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

Lin Lezhi's hand holding the wine glass was trembling slightly.

I don’t know if it’s because I can’t drink much, or because I’ve seen too many innocent people being implicated and killed recently, but the things I had forgotten started to appear in my mind again.

After a moment of silence, he said with a trace of self-blame in his eyes: "I can only remember some scattered images. If I continue talking, I won't remember anything. Let's not think about it. Let's just drink."

Lin Lezhi hid the sadness in his eyes, and after a few more drinks, he looked at Xiao Yihuo and said, "I came to see you because I actually have something else to tell you."

Xiao Yihuo's eyes darkened and he asked, "What's the matter?"

Lin Lezhi put down the wine glass in his hand and said slowly: "Do you remember in Yarenzhuang, I told you that I went back to the dungeon to confirm something."

"Yes." Xiao Yihuo nodded and continued, "You said you wanted to go back and confirm whether there were any traces of moss in the cells where other civilians were held."

"This is just the first reason. It was the thought that made me decide to go back. There was also a second reason."

Xiao Yihuo waited for Lin Lezhi to continue speaking.

Lin Lezhi stood up and explained, "That night, you and Qingchuan mixed a trace of drugs into the herbs that the people drank in order to send me out of Yarenzhuang. Are you sure that everyone drank it at that time?"

Xiao Yihuo thought about it for a moment, shook his head slightly and said, "There are so many people in the dungeon that it is difficult to confirm them one by one."

Lin Lezhi stretched out his hand and made a two sign and said, "This is the second reason why I returned to the dungeon to confirm it."

"On the night we discovered the tunnel, the first and third bosses received a tip-off that Jiang Lian'an had sneaked into Ya Ren Zhuang, and then they brought everyone in the dungeon to the yard for investigation."

"The people in the abandoned house are trying to cover it up for me and will definitely not tell anyone. Besides, they have already drunk the drug and fallen asleep."

"On this trip, not many people knew that I had sneaked into the Ya Ren Village, and the people in the abandoned house were the ones who wanted to cover up for me. But the secret report not only said that I had sneaked into the Ya Ren Village, but also said that I brought helpers. It was so suggestive, and it was almost like revealing our identities."

Lin Lezhi sat back on the stool, looked at Xiao Yihuo with a serious look and said, "Have you ever thought about who the snitch was?"

"You mean..." Xiao Yihuo thought for a moment, then looked at Lin Lezhi with a slightly darker look in his eyes and said, "Yang Hancai."

"That's right. Apart from the common people, he is the only one who knows our identity."

Lin Lezhi raised his hand and continued, "At Ren Yazi's urging, I tried to get up quickly, so I propped myself up on the ground nearby and accidentally felt something wet. I didn't pay much attention to it at the time, thinking that someone had urinated there."

"However, later when I was trying to get more information out of Boss Hu by using reasoning about the case, I pretended to cough in order to avoid the speculative gaze from Mother Zhao. Because of this action, I smelled a very familiar smell on my hand, not urine."

"What is the taste?"

"The bitter taste of the medicine is exactly the taste of the decoction made by Qingchuan using the roadside greens."

"So... you suspect that Yang Hancai did not drink the medicine soup, but fell into the hay beside him."

"That's right. Now that I think about it, Yang Hancai's actions that night were not reasonable."

Lin Lezhi looked at Xiao Yihuo and said, "If you were a person who was drugged and suddenly woke up due to something, could you immediately determine what happened?"

Xiao Yihuo looked at Lin Lezhi without saying anything, but his calm eyes said it all.

Lin Lezhi continued, "It takes time for the medicinal effect to take effect after drinking the herbs."

"But that night, when I returned to the dungeon after checking the second in command's room, Yang Hancai had already fallen asleep. He woke up again after Renyazi knocked on the dungeon door with a stick. Not only did he wake up very quickly, but there was no confusion in his eyes, as if he had known this would happen."

"This is impossible for a person who has drunk drugs, so I went back to check the hay that was doused with drugs, in addition to checking the hay in other cells."

"If there is no one to lead us to Yarenzhuang, we will never be able to find its exact location. The people have drunk the herbs mixed with sleeping pills and have fallen asleep. The only person in Yarenzhuang who knows our identities and can go and tell on us is Yang Hancai."

Xiao Yihuo looked at Lin Lezhi, his expression turned cold and he asked, "But what good will this do for him?"

Lin Lezhi shook his head and said, "I don't know why he did this. Maybe he wanted to stop us from finding out something, or maybe he wanted to harm us. It's possible."

"I carefully checked the place where Yang Hancai sat, and there was no trace of moss. If he had not left the dungeon, then there must be helpers outside the dungeon to pass on the message for him."

Xiao Yihuo's cheeks turned slightly red, and he frowned and said, "Then why didn't he expose us when we left the dungeon?"

Lin Lezhi tapped his fingers on the table and said, "Because he wants to hide his traces."

"Think about it, how could he know what we were doing in the back of the dungeon? If he went there, it would reveal that he didn't take the drugs and fell asleep. Going out to call for help would also expose himself. He would definitely not do that."

"That's why I guess that he has other helpers outside of Ya Ren Zhuang, so that he can get away with it cleanly regardless of whether the plan succeeds or not."

Xiao Yihuo lowered his eyes and thought about it. Through Lin Lezhi's words, he suddenly remembered that Lin Lezhi suddenly asked to borrow his identity as a prince in Yaren Village. A trace of surprise flashed across Xiao Yihuo's eyes, and then he looked at Lin Lezhi and asked: "The other reason you said you wanted to borrow my identity was to protect the safety of everyone?"

Lin Lezhi smiled, stood up again and said, "Yes, using your identity can make Shi Peng feel at ease, but more importantly, it can allow everyone to leave Yarenzhuang safely."

