Chapter 32
"Miss Lin is an upright, enthusiastic and cheerful person, but we have not spent much time together, so I dare not make any rash comments."
"Lord Yu actually speaks so highly of Miss Lin. I have been with you for more than 20 years, but I have never heard such words. I am more and more curious about who this Miss Lin is."
The emperor said nothing more, and came to the table to review the memorials. After reading two or three, he spoke again: "You go down first."
"I'll take my leave."
Yu Hang didn't loosen his clenched hands until he walked out of the Qianqing Palace. His palms were already sweaty. He still needs to be more cautious. Yu Hang is the emperor's study companion, and the two can be considered close friends. When he grows up, Yu Hang is even the emperor's confidant. He should say less in the future.
When he was thinking with his head down, a young eunuch bumped into him, muttering "something big happened", which immediately attracted Yu Hang's attention. In order to find out what happened, Yu Hang decided to trick him.
At this moment, the young eunuch recognized who he had bumped into and apologized tremblingly: "Master Yu, I was in a hurry and bumped into you. Please forgive me."
"It's okay if you bump into me, but it would be bad if you bump into the emperor someday. How about arresting you and putting you in jail? I will release you when I can see you. How about that?"
The young eunuch was originally bent over, but when he heard this he knelt down and begged for mercy in a panic, but all he said were the same useless words. Yu Hang decided to take the initiative.
"Xiao Jinzi, you should learn from your master. You are too uncalm. I was just teasing you. What happened to make you so flustered?"
Xiao Jinzi was as if she had been pardoned. Her hands stopped shaking and she stopped bowing her head. Just as she was about to speak, Yu Hang interrupted her, "Stand up and speak."
"Thank you, Lord Yu. You really scared me to death." Xiao Jinzi didn't dare to kneel again and stood up quickly. "I just received news that the Shen Mansion was raided."
Xiao Jinzi looked around and said in a low voice, "I heard that the Prime Minister sent someone to do it."
Yu Hang's face turned cold, "Where did you hear this from? It's nonsense."
The scolded Xiao Jinzi didn't dare to say anything more, she lowered her head and said sullenly: "Oh."
"By the way, has this spread?"
"No, this is first-hand information."
The matter was of great importance, he had to tell Shen Ling quickly, after all, they were Shen Ling's family. Yu Hang pretended to leave, and before leaving, he said to Xiao Jinzi: "Stop talking nonsense."
Xiao Jinzi nodded silently. He had been serving the emperor since he was a child and was quite familiar with Yu Hang. He always felt that Lord Yu had become more talkative and more enthusiastic. Looking at the back figure that was no different from usual, Xiao Jinzi just felt that she was being too suspicious.
Oh, he even wants to tell the emperor.
"Your Majesty, something terrible has happened! The Prime Minister has taken matters into his own hands again."
In a blink of an eye, Xiao Jinzi completely forgot Yu Hang's advice and rushed into the imperial study shouting.
"Something terrible has happened!"
"Xiaomei, keep your voice down. I'll call Sister Lian over later."
"What I want to say is that Sister Lian is behind you."
Lin Xing turned her head stiffly and saw Liu Lian. She greeted Liu Lian but forgot that her body was pressed against the wall. The funny action made Liu Lian laugh, but also made Xiao Mei feel embarrassed.
"Little shopkeeper, what are you doing?"
Sister Lian asked knowingly, but Lin Xing tried to cover it up, "I'm going out for a walk and buy some things to bring back to the capital."
"Really? If you need to walk close to your own wall when you go out to buy something, is that shameful? Little shopkeeper, tell me."
Liu Lian looked like she was watching you make it up. Lin Xing didn't know whether she should continue to hide it. Xiao Mei behind her spoke for her: "We need to go to the Shen Mansion to find out the details."
Lin Xing nodded to indicate that this was indeed the case. Liu Lian stopped talking and turned around to make way.
"Thank you Sister Lian, we'll be back soon, don't worry."
The two of them ran away, one in front and one behind. Then there was a gust of autumn wind, which blew up the fallen leaves on the ground and covered Liu Lian's complicated expression.
"Xiao Xing, how come there's nothing here? Even the door is sealed."
"We are still late. Let's ask around. Maybe we can get some information."
The two watched as countless merchants fell silent, and finally decided to act separately and finally meet at the gate of Shen's house.
Heading west, all the shops were closed. Lin Xing searched for a long time before she saw an old man sitting in front of a shop in a daze. Behind him was the wide open door of the funerary artifacts shop. He could not see what was inside; it was only pitch black.
Lin Xing stepped forward and asked tentatively: "Old man, do you know what happened in the Shen Mansion?"
The old man glanced at Lin Xing and looked away, saying in a nonchalant tone, "Of course it was copied."
"Are you clear about the details?"
"What could be going on? It's just like any other house being raided. A huge crowd of government officials took everyone in the Shen Mansion away for investigation."
"Besides these, do you know of any others?"
"I don't know, but I have a little bit of information, do you want to know?"
Lin Xing's eyes lit up, "You say."
"I heard that it seemed that the prime minister personally ordered the closure of the Shen Mansion, but he didn't come." The old man said angrily, "I think the Shen Mansion should have been raided long ago. That Mr. Shen is not a good person. He colluded with the government officials. It's a blessing that he is still alive today."
In order to get more words out of the old man, Lin Xing pretended to agree. This trick really got the old man talking, and he began to express his opinions continuously.
