Clues
After that day, Su Musong returned to his usual self, constantly nagging Xiao Luochen to attend the gathering and shine. He never mentioned the black-clad swordsman he had seen in the teahouse that day, as if nothing had happened. If it weren't for the Su family's spies, carrier pigeons, that began to frequently fly in and out of the guesthouse, Xiao Luochen would have suspected that Su Musong's words were just a dream.
Xiao Luochen felt uneasy, but Su Musong seemed to have only sent someone to gather information. Apart from that, he didn't take any other action and stopped talking to Xiao Luochen about anything related to the matter, seemingly wanting him to have nothing to do with it. Xiao Luochen didn't want Su Musong to recall the pain he had felt at that time, so he didn't ask any more questions.
The two continued to participate in the Wenyuan gathering. Xiao Luochen had previously won the poetry competition, but in the debate arena, he was evenly matched with Yu Wujie, with each winning one match. They had originally agreed to rematch the next day, but Yu Wujie did not show up for some reason, so Xiao Luochen won the debate arena again, and for a while, he was the most popular.
Xiao Luochen's fame spread, attracting more and more people. Long lines formed outside the guesthouse where the two were staying, hoping to see him. Visiting cards piled up like a mountain, and there were even proposals of love and marriage from both men and women. The straightforward and bold style of their writing truly shocked Xiao Luochen, a young man who had never yet begun to fall in love.
Xiao Luochen felt this was rather ostentatious, but he couldn't stop the visitor. A guesthouse is a place where anyone can come. If someone comes specifically to visit, he can't refuse to see them. Otherwise, wouldn't it seem like he's arrogant? It would be bad for Xiangping's reputation.
Su Musong initially found it amusing, but as the number of visitors increased, Xiao Luochen became overwhelmed and had no time to join him on his outings, which made him unhappy. However, the matter had not yet been fully investigated, and the person had not yet been found, so he would definitely have to stay in Zhangcheng for a while longer. It seemed that he should move out of this guesthouse and find a proper courtyard to live in to find peace and quiet.
After receiving the instructions, the steward found a house that night. Su Musong and Xiao Luochen moved there at night. This way, no one would come to disturb them anymore, and the two of them finally had some peace and quiet.
After this incident, Su Musong deeply understood what it meant that people are afraid of being famous and pigs are afraid of being fat. From then on, he never dared to instigate Xiao Luochen to be in the spotlight again.
While Su Musong and Xiao Luochen were disturbed by the endless stream of visitors, the Su family's spies in the pigeon house in Zhangcheng were not idle either.
Su Musong drew the token and a pattern according to his memory, and ordered the spies to secretly find the source. The spies followed the pattern and searched for a while, and finally reported an unexpected result. The token turned out to belong to Yue Long's Jinwu Guard, but there was no clue about the other pattern.
Su Musong felt complicated when he learned the result.
The Jinwu Guards guarded the palace and the capital, and according to common sense, they would never leave Zhangcheng. So, Su Musong was actually from Yuelong and had even lived in a house in the city. But why did he have no recollection of ever living in the city? Or perhaps, in fact, his memory of anything before the age of six was vague. If it weren't for the scorching fire that night and the screams that were so shrill, he might have forgotten what he saw and heard that night.
Su Musong's thoughts were in a mess and he was stunned for a moment. He leaned against the windowsill and stared at the pagoda in the distance in a daze.
Xiao Luochen noticed that something was wrong with Su Musong and asked with concern
"Musong, what's wrong with you?"
Su Musong still stared into the distance and replied in a calm tone:
"It's the Jinwu Guards."
Xiao Luochen knew that Su Musong seemed to have sent someone to look for something. Thinking of what Su Musong had told him about his life experience and enemies on his sickbed that day, he guessed that what Su Musong was investigating was probably related to the family annihilation case. Hearing that it was actually connected with the Jinwu Guards, he felt even more uneasy.
"Jinwu Guards?! Is this information reliable? Could there be something wrong?"
"They have confirmed it again and again, there can be no mistake."
Su Musong was certain, but Xiao Luochen had doubts in his heart. He knew something about the Jinwu Guard.
"However, Yuelong's Jinwu Guards are responsible for garrison duty, not punishment, and they should not wantonly massacre civilians..."
"So you're saying that my parents are extremely vicious and will threaten the safety of the entire city?"
"Musong, calm down. I mean this is illogical and you have to be extremely careful."
"I won't make a mistake. I won't make a mistake about this token!"
Seeing that Xiao Luochen had some doubts, Su Musong firmly believed that he was not wrong. For a moment, he felt his blood rushing up and his expression became excited.
"I believe everything you said, but perhaps there's something hidden. Tell me the story again in detail, and I'll help you find the truth, okay?"
Xiao Luochen held Su Musong's shoulders and looked straight into his eyes, full of sincerity and determination.
Meeting Xiao Luochen's caring eyes, Su Musong calmed down instantly
"No, you shouldn't be involved."
Seeing that Su Musong had regained his sanity, Xiao Luochen breathed a sigh of relief.
"I'm the son of the Prime Minister, and I have six brothers who are both talented and capable. Who would dare to do anything to me? Besides, if we were in each other's shoes today, would you stay out of it?"
Su Musong shook his head. Xiao Luochen's enemies were his enemies, and it was impossible for him to stand idly by.
"Since you can't do it, why do you want to put me in an unjust position?"
Su Musong was silent for a while, but still told Xiao Luochen all the information he had found out in the past few days.
"So, the perpetrators of the crime back then must have been two groups of people?"
"I vaguely remember there were two groups of people. One group wore night clothes, and the other group had a token. It was because they were killing my family and each other at the same time that the servants had the opportunity to take advantage of the chaos and take me away."
"If the group with the tokens back then were the Jinwu Guards, then who were the other group? Why were they able to set fire and kill people in Yuelong Capital? What happened back then that caused my uncle and aunt to be slaughtered by these two forces? These are all questions. Now that you've identified one of the forces, the next step is to confirm the identity of the other group."
"This is the mark on the arm of one of the men in night clothes, but I've been searching for a few days and still can't find any clues."
"This branding seems to be the mark of some organization. Perhaps we can have someone examine this flower first to see if there's anything unusual."
Xiao Luochen took the drawing and looked at it carefully. Although he didn't recognize the flower, he felt that the branding looked familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere.
Looking at Xiao Luochen who was deep in thought, Su Musong felt a warmth rising in his heart. He felt his nose sore and his eyes were hot. He couldn't help but murmured:
"Luo Chen, thank you."
Su Musong spoke very softly, but because the two of them were close to each other, even though he was whispering, Xiao Luochen could hear it very clearly because it was right next to his ear.
But Xiao Luochen was only looking at the pattern and didn't notice the change in Su Musong's expression at this moment. He casually returned to
"Why thank me for such a small thing?"
Su Musong took away the blueprint, which naturally attracted Xiao Luochen's attention. He only heard Su Musong say sincerely:
"Thank you for giving me food and shelter when we first met in the snow, thank you for giving me a new name, thank you for your guidance, thank you for giving me joy, and thank you for accompanying me all the way from childhood to youth."
Su Musong's eyes were burning, and Xiao Luochen didn't dare to look him in the eye. He felt inexplicably nervous for a moment. They had been seeing each other almost every day over the years, so why did he suddenly start talking about these things?
"You...you talk too much today."
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