He glanced sideways at the black dog in the courtyard who was panting for breath, and could not help but sigh. Reaching out to the nearby table, he grabbed a grape soaked in ice and put it in his mouth. That kind of cool and refreshing feeling immediately made him feel much more comfortable, and he could not help but squint, and actually began humming a little tune.
At this moment, the sound of inharmonious footsteps could be heard. Then, someone shouted: "Oh no, master, something big has happened!"
As he wiped the sweat off his face, he walked over with a bow and whispered, "Master, there are two fortune-tellers outside the door. They spoke so arrogantly, saying that the master's house is about to be destroyed, so I thought it was a big deal, so I had no choice but to report it to them.
"Bastard!" Chief Steward Chen smacked the table heavily, "Who dares to be so bold? You actually dared to curse me, could it be that you ate the heart of a bear and the guts of a leopard? "
"Master, those two are dressed as Daoists and they claim to be sharp tongued. It seems like they have their ways!" Chen Lu said.
"Oh?" Prefect Chen hesitated for a moment, "Don't tell me he has nothing better to do and wants to swindle some silver taels from me?"
"Sir, from what I've observed, they do seem to be capable!" Chen Lu scratched his head and smiled. "For example, when they saw me, they could calculate that I went to a brothel last night …"
"Oh?" Chief Steward Chen reached out to pick a grape and put it in his mouth, "Call them up. Master, I want to interrogate them myself!"
"Yes, I will arrange it immediately!" At this point, Chen Lu turned around and left in a hurry. Not long later, he brought in a pair of fortune-telling masters and disciples.
Looking over, he saw the fortune-teller dressed in a daoist robe, with his delicate features and long beard flowing down his chest, looking calm and composed, with a bit of a saint's demeanor. When he looked at his disciple again, he saw that his eyebrows were straight and his lips were painted red.
"This lowly teacher and disciple pays their respects to the Prefect!" This Daoist was Meng Chunlou in disguise. He saw Du Jiangsheng staring at the ice grapes on the Chen Prefect's table. He was afraid that he would reveal an opening, so he pulled Du Jiangsheng along to pay his respects.
Hearing the order, Chen Lu brought two chairs over and placed them behind Meng and Du. They didn't hold back and sat down.
Prefect Chen glanced at them and furrowed his brows. He waved his hand at Chen Lu, indicating for him to step down. Then, he said, "Sir, I heard from the butler that you claim to have an iron mouth, is this true?"
"My master has always been like this!" Du Jiangsheng quickly replied.
"Oh?" Prefect Chen beamed a smile, "But I do not know that Sir said that my family is on the verge of destruction, so where do you start from? If you can't give me a reasonable explanation... Do you see the dog outside the door? I'll arrange for you two to stay with it! "
Du Jiangsheng subconsciously turned his head to look and saw that the dog was panting harder and was staring at him with its round eyes. He couldn't help but shiver and say, "Old master, everything my master said is true!"
"Brat, don't interrupt. I want to hear it from your master himself!" Chief Steward Chen said with a cold expression.
Meng Chun Lou smiled and said, "May I ask Sir, does Madam have a Night Pearl that I inherited from my ancestors?"
Hearing this, the Honorable Master Chen felt a chill in his heart, but his expression did not change, and he said: "Mister, you are wrong! My wife does have an ancestral pearl in her hands, but it is not the Luminous Pearl! "
Meng Chun Lou smiled and stood up from her chair. She sighed and said, "Since the lord doesn't trust me, then I will not say anything else. Goodbye!"
Right after he finished speaking, Du Jiangsheng also stood up from his seat. As he was about to leave the room with Meng Chunlou, he heard Prefect Chen say with a smile, "Sir, why are you angry? I am only testing you, Mister. Please take a seat! "
Meng Chunlou turned and glanced at Prefect Chen before sitting back down in his chair. He said, "I heard that you made this pearl your lady's second life. If you lose it, I will definitely not let you live. Are my words true?"
"Indeed!" Chief Steward Chen picked up a grape and placed it in his mouth. He took a bite and said, "Sir, you always mention these pearls, could it be that my family's troubles are related to these pearls?"
"Lord, you have a clear understanding!" Meng Chun Lou laughed.
Chief Steward Chen rolled his eyes, then pointed to the grapes on the table and said, "These grapes are not bad, you guys can have a taste too!"
"Then forgive me for being impolite!" Du Jiangsheng had long been craving for his grapes. Before he finished speaking, his hand had already grabbed a bunch!
