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

After all, this place is a famous food town, and it is not uncommon for people to stay here for a long time just to taste the food.

However, observing Xiang Yu's appearance, he did not show any signs of greed.

Lin Zhiruo pondered inwardly and felt that there was no need to delve too much into it, so she nimbly passed through the gap in the railing.

Fortunately, I am slim, so I can pass through smoothly.

Seeing this, Xiang Yu followed closely behind.

Lin Zhiruo signaled him with her eyes: "Why do you want to come too?"

"It's a rare opportunity like this, so I'll accompany you." Xiang Yu responded calmly.

(Well, in that case.)

So, Lin Zhiruo successfully escaped from the room.

After leaving the inn, she felt much more relaxed.

Compared to when we entered the village, the guards let us pass easily, perhaps because it was already late at night.

All the wild land has been cultivated into vegetable gardens, and they are so popular that wild animals naturally dare not come out easily during the day.

"What are you going to do?" Xiang Yu asked curiously.

"I want to explore something." Lin Zhiruo replied, then she stood in front of the vegetable garden she had seen before, staring at the unripe vegetables.

Xiang Yu casually broke off a leaf and asked doubtfully, "Is the soil here poor?"

"I don't think so." Lin Zhiruo turned her gaze to the kitchen in front of the vegetable garden. There was a large window on the plaster wall, without a window frame, and it was tightly closed.

She picked up a dead branch on the ground and pointed it at the junction of the window and the vegetable garden.

The width of the vegetable garden is slightly larger than the window.

"The vegetables here seem to be able to receive light at night." Lin Zhiruo said thoughtfully.

"What does this mean?" Xiang Yu was confused.

The growth of food ingredients is often disrupted by changes in the environment.

Just like Lin Zhiruo once made the winter bamboo shoots emerge early, the growth of the vegetables here was also hindered due to some external interference.

People generally believe that vegetables will grow luxuriantly if there is enough sunlight, but sometimes excessive light can hinder their growth.

Just like these vegetable leaves, their growth may be slow due to the influence of light at night.

This phenomenon often occurs in bustling and noisy places.

"Are you saying that vegetables don't grow well because there is light at night?" Xiang Yu asked.

"I guess so." Lin Zhiruo nodded.

However, looking at the position and width of the windows, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong.

The windows have no lattices and should be opened frequently for ventilation during the hot summer.

But there is still a mystery that remains unsolved: if this kitchen has been abandoned, why is it brightly lit in the middle of the night?

About this matter...

"There are rats here, right?" Lin Zhiruo suddenly asked.

"Yes, no matter how many traps we set, we can't completely eliminate them." Xiang Yu answered helplessly.

"That means there are an endless supply of rats here." Lin Zhiruo said thoughtfully.

She recalled the words of the imperial chef, saying that the new dishes had not yet been tested at the banquet.

This means that other methods have been tried, so what are they?

The first thing that comes to mind is naturally to experiment with easily accessible ingredients.

The cookbook that Lin Zhiruo was reading today recorded many results of experiments with different ingredients.

The number of cookbooks was definitely not something the imperial chef could carry with him, so it was most likely obtained from somewhere in this village.

Lin Zhiruo walked around the kitchen.

Besides the windows, only one door was locked.

"Move aside a little." Xiang Yu took out a piece of wire from somewhere and inserted it into the keyhole, making a clicking sound.

The crudely constructed door was opened instantly.

(This guy is really a bohemian guy.)

However, he did Lin Zhiruo a great favor.

She walked into the kitchen and found that it was divided into two rooms.

Lin Zhiruo first entered the room with the window.

What comes into view are both expected things and unexpected discoveries.

As expected, there were ingredients on the shelves and scribbled recipes, as well as questionable seasonings, dried spices, and a few objects that looked like pickles.

The whole room was filled with fragrance.

There were several small bottles on the shelf, with notes on them indicating the date, ingredients and quantity.

Xiangyu looked at these bottles and jars with great interest.

Lin Zhiruo wanted to take a closer look, but at this moment something even more horrifying came into view.

It was an iron pipe-like object that had been broken into several pieces.

Looking at its parts, it is difficult to discern its original shape.

However, Lin Zhiruo had an impression of it.

This is exactly the hidden weapon used by the assassin who assassinated Quan Wushuang a few days ago.

(How did this thing get here...)

The appearance of this object brings together many doubts.

