Chapter 343: Arson

Huai Ge'er has been going into the mountains these days to find the old Taoist priest at the nameless Taoist temple to compete with Wei Shiyan. He has fought hard on the battlefield for several years and has the bonus of divine power, but he still can't beat Wei Shiyan, which makes Huai Ge'er a little unhappy.

The old Taoist priest laughed and said, "Brother Huai, Shi Yan had practiced martial arts for several years before you. If he hadn't respected you because you were older, you should have called him Senior Brother now."

Wei Shiyan just put the sword back into the scabbard without saying a word.

When Huai Ge'er thought about it, he felt relieved.

He has already taken advantage of his senior brother, so what if he lets his junior brother get the title of having better martial arts skills?

Xingxing was just saying that she would go into the mountains tomorrow to look for Brother Yan and say goodbye to the old Taoist priest. Huai Ge'er suddenly remembered that Wei Shiyan seemed to be in a bad mood these days, and his handsome face seemed to be covered with snow and frost.

Huai Ge'er felt sympathetic: "I don't know what's wrong with Junior Brother Shi these days. He seems to be in a bad mood. I'll go with you tomorrow. Xingxing, you should be careful too."

Xing Xing was a little puzzled. But when she met Wei Shiyan the next day, she felt that he was as amiable as usual and did not think there was anything to be wary of.

The old Taoist priest smiled and beckoned Huai'er to come over: "…Huai'er, come here. I have something to tell you."

Huai Ge'er didn't think much about it, just said "oh", and followed the old Taoist priest to another place.

"Brother Yan, didn't you say you could leave when you're eighteen?" Xing Xing approached Yan, feeling a little melancholy, "When you're eighteen and can leave the mountain, can we meet in the capital?"

Wei Shiyan curled his lips: "Okay."

Xing Xing took off the string of thin black Buddhist beads from her wrist, which she had been wearing since she was over three years old.

She personally put it on Wei Shiyan's wrist and said, "Brother Yan, you wear this. I have been wearing this string of Buddhist beads since I was a child. I have been wearing it for so many years. Now I leave it to you. Who knows, if you are feeling unwell or something, it may be able to help you. When we meet in the future, you can return it to me."

Wei Shiyan lowered his eyes and watched as the girl's delicate little hands placed the dull Buddhist beads on his wrist.

The girl has a thin wrist, so this long string of Buddhist beads needs to be wrapped around her wrist several times.

On his wrist, it only needed to be wrapped three times.

Xing Xing fiddled with the Buddhist beads with her little hands, and sighed: "Brother Yan's wrist is much thicker than mine."

Somehow, Wei Shiyan's mood suddenly improved a lot.

Xingxing also kept a lot of medicinal herbs that she had prepared herself, which she packaged in oil paper and placed in a brocade box. There were some insect repellents and some commonly used pills.

"... and this one, I just made it recently." Xing Xing took out another sachet. Her needlework skills were getting better and better. This sachet embroidered with bamboo and flowing water was surprisingly pretty. "But I just replaced the sachet you were wearing a few days ago. It's still new, so there's no rush to replace it now."

Looking at the little girl chattering about trivial matters, Wei Shiyan couldn't help but touch Xingxing's hair.

Because of his physical condition, he seldom took the initiative to touch others. Even if he just touched Xingxing's hair, he did so very carefully.

Xing Xing took the opportunity to press her little head against Wei Shiyan's palm.

Wei Shiyan froze slightly.

When leaving, Xing Xing took the initiative to hug Wei Shiyan again: "Brother Yan, we will definitely see each other again in the future."

Wei Shiyan looked at Xing Xing deeply: "...Goodbye."

Xingxing left with Huai'er.

Seeing Wei Shiyan standing there for a long time without moving, as if he was distracted, the old Taoist priest stepped forward and waved his hand in front of Wei Shiyan's eyes: "... Young Master, what are you thinking about?"

Wei Shiyan came back to his senses, but instead of talking about what he was thinking, he asked the old Taoist priest: "...Have you explained this to Senior Brother Huai?"

The old Taoist priest did not expose Wei Shiyan's little thoughts, but just smiled and said, "I have confessed everything I can."

Wei Shiyan nodded and said nothing more, but one hand began to stroke the Buddhist beads on his other wrist.

The old Taoist priest had sharp eyes. When he saw the string of thin Buddhist beads on Wei Shiyan's wrist, he immediately recognized that it belonged to Xingxing.

The old Taoist coughed and said, "Young Master, don't be anxious. If you think about it carefully, you will be eighteen years old in three years. When you return to Beijing, you can go find Xingxing."

The old Taoist thought that Wei Shiyan would not respond, but unexpectedly, Wei Shiyan stroked the Buddhist beads and responded with a low "hmm".

…

Xingxing thought that the matter would be over after Fan Pingfang divorced, but she didn't expect that when she came back from the mountain, she got the news from Huai Ge'er that a fire suddenly broke out in the main courtyard of the Yang family in the early morning. Fortunately, Fan Pingfang was not asleep and escaped in time carrying Ling Jie'er.

Xingxing just felt her teeth were cold.

This fire was so strange that it was hard not to think that it was set deliberately by the Yang family.

Huai Ge'er comforted Xing Xing: "Yesterday I left two soldiers to stay in a nearby inn. They are not ordinary soldiers. They all have military merits. Even if Yang Zheming is a scholar, he can't get any good in front of them. They have gone to help Miss Fan. They also brought back the letter... Don't worry, they are not the kind of people who only report good news and not bad news. If they say that Miss Fan and Ling Jie'er are fine, then of course there is nothing wrong at all."

Xing Xing nodded, her face still a little pale: "The Yang family is so vicious."

She is going to Lin County.

Huai Ge'er also accompanied Xing Xing there.

When Xingxing and Huaiger arrived, Fan Pingfang had landed in a nearby inn holding Lingjieer. Her face and body were clean, and there was indeed no sign of burns.

Fan Pingfang was only in her teens after all. She had escaped death at night. Thinking about it now, she was still frightened. Her face turned pale and her hatred for Yang Zheming grew even stronger: "... He actually could do such a thing as arson!"

How could she not hate him? All property was empty, but Lingjie was still sleeping with her!

Even a tiger won't eat its own cubs. This Yang Zheming is really worse than a pig or a dog!

Soon, the two soldiers left behind by Huai Ge'er came back.

They brought evidence of arson by the Yang family - tung oil, and the Yang family's chief servant who secretly ran to the main courtyard to set fire in the middle of the night.

There is evidence.

Fan Pingfang's eyes became determined, and she directly sued Yang Zheming and his mother to the government.

Yang Zheming refused to admit it at first. Later, the soldiers under Huai Ge'er presented evidence one by one, including half of the tung oil left in the warehouse and several dozen taels of silver found in the home of Yang's head servant. Only then did Yang Zheming admit it. However, he was still stubborn and insisted that burning down one's own house did not count as arson.

Huai Ge'er is not used to him!

"Burn down your own house and it's not considered arson? Does that mean I can just set fire to a guest who comes to visit me and burn him to death? After all, it's in my own house!"

Huai Ge'er sneered.

Yang Zheming broke out in a cold sweat and was speechless.