Yu Jijiu waved at Ji Caimai and watched Ji Caimai pick up a string of old tofu.

The old tofu, full of holes, had been soaking in the cold soup for a long time. Each bite released salty, fresh, slightly numbing, and spicy broth from the holes. The rich and thick aroma of the tofu, combined with the savory, fresh, and spicy soup, made this vegetarian dish no less delicious than any meat dish.

Yu Jijiu, who was standing aside, obviously preferred meat dishes. He picked up a string of chicken wing tips and put them into his mouth. There were many bones in the wing tips, and each bone was attached to a strand of tender meat. There was not much meat, but Yu Jijiu obviously found the process of the tongue fighting with the bones to “grab the meat” quite interesting, and he repeatedly sighed that the wing tips were really suitable for drinking.

In this plate of Bobo Chicken, Brother Chicken provided a lot of ingredients. In addition to the wing tips, there were also wing middles. Compared with the wing tips, there is obviously more meat in the middle of the wings. If you don’t eat enough of the meat on the wing tips, the meat in the middle of the wings can make you taste the tender and smooth taste of chicken.

In addition, Brother Chicken also provided a pair of “claws”. The boneless chicken feet that were cut off were soaked in cold soup. They were taken out by Yu Jijiu in a very “enchanting” posture. At first glance, he almost didn’t recognize what it was. After recognizing that this enchanting thing was a chicken claw, Yu Jijiu sighed again and again: Look at that look, I think it’s a good dancer!

Of course, whether to dance or not, let’s satisfy the desire of the tongue first! Leaving the step of deboning, the chewy texture of the chicken claw meat was more prominent. Listening to the sound of chewing muscles in the mouth, Yu Jijiu was extremely satisfied: If every chicken claw in the world was deboned in advance, it would be great!

One string at a time, when the last string was taken out of the basin, there was only soup with red oil and cooked white sesame in the basin.

Yu Jijiu’s lips were trembling with numbness from the pepper, and he drank the sweet-scented osmanthus sour plum drink brought by Wen Mingtang with an unsatisfied look. He looked sideways at Ji Caimai, who was sitting opposite him with a smile on his face and holding a glass of wolfberry water after finishing his meal, and said, “You people in the Dali Temple are too smart! From top to bottom, from that old man Zhao Mengzhuo to you… That’s it! Tell me, what are you planning?”

Ji Caimai smiled and said, “Jijiu is a straightforward person, and people don’t beat around the bush. We want Jijiu to help us!”

Wen Mingtang looked at the two people sitting at the dining table and talking, smiled, shook her head, packed the Bobo Chicken, and put it in the food box at hand.

…..

……

It was two days later when Ji Caimai came over and told her that the matter had been settled.

Thinking that it had been delayed for so long before, it was done immediately after Yu Jijiu took action? Wen Mingtang was quite surprised: “I didn’t expect that Jijiu has such a big face, even bigger than our Lord Zhao…”

In terms of official rank, Jijiu was more than one level lower than Lord Zhao!

“Jijiu’s face is indeed not small!” Ji Caimai said, paused, and the smile on his face faded a little, saying, “There are some troubles with King Yu.”

King Yu?

Wen Mingtang said: “Hasn’t that King been in trouble recently?”

What she said… Ji Caimai couldn’t help but feel ashamed, looking at the girl’s serious look, coughed lightly, and said: “This time the matter has become a big deal, and the matter of officials’ families has been involved.”

Speaking of officials’ families… Wen Mingtang, who was washing rice, stopped what she was doing and asked Ji Caimai: “Which official’s family?”

Could it be…

Unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned. Ji Caimai coughed and said, “A director of the Ministry of Revenue has been out of the capital for work recently. He has only a wife and a pair of children at home. Didn’t Liu Sicheng come to say that King Yu and the young Prince of Pingxi fought in the street that day…”

It seemed that even if Wen Mingtang didn’t intervene, something happened to Madam Jin.

“I don’t know how the rumors spread outside, but they are all saying that it was with King Yu… uh, anyway, it was Madam Jin.” Ji Caimai said, “I just passed by the corridor and heard Liu Yuan and others talking about this. It is said that early in the morning when they heard Madam Jin’s children crying, the maid and the old woman went to knock on Madam Jin’s door, but no one answered. The two of them were anxious and asked someone to break open the house. Then, they saw Madam Jin hanging herself. When everyone hurriedly put her down, she was already dead!”

Wen Mingtang’s expression became serious.

…

In the corridor, Wei Fu was talking about this.

“According to the servants of the Jin Mansion, after the incident with King Yu was reported, Madam Jin has been crying every day. Because Lord Jin is not in the capital, the servants dare not make too many suggestions. They can only persuade Madam Jin to think positively and wait until Lord Jin returns to the capital before discussing anything else.”

“After these few days of persuasion, I heard from Madam Jin’s personal maids and old women that Madam Jin seemed to be in a much better mood. She was smiling yesterday and specially made new clothes for her two children. Because they had been with Madam Jin for several days without closing their eyes, the maids and old women were also very tired. With Madam Jin’s permission, and seeing that Madam Jin is smiling happily, they feel relieved and go to rest.”

“When it was almost dawn, the two babies in the cradle cried hysterically, not knowing whether they were hungry or because of the mother-child bond. The sound woke up the maids and old women in the next yard. They were still wondering how Madam Jin could make her two children cry like this, so they went to the next yard. When they entered the yard, they knocked on the door, but no one responded when they called for Madam Jin. Then they realized something was wrong, so they asked someone to break open the door. As a result, when they entered, they saw Madam Jin got a piece of white silk from somewhere, hung it on the beam, and hanged herself…”

Because of Lord Jin, the case was naturally handed over to the Dali Temple.

When Wei Fu said this, he couldn’t help sighing: “The two children are still young, and they lost their mother so early, ah!”

Liu Yuan and Bai Zhu looked at each other with a solemn expression. In the past two days, they had been fighting wits and courage with the group of Goguryeo envoys, but they didn’t expect that such a thing would happen in Chang’an City.

“The servants in the Jin Mansion said they didn’t believe that Madam Jin would have any relationship with King Yu. What about King Yu’s reputation? How could a girl from a good family be related to him?” Wei Fu said, “They said they didn’t know how the rumor spread so quickly. Madam Jin would be pointed at if she just showed her face behind closed doors, not to mention going out. She must have been forced by the rumors and didn’t want to implicate Lord Jin and her two children, so she died to prove her innocence.”

It was always a pity to see a life being lost just like that.

“We have already checked it out, and the maids, servants, and old women can testify against each other, and basically rule out suspicion.” Wei Fu said, “The room was bolted from the inside, and it is not easy for just anyone to break it open. Otherwise, when they knocked on the door early in the morning, the maids and old women would not have to look for someone to help them.”

“I heard that the Jin Mansion had been robbed before. Although no valuables were lost, it still made the people living there a little worried.” Wei Fu paused, and then said, “The doors and windows of Lord Jin and Madam Jin’s room were reinforced by craftsmen. Once damaged, it would inevitably make a lot of noise, and people who sleep lightly would always hear the sound. But all night long, the yard was quiet, and there was no sign of any outsiders breaking in. At present, it seems that Madam Jin…”

At this point, Wei Fu’s voice was a little hoarse: “Madam Jin must have committed suicide.”

(End of this chapter)

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