"Wang Ye..." Chu Chu threw herself into Xiao Jin Yu's embrace, "I don't want to examine you!"
Xiao Jin Yu sighed softly, raising his hand to stroke her hair, "Be good... Just treat me as an ordinary injured person, like how you examined me during your Ministry of Justice exam before... Just don't say my head was squeezed by a door again."
Chu Chu burst out laughing through her tears, wiping her eyes as she looked up.
Xiao Jin Yu gently touched her abdomen, smiling faintly, "For the sake of our child, please help me seek justice..."
"Alright!"
After spending half an hour meticulously documenting every glaring wound on Xiao Jin Yu's body, Chu Chu dreamed that night of Xiao Jin Yu being beaten by Tan Zhang, clutching him tightly in her sleep and murmuring "Don't hit him" in her dreams. She didn't sleep peacefully until nearly dawn.
Having slept well during the day, Xiao Jin Yu remained lightly asleep at night. Hearing Chu Chu's troubled dreams and watching the continuous stream of tears rolling down her sleeping face, his heart ached throughout the night.
When Chu Chu woke in Xiao Jin Yu's arms, he was gazing at her tenderly, gently kissing her forehead.
"Wang Ye, you're already awake..."
Chu Chu scrambled up, rubbing her heavy eyelids, "You should sleep a bit longer. I'll make breakfast for you..."
Xiao Jin Yu reached out and pulled her back to his side, carefully tucking the quilt around her and softly stroking her head, "Pregnancy takes its toll on your body. You need proper rest... I'm going to investigate the crime scene. Sleep a while longer, I'll wake you for breakfast when I return."
Xiao Jin Yu's voice was as soothing as a lullaby. Chu Chu was so exhausted that she drifted back to sleep before she could respond, not even stirring when he kissed her slightly parted lips several times.
Upon leaving, Xiao Jin Yu had Wu Jiang fetch Jing Yi, who was sleeping soundly on the beam in the outer room. Jing Yi stretched with a full yawn, rubbing his bleary eyes, "Wang Ye, may I leave now..."
"Go ahead."
"Thank you for your mercy, Wang Ye..."
"Come with me."
"No need, no need... I can float out. Those decorations won't see me..."
"Come with me to investigate the scene."
"..."
Xiao Jin Yu stopped his wheelchair before Wang Xiaohua's door, frowning at the two yellow papers with red characters crossed over the door crack. "Jing Yi, read what's written there."
At first glance, Jing Yi's sleepiness vanished instantly. He swallowed hard, "Well..."
"Read it."
"I... I can't recognize all the characters either. I suppose it should be..." Jing Yi gritted his teeth and braced himself, "Heaven spirits, earth spirits..."
Xiao Jin Yu shot him a glare, and Jing Yi immediately fell silent, hastily tearing down the two yellow papers and crumpling them into his chest. "Well... I forgot what should be written on the Dali Temple seal. I meant to go back to get one, but I ran into a young Taoist priest on my way out. These talismans happened to be just the right size... I thought they could help guide the souls of those two poor people to peace while warding off evil..." Jing Yi grinned brightly, "These things work much better than official seals! Those who do evil deeds fear divine retribution!"
Xiao Jin Yu gave him a disdainful look, "Aren't you afraid of divine retribution?"
Jing Yi smiled obsequiously, "With Your Highness's righteous aura protecting me, I fear nothing, absolutely nothing..."
"Go inside."
Jing Yi swiftly pushed the door open and bowed, making an inviting gesture for Xiao Jin Yu."You go in... I'll listen to your report from here."
Jing Yi looked like he was about to cry. "Wang Ye, all that vomit on the floor... I haven't even had breakfast yet."
"Either go in," Xiao Jin Yu raised his hand and pointed at Jing Yi's chest, which was bulging with crumpled talismans stuffed inside, "or I'll go have a word with the Chief Minister about this matter."
"No, no, no... I'll go in, I'll go in..."
"Examine everything inside and out thoroughly. Touch what needs to be touched, smell what needs to be smelled. Not a single detail should be missed."
"Yes..."
☆、103 Crystal Sugar Pork Knuckle (Seventeen)
Steeling himself, Jing Yi lifted his foot and stepped through the doorway. The pungent sour stench made his empty stomach convulse. As he was retching, he heard Xiao Jin Yu's icy voice coming from behind him.
"Describe the smell."
Jing Yi blurted out, "Disgusting..." Before the words had fully left his mouth, Jing Yi felt two cold beams sweep across his spine, and immediately corrected himself, "The disgusting smell of alcohol, blood, and vomit all mixed together!"
The cool voice spoke again, "There's no 'disgusting'."
Jing Yi glanced back resentfully, "It really is quite disgusting..."
Before the two cold beams could land on him again, Jing Yi quickly turned his head back and said, "There are footprints on the floor, dried muddy footprints!"
"Whose?"
After a moment of silence, Jing Yi's confident voice came through, "Two people's - Wang Xiaohua and Xinghua's... Both their shoes are in the room, the size and patterns match perfectly."
"What else is on the floor?"
"Everything you could imagine..." Jing Yi jumped over a puddle of richly varied filth with a face full of resentment, "There's a broken wine jar on the floor, and a broken porcelain bowl, a spoon..."
"Spoon?"
"It's just..." Jing Yi stared at the white porcelain spoon with a broken handle on the floor, "Round head, long handle, the thing you use to scoop up soup and bring it to your mouth."
"I'm asking you... why is there a spoon?"
Jing Yi was taken aback, "Isn't it normal to have a bowl and a spoon?"
"Do you drink wine with a spoon?"
"I never said that was a wine bowl..." Jing Yi picked up a piece of the broken bowl, brought it to his nose and sniffed, then said without hesitation, "Sobering soup."
"How can you be sure?"
Jing Yi dropped the broken piece and clapped his hands, "My father drinks it every night. When I was little, I thought it was something good, so I often stole sips... My mother adds a lot of honey, it's actually quite tasty."
"What are its effects?"
"Beautifying and nourishing the complexion."
"...Sobering soup?"
"I meant the honey... The sobering soup, well, it sobers you up and helps you sleep..." Jing Yi picked up a torn red bellyband with two fingers, slightly narrowing his fox-like eyes, "And it might also nourish yin and strengthen yang."
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