Jiang Qing was clearly delighted by his arrival, but she suppressed it because of the servants around her. Yan Liang was embarrassed to call her "Qing'er," but she strongly disliked being called "sister-in-law," so he compromised and called her "Miss Jiang."
Jiang Qing chatted with him about their childhood anecdotes. Yan Liang listened as if they were stories, and when he heard something interesting, he smiled quite readily. Jiang Qing's mood improved a lot, and the anxiety that had been building up between her brows and eyes dissipated somewhat.
Jiang Qing is Mu Jiangchuan's cousin. Before her death, Jiang's father entrusted his young daughter to the head of the Mu family. The two had known each other since childhood and were close friends. After Jiang married the head of the Mu family, their relationship became even closer, and Jiang's father trusted the head of the Mu family very much.
The three of them had grown up together and shared a deep bond—that's what Mu Jiangchuan and Jiang Qing originally thought. But no one knew what Mu Rufeng was really thinking.
From Mu Jiangchuan's perspective, his mature and sensible younger brother suddenly changed his attitude, becoming cold and ruthless in his words and actions, and even imprisoning and torturing him.
From Jiang Qing's perspective, the facade of a kind and gentle playmate that had been maintained for three years suddenly changed when she discovered her brother, who was being tortured to the point of near death. He imprisoned her and his personality became increasingly eccentric.
Yan Liang smiled at Jiang Qing, trying his best to comfort the frightened girl, and thought to himself that Mu Rufeng would definitely be an Oscar-winning actor in the modern world.
Just as he thought this, the current Oscar-winning actor walked over with a smile on his face, "Brother, my love."
Jiang Qing trembled, not daring to look Mu Rufeng in the eye. Yan Liang replied frankly, "I'm having Miss Jiang talk about things I don't remember."
Mu Rufeng glanced at Jiang Qing almost imperceptibly, but Jiang Qing lowered her head and remained silent. He smiled and said, "Brother and Qing'er haven't seen each other for a long time, and I almost forgot to let you catch up. However, I have something to tell you, brother."
Yan Liang: "What is it?"
Mu Rufeng: "The Hua family patriarch is celebrating his sixtieth birthday, and an invitation has been sent. Would you like to attend the banquet with me, brother?"
Yan Liang: "Hua Manlou's father?"
Mu Rufeng nodded: "Yes."
The Mu family and the Hua family are both famous families in the Jiangnan region, but the Hua family is far more famous than the Mu family. The fact that the Hua family sent an invitation out of consideration for the past must mean that Hua Manlou is also interested in them.
Yan Liang had already guessed the reason before, and when Mu Rufeng came to tell him in person, he smiled without any attempt to hide it. He thought that Hua Manlou was too helpful and said to Mu Rufeng, "Go, of course I'll go."
Mu Rufeng smiled and said, "Then I will have someone prepare a congratulatory gift. You can just focus on healing."
Mu Rufeng turned and left, glancing at Jiang Qing discreetly with his back to Yan Liang. Jiang Qing closed her eyes briefly, told Yan Liang she wasn't feeling well after Mu Rufeng left, and hurriedly went back inside.
Yan Liang looked at the closed door, sighed, and got up to leave.
Standing inside the house, listening to the people outside leave, Jiang Qing felt a surge of grievance and sadness, and in the blink of an eye, tears streamed down her face.
Although she lost her parents at a young age and lived under the roof of others, the Mu family treated her very well. Master Mu truly raised her as his daughter, and she also had a deep brother-sister relationship with her two cousins.
If she hadn't discovered the dying Mu Jiangchuan, she probably would never have known that Mu Rufeng, whom she regarded as her own brother, had such a face.
With no one to rely on, she could only rely on herself.
Her brother Jiang Chuan had lost his memory and was covered in wounds. He smiled kindly and gently at the culprit, Mu Rufeng. Jiang Qing saw the slight furrow in his brow as he walked, heard his hoarse voice when he spoke, and felt a sharp pain in her heart.
Mu Rufeng is currently fulfilling his duties as a dutiful younger brother to the amnesiac Mu Jiangchuan, and his life seems to be out of danger. Therefore, Jiang Qing would never tell him what Mu Rufeng had done to Mu Jiangchuan.
In her memory, Jiang Qing slipped into the dungeon and the first thing she saw was Mu Jiangchuan's dark and lifeless eyes.
And now he showed the same smile as before.
This was her only solace.
Jiang Qing rushed onto the bed, letting her tears soak the bright red wedding quilt. She missed the days when the three of them spent together, filled with laughter and joy.
How did things come to this?
Jiang Qing thought almost desperately, recalling everything from the past over and over again, but the more she recalled, the more she couldn't help but feel sad.
The sound of suppressed sobbing came from the ornately decorated room, but the two maids outside the door ignored it.
Yan Liang walked alone on the path through the bamboo forest, listening to the mournful sobs coming from the bugging device placed next to Jiang Qing. He slowly composed himself, his lips pursed into a straight line.
Hua Manlou opened the window, and the sun shone brightly outside, the air was fresh. The person in the pavilion, who was watching the koi swimming around in the lake, turned around and smiled at Hua Manlou when he heard the window open.
