One more test
“Uncle? Is that uncle?” He Yan showed a surprised look, touching here and there, not knowing where her hands were wandering, grabbing things with open hands, “Where are you?”
Xiao Jue watched her acting with his cold eyes and said sarcastically, “Weren’t you able to shoot arrows while blindfolded, just by listening to the sound? Wh can’t you hear where I am?”
He Yan’s movements stopped abruptly. After a while, she smiled wryly. “I was afraid you would feel embarrassed. Uncle, were you bathing?”
The young man’s eyes were open as he looked ahead without blinking. Even though he had put on his clothes at the moment, Xiao Jue felt uncomfortable.
“Where did you go just now?” he asked.
“The latrine. Big Brother Fei Nu went out and I couldn’t trust the people here, so I felt my way out to relieve. Uncle, why are you back so early today?” He Yan asked, “Big Brother Fei Nu hasn’t come back yet?”
Xiao Jue turned sideways, put on the outer garments, and said, “Don’t run around here.”
He Yan looked at him, thinking of the conversation between Yuan Baozhen and his servant that she had just heard, and said, “Uncle, have you been investigating the assassins at the night banquet these few days? Have you found anything?”
Xiao Jue glanced at her and asked, “What do you want to say?”
“Do you think it’s possible… that someone in this mansion wanted to kill you? You see, although Sun Zhixian said he didn’t know, the matter happened in his mansion. How could he know nothing? Right? And Imperial secretary Yuan,” He Yan racked her brains to imply, “I think he is also very strange…”
“Oh, what’s strange about him?” Xiao Jue asked.
He Yan di no’t know how to answer this, and could not say that she went up to the roof of the room of the two of them and overheard them talking and that she was blinded by the guard next to him in her previous life. He Yan had no choice but to say, “Master Yuan came to me once and asked me some weird questions. If you want me to explain, I just have only one explanation that it felt a little off to me. Uncle, you should be warier of them.”
The young man fumbled for a chair and sat down. His tone was very serious, and Xiao Jue’s eyes flashed with surprise. He slowly asked, “You told me to watch out for Yuan Baozhen?”
“Yeah, just think, if it’s really them who wanted to hurt you, there will certainly be the next time if they fail once. Uncle, you are not in the house normally, so there’s no need to worry… But it’s not right, you are not in the house most of the time. But why are you still living here?” He Yan suddenly remembered something.
Since Xiao Jue wants to live in Sun’s mansion, but he still goes out every day. Isn’t this a contradiction?
“You should focus more on your eyes instead of these things.” Xiao Jue said lightly, “You really can’t see with your eyes?”
He Yan’s heart jumped, and she pretended to be stupid, “Of course! What good is there for me to pretend to be blind?”
She said so loudly that Xiao Jue looked at her again and felt that everything she did was like a real blind person. But this person was used to deceiving others. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have fooled even Fei Nu.
Seeing that Xiao Jue was not speaking, He Yan smiled, fearing that he would continue the conversation, he said, “Uncle, weren’t you bathing just now? I came in and disturb you, didn’t I? Do you want to continue? You can continue. I’ll keep watch outside the door, and keep others from entering.” After saying that, she fumbled for the door, pushed it open, went out, and sat down on the steps outside the door, guarding the door like a door warden/watchman.
Xiao Jue, “…”
He Yan didn’t listen to the movement in the room. She didn’t know if Second Young Master Xiao still had the intention to continue bathing. Anyway, He Yan’s thoughts were a little chaotic. There were so many things that happened today and she didn’t know which thing to think about first. He Rufei, Xu Xiang, Yuan Baozhen, and Ding Yi’s conspiracy, mixed up with all sorts of mess, finally turned into the appearance of Xiao Jue taking a shower.
“Bah bah bah—-” He Yan cursed, thinking that even the person who is not blind would turn blind after such an encounter. Although she is a woman, after thinking about it carefully, she did not know who was the one taking advantage of the other.
It’s nearly as bad as it is!!
