Compendio de hombres apuestos en el mundo de las artes marciales

Capítulo 84

Xiao Changqing's eyes darted around, as if he had thought of something, and he revealed a sly smile: "Is that so? Little Duan, then you want this one with peach blossoms, just like me, right?"

Duan Chen nodded, "That's fine." The stall owner quickly poured two bowls of tea for the two of them, took the coins, and continued to serve other customers. Duan Chen took the teacup, blew on it a few times, and took a small sip.

Xiao Changqing took a bite, smacked his lips in satisfaction, and then looked at Duan Chen with a smile: "How is it? The peach blossoms smell very good, don't they?"

Duan Chen nodded slightly: "Not bad."

The two stood in front of the stall, talking and drinking tea. Before long, the bowl of tea was empty.

After leaving the tea stall and walking for a while, Xiao Changqing looked ahead and asked with a smile, "Little Duan, do you know why I like you so much?"

Duan Chen thought about the question very seriously: "Because, senior and I are very different people."

Xiao Changqing smiled approvingly: "People say that deep affection is short-lived, and extreme intelligence is bound to bring harm. Xiao Duan, people who are too smart are destined to have a harder life than ordinary people. So sometimes, there are some things that you don't need to think about too clearly or understand too thoroughly. Just do what you feel is right."

"It's like that bowl of jasmine tea from earlier. You clearly had your eye on it and liked it from the start, but you insisted on waiting for the girl to buy it first. It wasn't until I asked you which one you liked that you finally spoke up. You can wait for the next bowl of tea if it's sold out, but if the person is gone, you might wait a lifetime and never meet someone who suits your taste again."

“You’ve already fallen in love with it, so don’t overthink it. If you don’t like the peach blossom flavor too strong, don’t force yourself to finish it all. Xiao Duan, your master is right. You often push yourself too hard.”

Duan Chen turned his head and saw Xiao Changqing smiling, but his eyes were serious: "I like tea with peach blossoms. From the beginning, I will tell others that this is what I, Xiao Changqing, like. Even if someone wants to take it from me, even if I have to wait another hour, I will accept it. If you like it, you like it. You don't need to consider the reasons or think too much about the consequences. You just need to figure out whether you want it or not, and that's enough."

Duan Chen curved his lips into a faint smile. His phoenix eyes, however, were not as cold as usual; instead, they held a gentle smile, like the afternoon sun shining into a mountain stream, clear and sparkling.

Xiao Changqing looked at Duan Chen's profile and slowly exhaled. Speaking so seriously was definitely not his style; it was exhausting! But, hehe, now he could brag to Zuo Xin again…

On his third visit to the coroner's room, Duan Chen carefully compared the first corpse with the other four. Although the strange smile wasn't on the face, the head wound from a blunt force trauma was very similar to the wound on another corpse that had also died from a head injury, and the method was quite consistent. The other three corpses had all died from excessive bleeding caused by sharp objects. The methods used on the two corpses that were stabbed in the heart and the one that were stabbed in the abdomen were quite consistent, while the one whose throat was slit, after careful comparison and consulting with the coroner, Duan Chen and the others concluded that the slit technique on that corpse was more skillful.

Not long after, Zhou Yufei and Zuo Xin escorted the restaurant staff back to the government office by carriage, a total of five people including the restaurant owner. The main reason for bringing the owner and the four waiters who had helped the customers taste the pufferfish was to prevent them from being silenced. Zhao Ting and Zhan Yun were the last to return, clearly having found some clues, but judging from their expressions, something seemed amiss.

Evening arrived quickly, and although the case wasn't fully resolved, there had been a breakthrough. Lord Cao ordered the five people from the restaurant to be detained separately and interrogated again the next day. Representatives from the Prince's Mansion and the Zhou family came to urge everyone to return to the Prince's Mansion. Zhao Ting and Zhan Yun exchanged a glance, thinking of the mysterious "Jiang family descendant" in the Prince's Mansion, and each patted Lord Zhou on the shoulder with some sympathy. Zhou Yufei, still unaware of the situation, was patted on the shoulder by the two men and saw the suppressed smiles on their faces, and inexplicably sneezed loudly.

Author's Note: There will be an update on Saturday at 9 AM.

So let's remember this slogan: Zhanzhan is like Chenchen's jasmine tea~ Tea brewed with small white jasmine flowers~

Then Zhanzhan and Chenchen together make jasmine green tea!! ~\(≧▽≦)/~

P.S., fingertips, if any of you have the time and are willing to give me points, please write a long review!

As long as it's at least 1000 words, it counts as a long review, and you can do it while logged in. A 1000-word review can earn you over 20 points!

77

Chapter Eleven: Truth or Falsehood, Reality and Illusion...

The group returned to the mansion by carriage, with Zuo Xin and Xiao Changqing also going along.

Upon entering the front hall, after a long exchange of pleasantries, Zhou Yufei noticed that his grandfather was staring at him with a gloomy expression, the veins on his forehead twitching, his eyes looking like he wanted to kill someone.

Zhou Yufei swallowed hard and looked at his mother. To his surprise, his mother was chatting enthusiastically with a strange girl, holding her hand and smiling broadly.

The Seventh Prince, holding his teacup, looked around at everyone with great interest and slowly sipped his tea. "Yiran," the Seventh Prince suddenly spoke, but called out to Zhou Yufei first, startling the already bewildered and uneasy Lord Zhou.