"How dare you!" Meng Chun Lou glared angrily at Du Jiangsheng, which scared him so much that he hurriedly put the grape back. He lowered his head in fear and didn't dare to make a sound.
When Prefect Chen saw this, he immediately smiled and said, "Sir, why are you making things difficult for a child? Come, come, come. Eat as you please. No need to be polite!"
While he was speaking, he extended his hand to Du Jiangsheng. Du Jiangsheng looked at Meng Chunlou and heard him say, "Why aren't you thanking the lord?"
Du Jiangsheng quickly expressed his thanks and then took up the grapes and stuffed three of them into his mouth. He was so happy that he made Prefect Chen smile and say, "Good, good, good! This is your true nature! "
"It's rare for you to be so amiable and amiable. This lowly one cannot win against fear, and is willing to lose ten years of his life in order to break through this heavenly calamity!" Meng Chun Lou said with a sincere cupped fist.
"Then Mister, tell me, what calamity did my pearl encounter?" Chen Prefecture asked.
"If this lowly one's deduction is correct, then within three days the master's treasure must have been stolen. By then, the madam will not want to live, and the lord may face the calamity of ruin and death!" Meng Chun said.
"Does mister have a way to break it?" Chen Prefecture asked.
"Yes!" After Meng Chun Lou said this, she hesitated and then continued, "As long as you put this bead in the meditation room of the Great Ming Temple and avoid these three days, you should protect yourself well!"
"It's that simple?" Chen Prefecture asked.
"It's that simple!" Meng Chun Lou laughed.
"Bastard!" Chief Steward Chen heavily slapped the table and coldly stared at Meng Chunlou's face. "Good, you bold lunatic. Just what kind of ambition do you have to actually be so daring to run into my house in broad daylight and try to cheat me? Do you really think I'm a three year old child? Someone come! "
As soon as he finished speaking, a dozen blade-wielding bailiffs rushed in from outside with a "hualala" sound. Prefect Chen pointed at Meng Chun Lou and sternly rebuked, "Arrest this audacious swindler!"
"Yes sir!" All of the bailiffs responded in unison. They immediately rushed forward and tied up Meng and Du. Then, they quietly waited for Prefect Chen to speak.
At this time, he heard Meng Chun Lou shouting, "Sir, we are in the wrong!"
"Unjustly accused?" Prefect Chen sneered, "You two still dare to accuse me unjustly when the time is right? Let me ask you, you asked me to put the pearl in the Temple of Great Light, but for your own convenience? Tell me honestly, are you used to stealing? "Speak!"
"Hahaha!" Meng Chunlou looked up and laughed wildly, "It is said that Residence of Chen is the most suspicious. Now that we have met today, it is as I expected! Your Excellency, this lowly one truly regrets that I did not receive any orders from others, which is why I ended up in this prison! "
Prefect Chen narrowed his eyes and sized up Meng Chun Lou, then tried asking, "Who asked you to do this? "Speak!"
"This person is your father!" Meng Chun said.
"Bastard!" Chief Steward Chen was so angry that his entire body trembled, "You actually dared to frame my father for getting rid of your crimes! Do you know that my father has been dead for many years? You scoundrel, how dare you! "
"Lord, don't ask me any questions. I'm only asking you, is your father's name Chen Zhigui?" Meng Chun Lou asked.
"Bastard!" How can you call my father by his name? Come on! Push him out and beat the thirty boards again! " Chief Steward Chen said angrily.
"Hold on!" Du Jiangsheng sternly ordered the bailiffs who were about to push Meng Chun House out, and in the blink of an eye, he looked at Chief Steward Chen, "Sir, we do not know your father's name, much less your father's. If not for him personally telling us, how would we have known? Moreover, he has already been living for many years, so it would be even harder for us to find out his name. "
Prefect Chen thought for a moment and immediately asked: "Then tell me, how did my father entrust you?"
This matter is a long story, but it is very simple. Just because the Master and disciple traveled far and wide, they made a living by relying on an iron gate, and because we passed through the precious land the day before yesterday, we had to temporarily use the mountain temple to stay at the southern part of the city because we had used up all of our resources. In the middle of the night, we both had a dream, and saw your father in the middle of the night sighing. Du Jiangsheng said.
Hearing this, Prefect Chen sneered: "Hehe, I didn't think that at your young age, you would have such a sharp tongue. With just a touch of your lips, you can come up with such a lie, but it's a pity that this official has always been bright, and has always had a pair of sharp eyes. I definitely won't be easily fooled by you, brat, just give up!"
