Agreement
Back at Ningxiang Residence, Mu Qing took a two-hour nap in her room. When she woke up, she felt refreshed and full of energy. She got out of bed and prepared to read for a while when she heard that a guest had arrived.
Mu Qing hurriedly dressed and covered her face with a veil. Just as she sat down at the table, Lu Tongxue walked in with a bright smile, wearing a floral dress with butterflies, full of youthful vigor.
"Sister Qing, did you and Third Aunt go to Xuanyin Temple today?"
Seeing her cousin with only her eyes showing, Lu Tongxue no longer felt sympathy as she had at the beginning. She heard that it was just a rash that would eventually disappear and that it was nothing serious, so why should she waste her emotions on it?
Mu Qing nodded in agreement, and had someone set a seat and serve tea. She said, "I heard from my mother that she originally wanted to take you along, but you had promised to celebrate the birthday of a young lady from the Zheng family."
"It's not the Zheng family, it's the Zhen family," Lu Tongxue corrected.
Mu Qing had no impression of the Zhen family. After thinking for a while, she vaguely agreed.
Lu Tongxue thought it would be too troublesome to explain, so she simply skipped it and said, "Since Sister Qing is able to go out, let's go shopping together tomorrow."
Mu Qing looked slightly embarrassed. "These days you've been going out frequently, interacting with various young ladies. Haven't you already made quite a few friends?"
When Lu Tongxue was with her parents, she was very restrained. This month, at the Lu residence in Weizhou, she had free rein to come and go as she pleased. Looking back, she felt she had been a bit too unrestrained, and said shyly, lowering her eyes, "How can other people's sisters compare to my own?"
Upon hearing the word "family," Mu Qing had no way to refuse. In the past two years, she had been by Old Madam Meng's side and had often heard her admonitions, knowing how important it was for family members to be united.
"Where shall we go tomorrow?"
We'll talk about it later.
Lu Tongxue rolled her eyes, rambled on about other things, said it was getting late, and left.
Mu Qing was a little suspicious. It seemed that her cousin had come to see her just to arrange a trip out? However, there was no need to worry about it.
As night approached, she woke up from a light sleep, changed her attire again to suit her nighttime habits, and headed to the Imperial Censor's residence.
Zhong Linlan had arranged to meet her the next night, but she was determined and risked buying poison, intending to use it.
Thinking of what he said at Xuan Yin Temple, Mu Qing was filled with conflicting emotions. She hated his hypocritical words and desperately wanted this person who made her feel guilty and threatened her to disappear from now on.
Moreover, without him, the monkey would not have been discovered and subsequently lost its life.
That night, the number of guards at the Imperial Censorate was much smaller. Mu Qing was unaware of the reason behind this and was vaguely afraid that there might be a trap, but since she had already come all this way, she was willing to give it a try.
Arriving at the side window, the lights inside were off, and it was completely silent. Mu Qing used the dim moonlight to feel around the window frame, moving very lightly and slowly, for fear of making a sound that might wake the person inside.
She came to poison him; she didn't want to see him.
As beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, Mu Qing pried open the window and leaped inside. He slowly moved around in the pitch-black room, relying on his memory from last time, and touched the screen. Just as he was about to go around it, his eyes, which had already adjusted to the darkness, suddenly saw light.
Behind the plain screen, a figure was lighting the twin lanterns one by one, still having the leisure to complain.
"Qingqing, you're prying the window so slowly, why don't you call out to me? I'll open it for you as soon as I hear you."
"..." We've already been exposed. If we try to escape now, it will only arouse suspicion.
Mu Qing took a deep breath, walked around the screen, and went into the inner room, where she saw Zhong Linlan lighting the last lamp on the twin-branched lantern.
The room was brightly lit, leaving no room for those dark thoughts that couldn't be hidden. Mu Qing stood frozen in place.
"Come and sit down."
Zhong Linlan, dressed in the same dark blue robe as last time, looked at her with a smile, as if their relationship had returned to normal after their conversation last time.
Mu Qing pulled down her face mask, deliberately revealing her face covered in red marks, and slowly moved over.
The inner room was small. Opposite to the plain screen, a canopy bed stood against the corner of the wall, with a half-drawn sky-blue bed curtain hanging from silver hooks, revealing slightly disheveled pillows and blankets. At the foot of the bed, a low table and a tall cabinet stood side by side under the window, on which were several jade vases, all of simple and elegant design.
Mu Qing went into the room and sat down at a table across from Zhong Linlan.
The table was covered with a dark blue brocade cloth, and in the center was a tea tray containing a set of white-glazed blue-and-white teapot and cups.
Mu Qing glanced at him a few more times and saw Zhong Linlan staring at her, not at all bothered by the red marks on her face, and asked with a smile, "Want some tea?"
She nodded and replied, "I'm a little thirsty."
Zhong Linlan flipped open a porcelain cup, turned to the side and picked up a copper kettle from the brazier beside the table, poured a cup of tea, "I'm sorry there's no freshly brewed tea, but this tea is still warm, so it's not considered overnight tea."
Mu Qing glanced at the amber-colored tea in her cup, took a sip, felt a smooth sensation in her throat, and slowly said, "It's alright, it's fine. It's just that it's a bit boring for me to drink alone."
Upon hearing this, Zhong Linlan poured herself a glass and sighed softly, "How come you're so good-tempered these days?"
When we talk about the present, we are naturally comparing it to the past.
When they used to share a room, if she was thirsty at night, she would ask Zhong Linlan to bring her tea. Even in the cold of winter and spring, when she couldn't wake him, she would sometimes get out of bed and kick him out of bed so he could light a fire and boil water for her. He would do as she asked, and she would still get a few scoldings for it.
