Chapter 97: This Is Our Secret...

When Li Yuanjing arrived at Xiugu’s home, he could not help but frown.

Her house was not large, and it stood in an especially poor low-lying spot. Worse still, the earthen dwelling was clearly old and badly neglected.

Only Xiugu’s diligence had kept the snow from piling up on the roof; otherwise, the weight of it would likely have crushed the thatch long ago.

“Boss, please forgive the poor furnishings at home. We really have nothing much to offer you... This is the green tea I picked this spring. Have a cup and warm yourself.”

Xiugu respectfully held out a bowl of tea.

The bowl was cracked and plainly shabby, but judging from her manner, it was probably the best thing she had.

Still, the tea itself gave off a fresh, soothing fragrance that was oddly uplifting.

After a few sips, Li Yuanjing felt considerably better. Yet in the depths of his heart, he could not help but sigh.

Heaven really did not have eyes.

“Xiugu, I remember that a few days ago, Brother Zhang and the others had already found news of Ya’er, hadn’t they? How is it now? If you are short of money, tell me. Think of it as a loan from me; you can deduct it from your wages later.”

Li Yuanjing quickly composed himself and said with a smile.

Xiugu had long since guessed he would say something like this, but hearing it spoken aloud still moved her deeply. She hurried to her knees and said, “Thank you, boss. Thank you. But there is no need for that.”

“Oh?”

“Why not?”

Li Yuanjing’s brows drew together at once.

Xiugu hastened to explain, “Sir, it was actually Ya’er’s good fortune. After she was taken and sold, she ended up in the household of the Liu family, who run the Liu Trading Company in the county town. Brother Zhang told me about what you just said that day, but after thinking it over carefully, I decided not to redeem Ya’er after all.”

Seeing that Li Yuanjing did not understand, Xiugu hurried on, “Boss, it is not that I am heartless and do not want to bring Ya’er home. It is only that the Liu family has always had an excellent reputation in Fengcheng County. Their girls are raised no worse than the young ladies of ordinary households. Plenty of families have wanted to sell their daughters into their home, and still could not get in. Now that Ya’er has entered the Liu family, it is truly her blessing.”

“Otherwise... if that blind creature ever came back and sold Ya’er off somewhere else again, I fear I would not survive it.”

By the end, Xiugu was already choking on her tears.

Li Yuanjing fell silent.

He had wanted to tell Xiugu that Hou Wu, that useless brute, would never return in this lifetime, but how could such words leave his mouth?

And as for Liu Haoran’s Liu Trading Company having such a fine reputation among the common folk, Li Yuanjing genuinely did not know what to say.

The atmosphere sank into a heavy quiet.

“Ah...”

At that moment, Xiugu suddenly startled, as though she had only just remembered why she had brought Li Yuanjing here. She hurriedly said, “Boss, I deserve death. I am so foolish, I nearly forgot the important matter. Please wait a moment. Yesterday, while tidying the house, I found some things Hou Wu left behind. He had hidden them very carefully. I do not understand them, but I felt they might be useful to you...”

As she spoke, Xiugu rushed up onto the heated brick bed to look for the items.

What she did not realize was that, from that angle, she had just exposed the softest curve of her figure before Li Yuanjing’s eyes.

Li Yuanjing froze for a moment before coming back to himself. He quickly looked away and did not dare stare too long.

Soon enough, Xiugu found what Hou Wu had left behind. She unfolded the rag in which the things had been wrapped and presented them respectfully to Li Yuanjing.

“This is it, boss.”

At first Li Yuanjing had been distracted and paid little attention. But when he casually flipped through the contents of the bundle, his entire body stiffened, and he immediately began searching it more carefully.

Very quickly, his expression changed.

Inside Hou Wu’s bundle was a secret letter written to the family of a deputy commander surnamed Wang, from Dong'a, at his home in Fengcheng County.

And the contents of that letter were truly alarming.

Although the deputy commander Wang did not state plainly what kind of threat he had been under, it was obvious that the threat had been deadly.

In the letter, he repeatedly urged his wife to look after the elderly and care for the children, saying that he had left enough silver for them in the money shop back home to live on.

And if their eldest son grew up but could not secure a respectable path in life, then he could take this token and go to a place in Fengcheng County called the Welcome Inn, where someone would give his son a future.

After reading it, Li Yuanjing could not help drawing in a sharp breath. He quickly picked up a strange carved ornament beside him, made of boxwood and shaped somewhere between a man and a ghost, and examined it carefully.

