When the book-traveling little detective meets the two-faced prince

Jiang Lianan?

Who is that?

Lin Lezhi raised his arms and looked at himself all over. His clothes were wet and stuck to his body, and his hair was disheveled. How could he recognize himself?

Lin Lezhi thought for a while, then looked at the woman with a red and swollen face, and asked in confusion: "How did you know I was Jiang Lian'an?"

The woman raised her hand and pointed at Lin Lezhi's exposed left arm.

"Based on the scar with a smoke-cloud pattern on the inside of your left arm."

Hearing this, Lin Lezhi raised his arm and took a look. There really was a smoke-like scar on the inside of his left arm, but the color was very light, and it looked like the scar had been there for many years.

Hearing about the smoke-cloud scar, the bridegroom standing next to him couldn't help but glance sideways, her eyes cast towards the inside of Lin Lezhi's arm.

Lin Lezhi shook his arms and asked in confusion: "Just based on this?"

The woman shook her head and said, "Not only that, I have heard of Mr. Jiang's name for a long time. He rises with a cloud of green smoke and settles all the injustices in the world. Everyone says that Jiang Lian'an walks alone in a green robe, and there is a cloud-patterned scar on the inside of his left arm. He never fears the powerful when he settles cases, and only speaks from his heart."

"I heard that someone has spotted Jiang Lian'an's whereabouts in this area recently, so... I decided to give it a try. I have been waiting here for many days, lighting a green incense stick for three days in Yulong Village."

The woman looked at the bridegroom beside her, and said slowly with a grateful look on her face: "Mr. Xiao, I saw you after I lit the letter. After knowing my situation, you were willing to rescue me from this place. I am very grateful to you."

As she spoke, the woman nodded slightly in the direction of the bridegroom, and the bridegroom also nodded in response.

The woman shifted her gaze back and continued, "So, the young master appeared here in a green robe, and there is a smoke-cloud scar on the inside of his left arm. I guess the young master must have seen the smoke I lit and rushed here."

"But..." The woman's tender eyes flickered, she lowered her eyes, nodded slightly and said apologetically: "If you are not Jiang Lian'an, then I am rude, please forgive me."

"..."

Because he was closer, Lin Lezhi could see the expression on the woman's face more clearly, which seemed a little lonely.

After a moment of silence, Lin Lezhi smiled and said, "Yes, I am Jiang Lian'an."

Lin Lezhi didn't want to see the girl's disappointed expression, so he accepted the identity.

Anyway, from what this girl said, all the details match up so far.

After receiving Lin Lezhi's affirmative response, the girl's eyes suddenly lit up, as if she saw hope.

"Since the girl has lit the letter, she must have a grievance. I don't know her name and what kind of grievance she has. Please tell me in detail and I will do my best."

"I... I am a person who lives a life of romance and I have long forgotten my last name." The woman said with a somewhat dejected look on her face. She realized that she was not doing this properly and quickly said, "My name is Meng Wan. Young Master Jiang, you can call me Wan'er."

"Miss Wan'er."

Lin Lezhi bowed and addressed him politely.

Miss Mengwan smiled and told a story about the past...

"I met Sister Mengli when I was a teenager. Sister Mengli took good care of me, but unfortunately Sister A-li fell seriously ill two years ago..."

Chun Hua Building

A place where people indulge in wine and women, and have fun every night.

As the saying goes, a night of spring is worth a thousand gold coins, and a night of spring is full of beauty.

Sun Wan'er, that was Meng Wan's name before she was sold here. She was only thirteen years old, but even though she was young, she knew that Chunhua Tower was not a good place.

Because he disobeyed discipline, he had been locked in the basement by Zhao's mother and had been starved for three or four days without a drop of water.

My mouth and tongue are dry and my lips are already chapped.

But Sun Wan'er still didn't want to give in. She looked at Mother Zhao without any sign of surrender and said stubbornly, "I want to go home, let me go home!"

"Since you've been sold here, you have no home. From now on, Chunhua Tower is your home. You have no place to come from, so how can you go back?"

Mother Zhao's look was not sympathetic, but it did not show a trace of softness either.

"You can't leave Chunhua Tower anyway. If you are obedient and work hard in Chunhua Tower, I will let you enjoy endless glory. But if you are disobedient, you will suffer!"

"No, I want to go home. My parents won't abandon me."

Mother Zhao smiled and continued, "Since you don't understand, then I will explain it to you more clearly. The one who sold you to me was not someone else, but your parents. Now that you are here, I will be your father and your mother from now on, so..." Mother Zhao squatted down, pinched Sun Wan'er's face, and said word by word, "Put away your annoying stubborn temper, and don't make me feel sick!"

Mother Zhao let go of Sun Wan'er's face, stood up and walked towards the door. When she was about to leave, she paused and said without any emotion: "Since you have no place to go, forget your previous name. From now on, you will be called Meng Wan."

After saying that, Mother Zhao left the room without looking back.

At night, having been deprived of food and water for three days, Sun Wan'er's small and frail body shivered in the dim basement.

Go to sleep. When you sleep you won’t be hungry or cold.

Thinking of this, Sun Wan'er's eyelids became heavier.

