Thinking back about that day, Jinxia closed her eyes and tried to focus, carefully pulling her memories back, finding the image of that person.
While thinking, she took the brush, dipped it in the ink and began to draw on the paper, one stroke after another, looking very serious.
Lu Yi and Cen Fu stood on the side, avoiding bothering her.
After meal time had passed, Jinxia finally put down her brush, looked at her own painting, then worriedly added a few more strokes. At last, she got up, let out a long sigh and said, “I’m finished.”
Lu Yi walked over to take a look. There was a long moment of silence, while he was stroking Jinxia’s head.
Seeing this, Cen Fu also walked over to take a look, glanced at the drawing and became dumbfounded, “This… Isn’t this Yaksha?”
*[Yaksha = It is a very scary, monstrous looking figure, TN]
The person on the paper was drawn with all the details: nose, eyes… but unfortunately, the nose was crooked, the eyes were slanted, and the other things were also out of place, causing the proportions of the face to be messy.
“Nonsense, how can there be such an ugly Yaksha?” Lu Yi sighed.
“Don’t just look at the outside appearance, you have to look at the charisma and the work I put in when drawing this. The important thing is the drawing is done.” Jinxia tried to reassure herself. A moment later, she said hesitantly, “Or… Should I add a few more strokes?”
“No, I’m afraid it would become a nightmare.” Lu Yi pulled out a chair, then he laid out another piece of paper, “You describe, I’ll draw.”
“You can draw?” Jinxia said in surprise.
Lu Yi looked at her impatiently, “At least better than you. Describe the characteristics.”
“His face’s shape was wide but narrow underneath, his eyes were goat-like, with more whites broad cheeks, he had a yellowish beard on the side and a small nose.” While talking, Jinxia tilted her head looking at Lu Yi’s drawing, saying in surprise, “You can really draw? Your drawing is even better than my master’s.”
Cen Fu let out a laugh, “Based on my knowledge, no one in the Capital can draw as well as our Young Master. It’s a pity he only draws for work and, other than that, he doesn’t draw at all.”
Without raising his head, Lu Yi said, “I’m always around men everyday, where is the mood to draw?”
Jinxia approached him, laughing and saying seductively, “Daren, when we return to the Capital, if you have time, you can draw me. My mother promised to make me new clothes, I will look very pretty.”
Lu Yi tilted his head and looked at her, smiled a little, not answering her request, then turned his head back to his drawing.
“You’re not answering, then I’ll take it as a yes.” Jinxia stared at him.
Lu Yi remained silent, and continued to draw. Finally, he put down his pen and asked, “Is this similar to the person?”
Jinxia observed the drawing, “About fifty percent of it. The eyes should be smaller, the eyebrows less thicker, the nostrils bigger and the corners of the lips should bend downwards.”
Lu Yi nodded his head and took out a new piece of paper.
Jinxia, who was on the side, saw him pick up the brush and focus on his drawing again. She quietly pulled Cen Fu on the side and whispered, “Is there anything that your Young Master can’t do?”
Cen Fu felt her questions were a little funny, “Why? Do you think he has too many advantages?”
“Our Da Yang can cook…. He definitely can’t, right?”
“A gentleman doesn’t go near the kitchen, so it’s natural that he doesn’t know.”
“Brother, don’t mock me. In JinYiWei, there’s no such thing as a gentleman.” Jinxia looked at Cen Fu’s tightened eyebrows, hurriedly tapped his shoulder and added, “In this world, it’s very hard for a gentleman to survive.”
Cen Fu cautiously avoided her hand and glanced at Lu Yi uncomfortably, glad he didn’t see that.
“The drawing is finished, come and take a look.” Lu Yi called out for Jinxia.
Jinxia leaned forward and observed the drawing, her voice filled with joy, “It’s him, this is him! It’s exactly the same. You know, those notices and wanted posters are not drawn as good as yours.”
When the ink dried up, Lu Yi handed the drawing over to Cen Fu and said, “This person speaks Japanese, he must’ve stayed in their area long enough to pick up the language. Try to investigate his location, the sooner the better.”
Cen Fu took the picture, nodded and left.
“Why are you suddenly investigating him?” Jinxia was surprised that they didn’t investigate him when they were in Yangzhou but instead he started investigating once arrived in Zhejiang.
“A’Rui said, he saw him on Yan ShiFan’s ship.”
