When I came back from Jixia Palace in the evening, I heard a dog barking before I got closer. As I got closer, I saw several local dogs of different colors surrounding the gate.
Lu Anran got off the carriage and looked up to see Mo Yan jumping on the roof, watching Yue leaning against the door frame with her sword in hand. When she saw the person, she immediately stood up straight and said hello: "Ms. Lu."
Lu Anran nodded and looked in from the gate. Prince Yun was standing under the half-bald osmanthus tree, looking up at him.
"Wufang." Mo Yan stood tall with sharp eyes and jumped behind Wu Fang, "Quickly, get these dogs away."
Wu Fang glanced at him coldly, but Mo Yan was not frightened and continued to encourage: "Show off your momentum and destroy them."
Lu Anran was surprised to find that wherever there was no way to pass, the dogs stopped barking and even stepped back a little, as if they sensed danger.
Mo Yan raised his head and chest with satisfaction: "Great weapon."
Guan Yue kindly explained Lu Anran's doubts and said, "Mo Yan's family runs a dog farm, and he has attracted dogs since he was a child. But if he doesn't, the opposite will happen."
Lu Anran looked at Mo Yan's face and saw that he hated dogs so much, yet he came from a dog-loving family.
Unexpectedly, Guan Yue hasn't finished speaking yet, "His father is a dog butcher. He probably killed a lot of people. Mo Yan is also a little bit tainted. Dogs can probably smell the bloody murderous intent, so they bark when they encounter him."
Lu Anran was surprised: "Don't you like him?"
Guanyue was even more surprised. How could Miss Lu think so? What dog would like a dog killer?
Several people settled in the courtyard.
Guanyue was surprised: "Why is this tree bald?"
Mo Yan pouted: "The bald tree is so ugly."
Lu Anran: "..." It's just a tree, why should we treat it based on human requirements.
Yun Qi had just heard Chun Miao talk about the ups and downs of Osmanthus Tree, and now he chuckled and said, "You have left me this good medicine. In the future, it will be easier to interrogate prisoners in the Criminal Division, and Su Ji will be grateful to you."
"No, no need to."
"It's a pity that this tree is bald." Prince Yun said, "It ruins the feng shui of this place."
Lu Anran agreed, "It's a pity that we have to make a lot less sweet-scented osmanthus cake after autumn."
Everyone else was used to the way the two of them got along. Chunmiao even served tea with a smile and said: "We don't have sweet-scented osmanthus cake now, but the lady ate Dao honey/lotus root ice powder in Yipinxiang yesterday, and I learned to make some today. Would you like to have a taste, Your Majesty?"
Yun Qi waved his hand, and Chun Miao happily went to serve the desserts. Mo Yan's eyes lit up, and he secretly followed Chun Miao to the kitchen.
Wu Fang stood aside quietly, watching the bustle in the courtyard, familiar yet distant, as if his stagnant heart had touched a little bit of life in the world.
Yunqi didn't like desserts, so he took a bite and put down the bowl, and Zhao Wufang went over to say a few words.
Mo Yan strolled out of the kitchen, wiped the corners of his mouth, walked next to Lu Anran, and grumbled: "You're partial to Lu."
Lu Anran lowered his head and ate the sweets in the bowl without answering.
"Why does Wu Fang have a room to live in? I'll drive your horse for you and sleep on the roof!"
After Lu Anran finished eating, he looked up: "So you wanted to live in a room. I thought you liked the spacious roof."
Mo Yan: "..." His expression was so serious that he had no room to refute.
Just as Yun Qi and Wu Fang finished talking, Lu Anran asked, "Does the Criminal Division have no case?" He almost ignored you.
"Su Ji is still investigating the Ya Xianju murder case." Yunqi raised his peach-blossom eyes with a narrow smile, "When we talked about this matter, the emperor even scolded the second prince for it."
Lu Anran showed confusion. Although the second prince was present, it obviously had nothing to do with him.