…
Early the next morning, Xiao Jue disappeared again. After Fei Nu came to give her a meal, he also disappeared. Both the master and servant, she didn’t know what they were doing every day. He Yan sat on the couch, wondering if she should sneak out and follow Yuan Baozhen and his guard today, but after thinking about last night’s incident, Yuan Baozhen would definitely keep a close eye on the roof. The roof of Sun’s Mansion is already fragile and is really not suitable to climb twice.
Who knew that before He Yan could come up with a solution, Ding Yi came to the door by himself. He stood at the door and said respectfully, “Master Cheng?”
He Yan looked up, Ding Yi’s voice was respectful and polite, “Master Yuan invites you to come over for tea.”
“What kind of tea?” He Yan asked casually, “I’m quite picky on tea.”
“We have all kinds of tea,” Ding Yi smiled, “If Master Cheng is unwilling…”
“Sure,” He Yan stood up holding the edge of the bed, “I am alone here. It’s really boring. It’s rare that Master Yuan remembers me and asks to accompany me to relieve my boredom. How can I be so ignorant? You lead the way.” There were strips of cloth wrapped around her eyes, “Excuse me, can you also get my bamboo stick?”
When Fei Nu came back last night, he brought back a bamboo stick to He Yan. It was neither long nor short; it was just right for He Yan to use it as a support while walking. Although this person looked taciturn, in fact, he was actually very considerate. After all, the people in Sun’s mansion are not credible and no one can be trusted. But it was really inconvenient to walk on her own so it was much better to have a bamboo stick, as in the eyes of others, it was more “like” a blind person.
Ding Yi, “Okay.” He looked sideways and saw a bamboo stick placed in front of the table. He walked over and took the bamboo stick in his hand. While walking in front of He Yan, he handed it over and said, “Master Cheng, here.”
He Yan tremblingly stretched out her hand to pick it up. Just when she was about to touch the head of the bamboo stick, Ding Yi suddenly withdrew his hand in front of her, and Her body swung into the air. She was already unsteady and almost fell down crookedly. Fortunately, Ding Yi helped her, as he asked “Master Cheng, are you okay?”
“I’m okay.” He Yan said with lingering fear, “I almost fell.” Then she said in a gloomy tone, “Now I can’t even hold a thing properly.”
“It’s this subordinate’s fault,” Ding Yi said guiltily, “I shouldn’t have sent it directly to Master Cheng, causing you to be frightened.”
Despite what he said, his eyes were fixed on He Yan, trying to find a flaw in He Yan’s face. It is a pity that her eyes were covered by the cloth strips; it was really hard to predict the change in He Yan’s expression. He also didn’t know that He Yan was also looking at the person in front of her while silently sneering in her heart.
The cloth strip was changed by herself last night. The black cloth strip was finely ground with a needle on the position of eyes to make a slight gap, not wide, just a thread-sized slit. Through this gap, the movements of outsiders could be seen, and in the eyes of outsiders, He Yan was just a blind man whose eyes were covered by cloth strips.
Ding Yi’s probing; the movement of staring at her face just now, was seen by He Yan. She did not expect Ding Yi to be suspicious of her even now. But why is that? She escaped extremely fast last night, and she should not have been discovered by Ding Yi. If it was because she reminded Xiao Jue to not drink the glass of wine at the previous banquet, the suspicion should be over when Yuan Baozhen came over last time.
What’s the reason for such repeated probing?.
He Yan couldn’t think of it, so she leaned on the bamboo stick and said, “It’s okay, it’s none of your business. Let’s go.”
“This subordinate should still help you.” Ding Yi said.
“No,” He Yan said: “If I really can no longer see, sooner or later I have to adapt to this kind of life. What is the point of asking for help all the time? Besides, I have a bamboo stick, I’ll just go slower, it’s not that I’ll be unable to keep up, you just tell me the way ahead.”
The young man’s voice was stubborn, and it sounded like he was trying to win even if he was blind. Ding Yi didn’t find any loopholes, and said, “Then I ask Master Cheng to please follow me.”
