After Yan Shu finished speaking with Zhong Li, he looked at Li Changtian, only to see him staring at him in shock.
"Huh? What?" Yan Shu asked.
"It's okay, it's okay." Li Changtian looked away in a panic, hiding his surprise.
"Where is Mr. Shen?" Yan Shu looked around, but saw no one.
"It's too late, he's gone back to the mansion." Li Changtian supported the carved wooden armrests of the soft couch, and stood up with some difficulty, "Where are we going now?"
"Go to see Fangzhu." Yan Shu replied.
"good."
-
Zhong Li led the two of them out of the Moon Pavilion and into the Qinglu Pavilion.
Yan Shu slightly raised his eyebrows, and the thoughts in his heart gradually became clear.
There was still only a gold-lacquered and vermilion stage on the first floor of Qinglu Pavilion, and the light was dim. Zhong Li and the two wanted to go upstairs, but they were stopped.
It was a girl carrying a carved wooden lantern and dressed in plain brocade clothes. The girl saluted the three of them, and then looked at Zhong Li with a smile: "Master of the Moon Pavilion, the owner of the workshop said to follow the rules."
Zhongli: "But..."
"It's okay." Yan Shu interrupted lightly, "Just follow the rules."
Zhongli had no choice but to say: "Lord Yan, since that's the case, we can't accompany you up."
"Okay." Yan Shu responded, he turned his head to look at Li Changtian and said, "Thank you for waiting for me a little longer."
"No hard work!" Li Changtian responded repeatedly, "Go! I'll wait for you right here!"
Yan Shu's eyes were soft, he nodded, got up and followed the girl upstairs.
The girl brought Yan Shu to a wing room on the second floor of Qinglu Pavilion. She raised her hand and knocked on the door lightly three times, and then opened the door: "My lord, our master is inside, I will leave first."
After the girl finished speaking, she saluted and left with a lantern.
Without hesitation, Yan Shu raised her leg and walked in.
It is still full of treasures and fragrant mist.
The Pavilion Master of Qinglu Pavilion sat beside the sapphire coffee table, eyes closed, and made tea in a small red stove. She didn't raise her head, but said, "My lord, we meet again."
"Master." Yan Shu clasped his fists in salute.
"My lord, please sit down." Shi Huanian made a gesture of invitation.
Yan Shu didn't sit down, he stood like a pine, with stern eyes, reached out his hand and took out the gold-plated jade plaque with the words 'Inspector' on his waist, and then held it up.
He looked at Shi Huanian, and said solemnly: "Dali Temple, Inspector, Yan Shu, regarding the case of the disappearance of Master Xu Yixian, Minister of the Ministry of War, and the disappearance of 100,000 disaster relief silver, please answer me a few questions."
Shi Huanian paused, gently lifted the tea-making utensil, and poured the boiling tea into the jade cup in front of him: "Master Yan, this is tea boiled with Kunlun snow water, it would be a pity if you don't try it ?”
"Master Xu Yixian, has the owner met recently? Please answer me truthfully, and don't hide anything." Yan Shu spoke harshly, and his words were sonorous, and he didn't intend to talk too much with Shi Huanian.
Shi Huanian smiled, and raised his head to look at Yan Shu: "Master Yan, are all the soldiers of the Tian family like you? When it comes to business, they are all serious, and there is no need to make jokes."
While speaking, she picked up the jade cup, took a sip of tea, and then continued: "I have indeed met that Mr. Xu you mentioned, but it was already a month ago."
"A month ago?" Yan Shu put away his waist badge and frowned slightly, "Why did Lord Xu look for you? Is there someone with you? Do you know the whereabouts of the one hundred thousand taels of silver for disaster relief?"
"Master Yan has so many questions. Why did Master Xu find me? Naturally, it is because I am a gentle town, and I come here to find a little comfort." Shi Huanian pretended to be dissatisfied, but it was really a joke. She put down the jade cup and looked up. Xiang Yanshu's expression gradually became serious, "Master Xu came to me alone, and he said he hoped to stay with me for a while, so I kept him. As for the one hundred thousand taels of silver, I have never seen it, nor have I seen it. I don’t know what’s going on, but when Master Xu came to look for me, he did bring a box, a wooden box about ten inches long, does Master Yan want to know what’s inside?”
"What is it?" Yan Shu asked with a frown.
Shi Huanian blinked, and said: "During the time Mr. Xu came to live here temporarily, he held the box every day, couldn't sleep well or eat, kept talking nonsense, which made people suspicious, so one day I While he was asleep, he quietly opened the box, but who knew that there was..."
"It's a skull, a black skull with a faint stench."
Yan Shu's eyes widened slightly, revealing a look of astonishment.
Shi Huanian lowered his eyes, took another sip of tea, and said, "After I found out, I drove him away because I was too scared."
"Driven away? You drove Master Xu out of Jinsefang?" Yan Shu repeated slowly, "Then where did Master Xu go?"
Shi Huanian shook her head: "I don't know. After all, I'm just a singing and dancing girl in Jinsefang. I just want to settle down and live, and I don't want to cause trouble."
Yan Shu stared at Shi Huanian with probing eyes.
Shi Huanian was not afraid at all, and said: "What? Master Yan doesn't believe me? Could it be that he wants to tie me to the capital and interrogate me in Dali Temple?"
"How long have Master Xu known each other?" Yan Shu ignored Shi Huanian's question.
"..." Shi Huanian hesitated for a moment, and finally said: "Seven years."
"Two years ago, a high-ranking official came to Baidi City to investigate the corruption case of the magistrate's mansion, but Mr. Xu?" Yan Shu asked more and more pressingly.
