exploration
In the western part of the city, a group of uninvited guests knocked on the door of Mingyuan.
Zhao opened the door, and Hua Lingteng pushed him aside and went inside.
Zhao Yi was displeased upon seeing Hua Lingteng. "Patriarch Hua, what is the meaning of this?"
Hua Lingteng said arrogantly, "What do you mean? I came with Prince Qin to investigate the thieves, do you have a problem with that?"
Zhao saw Xiao Liao and a group of soldiers following behind and asked, "The soldiers already checked the area the day before yesterday, why are they here again today?"
Hua Lingteng said, "The government can investigate a case as many times as they want. Is it any of your business?"
He was summoned by Xiao Liao early in the morning to inquire about Hua Lingchen.
He personally removed Hua Lingchen's tendons. In recent years, Hua Lingchen had been confined to the tea garden, half-dead, and had remained silent even after the humiliation he suffered a few days ago. He didn't seem to know any martial arts at all.
But given the opportunity to compete with Hua Lingchen, he naturally wouldn't let it pass, so he admitted that he had seen the same tea leaves in the tea garden.
Xiao Liao, adhering to the principle of "it's better to catch the wrong one than to overlook one," came.
Hua Lingteng boldly cleared a path for them. Xiao Liao, mindful of Hua Lingchen's past reputation, did not allow the soldiers to enter the garden.
Zhao could no longer stop him, so he had no choice but to lead Xiao Liao to see Hua Lingchen.
In the flower garden behind the bamboo house, Hua Lingchen squatted among the flowers, tending to the plants.
He wore a dark bamboo-patterned green robe, with a jade hairpin casually tied in his hair. His long, black hair cascaded down like a waterfall, exuding a leisurely and carefree air, like a hermit immortal who had retreated to the mountains.
"My lord, His Highness the King of Qin has arrived."
Hua Lingchen put down the water ladle, stood up, straightened his clothes, and stepped out of the field. He bowed to Xiao Liao and said, "Your Highness, this way please."
Xiao Liao followed Hua Lingchen into the bamboo house and immediately saw the sword hanging on the wall.
Xiao Liao stepped forward, admiringly stroked the sword for a moment, and said meaningfully, "A fine sword is truly more suited to a hero. Young Master Hua must cherish it very much now that he has regained it after losing it."
He drew his sword and handed it to Hua Lingchen.
Hua Lingchen smiled and declined, saying, "Your Highness is too kind. My hands are useless; I can't even lift a teapot, let alone a sword."
He invited Xiao Liao to sit down and ordered Zhao to pour tea.
“This sword has already changed hands. It was the princess who insisted on hanging it here, and I couldn’t refuse, so I left it here.”
Xiao Liao put his sword back and sat down opposite him. "Young Master, you love tea and are fond of it. Do you recognize this tea leaf?"
The withered leaves were pushed to the front of Hua Lingchen's cup.
Hua Lingteng had already picked some leaves from the garden. "Your Highness, look, these two leaves are exactly the same."
Hua Lingchen guessed the two men's intentions, shook his head and smiled, and said unhurriedly, "I grow several kinds of tea in this garden, with bitter tea being the most common. There are dozens of places in the capital alone that grow it, so it's not surprising that I have it here. If you conclude that this is all from my garden because of this, wouldn't that be too hasty?"
Hua Lingteng said, "Most tea farmers in the capital are rough men; none of them are capable of scaling walls or escaping from prison."
After saying that, he suddenly grabbed Hua Lingchen's wrist and forcibly checked his pulse.
He touched the spot where Hua Lingchen's tendon was severed with his fingertips and pressed hard. Hua Lingchen's brows furrowed slightly in pain, his arms trembled, and he could barely breathe, let alone exert any internal energy.
Hua Lingteng released his grip. He then checked the other pulse, and found it similarly devoid of internal energy, with a weak and shallow pulse – truly a useless pulse.
Xiao Liao already knew the answer from Hua Lingteng's expression, and said, "I came here specifically to ask the eldest young master, besides tea growers, who else can drop fresh tea leaves on their person?"
Zhao couldn't stand it any longer and interjected, "They must be those tea buyers."
Hua Lingteng retorted, "Nonsense! When buying tea, you always buy roasted tea leaves, not fresh tea leaves!"
Zhao retorted, "Of course there are! The tea leaves in this garden are all sold fresh."
Hua Lingteng belatedly realized what was happening and was greatly shocked. "You sell tea?"
Hua Lingchen pulled down his sleeve to cover his reddened wrists, enduring the pain from the severed tendons, and replied, "I accumulated a lot of tea leaves a few days ago, and it would be a pity to throw them away. Since my useless hands can't process or preserve them, I picked and sold them fresh. Luckily, a teahouse was willing to buy them, so we made a deal."
As for how those tea leaves were collected, Hua Lingteng knew it all too well.
