“... There's no such thing! Ge Zian, what are you talking nonsense about again! I've always had a good temper!” Wei Shuxuan gave Ge Zian a discontented look, strongly disagreeing with his words.
“I've never seen you lose your temper over such a trivial matter before. And then you had a cold war with Young Master Xin,” Ge Zian looked at Wei Shuxuan and sighed. “Now you can still throw your tantrums at him because he dotes on you. But if he takes other concubines in the future, you'll surely pay the price for your current willfulness.”
“I won't allow him to marry me and then take other women.”
Wei Shuxuan turned her head away and said unhappily. But Ge Zian advised her earnestly, “I believe you already know what happened during the days when you left the palace. Those court officials kept forcing Young Master Xin to depose the queen and marry another. If it weren't for Young Master Xin's tough measures, he would have been threatened successfully by these officials. And here you are, still sulking at him.”
“... Is what you said true?” Wei Shuxuan looked at Ge Zian in disbelief. She only knew that Xin Zizhao had been forced by the officials to depose her as the queen and hold a beauty pageant during the days when she left the palace. But she just thought that if Xin Zizhao was unwilling, those officials would surely be helpless against him.
It was just that what she never expected was that those officials had even threatened Xin Zizhao. Wei Shuxuan grabbed Ge Zian. “Zian, tell me in detail how those officials threatened Xin Zizhao.”
Ge Zian rubbed his forehead. “... I got it.”
After listening to Ge Zian, Wei Shuxuan really didn't expect that the grand secretary and the minister of a ministry, together with other officials, had jointly coerced Xin Zizhao to depose her as the queen and hold a beauty pageant to choose a new queen. This was really too abominable. “Zian, I'm so angry now.”
“Are you angry at Young Master Xin or those court officials now?” Ge Zian teased Wei Shuxuan.
“Of course it's those abominable court officials! I'm angrier at those court officials than at Xin Zizhao.”
“Don't you know that Young Master Xin likes you very much? Otherwise, he wouldn't have offended those highly respected court officials for you. How could you be so embarrassed to have a cold war with Young Master Xin over such a trivial matter?”
Wei Shuxuan pouted. “Okay, I know. Stop talking. I won't be angry with him anymore.”
The two walked on the street for a while. Before they knew it, they had already arrived in front of the yamen. Ge Zian looked at the grievance drum in front of the yamen. “Do you want to go in and ask Magistrate Tang about the case in Lepu Town?”
“... Since we're already here, let's go.”
The two went into the yamen. The guards told them that Magistrate Tang was busy and they needed to wait in the study for a while. Ge Zian and Wei Shuxuan agreed. They waited in the study for a while, and Magistrate Tang soon appeared.
“I'm very sorry, two guests. I had some urgent matters to attend to temporarily, so I came out a bit late,” Magistrate Tang asked a servant to pour tea for Ge Zian and Wei Shuxuan. “I wonder what brings you two here?”
“We're here for the missing - person cases in the town. We just want to know if Magistrate Tang has any clues about these cases?”
After hearing Ge Zian's words, Magistrate Tang thought for a while, and then showed an apologetic smile. “I'm really sorry. I'm incompetent. I really have no clues. The methods of these criminals are really flawless, leaving me with no starting point. I wonder if General Ge has found any useful clues during your visits these days?”
Ge Zian glanced at Wei Shuxuan, and Wei Shuxuan nodded. “We've visited all the crime scenes. Before, we also investigated the crime scenes in Kele Town, but we still haven't found any useful clues.”
“I didn't expect that even you have no clues...” Magistrate Tang sighed. “I don't know who can find the real culprit... Then, what are your plans next, two guests?”
“We plan to go to Baolan Town. Since Baolan Town is the largest central town on the border, maybe those people's base is in Baolan Town. We want to go there to see if there are any clues.”
“That makes sense... However, since the criminals are so powerful, they surely won't expose themselves so easily. Please don't be careless.”
“Okay, we know. Thank you for Magistrate Tang's reminder. We two have other things to do, so we'll leave first.”
When Magistrate Tang heard that they were leaving, he stood up and planned to see Ge Zian and the others out. “Let me see you two out. If you're free, please come here as guests!”
“Okay!” Ge Zian readily agreed.
After leaving the yamen and returning to the Sanmei Inn, before Wei Shuxuan could enter her room, she was blocked by Sima Yongheng who suddenly appeared. “Sister Xuan, I have something to tell you.”
Wei Shuxuan originally wanted to go and find Xin Zizhao, but there was nothing she could do. Since Sima Yongheng had something to tell her, she'd let him speak first.
“What's up, Yongheng? Why are you looking for me so urgently all of a sudden?”
Hearing Wei Shuxuan's concerned tone, Sima Yongheng felt a pang of sourness in his nose. After all, he was still a child, and it was inevitable that his psychological defense was weak. But he held it back. “Sister Xuan, I want to go to Baolan Town in a few days. Maybe I'll have to separate from you all.”
“Huh? Why do you want to go to Baolan Town?” Wei Shuxuan looked at Sima Yongheng puzzledly. What puzzled her the most was why they had to separate.
“Because I can't find my relatives here. Someone said that the jade pendant I have was produced in Baolan Town, so I want to go there and have a look... So we should separate... ” As he said this, Sima Yongheng felt a bit sad.
“There's no need! We're also going to Baolan Town in a few days!” Wei Shuxuan smiled.
Her words gave Sima Yongheng a glimmer of hope. He raised his head, his eyes shining. “Really? Why are you going to Baolan Town too?”
“Of course it's to investigate the case. But since we've already been to two towns, we might as well go to the other one too.”
Sima Yongheng didn't expect that Wei Shuxuan and the others were also going to Baolan Town. His heart suddenly brightened up. “Great! I can go out with Sister Xuan again!”
“By the way, Yongheng, have you ever thought about what you want to do after you find your family?”
“What do I want to do?”
“Yes, that's your thought,” Wei Shuxuan looked at Sima Yongheng who looked confused. “You can't have never thought about this, right?”