"I don't know what kind of corruption case it is." Shi Huanian's tone was a little impatient.
"The owner of the workshop once said that your favorite play is about the story of a singer who falls in love with a high-ranking official, and the two fall in love." Yan Shu was aggressive, "I wonder if the owner of the workshop has sung this play himself?"
"So what if I've sung it?" Shi Huanian sneered, "In the end, it's not that I can't afford it. I abandoned me and went back to the capital. After all, I'm just a passer-by. I can't keep it, so naturally I have to chase it away."
After finishing their sentence, both of them fell silent.
After a long time, Yan Shu clasped his fists: "Thank you Fangzhu, I believe Fangzhu, but if Fangzhu conceals something, don't blame Yan for being ruthless when we meet again in the future."
After finishing speaking, Yan Shu saluted solemnly, then turned and left.
The room fell silent, only the sound of the stove making tea. Shi Huanian got up to close the door. The moment the door of the room was closed, she suddenly softened and held on to the door frame with lingering fear.
Shi Huanian came to the Central Plains from Beidi, and met all kinds of people. As the owner of Jinsefang, she also experienced many storms.
But it was the first time she had seen someone as cold and majestic as Yan Shu.
Suddenly someone stretched out his hand and supported the Fangzhu.
It was a man in a gray cotton robe, he gently embraced Shi Huanian, and said with a smile: "Abandoned you and returned to the capital? Isn't Madam reluctant to return to the capital with me for seven years? "
Shi Huanian showed panic: "That inspector may not have gone far."
"It's nothing, he's already gone downstairs, if he comes back, I'll notice it." Xu Yixian said, "Actually, I'm thinking, how about meeting this Master Yan..."
"No!" Shi Huanian covered Xu Yixian's mouth, "If the inspector can't help but say that he wants to take you back to the capital, what should we do? Now that the thirty-three Jinyi guards are dead, you can't argue with your own words. It's in the mouth of a tiger! I'm afraid that those people hiding in the dark will chew until there's not even a bone left!"
"Hey..." Xu Yixian sighed, "It's not an option to hide like this. Han Ya knows I'm not dead, so he's going to kill me. I've been hiding in Jinsefang, and I'll implicate you..."
"I'm not afraid of getting involved! Just hide for ten or eight years, and this matter will be over, okay?" Shi Huanian begged.
Master Xu didn't answer, but said softly: "Madam please make me a cup of tea."
-
At this time, Li Changtian and Zhongli were chatting happily under Qinglu's attic.
After Yan Shu left, Li Changtian and Zhongli stood on the first floor of Qinglu Pavilion and waited quietly. There was embarrassment in the silence. Li Changtian was trying his best to endure the pain from his abdomen when he suddenly heard Zhongli ask him, "May I ask what your name is? "
Li Changtian quickly said his name.
"Master Li." Zhong Li nodded, "Master Li, like Master Yan, works in Dali Temple?"
"No, no." Li Changtian shook his head, "I'm not an official, I'm just a commoner who follows Yan Shu."
"Ordinary people following Lord Yan?" Zhong Li looked very surprised.
"Yes, follow him, help him if you can, and just hang around if you don't help him." Li Changtian said.
Zhong Li blinked his eyes in astonishment, and said slowly after a long time: "It seems that Master Yan is becoming more and more human..."
"Huh? Compassionate? What do you mean?" Li Changtian asked.
Zhong Li said: "Three years ago, I had the honor to serve Master Yan for half a month..."
Li Changtian: "Serve, serve, serve? Cough cough, serve?"
Seeing Li Changtian stuttering in panic for a moment, and then hastily covering up, Zhongli couldn't help but smiled: "Mr. Li, don't get me wrong, I just serve tea and water, and do some chores for the book boy. , Later, I was involved in the factional disputes of the regent Han Ya, unfortunately I was put on death row, and because of this, my family was ruined and my family was ruined. Because of my good looks, I was spied on by thieves and sent to a brothel."
"Ah..." Li Changtian looked sad.
"Three years ago, Lord Yan served as the Shaoqing of Dali Temple. He uncovered the unsolved and suspicious cases that the regent Han Ya created one by one, and tried them again. Therefore, he found me in the Manchun Courtyard." Zhongli said softly, "The water in the Manchun Courtyard is deep, but Lord Yan is not afraid of power, and he did his best to redeem me. It can be said that Lord Yan is my savior."
"I see." Li Changtian nodded.
"Later, I didn't want to stay in the sad place of the capital, so I came to Baidi City alone." Zhong Li said, showing regret and frustration, "Master Yan must have never thought that when he saw me again, he would still be Fengyue. Let's go, a noble person like Master Yan who is as bright as a moon and a plum blossom is really incomparable with my filthy and ditch-drained..."
"Don't say that." Li Changtian said softly, "Why are you humiliating yourself? Everyone lives and lives, and there is a distinction between high and low? As long as what you do will not hurt others, and will not touch the bottom line of morality, Then it’s not the turn of others to talk too much, let alone belittle yourself.”
Zhong Li stared blankly at Li Changtian, it took him a long time to react, and said softly: "Young Master Li...you are indeed a friend of Mr. Yan..."
As soon as Zhongli finished speaking, Li Changtian's body suddenly swayed, as if he was about to fall at any moment.
"Master Li? What's wrong with you?" Zhong Li was so frightened that he quickly reached out to help him.
"It's okay..." Li Changtian took two deep breaths, waved his hands, and stood still.
Just as Zhong Li was about to ask questions, he heard footsteps coming from the stairs. He turned his head and saw Yan Shu walking down.