Yi Qing didn't know what Lu Tianxun had learned. If he knew something, shouldn't he take action?
After a long while, Lu Tianxun said, "I'll trouble Lady Xiao to deal with the commoners at the gate. The key now is to find Lin Mo."
Yi Qing had invited Lu Tianxun here precisely to handle those commoners. Now, he was asking her to do it. "If I could handle them, why would I have invited you?"
"Lady Xiao is extremely intelligent. You just don't want to deal with them," Lu Tianxun said as he bowed.
Yi Qing didn't want to be extremely intelligent. Being so meant she was doomed to deal with messy situations. "Then do you have any way to find Lin Mo?"
They had been searching for such a long time, yet Lin Mo seemed to have vanished into thin air. Apart from that cellar, there was not a single trace of him. Now that Lin Mo must be even more vigilant, finding him would be even more difficult.
Lu Tianxun also knew this. "To know the enemy and oneself, currently we know nothing about Lin Mo. But since he intends to refine human gu worms, he should be a very arrogant person. Arrogant people are usually very self - centered."
"You said 'usually'. Lin Mo almost died at the hands of Wu Xia. To be able to lie low for so many years, his character might be more steady than anyone else's," Yi Qing reminded.
Lu Tianxun thought it made sense. "Then I'll challenge him to lure him out."
"What if the snake doesn't come out?" Yi Qing thought this method was a bit stupid.
"We can give it a try," Lu Tianxun said, then bowed and left.
Yi Qing watched helplessly as Lu Tianxun left. The problem still remained hers.
"What should we do?" Xue Miao'er spread her hands. "I just climbed onto the wall and took a look. There are even more people outside."
Yi Qing thought for a while. "Ruo Hong, how are those storytellers I asked you to keep an eye on?"
Originally, she had wanted to keep an eye on those storytellers to confront the Mu family, but then Mu Lixue had fallen in love with someone else, and her surveillance had been in vain.
"I'm still keeping an eye on them."
Yi Qing thought for a moment. She had almost forgotten about this. Ruo Hong was still carrying out the task so seriously. "Go and call those storytellers here."
"Yes," Ruo Hong went down to give the order.
"Why does the lady call the storytellers here?" Xue Miao'er was very curious. "Does the lady think it's not noisy enough outside?"
"I think you're too idle," Yi Qing looked at Xue Miao'er, who seemed full and carefree. "Go and keep an eye on the wall for me."
Those storytellers had stopped fabricating stories about Yi Qing recently. Without anyone paying them, they didn't need to offend the Xiao Mansion. If the Xiao Mansion didn't pursue the matter, it would be fine. But if they did, they wouldn't be able to stay in the capital.
Not long after, a row of storytellers stood in the Xiao Mansion's courtyard, trembling. It had been so long. Why did the Xiao Mansion suddenly summon them? Was this a case of settling old scores?
"All of you storytellers are talents in your field. You used to fabricate such vivid stories about me. I'm quite pleased," Yi Qing looked at them.
One storyteller knelt down with a thud. "Someone told me to say those things."
As he knelt down, the rest of them knelt down one after another, feeling that their heads on their necks were a bit unstable.
"Don't be like this," Yi Qing looked at their expressions. "You should at least struggle a bit and defend yourselves."
They really didn't dare. General Xiao had pacified the Yunyang Academy at night. Last time, more than a dozen officials had lost their official positions. What were they? How dare they deny anything in front of Lady Xiao.
"I know I'm wrong. Please show mercy, Lady Xiao."
"I know I'm wrong. Please show mercy, Lady Xiao."
"I know I'm wrong. Please show mercy, Lady Xiao."
...
One by one, they apologized and kowtowed, each using a different self - reference, and their movements were not in sync. Yi Qing was almost driven crazy by her obsessive - compulsive disorder.
"Alright, alright," Yi Qing looked at their expressions. "I've called you here because I need your help."
The group of storytellers looked at each other, not knowing what Lady Xiao wanted them for.
"Did you see the people outside the gate when you came?" Yi Qing asked.
Everyone nodded hurriedly.
"I have a story here. You should fabricate it and go out to tell it. You must make it very engaging so that they won't have the mind to cause trouble at our gate," Yi Qing said directly.
The few storytellers were a bit slow to react and didn't know what this was about.
Yi Qing roughly told them about the feud between Lin Mo, who refined human gu worms, and Wu Min, as well as Xiang Beizheng from the Southern Border, who resorted to any means to stage a rebellion, and the imperial princess who usurped the throne.
The few storytellers listened with great interest.
"Go," Yi Qing said and let them go.
"And then?" The few storytellers actually asked in unison.
"Then?" Yi Qing looked at them. "I've called you here to tell stories, not to tell stories to you."
"The story must have an ending," a storyteller was itching to know.
"Ending?" Yi Qing hadn't thought about it yet. "For now, you just need to make the Saintess of Wu Xia seem extremely pitiful and the person who refined the human gu worms seem utterly heinous. We'll talk about the ending later."
The few of them looked at each other. They all wanted to monopolize this script, but they didn't dare. So they decided to cooperate.
They discussed for a while and added a few more characters. Each person would tell their part in the way of a stage play. It actually worked.
"Lady, is this okay?" Ruo Hong was a bit worried.
"This is a deadlock," Yi Qing knew why Lu Tianxun didn't try to explain. This matter was too troublesome. To explain, they would have to hand over Wu Min. If it wasn't handled properly, it would turn into an incident between the two countries.
The emperor had already received the national letter from the Southern Border, and the Southern Border's empress would come to the Great Jin Empire in person next year to show friendship. They would do their best regarding the matter of Lin Mo.
"Do their best. Now that the person is here with us, how can they do their best?" The emperor angrily threw down the national letter.
Xiao Jinghan knew this, but at least the Southern Border had shown their attitude.
"When will you catch that Lin Mo?" The emperor was getting impatient.
"I'll do my best," Xiao Jinghan bowed.
The emperor really wanted to throw the national letter at Xiao Jinghan's head.
It was time to go and check on Jin Xiao's health again. Yi Qing thought about it and decided not to go. Now that things had gotten so out of hand, anyone might change their plans at any time. She didn't want to take the risk.
At the gate of the general's mansion, the few storytellers were eloquent, telling the tragic life of a little girl. The people who had come to cause trouble didn't have the mind to do so anymore. One by one, they craned their necks to listen to the story.
This matter spread from one to ten and from ten to a hundred. Some people even came specifically to listen to the story.
The few of them didn't know the ending, so they could only exaggerate how miserable the Saintess of Wu Xia was. She was abandoned by the person she loved deeply, used by the person she trusted, and lost the things she cherished... In short, they added all the miserable things that people in the world thought of to her. Those who heard it shed tears, and those who listened were heart - broken.
Yi Qing also sat on the wall and listened. These storytellers were really talented. If it were in the future, they would be worth millions in copyright.
Duke Di heard about it and came to take a look. He really saw a sea of people outside the general's mansion, all listening to the storytellers.
"Qing'er," Duke Di entered the door and saw Yi Qing lying on the wall. "If you want to listen, you can just invite the storytellers in."
Yi Qing was startled by her grandfather. "It's better to enjoy it with others. It sounds great here." As she said, she climbed down the ladder. "Grandfather, do you have something to do?"