Zhao Yiyin said sarcastically, "Master Hua, we agreed that the garden would have nothing to do with the Hua family anymore. The eldest son is forced to sell tea to make a living; you're not going to interfere again, are you?"
Hua Lingteng turned his face away and said, "I can't be bothered with your business."
Xiao Liao asked Hua Lingchen, "Where is the tea sold?"
Hua Lingchen replied, "It's hard to say, several teahouses sell them. As for how much they sell them, I have no idea. Your Highness could send someone to check."
Having said all that, Xiao Liao had no reason to continue questioning him and had to give up.
Hua Lingchen personally escorted him out of the garden. Seeing the soldiers lined up on both sides outside the garden, ready for battle, he then said, "Since Your Highness has come on official business, please handle it officially to avoid giving others cause for gossip later."
The more reasonable Hua Lingchen was, the uglier Xiao Liao's expression became. He still had to be polite and said, "Young Master, this place is completely open to the public. There is no need to bother searching."
Unable to watch the show, Hua Lingteng glared at Hua Lingchen, as if warning, "You'd better behave yourself, or you're dead."
Hua Lingchen bowed to him to see him off, and calmly watched him leave.
Hua Lingteng caught up with Xiao Liao and asked, "Your Highness, are we just going to let him go like this?"
Xiao Liao's eyes narrowed. Hua Lingchen's words were reasonable and well-founded, leaving no room for doubt. What could they do if they didn't let him go? Right now, the teahouse was the only clue they had.
There are teahouses on all four streets in the capital, but the teahouses on North Street are the most popular. Xiao Liao ordered his subordinates to search all the teahouses, tea shops, and tea stalls, while he went straight to the teahouse on North Street.
When Xiao Liao arrived at the teahouse, there were already two lines in front of the tea shop: one for fresh raw tea leaves and the other for roasted tea leaves.
When Aunt Hua saw Xiao Liao and Hua Lingteng arrive, she quickly swayed her hips and came forward to greet them.
Xiao Liao grabbed a handful of raw tea leaves; their color was bright green and their stripes were clear, indicating that they were indeed freshly picked.
He asked, "Where did you get this tea from?"
Aunt Hua replied with a smile, "Your Highness, it's from Young Master Hua's tea garden."
Xiao Liao then asked, "Why are you selling raw tea leaves?"
Aunt Hua invited him into the hall and explained, "The tea garden has a large quantity of tea leaves, all of which are of the highest quality. It would take too much time to process all of them, and the tea leaves would easily become stale. So we can only process half of them and sell the other half to individual tea farmers."
She poured tea for Xiao Liao and continued, "Who knew that when everyone heard that the tea was grown by Young Master Hua himself, they all rushed to buy it. Especially the scholars, the young masters and ladies who used to admire Young Master Hua, all came to inquire. I'm in business, so I'll make money whenever I can, and I simply set up a tea shop on the street and started selling it directly."
She pointed to the bustling tea shop, "Look, there are countless people buying tea every day, it's even more lively than my building."
The tea from the tea garden was thus distributed throughout the capital. It was impossible to verify who actually used the leaves.
The trail went cold.
Xiao Liao didn't believe that someone like Hua Lingchen, who had experienced life and death, could really be so carefree and willing to live a simple life selling tea in a corner.
That night, he ordered Dao Wuqing to conduct another reconnaissance mission. He couldn't afford to make a big fuss about the Princess's residence, but he didn't care whether Hua Lingchen lived or died.
The night was unusually quiet and deep. The night sky was filled with twinkling stars, and the earth was covered with a hazy silver frost.
Hua Lingchen, as usual, burned incense and took a bath, then went to sleep before 9 PM.
Dao Wuqing hid in the shadows, waiting for the lights in the house to go out before leaping into the garden.
Suddenly the garden gate rang, and Dao Wuqing quickly darted onto the eaves to hide.
The lights came on inside, and Hua Lingchen put on her clothes and went out to open the door.
The newcomer was a young woman with a beautiful face, gentle demeanor, and a straight back, clearly someone who practiced martial arts.
Hua Lingchen hadn't seen anyone for a while and couldn't remember who it was. "Who are you looking for, young lady?"
The man laughed and said, "My cousin is so forgetful."
Hua Lingchen vaguely remembered, shook his head and laughed, and stepped aside to say, "So it's Cousin Ranyi. It's been so long, I really didn't recognize you."
Li Ranyi followed him into the garden and said, "Since my aunt passed away, the Hua and Li families have not had any contact for several years, so it's no wonder that my cousin doesn't recognize me."
Reaching the bamboo corridor, Li Ranyi paused and leaned towards the bamboo eaves before entering the house and saying, "I visited the Gu residence a few days ago and heard from the princess that you are now free. Today, I happened to see some patrolling soldiers passing by. Are you well?"