Just as my consciousness was gradually drifting away, a white light suddenly flashed before my eyes, and then my body felt shaking, and a gentle voice came from above my head.

"Wake up, don't fall asleep."

The person who was speaking this voice felt very warm, and Sun Wan'er couldn't help but lean towards the source of the heat, and the source of heat hugged her back tightly.

It took about one stick of incense.

Sun Wan'er slowly opened her eyes and, with the help of the dim light, saw clearly the person who was hugging her.

It was a girl who looked a few years older than herself.

"You're awake!"

Seeing Sun Wan'er wake up, his voice revealed happiness, and then he took out the dry food that had been in his arms and stuffed it into Sun Wan'er's hand, "You must be starving, eat something quickly."

Because she was so hungry, Sun Wan'er stuffed the dry food into her mouth. She ate too quickly and her mouth was dry, so she choked halfway through. But she was reluctant to spit out the food in her mouth, so she covered her mouth with her hands.

The girl stroked Sun Wan'er's back, took out the water bag and handed it to her. She said in a childish but extremely gentle voice, "Don't be in a hurry. Eat slowly and drink some water first."

Sun Wan'er blinked her eyes, drank the water the girl brought, and slowly swallowed the food.

With the moisture of water, her throat was no longer dry and tight. Sun Wan'er blinked her eyes and tried to pronounce a syllable. Then she looked at the girl in a panic and said, "Who are you?"

The girl smiled, took Sun Wan'er's cold little body into her arms again, and covered Sun Wan'er's hand with her warm hand.

"As for me, my previous name was Su Li, and now my name is Meng Li."

"Sister A-li, were you just locked up?"

The girl shook her head and said with a somewhat depressed look: "No, I don't have to be locked up here anymore. I used to disobey Mother Zhao just like you, but... being hungry is really unpleasant."

"Have you ever thought about running away?"

"I have thought about it, but when I was about to leave, it was snowing heavily outside. At that moment, I realized that I had nowhere to go. Like you, I was sold here by my parents. My hometown is too far away from me. Staying here is probably the best choice."

"Can't we escape together?"

The girl pulled Sun Wan'er up from her arms, looked into her eyes and advised: "Wan'er, I don't want to lie to you. Mother Zhao asked me to come and persuade you. I came here to tell you that it's useless to go against Mother Zhao. We have to survive first before we can think about the future."

Su Li tightened her grip on Sun Wan'er's thin shoulders, her eyes full of heartache, and she said in a trembling voice, "Before I was sold here, I had a younger sister at home. If...if you are willing, I can be your sister. If there is a chance in the future, we can leave here and live together."

Sun Wan'er's eyes sparkled with anticipation, and she nodded happily, "Yes!"

Time passed quickly, and fifteen years had passed in a flash. However, instead of waiting for freedom, they waited for Su Li to become seriously ill.

Su Li contracted syphilis.

In Chunhualou, it was an incurable disease.

Mother Zhao wanted to send Su Li away. In order to save Su Li, Sun Wan'er gave up the idea of ​​escaping and was willing to use all her savings over the past ten years to treat Su Li. She begged Mother Zhao for a long time before she finally let Su Li stay.

Over the next year, Sun Wan'er used up all her savings to treat Su Li and received more patients than ever before, but Su Li's condition became more and more serious, and he was awake less and less.

That day, Su Li, who had been sleeping all day, woke up, looked at Sun Wan'er who was sitting beside him, and called softly, "Wan'er."

"Sister Ari, you're awake. Do you want some water or something to eat? I'll get it for you."

At the moment when Sun Wan'er turned around, Su Li grabbed Sun Wan'er's wrist and shook her head slowly, saying, "No, I'm not thirsty or hungry."

On the sickbed, Su Li looked at Sun Wan'er. Although she was very weak, she still smiled and said, "Wan'er, don't waste money on me anymore. My illness can't be cured. Leave it to yourself."

Sun Wan'er held Su Li's hand, just like how Su Li warmed her hands back then, and said with tears in her eyes: "Sister A Li, don't say that. Have you forgotten that we still have to live together?"

Hearing this, the smile in Su Li's eyes deepened, as if he was looking through his eyes at a very beautiful dream. After a long time, Su Li smiled lightly and said, "Yes, that kind of life must be very beautiful."

After saying this, Su Li smiled and closed his eyes forever.

After Su Li died, her body was handled by Mother Zhao.

Chunhua Tower is a place where people are eaten without leaving any trace. Even if someone dies, every last bit of value will be squeezed out of them. However, Mother Zhao did not tell Sun Wan'er how Su Li's body was dealt with.

Through Zhao Mama's men, Sun Wan'er learned that Su Li's body was sold to Yulong Village and used for a ghost marriage.

Yulong Village is not far from Chunhua Tower. Sun Wan'er asked someone to check secretly so that she could go to pay her respects on the day she left Chunhua Tower. However, everyone who came back said that Su Li's grave was not found in Yulong Village.

The people in the village kept silent about this matter.

Chunhua Tower was populated by people from all corners of the world, and one could often hear some interesting stories about the underworld. Sun Wan'er also learned about Jiang Lian'an's name from the guests.