Chapter 41.1

The Mantis Stalking The Cicada (12)

It has been two days since the dramatic moment in the rain that night.

Lu Zhi Yao did not come to the Zheng residence once in these two days. Li Ruo Shui went to the inn and teahouse but did not find him.

Knowing that he was hiding from her, Li Ruo Shui could only set this problem aside and wait until she finished her work at the Zheng residence to solve it.

Although there was no progress with Lu Zhi Yao, Lu Fei Yue and Jiang Nian found a clue from the Cangzhou Inspection Department.

The warrant that told Lu Fei Yue to stop the investigation was a fake, and someone in the case patrol division was colluding with the Zheng residence. Not only that, but it seemed to be connected to the previous abduction case in Cloud City.

“…… So you guys came to me to get my help in investigating together?” Li Ruo Shui looked at the duo in the courtyard and hesitated for a moment before asking.

She hadn’t read about this episode in the script, so she probably wouldn’t be of much help by following along.

Lu Fei Yue felt a little embarrassed and opened her mouth several times but couldn’t get any words out.

Jiang Nian looked at her, sighed, and stood in front of Li Ruo Shui. “We have already found the place where they hid the letters, but we don’t want to alert the enemies. We just want to get the things at once… so we want to find Zhi Yao to be a safeguard.”

Li Ruo Shui pursed the corners of her lips and smiled somewhat helplessly. “I haven’t seen him for the past few days.”

“Are you guys okay?” Lu Fei Yue walked up with an apologetic expression on her face and asked, “Is it because of the substitute marriage to Zheng Yan Qing?”

“No.” Li Ruo Shui waved her hand, then paused for a moment before adding, “Probably not.”

Seeing Lu Fei Yue secretly biting her lip, seemingly about to fall into self-reproach, Jiang Nian immediately changed the subject. “We’ve only seen him once in the past two days, and it was already very late at that time. He said that he had just completed the bounty order.”

Jiang Nian rubbed his chin and had admiration in his eyes when he commented, “I asked him. It’s only been two days, but Zhi Yao has already done half of the tasks that were piled up. As expected of him.”

Li Ruo Shui: “……”

No wonder I couldn’t find him. He went to vent.

Jiang Nian nudged her with his elbow and asked in a low voice, “What happened to you guys?”

In his opinion, Li Ruo Shui and Lu Zhi Yao were a very good match. Both of them were equally gentle and non-temperamental, and neither of them was bad at expressing themselves, so they shouldn’t have any misunderstanding.

“If there’s any issue, it’s probably jealousy.” Li Ruo Shui sighed. When she spoke, she was not embarrassed but sounded disappointed.

Although she didn’t know when he realized she liked him, it was surprising that his first reaction after misunderstanding that she didn’t like him last night was to breathe a sigh of relief.

This sigh he let out wasn’t a strong attack, but it was a strong blow to her core.

If it wasn’t for the tense atmosphere at that time, Li Ruo Shui would have grabbed his lapel and yelled, “Why?! If you think it’s a burden, why are you acting like you’re jealous!?”

The premise of the strategy was to not let him disdain her proximity, and if her feelings would turn into a burden for him, then there was a high probability that the strategy was going to fail.

Perhaps it is true that normal people do not understand the heart of a psycho.

Looking at Li Ruo Shui’s despondent appearance, Lu Fei Yue and Jiang Nian didn’t know how to comfort her.

“Tomorrow. Tomorrow, I’ll go look for him, and when I find him, we’ll go together.” Li Ruo Shui sighed and patted them on the shoulder, “Leave it to me, I also want things here to end quickly.”

Lu Fei Yue and Jiang Nian left somewhat guiltily. Meanwhile, Zheng Yan Qing entered in high spirits.

The wound on his right arm was treated by Li Ruo Shui. Although the bandage was wrapped crookedly and very much out of shape, he looked happy.

He asked, “Ruo Shui, did Mr. Lu come today?”

After Zheng Yan Qing’s “act of bravery” that night, he suddenly developed a fantasy that he wanted to protect her from Lu Zhi Yao. He often swung a stick around.

