Why am I, a cook, always involved in cases?

Huh?

Lin Zhiruo's eyes inadvertently caught a glimpse of a unique vegetable garden, which stood alone in the shadow of a row of houses. The unpicked vegetables still retained their green color.

Next to it stood a magnificent house, which had some of the charm of a kitchen.

Recalling what the kitchen boy said yesterday, mentioning that only one vegetable garden was not growing well, Lin Zhiruo secretly wondered in her heart, could it be because of this reason that it was deliberately left to continue growing?

She stroked her chin, lost in thought.

This vegetable garden didn't look like it was suffering from a lack of nutrients. What was even more striking was that the rest of the vegetable patch was cleverly arranged into a neat square, cleverly hidden in the shadow of the house.

(Is there some secret behind this...)

Lin Zhiruo involuntarily leaned forward and stared intently at the vegetable patch. Suddenly, a deafening "pop" sound was heard, and she was so scared that she almost fell.

She hurriedly grabbed the window frame, then calmed herself down and adjusted her rapid breathing.

"What are you doing?" It turned out to be the sound of Xiangyu pushing the door open forcefully.

Lin Zhiruo stood silently in front of Xiang Yu, and without giving him time to speak, she punched him in the forehead with both fists.

"Ouch! Why did you hit me?" Xiang Yu cried out in pain.

"Can't you be more gentle when you come in?" Although Lin Zhiruo was venting her emotions, she also seemed a little helpless.

The child's words were so frivolous that they were unbearable.

Tears glistened in Xiang Yu's eyes as he looked at Lin Zhiruo resentfully.

"Do you know where my sister went?"

Lin Zhiruo shook her head. She hadn't even asked about Hu Lan'er's whereabouts.

“Why don’t you even ask that?”

Even if asked, Hu Lan'er might not tell the truth.

In comparison, Lin Zhiruo was more concerned about the mysterious vegetable garden.

“Why do you keep looking outside?”

"Do you know what that room is used for? Is it a kitchen?"

"Huh?" Lin Zhiruo pointed to the majestic building outside the village. "That's the village chief's kitchen. I heard the surrounding vegetable plots all belong to him."

“It’s the kitchen.”

"But this kitchen is rarely used." Xiang Yu opened his toothless mouth, looking a little silly. "Because of insect pests, the ingredients are stored in another kitchen on higher ground. Maybe this place has been abandoned?"

"So just let it go to waste?"

"The village chief is very stingy and is reluctant to spend money on demolition."

Lin Zhiruo responded casually.

(Huh?) Lin Zhiruo withdrew her gaze and casually flipped through the recipe she was reading.

(It seems to be recorded on these pages...) She flipped through several pages and finally found the page full of additional notes.

The imperial chef and Hu Lan'er might have thought that more recipes would keep Lin Zhiruo content, but they had no idea that her curious heart was so difficult to satisfy.

A surge of excitement surged through Lin Zhiruo's body, and she could hardly control herself.

Just reading the cookbook in this room made her extremely anxious.

"You...why do you look like that? It's so scary." Xiang Yu moved closer to Lin Zhiruo's face and observed her expression carefully.

Oops, the old problem has come back again.

Once an attack occurs, even if her reason tells her to restrain herself, it is difficult to do so.

Even if everyone thought it was a foolish act, she would not hesitate.

Otherwise, she would not be Lin Zhiruo.

“Do you want to go over there?”

There was someone guarding outside the window, and jumping out of the third-floor window would be too conspicuous.

If you just want to jump down, you can tear the sheets into a rope, but if you really want to do that, it is not impossible to just jump down along the wall.

But the window faces the main road, and I'm afraid we'll be discovered soon.

"Will it succeed?" Lin Zhiruo asked this question, but she didn't hold much hope.

Xiang Yu grinned when he heard this.

“It’s not completely impossible.”

"...How do we get there?" Lin Zhiruo asked curiously, eyes wide open.

Xiang Yu seemed to like her reaction very much and ran to the next room, which was Hu Lan'er's bedroom.

“Come and help me.”

Lin Zhiruo was wondering what kind of help she could offer when she saw him pushing a cabinet.

Although Lin Zhiruo didn't understand why, she still pushed along. The cabinet slowly moved away with a "hissing" sound, and there was actually a door hidden behind it.

"These are interconnecting rooms. My room is right next to it."

When the partition was built, this large cabinet was probably used to block it.

If this is indeed the case, then the space can be divided at will.

“Is there a cabinet in the next room?”

"It's already open, don't worry. I wanted to use this to scare my sister, but it was blocked by the cabinet."

After saying that, Xiang Yu opened the door with a click.

Maybe they didn't expect someone to push the cabinet from both sides at the same time, so the door was not locked.

Xiangyu's room had the same layout as Lin Zhiruo and the others, with papers and paintbrushes scattered on the bed.

When drawing the golden phoenix mask, Lin Zhiruo felt that this child should not be judged by appearance, as he seemed to love painting very much.

"Go straight to the end of this path, and right below you will see the roof of the wing's veranda. Jump down from there and you'll be out immediately."

The wing room is located at the back of the inn. If you act carefully, you shouldn't be discovered.

“You know this place very well.”

“Hey, I don’t want to spend all day reading cookbooks.”

In other words, the child may often run outside.

Although he was staying in an inn, he seemed very familiar with the village and must have stayed here for a long time.