“Old Master Du only said that she looked dignified, but as for whether she was really dignified…” Wei Fu stroked his chin and said, “People’s hearts  “Old Master Du only said that she looked dignified, but as for whether she was really dignified…” Wei Fu stroked his chin and said, “People’s hearts are hidden, and I’m afraid no one knows.”

If Madam Jin was really dignified, King Yu would have used means to force Madam Jin. No matter what, Madam Jin was an official’s wife, and King Yu could not touch her at will. In this regard, it was not surprising that King Yu wanted to hide it and sneak out alone.

If Madam Jin was not really dignified, and the two of them were having fun behind Master Jin’s back, they would have to hide it tightly. Once it was leaked, both of them would be in trouble.

But no matter what, if the person related to King Yu was Madam Jin, it seemed that everything King Yu did could be explained. That old Master Du looked like he didn’t want to deal with things with his eyes closed, but it was obvious that with so many years of experience, even with his eyes closed, he had a guess in his heart about this matter.

Of course, no matter how reasonable the guess was, it could not be used as evidence. It was hard to say whether it was Madam Jin.

However, even if it wasn’t Madam Jin, there were still people who wanted to confirm that Madam Jin was the one who had an affair with King Yu.

“Although to people like King Yu, Lord Jin’s official rank and status were indeed insignificant and he didn’t need to be taken too seriously, but now Lord Jin’s status is extraordinary.” Wei Fu said.

Compared with the two young men Liu Yuan and Bai Zhu, who had outstanding case-handling abilities, Wei Fu’s case-handling abilities seemed to be slightly inferior. However, there were many secretaries in the Dali Temple, and while everyone else came and went, he was the only one who could stay, because he had his own unique way of dealing with things. Wei Fu had always been able to discover in time the impact of the changing situation in the court on the case.

“That Lord Jin came to Beijing to verify the account books of the Ministry of Revenue. A lot of officials will be implicated by one account book. If King Yu is rumored to have an affair with Madam Jin at this time, the matter must be very serious.” Wei Fu said, “I have never paid attention to what kind of person Lord Jin is before, but in this matter, I think Lord Jin is fair and impartial. If it involves King Yu or someone related to King Yu, it is hard to guarantee that he will not be biased.”

Hearing this, Lin Fei nodded and said, “Whether it is a political enemy or an enemy, they will definitely take this opportunity to find ways to prove that Madam Jin is the one who has an affair with King Yu.”

“After the Prince of Pingxi took the young prince back, he stayed indoors and obviously had no time to spread the news. But now, even the neighbors on the street can talk about it unscrupulously. Obviously, someone has taken action and does not want the matter to be suppressed.” Wei Fu said, looking at the people who were still sitting on the street chatting about this matter, and couldn’t help shaking his head, “No matter whether Madam Jin is right or not, I’m afraid she can’t defend herself!”

Lin Fei glanced at Wen Mingtang who lowered her head and kicked the stones under her feet: “Although Lord Jin’s knife is easy to use, if Madam Jin has nothing to do with King Yu, it is not good to let an innocent person suffer from the criticism of thousands of people and her reputation be affected.” 

Wen Mingtang, who was kicking the stones under her feet casually, raised her head when she heard this, looked at Lin Fei, and said: “Don’t worry, Lin Shaoqing, I just came to take a look, and I won’t implicate the innocent.”

Having said that, without waiting for the two to speak again, the girl waved at them and said: “I’ll go buy some ingredients first, and I have to go back to the Dali Temple to make evening meals later.”

After that, she turned and left.

Watching the girl’s back as she left, Wei Fu said, “Master Wen is actually a good person! She looks kindhearted when she takes care of Ah Bing and Tangyuan.” 

Since she is kindhearted, she would not frame Madam Jin for no reason to use Lord Jin’s knife to deal with King Yu.

“I know.” Lin Fei nodded, paused, and said, “She is very smart, but she entered the palace at a young age. With the cannibalistic experience in the palace, she has long been accustomed to fighting back against anyone who might hurt her. King Yu’s move has aroused her vigilance and counterattack.”

It was like throwing a person into the battlefield since childhood! The training on the cruel battlefield would make people instinctively fight back against all enemies that might threaten them, to kill possible hidden dangers as soon as possible.

“Don’t advise others to be good without experiencing their suffering. I’m not saying she’s wrong, but King Yu wouldn’t let her go beyond the law and do these things in private.” Lin Fei said, “King Yu committed a crime, and it’s our job to find out his fault and bring him to justice, not her.”

Wei Fu nodded in understanding, looked at Lin Fei with a calm expression, paused for a moment, and said: “Master Wen is a smart woman, she should understand Lin Shaoqing’s painstaking efforts.”

“If she didn’t understand, she wouldn’t have gone back to make dinner.” Lin Fei said, turned his head, looked deep into the alley, and said, “Find out who is the person who had a secret meeting with King Yu.”

Wei Fu replied “Yes”.

Lin Fei stroked the rolled-up file in his hand, stretched out his hand, rubbed his eyebrows, and suddenly said: “I always feel that these things are inseparable from the death of the scholar named Sudan Sheng a few years ago.”

The envoys of Goguryeo, the death of Sudan Sheng, and the secret meeting between King Yu and others, all seemed to be related in some way.

…

Wen Mingtang finally listened to Lin Fei’s words, bought some ingredients, and returned to the Dali Temple.

The pot of tea eggs was already very tasty, and the two did not forget Wen Mingtang’s instructions to crack the eggshells to make the eggs more tasty. But in the end, they couldn’t help but do one thing: the cook stole food!

Seeing the sauce still on the corners of their mouths, Wen Mingtang smiled and shook her head. She handed the tea eggs to everyone and placed the portions for those not present, such as Lin Fei and others, on the table, wrapping them in oil paper.

Ji Caimai had tasted the tea eggs with Ah Bing and Tangyuan earlier, and asked Wen Mingtang to take a few in a porcelain bowl and specially sent them to Zhao Mengzhuo who was in the government office today.

Looking at the bowl of tea eggs in front of him and smelling the unique and tempting fragrance, Zhao Mengzhuo thought of the fragrance from the public kitchen that he could smell every day in the government office and the snack egg rolls he had eaten last time, and almost subconsciously reached out for the tea eggs. 

The tea eggs in his hands were still a little hot, but the tempting fragrance made him suppress the slight heat on his fingertips and quickly peel the tea eggs.

After simmering for several hours on a low fire, the sauce with various spices and tea fragrance had already penetrated into the egg through the cracked shell surface, and the white egg body was stained with a layer of dark or light burnt brown, and the cracked shell surface lines were also printed on the egg surface, as if a special mark was stamped on each tea egg, with a unique delicacy beauty.

The peeled tea egg was still shrouded in white mist, but Zhao Mengzhuo couldn’t help it and took a bite.

The unique tenderness of the boiled egg was soaked in the unique sauce, and the tea fragrance filled the lips and teeth. Bite open the egg white, and there is the porcelain yolk inside. All boiled eggs have the problem of fragrant but choking egg yolk. Although this tea egg is also a boiled egg, because the egg white is cracked and the sauce is blended into the egg yolk, the choking feeling is suddenly faded a lot, and replaced by the thick and unique tea sauce flavor.

“The tea-flavored broth is excellent!” Zhao Mengzhuo said, thoroughly enjoying the tea egg he had just eaten. With a wave of his hand, he added, “I’ll take these few back for my wife and child to try!”

This was what he was waiting for! Ji Caimai coughed lightly and reminded Zhao Mengzhuo, “Master Zhao, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has been delaying the matter of take-out for a long time!”

 (End of this chapter)

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