Morning.
Lu Wuxie rolled out of bed, his eyes circled with dark shadows.
He slept on his side, but each time he fell asleep, he forgot he was injured. He slept and woke throughout the night, enduring the pain until dawn.
He stood up, looking at the withered branches and yellow leaves outside the window. With a sigh, he walked to the washbasin and stared at the clear water, lost in thought.
It wasn't until a cloth with a medicinal scent was handed to him that he snapped back to reality.
"Lord Zhong, how..."
"Hurry and wash up, then eat something. We're going out," Zhong Li placed the cloth in his uninjured hand and turned to walk out of the room.
Lu Wuxie was still dazed. By the time he reacted, he was already in the carriage.
The carriage was driven by a young yamen runner sent from the office, who was very familiar with Linzhou.
"Lord Zhong, where are we going?" Lu Wuxie asked.
Zhong Li said, "Tomorrow is the Zhongyuan Festival."
A layer of frost instantly spread across Lu Wuxie's usually calm face.
He lifted the curtain and looked outside. It was just a day, and Luohua Street was lively again. The streets were bustling with people, and most vendors were selling paper money and incense. A few small stalls sold trinkets to please people.
"I just asked Little Eleven, and he said they don't have a river here. If they want to mourn distant deceased relatives, they release sky lanterns," Zhong Li said, looking at Lu Wuxie's refined profile.
Lu Wuxie followed Zhong Li's gaze to the driver's seat. He knew that the "Little Eleven" she mentioned was the young runner in front, who had just come of age and was the youngest in the yamen. He was the eleventh child in his family, so everyone called him Little Eleven.
"There are no temples in Linzhou, so he's taking us to where they sell sky lanterns," Zhong Li explained when he remained silent.
"Li'er," Lu Wuxie took a deep breath, his voice a little hoarse, "May I call you Li'er today?"
Zhong Li pursed her lips, implicitly agreeing.
Lu Wuxie forced a smile. "I was thinking a few days ago that since I couldn't go to Lingshan to mourn my mother in Linzhou, I didn't expect the day to come so soon."
"It's alright. If the Princess has a spirit in heaven, she should understand that you are on official business," Zhong Li comforted him.
"Xie Yunxi is dead. I don't know if my father will remember," Lu Wuxie murmured.
Zhong Li's fingertips trembled slightly. She longed to hold him close, but her reason told her not to.
"Actually, there's another reason for coming out today," she said, telling Lu Wuxie about what Lin Jin had reported to her last night.
Lu Wuxie could control his emotions very well most of the time.
Upon hearing Zhong Li talk about the important matter, he changed from his sorrowful mood. "So, Li'er's intention is..."
Zhong Li replied, "Logically, it's normal for the young master to look for his lost carriage, especially since it contained five hundred taels of silver, the money for redeeming Shen Tu Jue's remaining body parts.
However, they attempted to assassinate you when you found the carriage. I think they have been suspecting our identities all along."
Lu Wuxie nodded in agreement. "Fortunately, I was injured, and they didn't continue to pursue me. This has somewhat dispelled their concerns. After all, if I were the real Shang Yuanhong, they wouldn't want me dead before they had squeezed all the profit out of me."
"But these criminals are cautious. They won't be completely convinced of our identities based on one or two incidents. We can use this festival to strengthen their trust in us," Zhong Li said, taking a map of Linzhou from her embrace and placing it on the table.
Lu Wuxie leaned in to examine it.
Zhong Li said, "The Linzhou Prefectural Office fears that releasing sky lanterns might cause a fire, so there are strict regulations on where they can be released."
As she spoke, she pointed to a spot north of Black Alley.
"This is where they release sky lanterns. It's a small hill with a wide field of vision. The area near Black Alley also has the fewest buildings, so the damage from a fire would be smaller."
Lu Wuxie glanced where Zhong Li pointed, then pointed to a spot near her. "I was chasing the carriage to this place. By chance, I happened to pass by here after buying things for the Zhongyuan Festival. We can also inquire about things from multiple sources."
"Mm," Zhong Li said, taking a piece of clothing from a nearby cabinet and putting it into Lu Wuxie's arms.
"This is..." Lu Wuxie looked at it, feeling it didn't resemble the usual clothing from Yingzhou.
"Do you remember the clothes Shan Ji wore? It was a combination of the clothing from Bei Di and Nan Yue. I think these clothes are windproof, so I bought two. Especially the women's ones, they are elegant and luxurious. Wearing them according to local customs might increase their trust in us."
Zhong Li said, holding up a woman's garment and gesturing with it.
Lu Wuxie looked at the dark blue fur-lined cloak in his hand, then at Zhong Li's white fox fur-collared outer garment. Her skin was already fair, and now, accentuated like this, her cheeks appeared even more translucent and delicate.
He quickly put on the garment in his hand and said a few words to the young runner driving the carriage.
As the carriage slowly stopped, he lifted the curtain and stepped out, looking at the lively Luohua Street, his hands clasped behind his back, waiting.
After about the time it takes for a cup of tea to steep, the carriage curtain was opened again, and Zhong Li appeared in his eyes, dressed in a white garment.
Zhong Li rarely wore makeup when handling cases. Today, she had applied a light touch, making her look even more radiant and stunning, like a lotus emerging from water, or a noble lady from a painting.
Linzhou did not have a large population, so the atmosphere for the Zhongyuan Festival was certainly not as grand as in Jincheng.
The market was not large; one could see the end at a glance.
Zhong Li bought some paper ingots and paper money, a headscarf, and colorful clothes. She walked with small, shy steps, following behind Lu Wuxie.
During this time, when people called out to her, wanting to sell her other items, she would tug at Lu Wuxie and ask for his opinion with a blush.
Linzhou was close to Bei Di, and there was a custom of sacrificing cattle and sheep for ancestor worship during the Zhongyuan Festival. Along the street, people would from time to time drag live animals and slit their throats on the spot, spilling their blood. This startled Zhong Li like a startled bird. Whenever she saw it, she would instinctively burrow into Lu Wuxie's arms.
In a restaurant, a pair of eyes watched the man and woman on the street.
One man, eating the pork shank in his hand, kept laughing mockingly at Zhong Li's behavior. "Heh heh... Boss, you're always so suspicious. You keep saying Shen Tu Jue's identity is not simple and that he might have alerted people from Jincheng.
Look now, that girl on the street looks so scared and timid. She must be a little bitch from Yingzhou to act like that.
If you search all over Bei Di and Linzhou, can you find another person with this personality?"
He said this, licking the pork grease from his mouth, and looked at Zhong Li's retreating figure with a lewd gaze.
The man called "Boss" glanced at him, pondered for a moment, and said, "Better safe than sorry. Sometimes, don't be fooled by the performance of others."
"Hey!" The man eating pork shank waved his hand. "Didn't San Niang test it yesterday? That man is also a pretty boy. He was so badly injured and had no martial arts foundation at all. You're overthinking it, Boss.
Isn't that right, San Niang?"
San Niang glanced at him and snorted, "Hmph! Infatuated with lust!"
"I'm lustful?" The man was so angry that he threw the pork shank onto the table. "It's because you won't sleep with me! Otherwise, would I be looking at other women?"
"What did you say?" San Niang heard this and got up angrily, slamming the table.
"Enough!" The man in the lead, called Boss, shouted sternly, "They've already gone far, probably to release sky lanterns. Let's follow them."