Wen Chan was really tired after running around all day.
So he took a simple bath to cleanse his body. After washing away the dust all over his body, he felt sleepy, and his eyelids could not be opened in the slightest.
Leaving a small candlelight, he threw himself onto the couch, sighed comfortably, and fell asleep as soon as he closed his eyes.
When Liang Yanbei entered the house, Wen Chan was sleeping soundly. Due to the summer heat, there was nothing to cover him on his body; his hands and feet were stretched out widely, and his black hair was scattered loosely on his loose robes, revealing his white collarbone.
He stood by the bed and looked at the person on the bed. The dim light gave his sleeping face a layer of tranquility and softness, and a smile slowly appeared on the corner of his mouth.
The dark brows, high nose, long eyelashes, crimson lips, and inconspicuous little mole all matched every detail in his memory. Only then did Liang Yanbei realise that, while he may not have noticed it, he had properly memorised his appearance.
This feeling was both strange and unfamiliar. It was like an emotion he had never experienced before, but it was inexplicably beautiful.
He could just stand motionless and watch him like this without getting bored.
Liang Yanbei looked at him for a while, then suddenly remembered what he had just said to Dan Ke. So he slowly squatted down by the side of the bed, stretched out his hand, and pinched Wen Chan’s face.
When his fingertips touched the smooth face, a throbbing flashed through his heart, and Liang Yanbei’s eyes widened in surprise.
He didn’t expect his face to be so soft.
Before he could pinch it for a second time, Wen Chan’s breathing suddenly became heavier. The eyes on his hazy sleeping face slowly opened a bit, and he looked at Liang Yanbei with moist eyes.
His breathing stopped, and his hands froze. He didn’t dare to move, for fear of completely waking up the person whose consciousness was still clouded.
Wen Chan did sleep so much that he temporarily lost the ability to think1He reminded me of this kitty. 
. But when he opened his eyes and saw Liang Yanbei beside his bed, he woke up a little.
Was this a dream again?
For countless times, when he opened his eyes after sleeping, he would see Liang Yanbei, whom he had longed for, standing by the bed and looking at him tenderly.
But when he really opened his eyes, he would find that it was just a dream.
He had dreamed about it so many times that Wen Chan got used to it and prudently returned to continue being in his dreamland.
He looked down and saw Liang Yanbei’s hand resting on the bed. So he stretched out his hand, pried his fingers between his fingers, got into his palm that was turned up, and carefully held it.
The overwhelming sleepiness made him confused. But he still looked at Liang Yanbei and asked in a lazy and hoarse voice, “Aren’t you going to go to sleep?”
Liang Yanbei was a little surprised when he saw that he was holding a soft little hand. However, he couldn’t help but feel no repulsion in his heart. Instead, he unconsciously closed his fingers, moved his other hand towards his face, and gently stroked his forehead. He whispered, “I will sleep. I’m going to go to sleep at once.”
Obviously, he had never felt empty, but at this moment, he felt inexplicably full.
“Mhmm……” Wen Chan responded with a drawn-out sound, then slowly closed his eyes.
Just a moment later, one of the clasped hands relaxed, and the long and regular breathing sounded again. Liang Yanbei knew that he had fallen asleep again.
After staring at his face for a long time, Liang Yanbei had an extremely absurd thought, just as Dan Ke said.
He wanted to kiss him.
The more he looked at him, the more he thought about it, and the more inappropriate it became. Liang Yanbei hurriedly pushed those thoughts away, carefully took out his hand from Wen Chan’s hand, and moved away from the edge of the bed.
He turned his head and glanced around, and he saw that the mattresses that Qin Qi and Shu Hua had spread on the floor to sleep on were neatly folded. So he softly and quietly spread out the two beds to form a single bed. Then he went out and asked for hot water, washed up, took off his outer clothing, and went to sleep.
When Wen Chan got up the next day, it was almost noon.
A night of adequate and sweet sleep made him feel refreshed and in a happy mood. So he put on his clothes while humming a little tune.
When he was putting on his boots, he was surprised to find that the two mattresses that had been separated on the ground had somehow come together. But they were folded neatly, and it didn’t look like they had been touched.
