In one of the private rooms on the second floor of the teahouse, Ji Lingchuan concealed his figure behind the window. His eyes were fixed on the commoners gathered in front of the bulletin board below. His attention was caught by a rather petite figure.
The person wore a veil hat, and the hanging light gauze obscured their face. They were also dressed in the coarse cloth skirt of an ordinary commoner, but Ji Lingchuan recognized at a glance that it was Song Yihuan.
Did she like him so much that she would disguise herself and come to the Western Market to check the result of his competition with Gu Yunzheng?
He wondered if she had come here to see Gu Yunzheng or him.
Ji Lingchuan didn't realize that a surge of jealousy had welled up in his heart. His fingers unconsciously tightened on the window sill.
At this moment, a young and smiling voice came from behind him. "It's really a pity. It was just a little bit, and cousin and Scholar Gu could have determined the winner."
Ji Lingchuan's gaze followed the figure that had captured his heart until it completely disappeared into the crowd. Then he turned around and looked behind him.
In the elegant room of the teahouse, Ji Zihuan, in disguise, was lazily reclined on a chair, holding two stacks of papers and examining them repeatedly.
"I'm really surprised, cousin. I didn't expect you to take on Scholar Gu's challenge. Let me guess. Is it because of Miss Song, the fourth daughter of the Song family?"
Ji Lingchuan returned to the table and sat down. He poured himself a cup of tea and replied, "It has nothing to do with her. Gu Yunzheng publicly provoked me. If I didn't accept, I'm afraid some people would gossip about the Prince Ning's Mansion."
"Yes, yes, yes. Cousin, you value your reputation and etiquette the most. You wouldn't have any feelings for your wife's younger sister."
Ji Zihuan said casually. He tapped his finger on the table and changed the topic. "What do you think of the case on the wanted notice, cousin?"
Today was indeed the third day of Ji Lingchuan's competition with Gu Yunzheng, and the result should have been announced. However, a major case had occurred in the capital city last night. As the wanted notice said, five people had died in the capital city overnight, and the time of death was only a quarter of an hour apart. Moreover, the places of death were very far apart.
Even Ji Lingchuan couldn't have committed the crimes across such a long distance in such a short time. But the details of the crime scenes proved that the culprit was the same person, which was extremely puzzling.
This case had been urgently presented to the emperor's desk by the government office early in the morning, which had caught Ji Zihuan's attention. He immediately asked Ji Lingchuan to accompany him out of the palace incognito to visit the crime scenes in person.
Ji Lingchuan said in a deep voice, "This person was able to commit the crimes in such a short time, which means that this person not only has martial arts skills but also is very familiar with the capital city."
"Most importantly, although the last woman who was killed was only the concubine of a ninth - rank official, the identities of the people this person targets seem to be getting higher and higher."
At present, they still didn't know if the culprit would commit another crime or who the next target would be. But just the fact that the culprit was able to kill five people in such a short time was enough to arouse Ji Lingchuan's attention and vigilance.
Ji Zihuan said, "Cousin, although this case is the responsibility of the government office, I still want to hand it over to you."
Ji Lingchuan agreed. "Don't worry. I will cooperate with the government office and catch the culprit as soon as possible."
Song Yihuan knew nothing about this. At this moment, she hadn't completely left the Western Market. Instead, she came to a bookstore at the end of the market.
She looked up at the signboard of the bookstore, which read "Youyang Bookstore" in big characters.
It had been a long time since she last came to the bookstore. She wondered if the boss still remembered her.
Steeling herself, Song Yihuan stepped inside.
There were only a few customers in the bookstore. The boss was dozing with his eyes closed on a rattan chair behind the counter. Song Yihuan smiled and called out, "Boss Sheng, long time no see."
The bookstore boss was suddenly awakened. When he opened his eyes and saw Song Yihuan standing in front of him, he was also overjoyed.
"Ah, Miss Rou, it's you!"
The boss got up and warmly greeted her. "You haven't been here for a while! What have you been up to recently? How's your family?"
Song Yihuan worked as a copyist outside and didn't use her real name. She only said that her surname was Rou. Boss Sheng had always affectionately called her "Miss Rou".
Song Yihuan avoided the boss's questions and only said, "Boss Sheng, my family has encountered some problems recently, and I'm a bit short of money. Could you please settle my previous payment for me?"
Boss Sheng really liked Song Yihuan, not because she was a young girl, but because she had beautiful handwriting. She could imitate the calligraphy of many famous masters, and she could copy books very quickly, much more efficiently than other copyists.
Hearing that her mother had died early and that she had a younger brother with a heart disease, Boss Sheng felt sorry for her being alone and had always taken good care of her.
Hearing that she was short of money, Boss Sheng immediately said, "No problem. You sit here and wait a while. I'll ask the accountant to settle the accounts for you right away."
Song Yihuan breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank you, Boss Sheng."
While Boss Sheng went to find the accountant, Song Yihuan casually looked around the bookstore.
Suddenly, she sharply noticed a new book in the counter. There were only four characters on the new book - "Yangshan Miscellany".
Seeing these four characters, Song Yihuan's eyes suddenly widened, and an expression of disbelief appeared on her face.
That was -
"Miss Rou, sorry to keep you waiting. This is the payment that I haven't settled for you. It amounts to ten taels of silver in total. Here you are."
Boss Sheng's voice stopped Song Yihuan from rushing into the counter. But this unexpected discovery had already disturbed her mind. Even though she tried her best to control herself, there was still a slight tremor in her voice.
"Ten taels of silver?" Song Yihuan said. She tightly clenched her palm. "Did the accountant make a mistake? I remember that the unpaid part was only eight taels and fifty strings of cash."
Boss Sheng smiled calmly. "No mistake. I've checked. It's ten taels of silver. Some of the books you copied before sold very well, so your payment has been increased. You just haven't been here recently, so you don't know about it."
Song Yihuan knew that this was because Boss Sheng had heard that she was short of money and had deliberately increased her payment.
Her throat tightened. She was touched by Boss Sheng's kindness. Her nose felt sour, and her eyes became moist.
It was really strange. The people who were closest to her only brought her harm, while those who had no blood relation to her always took care of her, making her occasionally feel that life wasn't so bad.
Taking the money bag that Boss Sheng handed over, Song Yihuan solemnly bowed to Boss Sheng. "Thank you for your care, Boss Sheng."
Remembering the "Yangshan Miscellany" hidden in the counter, Song Yihuan tentatively asked, "I wonder if you have any new jobs here recently, Boss Sheng? I still want to earn some more silver."
Boss Sheng slapped his head suddenly. "Thanks to your reminder. I really do have a job that I want to give to you!"