“No one could run away! It didn’t matter if it was my uncle or the others or the aunt and Wen Xiutang in the backyard, it was the same.”
“So, Wen Xiutang must hate me!” The girl stood up and said, “My father and my mother are no longer here, and it’s only me. This hatred can only be put on my head.”
So, it was not surprising that Wen Xiutang seriously helped when Prince Yu tried to kill her.
Wen Mingtang picked up the incense burner with the burned-out incense, greeted Wei Fu, turned around, and left.
…
…
On the next day of the Dragon Boat Festival, both the morning and evening meals naturally consisted of zongzi made by Wen Mingtang. After several meals, everyone at the Dali Temple had sampled various flavors, and for them, there were no issues.
The problem was the lunch meal served by Master Sun. When Liu Yuan left Dali Temple to go out to do errands, he bumped into Ji Caimai grabbing Master Sun’s ears and scolding him. The wooden bucket at hand was filled with more than half of the remaining méigāncài1.
Wen Mingtang was walking down the corridor with Ah Bing and Tangyuan when she met Liu Yuan and said hello to him.
Liu Yuan couldn’t help but twitch his lips when he saw how many people were rolling up their sleeves, and couldn’t help but say: “Master Sun is wasting things again and you have come to wipe his butt?”
After hearing this, both A Bing and Tang Yuan couldn’t help but laugh. The laughter alarmed Master Sun who was being trained, he looked over, only for Ji Caimai to pull his ears and scold him.
Wen Mingtang suppressed her laughter and said, “He wasted some méigāncài. I’ll just use them to make a bǐng tomorrow.”
Was this a bǐng made with méigāncài? Liu Yuan nodded, indicating that he had taken note of it, and left Dali Temple.
Today, he would first go to Yishan Academy to see where Ruan Zhan was.
When they reached Yishan Academy, they realized something had happened.
In the square in front of the academy, many students gathered around and shouted something noisily. Some of them shouted “Report” or something like that.
When Liu Yuan heard this, his heart jumped instinctively, and he quickly shouted “I am the Sìchéng2 of Dali Temple” and then struggled to separate a road and squeeze in.
Once the crowd dispersed and Liu Yuan saw the fair-skinned young man lying on the ground with rosy lips, he couldn’t help but jump in frustration. Then, when he noticed the messy blank scroll next to him, covered in footprints, he became even more exasperated, repeatedly touching his forehead in frustration.
The man named Ruan Zhan disappeared inexplicably yesterday, so they knew something was wrong.
When Wu Bu followed Lin Fei over, the surrounding students had already dispersed, leaving only a few who had discovered Ruan Zhan early in the morning and were being questioned.
“Yesterday evening, he wasn’t here. Early this morning, a few of us who woke up early came out for morning studies. As soon as we opened the door, we saw him lying here,” several students explained.
“Because the face was painted like that and the sky was dark, I was shocked.” The student couldn’t help but pat his chest as he said it, looking like he was still frightened. “When I came closer, I took a long look. I felt that this body shape and appearance were somewhat similar to Ruan Zhan’s.”
Another student interjected: “Besides, Ruan Zhan didn’t come back all day yesterday.”
After hearing the news, the students who came out to see what happened became more and more excited. Many more people came, and when they were clamoring to report to the official, Liu Yuan came over.
Glancing at the scroll full of footprints, Liu Yuan fell silent, with veins twitching on his forehead. After taking a deep breath, he asked: “You guys have been looking at it for a long time! Has anyone ever stepped forward and touched Ruan Zhan?”
“A few students looked embarrassed, but in response to Liu Yuan’s inquiry, they still said honestly: “Yes, quite a few!”
After a pause, before Liu Yuan could speak, the group hurriedly explained again, “We just went forward to check if he was still alive or not. We didn’t… we didn’t move him much!”
The so-called ‘didn’t move him much’ implies that they did move him somewhat!
