The little maid's name is Qixia, just like Xiao Hong in the royal capital. Jin Yu'e bought her at the tooth shop more than a year ago. She only serves Jin Yu'e and doesn't know much about her.
When she learned of Jin Yu'e's death, Qixia was trembling at first, and then showed a trace of relaxation mixed with guilt in her expression.
After all, she was just a little girl. Although she tried her best to hide it, she was still easily caught by Yun Qi and Lu Anran.
"Madam has no enemies, and no one close to her." Qixia bit her lip, her tears stopped, and the dry marks still remained on her face, "Oh, there is one, shopkeeper Liu of Liu Ji's shop. Madam is closer to him, Liu The guy from home even came to make a scene."
"Liu Zhiquan, right? Your wife has a close relationship with him, which I heard is unusual," Yun Qi said.
Qixia was slightly embarrassed and said vaguely: "Every time Shopkeeper Liu comes over, Madam ignores me. I don't know exactly."
It's not easy to talk about such a shameless thing as being an outsider. The two of them could tell from Qixia's unclear words, and their hearts became bright.
"What did your wife say after Liu Zhiquan's accident?"
"Madam was depressed for two days and went to Ye County alone. After she came back, her mood improved a lot, just like usual."
Qixia didn't know, but Lu Anran and Yun Qi knew each other. Jin Yu'e also had property in Ye County. I think Li'er Niang had trouble once. Whether it was out of worry or deliberately avoided, her relationship with Liu Zhiquan was not very deep anyway. , she doesn’t rely on men for her money.
"Do you know where the wealth in Jin Yu'e's hands came from?"
Qixia was timid, but she was quite clever. She thought that her master had disappeared for no apparent reason, and that an adult from the royal capital had come all the way. It must be an unusual case, so she racked her brains for a long time.
"One time when Madam was seeing off guests, I overheard something that sounded like she was talking about her late husband, business, or something like that."
Lu Anran looked at her, "Dead husband? What's your name?"
"I don't know. Usually Madam doesn't mention this."
"Where is that guest?"
Qixia frowned and thought: "It happened in the middle of last year. Later, my wife asked me to go to the restaurant to deliver something. I realized that the guest came from afar and was not from Yi County. He left after only two days. .”
Yun Qi recorded this incident in his mind and asked Su Ji to find someone to check. Finally, there was a clue about the person who could make Jin Yu'e close to her.
Compared with Wangdu City, Jin Yu'e stayed in Yi County for a longer time, so Qixia knew a little more than Xiaohong. Lu Anran then asked: "Since Jin Yu'e has registered as Wangdu City, why do she always stay in Yi County? Where is she originally from?"
"Madam actually doesn't spend much time at home every year. She often travels around." Qixia sighed: "It's not easy for a woman to run a business."
As for Jin Yu'e's place of origin, Qixia was unsure: "Madam doesn't have an accent when she speaks, but occasionally she pops out a few words, like those from the southwest. But Madam doesn't talk about her own affairs, and we slaves can't ask too many questions."
The death of Jin Yu'e is strange, and the robbery here in Yi County is even more strange.
"Thieves also have their own ways of doing things. They should leave a fine line in everything. It's rare to move them all away like this." Yun Qi stepped out of the door and looked at the high vermilion door with dark eyes.
Mo Yan held a piece of hay pulled from somewhere in his mouth and said with a smile: "The master is not here, could it be that the little girl and others are guarding and stealing?"
Lu Anran happened to pass by him and gave him an "are you stupid" look.
Mo Yan glared: "You surnamed Lu, are you scolding me?!"
Yun Qi hit him on the back of the head with a folding fan, smiling like a monster, "What did you say?"
Mo Yan was startled, spat out the hay in his mouth, stood upright, "Your Majesty, please get on the carriage, Miss Lu please."
Lu Anran sat down, raised his eyes and said, "Mo Yan is more lively than Guan Yue."
"You want to say that Mo Yan has no rules or regulations." Yun Qi shook his wide sleeves, lowered his eyes to hide the emotions in his eyes, and said, "Mo Yan saved my brother's life when he was a child."
This was the first time Lu Anran heard from Yun Qi about his half-brother, Yun Zheng, the eldest son of King Yun who was robbed of the throne according to legend.
"My brother was attacked by a wolf when he went out. Mo Yan rescued him with some hounds. Later, his father took care of his family, and Mo Yan was sent to the house as a guard." In a few words, Yun Qi finished his previous story.
Lu Anran wanted to ask again, but felt that it was a little offensive because it involved personal property, and his eyes showed that he was hesitant to speak.
How could Yun Qi not see it, "I would like to ask why Mo Yan saved my brother and followed me instead?" He chuckled, "Because he is afraid of dogs."
A faint smile appeared on the man's handsome face. Lu Anran couldn't tell whether it was true or not, and the conversation became quiet.
—
The carriage was about to leave the city gate and someone was asked to block the way.
Yun Qi used a folding fan to lift up a corner of the carriage curtain. A woman stood in front of her with a basket in her hand. When she saw Yun Qi, she smiled generously and said, "Young master and young lady are busy with work, so I won't leave you two alone. There is nothing good about this place in Yi County." Wow, these flower cakes are a little bit of our appreciation, I hope you two won’t dislike them.”
Mo Yan took the basket and opened up the white gauze covering the dust. Inside, there were twenty or thirty golden cakes, dotted with cinnabar. The style was exquisite, no worse than those in Wangdu City restaurants and teahouses.
