Super Thor urbain

Chapitre 66

Outside the wall.

A drop of dew fell, cold and wet.

Suppressing her sour feeling, Yang Nianqing tugged at Li You, who had been silent, and said casually, "Hey, she just misunderstood. Sorry, let's finish our business first, and I'll explain for you later."

There was no response.

"Who told her to talk so arrogantly? I didn't do it on purpose!" he muttered.

Li You sighed.

Yang Nianqing finally couldn't hold back anymore: "What's the big deal? You value romance over friendship! If you're angry, just say it. Who are you trying to impress with this act?"

Li You indeed looked at her and asked, "Am I yours?"

Yang Nianqing awkwardly pursed her lips and snorted coldly: "So what if I said the wrong thing? I'm a woman, and I'm the one who'll suffer if I say it. I'm already letting you off easy by not being in a hurry, so what's there to be angry about?"

“Of course I’m angry, I’m very angry,” Li You said with a frown, “How can you say I’m yours? You should say you’re mine.”

Whh what?

Yang Nianqing's jaw nearly dropped to the floor: "Then...it's the same!"

Li You suppressed a laugh and coughed, "Of course it's different. Women should belong to men. I am a man, so wouldn't it be too embarrassing for me to say that?"

He...he remained silent for so long, and it turned out it was because of this! Male chauvinism!

Yang Nianqing was both annoyed and amused.

After a while.

She turned to look at the high courtyard wall: "How do I get in?"

Li You glanced at her and murmured, "So Miss Yang hasn't gotten any smarter. Now that I'm yours, you can't even give me a word if you want to come in?"

.

The backyard was not small, but it was quiet. The servants and maids must have all gone to bed. A few lanterns hung in the corner, casting a dim light.

The two people stood in the shadows under the eaves.

Yang Nianqing was a little nervous and leaned closer to Li You, whispering, "What do we do now?"

Li You smiled and suddenly picked her up, dashing to a doorway.

The door was unlocked.

As the door closed again, everything was plunged into darkness once more. With nothing in sight, Yang Nianqing clung tightly to Li You's hand, afraid to let go.

In the darkness, that warm hand gently squeezed it as well.

A faint light ignited, and the surrounding objects suddenly became clear.

It turned out he had even prepared a tinderbox! Yang Nianqing was both impressed and annoyed. This was hardly the case of her leading him to be a thief; he had thought of everything more thoroughly than she had.

.

The room was very simple.

There were some books on the table, a few calligraphy brushes stuck diagonally in a pen holder, and a small incense burner. Several calligraphy and paintings also hung on the wall, making it look like a study. In fact, as soon as she entered, Yang Nianqing smelled that familiar sweet fragrance, exactly the same as the one she had smelled in the hall when she visited Lin Xing last time. It wasn't as elegant, but it had a sweeter scent. She couldn't help but chuckle to herself; it turned out this man had quite a sense of romance.

On the wall, a painting stands out.

This painting has no inscription and seems to have been created by the owner on a whim. It depicts a sleeping woman with vivid features and a languid expression. She is sleeping with her head on her arm, surrounded by fallen flowers, and is very charming and lovely.

What kind of weirdo is Lin Xing?!

Ordinary studies usually display paintings like "Zhang Zifang Presenting Shoes on the Bridge" or "Burning the Reed". Even if one is not interested in scholarship, one would still use elegant objects such as landscapes, orchids, and bamboo. It is relatively rare to hang such paintings. Therefore, in this strong scholarly atmosphere, this painting seems particularly awkward.

Although Yang Nianqing didn't understand the ancient people's room furnishing habits, she still felt it was inappropriate and secretly laughed—this kind of painting is fine to hang in the bedroom, but it's too out of place to hang in the study.

Li You also showed a hint of amusement, stared intently for a while, and then pulled her behind the screen.

.

Behind the screen was a sizable bookshelf, filled with books and piled with many scrolls.

Li You frowned, casually picked up a few books, flipped through them, and then put them back. Just then, a suppressed gasp of surprise rang out from beside him.

It turned out that Yang Nianqing had no interest in ancient books; she only cared about looking at the paintings.

At that moment, she was holding three paintings in her hands.

Although the angles differ—some are from the side, others from the front—they are all clearly depicting the same person, a woman. Her clothes flutter in the breeze, her figure is beautiful, she is either coquettish or smiling charmingly, and her expression is utterly captivating.

What's even more surprising is that this woman looks seven or eight parts like Lin Xing!

There is no seal; the inscription in the lower left corner is a traditional Chinese character for "wind".

.

There's another woman in the Lin family?!

All three paintings are signed "Feng," could it be Tang Jingfeng? Judging from the striking resemblance between the woman in the painting and Lin Xing, could this be the reason why Lord Tang keeps coming here? This kind of thing is indeed enough to provoke an argument between Madam Ye and Lord Tang.

It wasn't Mrs. Ye who had the affair?

