When all the officials heard what he said, how could they dare to come forward?
It was Chai Shiming who was the first to smooth things over, "I would like to ask Mr. Xu to prepare a few more torches for me. This pit is dark and there is no firelight, so I can't see clearly."
Xu Zan did not embarrass them any more and asked the secret guards to take down the several torches he had lit and gave them to them.
"It really went down." Chen Anning entered the thatched house, stood at the entrance of the cave, looked down, and smiled.
Xu Zan said in a low voice: "It's impossible if we don't go down. I'm going to scare them with Ah Xun."
Chen Anning gave him a thumbs up.
Xu Zan grinned and asked, "After they come up, do you want to arrange for them to visit the back mountain?"
"Look, why don't you look?" Chen Anning said.
"Okay, when they come out, I will take them there." Xu Zan stretched his head to look at the pit, then turned to look at her and said, "Do you want to go and rest for a while first?"
After a day's journey and a whole night's work, I didn't eat anything. Even my iron-clad body couldn't withstand such torture. Of course, Xu Zan was even more afraid that Xie Xun would scold him when he saw her haggard appearance when he came back.
Chen Anning couldn't hold it any longer. She lowered her head and glanced at the dirty clothes on her body, then nodded and said, "Well, arrange for them to see those skulls, and you should take a break. There is no rush to solve the case."
"I know." Xu Zan said.
Chen Anning returned to the inn, found a clean bucket, filled up two buckets of well water, took out two fragrant pills and dissolved them in the water, then tidied up a little and went back to the carriage to sleep.
When she woke up, it was already afternoon.
After closing her eyes and waking up, she stepped out of the carriage and saw Xu Zan not far away holding a white porcelain bowl and squatting in front of the fire. She walked over.
"Are you awake? Come and have a glass of water." Xu Zan quickly picked up a clean porcelain bowl, poured a glass of water and handed it to her, "Don't worry, Master Chai sent these to you. Master Chai is Yixing The magistrate of the county.”
Chen Anning took the bowl and slowly drank two sips of water. Xu Zan quickly directed the two women to bring over the warm porridge and side dishes, "Hurry up and drink some porridge to warm your stomach."
"If you have nothing to show your courtesy to, you are either committing adultery or stealing." Chen Anning took the porridge bowl handed over by her mother-in-law, "Tell me, what's the matter."
After Xu Zan quickly rolled his eyes twice, he chuckled and said, "It's not a big deal, it's just... someone from the Wen family is here."
Chen Anning raised her eyebrows, half-smiling, "Who is here? The Fourth Miss Wen that you miss so much?"
"Mind you?" A charming voice sounded behind the two of them.
Xu Zan and Chen Anning immediately turned around and looked.
It's a girl in red.
The girl is wearing a smart outfit, has a slender and tall figure, and looks sweet and charming. A pair of big round eyes, very smart and cute.
When Xu Zan saw her, he immediately stood up straight, blushed, and stammered: "She, she was just joking, don't, don't take it seriously."
The girl in red is none other than Wen Qinsang's sister Wen Huan.
Wen Huan followed his words and looked at Chen Anning. The moment he saw her appearance clearly, he immediately squatted down next to her and said with bright eyes: "Are you Miss Chen Er? I heard my elder brother said a lot about you, but today you can I finally saw you! You are exactly as I imagined!"
Xu Zan said sourly: "She came here specifically to see you."
Chen Anning looked at him and then at Wen Huan.
Wen Huan nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes, I didn't know that you came to Guangling County until I received the letter from eldest brother. Unfortunately, the letter from eldest brother was one day late. When I received it, you had already left Guangling County. I originally I planned to go to Yuhang to find you, but when I passed by I saw Mr. Xu Wu, he said that you didn’t go to Yuhang County, so I stayed.”
Chen Anning was curious: "See what I do?"
Wen Huan said: "My parents, second uncle, second aunt, third uncle and third aunt, and many people all say that the most important thing for a girl is to support her husband and raise her children. Reading, literacy, and obtaining fame are what men should do. I don't accept it, but that's okay. I couldn’t stand their discipline. My eldest brother said that although my daughter can’t get any honors, my daughter’s family can do anything that a man can do. Therefore, he has encouraged me to study literature and martial arts since I was a child.”
"But father and mother are right. It's useless for my daughter to read so many books and know so many words. When I get married, all I can do is support my husband and raise my children."
