"Sir, are you okay?" Two Jinlin guards immediately stepped forward to protect He Qingxiao.
"It's okay." He Qingxiao looked up at the second-floor restaurant, then scanned the surrounding pedestrians, and finally looked down at the broken flowerpot.
That day, the girl's words suddenly came out: "I see that the Hall of the Righteous Soldiers is darkened, and there may be a bloody disaster. It is best not to walk on the street or downstairs recently to avoid disasters falling from the sky."
The hall turned black - He Qingxiao raised his hand and pressed his eyebrows.
What he thought was ridiculous at the time actually happened today.
Is that girl really proficient in physiognomy?
While He Qingxiao was deep in thought, a Jinlin guard rushed into the restaurant and took out the perpetrator.
"Sir, it was these two bastards who got into a fight and threw the flowerpot down!"
He Qingxiao looked over with a faint look.
The two men who were drunk and making trouble recognized that their captor was Jin Linwei. They were so frightened that they knelt down on the ground and begged for mercy.
Even the shopkeeper who followed him turned pale with fright, trembling and apologizing.
"There is no need to kneel down and beg for mercy, but you almost hurt people's lives by throwing things around while drunk. To avoid making such mistakes in the future, let's fine each of you ten taels of silver."
"Ten, ten taels?" One of them was shocked.
The shopkeeper wanted to cover the man's mouth: "Uncle Wang, ten taels for you is just a few banquets..."
Is this a fool? This is Jinlin Guard. If you don’t quickly pay some money to send the Buddha away, is it because you want to send yourself in?
Another drinker reacted much faster: "Yes, yes, it's not much at all. It's because of your magnanimity that you don't care about us, so you only let us lose some money so that we can remember it."
As he spoke, he quickly pulled off his money bag, took out two ten-liang banknotes and presented them with both hands.
A Jinlin guard took the banknote, glanced at it, and handed it to He Qingxiao: "Sir."
He Qingxiao stuffed the banknotes into her purse and walked around the broken flowerpot.
Two men followed immediately.
The two drinkers and the restaurant manager were left behind without daring to move for a long time, and they were both afraid and happy.
He Qingxiao was speechless all the way until he passed by a deserted bookstore in front of the door and stopped.
"What are your orders, sir?"
"Go and find out what's going on with the cousin of Duan Shaoqing's house in Taipu Temple."
"yes."
He Qingxiao walked into the bookstore alone, walked to a familiar corner, picked up a travel journal and started reading.
The man's fingers were long and slender, with distinct joints. He could turn them over and stop moving.
He Qingxiao had already left when Xiaolian was crying on the road that day, so he naturally didn't have any suspicions, but today's encounter made him too curious about the Kou girl.
Curiosity itself would not let him order his men to investigate a woman, but since the girl was proficient in physiognomy and could calculate that he would be injured by a falling object, why couldn't she figure out the frightening incident?
If physiognomy was just an excuse, how did she know what happened today?
He Qingxiao didn't want to think complicated things about the clear-eyed girl, but in this position, he had to be cautious.
The two men came back earlier than he expected.
"Sir, there are a lot of rumors about that girl in the city today. The most outrageous ones are that the Shaoqing Mansion is coveting Miss Kou's family wealth and wants to kill her..." A Jinlin guard said what he had learned.
Another Jin Linwei added: "In addition to this cousin, there is another cousin who occasionally goes to Shaoqing's Mansion to stay. That girl's surname is Qiao——"
He Qingxiao calmly interrupted his men: "No need to say anything else."
The two Jinlin Guards looked at each other, and their guess was indeed correct. What the Lord wanted to know was the cousin who was deeply involved in the whirlpool of public opinion.
He Qingxiao pondered for a moment and then ordered: "Go check Duan Shaoqing's whereabouts."
It's past office hours, and the officials either go home or go drinking and socializing at this time.
Duan Shaoqing is the latter.
It was this social interaction that made him feel something was wrong.
It was a restaurant he frequented, and the owner and the waiter were familiar with each other. Why did the waiter who served the food look at him strangely?
There was also another group of people eating wine that I met when I came in. They looked familiar, and they seemed to be from Honglu Temple. I wonder if it was an illusion, but those people always looked at him.
Duan Shaoqing was suspicious in his heart but kept a calm expression on his face. He found a convenient excuse and asked his chief attendant to go out and inquire.
After three rounds of drinking, the long follower came back.
Duan Shaoqing knew something was wrong as soon as he saw Chang Sui's expression, so he took the initiative to end the drinking game.
The sky was already getting dark. Changsui was walking in front with a lantern. Duan Shaoqing was slightly behind and said in a low voice: "Is there something wrong?"
Chang Sui slowed down and said, "Sir, I just heard some rumors about our Shaoqing's mansion..."
After listening to Chang Sui's words, Duan Shaoqing's face turned pale and he said angrily: "What nonsense! These people -"
The words that followed came to an abrupt end. Duan Shaoqing looked at the man in red clothes who was gradually approaching and stopped unconsciously.
The man in red clothes walked closer. With his fair face and delicate eyebrows, even if he met someone he often saw again, he still couldn't help but sigh in his heart about the unfairness of creation.
The newly appointed envoy of Jinlin Guard Town is famous not only for his embarrassing life experience, but also for his appearance.
"Master He." He Qingxiao's sudden appearance made Duan Shaoqing's heart pound, but he didn't dare to offend him and took the initiative to say hello.
He Qingxiao did not say hello and walked over as Duan Shaoqing secretly expected, but stopped and said, "Master Duan, how is Miss Kou?"
Duan Shaoqing's eyes were widened and he looked at the other party in astonishment.
The envoy of Jinlin Guard Town asked about his niece?
What does it mean? Could it be that He Qingxiao heard those rumors and used them to cause trouble for him?
Duan Shaoqing's mind was spinning rapidly, but he couldn't think of anything he had done to offend the governor, and then his heart sank.
Jin Linwei really wants to cause trouble for someone, so why bother to offend him?
"Master He——" Duan Shaoqing said carefully.
He Qingxiao explained at this time: "That day when I went out to do errands, I met a frightened horse on the road. After stopping the frightened horse, I found out that the person in the carriage was my niece. I ran into Mr. Duan today and asked me by the way."
"It turns out that it was Lord He who saved my niece." Duan Shaoqing bowed deeply, his face full of shame, "On that day, I only knew that my niece was safe and sound after being saved by a righteous man who was passing by on horseback, but I didn't know that it was Lord He. It's really rude. I will visit you tomorrow to say thank you."
"It's a simple matter, Mr. Duan, don't be polite, just make sure Miss Kou is safe and sound." He Qingxiao cupped her hands and said, "Mr. Duan, please do it yourself."
"Congratulations on your departure, sir." Duan Shaoqing returned the greeting with a cupped hand.
Jin Linwei, who was following He Qingxiao, turned back and glanced at Duan Shaoqing, who was still returning the gift, feeling curious.
Your Excellency, are you intending to help that girl Kou?
With these words, if the Shaoqing Mansion really harbors evil intentions towards Miss Kou as rumored, they will become more honest.
I don’t know what that Miss Kou looks like?
Duan Shaoqing, who stayed where he was, slowly lowered his hand until Chang Sui reminded him.
