Chapter 87
Lin Xing was so absorbed in the scenery outside the window that her answer was somewhat perfunctory. "I see. Just make the arrangements."
The sun was at its highest point at this time, but not too scorching. I didn't feel too much discomfort, just a little dazzling. The county magistrate's mansion suddenly appeared like a mirage not far away. After squinting to confirm it, Lin Xing secretly retreated into the carriage.
The carriage could not enter the mansion, so the three people had to get off the carriage. The two people waiting outside the mansion hurriedly came forward to greet them. The leader was the first to say, "Greetings, everyone. I am Lu Yu, the magistrate of Pengze County."
The three returned the greeting, and then Su Jingfeng said, "I'm sure His Majesty has already told you why we came this time."
Lu Yu nodded and said, "I will definitely cooperate with you in handling the case and will never embarrass you."
"Then please ask County Magistrate Lu to take us to the County Magistrate's Mansion now." Su Jingfeng's tough words seemed to not allow the other party to refuse.
"This..." Lu Yu looked embarrassed and his tone was hesitant.
Su Jingfeng nodded slightly and said, "Does County Magistrate Lu have something to hide?"
"I dare not, but it's time for lunch. In order to welcome you all, I have already prepared a banquet in the mansion. It would be better to have lunch first. What do you think, Lord Su?" Lu Yu trembled and finished his words in one breath without daring to raise his head.
Lin Xing pulled Su Jingfeng's sleeve imperceptibly, signaling him to agree to this matter. After a long silence, Lu Yu straightened up a little when he heard his cough. "Since County Magistrate Lu has already made arrangements, it would be bad to refuse your kindness."
Lu Yu's face was full of smiles as he led the three people inside. They could not see anything from outside the mansion just now, but now that they were inside and had a full view of the layout of the county magistrate's mansion, they realized that County Magistrate Lu had great taste and was an elegant person, not an ordinary person who only knew how to pile up things.
The county magistrate's mansion was not very big, and the few of them quickly arrived at the reception room and sat down at the round table. There was a joke about the seat allocation, as County Magistrate Lu insisted that Su Jingfeng sit in the main seat. He was unwilling to do so and made many excuses, so he just stood there and refused to sit down no matter how anyone persuaded him. Finally, County Magistrate Lu had no choice but to give in.
As soon as everyone sat down, the maids began to serve the dishes. Lu Yu took this opportunity to chat with the others and brought them closer. His eyes moved to Lin Xing and Yu Hang, and he asked, "What are your names?"
Su Jingfeng said, "These two are my assistants, helping me handle this case. I hope Magistrate Lu can help them in the future."
Lin Xing continued, "My last name is Lin, the county magistrate can call me Miss Lin."
Yu Hang said without blushing or beating his heart: "Chen."
Lu Yu understood and said, "So it's Miss Lin and Mr. Chen. If you have any questions in the future, you can come to the county magistrate's mansion to find me. I will tell you everything I know."
Lin Xing smiled and said, "Thank you very much, County Magistrate Lu."
By the time they had started chatting, the meal had already been served. The three of them had just begun to notice that there was a full table of dishes. A rough count showed that there were about a dozen dishes, but there were only three of them.
"County Magistrate Lu's arrangements are really thoughtful. These dishes on the table must be all Pengze County's famous dishes, right?" Lin Xing asked tentatively.
Lu Yu said with pride, "I just thought that since you are new here, it would be a pity if you don't try our most famous dishes."
Lin Xing smiled apologetically and said, "These dishes are very exquisite. I'm sure it will take quite some time. I wonder how the adults knew that we could arrive at noon today?"
"Of course I don't know, but it doesn't matter." Lu Yu smiled mysteriously and began to greet everyone, "Master, please start eating quickly. If you are late, it will affect the taste."
All I can say is that it is a worthy famous dish and the taste is indeed extraordinary, but the faces of the three people were not very good, and Lu Yu seemed to be unaware of it and kept talking to himself, causing Lin Xing to keep answering.
Seeing that everyone had almost finished eating, Lu Yu waved to the maid standing behind him. She left after whispering a few words and then came back with a plate of snacks. Lu Yu explained, "This is a flower cake, specially prepared for the adults. Please enjoy it."
At this point, the three of them naturally had to give him some face. Each of them took a piece. Lin Xing put the flower cake into her mouth. Just a small bite filled her mouth with the fragrance of flowers. The crust was crispy and a little warm. She tasted it carefully, but couldn't tell what kind of flower it was. Something she had overlooked flashed through her mind, and she said to Lu Yu, "Elegant people always love to tend to flowers and plants. County Magistrate Lu has good taste, but I didn't see any plants along the way. I thought the county magistrate didn't like these, but now it seems that's not the case."
"Haha, Miss Lin, you are too kind. I am just an ordinary person. I am busy with official duties and don't have much leisure time. I just planted a field of chrysanthemums."
"I wonder if I'm lucky enough to see it?" Suddenly a breeze blew, blowing open the half-closed window, and hitting the wall with a loud noise, and outside the window was the sea of flowers.
Then a maid immediately came forward and closed the window, her movements were hasty, as if she was afraid that people would see these things. Lin Xing happened to be sitting opposite the window, and the others turned their heads a step too slow, and saw nothing except the window.
"This..." Lu Yu's hesitant voice brought Lin Xing back to her senses. She stared at him and waited for the next sentence. "Miss Lin, you don't know that I was busy with official duties and neglected to take care of the chrysanthemums, so the chrysanthemums only have leaves but no flowers."
But it’s clearly blooming? Lin Xing was puzzled and pretended to be regretful, "That's a real miss. I wanted to see how the flowers in Pengze are different from those in the capital, but now I don't have that chance."
