Cypress Boat Floating

"Yuqin, Yuqin, look, this girl would probably like it." The lively Yuya couldn't stay still. While Yuqin was at the garment shop giving instructions, she wandered around outside. Just then she saw a stall on the street selling Ye Jianqing's favorite soup dumplings, and she quickly greeted Yuqin who had just walked out of the garment shop.

Ye Jianqing was a gentle person and got along well with everyone in the palace. In addition to Lu Ci Qiu's attitude towards her, everyone treated her as the second master of the palace after Lu Ci Qiu and respected her very much.

Since moving to the mansion, Lu Ci Qiu has sent a few more people to serve Ye Jianqing. Ye Jianqing was not used to being served and had always refused. However, under Lu Ci Qiu's strong request, she had no choice but to leave only Yu Ya.

Yuqin and Yuya both tried their best to serve Ye Jianqing.

Yesterday, Ye Jianqing went to perform an autopsy and brought back a body smelling like a corpse. After coming back, he thought that he could just wash the clothes with soap nuts, but Lu Ci Qiu thought it was unlucky and insisted on burning the clothes. He thought that the smell of a corpse should not be brought back to the palace, so Ye Jianqing had no choice but to let him do it. However, he also thought of a solution, which was to let Yuqin and Yuya go to the clothing shop to make her a set of men's clothes according to her size.

On the one hand, cheap clothes can be worn when solving cases without worrying about them getting damaged. On the other hand, when going out with Lu Ci Qiu to solve cases, she can appear as a boy, which will make things much easier.

"It's soup dumplings. The girl likes to eat this. Let's buy some and bring it back for her." Yuqin heard Yuya's voice and came over. She was surprised to see that it was soup dumplings, because Ye Jianqing had been talking about it in front of Yuqin since he had eaten soup dumplings at the market last time. Now that he finally saw them on sale, Yuqin thought about buying some for her quickly.

After buying the soup dumplings, the two of them walked towards the palace, talking and laughing all the way. However, they were so focused on the soup dumplings in their hands that they didn't notice that there was a pair of malicious eyes staring at them not far behind them.

In the restaurant opposite the soup dumplings, Li Boming sat by the window, stroking his chin and looking at Yuqin in the distance. He had specially asked the restaurant to reserve this seat for his convenience. Looking at his appearance, it was estimated that he had completely forgotten what Li Zhizhong said to him yesterday.

Those slender eyes were fixed on Yuqin. He noticed her when Yuqin just walked out of the clothing shop. Yuqin was originally selected by Concubine Shu to serve Lu Ci Qiu, so naturally her appearance was a little better than others.

The girl with fair skin, beautiful looks, small face and big eyes is very much what Li Boming likes.

"Yuqin, this is a nice name." He just heard Yuya calling her name, so he wrote down her name.

He had heard the entire conversation between Yuqin and Yuya, and naturally knew Yuqin's identity. It was not difficult for him to understand what a little girl said. He had already imagined Yuqin crying under him. He just couldn't stand such a beautiful existence. He wanted to destroy her. He wanted the smile on Yuqin's face to disappear, leaving only fear of him and tears. When he thought of Yuqin's pretty little face and her fair body covered with bloodstains, he couldn't help but feel a surge of evil fire.

A conspiracy against Yuqin was quietly sprouting in the dark, but she was completely unaware of it.

When Yuqin and Yuya returned to the mansion, Lu Ci Qiu and Ye Jianqing had not returned yet.

The two of them went to the Yue Lao Temple early this morning as they had agreed with Lu Zhixing yesterday, but this time they did not step into the Yue Lao Temple and just watched from the outside.

The last time the three of them tried to directly enter the Yue Lao Temple, they did not get any results. This time they learned their lesson and hid in the dark to observe. This way they would not alert the people in the Yue Lao Temple and would also let them relax their vigilance. If they showed any flaws, it would be easier for them to catch them.

It's just a pity that they had been squatting here for a whole day, but found nothing in the Yue Lao Temple. It was accepting incense from pilgrims as usual, and they didn't even see any strange people.

Seeing that it was getting dark, in order to prevent those who were monitoring them from knowing what they were doing, the two had to switch shifts with the soldiers of the Dali Temple and rush back home.

"Girl, you're back. Guess what we bought for you today." As soon as Ye Jianqing returned to the room, before she sat down, Yuqin excitedly pulled her and said.

"Oh, what did you buy?" Although he was very tired after squatting for a whole day, when Ye Jianqing returned to the palace and saw Yuqin and Yuya's happy smiles, all his fatigue disappeared and he became playful and joked with them.

