Yu Qing was a bit dazed. He was overwhelmed by the praise from the two of them and did not feel happy at all.
Even he himself was tasting the words he had written. He suspected the two were deliberately flattering him in coordination.
The reason was naturally to make him happy so he would gladly help Lin Cheng Dao.
He gave a cold laugh in his heart. Did they think he would fall for this? These two really underestimated him.
He also told himself secretly that there was no need to expose it. He had eaten several thousand taels worth of their food. If they wanted to act, he would just pretend not to know.
However, he understood about signing his name. Even if he had not eaten pork, he had seen pigs run. He picked up the brush and added it with swift strokes.
He did not write his own name. He wrote A Shi Heng, on such and such date and month here.
After finishing and putting down the brush, he secretly warned himself that he really could not stay in this capital any longer.
He found that recently people kept asking him to write this or that. Even coming out for a meal could not escape it. If this continued, even Mister Ming in the capital would not be able to protect him. He would be exposed sooner or later. He must leave quickly.
After the matter was done, he said goodbye.
Ye Dian Dian naturally wanted to see them off personally.
Near the gate, Lin Cheng Dao stopped her for a moment. He asked Yu Qing to wait a bit and called Ye Dian Dian to speak at the back.
The two reached the cliff edge in the rear courtyard. Only then did Lin Cheng Dao sigh and say, “Little aunt, what are you doing? Did you not see he was a bit unwilling? Why did you still force him to write calligraphy!”
Ye Dian Dian replied, “His fame now is very great. With his calligraphy, business will probably improve a lot.”
Lin Cheng Dao said, “Is Small Fresh Tower’s business not good? It should still make some money, right?”
Ye Dian Dian said, “It can make some, but there are things you do not understand. The few who followed me here after leaving the sect are also cultivators. Cultivation needs resources. To get enough resources requires spending a lot of money. What can we do? We cannot show off singing and dancing, and it is not good to sell our looks. In a place like this, it is not easy to maintain ourselves just by making some food.
Those who can afford to come here to eat and drink, how many truly understand? Do not think they have some money. They are actually just pretending to be cultured. This third place scholar’s talent is unmatched in the world and his fame is big enough. It is exactly to their taste. Since he came, we might as well take the chance. I know I am vulgar, but there is no way not to face reality.”
“Alas!” Lin Cheng Dao had nothing to say. It was already like this. There was no point saying more. He could only leave.
Ye Dian Dian, who followed out, saw the guests off again. She personally took out four fireworks, lit them and let them bloom. Soon four wild men ran over and carried Yu Qing and the other three down the mountain.
After watching the guests leave, Ye Dian Dian returned to the courtyard. She went straight to the main hall, picked up the piece of writing and looked at it. Her eyes were full of deep appreciation.
She looked at it again and again. Finally she sighed, “A casual stroke produces pearls and jade. He truly is a person full of talent. Even his characters are written so well. Such a good piece of writing is going to be used by me to seek money. It really is tarnished. I have wronged him. If there is a chance in the future, I will repay him!”
She turned and gave the writing to the old woman. “After the third place scholar tasted the food at Small Fresh Tower, he could not help leaving calligraphy and sighing ‘Human World Good’. Release the news tonight. Frame this writing immediately and hang it in the main hall where guests come and go. I estimate that starting tomorrow, you all will be busy.”
“Understood.” The old woman carefully rolled up the calligraphy and left.
The four wild men stopped one after another under the archway of Xi Yue Fang. Yu Qing and the other three also got out of the baskets. They climbed the steps, ready to leave Xi Yue Fang.
In the crowd behind, a woman in white with a veiled face and a woman in black with a veiled face paused at the roadside. They did not dare to follow too closely.
The woman in white with a veiled face had secretly followed Yu Qing and the others all the way to outside Small Fresh Tower. Because she could not figure out their strength, she did not dare to act rashly. She also felt she might be too weak alone, so she later found a helper, the woman in black beside her.
The two waited in the woods outside Small Fresh Tower for a long time. After the group came out, they followed them down the mountain and came here.
The woman in white with a veiled face was none other than Bai Lan, who had plotted with her husband in the ancient tomb wasteland to attack the examination team.
After treating her injuries, she had hurried to the capital.
There was only one reason, to avenge her husband.
She wanted to find the murderer who killed her husband.
During her time in the capital, she had been trying to get close to the group of great archers who had taken part in the escort. She remembered the scent left by the murderer.
She had managed to get the list of those great archers who took part in the escort and then checked their scents one by one.
However, she could not control the movements of those great archers. So far she had only identified half of them and had not found the murderer.
Now the matter of going to the capital for the examinations was fully over. The failed candidates would return to Lie Zhou, and the escort personnel would also return with the team. It could be considered continued escort.
According to inquiries, the team would set off tomorrow. Those great archers would gather together again. This was good for her identification. Approaching them one by one before had really been too difficult, and too many approaches would increase the danger.
