speech and actions, but he blushes after only a few words when he's talking to me. I know it's because he likes me, and to be honest, I like him a little too."
Yu Qi was furious, but she had to treat it as childish talk and replied with a laugh, "I like him a little more now—what about Qi Xubai?"
“Xu Baimo naturally likes it too.” She casually rubbed pearl cream in front of the mirror, tilting her face left and right. “Men can have three wives and four concubines, but women can’t be fickle?”
He sneered repeatedly, "Fine, fine, you were always so greedy when you were little, losing sight of the bigger picture. Now you're getting more and more capable. It's a good thing you're not a man, otherwise my fortune wouldn't be enough for you to take a concubine. With a heart as vast as the ocean, why are you even thinking about marrying someone?"
She closed the pearl cream, puffed out her cheeks, and turned around. "No, I still have to get married. I want what other women have. I only keep Brother Wei in my heart. After I marry Xu Bai, even if he's not by my side, I'll still have someone else in my heart, so I won't be lonely at all."
Yu Qi laughed in exasperation, "You really planned things out so meticulously, trying to get all the benefits. You really dare to dream big."
"Why wouldn't I dare to think about it? The problem with women is that they don't dare to think about it. Not only do I dare to think about it, I also dare to do it."
Since she had harbored "ambitions" since childhood, and Yu Qi had been "poisoned" by her for many years, he wouldn't be surprised if she said something shocking again. He could only rub his temples and sigh, "I really don't know who you got your personality from."
Jiuli smiled smugly, probably because she took after her biological father whom she had never met.
She turned to comb her hair, and in the mirror she saw Yu Qi's angry and helpless half-face, fragmented by the openwork pattern of the screen. Thinking about it, he really had it tough; she had forcefully "tortured" him from a rebellious youth into the gloomy and somber mature man he was now.
She felt a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment. Perhaps tormenting a man's soul is a woman's innate pleasure.
After a while, Yu Qi walked up behind her, looking dejected yet amused. He stared at her face in the mirror and smiled, "Even if I don't get poisoned, I'll still be driven crazy by you when I get home."
She glanced at her reflection in the mirror and asked, "Did they really poison you?"
He braced himself on the dressing table, enveloping her from above, and smiled at his reflection in the mirror. "If I die, who will you be stubborn and willful with in the future? Hmm?"
Looking in the mirror, Jiuli felt a vague and ambiguous feeling emanating from his eyes, enveloping her. She remembered the fox fur collar she wore in winter when she was a child. It was raining and a bit chilly, which made the soft feeling even more pronounced.
She was caught up in the moment and almost confessed to him again, but luckily she managed to hold her tongue. He was just putting on this act to trick her into "changing her mind." If she really said she only liked him, he would feel reassured and would avoid her again.
He was rigid by nature, as were most doctors. Just like those sandalwood compartments for storing medicine, you could almost smell the deep, ancient aroma of the medicine as soon as you saw them.
The old lady came in a moment later. "You just said you wanted me and the maid to go to the temple this afternoon for something. I didn't understand."
Yu Qi immediately walked away from behind her, his face showing a bit of embarrassment and guilt. He circled around twice in the air, then came out outside the screen and repeated in detail what he had said to her that morning.
Jiuli understood. It turned out that they were to use the excuse of going to Qinglian Temple to collect his "belongings" to lure those old nuns into a trap.
She walked over, put her arm around the old lady's shoulder, and chuckled, "You wouldn't give in to those old nuns' coaxing and actually send me to the temple to become a nun, would you?"
The old lady slapped her hand and glared at her, saying, "Don't even mention it's just an act. Even if your uncle really died, I would never send you off!"
"You don't believe in gods or Buddhas."
"Two different things." The old lady smiled, then turned to Yu Qi and asked, "When are we going?"
Yu Qi said, "No rush. Constable Zhang will be here soon, and we need to take care of some other business."
The old lady got up and went out. When she reached the door, she remembered what she had seen when she came in and felt a little uneasy. She turned back and pulled Jiuli, saying, "Girl, come with me to the kitchen to see what we have for dinner today."
Zhang Da arrived at the Yu family's house after lunch. He explained that he had originally planned to come earlier, but Sui Zi had some stomach pain, so he had to first call a nearby doctor to come and examine her for a while before leaving. Fortunately, Sui Zi was fine; she had just eaten too much and was experiencing indigestion, which made her stomach uncomfortable.
Jiuli smiled and said, "Most pregnant women can't eat much, so why is your sister-in-law different from others?"
Zhang Da was both angry and amused. "If she ever says she has no appetite, I'll be thanking my lucky stars!"
Du Zhong glanced at him with a smile, "Brother Zhang can eat just as much."
"I'm a man, how can we be the same?!"
As they talked, they went to the Lion Bridge that Wang the Cripple had mentioned. They saw a row of two-story houses facing the street. One of the houses with a picture of Zhong Kui on the door was the house where Miao Hua was temporarily staying. When they got closer, they saw that the two windows were open, but the door was locked. It seemed that she was not at home and no one knew where she had gone.
Just as they were about to ask, an old woman suddenly emerged from the door next door. She said, "Are you looking for the young woman who lives here? She went out yesterday afternoon, saying she was going to look at the new house, and we haven't heard from her since." As she spoke, the old woman raised her eyebrows. "Oh dear! Could she have moved away quietly? There's still some furniture in this house!"
