Chapter 7 The Shocking Lychee Garden (Part 7) Don't worry, Uncle is here. ...
As expected, after Bai Daoming revealed his identity and purpose, Fengqiao had no choice but to soften his expression, invite the man into the hall, hurriedly call out "Guests have arrived, serve tea!" before rushing back into the hall, fearing that Jiuli might say something inappropriate that could trigger some kind of scheme by the yamen.
Unexpectedly, Jiu Li, upon hearing that she was to be taken to the Lychee Garden, showed no panic. Instead, she clapped her hands and laughed, "Alright, alright, I'll pack my valuables and take you there right away. You wait for me!"
Just as she was about to leave, Fengqiao grabbed her and hurriedly reminded her in her ear, "My little aunt, they're here to arrest you! Do you think they're taking you to a banquet?! Besides, Liyuan is a place where everyone is sick. Aren't you afraid of catching a disease?"
Jiuli took his arm and said, "Oh, Uncle Fengqiao, what's there to be afraid of when you're sick? Uncle prescribed some medicine to prevent illness, and everyone who comes in and goes in has to take it. I went there yesterday, and I'm fine now, aren't I? If we move over there, I can help Uncle out. Besides, we've finished everything at the shop, but we can't open for business for a while, and I'm just bored at home."
"You think it's glorious to be imprisoned by the authorities! If word gets out that our young lady has been involved in a lawsuit, who will dare to propose marriage?"
Xu Bai, sitting in the chair at the head of the table, watched the two whispering to each other. He overheard the words "arranging a marriage" and couldn't help but glance up and down at Jiu Li. She looked quite old; could she still not be engaged?
That makes sense. The Yu family originally lived in the countryside near Suzhou. What good families could there be in the countryside? Perhaps Yu Qi brought her to Nanjing under the guise of treating the epidemic to find her a husband. Speaking of which, Yu Qi is no ordinary man. He raised such a grown daughter before he was thirty. He must have given birth to her when he was around ten years old. He truly lives up to his handsome appearance.
Then he heard Jiuli say "uncle" again, and he wondered to himself, could it be that she really wasn't born to Yu Qi?
Lost in thought, they were startled when a tall, slender woman in her thirties entered carrying several bowls of tea. She slammed the bowls down abruptly, glanced at the three of them, and said, "Who are you? We're new to Nanjing and have no relatives or friends here. Don't tell me you've come looking for trouble—"
The two constables stood up and shouted, "We are officials from Jiangning County. This is our County Magistrate. We are carrying out our duties according to the law and must not be disrespectful!"
Unexpectedly, Yu Qing was a tough nut to crack. She smiled and crossed her arms, saying, "What's so great about government officials? You do your job as an official, and I'll practice my medicine. We're completely unrelated. Our Yu family doesn't rely on the government for a living, so we really don't take officials seriously."
The constable angrily retorted, "You shameless woman! You're nothing but a servant, yet you dare to be so disrespectful!"
Yu Qing put her hands on her hips and said, "Hey, what's wrong with me being a servant? I'm not your servant, and I don't eat your food. Why should I respect you? This Nanjing city really has a clear distinction between different classes. No matter if the servants are right or wrong, they always insist on being superior. I refuse to accept that."
Jiuli hurriedly came over to persuade her, "Aunt Qing, it's alright. They're just asking me some questions about a murder case and want to take me to Liyuan."
"Sure enough, when officials come to our house, it's never good news. They're not exactly bringing us money." Yuqing rolled her eyes, pulled Jiuli over, and straightened her clothes. "What are we going to Liyuan for?"
"They said I was a suspect and needed to be detained there temporarily."
If she hadn't spoken of it, she would have been fine, but the more she spoke, the angrier Yuqing became. She flung the handkerchief around like a steel knife, quite imposingly, "Suspicion? Suspicion my foot! I think those guys who barged into our house are more like thieves! No way! They're not allowed to go anywhere. I'd like to see who dares to be violent. If they dare to be violent today, I'll hang myself under the plaque of their government office tomorrow!"
As soon as Yuqing arrived, Fengqiao fell silent, secretly gloating to himself, thinking to himself, "Let's see what the three of you do when you run into this unreasonable shrew!"
Xu Bai stood up and explained in kind words. Seeing his outstanding appearance, refined manners, and status as a county magistrate, Yu Qing couldn't help but soften her tone, "Did you really agree with our master?"