In an instant, all previous assumptions were overturned!

Yang Nianqing stared blankly at the painting for a long time before she came to her senses and asked in confusion, "Could it be that Lin Xing has an older or younger sister, or..."

Li You stared intently at the painting, his eyes gleaming, and murmured, "It seems that being a thief isn't entirely without its rewards."

Yang Nianqing thought for a moment and said, "So the problem wasn't with Madam Ye, but with Lord Tang. Maybe every time Lord Tang made an excuse to see Lin Xing, he was actually looking for her. No wonder Madam Ye was making trouble with him."

Li You pondered for a moment and put the paintings back untouched: "Things you haven't seen with your own eyes may not be true. It's best not to overthink it. Besides, a single word alone cannot prove that it was painted by Lord Tang."

Yang Nianqing said, "Handwriting is not a problem, but this 'Lin Daiyu' is troublesome. If there really is such a person, she may very well be living in this courtyard."

Li You nodded.

Yang Nianqing seemed to remember something else and sneered, "He only married Madam Ye. It seems that Lord Tang is not as honest as the legends say. All men are the same!"

Li You chuckled: "Girl, do you really understand men?"

"I understand now that I see you, you playboy, you lecher!" Yang Nianqing walked towards the door on her own. "Let's go, let's find where that 'Lin Daiyu' in the painting is hiding."

.

Being a thief is best done at night, but finding someone is best done during the day. This is the back courtyard, with many rooms and servants, so it's impossible to know where this "Lin Daiyu" lives. You can't possibly search every room and every bed.

The two men looked at it for a long time, but were still at a loss.

Yang Nianqing suddenly thought of a terrible possibility: "Could she be dead? Is Lord Tang heartbroken, and that's why he painted those pictures to remember her?"

Li You remained silent and led her to a door.

Whose room is this?

“Naturally, it belongs to the master.”

"Master's?" Yang Nianqing was a little confused. To her surprise, Li You suddenly frowned and a look of astonishment appeared on his handsome face. After a moment, he slowly raised a hand, but then stopped in mid-air, as if he was hesitating whether or not to push the door open.

Finally, he pushed open the door and went inside.

.

Yang Nianqing was stunned for a moment, then quickly tiptoed in and followed, gently closing the door behind her.

The faint, familiar sweet scent still lingered in the air, but upon entering the room, Yang Nianqing felt an inexplicable sense of unease. As the darkness subsided and her vision cleared, she immediately noticed a large screen dividing the room in two.

What about Li You?

In the darkness, a low sigh suddenly came from Li You, who seemed quite surprised.

Yang Nianqing couldn't help but shudder. What could have surprised the usually composed Li You? She immediately felt cold sweat break out on her forehead, and a chill ran from her feet to her heart...

The tinderbox lit up again.

Behind the screen was a bed! With the help of the dim light, Yang Nianqing finally saw Li You. He was holding a tinderbox and standing motionless in front of the bed, seemingly stunned.

She was immediately startled.

This person certainly has a talent for thievery, stealing even from the master bedroom! But... with such a commotion, how could the person sleeping in the bed not notice?

Yang Nianqing was secretly surprised and hurriedly walked over as well.

The curtains have been drawn.

Lin Xing lay quietly on the bed, staring intently at them.

.

Yang Nianqing suddenly felt dizzy and instinctively wanted to scream, but Li You, who was beside her, quickly covered her mouth. A low, bitter laugh came from beside her: "Miss Yang, why don't you scream when we get back? If we alert anyone now, they might take us to the authorities."

Take your hand down.

Yang Nianqing gasped in alarm, gripping his arm tightly, and looked at the bed: "He..."

The firelight flickered weakly.

His dull eyes stared at them, empty and lifeless like those of a dead fish. A short knife was embedded in his chest, down to the hilt. His handsome face was contorted with pain, and his two pale hands gripped the hilt of the knife tightly. In the dead of winter, they were already stiff, indicating that he had not died immediately from the blow.

Even more bizarrely, on his right wrist, a bright red stain seemed to be flowing, like a faint bloodstain.

Yang Nianqing stammered, "This, this is..."

“It’s a birthmark,” Li You frowned, examined it carefully, and touched the bedding. “It hasn’t even been half an hour.”

.

The scabbard was easily found in the room, bearing Lin Xing's own name. This meant the murderer used Lin Xing's own knife to kill him. In ancient times, there were no advanced methods like fingerprint analysis, making this murder virtually flawless. Why did the murderer kill Lin Xing? Was it to warn everyone, like Chu Shenghan? Or was it because he knew some secret and was killed to silence him?

Whatever secrets he knew, he could no longer reveal them.

The two walked out of the room.

Yang Nianqing felt depressed. Although she had gained a lot from this trip, she hadn't expected that the murderer would kill Lin Xing first. It would probably be even more difficult to find evidence later.

While I was still in a daze, there was a loud "bang" behind me!