Jinxia was shocked, “The poison in A’Rui is Japanese poison, was it from him? I didn’t think that person would be so bad. Is he trying to get revenge because we caught him before?”
“I’m worried that’s not the only reason…” Lu Yi did not continue.
“A’Rui said this could be a trap, there are people who want to harm you, did he mean Yan ShiFan? Then has this person a connection to Yan ShiFan?”
‘The more you learn about the government, the more dangerous it is’. Lu Yi remembered these words, especially in their current situation where everything was still unclear, he didn’t want to involve Jinxia, therefore he said, “Let’s slowly investigate, things will be clearer.”
There was a hidden meaning behind his words. Jinxia became suspicious and carefully examined his face expression.
“What? Are you suspecting me?” Lu Yi glanced at her and laughed.
As Jinxia was about to speak, YangYue knocked on the door and came in with the hangover soup. Lu Yi gave orders to him, “You try to see if those two ladies need anything, if they’re hungry or thirsty and provide them what they need. All expenses will be covered by me.”
In YangYue’s heart, he was a little hesitant but did not dare to ask too many questions. He just glanced at Jinxia and then walked out.
“Brother, did you decide to send them back tomorrow morning?” She asked.
“Why do I need to send them back?” He furrowed his eyebrows, “General Hu sent them with sincere intentions. If we send them back, it wouldn’t be too good.”
“You’re really accepting them… You… .Don’t forget that A’Rui said this is a trap and that you shouldn’t accept anything from Hu Zongxian.” Jinxia tightened her eyebrows, “Or could it be that you really like those two ladies? So you’re not willing to send them back?”
Lu Yi approached her, keeping his serious look, “Are you being jealous right now?”
“I… Of course not.” Although she denied it, in her heart she couldn’t help but feel inferior to the two ladies; in terms of face and body, she was not a match to them.
At this time, Jinxia was suddenly pulled into Lu Yi’s embrace. His tone sounded satisfied, “It’s good that you’re jealous. You keep being intimate and calling them ‘Sisters’, I thought you didn’t have me in your heart.”
Jinxia tried to break free from his hug but at the end, she couldn’t, so she calmly said, “Just say that I am jealous… At least, then you won’t try to sneak into their room in the middle of the night.”
Lu Yi hugged her tighter, his head buried comfortably on her shoulder. After listening to her words, he couldn’t help but laugh.
“What are you laughing at? Did I guess your plan correctly?”
Jinxia raised her hand and pushed his head out.
“The one who likes to sneak into people’s rooms at night is you, not me.” He slightly lifted his head, looked at her and laughed.
“When did I….” As she was about to argue, she suddenly remembered that time when, because of Zhai Lanye’s problem, she sneaked into his room in the middle of the night. At this point, she immediately closed her mouth to avoid being embarrassed.
Lu Yi continued his words,“You finally remember, huh?”
“What? At that time, it was an urgent matter, I had to do something quickly, there was no other choice… I was right to do so.” Jinxia argued but her face was turning red.
“Be honest, at that time, you were planning something else, right?” Lu Yi teased her.
Jinxia’s face was getting redder because of his words. With all her strength, she escaped from his embrace, “How could that be! Brother, you drank too much. Hurry up and drink the hangover soup, then rest early.” As she was saying that, she took wide steps towards the door.
Lu Yi leaned back on his chair and laughed, silently letting out a long sigh. ‘Tonight, I was able to distract her away from the problem but because she’s very clever and based on her temperament, I’m not sure how long I can keep this from her.’
*[It’s because Lu Yi doesn’t want to involve Jinxia in political affairs, more specifically Yan ShiFan but it’s always so hard to keep things away from her because she would investigate things on her own, so that’s what he’s afraid about, TN]
***
The next morning, something happened.
A shiny black coffin was placed in the middle of the road, at least ten feet away from the Eastern gate of the city. However, because this type of item usually brought bad luck, no passerby dared to move or touch it. At that moment, a person suddenly paid attention to the coffin and realized there was dust around it, along with dark red blood, then he went and reported it to the local officers.
“Then, what happened?” Jinxia took a bite of her bun and looked at the inn’s servant, “After the coffin was open, who was inside?”
The servant used a handkerchief to wipe his sweat, afraid to startle the people around him, lowered his voice and said, “I heard that it was Xia Zheng, General Hu’s adopted son and his body was cut into pieces. When General Hu heard the news, he immediately rushed over and carried the coffin back to his residence. Then, he searched all over the city for an expert in sewing, who can put all the pieces of the body back together, so that he can be buried as a whole.”
