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

On the way back to the inn, various breakfast stalls at the morning market had been set up by the river bank. Lin Lezhi's walking speed unconsciously slowed down, and he could hardly take his eyes off.

There are buns, cakes, and hot noodles.

The sight was dazzling, and Lin Lezhi's saliva was about to flow. He had been sleeping in the open air for the past few days and had not eaten enough. The delicious smell of breakfast made Lin Lezhi's stomach growl.

While thinking about what to eat, Lin Lezhi noticed that Xiao Yihuo's gaze fell on the wonton stall where they had eaten that night.

His eyes were quiet and deep, revealing an incomprehensible emotion, as if he was looking at other things through the wonton spread.

"You still want to eat that?" Lin Lezhi suddenly said.

Without waiting for Xiao Yihuo to speak, Lin Lezhi grabbed Xiao Yihuo's wrist, walked towards the wonton stand, and said to himself: "It just so happens that I want to eat too, let's go, I'll treat you."

In fact, with his status as a prince, Xiao Yihuo should have refused, and he didn't have to put on an act in front of Jiang Lian'an, but for some reason he couldn't break free.

This time, Lin Lezhi had no intention of playing tricks on Xiao Yihuo and deliberately chose a clean place to sit down.

"Boss, two bowls of wontons!" Lin Lezhi thought about it and felt that two bowls were not enough, so he smiled and added, "No, boss, we want four bowls!"

"okay--!"

The hot wontons were soon out of the pot. Lin Lezhi leaned over to the bowl and took a big sip. Just the smell gave him a great sense of happiness.

One bite, the juicy and fresh taste fills your mouth with fragrance.

Beautiful! Beautiful!

Lin Lezhi seemed to be possessed by a hungry ghost, and the two large bowls of wontons were quickly finished.

On the other hand, Xiao Yihuo ate very cleanly and elegantly. With the morning light shining on Xiao Yihuo, even the wontons in the bowl looked a lot more luxurious.

Lin Lezhi couldn't help but complain: "You eat too slowly."

"You eat too fast."

"You've suddenly become silent. I'm not used to it. What are you thinking about?"

After Lin Lezhi pointed out his thoughts, Xiao Yihuo paused for a moment, and then put down the spoon. He looked at Lin Lezhi and asked without any joking, "If it was you, what would you do?"

"Are you worried about the refugees?"

Xiao Yihuo's eyes calmed and he nodded.

Xiao Yihuo has been in the palace since he was a child. Although he is not favored by his father, he is also a real prince. I think such common things among the people must have had a great shock to him.

Seeing Lin Lezhi looking thoughtful, I thought he would think for a long time, but he gave the answer very quickly.

"What you are doing now is not wrong, but it can only solve their current worries. It is not a permanent solution. Once you leave this place one day, everything will return to the way it was before." Lin Lezhi paused and then said, "Isn't this what you are worried about?"

A hint of surprise and admiration flashed across Xiao Yihuo's eyes.

He and Jiang Lian'an had not known each other for a long time, but he could always easily see through his inner thoughts.

But to him, Jiang Lian'an was like a mystery, unfathomable.

"Are you sure that Brother Lezhi has really lost his memory?" Qingchuan's words were still ringing in his ears.

Now Xiao Yihuo didn't dare to easily confirm whether Jiang Lian'an in front of him had lost his memory. But if he hadn't lost his memory, why could he sit with him calmly.

After a moment of silence, Xiao Yihuo nodded again.

"With your status, you can do many things that ordinary people cannot do. Only you can do it. As the saying goes, it is better to teach a man to fish than to give him a fish. If you want to truly solve their predicament, you must solve the problem fundamentally."

"What to do?"

"It's not difficult." Lin Lezhi moved the bowl in front of him and used the water vapor formed by the heat at the bottom of the bowl to write a word on the table.

"Although it may be difficult to do so in other places for the time being, at least you can keep them safe in the Linnan area."

Xiao Yihuo looked at it carefully, and the word was deeply reflected in his eyes, causing a wave of fluctuations.

The word 'nothing'.

If we want to prevent refugees from being trapped by their identities, the first thing we need to do is to let them live under the sun with the same status as the people of Northern Qi.

After reading it, Xiao Yihuo retracted his gaze, raised his head and looked at Lin Lezhi and asked, "When do you plan to leave?"

While Lin Lezhi was turning over his body, he said in a very calm tone: "Once the case this afternoon is settled, I plan to leave tomorrow."

"Lian An, where are you going next?"

"I haven't thought about it yet. I'll probably go wherever there's a case."