He walked forward, telling He Yan where the steps were on the way and where to turn left and right. He Yan actually walked very slowly, and the bamboo stick tapped on the ground, making a “duk duk” sound, very carefully. She walked earnestly, Ding Yi was also very patient and had been guiding her, but He Yan with her little vision could see that this person had been staring at her every tiny movement, and was still trying to catch her possible loopholes.
If one is pretending to be blind, some ordinary habits will appear when people are walking a certain distance. People who are close can also notice the slightest errors as long as they pay a little attention. However, He Yan had long been prepared. She was blinfolded, and could think of the days when she was in Xu’s family. She had really been a blind person so she didn’t have to pretend, as long as she behaved the way she used to be.
The two of them, one pretending to be blind, the other observing, while each being wary of the other. In the end, the one pretending to be blind was more skilled, walking around, not even missing a single thing, and have reached the gate of Yuan Baozhen.
Ding Yi, “Master Cheng be careful of the steps under your feet, we are here.”
He Yan pointed the bamboo stick, following the guidance of the bamboo stick, raised her foot, tremblingly on the steps, and followed Ding Yi inside the room.
The room Yuan Baozhen lived in was leaning on the darker side. It seemed difficult to get the sunlight on ordinary days, so the inside felt dim when she entered, and even a lamp was lit in the daytime. There was a teapot with several teacups and plates on the small table in front of her. Ding Yi led her to sit down in front of it.
Yuan Baozhen raised his head and smiled at He Yan kindly, “Master Cheng, How are you doing these few days?”
“Fine.” He Yan pointed to her eyes, “Except here, is not good.”
“Still no improvement in these few days?”
“No.” He Yan sighed, “I don’t know when the divine doctor my uncle is looking for will arrive in Liangzhou.”
Yuan Baozhen didn’t take it seriously but looked at Ding Yi. Ding Yi shook his head, meaning that he hadn’t found any flaws along the way.
That meant that she was really blind.
When he watched He Yan, He Yan was also watching him. The gap revealed by the black cloth was vague, and she didn’t see it very clearly, but He Yan felt that this person was different from what she had seen a few days ago. His voice was still very kind, but probably because He Yan couldn’t see him, he didn’t even bother to pretend to put on a smile. There was a bit of agitation in his expression as if something was not going well.
Yes, since they came here specifically to murder Xiao Jue, yet they have not succeeded in doing so after a long time. Right now, there was not even a trace of Xiao Jue, and their success was not even close.
Yuan Baozhen pushed the teacup in front of him into He Yan’s hand, and then brought the dish containing the dessert to He Yan, and said with a smile, “Have some dessert.”
He Yan clearly saw that some peanuts were sprinkled on the top of the snack.
He Yan still remembers Cheng Lisu’s instructions to him when she was leaving, that as long as he eats peanuts, he would get a rash all over his body. This is interesting. Did Yuan Baozhen know that Cheng Lisu could not eat peanuts? He Yan felt that there are nine out of ten chances of him being aware of it. Then the purpose of this snack was very clear — it was still to test her.
After eating this snack, if there was no rash, that would be a problem. There would still be a problem if she does not eat this snack.
He Yan thought what virtue she had, to make Yuan Baozhen do such repeated probings.
She didn’t pick up the cup of tea or snacks, but smiled and said in a strange tone, “Master Yuan, I can’t really drink tea and snacks.”
Yuan Baozhen’s gaze twitched, “Why?”
“You know that after the night banquet, my uncle has prohibited me from eating or drinking anything from the mansion. My daily necessities are arranged by Brother Fei Nu. Lord Yuan, it’s not that I don’t trust you. It’s because my uncle is a very strict person, if I ate something with behind his back and he becomes angry, I can’t bear the consequences.” The young man’s tone was very natural, and he didn’t even understand why Yuan Baozhen was so stupid. He said, “I persuade Lord Yuan to also not eat the things from the mansion anymore, forbear your appetite for a while, don’t risk your life for it.”
The boy answered quickly, without any flaws, for a while it was unclear whether he was telling the truth or lying. Yuan Baozhen smiled, “The refreshments I have here are also bought by the waiter outside.”