"but……"
Wen Huan's eyes slowly turned from gloomy to bright, "A few months ago, my eldest brother suddenly wrote to me. He mentioned you to me. He said that your medical skills were very good. Not only did you cure your aunt, but also the imperial doctors. You are helpless with your head ailment, your chess skills are even better than his, and more importantly, you can also solve cases, and your ability to solve cases can even be as good as Mr. Xie’s!"
"Brother said, who said daughters are inferior to men? You are the role model I should follow!"
"That's why I've always wanted to meet you."
"I want to see with my own eyes what a parent of a daughter who is as good as a boy looks like."
"I'm very happy to see you today."
"You are exactly the same as I imagined!"
Chen Anning joked, "In your imagination, shouldn't I have three heads and six arms?"
Wen Huan smiled, "I never thought about it that way. In my imagination, a daughter's family who is not inferior to a boy should be as clear and bright as you."
Chen Anning chuckled, "You think too highly of me. I'm not as good as you think. But your eldest brother is right. Who says daughters are inferior to men? It's just that the world is in the hands of men, and there is no daughter's family. It's just an opportunity to show off. When one day in the future, both men and women can take charge of the family, you will know that your daughter's family can take over half the day."
Wen Huan couldn't imagine the scene she described, but when he saw her saying these words, it was so normal, as if this was how the world should be, and his mood gradually became agitated.
Chen Anning looked at her sparkling eyes, then glanced at Xu Zan, then changed the subject: "Actually, after a woman gets married, she does not necessarily have to support her husband and raise her children."
Wen Huan glanced at her, and then followed her gaze to look at Xu Zan. He suddenly remembered what he had heard before, and turned around and asked, "What did you just say about never forgetting?"
Chen Anning looked at Xu Zan: "Let him speak for himself."
Wen Huan looked at Xu Zan again.
Xu Zan blushed, "I still have something to do, so I'll leave first."
After saying that, he quickly ran away without waiting for the two of them to speak.
After slipping far away, he stopped again and said loudly: "Don't listen to Miss Chen Er's nonsense!"
Chen Anning said with a smile: "You have three hundred taels of silver here! I haven't said anything yet, how do you know that I am talking nonsense?"
"Anyway, don't listen to her nonsense." Xu Zan said again and ran away.
Wen Huan looked at his back, blinked in confusion, and asked, "Is it related to me?"
Chen Anning said half teasingly, half instructing: "As soon as your topic comes up, he blushes and stutters. Didn't you notice something?"
Wen Huan blinked again, then suddenly blushed and widened his eyes, then pointed at Xu Zan in the distance, and then at himself, "He, he...me? This is impossible!"
"Why is it impossible?" Chen Anning was curious.
Wen Huan shook his head and said, "It's just impossible."
Chen Anning said: "Why is it impossible?"
Wen Huan still shook his head and said in confusion: "That's why?"
Chen Anning said: "Because you are excellent."
"Am I excellent?" Wen Huan said subconsciously, "That's because you don't know me yet. If you knew me, you would know..."
"You are very outstanding in the eyes of Young Master Xu, and you have always been outstanding." Chen Anning interrupted her, "Because you are so outstanding, he feels very inferior and feels inferior to you."
Wen Huan looked at Xu Zan in surprise, "Why does he think so? He followed Mr. Xie to investigate and solve cases, and he is better than many young masters."
"Yes, he is outstanding, just as outstanding as you," Chen Anning asked pointedly, "But why do you all feel that you are not outstanding?"
Wen Huan lowered his eyes, bit the corner of his mouth gently, and said after a while: "Maybe no one has ever recognized my dedication except my eldest brother. And he... probably except Mr. Xie, no one has ever recognized me for my efforts." People must be better than him."
"You know?" Chen Anning said slowly, "Having others' affirmation is certainly a good thing. But without others' affirmation, it doesn't matter. Because only you know how much you have paid. If you don't affirm first You yourself, then no matter how much others give you, it will not help."
"Since you have read a lot, you should understand that history is the triumphal song of the victor. Secondly..."
Chen Anning looked at her, "Those who are praised for their virtues in the history books were always denied by others when they were young. Just because they succeeded later, people flocked to praise their differences as young people."
"Human nature has always been like this. They only see how high you fly. As for how painful it is for you to fly, what does it matter to them?"
Before Wen Huan could digest it, Xu Zan's anxious voice suddenly came from the direction of the inn, "Miss Chen Er, come here quickly, yesterday's diners and those who came out of the pit are dying!"
