Verification
"So, the original identity of 'Lu' was replaced by someone else?"
Since the statue on Qixia Mountain was destroyed, Emperor Changde has never sent anyone to repair it.
The incident happened suddenly and the ground collapsed, burying the mine.
Because the mine was of vital importance to the national economy, Emperor Changde prioritized sending people to search for the mine, thus missing the best time to repair the statue.
It was not until later that he observed that Dong Lan was unusually interested in that piece of land, so he decided to wait and see why they were so interested in that seemingly ordinary place.
It has been a long time since things started to settle down, and now is the time to close the net.
Qin Lan glanced at the man tied up in the corner and asked Ai, "Where did you see him last night?"
"At the corner of the stairs on the young lady's floor."
Ai put down the snack and twisted his palm.
The spicy taste of the golden pastry permeated the air. The person in the corner seemed to smell the flavor of the pastry and suddenly struggled.
"?"
Qin Lan unexpectedly withdrew his gaze from the corner and turned to ask Xiao Yingzhu: "What do you think?"
"Whose side do you think he's from?"
Xiao Yingzhu lowered her eyes casually, not knowing what she was thinking about. She only raised her head when she heard Qin Lan's question.
His casual gaze swept across Jiang Nian's face and then stopped on the man in the corner.
As if recalling the incident of the two men who tried to break into the storage room last night, Xiao Yingzhu tapped the table with his fingertips and said casually:
"Meng Yao."
Qin Lan walked around between Jiang Nian and Xiao Yingzhu with great interest.
His intuition told him that something must have happened between the two of them last night when he was away.
We really can't miss a single moment, otherwise we'll have to find out by all means what's going on with these two people.
Feeling Xiao Yingzhu's lingering gaze, he instantly came back to his senses and replied promptly, "Is it because Meng Jian won't show up so easily?"
"Um."
Xiao Yingzhu lowered her eyes again, her long, crow-feather-like eyelashes were dense, casting a shadow in the sunlight.
There wasn't much to say in this conversation. It was mainly about Hyun-gyu synchronizing all the current clues to check if there was anything he had accidentally missed.
Having stayed in this room for a while, Ai gave one of the golden pastries to Jiang Nian and ate the rest.
Seeing the man struggling in the corner, she stood up vigilantly, walked over and reinforced the rope around the man.
As if smelling the pungent and pungent smell, the man struggled and twisted even more violently, looking like a twisted insect.
There was an empty seat at the table, and Jiang Nian sat opposite the remaining people, making his movements more conspicuous.
She had already organized the notes in her hand and was now awkwardly twisting the snack she had only taken a small bite of in her hand.
Noticing everyone's gazes, she calmly placed her hands on her knees, silently rejecting all gazes.
When she turned her head, she also used her loose hair to cover the pendant on her left ear to avoid blocking Qin Lan's extremely sharp eyes.
"......cough."
The atmosphere suddenly became cold and Qin Lan felt very uncomfortable.
As if sensing Jiang Nian's refusal, he coughed lightly, shifted his gaze away from her, and turned to the uninterested Xiao Yingzhu and asked tentatively:
"We've almost gathered all the clues. We'll talk about the basement beneath the statue later. Can we take a break now?"
"——" Xiao Yingzhu's thoughts were interrupted. She raised her eyes and looked at Qin Lan. After a moment, she curled her lips and smiled, "Do you think this is a school?"
I always feel that he is in a bad mood.
Qin Lan was silent for a moment, then changed the subject and gestured to Yan.
"Just tell me what happened in the basement."
Yan, who had been sitting aside and absent-minded, perked up at this moment, looked at Yan, and briefly explained the current situation in the basement:
"The heavy rain soaked some of the pages, and we brought back the original ones."
To prevent any accidents along the way, the pages were stored at Qin Lan's home and kept under guard.
Yan frowned as he recalled the road he had found that night in the rain: "It turned out that the way up the mountain was blocked by some fallen trees, making climbing the mountain very troublesome."
"Those trees haven't been moved yet; they're still there."
"If the master wants to go to the basement, I suggest you take the other road we found temporarily."
When they heard someone chiseling the mountain wall in the mine, they split into two groups.
Unfortunately, the people in the mine seemed to have become gods and could sense the movements nearby.
When the personnel responsible for exploring the situation inside the mine approached the mine, the sound of mining stopped.
It was raining heavily outside, and the mine inside was deep and dark. Without lights, it was impossible to see the road inside.
The route inside the mine is winding. It is not a good choice to explore a place where you are unfamiliar with and the enemy is in the dark while you are in the light in bad weather.
So after identifying the mining location, they went down the mountain along the road.
The map that was drawn in the rain was hit by heavy rain when they went down the mountain. The raindrops blurred the marks on the map. Qin Lan's men have been working overtime to repair the map these days.
“When will the map be repaired?”
That map was from an older era, and the location of the mine drawn on it was the one that had not been displaced by the collapse. At that time, Dong Lan was on guard against the Huan Kingdom, so he took the opportunity to destroy most of the maps of this type. The one in his hand now can be considered a "slippery fish" that escaped the disaster.
“It’s not clear yet, but we will do our best to do it quickly.”
Hyun-gyu, who had been silent all this time, joined in their conversation.
