Chapter 26 Self-recommendation
Cui Fufeng lowered his eyes and remained silent. He asked Daimao about other things. Seeing that there was nothing else, he asked her to keep her mouth shut and not reveal the matter to anyone else.
After Daimao left, Cui Fufeng said, "It seems someone hates you terribly, or rather, hates the people around you, your mother, or your potential husband... It seems they want to chop you up with knives and burn you with fire to vent their hatred."
Qian Deng nodded gravely and said, "As expected. There was another story behind my mother's death. Uncle Fu discovered this and hid himself to warn me, but he was murdered instead!"
Cui Fufeng thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Your deductions regarding Madam Qi's death are perfectly linked, and the chain of evidence is sufficient and perfect, absolutely correct. Furthermore, Su Yunzhong admitted to killing Madam Qi, but he didn't take responsibility for Uncle Fu's death. In my opinion, Uncle Fu's death must be a separate case."
"Another matter..." Qian Deng's gaze fell on the torn, charred piece of paper, and he murmured, "When Uncle Fu died, King Linhuai had already sent people to guard the manor. Under his protection, the manor was like an iron barrel, and it was impossible for anyone to enter or leave."
"Yes, so there was another murderer hiding in the farm at that time, then..."
His gaze turned towards the backyard.
The same thought as his arose in Qiandeng's mind.
Those gentlemen who smiled at her tenderly and gazed at her lovingly, those candidates for husbands who shared her hardships in the storms and stood by her in the chaos of war, those young men who, for various reasons, took refuge in her backyard and lived with her day and night, just across the wall from her...
Among them, there really is a terrifying killer with ulterior motives.
He came with the intention of killing the county lady or a candidate for her husband, lurking in the dark waiting for an opportunity to strike - or, he had already done it, and Yu Guangling's death was caused by him?
Qian Deng and Cui Fufeng looked at each other, going through everyone in their minds over and over again. They felt that anyone was possible, and yet no one was possible. They had no clue in the chaos.
"Is your prediction the same as mine?" Cui Fufeng's voice rang softly beside her ear, calmly and almost cruelly addressing the people in her backyard. "Perhaps Yu Guangling's death is just the beginning. Your husbands will die one after another, just as the Si Tiantai predicted, confirming your fate as a 'husband-killer,' just like... your loved ones' leaving you confirms the so-called 'no connection with relatives.'"
Qiandeng tightly grasped the teacup in his hand, his finger joints turning green, so tightly that he almost crushed the thin secret-color porcelain teacup.
Cui Fufeng asked, "But County Lady, precisely because of this, we must hunt down the man behind this. Since he's determined to make you a husband-killer, he'll surely continue to do so. Can you truly surrender and allow yourself to be led by the nose, step by step, into his trap?"
Qian Deng gritted his teeth and fiercely spat out two words from between his teeth: "Don't even think about it!"
"Then what are you going to do? How can you verify and track down the suspect alone in the palace?" Cui Fufeng asked. "You only have a few maids and aunts around you, and the guards and doormen are not much help. Are you planning to wait until something goes wrong before turning to the Dali Temple for help?"
She pursed her lips silently, thought for a moment, and said, "There are only two options. One is that I dismiss them, and the other is that the government sends people in to conduct a thorough investigation."
"Even if you dismiss them, your husband still can't avoid death while he's away—isn't Yu Guangling in the Imperial College? But the cause of death will still be spread among the people as being unlucky for you. As for the government stationed in the palace, that's even more impossible. Not only is it against the law, it would alert the suspect, making it even harder to verify."
Qiandeng was silent for a moment, looking up at him, wanting to hear his opinion.
Cui Fufeng slowly released her hand, stood up, bowed to her, and said solemnly: "However, now that the court wants the county lady to add a candidate for a husband, then I would like to recommend someone to enter the county lady's backyard and wait for an opportunity to thoroughly investigate this case."
Qiandeng looked hesitantly at the elegant and handsome Cui Shaoqing in front of her, and couldn't understand why he was so keen on being a matchmaker. He was no longer in the Ministry of Rites, but he still wanted to recommend a husband to her.
"Who is this person that Cui Shaoqing is talking about?"
Cui Fufeng leaned forward slightly to look at her, his expression relaxed and natural, his voice clear and cool, as if describing the weather: "The sixth son of the Cui family of Boling, Junior Minister of the Dali Temple, Cui Fufeng."
After seeing Cui Fufeng off, Qiandeng stood at the gate of the palace in a daze. Her distracted look made Aunt Xuanji's heart skip a beat. After the carriage left, she hurriedly asked, "County Lady, what happened?"
Qiandeng shook his head and walked into the door in a trance, holding her arm.
She took the key and opened the backyard door. Under Aunt Xuanji's puzzled gaze, she walked into the backyard, looked around, and stopped in front of a lush bamboo forest.
"That's... Jinzhutang, right? It seems no one lives there."
Aunt Xuanji said, "Yes, but the servants of the Jin family clean it every day. The clear springs and bamboo forests inside are very elegant, and the houses are also clean."
"Let's make arrangements properly, Cui Shaoqing is coming."
Aunt Xuanji was stunned for a moment. When she thought about it again, this mature and steady lady of forty years was shocked for the first time and almost bit her tongue: "Shaoqing Cui? Cui...the sixth son of the Cui family?"
Qian Deng nodded with difficulty: "Well, he may come over in the next few days."
Aunt Xuanji was incoherent: "But... he is the sixth son of the Cui family. If nothing unexpected happens, he may be the prime minister in the future. He... he..."
Qian Deng held his head with his hands, showing an expression that said, "Don't ask, don't ask, I don't know what to do either." "I don't know how he will handle it, but anyway, the person is coming."
"Oh my God... Such a huge Buddha statue, this..." Aunt Xuanji said, secretly looking at her own county lady, thinking of the Cui family, the top family, and looking at the empty and dilapidated gate of the Changhua Palace, she couldn't help but sigh in her heart.
But when she looked at her county lady with her fairy-like figure in white clothes and her natural makeup, and thought of Cui Fufeng, who had eliminated countless girls who loved him and no one dared to propose marriage to him, she felt brave again.
"In fact, Cui Shaoqing is really the best choice. Every time he sent you back home, I felt that the two of you were a perfect match that complemented each other..."
Seeing Aunt Xuanji's dreamy look, Qiandeng immediately interrupted her reverie: "However, he is only here to guard the backyard because of the case, to prevent any further incidents."
Aunt Xuanji looked at him suspiciously: "Really? Just for this?"
"Yes, after all... he refuses to sit idle and do nothing. He is determined to solve this case!"
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