Young Master Yang, who was being “escorted” in shackles along with his mother, seemed somewhat better than his mother’s tantrums. However, it was only “somewhat better” on the surface. Compared to his mother’s unreasonable and shameless behavior, the young master, while seemingly cooperative, was constantly devising countermeasures.

While his mother was an openly shameless woman, the young master was far more difficult to deal with! The constables, who had dealt with them several times, were well aware of this and remained vigilant towards this seemingly “reasonable” young master who even helped “persuade” his mother. The mother’s tantrum coincided with Young Lady Chang’s outburst, and she was immediately shocked! After exclaiming in surprise, she instinctively looked at her son, the young master of the Yang family!

Unexpectedly, her usually “composed” son looked even more pale than herself! Looking at Chang Xiaoniangzi standing there, Young Master Yang turned ashen-faced and blurted out in shock, “You…you’re not dead?”

She had run out to see what was going on, but bumped into the mother and son! Young Lady Chang, who had been in a relatively good mood, saw the mother and son looking at her with increasingly grim expressions, as if she were already dead, and her mood instantly soured. Instinctively, she retorted sharply, “You and your mother are not dead, so how could I be dead?”

The young lady’s sharp, angry voice startled Young Master Yang. When he came to his senses, he looked at Young Lady Chang standing there: there was a shadow at her feet—she was alive!

But…that didn’t seem right! Young Lady Chang had clearly been sent to serve the master of Linliu Manor, and had been buried alive. She should have died long ago. How could she be here?

If Lady Chang hadn’t died… Thinking of everything arranged by the Dali Temple, Young Master Yang was already panicking: these Dali Temple officials probably already knew the secret behind these people’s forced suicide. How much did they know? What should he do to save his life?

His mind was in chaos, and Young Master Yang was too lazy to care about Lady Chang anymore. He was so dazed that he missed a step on the corridor steps and fell down.

…

A scream came from outside. Ah Bing, who was eating Sān Zhī Mèn Guō, looked up, spat out the chicken wing bone in his mouth, and looked at everyone, saying, “I…I think I heard Lady Chang’s voice!”

Tangyuan, who was biting into a pork meatball, nodded and said, “It’s Lady Chang’s voice. Her voice is the sharpest, and it sounds a little shrill!”

So, what exactly happened to Lady Chang?

The answer was given to the kitchen staff after they finished their evening meal.

“The Yang family mother and son have been brought to the Dali Temple. Who knew something could go wrong at a time like this?” said several constables who had been busy for a while. “The man surnamed Yang was taken to the long corridor. When he saw Miss Chang, he acted as if he had seen a ghost. He even missed a step! The two constables who were escorting him had been busy all afternoon and were exhausted. They couldn’t hold him back…” The constables shook their heads as they spoke. “They had to call a doctor and all that. They were really busy!”

“How is Young Master Yang now?” Wen Mingtang asked the two constables as he brought over the ginger soup.

The constable took the ginger soup, thanked Wen Mingtang, and took a sip. The sweet and spicy flavor made his tongue tingle. He said, “He won’t die! But he hit his head and bled a lot. It’s hard to say how he will fare!”

He shook his head, looked around, and, seeing no one was around, whispered to Wen Mingtang, “Tangyuan and Ah Bing aren’t here. Master Wen, you’re tight-lipped, so I’ll tell you quietly!”

Tangyuan, A-Bing, and Ji Caimai didn’t live in the Dali Temple; they had already left after dinner. Now, only Wen Mingtang remained in the kitchen.

Wen Mingtang nodded and looked at the constable, saying, “Don’t worry, I understand, I won’t say anything wrong.”

The constable then said, “When Liu Sicheng came over, his face was very pale, and he kept muttering, ‘What should I do?’ This Young Master Yang is said to know quite a few secrets. If his head is really damaged, I’m afraid this case will be difficult to solve!”

Upon hearing this, Wen Mingtang thought for a moment and asked, “What did the doctor say?”

The constable said, “The doctor said that since it’s a head injury, it’s hard to say anything! Perhaps he’ll be fine after waking up, or perhaps he’ll be stupid or won’t remember anything. The most troublesome thing is probably…” The constable didn’t finish his sentence, but Wen Mingtang understood.   

“Even the best doctor can’t cure a fool who’s pretending to be stupid!” Wen Mingtang thought for a moment and said, “The worst thing is that this scoundrel surnamed Yang is using this opportunity to play dumb!”

The constable nodded: “That’s what Liu Sicheng and the others said, too!” After a pause, before Wen Mingtang could speak, he added, “Lin Shaoqing and his men have already set off!”

They had been in the Dali Temple for many years and had dealt with countless powerful figures involved in cases: if the other party insisted that they knew nothing and that their subordinates had acted on their own, pushing one or two confidants out to take the blame, without evidence, there was really nothing that could be done to them!

Who would have thought that the case would progress to this point? This scoundrel surnamed Yang had become the key to solving the case! The constable sighed!

Wen Mingtang understood! After thinking for a moment, he asked the constable, “What did Lin Shaoqing say?”

The constable said, “Lin Shaoqing said that the other party wanted to sacrifice the pawn to save the king, so let’s arrest the pawn first, break their arms and legs, and prevent them from continuing to harm people! As for the king, we’ll figure out a way later!”

Wen Mingtang nodded and turned to leave.

The constable finished his bowl of ginger soup, rubbed his stomach, thought for a moment, and earnestly suggested, “Master Wen, I think you should suggest to Ji Caimai that we could also start a late-night snack business at the Dali Temple!”

Sometimes he was really hungry after working until midnight, not because the snacks weren’t good, but because there was something to eat at this time of night!

Just like at mealtimes, no matter how delicious the snacks were, they couldn’t replace the three meals!

There was something to eat for late-night snacks too!

Actually, Master Wen had made late-night snacks before, but she stopped after the takeout stalls started. The constable felt a little regretful when he thought of this!

Wen Mingtang glanced at the constable’s disappointed face, smiled, yawned, and said, “You’ll have to ask Ji Caimai. If you give us more suggestions, maybe he will take them!”

But for now, she needs to go back to her lodgings to rest!

It was still early, and after washing up, she could flip through some storybooks and read half of one before going to sleep. She was on a crucial part of the storybook she borrowed from Liu Yuan last night, so she could use this time to finish it.

Wen Mingtang’s schedule for tonight was well arranged. After washing up and drying her hair, just as she was about to climb into bed to read the storybook, Wen Mingtang’s nose twitched. As a cook, her sense of smell is always more acute than that of others. A sour and spicy aroma seemed to be wafting in from outside!

This smell… Before Wen Mingtang could react, she heard Lin Fei’s voice coming from outside the courtyard.

“Master Wen, are you asleep?”

The voice wasn’t loud, as if he had just casually come over to ask, and would leave if there was no response.

Smelling the sour and spicy aroma, Wen Mingtang quickly replied, “Not asleep!”

How could she sleep with such delicious food in front of her?

Author’s Note: Happy New Year!

(End of this chapter)

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