Seeing that the distinguished guest was in a low mood, Lu Yu hurriedly said, "There is a flower garden a few kilometers away. I don't know who built it. If Miss Lin really wants to see it, she can go there."
Lin Xing became interested and asked, "What is the name of this flower garden?"
"Wuming, there isn't even a fence. Anyone can come in and out freely." Lu Yu kept talking, and in the blink of an eye he had finished four flower cakes.
Lin Xing nodded and said nothing more. Seeing this, Su Jingfeng immediately stood up and said, "Thank you, Magistrate Lu, for your hospitality. I will take my leave now."
Lu Yu also stood up and said, "I will lead you to the arranged rooms."
Lin Xing glanced at the half-full flower cake in his hand and said, "No need to trouble County Magistrate Lu, just send a maid to lead us there."
Lu Yu really stopped refusing and raised his hand to call a maid to whisper a few words. The maid stepped forward and saluted them, saying, "My lords, please follow me."
The three of them left the living room, but no one came to close the door. After taking a few steps, Lin Xing couldn't help but look back. Lu Yu was eating heartily, with a whole plate of flower cakes and an empty plate next to him.
She turned her head back speechlessly and observed the surrounding buildings. The group walked in silence as they entered an unnamed courtyard with three houses standing side by side. The maid who was in charge of leading the way stopped, turned around, bowed and said goodbye to the three people, "This is where the adults live. If you have any requests, you can ask the maids around."
Su Jingfeng nodded slightly and said, "Go down." The maidservant left in a hurry as if she had been pardoned, her steps a little disordered, as if they were a flood and beast.
Lin Xing joked, "It must be that Lord Su is too cold and scared people." The funny tone made Yu Hang burst out laughing.
Su Jingfeng was at a loss for words and said dryly, "Really? I didn't think so."
Lin Xing chuckled and changed the subject, pointing to the middle room and announced, "There are three rooms, I'm choosing the middle one, you two can do whatever you want." Then she went straight into the room, the other two looked at each other, then walked in according to their positions.
The simple and elegant decoration was obviously carefully arranged. After Lin Xing inspected the room, she left the house. She walked down the steps, stopped a passing servant, and asked him to bring everyone's luggage over here.
After giving the instructions, Lin Xing returned to the corridor and sat in a daze, waiting for the two to come out and meet up. After a while, she gradually lost herself and her eyes became unfocused.
"What do you think of Lu Yu?" Yu Hang did not hide his footsteps. Lin Xing was ready to turn around and look at him. The two of them looked at each other unintentionally.
Lin Xing shook her head and said, "Not very good, extravagant and fawning, I'm afraid all the money in the county went into his belly, otherwise he wouldn't have so much fat on his face."
"Don't talk about others behind their backs, especially now that you are on his territory." The voice arrived before the person arrived.
Yu Hang raised his eyebrows. Lin Xing adjusted her posture and leaned against the pillar of the corridor, staring at Su Jingfeng and said, "I clearly saw chrysanthemums blooming in the mansion, but he said there were none. This is enough to show that he is not a good person."
"Really? But even if so, you can't be so arbitrary." Su Jingfeng frowned unconsciously, not knowing whether it was at Lu Yu or Lin Xing's undignified posture.
Yu Hang didn't see Juhua either, but she believed that Lin Xing wasn't wrong, so she suggested, "We can look for her in the mansion at night."
"This is not in line with the way of a gentleman. How can you behave like this as a guest in the host's house? Isn't this considered..."
"I remember now!" Lin Xing suddenly shouted, standing up straight with some excitement, "That flower is Xishi Chrysanthemum, I have seen it in Yu Mansion, no wonder it is so familiar."
The two were startled and stopped talking. After a long while, Su Jingfeng said, "Xishi chrysanthemum is extremely precious. If the Lu family really has a piece of it, then he is indeed a little suspicious."
There were chaotic footsteps outside the courtyard. Several people stopped talking and pretended to enjoy the scenery. Lin Xing and Yu Hang's acting skills were superb, but this made Su Jingfeng suffer. He kept pacing and stopping, pacing and stopping again, feeling very guilty.
Finally, the crowd dispersed and he no longer had to endure this torture. Perhaps a little embarrassed, Su Jingfeng took the initiative to ask, "What are your plans for this afternoon?"
Lin Xing said helplessly: "Hasn't it been decided long ago to go to the county magistrate's mansion to learn about the general situation?"
Su Jingfeng felt even more embarrassed and his face turned red. Lin Xing looked at him and walked down the stairs, leaving him behind to calm down alone.
Lu Yu had packed up and was strolling around the mansion. When he saw the three people coming to greet him with a smile on their faces, Su Jingfeng stopped him from being polite and flattering, and asked first, "How far is the county magistrate's mansion from here?"
Lu Yu was obviously startled, then he said, "It will take less than half an incense stick to get there."
Su Jingfeng: "Then let's go on foot and ask all the drivers outside the mansion to leave."
"I'm afraid..." Before he could finish his words, Su Jingfeng's sharp eyes shot down at him, and Lu Yu immediately changed his words, "I will arrange it right away."
Eventually the four of them walked together, with no servants accompanying them. I have to say that Pengze County is really lively. It is worthy of being the richest place in Jiujiang Prefecture. Countless vendors are shouting on the roadside, hoping to stop a customer. Walking among them will make you feel a little guilty, so you can only lower your head and silently quicken your pace.
There was always something weird about the busy street that Lin Xing couldn't describe. She looked around trying to find the source of the feeling. After a look, her eyes were fixed on Lu Yu in front of her.
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