"All is well."
Hua Lingchen invited her to sit down and poured tea. His wrist, which had been injured during the day, trembled uncontrollably, and he almost spilled the tea.
Li Ranyi hurriedly took the teapot, "How did your hand get so badly injured?"
Hua Lingchen sat down and replied, "My tendons are crippled, so I'm not as nimble as usual and can't stand the slightest pain. I can only do light tasks like picking tea leaves with a brush."
Li Ranyi sighed, "You've been imprisoned here for three years, missing the best time for treatment. What will become of you now?"
Hua Lingchen replied, "A loss may turn out to be a blessing in disguise. I am trapped here because I lost my hands and martial arts skills, but this has also allowed me to avoid the world and conflicts, which is a good thing."
Li Ranyi sat upright and respectfully said, "Cousin's magnanimity is beyond my reach."
As soon as she finished speaking, Li Ranyi faintly heard a slight friction sound coming from the eaves.
Li Ranyi stood up and moved quietly towards the door, her fingers slowly resting on her waist. "Cousin, are there rats in your house?"
Hua Lingchen replied, "There is no rat infestation yet; one or two rats here and there are no big deal."
Li Ranyi smiled and said, "Then I'll have to catch one today." She took out a thin arrow from her waist and shot it at the bamboo eaves.
A man in black darted out, throwing a knife that flew past Li Ranyi and flew straight toward Hua Lingchen.
"Cousin, be careful."
Li Ranyi immediately threw another thin arrow to intercept it.
Hua Lingchen turned his head and saw the sharp blade gleaming coldly, heading straight for his brow. He was horrified and panicked, dodging in a flustered manner before falling to the ground in a panic.
With a clang, the thin arrow struck the blade, causing it to veer off course and embed itself in the mural.
Having achieved his goal, the man in black made a swift escape. Li Ranyi leaped onto the roof, but the man had already vanished. Nearby patrolmen, hearing the commotion, immediately began a search.
Inside the bamboo house, Hua Lingchen got up somewhat disheveled, straightened the bamboo stool, and slowly dusted himself off.
Li Ranyi turned back and went to the wall to examine the blade, but it was just an ordinary blade with nothing unusual about it.
She wrapped her hand with a handkerchief and carefully pulled out the blade.
"I need to take this knife back for research." Li Ranyi sheathed the blade and then asked, "Cousin, are you injured?"
Hua Lingchen shook his head. "It's alright. It's a pity about the tea that was just brewed."
Li Ranyi said, "We can have tea another day. I'm going to look for the thief now. Cousin, there have been rampant thieves in the city lately, roaming around everywhere. You must be extra careful and don't be alone at night."
Hua Lingchen exchanged pleasantries and saw Li Ranyi off as she left the garden.
Li Ranyi was worried that the thieves might return, so he specially sent a few soldiers to stay behind.
Dao Wuqing evaded the patrolling soldiers all the way back to the Qin Prince's mansion to report.
Through the curtain, Dao Wuqing could clearly sense the displeasure of the person on the bed.
"Li Ranyi? She certainly came at the right time, ruining my plans."
Ever since Li Jinghe took over the patrol and transferred most of his patrolmen, clearly going against him, Li Ranyi has also interfered. He seems to have forgotten that Li Jinghe is Hua Lingchen's maternal uncle.
Are you sure Hua Lingchen isn't acting strangely?
Dao Wuqing replied, "Yes."
Not to mention that Hua Lingchen's wrist injury was so severe that he couldn't lift the teapot, his panic when the flying knife arrived was not the reaction of someone who had practiced martial arts.
The King of Qin then asked, "Have you been discovered?"
Dao Wuqing replied, "Your Highness, rest assured, I escaped quickly and no one discovered my whereabouts. The throwing knife I used was an ordinary blade, and its origin cannot be traced."
Unable to find any clues, Xiao Liao was deeply troubled. He instructed Dao Wuqing and a few others to secretly search for suspicious individuals, without giving any further instructions.
The following day, Gu Jinning learned about the tea garden incident and scorned Xiao Liao, ordering Zhao Yi to stay by Hua Lingchen's side at all times. She had tricked Li Ranyi into going there, but she could only help her once.
Xiao Liao must be on edge right now. This game of strategy will see who loses their composure first.
After several days of eating, drinking, and sleeping well, Gu Jinning's minor injuries healed completely, except for the wound on her arm, which healed slowly. That's why she always grumbled when applying the medicine.
"Knife Heartless shouldn't be called Knife Heartless, he should be called Poisonous Villain. A respectable knife hunter resorting to underhanded tactics is hardly the act of a hero."
Qinglian entered the room upon hearing the cursing, carrying a palace robe in her hands.
"Princess, it's time to go to the palace today. Her Majesty the Empress has urged us several times, we can't delay any longer."
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