Jiuli hurriedly stepped forward and asked, "Looking at the new house? Where is she moving to?"
The old woman shook her head. "I don't know. I don't know where this young woman came from. She rented this house all by herself and never goes out. I asked her whose wife she was, and she said she came from another place to find her husband, who was working in Nanjing. I watched her closely for more than half a month but didn't see her husband. I just thought she was a runaway family member. Alas, a few days ago a gentleman actually came. It seems she has found her husband and is probably moving to a new house."
Yu Qi asked, "May I ask, ma'am, who is the landlord of this house?"
"The owner of this house has been taken away by his son and son-in-law to live quite far away. He asked me to look after it. The young woman paid a month's rent, but it's not due yet, so I haven't been paying much attention." As soon as the woman saw that Zhang Da was dressed in the uniform of an official, she came to the door and pleaded, "I don't have a key either. Since this official is here, could you please open the door and take a look? If anything is missing, I won't be able to explain it to anyone."
Yu Qi nodded to Zhang Da. Zhang Da looked at the lock on the door, which was already old and worn out. He borrowed the copper hairpin from the old woman's hair and poked it into the keyhole a few times before it opened.
As soon as they pushed open the door, a strong sandalwood fragrance wafted into their nostrils, just like in a temple. Inside the door was an eight-immortal table, behind which was a stove. Behind the stove were two open windows, and under the windows was a bath tub.
The old woman paced around the house anxiously, then clutched her chest and said, "Thank goodness, everything is still here!"
Although there was some furniture in the house, it was all broken and wouldn't fetch much money. How could Miaohua possibly care about such things? She said she was from out of town looking for her husband, but that must have been a lie to appease the neighbors and the landlord. But who was the man the old woman had seen a few days ago? Could it be that Miaohua really had a lover outside?
The group split up to search. Zhang Da and Du Zhong were downstairs, while Yu Qi and Jiu Li climbed upstairs. Upstairs was an attic with low beams. Under the window was a crooked long table with an empty four-poster bed next to it. The curtains hung on both sides, and the bedding was neatly laid out, but no personal clothing could be found.
This is a bit strange. Miaohua left the temple to abort her unborn child in order to avoid being noticed. She would stay here to recuperate, and she wouldn't leave without taking any valuables with her.
Jiuli turned to Yuqi and asked, "Could Miaohua have gone back to Qinglian Temple?"
Yu Qi didn't speak, but looked at the neatly folded bedding and pillows on the bed. Then he looked at the wooden board on the ground, and walked to Jiu Li's side to touch the long table. He looked at his fingertips and found them spotless.
Jiuli pouted and asked again before he came to his senses. "Hmm? I don't know, maybe so. This afternoon, you and the old lady go to Qinglian Temple and see if she has gone back."
She nodded, looking at the raindrops dripping from the eaves outside the window. "Who do you think that old woman downstairs was talking about? Is he one of her 'pilgrims'?"
Yu Qi shook his head. "I don't think it's her 'guest.' If Qinglian Temple really had something to do with Chen Jia, then the guests she would entertain would be people who are either rich or noble. If she had such a sentimental 'guest,' she wouldn't let her stay in such a simple house."
"So that's the lover she had behind the backs of the old nuns at the temple?"
Yu Qi couldn't explain it either. He glanced around the attic and said, "Let's go down and see if we find anything down there."
The stairs were quite old; the wood was rotten and flimsy, creaking as you stepped on them. Afraid she'd slip and fall, Yu Qi turned and grabbed her arm. Jiu Li stuck her tongue out at him, "Wouldn't it be better if I fell and died? Then no one would bother you anymore."
He smiled helplessly, pulled her down, and asked Zhang Da and Du Zhong if they had found anything. The two of them had also found nothing, but Du Zhong pointed to a few corners of the wall and said, "We found some incense ash, like the incense commonly used in temples."
The old woman hadn't left yet, and she hurried over to ask, "Gentlemen, what exactly are you here to investigate?"
Du Zhong laughed from behind the stove, "Didn't I tell you? This woman is someone's concubine. Some time ago, someone reported to the yamen that she had run away with someone, so we came here to investigate."
The old woman frowned and pondered, "No wonder, if you put it that way, it does seem plausible. Otherwise, why would a young and beautiful woman rent a house here all by herself? I bet the man who came a few days ago was her lover."
Jiuli asked, "What did that man look like?"
The old woman shook her head. "I didn't see his face clearly. It was raining, and he came with an umbrella. He was a bit taller than you, young lady, but shorter than these three. He was dressed quite well. I remember he wore an ivory-white robe and a pair of black boots. The materials looked good. He was very refined and elegant." She pointed at Du Zhong and said, "He was even more refined than this young master."
Upon hearing that he was wearing an ivory-white robe, Jiuli suddenly remembered the jade-white sachet embroidered with a qilin. She glanced at Yu Qi and pulled him aside. "Uncle, didn't you say that the murderer who killed Yi and Cilian seemed to be their lover? Could it be this man?"
Yu Qi pondered for a moment, then went to ask the old woman, "Old woman, how old do you think that man is?"
"He is a young official; judging from his attire, he is only in his early twenties."
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Author's note: Thank you for reading.
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