It had been two days since Yunqi left the royal capital, and the words he said that day seemed to still ring in his ears.
Before Lu Anran could think about it, Feiyan came to visit first.
"I have a client who is extremely greedy for beauty. No matter how much money he has, he spends it in the brothel. I saw him in the brothel a few days ago. Uncharacteristically, he did not order any girls to accompany him." Lu Anran treats each other as a friend, Fei Yan lived up to his pretentiousness, so he did not call him a slave. "The strangest thing is that when he left, I saw him coming out of the room where Mr. Liu stayed that night."
"Have you ever said this to the person handling the case?"
"No, I wasn't sure at first because I was afraid that I might hurt someone by saying random things. Besides, the next day I saw Mr. Liu was the same as usual, without any discomfort."
Lu Anran held down the book with its footers blown up by the wind, and said with deep eyes, "You are talking to me again now because you discovered something wrong again."
"Yes." Feiyan clasped her hands, her expression serious under the gauze, "Miss Lu, does she know what this customer does?"
Lu Anran raised his eyes to look at her, and when he saw Fei Yan looking out, his voice was very low: "He is the best tattoo artist in the Royal Capital and even in the Daning Dynasty."
Lu Anran said calmly: "How do you know about the tattoo mark?"
"The government once asked if we had any tattoo marks on our bodies, especially on our arms. I guess it must be related to Xianglan's death." Feiyan said: "The old cat left Mr. Liu's room, and something happened to Mr. Liu suddenly. I And I wonder if there is a connection."
"Old cat?"
"The tattoo artist's name is what everyone calls him."
Lu Anran knew that Feiyan was a smart woman. He hesitated again and again, and said: "Before you come here to say this, you must have thought it over carefully. I don't advise you, but I want to remind you that it is about human life. If you are involved, Xu You Danger."
Feiyan changed her solemn tone and chuckled: "I'm not afraid of death, I just want to live like a human being."
Lu Anran's clear eyes were slightly confused, "Dignity does not depend on high or low, poverty or wealth, it lies in the heart."
"Miss Lu." Feiyan put her hands on the table and sat upright, "I'm not complaining. I said I'm not afraid of death, but I'm equally happy to be alive."
Feiyan's open-mindedness infected Lu Anran, and the last worries in her heart completely disappeared.
"I don't know if the old cat is related to the deaths of Xianglan and Mr. Liu, but he never appeared in Qiongxian Tower after that time. I once asked the little maid to look for him secretly, but the old cat seemed to have disappeared suddenly."
No one would disappear for no reason, especially a person who had been rooted in the royal capital for decades.
Laying out the drawing paper, Lu Anran copied the old cat's face bit by bit under Feiyan's description. After making several modifications under Feiyan's guidance, he handed it over to Wu Fang to find someone.
The carriage stopped at the entrance of Jiqingfang alley, and Lu Anran sent Feiyan to the gate of the hospital, "You are not from the government. Whether the case is solved or not has nothing to do with you. If there is news, just send someone to deliver it here."
Having said this, Feiyan also appreciated, "Okay, I understand my own limitations and will never show off my strength."
Lu Anran watched the carriage leave. Just as he turned around, he suddenly smelled a burning smell. Chun Miao ran out and complained: "Miss, Lu Taotao is roasting bird eggs in the corner!"
—
No one knew whether Lu Taotao's egg was cooked or not, because half of the wall collapsed due to her, and a thick smoke rose up, alarming the entire Jiqingfang.
Fortunately, it was just a bit too smokey, at least it didn't affect other houses in the courtyard.
Lu Anran walked out of the smoke and found a teahouse to hide in, leaving Chunmiao to catch the troublemaker Tao Tao and deal with the aftermath.
After listening to the piano music for a long time by the window, I found that the music was intermittent and sometimes outside the music score, which was quite ineffective.
"There's someone practicing the piano again across the way." The waiter put down the teapot and snacks, rubbed his ears and said, "Girl, if you find it too noisy, I'll help you close the window."
The two sides are very close to each other. There is only one alley. From Lu Anran's perspective, he can see the black tiles and cornices there. "Do people often practice piano?"
"Look, girl, behind this wall is the piano room of Chengjun Academy. At this time of year, there are always freshmen practicing in it. Some of them are better at the piano. Our teahouse is also getting some freshness. We met this..." The waiter said He twitched the corner of his mouth and said, "If you are like this today, you will be a carpenter sawing wood."
Lu Anran raised her chin: "Open the door half way."
"Great." The waiter muttered in his heart. This girl has very special preferences. She still listens to such unpleasant music with such gusto.
After drinking half a pot of tea to the not-so-splendid music, Lu Anran saw a carriage stop at the entrance of the alley. After about a cup of tea, the back door of the academy quietly opened a crack, and a slender figure flashed out.
The carriage started moving at the same time as the figure appeared, paused at the back door and then quickly drove forward. The people there were gone.
Lu Anran liked to recognize people and their bones after becoming a widower, so even though the beautiful figure was tightly wrapped with her face lowered and her head bowed, she still recognized Meng Zhi, whom she hadn't seen for a while.
As for the carriage, the silk ribbon hanging in front is too conspicuous. It is the carriage of Prince Pingyang.
If Chunmiao was here, she would have exclaimed: "How brave to have a private meeting with a foreigner while I was enrolled in the academy."
