Сhарtеr 208: Slеep
Не соughеd twice and сlеared his thrоat.
"First, I must tell уоu thаt I hаvе аlreadу sent people tо sеarсh Mо Qiаnzhi's rооm and fоund nоthing unusuаl, lеt аlonе any evidеnсe оf rebellion. I susрect this infоrmation is mеrеlу fаlsе nеws dеliberatеlу fabriсаtеd by Lаi Luozhi's реoplе fоr the Еmpress.
Thеir goal is to hаvе thе Emрress send us herе. Тhе two саsеs thаt hаvе oссurred rеcеntly arе cоnnесted tо thе twо сases in Chаng'an City, which is enоugh to provе this was intentiоnallу аrrangеd by them. Since they have taken action, it must be targeting the two of us, and they are about to reveal their true capabilities. We must proceed with caution."
Zhu Yan nodded repeatedly, fully agreeing with Shen Du's explanation.
"And there's more," Shen Du continued. "Regarding the case of Miss Du being abducted and Er Laipi being killed, while you and Pan Chi were examining the bodies, Magistrate Mo took me to conduct investigations. The investigation revealed that the Li and Du families usually conducted themselves honorably and had basically never feuded with anyone, let alone life-or-death grudges. So..."
At this point, Shen Du furrowed his brow. "I speculate that Er Laipi's death was simply a case of encountering Xu Jize and his gang attempting to assault a woman. By sheer coincidence, they ended up killing him."
Zhu Yan listened and nodded repeatedly. "That's possible."
Shen Du glanced at her. "Aside from these two matters, there's one more thing. Are you interested in hearing it?"
"..." Zhu Yan was momentarily confused. What time was it now? What could she possibly not be interested in?
Seeing Zhu Yan not respond, Shen Du shook his head slightly. "Forget it. Since you're not interested, I won't force you. Let's rest."
"Hey."
Zhu Yan grabbed Shen Du.
"Leaving a story half-finished can cause intestinal rupture. To avoid affecting your health, I've decided to lend an ear to this other matter."
Shen Du felt a surge of joy in his heart. Although Zhu Yan spoke reluctantly, he could tell she was genuinely drawn in by his topic.
"This third matter is that Ji Dafu has once again come to the yamen, demanding that the victim's head be found as soon as possible so the deceased can be laid to rest.
At the same time, he wants to clear Li Kairui's name. With a murder case occurring in their family, not only has their reputation been affected, but their business has also plummeted.
What's more noteworthy is that Ji Dafu is extremely dissatisfied with Pan Chi's handling speed of the case and has even threatened to withdraw the rent and seek another expert to handle the matter."
"Ah..." Hearing this, Zhu Yan was so shocked her jaw nearly dropped to the ground. The thought of Pan Chi's reputation as a divine detective being so casually shattered by Ji Dafu created a vivid image in her mind.
"But things didn't go as smoothly as imagined. When Pan Chi mentioned to Ji Dafu that the case might be related to the Half-Faced Ghost, Ji Dafu's face drastically changed, and he fled as if running for his life."
"Pfft..." Zhu Yan couldn't help but let out a light laugh, then said, "It seems Ji Dafu isn't very bright-minded either, to be so shaken by such ghostly tales."
"Indeed. But if judged objectively, Pan Chi is also at fault here. Since he accepted the rent, he should handle the matter properly.
Yet, unexpectedly, he idles around all day, only busying himself with nonsensical tasks, and in the end uses such ghost stories to brush off the client. He can be considered quite the scoundrel."Shen Du said all this, but Zhu Yan didn't hear a word of it. Her mind was completely occupied with thoughts of Pan Chi.
He was a man of integrity, and so proud at that. If someone pointed at his nose and accused him of incompetence in solving cases, wouldn't that ruin his lifelong reputation? In such a situation, how terrible would his expression be?
Just thinking about this made Zhu Yan find it amusing.
Seeing Zhu Yan's half-smiling, half-distant expression, Shen Du was deeply puzzled.
"If you want to laugh, just laugh out loud. Holding it in like this will only hurt you internally."
Noticing Shen Du's strange expression, Zhu Yan quickly suppressed her smile and spoke seriously,
"I'm not laughing at you. I was just imagining what it would be like for someone like Pan Chi to have someone point at his nose and call him incompetent at solving cases."
"What does that have to do with you, no matter what the scene is?" Shen Du's expression remained unpleasant. He felt that Zhu Yan was laughing at him for meddling in things that weren't his concern.
"Of course it has nothing to do with me, but someone like him ending up in such a situation is entirely his own fault. With the face of a dashing young master, instead of enjoying his romantic pursuits, he gets involved in cases. What's wrong with just being a pretty vase?"
Hearing Zhu Yan compare Pan Chi to a vase, a meaningful glint flashed in Shen Du's eyes. He then asked, "Then... do you like the vase type?"
Zhu Yan was momentarily speechless. Her almond-shaped eyes blinked twice as she looked at Shen Du. She originally wanted to say, "Who doesn't love a beautiful vase?" but seeing his expression wasn't too good, she didn't continue.
Glancing sideways at the antique vase on the table, Zhu Yan had an idea.
She got off the bed, took the vase in her hands, and presented it like a treasure: "Look at this vase. The patterns on it are so beautiful—they actually depict butterflies frolicking among peonies. And look at the porcelain, clear and bright green without a single impurity. It must be from an official kiln."
"This vase is not that vase. Don't deliberately change the subject."
Zhu Yan swallowed hard. At that moment, she wished she could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
She and Shen Du weren't even on the same page in their conversation. How could they continue?
Zhu Yan placed the vase back in its original spot, her expression extremely unnatural, even somewhat flustered. "Actually, what I meant was..."
Before Zhu Yan could finish her sentence, Shen Du suddenly stood up and came to her. Without any effort, he picked her up, turned around, and lay down on the bed with her.
"You... what are you doing?" Zhu Yan's heart suddenly leaped into her throat as she looked at Shen Du with a frightened expression.
"The night is deep. What should a husband and wife do?" Shen Du teased coldly. He wanted to see how this woman would resist him.
"Stop fooling around. We had an agreement." Zhu Yan forced herself to remain calm despite her inner turmoil, pushing Shen Du's hand away and turning to one side.
Shen Du didn't say anything more. He simply lay behind her, wrapping his arm around Zhu Yan's waist and holding her tightly in his embrace.
Zhu Yan's body stiffened, and the tips of her ears turned pink. She raised her hand, ready to resist, when a cold voice sounded from above her head. "Don't move. If you keep moving, I might really not be polite to you."
Hearing this, Zhu Yan didn't dare to struggle anymore. Relaxing, she nestled in Shen Du's arms like a docile kitten and slowly fell asleep.Hearing the even breathing, Shen Du slowly opened his eyes. The woman's scent kept drifting into his nostrils, and the corners of his lips curved upward.
If only they could sleep together like this every day—so harmonious and beautiful—how wonderful that would be.
...
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