Liu Yuan held his forehead with a headache and turned to look at Wu Bucai who squatted down to start the autopsy. Just like Han Jun’s body before, he wiped off the lipstick on the man’s mouth with white paper, revealing the black and purple lips. After his lips, he carefully wiped away the white powder on the man’s face, revealing his true appearance.
Looking at the familiar face, Liu Yuan looked helplessly at Lin Fei beside him and said, “Lin Shaoqing, the deceased is Ruan Zhan.”
Lin Fei’s eyes fell on Ruan Zhan’s face and he paused, then glanced down. The tattered picture scroll was trampled aside, and he turned to look at the mountain behind the academy.
The small mountains could be seen at a glance.
Lin Fei called “Zhao You” and led the people up the mountain.
When Liu Yuan was about to follow him, he saw Lin Fei waving his hand toward him, indicating that he should not follow. Then he and Zhao You set foot on the mountain road and walked into the mountains.
Wu Bucai, who was looking down at the autopsy, suddenly raised his head and glanced at Lin Fei and Zhao You who were leaving. He turned to ask Liu Yuan, “Is Lin Shaoqing going to use his body as bait again?”
While Wu Bu was examining the body with his head down, he suddenly glanced up at Lin Fei and Zhao You, who were leaving. He then turned to Liu Yuan beside him and asked, “Is Lin Shaoqing planning to use himself as bait again?” Meeting Liu Yuan’s gaze, Wu Bu pursed his lips and pointed to the body of Ruan Zhan being examined beside him, saying, “Refined and handsome, tall in stature, isn’t that exactly how our Lin Shaoqing is?”
Before he could finish his words, Liu Yuan interrupted him: “How is our Lin Shaoqing comparable to these people? He looks much better! Besides, our Lin Shaoqing is not a shūshēng3 anymore.”
Although he was a shūshēng before, he was no longer a shūshēng now.
After being reminded, Wu Bucai nodded and said, “That’s right! Besides, isn’t there Zhao You?” Then he continued to lower his head and perform the autopsy.
The cause of death of Ruan Zhan was the same as that of Han Jun. He was also poisoned. Even the way of applying powder and grease was exactly the same.
However, after removing his clothes, they did not find any visible injuries on Ruan Zhan’s chest or back indicating he had been struck.
Wu Bucai looked at Ruan Zhan’s black and purple lips, turned to Liu Yuan, and said: “It seems that poisoning is the key, and Han Jun was hit just by accident.”
Liu Yuan nodded, and after a moment of pause, he said again: “It seems that Han Jun’s book boy hasn’t been found yet.”
The mountain was not high and the mountain road was not long. Lin Fei and Zhao You stopped when they passed by the row of mountain houses in the mountain and faced the mountain with smoke. He looked at the house for a moment. Zhao You, who was following behind him, couldn’t help but ask: “Lin Shaoqing, do you want to go over and have a look?”
Lin Fei shook his head and looked at the nunnery hidden in the mountains and trees. Go up and walk towards the nunnery in front of them.
The nunnery was at the end of the mountain road.
It was on a half-height platform, and the courtyard was only half an acre of land, very small.
However, although the nunnery was small, it was very clean. Not even a leaf could be seen on the platform. Lin Fei took Zhao You onto the platform.
The main entrance of the nunnery was ajar, and when the sun was high and it was noon, the bells in the nunnery rang out, and it seemed that someone was ringing the bell.
After knocking seven or eight times, the bell stopped.
Lin Fei took Zhao You forward and knocked on the door.
Looking through the ajar door of the nunnery, they saw a nun sitting on a futon in the middle of the nunnery. When she heard the sound, the nun turned around.
The mottled sunlight fell on the nun’s face, and a face with very pale eyebrows appeared in sight.
(End of chapter)
Footnote
- Dried vegetables. So the title means dried vegetables pancake
- Deputy official
- scholar / intellectual
Translating one chapter one day at a time 
Leave a comment