Une aura glaçante

Chapitre 54

Xiao Dao glanced at Xue Beifan and noticed the faint five-finger mark on his cheek. She felt a little awkward; had she used too much force? Looking at him again, she saw he was still the same old guy. Actually, Xue Beifan was quite handsome, but he always had a carefree, irresponsible attitude and his words were always irritating.

"Who told you to talk nonsense?" Xiao Dao muttered.

Xue Beifan's lips curled into a faint smile. "What did I say?"

Xiao Dao turned his head and muttered again, "He deserves a beating."

"I've found out some clues, do you want to hear them?" Xue Beifan picked up a small steamed bun with his chopsticks and handed it to Xiaodao.

Xiao Dao raised an eyebrow, eating a steamed bun, and said, "Tell me about it."

Xiaoyue laughed. So they've made up? These two are so childish.

"I've been chatting with some thugs these past few days..."

Before he could finish speaking, Xiao Dao looked at him with admiration, as if to say, "Wow, Xue Er, you're really something, chatting with local thugs."

Xue Beifan didn't argue with her. He pinched the snow-white, lotus-leaf-edged sleeve of the small knife between his fingers, as if he was examining the fabric, and said, "People here usually have a saying: a beautiful wife is more ferocious than a tiger."

Xiao Dao's lips twitched, and he snatched back his sleeve. "What's so strange about that? Half of the wives in the house are naturally fierce."

“Being fierce is one thing, but being fierce in a charming way and being fierce in a frightening way are two different things.” As Xue Beifan spoke, he examined the silver bracelet on Xiao Dao’s wrist and fiddled with the two small bells hanging below the bracelet, which jingled.

"Isn't this a matter of local customs? Most women in Jiangnan are gentle and refined." Xiao Dao simply hid her hands in her sleeves, not letting him see them.

Xiaoyue nodded, "What counts as being aggressive? Standing at an intersection and cursing?"

“Swearing and beating people are minor matters; murder and arson are major matters.” Xue Beifan slowly poked at a steamed bun with his chopsticks. “In recent years, wealthy families in Jinling, especially those with several wives and concubines, have basically all been ruined and killed. It’s not because of a decline in their fortunes or a sudden misfortune, but because their wives were fighting over each other, which ultimately led to deaths.”

"Is jealousy a local custom here?" Xiao Dao glanced at the teacup in his hand. "No wonder the tea tastes sour like vinegar."

"Hahaha."

Xiao Dao's casual remark drew a burst of laughter.

She and Xiaoyue both looked up and saw the smiling waiter who came to refill their tea. "Miss, you're quite the joker. The tea is sweet and sour because we added fresh plums to remove the astringency of spring tea."

"Plums?" Xiao Dao looked into the teacup and sure enough, there were two plump green plums among the emerald green tea leaves, which looked very fresh and tender.

"But you know, jealousy and rivalry really do cause trouble here all the time," the waiter said casually as he poured tea. "There was some trouble this morning too."

"What happened?" All three of them were puzzled. Could it be that news of the Zhai family's affairs had spread so quickly?

"For some reason, the eighth and ninth wives of Lord Cai got into a fight last night and even used knives. It is said that they stabbed each other several times, and their fates are currently unknown."

"How many wives does Cai Bian have?" Xiao Dao frowned, glancing at Xue Beifan. At the same time, they both wondered—could this have anything to do with the Seventh Concubine?

"It's probably number nine now... or maybe ten?" The waiter chuckled and scratched his head. "Lord Cai is a womanizer, everyone in Jinling Prefecture knows that. At his most outrageous, he took two concubines in one day. But he has many wives but doesn't manage them much. His house is a mess, and people are always dying."

"It's not like a palace intrigue, it's just ordinary families' wives and concubines vying for favor. Does it really have to lead to someone dying?" Xiao Dao found it unbelievable, thinking to himself that Cai Bian wasn't exactly a dashing and romantic figure, such a terrible person, what was there to fight over!

"That's why the feng shui here is wrong. Look, they even built a temple to curse unfaithful men." The waiter clicked his tongue twice.