She was about to leave here tonight and make arrangements in advance on the way back to Lie Zhou.
Who would have thought that just as she was leaving Xi Yue Fang and preparing to leave the capital, she suddenly caught the scent of the murderer who killed her husband from a person brushing past her.
Looking at the murderer’s appearance, it was a young man. She actually did not recognise him.
She had seen the appearances of those great archers from a distance after getting the list, to make it easier to act.
She knew what those great archers looked like, and she could confirm this young man was not one of them.
But the murderer’s scent could not be wrong. That scent was deeply engraved in her soul. She would not remember it wrongly. She had talent in this area!
She could not figure out what was going on, so she called her companion to help.
All the recent investigations of the great archers in the capital had been done with the full help of this companion. This time, to check the other party’s background, she definitely needed the companion’s help.
This companion was none other than her husband’s own elder sister, who was hiding in Xi Yue Fang.
When the people came down from the mountain and reached the lights, they were no longer backlit. She could fully see Yu Qing’s entire appearance clearly. The woman in black was surprised. “It is him?”
Bai Lan also felt surprised and asked, “Sister, you know him?”
The woman in black, who was watching Yu Qing climb the steps, turned her head. She frowned and said, “Did you remember the scent wrong? How could he possibly have killed Yun Xiao?”
Bai Lan shook her head. “That scent is engraved in my soul. There is no mistake.”
The woman in black asked back, “Do you know who he is?”
Bai Lan was puzzled. “Who is he?”
The woman in black said, “He is this year’s new third place scholar, the one who got full marks in all four subjects as the top scorer. He is that A Shi Heng. It is impossible for him to have the ability to kill Yun Xiao!”
Bai Lan was stunned. She suddenly said in a trembling voice, “He is that famous top scorer from Lie Zhou, right?”
Now A Shi Heng’s fame was very great. Those who knew his name basically knew where he was from.
“…” The woman in black was stunned and understood the meaning in her words.
Tears had already appeared in Bai Lan’s eyes. She said in a trembling voice, “Sister, then he must have come from Lie Zhou, right? Then he must have passed the place where the incident happened, right? When Yun Xiao died, he could have been at the murder scene, right? Sister, does this not mean I did not remember the murderer’s scent wrong? Sister, the murderer is him!”
“This…” The woman in black did not deny her reasoning, but she was still full of doubt. “But how could he possibly have the strength to kill Yun Xiao? Even if he started cultivating from the womb, the chance he has the strength to kill Yun Xiao is not high, unless he had some unknown opportunity. He is a scholar who came to the capital for the examinations. Do you think he looks like someone who could kill Yun Xiao?”
“Sister, did you not notice his sword is not normal? This scholar carries a heavy sword used for fighting and killing. He is not a simple scholar!” Bai Lan stared at Yu Qing, who was now standing at the top of the steps, with tearful eyes. “There is his scent at the scene. Even if he is not the murderer, he must have appeared at the scene. If we catch him, we might find out who the real murderer is!”
This made sense. The woman in black nodded in agreement. Seeing Yu Qing’s figure disappear up the slope, she decided immediately, “Then we cannot let him enter the city. Acting inside the city would easily cause commotion and make it hard to escape if noticed.
I heard he is staying at a rich merchant’s house. Almost all big rich merchants in the capital have experts protecting them. If we want to act against him, we might as well do it now.
We just do not know how strong his guards are. They do not look like experts.
This way, I am familiar with the terrain here. I will go and test them.
If his guards cannot block me, I will take the chance to grab that lad.
If they can barely fight me, I will find a way to lure the guards away, then you make your move to grab him.
If they are truly experts, do not act rashly. I will use the terrain here to escape.
Then we will plan again. The enemy is in the open and we are in the dark. Once we know the target, it will be easy.”
Seeing her sister made sense, Bai Lan agreed. “Good. Sister, be careful.”
The woman in black left as soon as she spoke. She quickly slipped behind a shop. Soon she appeared again, but she had changed her outfit. She quickly climbed the steps leaving the mountain valley.
Bai Lan followed after keeping some distance…
Yu Qing and the other three walked unhurriedly. The carriage and mounts were still waiting for them nearby.
After meeting the waiting coachman, Yu Qing and Lin Cheng Dao got into the carriage. The two guards mounted their horses.
After the carriage started moving and there were no other people around, Yu Qing finally asked the doubt in his heart, “Brother Lin, your aunt can at least make some money, right? But I see you do not even have a carriage for transport, and the house you live in is quite small. Can your aunt not support you a little?”
Speaking of this, Lin Cheng Dao sighed softly, “It is not that my aunt does not support me. She often wants to help me improve things. But I do not have a family to support. I am alone, so there is no need for too much. There are some things we can accept, but some things are not good to ask for. I am a proper man. If even my basic living depends on others, then what meaning is there in living? If I am so useless, I might as well bang my head and die!”