After eavesdropping for a while, Wen Mingtang headed directly towards the alley.

Probably for the passage of nobles, the alley was built wider than ordinary alleys. The alley was very shallow. Looking up, one could see the tall vermilion gate at the end of the alley. The stone lions standing on both sides of the gate stared at this side with wide eyes.

Although it was broad daylight, the gate of the noble’s house was still closed. Wen Mingtang walked around, but she couldn’t see the situation inside the gate through the thick stone wall. She only walked around a little and then walked out again.

When she returned to the entrance of the alley and was about to buy some ingredients to go back, she heard a familiar voice coming from behind her.

“Master Wen?”

The slightly surprised voice made Wen Mingtang stiffen. She turned her head and looked over, but saw Lin Fei and Wei Fu standing at the door of a mansion not far behind her. The housekeeper of the mansion had not yet left, and the three of them were looking at her.

The steward seemed a little surprised, but he was a man with good sense. He didn’t ask any more questions and turned back to the mansion. After the door of the mansion was closed with a bang, only Wen Mingtang, Lin Fei, and Wei Fu were left in the empty alley.

Wei Fu glanced at Lin Fei, coughed lightly, and asked, “Why is Master Wen here?” 

Wen Mingtang was silent for a moment, and when she looked at Lin Fei’s face, weighed everything and chose to tell the truth: “I found an excuse to buy ingredients and take care of my own private affairs.”

After hearing this, Wei Fu’s expression became more subtle. He subconsciously looked up at Lin Fei beside him, paused, and said with a strange expression: “Master Wen is not in the Dali Temple, but the taste of the pot of tea eggs is particularly overbearing. We thought you were there. If it weren’t for Lin Shaoqing…” 

It was obviously just an ordinary egg, but the fragrance of the food called tea eggs made the entire Dali Temple eager to move. People sat there, but they wanted to go over and take a look at the pot of tea eggs.

He also smelled the smell, and was just sighing, “Master Wen made snacks again today,” when Lin Fei came over and said to him in the unique aroma of tea, spices, and sauces: “Go and see if anyone is still in the public kitchen!”

At that time, he instinctively retorted: “Is Lin Shaoqing worrying too much? Although I didn’t see anyone, I smelled the smell. If Master Wen’s people are not here, where does the smell come from?”

Lin Fei shook his head and didn’t say much, just asked him to go to the public kitchen to take a look.

Although Wei Fu didn’t understand at that time, he still went there. Then, he saw Tangyuan and Ah Bing sitting next to the stove where tea eggs were simmering on a low fire.

The two half-grown children couldn’t help but reach out to the tea eggs that had attracted the whole Dali Temple to the pot, and wanted to take one to taste it first.

After a trip to the public kitchen, in addition to catching two “little mice” who intended to steal food, Wen Mingtang, who was supposed to be there to cook, didn’t even see a shadow of her.

Wei Fu was amazed by this scene, and he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He really didn’t know whether to admire Wen Mingtang’s good cooking skills. She was not there, but she could still make such a delicious pot; or should he admire Wen Mingtang’s ability to use a pot of delicious food as a “proof of presence” for herself!

Knowing that Wen Mingtang was not there, Lin Fei didn’t feel strange. Not only that, he nodded, and said with a “really so” expression: “I knew she couldn’t sit still!”

After saying this, he took him out of the Dali Temple and came to Zhengyangfang to find a familiar official in the court. After asking about King Yu’s affairs this morning, they ran into Wen Mingtang when she came out.

Since she was caught, Wen Mingtang did not lie. She came to Zhengyangfang to see the situation under the name of buying food.

But she did not expect that Lin Fei was watching her so closely and even came here!

One did not lie, and the other did not waste time on the investigation.

After a pause, Lin Fei spoke first: “What did you find out?”

Wen Mingtang said: “I just heard those people on the street chatting for a while, and I know that there are hidden dragons and crouching tigers in this alley. There is a rich widow, a gōngzhǔ with considerable power, and an unlucky, cuckolded fùma whose family has failed.”

Of course, there were more than these people in the alley, and there might be others.

“The reputation of King Yu as a philanderer is well known. If it were an ordinary woman, there would be no need for such secrecy, nor would he go out alone without his attendants,” Wen Mingtang said. “This time, I wonder what the reason is for such concealment.”

“If it were that gōngzhǔ, to be blunt, the whole neighborhood would know about it. It seems the gōngzhǔ’s affairs are no secret, and the fùmǎ can’t do anything about her. Is there really a need for such secrecy?”

King Yu didn’t have a wángfēi who could stop him from messing around. These two are attracted to each other and openly give the prince consort a hat. The fùmǎ… had worn so many hats, so he didn’t think he cared about this one.

The rich widow Wu Shi was even more like this, and it seemed that there was no need to hide it.

Apart from these two, she hadn’t heard the neighbors say that there were other people in this alley like these two who would do things like keep a young man overnight.

Wen Mingtang was a little slow in finding out the news herself, but now… Wen Mingtang looked at Lin Fei in front of her: With this person here, he should have found out what kind of people live in this alley!

Lin Fei’s answer did not disappoint her, and he said, “The family we just came out of is the retired old man Du. He has lived here since his retirement. He usually grows vegetables and raises flowers. His wife has passed away long ago, and his children are not around. There is no woman in the whole house from top to bottom. What happened to Prince Yu this morning should not have much to do with him.

“Old Master Du doesn’t know much about these things, but he also mentioned Chao’an Gōngzhǔ and Widow Wu,” Lin Fei said, “In addition, he also mentioned several other families in this alley, including merchants and officials. Old Master Du naturally doesn’t know what they are like in private. But from the surface, it seems that they are all good. Recently, the men have all been at home and rarely stay overnight outside. “

 Since the man was at home, it was unlikely that King Yu would go in and fool around. So…

“The third room from the left is occupied by Lord Jin, the head of the Ministry of Revenue. He has been out on business recently. Because his two children are still in their infancy, he left his wife in the capital and did not take her out of Chang’an.” Lin Fei said, “Madam Jin is beautiful and gentle. Lord Du said that she looks dignified.”

Oh? Was it like that? While specifically mentioning that Madam Jin’s husband was not in the capital and her two children were still in infancy and unaware of matters, he also described Madam Jin as “dignified.” Truly, this old man, who had been immersed in officialdom for most of his life, was quite adept at the art of “double entendre”!

(End of this chapter)

---