Black Lotus Concubine's Case-solving Notes

A dozen horses were running on the official road, led by a man and a woman.

The man was wearing an elegant white robe, with a fine jade pendant around his waist. He had sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, and was a handsome young man. The woman was wearing a simple linen dress, with a veil on her head so her appearance could not be seen, and she was carrying a dark green bag on her back.

There were a few pieces of pudding stuck crookedly on the bundle, which looked very shabby compared with the young man in fancy clothes next to it.

It was Feng Jia and his group.

If it were before, Shen Jing would definitely tease her a few words, but after watching Feng Jia's horse riding skills in the morning, Shen Jing didn't say a word the whole way. He just started to look at Feng Jia with strange and awkward eyes.

The few soldiers accompanying her were much more open-minded. When they saw Feng Jia, they still called her "Thank you, young lady" respectfully as before, but the mockery in their eyes had been replaced by admiration. Some of them were even brave enough to run up to Feng Jia while the team was resting and sincerely ask her for advice on horse riding skills.

They walked very fast and were almost out of the stone city at dusk.

"Young General, are there words on my veil?" The gaze behind her made Feng Jia feel uncomfortable, so she finally turned around and asked.

Shen Jing hesitated to speak.

After a while, Shen Jing squeezed over again and saw Feng Jia sitting upright on the horse with a skilled posture. She could even control the direction of the horse without using a whip. Finally, with a red face, he said, "I really underestimated you!"

Feng Jia couldn't help laughing when she saw her awkward look.

"Do the women in your Stone City know how to ride horses?"

"Not really." She was just taking advantage of the props, but she couldn't say it out loud, so she said, "The Wang family I was fostered in were born into a hunting family. When I was a child, I learned from the uncle of the Wang family for a while."

Shen Jing nodded thoughtfully, thinking of the horrific Wang family poisoning case in Shicheng.

Rumor has it that the girl in front of him solved the case. When he first heard about it, he didn't believe it at all and thought that Xie Lanzhao solved the case by chance. However, after seeing her amazing horse riding skills, he began to believe the rumor a little.

"Have you read any books?"

In her previous life, Feng Jia had studied. Not only that, she had also entered the Dali Temple with the first place in the written examination for the civil servant examination. But in this life...

"I learned a few words from Uncle Wang, but I never went to school." Anyway, all the members of the Wang family were dead and there was no evidence, so she was not afraid that Shen Jing would find out something.

"I just learned a few words..." Shen Jing said with some regret, and after a while he said, "Has your brother told you about your Xie family? As far as I know, your father, Prime Minister Xie, values ​​literary talent the most, and your family education is very strict. When your sisters were young, they invited famous teachers to come home to teach them. They all entered the girls' school at the age of ten. Even the daughter with the least literary talent in the family is proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting. How many of them can you do?"

Seeing that she didn't say anything, Shen Jing murmured: "I guess it won't happen. Whatever, what hope can I have from you?"

Feng Jia: “…”

"But the youngest daughter of the current emperor, Princess Pyeongchang, loves polo very much."

Princess Pyeongchang?

Hearing the name of her enemy, Feng Jia clenched her hands tightly in her sleeves, unable to control herself, and her nails dug deeply into her palms.

Shen Jing was still chattering: "Princess Pingchang even formed a women's polo team in the capital, and often represented Dali to play polo with the neighboring Dayuan and Li Dynasty. It can be said that it is very glorious. You are so good at riding horses, maybe you can also master polo and amaze everyone. By then, you will be appreciated by Princess Pingchang and join the women's polo team. Prime Minister Xie may look up to you, and you will not be easily bullied in the Xie family..."

"Anyway, you should be more careful," Shen Jing suddenly saw a smiling face in front of him, and his voice became a little lower, "At least don't be like her, being framed for no reason and ending up dead and miserable."

"What did the young general say?" There were so many people and so much noise in the market that Feng Jia couldn't hear the second half of the sentence.

"Nothing." Shen Jing whipped the horse's belly and shouted to those behind him, "It's almost curfew. Everyone, hurry up and follow me out of the city gate!"

After saying this, he rode first, and Feng Jia followed quickly by pushing his horse. A dozen horses passed through the market. When they were about to reach the city gate, they saw several people pulling each other on the street corner from a distance. The leader was a turtle slave in green clothes and a red hat, and the ones being pulled were a pair of siblings. The little boy was wearing a worn-out felt hat, half of his face was covered and he couldn't see his face clearly. He hid behind his sister and shivered. The little girl was slender and pretty, with a red mole on her eyebrow, which made her look pitiful, like a magnolia flower swaying in the wind and rain. She was so fragile and easy to break, but she stubbornly opened her arms to protect her brother behind her.

Feng Jia subconsciously looked at him twice more, and their eyes met.