Thinking of the past, Mu Qing's face flushed. "I know I was wrong before, but it can't be changed now. Didn't you say you would overturn my case?"
“Yes.” Zhong Linlan suppressed her smile and looked at her gently. “Tell me first how you met Jiang Likun.”
"Why...why are we talking about him?"
"It was he who testified that you led people to the Jiang family. The arrest warrant for you was mainly issued based on his testimony."
Mu Qing had no way to refute it, and lowered her eyes, saying, "I told you, my father was the chieftain. He died, and I couldn't stay in the village anymore, so I went down the mountain. I met Jiang Likun at the foot of the mountain, and he said he could treat me to a meal, so I went with him to his family's villa in the suburbs. After the meal, it started snowing heavily, and the weather was quite cold, so I stayed there."
Zhong Linlan took a sip of tea. "And then?"
"About ten days later, it was his grandfather's birthday. He said he didn't want a big celebration and hoped for a simple one. At that time, there was snow to see in the suburbs. To make the old man happy, the Jiang family decorated their suburban villa. On the day of his birthday, the entire Jiang family gathered at the suburban villa. They celebrated the birthday lively during the day and..."
Mu Qing paused for a moment before continuing, "That night, before everyone had left, I heard someone shouting in the courtyard that thieves had broken in. Amidst the chaos in the mansion, one of the masked intruders called me 'Young Miss,' which led Jiang Likun to believe that I had brought them here. I had no choice but to escape in the confusion, for which I was struck by an arrow, and that's how I ended up at your house."
After listening to her, Zhong Linlan remained silent for a moment, then asked, "During the ten-plus days you stayed at the Jiang family, did you reveal your background?"
“I’m not that stupid. When he asked, I said my father was a hunter in the mountains, but he died, and I was lonely in the mountains, so I came down.” Mu Qing turned to Zhong Linlan and said, “You know Jiang Likun, so you should have heard him talk about me.”
"I'd like to confirm with you," Zhong Linlan continued, "Did the imposter who impersonated the magistrate go to the Jiang family that day?"
A look of sadness flashed in Mu Qing's eyes. "He left the mountain stronghold before that day."
After saying that, she suddenly thought, "How do you know he's from our village?"
Zhong Linlan smiled, walked to the low table, and opened a small drawer.
Taking advantage of the moment, Mu Qing took out a medicine bottle from her sleeve, sprinkled the powder into his cup, and mixed it evenly.
When Zhong Linlan sat back down at the table and handed her a piece of paper, Mu Qing suppressed her breath and unfolded it to read it.
There was a face on the paper, drawn with ink and smeared with vermilion. It was quite ugly, but the forehead of the face was covered with a black veil, which was somewhat similar to the one she had taken off that time.
Seeing that she had been staring at herself for a while, Zhong Linlan asked, "Don't you recognize yourself?"
“This isn’t me at all…” Mu Qing dismissed the drawing with obvious disgust. “Even if I don’t look good now, my nose and mouth are still neat.”
Zhong Linlan smiled and said, "This is the portrait the government office used to find you. Why did you go to the general store to buy a straw hat that day?"
Mu Qing pursed her lips and lowered her head to drink her tea.
Of course, it couldn't be said that she bought poison to harm him in order to conceal her whereabouts.
Zhong Linlan asked, "Is it to see that imposter magistrate? What's his name?"
Mu Qing was momentarily lost in thought, and whispered, "His name is Monkey."
Zhong Linlan was slightly taken aback, "You've been my monkey for so many years?"
When we lived together, I saw her climbing and jumping like a nimble monkey. I asked her about it a few times, and she told me that her master was called Monkey.
Seeing Mu Qing nod, Zhong Linlan said coldly, "You didn't tell me he was so young."
He was present when they performed the autopsy.
After removing the makeup, the man's face was handsome, and based on his physical condition, the coroner believed he was between twenty-four and twenty-seven years old.
Judging by age, we should be considered peers. I taught her from a young age, so we grew up together.
Mu Qing didn't think anything of it and said, "I've never called him master, nor have I ever said he's old."
Zhong Linlan looked at her, remaining silent.
Back then, he wondered why she would become emotional and speak incoherently whenever the master who taught her skills was mentioned. Later, after they confided in each other, he heard her explain the reason.
"I remember you said he betrayed your father?"
Mu Qing corrected him, enunciating each word clearly: "What I should have said was, he might have betrayed my father!"
When Zhong Linlan saw her become agitated, pain and confusion flashed across her face, which was covered in red marks.
Is it a desire to hate, yet an inability to do so? Or, though there is hatred, is it mixed with affection? Afraid of being unable to accept the truth, one would rather remain burdened by doubt, unable to move forward or backward, than dare to investigate?
She's confused about matters of the heart, so why should he bother to help her sort them out?
Anyway, that person is already dead.
Zhong Linlan said calmly, "When the monkey was impersonating the magistrate, he had a close relationship with a prostitute named Xiao Taohong. Xiao Taohong has since become a runaway prostitute. If you know where she is, you'd better tell me."
"I don't know any Xiao Tao Hong at all, he deserves to die!" Mu Qing angrily retorted. "He was following me on the street that day, I never expected it to be him. If he hadn't been hiding and had come out to explain things to me earlier, I wouldn't have hurt him..."
As she spoke, she gritted her teeth and held back the tears welling up in her eyes.
Zhong Linlan waited quietly for a while, then picked up the teapot to refill her tea, saying gently, "This is not your fault. Have some tea."
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