C5

Chapter V

If a stepmother were to give an adult stepson a concubine, no one would be able to feel comfortable.

Seeing the wife, Xu Chu sighed again. She could not help but follow and sigh: "Then that's a pity, it's said that good wives are hard to find, there are not many people as virtuous wives as Young Mistress."

By the time he left the Qian House, it was already in the middle of the night. On the dark street, the Qian Family's murder case had long since left the place. A customer walking on the bridgehead stall saw the Qian House hanging lanterns not far away, so he left in a hurry, afraid he would be affected by the bad luck.

It was taboo to face the ghosts and people of the dead.

Carrying the Toolbox on his back, Xu Chu slowly walked over to the noodle stall. After working for an entire day, he was truly hungry. Looking around, apart from the tavern and restaurant that was already closed and she might not even be willing to eat, only the noodle stall in front of her was enough to fill her stomach.

But before she could sit still, she saw King Jing'an walking over. The night wind was blowing, blowing the only broken lantern on the noodle stall, causing it to sway back and forth. Even so, it was unable to conceal the dirt and oil stains on the table.

Xu Chu also didn't understand why she felt that the King Jing'an that walked in from the darkness was so handsome. It was probably because of that pair of pitch black, deep eyes that left such a deep impression on her that even with the cover of night, she couldn't help but feel a sense of oppression. However, thinking about how she didn't commit adultery and didn't ask for his help, there was really no need to be apprehensive.

It was only when the King Jing'an sat down on the bench opposite her that the light in her hands trembled due to the fact that the sun and moon were shining brightly in the sky. This... Should I or should I not?

She secretly calculated in her heart, and quietly touched her empty pocket, and finally put down her chopsticks while enduring the pain. Then, she pushed the hot evening food in front of King Jing'an, "Today, I borrowed the prince's bodyguard to help me with my gratitude. This bowl of noodles tastes extremely good, so I'll treat it as my gratitude."

Forget about his outstanding charm, even the small oily noodle stall that was filled with haughty King Jing'an, just the solemn expression of Wei Guang, who had followed closely behind him, had already cracked. No matter what, he was still a first tier guard of the King. In terms of grade, even a middle tier official would bow in respect. How could a small Cang Yan County City become the value of a bowl of noodles?

King Jing'an Xiao Qinglang's long and narrow eyes looked at the bowl of still emitting heat from the noodles before glancing at Xu Chu who had a painful expression on her face. She actually received the pair of pitch-black chopsticks.

"Then I won't be disrespectful." Xiao Qinglang's handsome brows twitched, as though the expressionless person in front of him was not him, but his thin lips remained calm as he directly took a bite, and then replied back, "The noodles are smooth and sour at the same time, the noodles are white and fine, the soup is clear and fragrant, it's really good taste..."

Her slender white fingers were like jade, half-buckling on top of the blue and white porcelain bowl, almost as if they were made of porcelain. Adding on to the description of the person, Xu Chu felt even hungrier when he looked at her. Under the dim lanterns, a handsome man who looked like Pan An was eating noodles gracefully. From time to time, he would intentionally praise her and lament. On the other hand, a woman with a famine on her face was staring intently at him … He swallowed his saliva as he looked at the bowl that was getting smaller and smaller.

As for Wei Guang, who was secretly guarding, his expression also changed, before he could even react, he almost pulled out his blade. After all, ever since the prince had taken charge of the world's prison of death, he had been assaulted with countless assassinations and poisons. And right now, it was just an invitation from a strange woman, how could the king be so careless as to accept it?

Xu Chu's stomach was churning quite heavily, but although Xiao Qinglang was eating well and talking non-stop, the speed at which he was eating was extremely fast. Before he even had the chance to imagine the warmth of the noodles, she realized that the man had finished all the soup.

After finishing the meal, Xu Chu paid money. Because her stomach was still flat, in the end, she still cruelly asked for a sesame seed cake. She had only brought a few dozen copper coins with him when she arrived. If she didn't pay a bit of attention to the situation, she would probably sleep on the streets for the next few days in order to solve the crime.

