Chapter 90
The bright flowers sparkled in the unclear light. He immediately guessed who had done this. He felt helpless about the overstepping behavior and after a long time he carefully put the chrysanthemums away.
It was still early and there was fog outside. From time to time, the sound of footsteps penetrated the fog and reached his ears. Su Jingfeng was not sleepy at all, so he simply went out and wandered around the mansion.
He walked towards the flower garden based on his memory. The servants who had been chatting and laughing along the way all stood aside in silence when they saw him. He didn't care and continued to move forward, but he was stopped when he turned a corner. The man stood two steps away from him, lowered his eyebrows and said in a pleasant manner, "Master Su actually got up so early. It's my fault for not arranging someone to serve you in advance."
Su Jingfeng recognized the person in front of him as Xiaoqiu and said calmly, "It's okay." Then he changed the subject, "But it's getting late now. Isn't your master going to get up now?"
Xiao Qiu remained calm and said, "It's like this on weekdays, but yesterday the mistress came back suddenly and the master played with the mistress until very late, so he was late today."
"So that's how it is. I misunderstood Magistrate Lu." Su Jingfeng did not ask any further questions. Seeing that Xiaoqiu had no intention of moving aside, he turned around and left.
When he returned to the courtyard, Yu Hang was already standing outside the corridor. Su Jingfeng was just about to ask Lin Xing if she had packed up when the door next to him creaked open and a man came out rubbing his eyes.
Lin Xing saw two figures in a daze and greeted them weakly: "You are all awake, everyone got up so early."
Yu Hang said: "It's indeed a little early."
Su Jingfeng did not continue the conversation, but changed the subject and said, "Since we are all up, let's go have breakfast."
"Okay." Lin Xing yawned as she spoke. Even though her head was not clear, she did not forget to cover it with her sleeves.
Outside the reception hall, Lu Yu was waiting for them with a big smile on his face. When he saw them, he hurried forward to greet them: "Did you have a good rest last night?"
Lin Xing looked around for the person she wanted to see but didn't see him, so she turned around and said, "Very good, thank you for the hospitality, County Magistrate. But why can't I see Madam? Is she not up yet?"
Lu Yu said, "Miss Lin, you may not know that on the 15th of every month, Madam goes to worship Buddha, so she set out early today, and my daughter has not yet gotten up."
Speak of the devil, here comes the devil. A clear childish voice rang out, "Daddy, has mom gone out of the city with uncle again?"
Then Xiao Qiu whispered, "Miss, don't talk nonsense."
Lu Yu raised his hand to take Qingqing and said to Lin Xing and the others, "The child is talking nonsense. Don't take it seriously, after all, the county magistrate is no longer alive."
Seeing that they were silent, Lu Yu quickly invited them into the house, whispered a few words to Qingqing, and then returned her to Xiaoqiu, letting Xiaoqiu take her away.
The breakfast was more sumptuous than yesterday, but Lin Xing couldn't eat because she got up too early. She put down her chopsticks early. She thought of the temple they had just talked about and asked, "Is the temple where Madam Lu went to worship Buddha in the county?"
The maid beside Lu Yu answered for him: "No, the temple is a few kilometers outside the city."
"Does Madam go there every month?"
"Yes, Madam has never missed a single one in these years."
The maid looked like a fool and couldn't answer any questions. Lin Xing stopped asking and looked at her familiar face and asked, "Are you and Xiao Qiu sisters?"
The maid said calmly: "Xiao Qiu is my sister."
Lu Yu added at the right time: "Her name is Xiao Xia."
Lin Xing nodded without saying anything. After a while, everyone put down their chopsticks. Su Jingfeng stood up and said goodbye: "I think the county magistrate has to deal with official business today, so we will not disturb the county magistrate anymore."
Lu Yu stood up and returned the greeting, saying, "If you need help, please send someone to find me. I will stay in the mansion and will not leave."
The few of them separated. Lu Yu originally wanted Xiao Xia to go with them to investigate but was rejected by Su Jingfeng. The three of them were now walking towards the bedroom, discussing in low voices along the way.
Lin Xing took the lead and said, "I think we need to go to the temple."
Su Jingfeng: "If there is really something wrong with the temple, going there rashly will only alert the enemy."
Yu Hang: "Then let's go tonight."
Lin Xing: “That makes sense.”
When Su Jingfeng heard the word "night", he thought of the chrysanthemum and couldn't help asking, "If someone was guarding outside the temple at night, wouldn't it alarm them?"
The two of them were silent at the same time. Finally, they decided to take a conservative approach and act separately: Lin Xing asked around in the county town, Yu Hang searched around in the county magistrate's mansion, and Su Jingfeng looked through the case files. After a busy day, they found nothing.
Before dinner, they returned to Su Jingfeng's house to reunite. Lin Xing was so thirsty that she kept drinking water. In the blink of an eye, the teapot was empty, but she was considerate enough to leave a cup for each of them.
Su Jingfeng asked Lin Xing, "What did you hear in the city today?"
Lin Xing's face twisted, and she smiled evilly, "I heard that the county magistrate has a child."
Su Jingfeng was surprised: "Ah?"
"They all said that County Magistrate Yang must have a mistress outside since he is still unmarried at such an age. Some people also said that they saw the county magistrate wandering on the street with a child." Lin Xing summarized the gossip she had heard and simplified it to the extreme.
After hearing this, Su Jingfeng's face was complicated and he asked, "Anything else?"
"That's all." Lin Xing pondered for a moment, then said, "There's one more. Everyone says there's a prostitute in the city who particularly likes the county magistrate. After hearing the news of his death, she cried for three whole days. Does that count?"