"Why are you jealous of cursing a heartless man? There should be a reason for the grievance." Xiaoyue felt it didn't make sense.

"The result was that only a small portion of the women who went up the mountain to burn incense cursed unfaithful men; most of them went to curse their rivals in love." The waiter shook his head and went to another table to drink tea.

Xiaoyue lowered her voice and asked Xiaodao, "Could it all be because of going to Xianyun Temple?"

"Most likely." Xue Beifan nodded vigorously at Xiaoyue, his expression remarkably similar to Xiaodao's, which amused Xiaoyue so much that she couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Just as Xiao Dao was about to stomp on Xue Beifan's foot, and the two were about to start another fight, a servant from Chonghua Mansion ran over and whispered a few words to Xue Beifan.

Xue Beifan nodded, put down the silver to pay the bill, and went downstairs with Xiaodao Xiaoyue. "Liao Xiaoqing is gone. Chonghua has already sent people to follow her. He said she went in the direction of Xianyun Mountain."

...

Xianyun Mountain was still guarded by Wei Xinjie's men, making the main road impassable. Liao Xiaoqing had entered the forest early, running swiftly through the dark woods where direction was almost impossible. Her long skirt fluttered through the trees, and she looked disheveled and wretched. This Liao Xiaoqing was the same person Xiao Dao and Xue Beifan had seen in the forest that day.

She ran all the way up Xianyun Mountain, rushed into the side gate of the temple, and stumbled and fell in the courtyard.

Just then, the old nun was whittling a piece of wood in the backyard. When she turned around and saw her coming, she seemed to have expected it and smiled slightly. "He really doesn't care about old feelings."

"Divine Nun, as long as I can make Wen Si wish he were dead, I promise to offer myself as a sacrifice!"

Xiao Dao, Xue Beifan, and Xiao Yue were all hiding behind the mountain gate. Liao Xiaoqing's words were almost shouted, so they heard them clearly and wondered in their hearts—what kind of sacrifice?

The old nun slowly stood up, gently stroked Liao Xiaoqing's black hair, and said in a low voice, "Once you make a vow, there's no turning back. You need to think this through..."

"I've thought it through!" Liao Xiaoqing was still clearly very agitated. "I want him dead, to be ground to ashes, and to be buried with his body! No one can take him away from me!"

小刀听得寒毛直竖，回想了一下文四那欠揍的模样，这廖小青还真就拿他当宝贝。不过话又说回来，这种事情本来难分对错，要说有理，他俩都有自己一套道理。可廖小青一千个一万个喜欢文四，若是文四对她本无意，也不好说他负了她什么，没缘分呗。听之前对话，文四也没占廖小青什么便宜，她何来这么深的恨意？归根结底，还是她不甘心自己错爱罢了，如今的廖小青，对文四还是不是真有感情？恐怕只有天知道。

"good."

After a long while, the old nun gave a satisfied reply, squatted down, lifted Liao Xiaoqing's chin, and looked directly at her, "How do you want him to die?"

"I think he killed that woman surnamed Zhai with his own hands, then he was disgraced and committed suicide!" Liao Xiaoqing said through gritted teeth.

Lou Xiaoyue tugged at her knife and winked at her—this woman is terrifying!

Xiao Dao nodded vigorously, glancing at Xue Beifan as he said—"See? Being a womanizer comes with risks!"

Xue Beifan awkwardly touched his head, thinking that Liao Xiaoqing must be sick, why was she acting so strangely?

The old nun comforted Liao Xiaoqing for a few moments, then stood up, took a small wooden figure from the inner room, grabbed Liao Xiaoqing's wrist, and her sharp fingernails scratched across it, drawing blood. The blood fell precisely into the wooden figure's heart.

Then, the old nun held up the wooden figure and muttered a long string of unintelligible words, cursing Wen Si and Miss Zhai to be sent to the eighteenth level of hell several times before finally stopping. She then lit a brazier, put the wooden figure inside and burned it black, a strong smell of burning wafting out and spreading in the mountain wind.