The map was kept by him at that time. Although it was well preserved, it could not withstand the rain from all directions.
Xuan Gui has always felt guilty for not completing the task assigned by Xiao Yingzhu perfectly.
But his naturally cold and indifferent character would not allow him to say many words of guilt, he would always express it through actions.
He helped a lot during the days of repairing the map.
The task itself was heavy, and now there was an additional task of helping to repair the map, so Xuan Gui almost stayed awake all night.
Perhaps because of his fair complexion, the dark circles under his eyes, which were caused by fatigue, were particularly obvious.
Xiao Yingzhu glanced at him indifferently without saying much.
Since the master did not express his opinion, Xuan Gui kept answering.
“…”
Qin Lan was stunned for a moment, and then glanced at Xiao Yingzhu again. Then he smiled at Xuan Gui and said, "Alright, the weather is not something you can control. Meng Jian was lucky in the situation back then. We were really screwed in this regard."
"There are still some things to discuss, please sit down first."
If Xiao Yingzhu wants to punish him, it’s not too late to do so later.
Meng Jian, who has been in Cang County for several years, must be more familiar with everything here than they are.
Xuan Gui's frown relaxed slightly, and he then put down his hand.
Although Qin Lan seems to have a lower status than Xiao Yingzhu, in fact, their orders are the same to their subordinates.
Therefore, Xuan Gui listened to Qin Lan's words and sat back in his original seat.
“…”
After a brief silence, Yan remembered something and turned back to the original topic.
"By the way, I don't know if Wei'Lu is on the Goddess' side. Do you want to go and confirm it?"
The identity of 'Lu' is somewhat important in the complex relationship line of Cang County.
He is the best person to have direct contact with the people in the mine.
As long as they find the other person, the information in the basement destroyed by the rainstorm and the unknown person in the mine will be clear at a glance.
But at present, they still have too little information about this 'Lu'. They only know that he is a member of the Wu Mi people and has participated in the Goddess's missionary society.
"The Flower Festival will be held in a few days. It's Meng Yao's home turf."
"If we find 'Lu' there, it will prove that he is loyal to Meng Yao."
If it was someone from Meng Yao's side, it would be easier to investigate and resolve.
However, this possibility is very small.
Meng Yao is just a chess piece in Meng Jian's hands, and it is unlikely that he would be entrusted with such an important person.
"What if it's not?"
Yan turned his eyes away from Xuan Gui, his gaze paused for a moment on Jiang Nian, and then he glanced away indifferently.
Qin Lan smiled and said, "If not, then it's on the side of the goddess?"
Meng Jian is still avoiding Xiao Yingzhu, and the current situation is a huge cat and mouse situation.
However, at this time the cat disguised itself as a passerby who had nothing to do with the matter, and the mouse also hid in the ditch. The game of hide-and-seek remained at the beginning.
"——Master, are you so sure?"
Yan looked a little hesitant.
"The Second Prince may also make preparations for both scenarios, such as taking control of both Pingzhou and Cang County."
Among Qin Lan's subordinates, Yan's proposals were often adopted, so Qin Lan did not stop him from continuing to speak.
"so?"
"——" Yan hesitated for a moment and subconsciously glanced at Xiao Yingzhu.
Xiao Yingzhu had a calm expression and hadn't said much since the beginning of the conversation. She only occasionally responded to the questions Qin Lan asked.
Now that he had raised his objection, he still had to see Xiao Yingzhu's expression.
If Xiao Yingzhu's views were opposite to his, then even if his idea was unconventional, there would be no need to waste time on this conversation.
In the sunlight, Xiao Yingzhu seemed to be isolated from the world. She did not respond to any changes around her and still looked uninterested and indifferent.
He only raises his eyes at necessary moments to give the other person a sense that "he is listening."
Yan thought about it and decided to make a breakthrough with Miss Jiang, who seemed easy to get along with.
She can come side by side with Xiao Yingzhu, and the pendant on her earlobe is also intriguing... Maybe her meaning can reflect some of Xiao Yingzhu's views.
After all, Xiao Yingzhu is the person who has the most information in this game.
After a pause, he spoke calmly: "Miss Jiang, what do you think?"
Noticing Jiang Nian's gaze, Yan remained calm and even smiled gently.
"Since we are all participants in this conversation, can I hear your opinion?"
And her?
Is she some new type of net?
“…”
Jiang Nian was almost numb from their repeated questioning and finally kicking the ball to her.
After being called upon many times, she habitually made preparations.
Jiang Nian didn't look at Xiao Yingzhu. When he turned his head to look at Yan, he was just glad that the pendant was pitch black and could blend in with his black hair so that Qin Lan would not discover it when he turned his head.
A name on the notebook in her hand gave her a clue to connect her thoughts. After a moment, she replied calmly:
"I'm not sure if my thoughts are correct, but if I say so, perhaps... they are on the side of the goddess."
"Based on your description of him, he's elusive and connected to the mines... He's easily reminiscent of the man who killed the boatman."
"Perhaps that man is Lu's subordinate."
"And the sect's message transmission is much faster than ordinary message transmission. If it was Meng Jian's people, then the news that Meng Jian appeared in Pingzhou should have been passed on by now."
According to the news of Meng Jian's disappearance, Yunxiu should have discovered him if he had arrived in Pingzhou by now.
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