"Ding ding, it's soup dumplings." Yuqin and Yuya cooperated with each other. One talked to Ye Jianqing to distract his attention, while the other took advantage of this time to secretly go to the small kitchen and bring up the hot soup dumplings.

"Girl, this is your favorite soup dumpling, come and try it." Yuya smiled and put the soup dumpling on the table.

Ye Jianqing looked at the still hot soup dumplings in front of him, then raised his head to look at the two girls in front of him who kept smiling at him, and felt very touched.

Since she came here, she has never encountered such warm treatment. She knows that Yuqin and Yuya are both simple and lovely people. Since they came to serve her, they have been wholeheartedly doing good for her.

"Thank you." Ye Jianqing choked up a little while speaking. She was really moved by these two simple people.

"Girl, please try it." Yuqin urged her to pick up her chopsticks with a smile.

Ye Jianqing picked up the chopsticks and carefully picked up a soup dumpling full of soup. The skin was thin and the soup was rich. It was delicious!

"You guys come and try it too." Seeing the two of them standing, Ye Jianqing quickly invited them to eat together.

Yuqin and Yuya both came from the palace and had always been very strict in following the rules. But after they came to Ye Jianqing, Ye Jianqing always treated them as his sisters and never applied the palace rules to them.

Although they did not forget the rules, they also knew Ye Jianqing's personality and would relax a lot in front of her. As soon as Ye Jianqing called them, Yuya was the first to pick up the chopsticks.

One of them was in a hurry and got scalded on the mouth by the hot soup. He was frantically fanning his mouth with his hands and breathing out air to try to get the heat out.

"Why are you in such a hurry? This kid won't run away." Ye Jianqing poured her a glass of water with a smile.

"She's been craving for this since morning." Yuqin was older and more stable, so she teased Yuya with a smile.

"Yuqin laughed at me again." Yuya was a little girl after all. She pouted her little face and looked at Yuqin angrily. She looked more and more adorable.

Ye Jianqing and Yuqin looked at each other and couldn't help laughing. Yuya knew that they had no ill intentions, so she laughed along with them.

next day

Ye Jianqing and Lu Ci Qiu went to Yue Lao Temple early in the morning to guard it.

When Yuqin saw Ye Jianqing going out, she also went out at about the same time to get the men's clothes made according to Ye Jianqing's size that she had asked the clothing store to make yesterday.

"Young lady, I see that you have a rosy complexion and your love star is moving. It seems that you will meet your true lover soon. I would like to congratulate you first." Yuqin walked out of the clothing shop with the newly made clothes, and an old lady with a festive face came up to her with a smile.

The madam looked quite kind and didn't say anything bad. Yuqin joked, "Madam, you are joking. I am just a slave. The master decides all matters related to marriage. How can I make the decision?"

"That's not what I meant. I've always been good at fortune-telling. Although your appearance doesn't indicate that you will be rich and powerful, you will meet many noble people who will help you in your life. For example, your current employer seems to be very kind to you."

Yuqin thought about it and felt that what the old lady said was quite accurate. Although she entered the palace as a slave, it was considered a good situation. She was favored by Concubine Shu and sent to the Eighth Prince's courtyard. The Eighth Prince treated them, the servants, very well. Later, she was assigned by the Eighth Prince to serve Miss Ye. Miss Ye was also a kind person and treated her very well. These were all her benefactors.

Yuqin smiled and replied, "Madam, you are right. My current employer really treats me well."

"I just took a look, and it seems that your good match will also be good for your employer. If you trust me, when you really meet that good match one day, you can bring it back to see your employer. The employer will definitely nod in agreement and will be eager to help you get it done as soon as possible." The old lady said to Yuqin with a smile, and her words showed that she was happy for Yuqin.

Yuqin was shy to begin with, and her face instantly turned red when the old lady said that. She said shyly, "Auntie, you are joking. It's not that easy."

The old lady smiled and took out a small wooden sign from her sleeve. The sign was carved from ordinary pine wood, with Yue Lao Temple written on the front and Qingming Taoist Priest written on the back. The old lady put the sign into Yuqin's hand and said to her mysteriously, "Girl, this is because I am destined to be with you. If it were anyone else, I wouldn't tell you. This is the sign of Taoist Priest Qingming in Yue Lao Temple outside the city in the west district. Go to Yue Lao Temple to burn incense, and then take the sign to find him. He will tell you when your good destiny will appear."

Yuqin held her wooden sign and looked at her in confusion: "Auntie, you can see, right? Why can't you see where my good fortune lies?"

