As soon as the man spoke those words, even the wind blowing into the courtyard seemed to turn cold.
A-Fei unconsciously touched his chin, suddenly feeling extremely fortunate to have safely made it to the capital.
How could someone speak so casually about being skilled at killing?
“I’m very good at killing people,” the man repeated, staring at Jiang Si.
A-Man stepped forward and scolded, “You’re a strange one! Is it appropriate to keep mentioning killing in front of our young miss?”
Although their young miss could stab a man’s bottom without changing her expression, outsiders shouldn’t know about that.
The man ignored A-Man’s words and continued to stare steadily at Jiang Si.
Years of drinking hadn’t completely muddled his mind. He believed that a young woman who could send him such a letter from hundreds of miles away was different from ordinary women.
“Very well, then I’ll have to trouble General Qin in the future,” Jiang Si said with a slight curtsy.
The man seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. “Young miss, just call me Old Qin. ‘General Qin’ is nothing but a joke people make.”
“Old Qin, you’ll live here from now on. A-Fei, what are your plans?”
A-Fei glanced around. The clean little courtyard, with lush tree canopies providing shade in the summer, and water lilies planted in the water vat by the door, was a better place than he had ever lived in his life.
A fleeting struggle passed through A-Fei’s eyes, then he smiled and waved his hand. “I’d better stay where I was before. To be honest with you, miss, I have a few brothers following me now. It’s convenient to have them run errands and gather information. I’ll come here once a day.”
“Alright then. I’ll be going out tomorrow, so you and Old Qin should prepare.”
The next day arrived in the blink of an eye.
The bright sunlight gilded everything with a layer of gold. There wasn’t a single cloud in the sky; looking up, one could see only azure blue. It was perfect weather for an outing.
Jiang Zhan sat straight-backed on his horse, his moon-white brocade robe accentuating his handsome and refined appearance, attracting the gaze of countless young women.
He was long accustomed to such attention and didn’t feel the slightest discomfort. He turned his head to smile at the young woman in the carriage, showing a mouthful of even white teeth. “Fourth Sister, the weather is nice today. When we reach the outskirts where no one’s watching, Second Brother will take you horseback riding.”
A-Man poked her head out, dissatisfied. “Second Young Master, the young miss doesn’t know how to ride a horse. Besides, it’s not appropriate for her to share a horse with you. Please don’t encourage such things.”
Jiang Zhan pouted. These fussy rules must have been thought up by people with too much time on their hands, designed to make life as uncomfortable as possible for women.
“Fourth Sister, you should control your maid. She even dares to speak to me like this now.” Unable to take his sister for a horseback ride, the Second Young Master Jiang was a bit upset and immediately tried to get the disagreeable little maid in trouble.
“What this servant said is the truth—”
Jiang Si lightly tapped A-Man’s forehead with her finger, chiding, “Don’t talk back to the Second Young Master.”
Jiang Zhan cast a fleeting glance at A-Man, looking smug. When it mattered, Fourth Sister was still on his side.
A-Man covered her forehead and rolled her eyes. The Second Young Master was competing with a maid for a favor—how impressive.
The carriage driver wore a wide-brimmed hat for sun protection, driving steadily from the city to the outskirts.
Sitting next to the driver was A-Ji, Jiang Zhan’s servant.
A-Ji had been secretly observing the driver beside him for a long time, wondering when the Earl’s manor had changed drivers.
The driver kept his eyes fixed ahead, completely ignoring A-Ji’s curious gaze.
This driver was Old Qin.
“Fourth Sister, why did you want to go to a temple in a small town? There are many temples, big and small, in the capital,” Jiang Zhan, a chatterbox in front of his sister, started up a conversation again after being quiet for only a short while.
“I heard that temple is very efficacious,” Jiang Si said, taking out a handkerchief and offering it to him. “Second Brother, wipe your sweat.”
Jiang Zhan didn’t take it. “No need, I’ll just sweat again anyway. Fourth Sister, give me a pear instead.”
Taking a bite of the round, juicy pear, Jiang Zhan sighed contentedly. Having a sister was great; he could openly skip his studies for several days just to accompany her to burn some incense.
Qingniu Town wasn’t too far from the capital. By dusk, the group had arrived at the small town.
There were only two inns in the town. In the eyes of the Second Young Master Jiang, accustomed to the prosperity of the capital, they were barely habitable.
“Fourth Sister, let’s go directly to Lingwu Temple.”
“It’s already so late. They might not be receiving pilgrims anymore. Let’s go early tomorrow morning.”
“Alright then, though it’s a shame to make you suffer like this.” Jiang Zhan booked rooms at the larger of the two inns and bustled about for quite a while before finally settling down.
Such inns had many security flaws. Late at night, when all was quiet, a young man sneaked in and met with Jiang Si, who had been waiting.
“Young Miss, I’ve made some inquiries around town, but I haven’t heard of any family losing a daughter,” said the young man, who was A-Fei. Following Jiang Si’s instructions, he had arrived a day earlier and was staying at the other inn.
A-Fei’s lack of information made Jiang Si’s mood sink slightly.
In such a small town, not only would a missing daughter be talked about, but even the loss of two chickens would probably spark discussions.
A-Fei’s failure to find any information could only mean one thing: that girl wasn’t from Qingniu Town.
Lingwu Temple was in Qingniu Town, but if the girl wasn’t from this town, the search area would become much larger.
“Alright, tomorrow you continue to make inquiries in town. If I get any news at Lingwu Temple, I’ll have Old Qin relay it to you.”
A-Fei nodded and tactfully left without asking further questions.
Jiang Si sat alone for a while. As the fatigue from the journey set in, she quietly lay down to sleep.
The next day was another fine day.
When the group arrived at Lingwu Temple, they were surprised to find the small temple bustling with worshippers, many of whom were queuing to enter.
Jiang Si carefully observed the pilgrims.
From their dress, it was clear that most of the worshippers were common folk, though there were also some in silk and brocade arriving by horse or ox cart, likely from other places.
Jiang Zhan donated a considerable amount of incense money, and the guest-receiving monk happily arranged three guest rooms for them.
A young novice monk, about seven or eight years old, led them to their rooms. Jiang Si took the opportunity to ask him, “Little Master, where do most of the pilgrims come from?”
Having received some candy, the young novice found Jiang Si very kind and replied articulately, “Many places! Besides people from Qingniu Town, folks from all the neighboring villages come too.”
“Are there any ladies from wealthy families who come often? It would be nice to have some company if we meet them.”
“Yes, there’s the daughter of Squire Yan from Yan Village, the ladies from Old Master Li’s family in Dayang Town…” The young novice counted off a string of names on his fingers, then smiled sweetly at Jiang Si. “The ladies from these families come several times a year.”
Jiang Si silently memorized these names.
The young novice stopped walking. “Benefactors, we’ve arrived at the guest rooms.”
Jiang Zhan pointed to the inner room. “That room has the best view and is the quietest. Could my sister stay there?”
The young novice shook his head. “That room is already occupied by another benefactor.”
Jiang Zhan frowned.
For such a small temple, it was understandable that there weren’t many guest rooms, but it was surprising that they were in such high demand.
Who was the inconsiderate person who had taken the best room?
Just as the Second Young Master Jiang was pondering this, the door of that guest room suddenly opened.