0130 The Golden-Clad Swordsman (Part 3)
Li Miao's men were indeed quite capable; based on Shu Fu's description, they actually found such a person in Yanzuofang.
The person who reported this bowed respectfully and replied, "That young man's surname is Chen, and his given name is Yu. He is from Xiangzhou. Years ago, when Xiangzhou was still in the hands of those rebels, he fled to Guanzhong to seek refuge. On the way, he encountered misfortune. A group of kidnappers forcibly abducted his blind sister and pushed him into the river to drown."
"Fortunately, he was lucky and was rescued, but from then on, he went from being a free man to a servant of a nobleman. The nobleman valued him highly because he had some education, and he did his best to repay the nobleman's kindness."
"Until two years ago, he saved enough money to redeem himself. He then bid farewell to his benefactor and inquired about his sister's whereabouts along the way. Finally, he came to Chang'an and is now working odd jobs in the study while continuing to search for his sister."
At this point, the man paused briefly before adding, "As for Liang Dalangjun, he once went to Chen Yu's study where he did odd jobs to buy books. He saw Chen Yu write some scattered articles and poems and even offered to buy out a few of them, but Chen Yu refused on the spot."
After listening, Shu Fu nodded thoughtfully, a guess forming in her mind.
Li Miao observed her expression and asked in a low voice, "Do you suspect that Xi Duzhi is his abducted sister?"
Shufu's fingers glided along the rim of the porcelain white cup, finally stopping in the center.
She shook her head and replied softly, "I heard those two verses at the Kuai Zai Pavilion before. They were both lyrical and expressive. These two people should not be siblings, but rather..." She paused and carefully added two words, "old friends."
Shu Fu's eyebrows relaxed slightly, and she finally smiled faintly: "Alright, I'll find a way to let him find out for himself."
She asked someone to bring her paper, picked up a pen and wrote a few lines of book titles: "I have long heard that Xi Duzhi of Pingkangfang loves reading the most, so I will send her some books as a gift. I will go to the study where this Mr. Chen works to buy them, and then ask him to deliver them to Kuai Zai Pavilion in person."
After writing it down, she was about to hand it to the person who came to report when she suddenly stopped: "Wait, this is not good. What if my guess is wrong? Wouldn't this person be disturbing Chief Censor Xi..."
Seeing her hesitation, Li Miao took the paper from her fingertips and handed it to the man: "Then focus on Liang Zhiyan. When he goes to Kuai Zai Pavilion, have Chen Yu deliver the book there that day. You don't need to actually see Xi Duzhi. Just let him know that Liang Zhiyan plagiarized his poem."
Having decided how to cause trouble for Liang Zhiyan, Shu Fu breathed a sigh of relief, took two steps forward, leaned against the railing, and looked up at the sky.
With the heavens shining brightly, I feel quite content.
The water's surface rippled with a fiery red hue that seemed to swallow half the sky, and the reflections that emerged were also lively and playful.
Her restless and irritable heart, which had been agitated for several days, inexplicably calmed down at this moment, and her limbs were filled with strength, as if she had been given boundless courage.
"Afu," Li Miao called softly from behind.
Shu Fu glanced back and smiled in the twilight: "Thank you for helping me, Miao Miao. You're building a new enclosure for Tangyuan, right? I'll write a little poem for it to celebrate its move, how about that to thank you?"
"You think you can fob me off with just one poem?" Li Miao wagged his index finger a few times. "At least two! Write them on two nicer sheets of paper, and I'll post one in front of and one in the back of the enclosure. That'll be more impressive!"
...
After resigning from Li Miao, Shu Fu returned the way she came, climbed over the wall to the Shu residence, and jogged back to Chunwan Tower, avoiding the servants who came and went.
When she got to the front of the building, she saw that it was still pitch black upstairs. She sighed and, taking advantage of the fact that no one was around, hurriedly ran upstairs. But as soon as she pushed open the door, she saw a figure leaning against the door.
Shu Fu was startled and ran over to open the window. Only by the silvery moonlight could she see the person on the ground.
"Ah Jian?" she exclaimed in surprise.
The man slowly awoke, looking at him with blank eyes: "Miss..."
"Girl!" She jumped to her feet. "How...how did I get here?"
Shu Fu was surprised: "You fell asleep here, just like last night. I was just about to ask you, is it because I've been too busy these past few days that you're so tired..."
A-Jian's face paled, and she stammered, "No, that's not how it is. Today I was supposed to go to Xiangji Temple to do something for you, Miss. But then I remembered that you seemed to know the young monk Cunhui there, so I decided to ask him for help. I came back to get a token as proof, but I ended up falling asleep here..."
Shu Fu paused slightly upon hearing this, seemingly lost in thought.
“Miss…” A-Jian’s eyes welled up with tears, which rolled down her cheeks. “I couldn’t go to Xiangji Temple today, which delayed your business. What should we do…”
"That's alright, listen to me first!" The girl's expression turned serious as she looked at her intently. "I remember, you also fell asleep like this yesterday evening?"
A-Jian nodded blankly, her eyes blurry with tears.
"Have you been doing anything mentally or physically demanding these past few days?"
"No, I'm doing the same things as before. Besides, I'm being promoted by you now, so my workload is lighter. I wouldn't be so tired over such a small task..."
Shu Fu's heart tightened, and she had a vague sense of unease. Her breathing became slightly rapid, and she raised her hand and pressed it tightly against her chest. It took her a long time to calm down.
"This matter is probably not that simple. Tomorrow morning, I'll take you out to find a medic!"
A-Jian blinked, and it took her a while to recover: "Miss, you suspect..."
"I don't know, this is too absurd. Even storybooks wouldn't dare to write something like this, let alone..."
A-Jian nodded, then reassured her, "I've been eating and living with you, Miss, for the past few days. You've been fine, so how could I be? You're probably just tired."
Shu Fu had a light sheen of sweat on her forehead and pursed her pale lips.
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