Maybe the servants put them together for convenience when they were cleaning.
He thought about for a moment and dismissed it without delving much into it.
As soon as Wen Chan went out, a servant had prepared lunch and brought it into the room for him to eat. However, because he had just woken up and did not feel hungry, he took a few bites and asked the people to take it back.
He asked people about Liang Yanbei, but no one knew where he was. Wen Chan, who had nothing to do, wandered aimlessly into the City Lord’s mansion, and then he actually found something useful for him.
He met Fang Han and Fang Xue.
Fang Han was the head disciple of the Songhua Sect, and Fang Xue was his Junior Sister. The person who brought them here this time was Fang Yiyang, one of the elders of the Songhua Sect, and the Junior Brother of the sect head, Fang Yiyang. Wen Chan had only met him yesterday.
Fang Han broke Bearded Li’s wrist at Wuyue Island’s Ferry, which could be regarded as helping Wen Chan. So Wen Chan had memories of him.
“Young Master Wen, I haven’t seen you for a few days. How are you?” Fang Han had already heard about what happened yesterday. So he asked with a concerned tone.
“I am good. Thank you, Young Master Fang, for your consideration.” Wen Chan replied.
“We all know what happened to you. How is your investigation going?” Fang Xue asked immediately.
“It’s not clear yet.”
“It’s not a pity that Second Young Master Yao died. But I don’t want anyone to frame you for this. It’s really annoying!” Fang Xue said, with righteous indignation.
Her Senior Brother was not standing blindly by Wen Chan’s side. After hearing this, he motioned to Fang Xue with her eyes, and then said, “Young Master Wen, relax. I believe that God will not let innocent people suffer injustice.”
“I am borrowing your blessing words, Young Master2It means something like “I hope so. Fingers crossed”..” He cupped his hands and was about to leave, but was interrupted by Fang Xue.
“Young Master Wen, I have something to tell you.” She said, “I know a little bit about pharmacology. When I went to Yao Yanming’s house yesterday, I discovered that the wine he drank was poisoned. One of the poisonous herbs in the poison was commelina benghalensis.”
Wen Chan nodded lightly, I know all this.
“There is something special about this commelina benghalensis. If you mash it and extract its juice within ten hours of picking it, you can use it as a poison or medicine. But if the time passes, the leaves will turn yellow, and they will become useless.” She added, “And that kind of poison can only be dissolved in water, and the longer it takes, the less toxic it becomes.”
After hearing these words, Wen Chan’s eyes lit up, “Is that true?”
“Of course.” Fang Xueyao said, “I don’t know much, but I just hope that this will be of use to the Young Master.”
“Thank you very much, Young Lady Fang. If I have the opportunity in the future, I will definitely return the favor.” Wen Chan was very happy when he got the news.
After thanking the two of them, he returned to the house and waited for Liang Yanbei to come back.
After listening to what Fang Xue said, he finally figured out what Liang Yanbei meant by “this time is just right” last night.
Commelina benghalensis cannot be retained and must be used within the right time limit. Therefore, the poison was prepared a few hours before Yao Yanming died, as the toxicity would weaken over time.
In other words, the person who made the poison picked the commelina benghalensis yesterday or the day before yesterday. The person who made the poison must have felt guilty, and it was very likely that they would have chosen to go at night.
Therefore, the most appropriate time to check the patch of commelina benghalensis was at night. Especially later the better, like when Jile City enters silence and there are only a few pedestrians on the streets.
Wen Chan waited and waited, but he saw no one. So he took a nap in the afternoon. And by the time the moon hung high in the sky, the other party had returned belatedly.
“You’ve been walking like this all day? Did you go and check it out on your own behind my back?” When Wen Chan saw him, he first asked him this question.
Liang Yanbei glanced at him, and his eyes were filled with something that he had never seen before. He curled his lips slightly, “How dare I? I just heard that there is a Longyang3gay Storytelling Library in the north of the city. So I went to sit there to listen.”
“You sat there all day?” Wen Chan felt a little angry, “What a coincidence, I also sat here all day. But I was waiting for you.”