"The reason was that Nangong Zhi went to the palace to report, and also took care of himself, saying that he was interested in the Spring Banquet, and forced the second prince to go. As a result, the emperor felt that the second prince had not taken responsibility, was suspected of framed others, and had betrayed his status as a prince. , punish him to face the wall and think about his mistakes."
Lu Anran recalled the noble and elegant man and said, "The way Prince Nangong conducts himself in the world, he will never force others to do anything."
"Tsk, you know him quite well."
"I know the prince better."
The clouds rise and listen attentively.
Lu Anran commented calmly, "Peach blossoms are everywhere."
The clouds are rising, the broad sleeves are spread lightly, the silver light is flowing, and the face is brighter than the spring flowers, and the autumn colors are hidden. "Food, color, and nature."
Guanyue said: "It seems that the emperor has been recruiting Sanyuan Palace Dongyue Zhenren into the palace this month. It seems that divination is nothing. It has reached a critical point and there has been no progress. The second prince happened to have a bad luck."
Lu Anran had heard about it the day he was recruited into the palace. He didn't expect that after so many days, he was still calculating. It seemed to be a very important matter to the emperor.
"Set up a dojo to practice? Looking for the elixir of life?" Mo Yan scratched his hair, "That's all it takes."
"What do you do in the dojo? How do you know if someone is dead?" A voice came from the side, coming from the entrance of the courtyard.
He was Su Ji in a crescent-colored gown, with handsome features and a pale face with a hint of illness.
As soon as he came in, he saw everyone holding a bowl of dessert, and he said angrily: "Leave me to work as a coolie in the punishment department, and you will be free."
Guanyue silently pushed the bowl back and looked at Yunqi, meaning - the prince took us out for a walk and it has nothing to do with us.
Yun Qi turned the jade bone fan in his hand skillfully and said lazily: "What dead person? Has the identity of the big brother at the bottom of the lake been found?"
Su Ji shook his head, with a serious look on his eyebrows, "There is a murder case in Sanyuan Lane, which may be a bit troublesome."
Yunqi's movements paused and he sat up straighter, "Murder?"
The corner of Su Ji's mouth moved, as if he was uncertain: "Suicide."
"It's easy. You ask his family to go to the government to settle the case."
Su Ji lifted up his robe and sat down, knocked on the table, and said to Chun Miao: "Please have a bowl." Then he said to Yun Qi: "The strange thing is that it looks like suicide, but it is true. Another suicide."
Yun Qi rubbed his chin: "Possessed by a ghost?"
Su Ji's brows twitched slightly: "Your Majesty, don't talk about ghosts during the day, and don't talk about people at night."
Mo Yan & Guan Yue: "..." You are rebelling.
"Seriously, if you go and take a look, you will definitely find it weird." Before Su Ji could finish his words, Chunmiao brought the dessert over. He picked up the spoon and started eating. The temperature was just cool enough. In the early summer, the entrance was warm. It's cool and warm and makes your stomach feel better.
The wind is gentle, the osmanthus leaves cover the sun, and the sun shines through the gaps in dappled colors. The courtyard is small but quiet, and with a snack and dessert, it is no wonder that this group of people did not move a step for a long time.
However, in this elegant environment, instead of enjoying flowers, drinking tea, and comparing poems, they were talking about murder cases, which always seemed a bit strange and incongruous.
"Death by swallowing gold?" Lu Anran frowned.
Su Ji thought of that scene, shook his head and said: "Not only the gold nuggets, but also the jewelry and hairpin rings. When he died, his throat was bleeding, and he was still stuffing it into his mouth."
Yunqi put two fingers on the table and tapped, "Are you sure there is no other person present?"
"The doors and windows of the room are all locked, and there are no traces of other people's presence." Su Ji confirmed.
Yun Qi stared at Lu Anran, "If there is any problem between the two of us, it will be easy for a murder to happen once we meet."
Lu Anran raised his weight and said, "The prince's great fortune reaches the heavens."