Lu Anran poked half of his head out of the window, "Thank you."
Seeing that they accepted it, Li'er Niang breathed a sigh of relief, "Young Master and Miss are so kind to you. We really have nothing to repay, just a few cakes, it's nothing."
"Just be patient for a few days. Someone will come looking for you after a while," Yun Qi said.
Li'er Niang waved her hand and said, "That's not what I meant. The best thing you can do is help me. Please don't embarrass me. The girls can have a place to stay. I am very grateful in my heart. You must not embarrass me because of this matter." "
She didn't know the identity of the two people, and she had some vague guesses. However, although she didn't understand officialdom, she had done business on her own, and she understood that it was not easy to be poor and that the official career was difficult.
Look at the cases where the whole family of the nine tribes were executed at every turn. How many ministers were there and how many ordinary people were there.
Seeing that she was a sensible person, Yun Qi felt even more satisfied. He didn't mind moving his fingers and adding a few women to the household registration in the corners.
When the carriage started, Lu Anran thought again and again and told Li Erniang: "Jin Yu'e died in the royal capital."
After being shocked, Li'er Niang was silent for a long time, and finally sighed, "I'm not sorry or happy that she died. There is no love or hate between me and her. If a man can't protect himself, what does it have to do with women? .”
Amidst the sound of rolling carriages, Lu Anran watched Li Erniang's face slowly blur as she walked away, but the open-mindedness on her face remained in her heart.
In the carriage that had been quiet for a long time, Yun Qi's faint words suddenly sounded, "I can hold on very well."
Lu Anran: "..."
It was already dark when the king returned. After running back and forth for a day, the jolting of the carriage was already terrible. Lu Anran's brows were filled with sleepiness.
As soon as my feet touched the ground, my heels came after watching the moon and riding a horse.
"There is indeed a person like Ma Liu in the teahouse. He lives in Fulu Village under the jurisdiction of Yi County. I heard from the shopkeeper that he took leave early in the morning and left the city. My subordinates thought that he might have something to do with Jin Yu'e, so they made a special trip before returning to the capital. I went to Fulu Village and found out that there was no such person in the village."
Guanyue was covered in dust, his lips were a little chapped, and he frowned and said: "I just asked the guard at the city gate to register, and there was no name Ma Liu on it."
Ma Liu disappeared, and his identity was still a fake one.
Fortunately, Guan Yue was careful in his work and had gone to Fulu Village before coming. Otherwise, he would have gone straight to the capital and would have had no need to run back.
Yun Qi's dark eyes deepened slightly, and he raised his hand: "I know, you go down and take a rest first, and let Su Ji lead people to Yi County to take a portrait and find this Ma Liu."
Mo Yan took the opportunity to apply eye drops, "Guanyue is getting more and more sluggish in his work now, and he can't even catch a waiter."
Guanyue glanced at Mo Yan's "little man succeeds" expression, ignored him, and went straight to do things.
"It's a good thing to run away." Lu Anran said.
Yun Bei nodded, "Only those who have ghosts in their hearts will run away." This clue was right.
Mo Yan held his chin and looked at the sky. It was so difficult to slander someone.
—
That night, Qiongxian Tower was busier than ever.
It's not because of the competition for the top spot, nor the bidding, but because the elder Liu and the young master once again made a big fuss in the brothel.
Fireworks gathered in an alley, and Lu Anran couldn't have walked here by mistake. She came here because of an invitation from an acquaintance.
Hong Gu has become Feiyan, but Lu Anran can still see the bone-clearing and tenacity in her back then.
This is a wine shop, not in Qiongxian Building.
"Miss Lu, please forgive me, I can't leave here too far, so I have to feel wronged." Feiyan put aside the wine on the table and asked the waiter for a pot of tea.
Lu Anran: "I asked you to do this, so you don't need to worry about it."
Feiyan poured tea for Lu Anran first, "Miss, sit here for a while. The slave family has arranged for a little girl to wait. Xianglan will come and notify her as soon as she returns."
There were not many people who interacted with Jin Yu'e. One of them was Xianglan, a brothel girl who was in the carriage with Liu Zhiquan that day.
As soon as something happened to Jin Yu'e, Su Ji sent someone to look for Xianglan. Unfortunately, she picked up a guest two days ago and accompanied him to the next county.
Lu Anran learned that Xianglan was from Qiongxian Tower, so he brought a letter to Feiyan, asking him to let her know if she came back. He thought Feiyan would just send someone to send a little girl, but he didn't expect her to be so dedicated.
"Do people like Pandan often go out with guests?" Lu Anran ate a few extra pieces of sweet and sour pork ribs for dinner. At this moment, there was food in his stomach and he couldn't even drink the tea. He also felt that it would be rude to not take a sip. Qianqian Take a sip, touch your lips and let go.
Feiyan stayed in Qiongxian Tower for a while, and gained more experience in seeing people. Seeing Lu Anran's move, she sighed in her heart that Miss Lu looked cold, but she was actually very good-tempered. Even if she had no intention of drinking tea, in order not to embarrass her, she Still giving enough face.
Feiyan gathered her gauze and said in a normal tone: "Some girls want to make more money, so they will spend the night with guests like Xianglan. Those who are arrogant and unwilling to serve others will show off their skills if they can play and sing. , looking for some elegance."
A smile that was somewhat sarcastic, "However, no matter how different the beginning is, in the end they all end up with the same destination. Miss Lu, do you know why?"