He had been cursing the Shen family, and from time to time he would praise the Prime Minister's wisdom. When all his anger was vented, the old man regained his sanity, and his tone became lonely again, "The young master of the Shen family is a good man. I hope he won't be implicated."
The old man stopped talking after saying this. No matter how Lin Xing talked, he remained silent, completely reversing his roles from before.
"Xiao Xing, it's too late, let's go back quickly."
Xiaomei came to rescue Lin Xing, but the old man had closed his eyes and seemed to be asleep. Lin Xing could only leave silently. Looking at the funerary objects shop which was still open, she felt a chill on her back.
Lin Xing chose to speak to embolden herself, "Did you find anything useful over there?"
"No, but I heard an old story."
Xiao Mei looked at Lin Xing's curious eyes and continued, "The old man and his son were sold to the Shen Mansion as slaves a long time ago. At that time, the Shen Mansion was undergoing a large-scale construction project and many people were brought in. As a result, his son died in the Shen Mansion and he also broke his leg. With the help of Master Shen, he opened a funerary artifact shop and was able to live out the rest of his life."
No wonder he was so indignant just now. Lin Xing sighed in her heart for this story and hoped that the arrest of Mr. Shen would allow him to let go of some of his hatred.
"How do you know so much?"
"Just now when you were chatting animatedly, an enthusiastic lady told me this. She was right behind you."
Lin Xing opened her mouth and closed it again. This was really fate. It was too dark, so they should hurry back to the restaurant.
"Oh, it's so late. Sister Lian, why are you standing at the door scaring people instead of going to have dinner?" Lin Xing approached the restaurant and saw a person standing upright at the door. He was wearing a white shirt and his hair was loose.
This really scared Lin Xing, but she had been brave since she was a child, so this was nothing. Xiaomei behind her was very frightened. She held onto Lin Xing's arm, her body still shaking.
Liu Lian said quietly: "I am waiting for you guys, right? Have you heard any news?"
"No, the Shen Mansion was sealed when we arrived. Many businesses were also closed, so we didn't get any information."
"Let's go inside and talk." Xiaomei's trembling voice was heard, and the three of them walked into the restaurant together.
When it was bright, Xiao Mei let go of Lin Xing's hand and pretended nothing had happened. They walked straight to the dining area without stopping.
Lin Xing came back late again. It was past the restaurant's unified dining time. Logically, the house should be empty, but this time it was bustling.
When the door was opened, everyone seemed to be turned on a switch. They were chatting and laughing, but suddenly they picked up chopsticks to eat. There was only one table as an exception, the one with Huan'er and Guishu.
After the three of them sat down, everyone started to eat. But Lin Xing was not in the mood to eat. Everyone was acting abnormally tonight. Thinking about the reason, she ate much less.
Finally, she waited until the end and couldn't help asking, "Sister Lian, why is the restaurant opening so late tonight?"
"Late? Young shopkeeper, I think it's the same time as usual." Liu Lian had returned to normal after just a meal, but Lin Xing was very unhappy with what she said.
"Huan'er, go ahead."
"I think what Sister Lian said is..." Lin Huan's words stopped abruptly when he saw Lin Xing's gaze.
"Okay, I'll tell you the truth. Since everyone knows you'll be leaving in five days, I want to have dinner with you."
This reason made Lin Xing laugh and cry. Everyone was so childish. They were not eating at the same table, so why bother? But she couldn't say it, Lin Xing was just arrogant and not vicious.
In the end, she didn't say anything, but Lin Xing didn't leave either. She just sat there until the end, until there were only five of them left in the room.
"Okay, I have some good news for you, little shopkeeper. The night before you left, the city was going to report the temple fair."
"What a coincidence?" Lin Xing was the only one who was shocked among the people present.
"Who says it's not? The temple fair is the busiest time in the city, even more so than the Spring Festival. I'll give Huan'er a holiday, and you three can go and have fun. As for now, all of you go back and rest, and don't run around."
None of the three had ever attended a temple fair, so there was no doubt that they all had starry eyes when they heard this. The three of them returned together, chattering about their aspirations. The joy of participating in the temple fair briefly diluted the sad atmosphere, and everyone forgot about the farewell.
Lin Xing, lying on the bed, was so excited that she couldn't sleep. She had never been to a temple fair before, and she guessed that Yu Hang had never been there either. When Yu Hang was mentioned, Lin Xing remembered what Xiao Mei had said just now.
"It is said that this temple fair is held by Yue Lao for his beloved ones, so you will see many couples meeting each other during the festival."
"Sister Xiaomei, have you been to see it?"
"No, Xiao Xing and I have been in the bank and have no chance to participate."
Lovers? It's probably all a gimmick, perhaps to sell more hairpins. However, this temple fair has been going on for a hundred years, so it is really necessary to go. Lin Xing felt deeply sorry that Yu Hang could not come to the scene, and secretly decided to record the scene and tell him about it.
I just regret that I can’t paint.
If possible, she would definitely buy a peach blossom lantern. This was Lin Xing’s last thought before she fell asleep. What you think about during the day you will dream about at night. Lin Xing actually saw the peach blossom lantern in her dream, but she couldn’t see the face of the person who gave her the lantern.
In the dream, Lin Xing looked at the lantern in her hand and suddenly burst into tears. Lin Xing, who was woken up by her own crying, found that her eyes were wet. Perhaps Xiaotao also wanted to go to the temple fair.
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