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I apologise to you.” Liang Yanbei took out a bracelet made of gold and red thread from his arms. There were two simple, solid copper plates the size of fingernails hanging from the bracelet.
He pushed the thing into Wen Chan’s hand and said, “Here you go.”
“What is this?” Wen Chan forgot to be angry when he saw such a delicate thing, and asked curiously, “Why are you giving me this?”
“This is the most expensive thing in my whole body.” Liang Yanbei said, “It’s my fault that I made you wait all day. I can grant you a request and use this bracelet as a basis for it.”
“You will grant me a request?” Wen Chan asked in surprise.
Although he was a little angry, he never expected that Liang Yanbei would feel so guilty and make amends with a promise.
Liang Yanbei nodded and added, “Anything.”
Wen Chan glanced at the bracelet and thought to himself: How can it be anything valuable if you can give it away so casually?
But even though he thought this way, he still put the thing into the secret pocket of his sleeves and asked, “Why did you go to that something something library?”
“I had gone to listen to the pinghua storytelling4Pingshu (Chinese: 评书) or pinghua (Chinese: 评话) refers to the traditional Han Chinese performing art of storytelling with no musical accompaniment. It is better known as pingshu in northern China and pinghua in southern China..” When Liang Yanbei saw him put away his bracelet, a smile flashed in his eyes, and he answered carelessly.
“What story did you listen to? Are you still a child?” Wen Chan felt it to be a little unbelievable, and even suspected that there was something wrong with Liang Yanbei’s brain today.
“This story is different from what I have heard before.” He said, “It is about the love, gratitude, and grudges between two men. It is quite popular in this city, and the library is fully packed with people.”
Wen Chan’s eyelids jumped suddenly when he heard this, “Between two men?”
He suddenly remembered that there was indeed a kind of book among the people that was very popular. The books were all about love stories between men, and some even used famous people as the protagonists5Oh, the fan-fictions of the olden days..
In his previous life, Wen Chan had an excellent relationship with Liang Yanbei. And the folk published a lot of books with stories about them. Wen Chan himself had collected a lot of those books and read them secretly when no one was around.
He quietly took a glance at Liang Yanbei and saw that his expression was calm. He couldn’t discern if he liked it or not. He was afraid that he would say something unpleasant, so he quickly changed the subject, “It’s late at night now, and we still have to focus on the murder case.”
“That’s right.” Liang Yanbei didn’t notice that he looked abnormal.
At this hour, Jile City had gradually entered a state of slumber, and the streets were sparsely populated. In addition, the two of them were riding their horses on the road to the officials, and no one was there at all.
Walking at night on the road was much slower than during the day. But fortunately, it was not far away. So it didn’t take long for them to get to the yamen.
The yamen was very close to the commelina benghalensis bush. And how close was it? It was only a few dozen steps away.
And if you want to get to the grass, you have to pass by the yamen.
Liang Yanbei stopped directly next to the yamen, attracting the attention of the bailiffs guarding the door, and the four of them looked at him vigilantly at the same time.
All four of them were strangers, and they had never seen any of them before.
“Please be relieved. We are just passing by, and we are not here to report to the officials.” Liang Yanbei said with a smile.
When they heard that they were not there to report to the officials, the four bailiffs breathed a sigh of relief at the same time. They still said the same thing as before, “Don’t stay here and leave quickly.”
“Wait a moment; I have something to ask you.” He was very familiar with the twists and turns. Before he could ask, he took a piece of silver and handed it to the bailiff, who was speaking, “Can you please do me a favour?”
Those few people were the typical money-grubbers and immediately grinned after receiving the money, “No problem, no problem.”
When the former emperor saw this scene, he snorted coldly. How dare you offer a bribe right under my nose!
However, under the pressure of the situation, Wen Chan decided to turn a blind eye to it.
“A few nights ago, when you were on night watch, I wonder if you saw a girl coming here?” Liang Yanbei asked, “She seemed to have been wearing a blue shirt and a black skirt, and she has a beautiful appearance.”
The fact that a woman was alone at night would attract attention, and when combined with Liang Yanbei’s rough description, one of them instantly remembered, “There was indeed such a person, just the night before yesterday. I watched her go south along the road.”
