Heaven knows how she could make even playing with a simple pearl look so alluring!

Realizing he’d been teased, Lord Shen had no reason to linger. He immediately broke through the door and left without saying much.

He Tinglan was quite puzzled: “What was that about?”

Ruyi put away the night-luminous pearl, smiling wickedly and contentedly: “I don’t know. Perhaps His Lordship has been busy with affairs lately.”

Zhao Yanning wanted to expose her, but before he could speak, Fuman stepped forward first.

“I, I have many things to tell you.” She looked at Ruyi eagerly.

Ruyi’s expression became much gentler when facing her: “Go upstairs.”

“Alright.”

Fuman followed Ruyi like a little tail to the second-floor room, while the remaining people began helping the two reorganize their luggage.

The Supreme Lord watched from the side, muttering in confusion: “Shen Qiyuan accepts Hua Fuman because she’s a good person, but Liu Ruyi is a demon—how does she also get close to good people? Could I have misunderstood too deeply? Are there good demons too?”

Whether there were good demons, Shen Qiyuan didn’t know, but he knew there were bad immortals among the gods.

Previously, removing the statue of True Lord Puhua from the ancestral temple was only secretly ordered by the emperor. Though some people in the civilian population had sensed the changing winds and replaced some temple statues, it hadn’t been brought into the open. Therefore, there were still dozens of Puhua shrines remaining within Lin’an city alone.

Only by smashing all these dozens of shrines could Puhua be forced to reveal more flaws.

However, as the Azure God of the mortal realm, he couldn’t deliberately damage other immortals’ stone statues in the human world. He also couldn’t let Ruyi smash them—if Puhua counter-accused her before the Nine Heavens, she would face utter disaster.

After much consideration, Shen Qiyuan took out the case files from Duke An’s manor murder.

Fuman and the others had already gathered all the evidence. The key reason the case couldn’t be decided was that Liu Yinuo was Grand Preceptor Liu’s most beloved legitimate son, and Grand Preceptor Liu was the current emperor’s old mentor.

From an immortal’s conventional perspective, this matter was unsolvable, since he could neither bewitch mortals into confessing voluntarily nor overly defy mortal rulers.

But what if viewed from Liu Ruyi’s perspective?

Seeing a line of text in the case file, Shen Qiyuan’s eyes stirred.

Liu Yinuo, because of his involvement in the murder case, had been sent by his father to the Huai Zhou countryside to avoid the storm. At this moment, he was losing his temper at the monotonous and boring courtyard: “When can I go back? I don’t want to stay in this godforsaken place even one more day.”

The old servant beside him sighed repeatedly: “Young master, please be patient. Fortunately, the master has imperial favor and managed to cover for you. If you’re eager to return now and anger Duke An again, who knows what might happen to your fate.”

“Bah! What Duke An? He’s just a declining household with no real power—how could he threaten my life?” He crossed his legs and snorted coldly. “Never mind one concubine’s daughter—even their legitimate daughter would be suitable as my concubine.”

“Oh my, young master, watch your words.”

“This is the middle of nowhere—what’s there to watch?” He irritably flicked his sleeves. “Their family’s girls were improper to begin with. What’s wrong with me saying a few words? If that concubine’s daughter hadn’t thrown herself at me, would I have even glanced at her? And what happened? She threw herself at me but then put on airs, threatening to die if I didn’t marry her, saying she’d jump from the building. Why should I indulge her?”

The old servant shook his head: “But you shouldn’t have pushed her off the building. It was five stories high—how could she survive the fall? Fortunately, few people frequent that alley below. If someone had witnessed it, you truly couldn’t have escaped punishment.”

Speaking of this, Liu Yinuo’s expression became strange: “Someone did witness it.”

“What?” The old servant was greatly alarmed. “Who witnessed it? Why didn’t you tell the master? If they went to the authorities to testify…”

“Don’t worry.” He waved impatiently. “They can’t testify. That person helped me throw the body back to Duke An’s manor. Without him, I would have been finished.”

He had originally promised that person not to speak of it, but he was stifled and couldn’t help saying: “As repayment, I’m going to give him twenty cattle.”

“Twenty head?” The old servant’s face paled. “My young master, do you think cattle are some cheap commodity? One head costs at least fifty taels of silver now.”

“I’m not buying them for him.” Liu Yinuo scratched his head. “I’m puzzled too. He only asked me to take him to see twenty cattle—just look once, to know where they’re located.”

Hearing this, the old servant breathed a sigh of relief but also found it strange. Why would anyone make such a request?

Suddenly, there was a sound from the roof tiles.

The old servant jumped up in alarm: “Who’s there?”

The night was silent, and the surroundings of the roof were pitch black—nothing could be seen clearly. Liu Yinuo also stood up, saying somewhat fearfully: “This place isn’t haunted, is it?”

“You go inside first, young master. This old servant will guard outside for you.”

“Alright.”

Running quickly into the room, Liu Yinuo bolted all the doors and windows, then jumped onto the bed and wrapped himself in bedding, looking left and right.

Half an hour passed without that sound recurring.

The old servant muttered, “Must have been a wild cat.”

He knocked on the young master’s door: “Are you asleep?”

The person in the room didn’t answer.

“Must be asleep.” Muttering quietly, the old servant also returned to the side room and went to sleep.

The next day in Lin’an.

Shen Qiyuan looked at the newly submitted case file and couldn’t help asking again: “Twenty cattle, not one left?”

“That’s right.” Zhou Tingchuan looked worried and distressed. “They were all oxen used for plowing fields—the lifeline of those farmers. Now over twenty people are kneeling outside our door, asking us to decide for them.”

“Shouldn’t this kind of case be handled by the Shuntian Prefecture?”

“The Shuntian Prefecture sent people to investigate. They said apart from bloodstains, there wasn’t even a footprint at the scene, and the surrounding neighbors heard no unusual sounds. They couldn’t solve this case, so they could only transfer it to us.”

Shen Qiyuan sighed: “The Duke An manor case hasn’t been settled yet. When’s the time to handle this matter?”

“My Lord.”

It was already noon. Ruyi walked over carrying a food box, smiling sweetly: “Fuman specially made several extra dishes today and asked me to bring them to thank you.”

Zhou Tingchuan sniffed the food aroma several times and said aggrievedly: “None for me?”

“The young lord didn’t save their lives—why would there be any for you?” Ruyi smiled teasingly.

Shen Qiyuan glanced at her: “You came to deliver it personally?”

“If it were anyone else, I definitely wouldn’t come.” She leaned against his long desk, bending forward slightly and looking down at him with a smile. “But who told me I missed you a little?”

Zhou Tingchuan couldn’t catch his breath and was choked by his saliva, coughing violently. Shen Qiyuan frowned and scolded her: “What kind of place is this? How can you speak so carelessly?”

Though he said this, the corners of his eyes and brows clearly showed delight.

Zhou Tingchuan glared at the two of them resentfully and turned to leave.

“Hey, young lord, don’t go,” Ruyi said. “Fuman made a portion for you, too.”

“Thanks for the invitation,” he said angrily. “I’m already full.”