Lu Anran did not agree with Meng Zhi's behavior, but he would not do anything unnecessary. He just thought of another aloof woman and thought that sooner or later the sisters would have another dispute.
After finishing the pastries, I lost interest in continuing to drink tea. I was thinking that the house was almost cleaned up and I was about to leave when a familiar voice came from behind me.
"I was sneaking through the back alley, and when I looked up, I saw half a head that looked familiar. It was really you." Su Zhi lifted his clothes, uninvited and sat across from Lu Anran, picked up the teapot and shook it. "This tea is already lukewarm. Waiter, please bring me another pot of Biluochun."
Lu Anran looked at him calmly, "Mr. Su, I have..." finished drinking the tea.
Su Zhi thought Lu Anran was too embarrassed to take advantage of him, so he waved his hand quickly, "You're welcome, it's just a pot of tea, not worth the money."
Lu Anran couldn't help but turn to look out the window.
"You noticed it too, right?" Su Zhi moved his head forward mysteriously.
Lu Anran looked sideways with a questioning expression.
Su Zhi raised his palms to cover his lips, "Pingyang Hou Shizi abducted female students from Chengjun Academy."
To be honest, in Lu Anran's view, kidnapping is not considered a scam. At most, one is willing to catch and the other is willing to take the bait.
"After the death of County Lord Rongan, I saw that boy Mu Yi'an from Pingyang Marquis Mansion was so happy." Su Zhi slapped himself on the lips, "Bah, there is no other County Lord, it's Gu Xuelian. Hey, earlier How many people in the royal capital openly and secretly laughed at Mu Yi'an, saying that he would marry a living dead and become a tombkeeper in advance."
When meeting a person who is not interested in the family's petty interests, no matter how much enthusiasm the other person has, they will be wiped out. So after Su Zhi foamed at the mouth for a moment, under Lu Anran's eyes that were as calm as a pool of stagnant water, he touched his nose and became quiet. Come down.
However, some people are naturally unable to stay quiet for long, so they looked for another topic and asked: "How many days has it been since Brother Yun left the capital? The southwest is remote and poor. Brother Yun's trip to the southwest has been torturous."
Lu Anran raised her eyebrows lightly, "How did you know he went to the southwest?"
Su Zhi responded with confusion: "This... the emperor said it in the court. I only heard about it from my grandfather, and I didn't know that Brother Yun actually got such a hard job."
Of course, Su Guogong’s original words were——
"The emperor is so confused that he sent a little chick from the powder pile to investigate the case. Isn't this a joke?"
Lu Anran frowned even more tightly. Before leaving, Yun Qi told her that this trip to the southwest was called Ping Kou, but it was actually a secret investigation. He didn't say what exactly he was investigating, but if the Criminal Division could be used, it would definitely not happen. It's a small case, and it's probably related to the two current cases in the capital.
But now that Su Zhi said that the emperor named him in the court to reveal the purpose of his trip, how could he take the opportunity to investigate if he wasn't openly exposing him?
"No!" Lu Anran thought of something and screamed inwardly, "The emperor is not reckless, but wants to use Yunqi as bait to fish out the 'ghost' lurking in the royal capital."
In name, Yun Qi was asked to investigate the case, but in reality he was just used as a target!
Anger suddenly welled up in Lu Anran's chest, and his eyes became colder because he had nowhere to vent it.
Su Zhi saw that Lu Anran didn't say a word, but the expression between his brows became colder little by little. In the end, his aura was like a substance that could freeze someone to death.
"You, what's wrong with you?"
Lu Anran stood up quickly, "I still have something to do, so let's go first."
Su Zhi blinked: "Me too..."
"You continue to drink tea."
This sentence was so unacceptable that Su Zhi was stunned on the spot and did not have time to say anything. When he came to his senses, Lu Anran had already left and disappeared.
Su Zhi scratched his head, "Hey, why did I listen to her just now?"
—
Lu Anran walked briskly through the streets and alleys, the hem of her skirt flying and stirring, like a ball of condensed white clouds, rolling in the sky.
She walked into a dirty alley, not caring about the swill flowing on the floor, nor the fact that her brocade clothes were incompatible with this place, she just walked quickly and expressionlessly towards the route Feiyan once told her.
Find the tattoo artist, unlock the secret of the divine fox mark, and perhaps catch the key clue that has been unable to connect the several dead people.
Stopping in front of a certain door, she took a deep breath and realized that she had been holding her breath and not relaxing all the way. Now that she took a big breath in, her chest hurt a little.
If she did more in the capital, would Yunqi's side be safer?
At this moment, Lu Anran didn't delve into the meaning behind doing this. Just like what she said to Feiyan, she just followed her heart.
Just as he was about to raise his hand to knock on the door, he saw from the corner of his eye a man kicking his sleeves with both hands and walking towards him.
Lu Anran turned his head, just as the man also felt someone in front of the door and raised his head, the eyes of the two people just met.
For a moment, both of them were stunned at the same time.
The man opposite spoke first, "Are you looking for Lao Mao too?"
Lu Anran's eyes moved slightly, "No."
The person on the opposite side took a step forward before stepping forward, turned around and ran away, muttering: "I'm so stupid that I'm almost stuck on the door!"
Lu Anran immediately chased after him, but bumped into someone at the corner.