Xu Bai nodded solemnly, and Jiu Li also tried to persuade them. After much persuasion, they finally calmed down the two gatekeepers and allowed Jiu Li to leave with the three of them.
On the way, Jiuli didn't seem worried at all. Instead, she looked around happily, relaxed and carefree. Even when passing men grinned at her, she didn't get annoyed. She even bought flowers from the flower seller's basket to wear.
Two constables carried a large black lacquered wooden box with red trim behind them, muttering, "Judging by this, anyone who didn't know better would think she was going out for a spring outing."
Hearing this, Xu Bai glanced at the two of them, then turned around and saw Jiu Li had chosen a pale yellow camellia. He quickly paid for it for her.
As Jiuli dabbed flowers into her hair, she fanned herself with her eyes and smiled at him, "You're so young and you've already become a county magistrate? You must be very learned."
"I dare not accept such praise; it is merely due to my grandfather's kindness."
He thought she was going to press him about their family background, but to his surprise, she didn't ask. She just nodded and looked at his face again, "Have you met my uncle?"
“Mr. Yu?” Xu Bai nodded, twisting one arm behind his back. “I thought he was your father.”
Jiuli asked with a smile, "Do I look alike to him?"
He smiled and shook his head, "Not really, I thought you looked like my mother."
"I have no mother."
He glanced at him and said, "Miss, you're joking. Who doesn't have a mother?"
“My mother died young.” Jiuli said with an indifferent expression. “My father died soon after. After my parents passed away, my uncle raised me. He and my father were brothers, and he never married or had children, so he treated me like his own daughter.”
Xu Bai nodded slowly. Jiu Li looked at him and smiled. He touched his face suspiciously. "Is my face dirty?"
Jiuli smiled and shook her head, then walked on ahead.
Upon arriving at Liyuan Garden, things seemed different from the day before. The constables at the gate were questioning people more closely, and a new group of menacing-looking constables were patrolling inside. Jiuli watched them pass by, then took two steps back and leaned closer to Xubai to ask, "Does this mean that unless the murderer is caught, none of these people from Liyuan Garden can go home?"
Xu Bai nodded and said, "That's how it should be, but they were already ill, so it doesn't matter."
"So, besides me and Du Zhong, are there any other suspects?" He said this with a relaxed expression.
"No one for now." He asked curiously, "If there's no one else, then you two are the prime suspects. Aren't you afraid?"
She smiled and shook her head, "Don't worry, my uncle is here."
"Although Mr. Yu is a skilled physician, he is not a god after all. I don't think he has the ability to make everything go as he pleases."
Jiuli didn't respond to his words, thinking to herself that outsiders could not possibly know all of Yu Qi's abilities. Even if he wasn't a god, in her eyes he was almost like one.
She seemed rather smug, not even noticing that her shoulder was brushing against Xu Bai's arm. Yu Qi saw her from afar under the eaves and called out to her with a stern face. She looked down into the eaves and saw him with his hands clasped behind his back, his face expressionless, but his eyes flashing with a sharp light; she knew he was angry. For no reason at all, she wondered who had provoked him.
But it doesn't matter, she's here, can't she at least make him smile? So she skipped and hopped into the corridor, "How did you know I was coming, and why did you come out to greet me?"
Before anyone could react, Du Zhong emerged from the house. "Who's here to greet you? My master just came from behind. He was just discussing prescriptions with a few doctors when he bumped into you. What, you came empty-handed? There's nothing here. Why didn't you even bring a couple of changes of clothes?"
In the blink of an eye, two constables carried forward a box. "Where are the young lady's things?"
The room in the east wing had just been cleaned up. Du Zhong led them there, while Jiu Li followed Yu Qi into the room. When she saw a half-bowl of tea on the table, she didn't ask any questions, but went over, picked it up, and started eating.
Yu Qi glanced at her from his seat, then turned his gaze to Xu Bai. “I’m sorry to trouble you, Lord Qi, to make this trip in person. Now that the person has been brought here, you can finish your work. I’m sure you’re busy with official duties, so please excuse the simple room. I won’t keep you any longer.”
Jiuli quickly swallowed the tea, put down the teacup, turned around and smiled, "So your surname is Qi."
Xu Bai looked at Yu Qi, then at her, and nodded with a smile.
Yu Qi coughed and impatiently flicked the dust off his legs twice.