"Although I don't know how many people Yang Hancai has hidden in the dark, if all the people present knew the identities of you and Yang Hancai, the situation would be different. As long as there is a risk of exposing himself, he would not dare to act easily."

Lin Lezhi's steps were shaky, and he smiled and said, "Not only did we solve the case, but we also protected the safety of everyone present, and saved your sick prince's body. Isn't this killing three birds with one stone?"

Lin Lezhi raised another finger and added, "No, I also told you to be wary of Yang Hancai. This is killing four birds with one stone. It's a win. Don't mention it, your identity as a prince is really useful."

Xiao Yihuo didn't expect that Jiang Lian'an could think of so much in advance, including secretly leaving marks on the land. Not only is he good at solving cases, but he is also more meticulous than ordinary people in some details.

After a moment of silence, Xiao Yihuo asked calmly, "So, after you found the medicine juice on the hay, you began to suspect him?"

"Actually... I already suspected him when he said he knew Yan Jingyi."

Xiao Yihuo's face turned even redder than before, and he asked in confusion: "Why?"

Lin Lezhi sat down and looked at Xiao Yihuo and said, "He said that he and Li Weisheng were candidates who took the same special examination. When they were young, they often sat together and drank and talked happily. This time he came to Changluan County to have a chat with Li Weisheng."

"Xing Tianqi was transferred to Changluan County a month and a half ago. Yan Jingyi resigned a few days ago and was already the local official when Mother Zhao was young. Yang Hancai came to Changluan County recently. According to Yang Hancai, he had never been to Changluan County before."

"But he didn't get to talk to Xing Tianqi, but he knew that Yan Jingyi was welcomed by the people when he left office. If he had only heard rumors from the people, he wouldn't have recognized Yan Jingyi's appearance."

Lin Lezhi's eyes darkened, and he continued, "Unless... they have met before. This is the most important reason why I doubt him."

"And there is a great possibility that he came to Changluan County in pursuit of you. Otherwise, I really can't understand why he, the prefect of Linnan Prefecture, suddenly came to this small Changluan County and paid special attention to your whereabouts."

Xiao Yihuo looked at Jiang Lian'an with an expression of surprise and confusion. He remembered what Qingchuan said about the possibility that Jiang Lian'an did not have amnesia. It was not impossible for someone as smart and intelligent as Jiang Lian'an to pretend to have amnesia.

Can……

Regardless of whether he was pretending to have amnesia or not, Xiao Yihuo really couldn't understand why Jiang Lian'an wanted to help him.

"I didn't expect Lian'an to be so resourceful. I admire him." Xiao Yihuo picked up the wine glass and invited Lin Lezhi to drink with him. Then he slowly said, "Then according to Lian'an, why did he chase me here?"

Lin Lezhi said "hmm..." for a while, then drank the wine in the glass. He spoke in a joking tone, but his eyes were very clear as he said, "How can a commoner like me know this? But if the prince must let me guess, I guess it may be related to the token engraved with the flying dragon."

As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Lezhi discovered that Xiao Yihuo's hand, which was holding the wine jar and pouring wine, paused for a moment.

Lin Lezhi's eyes turned slightly, he chuckled a few times and said in a daze: "Anyway, you're fine, I'm fine, Qingchuan is fine, everyone is fine, it's great."

Lin Lezhi knew that Xiao Yihuo was testing him, but he also did not believe Xiao Yihuo. His intuition told him that Jiang Lian'an's fall into the river was more or less related to Xiao Yihuo, not to mention that Xiao Yihuo had been deliberately concealing the truth.

Xiao Yihuo immediately affirmed that he was Nan Rongyi, but in front of him, Xiao Yihuo never talked about his unique memories with Nan Rongyi, and only talked about a relatively general past.

Moreover, when Xiao Yihuo looked at him, there was never a moment of surprise in his eyes that his friend was still alive and had been found again. Instead... he had been testing him since Yulong Village.

From all these signs, Lin Lezhi could infer that either he was not Nan Rongyi, or the relationship between Nan Rongyi and Xiao Yihuo was not as good as people and he said.

But no matter what, he, Lin Lezhi, is neither Nan Rongyi nor Jiang Lian'an. Just like Liu Yunhe said, he just needs to walk his own path.

I told Xiao Yihuo to beware of Yang Hancai, and I have done the best I can for this son who was born from heaven.

Xiao Yihuo's eyes were filled with rare sadness. He took a deep breath, picked up the wine glass and said with a smile: "Lian An is right. It's best if we are both fine. I don't mean to get drunk. I will accompany you."

Just as Xiao Yihuo was about to drink, Lin Lezhi snatched the cup from Xiao Yihuo's hand and replaced it with a wine jar. He also picked up the wine jar and said dizzily, "It's rare to be happy. Using a cup is too slow. Let's change to this!"

After drinking a few bottles of wine, Lin Lezhi yawned, stood up swaying and said, "I can't drink anymore. I'll vomit if I drink more. We can talk about it tomorrow. I'm so sleepy. I'm going to go back to sleep."

Lin Lezhi staggered to Xiao Yihuo's door and just put his hand on it.

"Lian An..."

Lin Lezhi turned around and said with a smile: "What's wrong?"

Xiao Yihuo stood up from the chair. His usually steady steps now seemed a little shaky. The candlelight in the room flickered slightly as they walked.

Under the influence of alcohol, Xiao Yihuo asked what he had been thinking, and asked puzzledly: "You said you didn't remember me, so why did you help me hide my identity?"

Lin Lezhi thought about it, then smiled and said, "Although I really don't remember you, I remember clearly what happened in Yulong Village. You saved my life from Xing Tianqi's men in Hongzhu Temple, so I will repay you."

Lin Lezhi turned around and waved his hand, saying, "Let's go."