Seeing that Zhao You and others who were originally called to help suddenly appeared and blocked his way, Jingzhao FǔyǐnFǔyǐn was an official title during imperial China, often translated as “Prefect” or “Governor”looked at Lin Fei and others in confusion: “Shaoqing Lin?”

Lin Fei looked at Jingzhao Fǔyǐn and said, “It’s hard to say whether he did it or not!”

Jingzhao Fǔyǐn, upon hearing this, cast a disdainful glance at the young gentleman who had been startled by the suddenly arriving officer and snorted, ‘What a coincidence! The matter of the young lady’s disappearance did not occur early or late but happened just after he arrived in Chang’an!”

“This man has such a rude attitude, he keeps shouting about killing and gouging out people’s eyes,” Jingzhao Fǔyǐn did not forget to glance at Wen Mingtang and others, and then said, “How could he not do such a thing as arresting some young ladies and asking them to beg for his sick sister’s life?”

Given this person’s performance just now, not only did Jingzhao Fǔyǐn feel this way, but even the officers, Wen Mingtang, and others felt that this young man was capable of doing such a thing.

It was just… being able to do it was one thing, but whether he did it or not depended on the evidence.

The panicked young man no longer had the arrogance he had when facing Wen Mingtang and others. He was extremely afraid of Jingzhao Fǔyǐn who was about to “convict” him. He looked at Lin Fei anxiously: “What the lord said is true. How can you convict someone without evidence?”

This was Chang’an City, not Jiangling. Even if he was a tyrant in Jiangling, when he came to Chang’an City, not to mention one Yuan family, even if there were ten or a hundred of them, he had to follow the rules.

If he was really accused of this crime, not only would he not be able to leave Chang’an City, but he may even be thrown into prison and lose his head.

Seeing the young man looking at Lin Fei eagerly, Jingzhao Fǔyǐn snorted coldly and said to Lin Fei: “Lin Shaoqing, if you hand this arrogant and domineering person over to us in Jingzhao Prefecture, no matter how hard he talks, he will immediately confess the whereabouts of those young ladies!”

The young man almost fainted after hearing this: What did “no matter how stubborn he is” mean? Were they going to torture him?

Let alone being tortured, he had never even been hit from childhood to adulthood—he was always the one hitting others. And now, was he going to skip the beating and go straight to punishment?

The young man was frightened and broke into a cold sweat. At this time, he heard the sick Xishi A’mei beside him say, “Is this Shaoqing Lin the Shaoqing of the Dali Temple?”

Even though ordinary people may not be familiar with all the official positions in Darong’s various ministries, there were not many who could be called “Shaoqing”. Moreover, if it was a case, apart from Jingzhao Prefecture, only Dali Temple would take it, and Dali Temple had a “Shaoqing”.

Although he had never deliberately inquired about it, he had heard that the current Shaoqing of the Dali Temple was ruthless and had an outstanding appearance.

Looking at the face under the lamp not far away, which had both the elegance of a scholar and the majesty of a powerful official, the four words “outstanding appearance” were really the most suitable for this person.

Lin Fei looked at her with a calm gaze.

Sick Xishi glanced at her irritable brother beside her, winked at him, and said quickly: “My brother is just a little outspoken, he really wouldn’t do such a thing. Although we have only been in Chang’an for a short time, I heard that the Shaoqing of the Dali Temple is very good at solving cases, and he will definitely not wrongly accuse others. If my brother is really involved in the case, we are willing to cooperate with you to find out the truth!”

This reminded the young master, and he looked at Lin Fei and said, “Yuan is willing to cooperate with you, sir, and take the initiative to go to the Dali Temple to seek justice!”

Seeing the Yuan family members who took the initiative to ask to go to the Dali Temple, Jingzhao Fǔyǐn showed displeasure on his face. He stared at the group of people coldly and snorted: “What? Do you still want to fight like a trapped beast? Do you really think that your little tricks can be hidden from Lin Shaoqing? I think you will not cry until you see the coffin…”

Before he could finish his words, he heard Lin Fei cough lightly.

This light cough successfully shut up Jingzhao Fǔyǐn who was humming. He turned his head and looked at Lin Fei: “Shaoqing Lin…”

Lin Fei said: “Since they want the Dali Temple to take over, let’s grant their wish!” Then he called out “Zhao You” and asked the servants beside him to take the Yuan family away.

Seeing that the Yuan family was about to leave, Jingzhao Fǔyǐn had a look of reluctance on his face and glared at them fiercely. The young man was shocked again and hurriedly followed Zhao You and others and fled.

After Zhao You and his party led the Yuan family away, Jingzhao Fǔyǐn who was straightforward to the point of being “careless” just now seemed to have changed into a different person. He looked at Lin Fei, raised his hand, and arched towards him, concealing his superficial expression, and said: “This case will be handed over to the Dali Temple!”

With so many young ladies missing, and the other party being able to kidnap them quietly under the noses of so many police officers, this must have been a very careful plan. So it was obvious at a glance that this case was not going to be simple.

Lin Fei nodded in agreement.

After Jingzhao Fǔyǐn and his men left, Tanyuan couldn’t couldn’t help but say, “That official just now… really didn’t show any flaws at all!”

To the point that they actually believed that Jingzhao Fǔyǐn was such a careless person!

However, the young man was really good at bullying the weak and fearing the strong. After being frightened like this, he decided to come to the Dali Temple on his own.

The officers around him took the Yuan family away. Lin Fei, who was left alone, turned to look at Wen Mingtang and the others and asked, “Just now I saw you looking at the lanterns in the Qiandeng Shop?”

Tangyuan hummed in agreement, glancing at the intricate lanterns displayed not far away, and said to Lin Fei, “Look at those who seem eager to gouge out eyes, they seem to really disdain these lanterns!”

“Rivals in the same trade, it would be strange if they actually liked the lanterns from Qian Lantern Shop,” Lin Fei said. He paused as he met the gaze of three faces all looking at him, then continued, “The Yuan family of Jiangling also started their business with lanterns. Decades ago, they were as renowned as Qian Lantern Shop. The Yuan family and the Qi family, who own Qian Lantern Shop, were once on good terms and even had several marriage alliances between their families.”

Lin Fei spoke slowly and clearly.

“But later on, the Yuan family’s business became worse and worse than the Qiandeng Shop. As the Yuan family’s business was worse than the Qiandeng Shop, customers naturally went to the Qiandeng Shop instead of the Yuan family’s lantern shop. As a result, the Yuan family’s lantern shop could no longer operate, and the two families turned into enemies. Countless conflicts arose, and the friendship they had in their early years was completely wasted. Ten years ago, the two families canceled the marriages that had been arranged for their children in the early years, and have not had any contact since then.”

With such a past, it would be strange if the young master of the Yuan family could say anything good when seeing these lanterns!

Everyone said “Oh”, Wen Mingtang thought for a moment and asked Lin Fei: “Now that the Yuan family has lost its lantern shop, what business have they started?”

Since he was so arrogant and was still a local bully, it was obvious that the Yuan family’s prosperity had not declined.

(End of this chapter)

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