Yun Qi sneered: "Sharp teeth and sharp mouth."
"Oh, by the way, you know the person who died." Su Ji said, then thought about it and added: "At least you have heard of it."
"Who?" they both said in unison.
Su Ji: "Do you still remember the Liu Wu family in the Yixian Fox Fairy case?"
Lu Anran was startled: "Could it be her?"
"No." Su Ji waved his hand, "The dead woman was her husband's concubine."
Yun Qi raised his eyebrows: "You have money and time, so you ended up in a salesman's outer room?"
"And!" Su Ji obviously didn't finish his words.
The two of them looked at each other, and Su Ji said mysteriously: "He Zuo found a divine fox mark on her body."
"What mark?" Yunqi had an expression on his face that said, "If you have something to say, can you finish it in one breath or else get out of here."
Su Ji spread his hands: "No, that's all. But the mark of the divine fox is real, just like she was bewitched by the fox fairy and lost her mind before she couldn't control herself and committed suicide by swallowing gold."
Su Ji took out a piece of paper and drew a little fox with a black pen on it. It had narrow eyes and a sharp mouth with a smile, which made people feel a bit evil.
"The mark was originally vermilion, and it was on the left arm of the deceased." Su Ji laid the paper flat on the table for the two of them to take a closer look, and said, "The prince once said that Xuanmen has a technique that can confuse people's hearts, and it happened to be the same as the divine fox. It’s relevant, so do we want to arrest the woman pretending to be the Fox Fairy?”
Watching the moon makes sense: "She is very cunning, I'm afraid it will be difficult to catch her."
After he finished speaking, he found several pairs of eyes staring at him, hesitating: "Did I say something wrong?" That little girl was indeed as slippery as a loach, and she had so many evil ideas that even Qi Shang couldn't do anything about it.
Chunmiao blinked: "It won't be difficult to catch." She had seen it in the morning.
Lu Anran nodded: "Yes, it's right next door."
Guanyue: "..."
—
It was difficult to find Lu Taotao during the day. Su Ji left someone in the courtyard next door and took Yun Qi and his party to Sanyuan Alley.
Sanyuan Alley is close to Xuanwu Street in West City. Most of the houses in this area are owned by wealthy businessmen and gentry.
"Liu Wu's husband's wife's wife's name is Jin Yu'e. She bought a mansion in Sanyuan Lane and has a lot of property." Su Ji briefly introduced the situation. The murder occurred not long ago and there was no time to investigate other matters.
Lu Anran asked: "So she is from the royal capital, not Yi County?"
"It seems that I have some land in Yi County, so I go to Yi County every once in a while and get to know Liu Zhiquan." Su Ji said: "She also has a house in Yi County."
Yunqi's peach blossom eyes squinted, and she seemed to be smiling even when she wasn't smiling. "What is her identity? Why does she have so much wealth in her hands?"
Su Ji: "It's not clear yet. This was investigated because of the previous Fox Fairy case. The case was closed at that time. Since it had nothing to do with her, there was no further investigation."
Yun Bei didn't say anything at first. Jin Yu'e was not a criminal at that time, and even if her identity was clear through investigation, it was impossible to predict what would happen to her in the future, so it was impossible to catch her and get to the bottom of it.
The carriage stopped at the entrance of the alley, and several people walked into the alley. After passing the first few houses, they found Jin Yu'e's house.
The second time they entered the courtyard, it was much larger than the place where Lu Anran lived now. The royal capital was so rich in land that it could afford such a courtyard. It was no exaggeration to say that the family had a lot of wealth.
"The deceased's maid's name is Xiaohong. She delivered lunch and found the door locked. She yelled a few times and got no answer, so she poked a small hole in the window next to her." Su Ji led people to stop in front of the window sill outside and pointed at half of the window. The window with a small hole in it said: "It's here. She saw Jin Yu'e dead with her mouth open and her eyes wide open. Blood was flowing down from the table all over the floor. She was so frightened that she ran to the criminal department to report the case. ”