Xiao Yihuo's eyes darkened. He had no intention of trying to keep her, nor was he as emotional as last time. He slowly said, "Then let's have dinner together tonight. It's agreed."

Hearing this, Lin Lezhi's eyes lit up. He stopped rummaging through his clothes and looked at Xiao Yihuo with approval and said, "It's okay to eat, but... can I choose where to eat?"

Xiao Yihuo smiled and agreed: "Of course."

After getting Xiao Yihuo's promise, Lin Lezhi chuckled a few more times, and a sly smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. He shamelessly asked, "And this breakfast, can it be considered as your treat for me?"

"When you came, didn't you say you would treat me? How come it became my treat now?"

Lin Lezhi shifted his gaze to the river beside him, smiled awkwardly and said, "This... this is not a change in the situation. I will definitely invite you back when I have the chance."

Lin Lezhi took the empty bowl from the side, and even without looking at it, he placed the bottom of the bowl accurately on the word, and said with a sense of righteousness: "Besides, I'm still helping you think of ideas. Isn't the money for this meal enough to cover it? Don't be too petty..."

"Ok, I will wait for you."

Lin Lezhi swallowed his anger. After all, bragging doesn't cost money, so he smiled and said cheerfully, "It's a deal. Don't just talk about a bowl of wontons. I'll buy you whatever you want to eat."

"it is good."

When they returned to the inn, Qingchuan and Liu Yunhe had already woken up and were sitting in the lobby downstairs of the inn. Even Yang Hancai had arrived, and there was an exquisite wooden suitcase on the table.

Seeing Xiao Yihuo coming back, Liu Yunhe immediately checked whether Xiao Yihuo was injured. After confirming that he was fine, the anxiety on his face disappeared a little, and he asked with concern: "Master, why did you go out so early?"

"I went to the stall outside with Lian An and had breakfast."

Upon hearing this, everyone present could not hide their shock, except the waiter who was confused.

"Sir, are you okay after eating?"

Lin Lezhi sat down at the side, poured himself a cup of tea, and said jokingly: "If you don't know, you might think your son is a baby who ran away secretly. He's such a grown man, what can go wrong if he goes out to eat his favorite food?"

Liu Yunhe chased after him unconvinced and slapped the table, which made an unbearable creaking sound and the tea in the cup spilled out.

Fortunately, Qingchuan took the first step and picked up his teacup, thus avoiding disaster.

The waiter stood by and looked at the table with a worried look on his face, not understanding why they were arguing over breakfast.

"My young master is a precious person. You think it's all your fault. I can tell from the look of it that he has bad intentions. Of course, nothing will happen if he eats it."

"is it?"

"Nonsense, my son has always been in poor health, how can he eat food from outside casually? If something happens, can you take responsibility?"

Lin Lezhi nodded, and said calmly and logically: "Since your son is so weak, why don't you get up early to accompany him? You are a little brat who can't get up from bed, how can you blame others?"

"Oh~" Lin Lezhi looked at Xiao Yihuo and said with a smile: "It seems that you are too indulgent."

"You... who are you calling little...!"

Lin Lezhi didn't give Liu Yunhe a chance to speak, and then deliberately teased: "Whoever is angry is the one. If you are dissatisfied with me, you can say it directly. There is no need to use the excuse of eating."

Liu Yunhe was speechless after being confronted by Lin Lezhi. He could only vent his anger on the table.

When this palm strike came down, one could almost hear the table screaming.

Yang Hancai quietly stood up from the chair, changed his standing position, and did not forget to take the wooden briefcase on the table.

"Hey, gentlemen, please calm down. Our table is not cheap." The waiter came over quickly to check if there was anything wrong with the table.

"Yun He, stop making trouble. I wanted to eat, so I dragged Lian An along." Xiao Yihuo stopped him.

Lin Lezhi shrugged slightly at Liu Yunhe.

Xiao Yihuo spoke out to stop him, and Liu Yunhe had no choice but to sit aside in a huff, casting an unconvinced look at Lin Lezhi from time to time.

But Lin Lezhi didn't even look at him, which made him even angrier.

Xiao Yihuo looked at Yang Hancai and asked, "The court session started at 5 p.m., why did Magistrate Yang come so early?"

Hearing this, Yang Hancai immediately straightened his body and said respectfully, "My lord, Duan Hongzhi and Liang Gaocheng both confessed last night. However, I checked the employment records of Changluan County this morning and did not find any records of the second in command. I felt suspicious about this matter, so I thought of coming here to tell you."

