Translator – Xiao He Lian
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Chapter 8.1
Outside the house, the moonlight is like silver, the shadow of the moon is like a hook and the brilliance of the moon shines brightly on every brick and tile in Chengyuan.
There was silence all around, so quiet that even the flickering of the candlelight could be heard.
There is still some time before the morning drum beats.
After Lu Yan told Shen Zhen not to cry no matter what happened, Lu Yan didn’t feel anything was wrong and just lay down to take a nap.
Shen Zhen wanted to go find Shen Hong, but she didn’t dare to disturb his rest. She sat aside for two hours and was so sleepy but she didn’t dare to close her eyes.
But she hadn’t had a good rest for several days, and now she couldn’t hold on any longer. She stumbled sideways and fell directly to the ground, with the round stool flipping over.
After making such a loud noise, Lu Yan naturally opened his eyes.
He looked towards her and saw that she had fallen to the ground without even waking up.
She looks innocent and adorable. Even a master like Lu Yan who never cares about the life and death of others was moved with compassion.
He stood up and walked to her, tapped her shoulder with his fingertips and whispered: “Get up.”
Hearing the man’s voice, Shen Yan instantly came back to her senses, her reddened eyes darting around, she stood up immediately, “L-Lord, is something wrong?”
Seeing her defensive expression, Lu Yan couldn’t help but sneered coldly.
It’s really unnecessary to worry about her.
His heart was not happy, so naturally he didn’t have a good look on his face. Thinking that he was almost done resting, he left the courtyard without looking back.
Lu Yan left Lanyue Pavilion and went straight to the west wing. Before he could open the door, he heard a cough.
When he opened the door, he lowered his head, and Shen Hong raised his head. The defensiveness in the little girl’s eyes was exactly the same as her sister’s. His eyes were red, and he could tell he had cried.
Lu Yan didn’t like children, no matter who they were, whether they were crying or laughing, he didn’t like anyone who could open their mouth.
So before it was Shen Hong’s turn to speak, Yang Zong asked someone to send Shen Hong to Lanyue Pavilion.
Lu Yan looked sideways out of the window, his eyebrows solemn and his face slightly cold.
“Has the matter been handled at Zhaoxing Lane?” Lu Yan asked.
Yang Zong bowed and replied: “Master, don’t worry, only one front yard was burned, and our people put out the fire. It was claimed that the oil lamp leaked and no one doubted it for the time being.”
Lu Yan said: “Since there is such a loud commotion tonight, it is impossible for King Teng and Suning Bo to not take action tomorrow. Send someone to keep an eye on them and report it every six hours.”
Yang Zong responded and then said: “Master, what about the young master of the Shen family?”
Lu Yan thought for a moment and said in a deep voice, “We can’t wait. We will send him out of the capital at dawn.” He paused and then said, “Also, send the old lady and maid out of the city.”
After Yang Zong left, Lu Yan fiddled with the white jade ring on his hand, feeling confused.
A few days ago, he had dreamed about the fire on the 9th day of the 10th lunar month. At first, he didn’t believe it, but until the fire came as promised.
He knew that he had to save Shen Zhen no matter what.
***
Early the next morning. Jingzhao Prefecture.
While Lu Yan was writing the submission, he listened to his subordinate: “What you said yesterday was indeed correct. There is indeed something wrong with the Wang family in Liquan County. Yesterday I sent people to search and found two female corpses at the bottom of the well.”
“Who are they? Have you found out?”
“According to Wu Zuo, one is a singer from a brothel in pinkang lane, surnamed Luo, who has already redeemed herself by paying to the madam. The other is Wang Zhaoqian’s concubine, and there are no traces of homicide.” said the subordinate.
Hearing this, Lu Yan paused, tapped the table with his index finger, and said after a while: “No, the smell of corpses in his yard is definitely more than just two corpses.”
His implication was: there were two corpses, one was a concubine and the other was a courtesan. Even if Wang Zhao had some special hobbies and played with them to death, since they were faked to look like suicide, there was no need to hide them at home for so long.
Such a result, rather than saying they found it out, it would be better to say that someone deliberately put it there.
The subordinate was stunned and not knowing what came to his mind, he immediately said, “Subordinate will go check again.”
Lu Yan closed his eyes and raised his hands to rub his temples. He didn’t have a good rest last night, and then he worked on a case all morning. It’s really unbearable…
Before Lu Yan could finish cursing in his heart, Yang Zong walked in carrying another bird cage.
“Master, I bought the starling you asked for. The old lady will definitely like it.” Today is the birthday banquet of the old lady of the Lu family, and this starling is a birthday gift prepared by Lu Yan.
The old lady’s parrot died a few days ago and she was sad for a long time. Lu Yan kept this in mind but felt that she would be sad if he bought the same kind of parrot, so he could only buy a starling that could sing softly to please his old grandma.
Because today was Old Madam Lu’s birthday, Lu Yan returned to the Duke’s Mansion as soon as his duty was over.
When they reached the door, he saw the third branch’s eldest wife standing outside to receive someone. Then, she took the hand of a girl with a young girl’s bun1(the way girls but after the bun differs before and after marriage. So this is an unmarried girl) and entered the house together.
Lu Yan frowned and said in a low voice: “I remember my grandmother said that we will only have a family dinner today and no outsiders will be invited. Who is here?”
Yang Zong replied: “That is the niece of the third branch. Because her father was transferred to Jingzhou to be the governor, she will be staying at the mansion for a while. Today, she came specifically to congratulate the old lady on her birthday.”
Lu Yan looked at him sideways: “You know so clearly, why didn’t you tell me in advance?”
Yang Zong was exposed on the spot and couldn’t help but touch the tip of his nose and whispered: “The eldest princess2 (the sister of an emperor) told me not to tell you.”
Lu Yan let out a long sigh.
Okay, here we go again.
***