There are too many miserable people in this world. Unfortunately, she carries a blood feud and is destined to walk alone and live a life on the edge of a knife. Following her means being in danger at any time. However, seeing that the woman was about to be dragged into the brothel by the eunuch, Feng Jia still pulled the reins.

"How much silver does she owe you?"

The green-clothed turtle slave looked up and saw the rag bundle tied to Feng Jia's shoulder. He said angrily, "Get lost! You can't even protect yourself and you still want to imitate the heroes in the opera to save the damsel in distress? Get lost! I'm in a bad mood today, don't ask for a fight!"

"When she asks you how much silver you have, just answer. There's no need to waste time talking nonsense!" The person who spoke was Shen Jing.

Seeing that Shen Jia had not caught up with him, he turned back to look for her. Upon seeing this scene, Shen Jing knew that Miss Xie was causing trouble for him again. He originally wanted to ignore her and teach her a lesson, but when he heard the eunuch speaking rudely to her, he unconsciously became furious.

Shen Jing stood up and kicked the turtle slave in the chest, with a frosty face: "Take this kick you received and tell me the number!"

The turtle slave was kicked to the ground and howled a few times. Just as he was about to start cursing, he heard a very familiar voice. He looked up and saw Shen Jing's face. He was so scared that he dared not breathe. He knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly: "General Shen! I don't know a great man! Please go around me!"

The girl, who was as pretty as a magnolia, was originally looking at the two of them with gratitude, until she heard the words "General Shen", and then the expression on her face suddenly froze.

Shen Jing casually took out a thousand taels of silver from his waist and threw it to the elf slave, saying: "This is enough to buy ten girls in your courtyard. Let these two siblings go!"

The eunuch held the banknote and kowtowed in gratitude, and the brother and sister followed suit and kowtowed. No one noticed that the woman's hand holding her brother's was trembling slightly, and that her eyes were filled with undisguised hatred.

Feng Jia and his companions hurried and finally got out of the city gate before curfew.

By midnight, everyone was tired, so they stopped at an inn beside the official road to rest. Feng Jia quickly finished a bowl of beef noodles, turned around and saw Shen Jing standing in a daze under the moon, so she couldn't help but walk over.

"Today is the waxing moon." Shen Jing didn't look at her, but kept gazing at the moon and murmured.

Feng Jia followed her gaze and saw a silver moon like a hook, which was indeed a waxing moon.

Perhaps it was because the moonlight was too bright, making Feng Jia miss him. She suddenly remembered a night many years ago when Shen Jing, who had not been seen for months, suddenly climbed over the wall and went to the Dali Temple to look for her. Shen Jing, who was already thirteen at the time, had lost his childhood immaturity and began to take on the shape of a young man. He was darker, thinner, and taller than the last time they met.

He sat on the high eaves of the Dali Temple, bent one leg and looked at her, as if he was talking to her, or as if he was talking to himself: "My uncle and I have been to the northwest these past few months. Feng Jia, have you been to the northwest? The climate there is dry and there is yellow sand everywhere, which is completely different from the prosperity of the capital. If you want to go there one day, how about I accompany you to see it?"

"I heard that you have solved several strange cases in the past few months. Who would have thought that your reputation has spread from the capital to thousands of miles away!"

He chattered for a long time that night, mostly about what he had seen and heard in the northwest. It was not until the waxing moon hung over the treetops that the young man whispered, "Feng Jia, I heard that you are getting married... to Xie Zilin from the Prime Minister's Mansion?"

"What's so good about Xie Zilin? His father is a well-known old-fashioned and pedantic person. I think his son must be a very boring person too."

"Besides, Prime Minister Xie has many children, and his mansion must be in chaos. If you go there, your hands and feet will be tied. Didn't you tell me that you wanted freedom the most?"

"If you are willing to wait a few more years, a few more years..."

Shen Jing looked at the moonlight that night, but he didn't finish his words.

......

"I will find a way to return the one thousand taels to you today." Feng Jia said as the thirteen-year-old Shen Jing and the current sixteen-year-old Shen Jing slowly overlapped.

"No need."

"I don't like to owe favors to others." Feng Jia said.

Shen Jing finally turned his head and said, "I don't like it either."

"What do you mean?"

Shen Jing said: "I heard that you found the real culprit of the Wang family's murder case? And it took you less than three hours?"

Feng Jia nodded.

Shen Jing suddenly spoke, his eyes drifting away: "Many years ago, I was once favored by someone, but that person lost her life because of a case. For so many years, I have always wanted to know the real cause of her death."

"You want to entrust me to investigate the case?" Feng Jia's eyelashes twitched slightly.

Shen Jing shook his head: "Not the you now, but the you in the future. The you now don't have this ability. But if you want me to entrust the case to you, you have to stand the test. There is a good opportunity right now."

"If you can safely establish yourself in the Xie Mansion, I can consider letting you help me investigate the case, and the one thousand taels will be the deposit."

"Xie Lanzhao, I hope you won't let me down."