Seeing that he looked annoyed, Xu Bai tactfully bowed and took his leave, saying, "The magistrate has ordered me to move into the garden to investigate the murder. If you need anything during this time, you can come to the east side of the garden to find me."
Yu Qi only said "thank you," but Jiu Li kept interrupting him with one sentence after another, "You said that was the last time we saw someone surnamed Lin that day, but I don't think that's entirely true. There was someone living in the east room next door. Didn't they meet someone surnamed Lin that night?"
Xu Bai smiled and shook his head. "That man's surname is Guan. We asked him, and he said that he went out before you arrived that day to talk to a friend in the back room. He talked until late and stayed in that room with his friend, so he didn't know you were going and didn't see Lin Mo that night."
Is what he said necessarily true?
“Fish,” Yu Qi said in a hard voice, “it’s none of your business.”
Jiuli turned around and looked at him, muttering softly, "Ask what you're afraid of."
Xu Bai laughed and said, "It's alright, it's not a secret. My friend surnamed Guan can testify."
Unable to contain her curiosity, Jiuli turned around and walked towards him again. "Could it be that his friend is covering for him? What a coincidence! The day we went there, the man surnamed Guan wasn't there, and then the man surnamed Lin died shortly afterward. The man surnamed Guan was also a patient. Why wasn't he resting in his room? Why was he running around the garden like that?"
“Miss, you don’t know this, but that man surnamed Guan has recovered from his illness. Besides, a murderer must have a motive. That man surnamed Guan and Lin Mo have no grudges or enemies, so there’s no reason for him to harm him. Even if he had a reason to kill, why didn’t he just go along with it and put all the suspicion on you when questioned? Instead, he said he had never seen you. That doesn’t make sense.”
The two stood talking in front of the door, enveloped by a gentle ray of sunlight. Yu Qi sat silently in the shade inside, the room seemingly divided into two worlds of light and shadow by the afternoon sun. He watched them coldly; one wore a jade-white embroidered robe, the other a tea-colored silk skirt, both young and beautiful, a perfect couple, like a poetic and picturesque pair.
He couldn't help but think of Jiu Li's marriage again, but this was something he was too unfamiliar with, and he had no experience with it. He didn't know where to begin making plans. So he turned his face away and looked into the east inner room, which was empty. He stared at the empty air for a long time.
Jiuli listened to Xu Bai's seemingly logical explanation and, instead of defending herself, went along with him, saying, "You mean, Du Zhong and I had a motive to kill him because that day—"
Xu Bai looked embarrassed. "Because that day, everyone in the kitchen saw you meet Lin Mo, and he seemed to have some feelings for you—"
He didn't dare say the rest, fearing it would damage her reputation.
Suddenly, Yu Qi chimed in, "People like that deserve to die."
The two couldn't help but look at Yu Qi. His expression was normal. He showed neither curiosity nor pity for the dead. Although the dead were people he had saved, they died from other causes, so he didn't care.
He grew impatient and walked over slowly, pulling Jiu Li's wrist. He then walked further inside, raising his voice, "Zhong'er, see the guest out."
Du Zhong then appeared from outside the door, grinning at Xu Bai, "Lord Qi, please go back."
Xu Bai had already stepped outside the corridor when he heard Jiu Li run to the door and call out, "Hey! Your surname is Qi, what's your name?"
He turned around and saw her leaning against the door frame, half of her body hidden behind the door, her tea-colored skirt swaying in waves. The romantic and leisurely undulations made his heart flutter strangely.
He couldn't help but smile gently and kindly, "Qi Xubai."
Jiuli murmured the name to herself as she turned back in, about to speak with Yu Qi, when he turned and strode into the east inner room, leaving behind a cold back view. She could only look at Du Zhong and purse her lips.
For the rest of the day, Yu Qi didn't say anything more. He just stayed inside the room. Sometime during the day, a desk had been moved into the east room and placed against the window. Jiu Li was in the east wing outside, with one arm across the window. She could see his upper body embedded in the window, and the golden light and shadow rose and fell on the outline of his profile. She raised a finger as a pen and slowly traced the undulating curve.
Perhaps feeling that the medication was not appropriate, he wrote a prescription, crumpled it up, and threw it away, discarding many of them in succession. It seems that this epidemic is truly complex and dangerous, even he has become uncertain.
A note from the author:
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Thank you for reading.
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