“The food from outside is even more dangerous.” He Yan said earnestly, “It’s really not possible, Lord Yuan. Wait, wait until my uncle returns to the house, you can talk to my uncle. With my uncle’s approval, I can eat these things. It is good?”
Yuan Baozhen couldn’t answer this. Him inviting Xiao Jue over for tea? Wouldn’t that be exposing himself?
He Yan felt that this was a seamless statement. Cheng Lisu was originally a little wimp who was afraid of his uncle!
Yuan Baozhen retracted his hand, shook his head, and smiled, “If Young Master Cheng doesn’t want to eat, then don’t.” His tone was very disappointed.
“No problem. I came to sit with Master Yuan. It’s also quite good.”
“So, I’m very curious about something,” Yuan Baozhen looked at the young man in front of him, and turned his conversation, “General Xiao cares about you so much, why did he leave you alone in the mansion these few days? Only the guard is with you, even the guard is not always with Master Cheng. If there are really any problems in this mansion, does General Xiao not worry that Master Cheng will be in danger?”
As soon as he said this, He Yan felt enlightened and suddenly understood why Yuan Baozhen master and servant were holding on to him.
It was because it was unreasonable for Xiao Jue to leave his nephew alone in the Sun’s Mansion! The reason why Xiao Jue would do this was that He Yan herself knew martial arts, and was not really Cheng Lisu. She has no blood relationship with Xiao Jue. Of course, the indifferent second son Xiao Jue wouldn’t treat her differently. But in fact, if the real Cheng Lisu was here, Xiao Jue will definitely try to ensure his safety. Instead of the way it is now, He Yan was left in the Sun’s Mansion alone, and her body, excluding the image of helplessness, just like an out-of-favor and abandoned concubine who was thrown into the cold palace.
He Yan herself had always been very upright about her position, did not feel anything at all, but in the eyes of others, it was wrong. She suddenly reacted at this moment and knew that this was the reason why Yuan Baozhen master and servant had always felt wrong and stared at her.
But Xiao Jue, such a smart person, couldn’t think of this. He Yan felt it impossible. When He Yan was in Xianchang Pavilion, He Yan was careless, but Xiao Jue was very cautious. He Yan didn’t believe that he would ignore this, so there was only one possibility — Xiao Jue deliberately made her expose her flaws, making this pair of master and servant full of doubts about her and testing her again and again.
But why? Even though Xiao Jue had doubts about her, at least for now, they should be in cahoots. Could it be… this bastard was using her as a shield so that she could attract the attention of Yuan Baozhen’s master and servant and that Xiao Jue would have the time to do his own things?
The more He Yan thought about it, the more she felt that this was possible, and she couldn’t help but want to tear Xiao Jue into pieces. She didn’t show it on her face and just said innocently, “What danger? My uncle has already said that the real danger is not in this mansion. It is safe for me to stay in the mansion. Lord Yuan, let me tell you,” she whispered, “The real danger lies outside the house.”
“Outside the house?” Yuan Baozhen and Ding Yi glanced at each other, and asked He Yan, “Why does Master Cheng say these words?”
“I don’t know much,” He Yan spread her both hands as if it had nothing to do with her, “I overheard what my uncle said. If you want to know, just ask my uncle.” She added, “I see he’s been outside the house for the past few days, so maybe he’s gone to solve the ‘danger’.”
Fine, since Xiao Jue used her as a shield, she would just kick the target back and draw Yuan Baozhen’s attention to the outside of the house. Moreover, the image of her image being a trash son was already deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, so she guessed Yuan Baozhen hadn’t found any flaws.
“Master Cheng can really joke,” Yuan Baozhen said with a smile, “Since it’s the personal matter of General Xiao, I won’t inquire about it.” After that, he started talking about other ideal matters.
He Yan was shocked.
She saw Ding Yi coming over, getting very close next to her, and bending down to untie an incense ball around her waist.