"And this..." Yang Hancai opened the wooden suitcase in his hand, and a mellow smell of wine wafted out, mixed with a faint scent of osmanthus.

"Sir, didn't you say that you came here to drink the sweet-scented osmanthus wine? I specially asked someone to prepare it. This is the best sweet-scented osmanthus wine in Changluan County."

When he saw the wine, Lin Lezhi's eyes lit up and his Adam's apple rolled up and down uncontrollably.

Xiao Yihuo did not miss the expression on Lin Lezhi's face for a moment, and said, "Thank you, Governor Yang, for your thoughtfulness."

"No, no, sir, just drink it to your heart's content."

After saying that, Xiao Yihuo winked at Liu Yunhe, who stood up and took it.

"Since Magistrate Yang is here, I also happen to have something to discuss with him at the county government office. I wonder if he has time?"

"Yes! Of course! Gentlemen, just follow me."

When leaving, Liu Yunhe brought the osmanthus wine upstairs. Qingchuan put down the teacup in his hand, then took out a silver ingot from his arms and handed it to the waiter.

"Here's the money for tea and breakfast. No need to give me the change."

The waiter waved his hand quickly and said, "Sir, a breakfast and snacks won't cost that much."

Qingchuan smiled and said, "Take it, it will be useful."

After Liu Yunhe came down from upstairs and followed him out of the store, the waiter went to collect the tea on the table for no apparent reason. As a result, the table collapsed under the weight just as he had collected the tea.

The waiter was horrified and stared blankly at the broken table. He then looked at the teapot and teacups in his arms. He barely came back to his senses and didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Fortunately, the tea sets were saved.

When he arrived at the county government office, Yang Hancai immediately presented all the records related to the case to Xiao Yihuo and others for review.

Seeing the investigative notes at the beginning of the case, Lin Lezhi took out one from a pile of information. It was an investigative record about the brokerage village purchasing a large amount of ghost money.

Lin Lezhi glanced at it from beginning to end and saw many coffin shops listed on it. Although he didn't know how many coffin shops there were in Zhouqing Town, Lin Lezhi took a rough look and didn't see Zhang's Coffin Shop on it.

Yang Hancai took out the government employment records mixed in, handed them to Xiao Yihuo, and said politely, "Your Majesty, please have a look."

There aren’t many records of the executioner’s employment, and the period when he was supposed to be the second-in-command in office is blank.

The second in command’s predecessor had written that he was retiring.

After taking a quick look, Xiao Yihuo handed the employment book in his hand to Lin Lezhi.

"When the government recruits people, they keep a list to ensure that they have a clean background. However, there is no list for the second in command. Duan and Liang were interrogated last night, and they both said they had no knowledge of the matter. Your Majesty, do you think there is some other hidden story behind this?"

Lin Lezhi looked at Yang Hancai and asked, "Do the other executioners have any impression of him?"

Yang Hancai shook his head and said firmly: "No, Changluan County is just a small place, there are not many offenders, one person during the term of office is enough."

"Did the last president really retire?"

Yang Hancai shook his head again and said with regret: "Mr. Jiang and I had the same idea yesterday, so we sent someone to investigate this morning, but the previous Mr. Tian passed away a month ago."

Wasn't it a month ago when Yan Jingyi retired and Xing Tianqi took over?

"Has an autopsy been performed?"

"I do want to do an autopsy, but when Mr. Tian passed away, his children were by his side and can all testify. It should be correct. Besides, Mr. Tian was buried just over a month ago, so it would be inappropriate to open the coffin for an autopsy."

Lin Lezhi put down the book in his hand and said bluntly: "In this case, I will go again."

"Do you need me to send some people to follow Master Jiang?"

"Don't bother. Magistrate Yang just needs to tell me where Mr. Tian lives."

Xiao Yihuo stood up, straightened his clothes and said, "Lian'an, I'll go with you."

"No need. Since the prince is not feeling well, you should just take a good rest in the county office. I will be back soon."

Yang Hancai quickly stepped forward and agreed, "Your Majesty, I think what Master Jiang said is very right. Your Majesty, didn't you say that you had something important to discuss with me?"

Xiao Yihuo stood there with a smile on his face, but nodded without any smile in his eyes.

Seeing this, Lin Lezhi was so happy. You are allowed to pretend! You deserve to be restricted by this. Just bear it yourself.

As he spoke, Lin Lezhi's eyes turned and his gaze fell on Liu Yunhe who was bored at the side. He said faintly: "I see you are bored here, why don't you... accompany me for a walk, little brat."