Liang Yanbei looked at him, “Did you see clearly?”
“I saw her clearly. She was wearing a blue shirt and a black skirt.” He said, “It was the time to change guards. And a few of them were still changing clothes. So I had come a little early.”
Liang Yanbei cupped his hands and said, “Thank you very much.”
“You’re welcome.” Those bailiffs received Liang Yanbei’s silver and waved to him as if they had seen a respectable person, “Brother, if you have any other questions in the future, feel free to come and ask.”
He responded with a smile, said goodbye to the four of them, and then turned to Wen Chan.
Wen Chan had heard the conversation just now clearly and asked in confusion, “Are you done asking?”
He nodded, “That’s Tan Yuji, for sure.”
“How did you know what clothes she was wearing?” Wen Chan asked.
“When we entered her yard yesterday, I saw a blue shirt and a black skirt among the clothes she was hanging to dry. I guessed that if she came at night, she would definitely not wear brightly coloured clothes.” Liang Yanbei spoke a little slowly but explained very carefully.
“There is no one guarding her residence, which means that she not only rejected the servants arranged by the City Lord’s mansion, but there is also no one around her to be at her beck and call. As a result, she can only collect the commelina benghalensis by herself.”
“Just now, the bailiff said that she had gone south on the road. She probably went around behind the yamen and went to the grass.”
“So that’s how it is.” Wen Chan said clearly after hearing this, “She made poison after picking the commelina benghalensis, mixed it in the wine, and gave the wine to Yao Yanming. Then, on the road, she pointed Qin Qi and Ah Fu to Yao Yanming’s residence and put the blame on the two of them.”
“That’s right.” Liang Yanbei said with a smile.
“But how did she know that Yao Yanming would definitely die? How did she know that Qin Qi and Ah Fu would happen to walk from there?”
“For that, we will have to see what Tang Yixiao can find out.” He said, “Tan Yuji had put in a non-lethal poison, and the other person had put in another. The two poisons combined to kill Second Young Master Yao. Although it would appear like a coincidence, in actuality, they really worked together in the murder case. Tan Yuji wanted Second Young Master Yao’s life from the beginning.”
“As for blaming your two subordinates, I think she may have just happened to run into them, and thinking that since we had a conflict with Second Young Master Yao the day before yesterday, the reason is enough, so she started this idea.“Liang Yanbei curled the corners of his mouth mockingly and said, “Even if there are no two of your subordinates, she will find an excuse to let the subordinates in the mansion go there at will.”
“As for blaming your two subordinates, I think she might have just met them by chance. She should also have remembered that we had a disagreement with Second Young Master Yao the day before yesterday. The reason was enough, so she came up with this idea.” Liang Yanbei curled the corners of his mouth mockingly and said, “Even if your two subordinates weren’t there, she would have found an excuse to make the servants of the mansion go there.”
“So, she happened to meet them by chance, and I was framed?” Wen Chan felt confused.
“The murder was planned a long time ago, and the frame-up was done on a whim.” Liang Yanbei concluded.
“Ha.” Wen Chan sneered, “What a repulsive woman.”
Just because of her whim, he had to work for two days straight to investigate this poisoning case and was still in the wilderness in the middle of the night.
She was simply hateful!
Seeing him gritting his teeth with hatred, Liang Yanbei inexplicably felt happy, and stretched out his hand to pinch his face, “Don’t be angry. I will teach her a good lesson tomorrow.”
Wen Chan slapped his paw away in shock, “What are you doing?!”
He touched the back of his hand, was slapped with a “pop,” and moved away, whining.
He secretly jabbed at him in his mind: He is cuter when he is asleep.
Wen Chan carelessly rubbed his face, which he pinched, and said angrily, “Is there anything else? Let’s go back if there is nothing else to do!”
“Yes, yes, yes.” Liang Yanbei admitted his mistake with a very positive attitude, and hurriedly said, “Let’s go find Magistrate He and ask him for a favour.”
Translator’s corner
Thank you so much for reading the chapter. If you liked my translation and wanna support me, you can comment down your thoughts or send me a Kofi.
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