Cheng Lisu was a very sophisticated young master, and there are countless sachets and jade pendants. He Yan felt that those things were too precious, and was afraid of dropping them. After searching for a long time, she found a simple-looking incense ball. The incense ball was only two fingers big. It was a small round ball woven from wisteria. The center is hollow and filled with spices and herbs. It was worn around the waist and had a faint fragrance, which was lovely and elegant.
Ding Yi held the incense ball in his hand, his movements were so light that people could barely feel it, and He Yan, who was blind, could only pretend not to feel it at this moment.
She would not think that Ding Yi liked this incense ball and stole it. Sure enough, Ding Yi opened the top of the incense ball, took out the original medicinal materials inside, and filled it in with other things.
It must not be a good thing.
After doing all this, he lightly tied the incense ball to He Yan’s waist again, and from beginning to end, He Yan did not move halfway.
Yuan Baozhen’s face showed satisfaction, Ding Yi stood back to Yuan Baozhen’s side, looking from the outside, everything was as usual as if nothing had happened.
He Yan chatted with Yuan Baozhen about Shuojing’s anecdote, only feeling that the incense ball at her waist was faintly hot. She had already suffered from poison in her previous life and suspected that Ding Yi might be good at using poison. She still remembered the words she heard when she visited this pair of master and servant’s room last night, that they plan to use her to trick Xiao Jue. This was probably the way they came up with.
This thing is probably poisonous. The toxicity was not small. If one wears it on their body, they will die. Xiao Jue, who was close to her, will also die if he smells it. The three of them would just be solved like that, and all of them can be blamed on the assassin. Perhaps it was time for the coroner to come to check the body and found out that she was not the real Cheng Lisu, she would be blamed as an assassin disguised as Cheng Lisu for the wicked murder of the General of the right army.
He Yan trembled and thought she must not let this happen.
She said, “Master Yuan, I am a little urgent. I want to go to the toilet first.”
…
Xiao Jue walked inside a room in the Sun’s residence.
Fei Nu followed his steps in, seeming to have been waiting for him for a long time.
“Master, Yuan Baozhen invited He Yan away.” He said.
Xiao Jue put the sword on the table, turned around, and said casually, “He’s probably still testing her.”
“If they can’t find Young Master, they can only start from He Yan.”
Xiao Jue gave a noncommittal smile. He Yan was originally the shield he put out, used to make noise. Without any tails [spy], it was more convenient to do things. Everyone thought that he was out of the house, in fact, the day when he really went out of the house was only today.
He has been in Sun’s mansion, hiding in the dark, but no one has found out.
“Young Master will not be discovered by He Yan if he does this?”
“He should have found out, but he can only lie.” Xiao Jue said, “This person was lying to Yuan Baozhen from the first time, although I don’t know why.”
He Yan coped very well, the better he coped, the fewer flaws he could find, the more suspicious Yuan Baozhen would be. Because Xiao Jue left his nephew in Sun’s Mansion was already a big flaw.
“The young master uses Yuan Baozhen to test He Yan, and He Yan to test Yuan Baozhen, but what if they are in cahoots?”
Up to now, after the assassination at the banquet that night when he first arrived at Sun’s Mansion, Xiao Jue was almost out of the picture. He left He Yan and Yuan Baozhen to test each other out, just to figure out the motives of the two people, killing two birds with one stone.
“If they’re in cahoots, it’s better to kill them all in one go.” Xiao Jue said calmly, “This incident is almost coming to an end.”
Fei Nu was silent. After a while, he seemed to think of something, and then said, “Today He Yan went to Yuan Baozhen’s room, and the guard around Yuan Baozhen replaced the incense ball worn by He Yan.”
Xiao Jue raised his eyebrows, “He didn’t find it?”
“No.”
“It might be just an act.”
“I’m afraid there is poison in the incense ball. General, today you should stay away from him.”
Xiao Jue glanced outside the window, and suddenly said, “He Yan should be back at this time, what else is he still doing outside.”
As soon as the voice fell, he heard a maid from the Sun’s Mansion running outside panting, and saying “It’s not good! It’s not good!”
Fei Nu opened the door, “What’s wrong?”
The maid whispered, “Master Cheng… Master Cheng fell down in the latrine!”