However, Lin Zhiruo had no time to think about it.

At this moment, a crackling sound was heard outside.

Lin Zhiruo quickly covered Xiangyu's mouth and hid him in the corner of the room.

"Huh? Is there anyone in the room?" A woman's voice came, melodious and pleasant.

Lin Zhiruo could hear the sound of her light footsteps, making a clicking sound.

"Who forgot to lock the door?" the woman asked softly.

"It shouldn't be like this." A man's voice replied.

But the footsteps showed that there were more than two people.

"But the door is already open. Who is responsible for locking it?" The woman's tone was still gentle.

However, for some reason, her tone made Lin Zhiruo feel a chill.

Moreover, it seems that Lin Zhiruo is not the only one who feels this way.

Lin Zhiruo felt that Xiangyu was shaking violently in her arms, so she slowly released her hand that was covering his mouth.

"...something bad has happened." she whispered.

"Why do you say that?" Xiang Yu's voice was filled with confusion.

"The trouble this time comes from them..." Xiang Yu's face was distorted and full of fear.

The footsteps were getting closer, and the smell mixed with spices was getting stronger.

The sound of clothes rubbing against each other seemed to be searching for something, but Lin Zhiruo could only see their feet.

There were three pairs of women's feet and two pairs of men's feet.

No, perhaps only one pair of them were real men's feet, because although the other person was wearing a chef's uniform, Lin Zhiruo recognized that the clothes were exactly the same as those worn by the imperial chef in the morning.

"Is there anything unusual?" a woman's voice asked. The unique accent made Lin Zhiruo feel extremely familiar.

Lin Zhiruo trembled all over and broke out in a cold sweat as she finally saw the woman's true face.

She covered her face with a veil, and although her hair was hanging down, her foreign amber eyes could not be concealed.

"It's okay, maybe I'm just too suspicious." The woman turned and was about to leave. Lin Zhiruo felt a little relieved and was about to breathe a sigh of relief.

However......

The woman suddenly reached out to the waist of the man guarding her.

Lin Zhiruo was startled, and her black hair instantly fell apart, making a crackling sound.

A dagger stabbed into the wall, making a buzzing sound. Lin Zhiruo was caught off guard and was at a loss for a moment.

When she came to her senses, she saw an old woman had already lifted the curtain and was looking down at them condescendingly.

Although the old woman has a beautiful appearance, the years have left indelible marks on her.

Her makeup and clothes were gorgeous and ostentatious, and she was about fifty years old.

The old woman was covered in jewels, and the nails on her ring and little fingers were about two inches long and carefully protected with gold wire.

Her lips were painted with bright rouge, twisted and graceful, and her eyes were full of contempt, as if she was looking down at the untouchables on the ground.

"It looks like there's a little mouse." The old woman looked as if she was really looking at a mouse.

"Cui Ling." the old woman called.

"Yes." Cui Ling responded and walked forward.

The old woman waved the round fan in her hand and hit her hard.

"Can't you even catch a little mouse?" the old woman asked sternly.

"Madam, please forgive me." Cui Ling bowed her head and admitted her guilt.

"Huh? I think I've seen this child before." The old woman suddenly said.

"...Mrs. Feiling, I'm...sorry..." Xiang Yu trembled and barely squeezed out an apology.

"This is Master Qingnang's son." Cui Ling answered tremblingly, covering her face.

The old woman responded casually and then turned to the other woman.

The woman was in her youth, with heavy makeup, and looked somewhat similar to old woman Fei Ling.

"Mother, this is just children's play. Let's leave quickly." said the woman. Her innocent look had disappeared. She took off her village girl's clothes and put on gorgeous clothes.

Her hair was in a high bun, with exotic jewels swaying gently in it.

"...So that's how it is." Lin Zhiruo thought to herself. She had deliberately not asked before. When Cui Ling was mentioned, she wanted to find out, but finally gave up.

At the time she felt that knowing this was useless, but now it seems that she should have been more cautious.

(She is as cunning as a fox.)

"Haha, in that case, since we have this rare opportunity, how about we take them away?" Old woman Fei Ling said with a smile. Although the years have left traces on her face, one can still imagine her beautiful face when she was young.

Fei Ling's smile seemed to be tugging at Lin Zhiruo's heart.

"Loulan, what do you think?" Fei Ling turned and asked Hu Lan'er.