Chun Yumin who was sitting next to him had never heard of something like this and she was shocked to the point that her face turned pale.
Lu Yi said nothing. It was clear that this was a form of revenge from the pirates. Hu Zongxian had beheaded Wang Zhi and his son, therefore, the pirate members had killed his adopted son.
“Cen Fu, prepare some funeral funds, then come with me to Hu Residence.” He gave orders.
Jinxia hurriedly said, “I want to come too.”
Lu Yi shook his head, “You stay.”
“I can examine the corpse.” Jinxia tried to argue.
Chun Yumin turned her head and looked at her in utter surprise.
“Right now, he is sad about losing a child, he would never let us examine the body.” Lu Yi reminded her, “You just wait here for my orders, don’t cause any trouble.”
Jinxia was helpless, lowered her head and finished her bowl of rice porridge. After waiting for Lu Yi and Cen Fu to leave and seeing Cen Shou distracted by the horses, she turned around and said to YangYue, “Da Yang, let’s go have a look.”
YangYue guessed her plan at once, “You want to see where the coffin was placed.”
“I just want to see for a bit, this is a big case.” Not being able to witness the scene made Jinxia’s body itch, “The person who placed the coffin must’ve escaped, we should go look for clues.”
YangYue hesitated, “It’s not good… Lu Daren gave an order for you to stay….”
“Just this once, I won’t cause any trouble.” Jinxia continued to urge him, “Da Yang, you’re a LiuShanmen, you should know the longer we wait, more people will pass by that scene, the less clues we’ll have.”
At this time, YangYue gave up trying to argue with her, stood up and said, “Promise me first, we’re only going there to take a look, then we go home.”
“You….” Chun Yumin tried to stop Jinxia.
“Don’t worry, we’ll be back very soon.”
Jinxia pulled YangYue away and, as soon as they walked out of the door, their shadows quickly disappeared.
Cen Shou finally came back from feeding the horses. Seeing that only Chun Yumin was there in the inn, he asked suspiciously, “Ms. Chun, where are the others?”
Chun Yumin could only tell him what happened.
“These little LiuShanmen, they think they’re so right, huh?” Cen Shou shook his head and continued to curse them.
Thinking back about that day, Jinxia closed her eyes and tried to focus, carefully pulling her memories back, finding the image of that person.
While thinking, she took the brush, dipped it in the ink and began to draw on the paper, one stroke after another, looking very serious.
Lu Yi and Cen Fu stood on the side, avoiding bothering her.
After meal time had passed, Jinxia finally put down her brush, looked at her own painting, then worriedly added a few more strokes. At last, she got up, let out a long sigh and said, “I’m finished.”
Lu Yi walked over to take a look. There was a long moment of silence, while he was stroking Jinxia’s head.
Seeing this, Cen Fu also walked over to take a look, glanced at the drawing and became dumbfounded, “This… Isn’t this Yaksha?”
*[Yaksha = It is a very scary, monstrous looking figure, TN]
The person on the paper was drawn with all the details: nose, eyes… but unfortunately, the nose was crooked, the eyes were slanted, and the other things were also out of place, causing the proportions of the face to be messy.
“Nonsense, how can there be such an ugly Yaksha?” Lu Yi sighed.
“Don’t just look at the outside appearance, you have to look at the charisma and the work I put in when drawing this. The important thing is the drawing is done.” Jinxia tried to reassure herself. A moment later, she said hesitantly, “Or… Should I add a few more strokes?”
“No, I’m afraid it would become a nightmare.” Lu Yi pulled out a chair, then he laid out another piece of paper, “You describe, I’ll draw.”
“You can draw?” Jinxia said in surprise.
Lu Yi looked at her impatiently, “At least better than you. Describe the characteristics.”
“His face’s shape was wide but narrow underneath, his eyes were goat-like, with more whites broad cheeks, he had a yellowish beard on the side and a small nose.” While talking, Jinxia tilted her head looking at Lu Yi’s drawing, saying in surprise, “You can really draw? Your drawing is even better than my master’s.”
Cen Fu let out a laugh, “Based on my knowledge, no one in the Capital can draw as well as our Young Master. It’s a pity he only draws for work and, other than that, he doesn’t draw at all.”
Without raising his head, Lu Yi said, “I’m always around men everyday, where is the mood to draw?”
Jinxia approached him, laughing and saying seductively, “Daren, when we return to the Capital, if you have time, you can draw me. My mother promised to make me new clothes, I will look very pretty.”