"Since This King has already eaten your noodles, I can't be too stingy." Saying that, Xiao Qinglang took out an order badge from his bosom and threw it at Xu Chu, "This is the order badge for the Ministry of Justice to handle cases. With this order badge, you can temporarily handle cases in the name of a official in the Ministry of Justice. If you do it well, This King will reward you. "

A mouthful of sesame seed cake choked his throat, and when Xu Chu could barely breath after patting his chest, he saw that King Jing'an had already left with his sharp eyes. She stood on the spot, silently beating her chest and stomping her feet in frustration. Just for the sake of fifty silver taels, just what sort of trouble had she gotten herself into?

But no matter how she thought about it, she didn't have any other choice. Since she had already investigated it, could it be that she would have to give up halfway?

With this thought in mind, she no longer hesitated and directly called for the stall owner to serve her another bowl of steaming hot and fragrant noodles. Since there was the Board of Justice's sign, she could live in the inn for free. That would mean a bit more money for the meal.

Perhaps it was because the night was too deep, and the surroundings became even darker. When the wind blew, even the lanterns were about to be extinguished. Xu Chu shuddered, and turned her head to talk with the stall owner, and the words that were said were naturally the Qian Family's gossip.

"You said the Qian Family's new mistress, I think the Master Qian brought her back from the capital. However, no one knows which family she came from." The stall owner rubbed his face and said with a voice full of mystery, "I heard that his wife and the young master of the Qian family are old acquaintances. She said that she married an old man for the sake of the Young Master Qian, otherwise, what kind of good young man would that beautiful woman be unable to find?"

"Sigh, that's quite strange. I heard that the Young Lady Qian and her stepwife are rather close, and they even frequently go out together?"

"Who knows? The high gate compound is in chaos, how could we commoners even think of that?"

Just as they were talking, they heard the husband knocking on the door and saw a figure sneakily walking towards the Qian family. The figure paused for a while, then quickly disappeared from the vicinity of the Qian House. A quarter of an hour later, the figure frantically ran out again, and at this moment, it was obvious that there was something hidden in his arms …

When it finally arrived, it was no waste for her to spend most of the night gnawing on the cold sesame seed cake. Seeing the mouse, Xu Chu did not waste anymore time. She only spoke for a short while, and coincidentally, the stall owner was about to close her stall. She then finished the last few mouthfuls of broth, and carried the case towards the relay station. Although the Great Zhou Dynasty had a curfew, it was still located in the capital and Shang Jing. For the rest of the places, if they met a majority of the night watchmen, they would still be husband people.

Arriving at the inn, the servant saw that the Board of Justice's order badge did not dare to be careless, and immediately found a clean and spacious room to settle Xu Chu down.

In the next few days, the Qian Family was in a really bad mood. One of them was the Zhang Clan who was eyeing them covetously, and he had even directly cut off all business dealings with the Qian Clan. Secondly, his wife's corpse could not be buried so far, which caused everyone to be terrified.

As the saying goes, a person's heart is divided. Wasn't this the sentence that the Qian House responded to? Even the servants couldn't help guessing at each other's identity as to who had killed the young mistress. Meanwhile, Wen Wanyuan was even more forbidden, and no one dared to approach it.

In the past few days, Xu Chu did not linger, because she heard from the Qian Clan Old Woman that the Young Lady Qian had never given birth to a child, and that after that, the Young Lady Qian did not have any thoughts of taking in a concubine or taking care of an outer room. Xu Chu felt that the Young Master Qian was strange. If she was really infatuated, why would she suddenly use business as a reason to leave the Young Lady Qian behind? But if he did not sincerely propose marriage, and the Young Lady Qian repeatedly asked him to give the servant girls face, why would he not agree?

As she pondered over the details, she walked towards the Changchun Hall. I heard that most of the Qian Family's doctors are from the Changchun Hall, and the regular doctor hired by the Zhang Family is also from this hospital, so it would be suitable to see the Young Lady Qian's background here.

Changchun Hall could be considered famous in the outside world as well. Their decades of fame and reputation had caused many people to seek help from their superiors. Therefore, when Xu Chu arrived, there were already many people lined up at the infirmary waiting for a doctor.

Although she was an outsider from the Ministry of Justice, in such a small place like Cang Yan County City, it was still quite useful to scare people off. When the young lad from the infirmary saw the sign that said Ministry of Justice, he instantly revealed a terrified and respectful expression. Even Xu Chu had unknowingly bent his waist when he entered the infirmary.