His confidence was unbelievable when Zheng Yan Qing couldn’t even beat her.

“He won’t do anything to me, but you’d better pray you don’t run into him when you go out,” Li Ruo Shui remarked.

She didn’t know if Lu Zhi Yao would do anything to her, but she knew that if Lu Zhi Yao had a hit list, Zheng Yan Qing would be at the top.

Li Ruo Shui had the intention of ending the matters at the Zheng residence, so she headed for the medicine room without much verbal exchange with Zheng Yan Qing.

After hinting at her ability to cure illnesses last time, she would have to let those rumors resurface again. But this time, she wouldn’t be just misguiding them and would have to say it outright.

“Young Mistress.”

The round-faced maid in the medicine room was a bit surprised to see her, “Are you here this time to get medicine for the Second Young Master again?”

The medicine room was still filled with both men and women. Some were stoking the fire, some were pounding the medicine, and some were transporting the herbs. Many of them glanced over when they saw Li Ruo Shui.

“No.” Li Ruo Shui walked over to the medicine stove again and looked at it, “I’m here this time to tell you in advance that from now on Zheng Yan Qing will drink the medicine once every week, so you don’t need to make today’s.”

The round-faced maid looked troubled. “Do you have the doctor’s letter?”

Of course not. The last one was only finally written by the doctor after she pestered him for a long time.

“It’s in my room. I forgot to bring it.” Li Ruo Shui glanced at everyone and smiled naturally.

“There was a rumor in the mansion earlier that I would cure Second Young Master’s illness. I don’t know where it started, but the rumor was only half true. I don’t know how to cure diseases, but I do have an elixir.”

Li Ruo Shui deliberately stopped there and waited to be asked.

“What elixir?” The round-faced maid put down her pestle and looked at Li Ruo Shui curiously.

“Root Salamander Pill.” Li Ruo Shui put her hands behind her back and began to reminisce about the past. “My ancestor once caught a giant salamander and accidentally discovered that the pills made from its skin could cure numerous poisons, so he made some. Luckily, I still have some left after generations of inheritance.”

The round-faced maid frowned and looked somewhat skeptical. “Can a giant salamander be used to cure diseases?”

“I also find it absurd.” Li Ruo Shui nodded approvingly and raised her voice. “But the world is too big, and there’s too much we don’t understand. Then, I gave Yan Qing one as a trial, and he got a lot better. Not only did he stop coughing, but not long ago he wrote half a book of ‘On State Policy’ in one breath.”

The maid who was sorting herbs seemed to remember something and said, “I saw that Second Young Master only coughed occasionally, and yesterday I saw him running all over the yard with a stick in his hand. He was not panting at all and seemed very happy.”

The boy grinding the herbs nodded. “The day before yesterday, Second Young Master walked outside with a torn book. It was as if he had written that book himself, he looked heartbroken.”

The suspicion in the round-faced maid’s heart dispelled a bit. She justified herself based on the fact that Zheng Yan Qing had indeed gotten quite a bit better.

Then, she said, “It’s probably because we really don’t know much about medicine. Second Young Mistress, what does this medicinal pill look like? Can you let us see it?”

They took the bait. Li Ruo Shui thought.

But she answered, “It’s yellow and has a pungent odor. There’s not much left, so I won’t show everyone.”

Since her purpose was achieved, Li Ruo Shui walked to the door and suddenly remembered something, so she reminded them, “By the way, Zheng Yan Qing and I will be going out. I don’t know when I’ll send the doctor’s letter over, so you can keep preparing the medicine if you think it’s inappropriate to stop abruptly.”

The round-faced maid relaxed and gave Li Ruo Shui a grateful smile. “Thank you for your understanding, Young Mistress.”

“You’re welcome.”

On the contrary, Li Ruo Shui had to thank this maid for playing along to her scheme so well.

Since she had cast the bait, all that’s left to do is to wait for the fish to take it.

Li Ruo Shui rushed back to the East Court and brought Zheng Yan Qing to hide behind the bed while waiting for the proverbial fish to take the bait.