Zhou Yufei quickly cupped his hands and bowed to the Seventh Prince according to official etiquette: "Your Highness, please speak."

Zhao Ting and Zhan Yun exchanged a glance, then Zhao Ting popped a candied fruit into his mouth, a smirk playing on his lips as he waited for the show to begin. Zhan Yun shook his head helplessly, picked up his teacup, and sipped his tea. Tonight was going to be quite a night!

Xiao Changqing sat down next to Duan Chen and noticed that Duan Chen's expression had been slightly cold and his body tense ever since he entered the room. Glancing at the strikingly beautiful woman across from them, Xiao Changqing leaned close to Duan Chen's ear and whispered, "Little Duan, who is that young lady?"

Duan Chen remained in his seat and answered softly, "The only daughter of General Jiang, who passed away ten years ago, the eldest daughter of the Jiang family, whose given name is Xue Luo."

Xiao Changqing let out a long "Ah!" and then exclaimed in realization, "The Jiang family!"

Then she immediately turned to the other side and whispered in Zuo Xin's ear. Zuo Xin smiled, looking helpless: "I heard everything, stop bothering me."

Xiao Changqing glared at him and lowered his voice, saying, "I know! I'm telling you to take a good look, there's something special in this..." As he spoke, he quickly glanced at the Seventh Prince and Zhou Jixiang out of the corner of his eye, and then winked at Zuo Xin.

Zuo Xin was taken aback and followed Xiao Changqing's gaze, his expression somewhat inscrutable.

The Seventh Prince had just called out Zhou Yufei's name when he was glared at by Old Man Zhou, his expression fierce but his heart weak. The Seventh Prince didn't seem to care, continuing to sip his tea with an air of contentment, but he didn't say anything more. Zhou Yufei was left standing there, bewildered. He glanced at Zhao and Zhan, but no one paid him any attention, so he could only sit there silently drinking his tea.

The Seventh Princess smiled as she looked at the group of younger relatives, then glanced at her husband, and said softly, "Dinner is set in the backyard, so we'll have to wait a while. The children can go wherever they want; there's no need for them to sit here with us." Then she turned to Zhou Yufei and said, "The flowers in the backyard are in full bloom. Yiran, why don't you accompany Xueluo for a stroll?"

Zhou's mother nodded repeatedly, glancing gratefully at the princess, and then winked at her son: "Yiran, hurry up. Miss Jiang has been away from the capital for many years, and you are quite familiar with the Prince's mansion. Take Miss Jiang for a stroll around, and when it's about time, you can go directly to Taoran Residence in the South Courtyard."

The princess then looked at Zuo Xin and Xiao Changqing: "If you two don't have anything urgent, please stay at the mansion tonight. Please forgive us if there is anything we haven't done well." As she spoke, she glanced at Zhao Ting, signaling him to help with the hospitality.

Although Zhou Yufei didn't understand what was going on, he instantly grasped his next task from his mother's all-too-familiar, marriage-pressuring gaze. While muttering curses at the two people beside him for their lack of loyalty, he curled his lips into a charming smile: "Miss Jiang, please."

Watching from the side, Zhou's mother's eyes twitched. She gritted her teeth, looking at her wayward son, and then glanced worriedly at the smiling princess. The princess gestured for Zhou's mother to calm down and gestured for a maid to bring Zhou Jixiang some water.

Zhou Yufei and the woman stood up, and the rest of the group bowed to the prince and princess before leaving the room in twos and threes.

Seeing the crowd disappear into the distance and the servants withdraw, Zhou Jixiang slammed his teacup on the table with a bang, stood up, and pointed angrily at the Seventh Prince, shouting, "Bringing in a woman like this to claim she's a descendant of the Jiang family, and then trying to push her onto my son, Zhao Rui, what do you mean by this?!"

The Seventh Prince calmly took a sip of tea, his dark eyes hinting at amusement: "Prime Minister Zhou has quite the temper. Such words are only appropriate within my residence. It wouldn't be proper for him to address me by my given name so casually outside!"

Zhou Qianbo, her face flushed with anger, paced back and forth in front of them, her hands behind her back: "I know I was wrong back then, and I feel guilty towards Brother Jiang and his wife. But you know that I had no choice in that situation! Haven't I been doing my best to search all these years? But you, what do you mean by bringing this person out here?"

Madam Zhou, who was standing nearby, was a little confused. She quickly looked at the Princess, who was listening with a smile, and asked, "What, what's going on? Was that Miss Jiang from earlier not real?"

Zhou Qianbo glared at her resentfully and said irritably, "Just because they look alike doesn't mean it's true! In the past ten years, I've seen at least two or three people who look like my sister-in-law, if not ten. And all of them are Xue Luo?"

As she spoke, she stepped forward angrily, slammed her hand on the small table next to Madam Zhou, and roared, "You saw that child before! When her family first returned to Bianjing, that child was eight years old, and she had phoenix eyes! No matter how much a person changes, how could they grow to have ox eyes after more than ten years!"

Madam Zhou was a few years older than Zhou Qianbo and had a poor memory. After being scolded by her husband, she immediately felt dizzy and stared blankly at Zhou Jixiang with her mouth agape.

When the princess heard the word "cow's eye," she burst out laughing. The Seventh Prince almost spat out his tea. The couple exchanged a glance and then looked at Zhou Qianbo in tacit agreement.