"You overslept, Hua Manlou."
Lu Xiaofeng teased.
"You're early, Lu Xiaofeng."
Hua Manlou also smiled.
When Hua Manlou arrived at the pavilion, Lu Xiaofeng told him about the Wuyan Pavilion, a killer organization that had gained fame in the martial arts world in the past two years. The Wuyan Pavilion had a long history but had always acted in secrecy. In the past two years, however, it had become extremely arrogant. After killing someone, it would leave a bouquet of flowers next to the corpse, openly announcing to people that the murderer was a member of the Wuyan Pavilion.
After Yan Liang left the Hundred Flowers Pavilion, Lu Xiaofeng stayed for a day before also leaving. An old friend of his sought his help, saying that someone close to him had been killed by assassins from the Smokeless Pavilion, and that the ultimate target was his old friend. Lu Xiaofeng rushed over and spent some time finding the assassin, but unfortunately, the assassin bit into a poison sac in his mouth and committed suicide.
Hua Manlou sighed softly and remained silent.
Lu Xiaofeng paused. He hadn't wanted to tell Hua Manlou about these things, but during this incident, he learned something that deeply concerned him—so much so that he wanted to discuss it with Hua Manlou.
Lu Xiaofeng said, "The assassin used a sword forged by the Mu family."
Hua Manlou looked up at him.
“The former head of the Mu family would have a plum blossom carved below the hilt of his sword,” Lu Xiaofeng said slowly. “I’ve seen it with my own eyes.”
Hua Manlou: "You suspect that Wuyan Pavilion is related to the Mu family?"
Lu Xiaofeng: "Yes."
Hua Manlou: "The Mu family is a master forger; they have forged countless swords."
Lu Xiaofeng: "But that sword shouldn't have been in the hands of that assassin. When Master Mu was buried, that sword was a burial item. Three years ago, I personally watched Mu Rufeng put that sword into the wooden coffin."
Hua Manlou looked at the sword box on the stone table; now the sword that Lu Xiaofeng had mentioned was inside.
“I’ve sent an invitation to the Mu family, and they should arrive in a few days,” Hua Manlou said. “You can ask them a few questions then; it would be best if they could answer your questions.”
Lu Xiaofeng nodded.
Both of them hoped that Wuyan Pavilion had nothing to do with the Mu family, but this sword clearly had something to do with the Mu family.
Hua Manlou sighed, "Lu Xiaofeng, you really are a nuisance."
Lu Xiaofeng stroked his beard and smiled helplessly.
He had friends all over the world, and with more friends came more trouble; it wasn't uncommon for trouble stemming from one friend to become entangled with another. This time was no exception. When Hua Manlou called him a troublemaker, he couldn't find a way to refute it and could only accept it.
The Smokeless Pavilion's arrogant and unruly behavior, coupled with its sudden change in style, has led to speculation that it may be due to a change in leadership. Some have said that the Smokeless Pavilion's leader was an old man with a youthful face and white hair, but that was nearly ten years ago. Birth, aging, sickness, and death are all in the hands of fate, and if the old leader were to pass away, a new leader would naturally take over.
The change in the way the Smokeless Pavilion operates is the best proof of this.
Lu Xiaofeng said, "This is not the first time I have encountered the Smokeless Pavilion."
Hua Manlou turned his head to the side.
Lu Xiaofeng said, "A year ago, the young master of the Tianqin Sect in the Northern Frontier and the master of the Ziyang Tower in Kunlun were both killed by the Wuyan Pavilion. I happened to have some connections with those two, and after learning about this, I started investigating the Wuyan Pavilion. Three months ago, I rescued Tang Bujiu of the Tang Clan in Sichuan and Jiang Miao of Chiri Valley from the Wuyan Pavilion. This time, my friend is the master of Biyunwu."
Hua Manlou said with emotion, "This Wuyan Pavilion seems to have no scruples whatsoever."
They killed people who were somewhat famous in the martial arts world, and judging from their style of doing things, they were not worried about being hunted down by various forces.
Lu Xiaofeng said, "I asked Dazhi Datong, and he only said that Wuyan Pavilion has a new leader, but he doesn't know who the new leader is." He sighed, "I know that no one in the martial arts world can avoid the problem of enemies seeking revenge, but why are they all coming to Wuyan Pavilion?"
What he didn't say was that the assassins of the Smokeless Pavilion always kill when they strike, and if they fail, they commit suicide, leaving no trace behind.
This is truly agonizing for those investigating.
Not to mention that after months of investigation, he still didn't know how to entrust the Wuyan Pavilion with the task.
This surprised Lu Xiaofeng greatly. Wuyan Pavilion was an assassin organization, and if he wanted to make a commission, there must be a way to do so, but he had no clue what to do.
Now that there are some clues, I've gotten involved with some new friends.
Lu Xiaofeng couldn't help but sigh again.
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I actually posted on Jinjiang Literature City a long time ago, but that was when I was young and reckless. Now I've deleted my account and am starting over, ready to do it seriously this time.
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