Very soon, on the bottom of the object, he found four small engraved characters: Maitreya, the True One.

Li Yuanjing hurriedly searched through the rest of the bundle.

There was nothing quite as shocking as that letter, but several of the copper hairpins and ornaments inside still bore traces of old, dried blood.

“Xiugu, when did you find these things? No, Xiugu, do you remember when Hou Wu brought them back? Or, had you noticed anything odd about him before?”

Li Yuanjing’s voice had gone slightly hoarse as he turned to ask her.

By now Xiugu could see that these things mattered greatly to Li Yuanjing, and she knitted her willow brows in deep thought.

After a long while, she said, “Boss, I... I cannot say for sure right away. But I remember that about a month ago, Hou Wu seemed to have come into a windfall. He spent his days loafing in the brothels and gambling dens in Iron Bull Town, and even, for the first time ever, bought me a copper hairpin...”

As she spoke, she quickly removed the copper hairpin from her own hair and handed it respectfully to Li Yuanjing.

But Xiugu clearly cherished it, and Li Yuanjing could not see much from the hairpin alone.

Still, even without an exact lead from her, he could guess most of the picture.

Hou Wu had likely done plenty of killing and robbing.

And his targets were probably gamblers or brothel patrons staying overnight around Iron Bull Town.

This letter and token must have belonged to one of Deputy Commander Wang’s men, who had been passing through Iron Bull Town on his way back to Dong'a and had fallen into Hou Wu’s hands.

Thinking this through, Li Yuanjing suddenly understood far more.

In his memory, Hou Wu had always been a worthless, shady sort, not a decent person by any means, but at most he had only ever dared to run his mouth. Li Yuanjing had never once seen him actually lay hands on anyone in Quanzi Village.

Yet the last time Xue An, the third steward of the Xue family, had come to him for debt, Hou Wu had been full of murderous eagerness, itching to make a move...

Most likely, Hou Wu had seen blood during that period and become bolder for it.

And now...

Although more than a month had passed, in this age of poor roads and slow communication, a letter like this should only just have reached Dong'a, hundreds of li away, after several days at most.

Even if Deputy Commander Wang’s family had written back, that letter would almost certainly still not have reached Fengcheng County by now.

Li Yuanjing suddenly caught something keenly, and a thrill ran through him from head to toe.

Since Young Lord Zhang Zhiji happened to be in Fengcheng County at the moment, could he perhaps use this letter as an opening to help himself achieve some goal?

“Xiugu, I will remember your merit, but this matter is a secret between the two of us. You must not tell anyone else. Understand?”

Li Yuanjing packed up the bundle, squeezed Xiugu’s small hand hard, and slipped more than two taels of broken silver into her palm. Then, leaning close to her ear, he murmured, “Buy yourself something good to eat. I do not care for women who are too thin.”

“Boss...”

Xiugu’s pretty face flushed uncontrollably red, then seemed on the verge of turning crimson all the way through. She looked pitifully lovely, shy yet inviting, as though refusing while secretly yielding.

Li Yuanjing found himself reluctant to leave.

He also realized something then: Xiugu was the sort of woman with a hidden allure, the kind that only bloomed under certain conditions.

Especially now, Li Yuanjing understood all too well that Xiugu had already set her heart on him.

At that thought, his breathing grew heavier, and he was about to taste the sweetness of her red lips.

But just as he slowly drew near Xiugu’s delicate face and she, tense and trembling, closed her eyes...

Outside, that foolish Kuizi suddenly shouted in his rough, squawking voice, “Boss, the old village head has something to see you about. Please hurry over.”

“That idiot!”

Li Yuanjing could not help but curse under his breath.

Who would have thought that such a perfect mood could be ruined so completely by a single shout from that fool?

That was a talent in itself.

Seeing Li Yuanjing’s frustrated expression, even Xiugu could not suppress a coy smile. She lowered her head and said softly, “Boss, please go handle the proper business first. Do not let any important matter be delayed...”

“What important matter?”

Li Yuanjing shook his head with a smile, naturally knowing that when the old village head called for him, it could only be about some trivial odds and ends.

He called out to Kuizi outside to wait a moment, then leaned close to Xiugu once more and murmured, “No need to rush. Let me inspect the goods first...”

“Mm...”

Xiugu’s pupils widened at once, but then she shut her eyes tightly again. Her long lashes trembled with nervous excitement.

Yet her arms wound tightly around Li Yuanjing’s neck.