Lu Yi tilted his head and looked at her, smiled a little, not answering her request, then turned his head back to his drawing.
“You’re not answering, then I’ll take it as a yes.” Jinxia stared at him.
Lu Yi remained silent, and continued to draw. Finally, he put down his pen and asked, “Is this similar to the person?”
Jinxia observed the drawing, “About fifty percent of it. The eyes should be smaller, the eyebrows less thicker, the nostrils bigger and the corners of the lips should bend downwards.”
Lu Yi nodded his head and took out a new piece of paper.
Jinxia, who was on the side, saw him pick up the brush and focus on his drawing again. She quietly pulled Cen Fu on the side and whispered, “Is there anything that your Young Master can’t do?”
Cen Fu felt her questions were a little funny, “Why? Do you think he has too many advantages?”
“Our Da Yang can cook…. He definitely can’t, right?”
“A gentleman doesn’t go near the kitchen, so it’s natural that he doesn’t know.”
“Brother, don’t mock me. In JinYiWei, there’s no such thing as a gentleman.” Jinxia looked at Cen Fu’s tightened eyebrows, hurriedly tapped his shoulder and added, “In this world, it’s very hard for a gentleman to survive.”
Cen Fu cautiously avoided her hand and glanced at Lu Yi uncomfortably, glad he didn’t see that.
“The drawing is finished, come and take a look.” Lu Yi called out for Jinxia.
Jinxia leaned forward and observed the drawing, her voice filled with joy, “It’s him, this is him! It’s exactly the same. You know, those notices and wanted posters are not drawn as good as yours.”
When the ink dried up, Lu Yi handed the drawing over to Cen Fu and said, “This person speaks Japanese, he must’ve stayed in their area long enough to pick up the language. Try to investigate his location, the sooner the better.”
Cen Fu took the picture, nodded and left.
“Why are you suddenly investigating him?” Jinxia was surprised that they didn’t investigate him when they were in Yangzhou but instead he started investigating once arrived in Zhejiang.
“A’Rui said, he saw him on Yan ShiFan’s ship.”
Jinxia was shocked, “The poison in A’Rui is Japanese poison, was it from him? I didn’t think that person would be so bad. Is he trying to get revenge because we caught him before?”
“I’m worried that’s not the only reason…” Lu Yi did not continue.
“A’Rui said this could be a trap, there are people who want to harm you, did he mean Yan ShiFan? Then has this person a connection to Yan ShiFan?”
‘The more you learn about the government, the more dangerous it is’. Lu Yi remembered these words, especially in their current situation where everything was still unclear, he didn’t want to involve Jinxia, therefore he said, “Let’s slowly investigate, things will be clearer.”
There was a hidden meaning behind his words. Jinxia became suspicious and carefully examined his face expression.
“What? Are you suspecting me?” Lu Yi glanced at her and laughed.
As Jinxia was about to speak, YangYue knocked on the door and came in with the hangover soup. Lu Yi gave orders to him, “You try to see if those two ladies need anything, if they’re hungry or thirsty and provide them what they need. All expenses will be covered by me.”
In YangYue’s heart, he was a little hesitant but did not dare to ask too many questions. He just glanced at Jinxia and then walked out.
“Brother, did you decide to send them back tomorrow morning?” She asked.
“Why do I need to send them back?” He furrowed his eyebrows, “General Hu sent them with sincere intentions. If we send them back, it wouldn’t be too good.”
“You’re really accepting them… You… .Don’t forget that A’Rui said this is a trap and that you shouldn’t accept anything from Hu Zongxian.” Jinxia tightened her eyebrows, “Or could it be that you really like those two ladies? So you’re not willing to send them back?”
Lu Yi approached her, keeping his serious look, “Are you being jealous right now?”
“I… Of course not.” Although she denied it, in her heart she couldn’t help but feel inferior to the two ladies; in terms of face and body, she was not a match to them.
At this time, Jinxia was suddenly pulled into Lu Yi’s embrace. His tone sounded satisfied, “It’s good that you’re jealous. You keep being intimate and calling them ‘Sisters’, I thought you didn’t have me in your heart.”
Jinxia tried to break free from his hug but at the end, she couldn’t, so she calmly said, “Just say that I am jealous… At least, then you won’t try to sneak into their room in the middle of the night.”
Lu Yi hugged her tighter, his head buried comfortably on her shoulder. After listening to her words, he couldn’t help but laugh.
