Ji Caimai glanced at him obliquely and said, “The little things those two nasty people do is not enough to dismiss them from their job. Unless Lin Shaoqing is called to show his power again…”

Hearing Ji Caimai say “Display his power,” Liu Yuan couldn’t help but twitch the corner of his mouth. “Our Lin Shaoqing’s display of power is indeed impressive, but it’s truly going overboard! Last year, that display of power left only Sun Dingren and Wang Junshan from the kitchen staff. Now everyone is eating pig bran for almost half a year!”

Ji Caimai clicked his tongue, recalling the taste in his mouth, and said: “It’s not Lin Shaoqing’s fault, who knew that there is a murderer who has been on the run for many years in our Dali Temple. Not only is he a murderer, he even brought along our two innocent kitchen assistants to be his accomplices…”

That wave of displaying power didn’t just involve taking over the cooking in the public kitchen, it even swept away the barely passable dishes, and the resulting aftermath also drove away several new chefs. It was to the extent that if they earned a spot on the “list” of the Dali Temple public chef, and from then on, that single mention brought them fame.

Thinking of that aftermath, the two of them still had lingering fears until now. Liu Yuan thought for a while, but was still defeated, and said: “Forget it! If there is another wave, it will be bad if you hurt Master Wen. At least there is still a Chaoshi to eat right now!”

Ji Caimai nodded and said: “I will pay close attention to those two guys, Sun Dingren and Wang Junshan. If I find any serious mistakes, I will send them away immediately!”

Liu Yuan nodded when he heard this and left satisfied.

When he went to look for Lin Fei with the file of the “Water Ghost” case, Liu Yuan saw a carved bamboo tube on the corner of Lin Fei’s table at a glance. A few golden sweet-scented osmanthus flowers seem to make the mouth and tongue produce body fluid inexplicably.

It was only at this time that Liu Yuan remembered the package of sour plum drinks that Wen Mingtang gave as a thank-you gift. He thought it was troublesome, so he gave all of them to Shangfeng.

Thinking up to this point, recalling yesterday’s bowl of blackened sour plum drink like soup medicine, Liu Yuan’s face twisted into a ball. He regrets it now, maybe ask Shangfeng to ask for it back?

Of course, he just wanted to think about this, and before he told Shangfeng that the new cook was the little lady they helped at Zhao Ji Restaurant last time, Lin Fei asked about something serious.

“From the people around Li Yuan, can you find out the clues?”

Liu Yuan quickly shook his head, got rid of those messy thoughts, and talked about the business: “I made some discoveries.”

“It’s only for him to bully others, never for others to bully him. After thinking about it, only the incident of being abducted and trafficked at a young age may be the only time he suffered some hardships.”

“He was not the only one who was kidnapped and trafficked back then. There were also many children of normal families who were trafficked together. After being rescued, except for Shuangxi who stayed by his side, the identities of the other rescued children were all wiped out by the Prince’s Mansion of Pingxi County. They wanted to hide their intersection with Li Yuan.”

Liu Yuan sighed, “After all, the abduction and trafficking of the little county king cannot be made public.”

“The children were sent back, money was also used, and their parents were ordered to control those children so that they could not tell the story of the past.” Liu Yuan said, “Apart from Shuangxi, two of these children are also from Chang’an City. The Prince’s Mansion of Pingxi County has been staring at those two families all these years, and those two families are also interested, this matter is completely rotten in their stomachs, and they have never had any interaction with Li Yuan for many years.”

There was no intersection for many years, it seemed that it had nothing to do with this matter.

“But I went to check the two children back then, and found something unexpected,” Liu Yuan said, “Do you still remember the people’s sacrifice to the river god that the lower official said? One of them who went in was entangled by water plants. The gift-giver who lost his feet was one of those two children back then.”

Lin Fei raised his eyes and looked at him: “Is there another one?”

Liu Yuan said: “…Dead.”

Lin Fei asked: “How did she die?”

Liu Yuan was about to speak when Lin Fei suddenly frowned and said: “The one who gave the gift was a man, what about the one who died?”

Liu Yuan said so much, but until now he had not mentioned whether the two children were boys or girls.

Upon hearing Lin Fei suddenly inquire about gender, a jolt went through his mind, as if something had briefly flashed by. Although he hadn’t fully grasped the fleeting clue in his mind, he instinctively said, “The gift giver was a man, just like the xiǎo jùnwáng. The deceased individual was a woman. If she hadn’t died, she would be two years older than Li Yuan and Shuangxi. However, she passed away two years ago, the year she came of age.”

Lin Fei said, “How did she die?”

Liu Yuan’s expression changed slightly, and he subconsciously glanced at the file of the “Water Ghost” case in his hand: “…I haven’t had time to investigate it yet.”

Lin Fei glanced at him, and Liu Yuan hurriedly said, “I’m going to investigate now, Sir!”

With the direction Lin Fei pointed out, it was much more convenient to check, and Liu Yuan went straight to the bank of the Weishui River.

After running around for a whole day, and returning to Dali Temple at dusk, Liu Yuan went straight to the room where Lin Fei worked.

Lin Fei glanced at the sweaty Liu Yuan who was rushing, handed over a bowl of sour plum drink that was as dark as a soup, and said: “It’s from the public chef, quench your thirst first, and then talk about the case.”

Liu Yuan looked at Lin Fei, who was holding the carved bamboo tube, squeezed out a dry smile, and said, “…I am not thirsty, let’s talk about the case first!”

Lin Shaoqing’s kindness is unnecessary! It would be better if you gave him the sour plum drink boiled with Master Wen’s sour plum drink mix.

Gathering his mind, Liu Yuan said: “The lower officials have found out that the woman drowned.”

Lin Fei raised his eyes and asked, “How skilled was the deceased woman in swimming?”

Liu Yuan said, “She often carried a basket, selling small items on these boats by the Wei River. She had fruits like peaches, plums, and apricots, which were grown at home, and during festivals, she would also sell seasonal goods. When the incident occurred, she was carrying a basket of zongzi onto a boat to sell. It’s said that while crossing the boat at night, she stepped into nothingness, and with the basket of zongzi, she fell into the river and drowned…”

Before he could finish speaking, he got a stare from Lin Fei.

Liu Yuan looked excited and hurriedly said: “I heard it. Of course, the lower officials didn’t believe it.”

Frequently selling items by carrying a basket on the boats by the river, how many of them could be poor swimmers? Even if the basket of zongzi she was carrying was a bit heavy, zongzi isn’t like a stone tied to the body. With a loose grip, it would easily come apart. How could it be so easy for a girl with good swimming skills to drown in the river?

“Was this case taken by the governor of Chang’an?” Lin Fei couldn’t help frowning when he heard this, and said, “I haven’t seen this case in Dali Temple before.”

Liu Yuan: “…”

The dead was just an ordinary person, if it wasn’t any serious serial crimes or unless powerful officials were the murderers, how can a case be referred to Dali Temple?

However, if this case was to be blamed on Chang’an Fuyin, he would be really wronged then.

Facing Lin Fei’s gaze, he explained, “He didn’t answer either. The case was never reported to the authorities.”

Lin Fei frowned even more when he heard this sentence: “Why didn’t you report the case of a dead person to the yamen? Such an unreasonable matter is just ignored by her family?”

Liu Yuan’s expression was subtle when he heard this, and he paused. After a pause, he said: “The lower official also felt that something was wrong. After inquiring for a long time, I finally found out something from a neighbor with a loose tongue.”

Liu Yuan said: “The little lady was found disheveled.”

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T/N I love how this novel shifts between being a gourmet food novel and detective/crime thriller.