Yuqin had just left the palace not long ago. She only knew that there was a popular Yue Lao Temple in the west of the city, but she had no idea which Taoist priest was in the temple. It was only when she saw this lady flattering her just now, and she thought she looked kind, that she spoke a few more words to her.

The old lady waved her hands and said embarrassedly: "Alas, my ability is only to see that you have a good match, but only someone with superb skills can see where exactly it is."

After saying that, the old lady was about to leave. Before leaving, she did not forget to tell Yuqin: "Miss, don't forget to go to the Yue Lao Temple to find Taoist Qingming."

After the old lady left, Yuqin stopped where she was holding the wooden sign. For a moment, she was not sure whether the old lady was a good person or a bad person, and why she had to go to Yue Lao Temple?

The owner of the clothing store watched the whole process from inside the store. When he saw the old lady leave, Yuqin was still standing there in a daze. After all, she was his customer, and she was generous with her money. He was thinking about doing more business with her. He was afraid that the old lady had done something to her, so he hurried out of the store and asked, "Girl, are you okay?"

"It's okay, it's okay." Yuqin jumped out of her thoughts when she heard the boss's voice. Seeing that the boss looked anxious, she was afraid that she had caused trouble to the boss, so she quickly shook her head.

The boss took advantage of this gap to see the wooden sign in Yuqin's hand and exclaimed in surprise: "You actually have Taoist Priest Qingming's wooden sign!"

Yuqin raised the wooden sign in confusion and asked, "Are you talking about this?"

"Yes." The boss wanted to touch it but seemed to think it was not a good idea, so he took his hand back and explained to Yuqin: "This Taoist priest Qingming is the most powerful Taoist priest in the Yue Lao Temple in the west of the city. It is said that everyone who has gone to him for fortune-telling has found their own good partner. You should know that Taoist priest Qingming can only tell fortunes for ten people a day. If you want to ask him to tell fortunes after the quota has been exceeded, you can only do so if you have a wooden sign.

But it is not easy to get the Taoist Priest Qingming's wooden plaque. Many wealthy people want it but cannot get it. How did you get it?"

"It was given to me by the lady just now." Yuqin said honestly.

The boss was surprised and said, "Is that lady so kind? She even gave out the Taoist priest Qingming's wooden plaque."

"It's pretty good." Yuqin nodded.

Since even the boss said so, there shouldn't be any problem, right?

With this thought in mind, Yuqin returned to the palace in confusion, holding the wooden sign.

......

"Is there really nothing wrong with this Yue Lao Temple? We've been squatting here for two days and haven't found anything." Lu Ci Qiu hid in the dark, rubbing his sore calf and couldn't help complaining to Ye Jianqing who was not far away.

"It's only been two days. How can it be so easy for you to find any problems?" Ye Jianqing didn't even look at him. His eyes were fixed on the Yue Lao Temple, paying attention to whether there were any suspicious people in the temple.

"Then how long do we have to wait there?" Lu Ci Qiu, a spoiled prince, couldn't bear to wait alone in the weeds.

"This is not a solution. If they don't come out, do we have to stay here forever?" Lu Ci Qiu frowned, thinking frantically about how to lure the snake out of its hole.

"Then what good idea do you have?" Ye Jianqing asked.

Lu Ci Qiu shook his head honestly: "I don't know yet, so I'm just discussing it with you."

Ye Jianqing smiled, and sat down next to him helplessly, coaxing him like a child: "Okay, let's discuss it."

"Should we try to go deeper into the wolf's den?" Lu Ci Qiu looked at Ye Jianqing cunningly.

“How to get into the wolf’s den?”

"I don't know yet, but we can think in this direction and see how to lure the snake out of its hole. We definitely can't just sit there and wait for death."

Ye Jianqing thought about it and felt that what Lu Ci Qiu said made sense. They didn't know who the murderer was, nor did they know how they made the girls disappear and then be tortured and killed. So they were actually very passive now. They only came to the Yue Lao Temple to check it out because they felt it was strange. If there was really nothing wrong with the temple, it would only be a waste of time for them to stay here like this.

If they really had problems, they would have hidden themselves long ago given the recent vigorous investigation in the Dali Temple. Who would show up at this moment?

If this is really the case, then it would be really difficult to deal with, so Lu Ci Qiu's words are also a good idea. Since we can't wait for them to take the initiative to attack, then we can lure them out.

However, in order to lure the snake out of its hole, you need to use a good bait, otherwise you will not only lose both the wife and the army, but also make them more vigilant again.