"Have you seen that woman?"
Lin Xing shook her head and said disappointedly: "I went to that place, but unfortunately it was not open today."
Su Jingfeng nodded, then turned to Yu Hang and asked, "Did you find anything?"
"A letter and an unfinished wooden horse."
Su Jingfeng was hit again and said in disbelief: "Gone?"
Yu Hang said seriously: "No more."
Lin Xing took the opportunity to ask, "What's in the letter?"
Yu Hang rummaged around in his body for a while, took out an unsigned envelope and placed it on the table. Lin Xing opened it and spread it flat on the table. The two of them read to the end at a glance and found that it was a letter of persuasion. They didn't know who it was written to, perhaps the girl that people were talking about.
Lin Xing carefully put it away and put it on her body, then asked the last person, "Do you have any clues?"
Su Jingfeng shook his head and said nothing.
The atmosphere suddenly fell to the lowest point. What should we do now? There has been no progress in the investigation for a day and there is no idea when it will be concluded.
Boom, boom, boom! The knock on the door woke the three of them up, and they heard Xiao Xia's voice coming from outside the door, "My lord, it's time for dinner."
Su Jingfeng replied, "I understand." Then the noise outside the door disappeared.
When the three of them arrived at the reception room, Lu Yu was still the only one there. In contrast to the depressed others, he looked radiant. Lin Xing asked in confusion, "Is Madam Lu not back yet?"
Xiao Xia explained: "Madam and the county magistrate have a deep brother-sister relationship. After arriving at the temple, she was moved by the scenery and wanted to stay for two more days."
Lin Xing nodded to indicate that she understood the matter and then began to eat quietly. The same process continued. At the end, Lu Yu said goodbye to everyone and said he was going to take a walk. No one stopped him.
They walked back to the courtyard as usual. The three of them did not communicate with each other, but they had decided to visit the temple at night. If nothing else, they wanted to at least meet Mrs. Lu.
After closing the door, Su Jingfeng and Lin Xing said at the same time: "I'm going to the temple tonight."
Su Jingfeng was stunned for a moment, then immediately retorted: "Now we don't know the strength of the other side, and we don't know whether Lu Yu is an enemy or a friend. The temple is too dangerous, you need to stay."
Lin Xing immediately replied, "I should go because it's dangerous. Now you are the Junior Minister of the Dali Temple in the eyes of outsiders. Everyone respects you, but no one knows me. If you die there, how can I cope with it myself?"
Seeing Su Jingfeng was silent, she continued, "I wonder if the Prime Minister is here. We must be more careful. If the temple is a trap, you must not go there."
After that, Su Jingfeng still didn't express his opinion. Lin Xing poked Yu Hang, who was holding a sword next to him. He understood and immediately said, "She will be fine as long as I am here."
Only then did Su Jingfeng give in. He said helplessly and worriedly: "You must be careful."
Lin Xing took out the dagger hidden on her body and said with a smile: "Don't worry, you just wait for us here." Then she handed him the nameless letter, "If we haven't returned by day tomorrow, you can take this letter to find that girl. She may know something."
The two left with complicated looks. Yu Hang did not return to his room, but followed Lin Xing all the time. When he turned around and saw the person standing in front of the door, Lin Xing was stunned for a moment, then asked in confusion: "Please come in?"
Yu Hang was not polite and walked in and closed the door. Lin Xing asked in even more confusion: "Do you have something to say?"
"Yes, the person following us is Sun Banfo."
"Ah?" Lin Xing opened her mouth wide, "Didn't he just wake up?"
Yu Hang nodded and explained the whole story clearly: "When we left Quyang that day, I found someone following us. I forced the person out, but he didn't attack me. After some questioning, I learned that his father also hanged himself. The prime minister kept telling him that it was your majesty who sent people to do it, just because he suspected that the prime minister formed a clique for personal gain."
Lin Xing blinked, still a little confused, and then asked: "Then why didn't you tell Su Jingfeng?"
"His request is that he came here to find out the truth. Sun Banfo is also from Pengze." Then Yu Hang came to the window and knocked twice, and a man in black with a bamboo hat appeared.
He swiftly entered the house and took off his bamboo hat, revealing a thin face. It was Sun Banfo. He bowed to Lin Xing and said, "I'm sorry for causing trouble to Lord Lin. Please forgive me. The Prime Minister thought I was dead and didn't erase all the details. I have found out the truth of that year."
Then he handed over a jade pendant. Lin Xing picked it up and examined it for a while. Apart from being very worn out, she did not see anything special about it. Sun Banfo took the initiative to explain, "When the Prime Minister sends someone to do something, he will give them a jade pendant to use for future reward. The assassin who was sent to kill my father died in our house. This jade pendant was left by him. I also have one."
After hearing this, Lin Xing returned the item to him and said, "Please keep such an important jade pendant well. The Prime Minister didn't know you were still alive, so giving it to you is the safest place for it."
Sun Banfo was stunned and put it away obediently. Yu Hang added for Lin Xing: "He will also go to the temple with us."
"Okay, but you have to protect yourself."
The three of them discussed and decided to set out at midnight. There was still some time left before they went their separate ways. Lin Xing sat quietly at the table, feeling the passage of time, when she suddenly heard someone knocking on the window.
She secretly held the dagger and came to the window. The man felt someone approaching and whispered, "Miss Lin, I am Xiaoqiu."
Hearing this name, Lin Xing's vigilance dropped instead of rising. She quietly moved away from the window and asked cautiously, "Xiao Qiu? Why are you so sneaky?"
Xiaoqiu noticed her wariness, stuffed a letter through the window, and left without saying another word.
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