“What are you laughing at? Did I guess your plan correctly?”
Jinxia raised her hand and pushed his head out.
“The one who likes to sneak into people’s rooms at night is you, not me.” He slightly lifted his head, looked at her and laughed.
“When did I….” As she was about to argue, she suddenly remembered that time when, because of Zhai Lanye’s problem, she sneaked into his room in the middle of the night. At this point, she immediately closed her mouth to avoid being embarrassed.
Lu Yi continued his words,“You finally remember, huh?”
“What? At that time, it was an urgent matter, I had to do something quickly, there was no other choice… I was right to do so.” Jinxia argued but her face was turning red.
“Be honest, at that time, you were planning something else, right?” Lu Yi teased her.
Jinxia’s face was getting redder because of his words. With all her strength, she escaped from his embrace, “How could that be! Brother, you drank too much. Hurry up and drink the hangover soup, then rest early.” As she was saying that, she took wide steps towards the door.
Lu Yi leaned back on his chair and laughed, silently letting out a long sigh. ‘Tonight, I was able to distract her away from the problem but because she’s very clever and based on her temperament, I’m not sure how long I can keep this from her.’
*[It’s because Lu Yi doesn’t want to involve Jinxia in political affairs, more specifically Yan ShiFan but it’s always so hard to keep things away from her because she would investigate things on her own, so that’s what he’s afraid about, TN]
***
The next morning, something happened.
A shiny black coffin was placed in the middle of the road, at least ten feet away from the Eastern gate of the city. However, because this type of item usually brought bad luck, no passerby dared to move or touch it. At that moment, a person suddenly paid attention to the coffin and realized there was dust around it, along with dark red blood, then he went and reported it to the local officers.
“Then, what happened?” Jinxia took a bite of her bun and looked at the inn’s servant, “After the coffin was open, who was inside?”
The servant used a handkerchief to wipe his sweat, afraid to startle the people around him, lowered his voice and said, “I heard that it was Xia Zheng, General Hu’s adopted son and his body was cut into pieces. When General Hu heard the news, he immediately rushed over and carried the coffin back to his residence. Then, he searched all over the city for an expert in sewing, who can put all the pieces of the body back together, so that he can be buried as a whole.”
Chun Yumin who was sitting next to him had never heard of something like this and she was shocked to the point that her face turned pale.
Lu Yi said nothing. It was clear that this was a form of revenge from the pirates. Hu Zongxian had beheaded Wang Zhi and his son, therefore, the pirate members had killed his adopted son.
“Cen Fu, prepare some funeral funds, then come with me to Hu Residence.” He gave orders.
Jinxia hurriedly said, “I want to come too.”
Lu Yi shook his head, “You stay.”
“I can examine the corpse.” Jinxia tried to argue.
Chun Yumin turned her head and looked at her in utter surprise.
“Right now, he is sad about losing a child, he would never let us examine the body.” Lu Yi reminded her, “You just wait here for my orders, don’t cause any trouble.”
Jinxia was helpless, lowered her head and finished her bowl of rice porridge. After waiting for Lu Yi and Cen Fu to leave and seeing Cen Shou distracted by the horses, she turned around and said to YangYue, “Da Yang, let’s go have a look.”
YangYue guessed her plan at once, “You want to see where the coffin was placed.”
“I just want to see for a bit, this is a big case.” Not being able to witness the scene made Jinxia’s body itch, “The person who placed the coffin must’ve escaped, we should go look for clues.”
YangYue hesitated, “It’s not good… Lu Daren gave an order for you to stay….”
“Just this once, I won’t cause any trouble.” Jinxia continued to urge him, “Da Yang, you’re a LiuShanmen, you should know the longer we wait, more people will pass by that scene, the less clues we’ll have.”
At this time, YangYue gave up trying to argue with her, stood up and said, “Promise me first, we’re only going there to take a look, then we go home.”
“You….” Chun Yumin tried to stop Jinxia.
“Don’t worry, we’ll be back very soon.”
Jinxia pulled YangYue away and, as soon as they walked out of the door, their shadows quickly disappeared.
Cen Shou finally came back from feeding the horses. Seeing that only Chun Yumin was there in the inn, he asked suspiciously, “Ms. Chun, where are the others?”
Chun Yumin could only tell him what happened.
“These little LiuShanmen, they think they’re so right, huh?” Cen Shou shook his head and continued to curse them.