"Humph!" Chief Steward Chen gave a disdainful smile, "Your lies are indeed flawless, but they have a huge loophole!"
"Sire, please speak!" Meng Chun said.
"I have been working in Yangzhou for 15 years, and my reputation has spread far and wide. Many people who want to curry favor with me are numerous, and naturally they are particularly concerned about my family's matters, so, even if you don't know my father, you can still learn a bit about him from others. So, you can use your understanding of him to come up with something that seems so ridiculous, right?" Chief Steward Chen said angrily.
"Seems like you wholeheartedly believe that we, master and disciple, are scammers!" Fine! Since that's the case, there's no point in speaking any further. It's up to you whether we kill him or not! It is only the day that the pearl is stolen, and the Lord must not regret it! " Meng Chunlou said coldly.
All the constables heard this and immediately pushed Meng and Dean out of the room. A person shouted from afar: "Wait a moment! Let's do it!"
When Prefect Chen heard this voice, he frowned. Just as he was about to release the anger in his chest, he saw Chen Lu running all the way in and said, "Master, the two of them are not allowed to fight!"
"The two of them are big liars, and they actually tricked me. Don't tell me that I can't beat them?" Chief Steward Chen said angrily.
"Master, there is a saying that one should rather believe it than not. If it is as they say, how can Master not regret it then? I think it would be better to let them go for now and talk about it after three days. At that time, if the precious pearl was still here, then we would punish them severely. If the precious pearl was not here, I'm afraid that the old master would have to ask them to find out the whereabouts of the pearl! " Chen Lu said.
"Reporting to the old master, how could I dare to accept their benefits? I only feel that their looks aren't ordinary and that they shouldn't be swindlers and swindlers. I hope that old master can enlighten me!" Chen Lu said.
"Forget it!" Let them go for now and think about it three days later! However, in these three days, you have to keep an eye on them. If one of them runs away, I will question you! " Chief Steward Chen said angrily.
"As you command!" After Chen Lu finished speaking, he ran out of the house and shouted at the bailiffs outside to release Meng and Du. Then, he turned to Meng Chunlou and whispered, "Sir, I've saved you this time. Can you look at my face and give me one of the immortal pills so that my Chen family can have another heir?"
Meng Chun Lou smiled calmly and said, "In three days, the Prefect will definitely send you to invite me. At that time, how about I give you another immortal pill?"
"Is it inconvenient today?" Chen Lu asked with a smile.
"To be honest, I came in a hurry today and forgot to bring it!" Meng Chun Lou laughed.
"Master, how could you lie to me? It was clearly because we didn't have the money to stay in the shop that we swapped our elixir for the elixir, so why aren't you telling the truth? " Du Jiangsheng asked.
Hearing this, Meng Chunlou felt embarrassed. He was about to explain when he saw Chen Lu pull out ten taels of silver from his sleeve and stuff it into Meng Chunlou's hand. He said, "Sir, this is the deposit!"
Meng Chonglou was slightly stunned and his eyes rolled a few times. Then, he smiled and said, "Good, good, good! I will definitely try to redeem the immortal pills! "Farewell!"
Chen Lu immediately sent him off, saying with a smile, "Please take care, Mister. If there is any news, please inform me as soon as possible!"
"Of course, of course!" Meng Chun Lou laughed.
After Chen Lu sent Meng and Du out of the mansion, he reluctantly turned back. Meng and Du walked around the corner and found a secluded place. Meng Chun Lou asked Du Jiangsheng, "How can you cheat money? That Steward Chen is a good person! "
"What's good? If it wasn't for the fact that we are of some use to him, he would be willing to give us 10 silver? " Du Jiangsheng laughed.
"Then what about the elixir?" Where can we find him immortal pills? " Meng Chun Lou said with a bitter face.
"Spring medicine can make immortal pills?" Meng Chun Lou asked in surprise.
"Why not? Housekeeper Chen's wife was incredibly ugly. If he didn't take the aphrodisiac, how could he share the same room as his wife? As long as we are in the same room, what's there to be afraid of? " Du Jiangsheng laughed.
"I can't believe you know so much!" Meng Chun Lou laughed.
"I heard that the teacher in charge of the book said it. What he said shouldn't be wrong!" Du Jiangsheng seriously replied.
"Then what should we do next? Do we really have to meet Li Chunfu? " Meng Chun Lou asked.
"Of course! "Everything has to be done according to plan!" Du Jiangsheng smiled mysteriously.