C08: He would marry me...

In the evening, Lu Qing was so tired after a long day that he could not eat, so Lu Ziqu persuaded him to eat some rice and a few pieces of meat.

Xu Qingbiao feared that the two brothers were hungry, so he brought them some food late at night, both sweet and savoury, and told them not to stay up too late, as they would have to get up early tomorrow.

"If you really have no appetite, eat sugar pumpkins, it's better than going hungry at night."

When Lu Qing heard the door open, he pushed himself into his brother's arms and asked him to feed him one by one.

"You're so big and you're still so spoilt".

He scolded him, but Lu Ziqu took one and popped it into his mouth. The sugar pumpkin was freshly made and the syrup had not yet solidified, so not only his fingers but also his lips were covered with it. Lu Ziqu thought it would be bad if the sweet and greasy stuff stained the bedding, so he licked his fingers. The sweet taste was unexpectedly good.

"Brother, I didn't expect us to meet them here, and it must have been fate, not letting the person who caused the father's death get away with it."

This made Lu Ziqu arch his eyebrows.

"Qingqing, do you sound like you think Duan Xiangxiang is the killer?"

"Don't you think so?" Lu Qing lifted her face and looked at him. "She doesn't look like a girl at all, she speaks rudely and acts rude, but she has a pretty face. Brother, you always told me that my mother was kind and graceful. Even if I had to choose, it would have to be Ding Xuan, right?"

"I think she is a person of character" said Lu Ziqu, not forgetting to count all his own feelings, including the strange feeling, Lu Ziqu had never been one to indulge in emotions, but it was the strange feeling that persisted that convinced him that Ding Xuan was particularly suspicious.

"But didn't the letter say to see Duan Xiangxiang?" Lu Qing had not forgotten that Fang Yinggui had told them to start with Duan Xiangxiang.

I had no doubt that this girl was the real culprit in the family's murder, so she should be investigated. She was an excellent martial artist and had a close friendship with Lu Yun. She couldn't be more suspicious!

"What Fang Yinggui said may not be true," he said.

Lu Qing shouted, "Brother," unable to hide his disbelief and guilt, "If you don't believe me, why did you follow the letter? If you didn't believe it, why did you question everything?" But he really couldn't blame Lu Qing. He had also had such a clear idea of what was right and what was wrong, and it was Lu Yun who took the trouble to make him see the whole picture, but now he was relieved to see his younger brother, and even wanted to laugh.

"You see she's from the Wulin, you said she was tough, and I thought so too. Besides, she was particularly outspoken and impatient. And I suspect that if she had a grievance she would have taken it up at once, and would not have waited two years for revenge. I think she would have found out about the marriage, even if she had no intention of doing so, so why didn't she come to stop it?"

Lu Ziqu had been with Lu Yun for a long time and had seen him get married. At that time, even he helped.

"Maybe he was delayed for something."

 "That doesn't make sense." Lu Ziqu stroked the back of Lu Qing's hand, fingertips scraping his skin, which tickled a little and made Lu Qing's shoulders shrug.

Qingqing was already two years old at that time, and according to Duan Xiangxiang's nature, she could not have endured two years. How could she have endured it? She would have been able to ruin the marriage that day." Finally he added, "She was straightforward enough to be trustworthy, even if she didn't think so. Think about it."

 "I don't think so." Lu Qing said with a sober face:

"There is always a first time.

"Exactly."

Although the two brothers thought very differently, Lu Ziqu was very down-to-earth and Lu Qing on the sidelines, there was rarely a moment when they disagreed.

"That's a problem." Lu Qing scratched his head in embarrassment.

He had thought that Lu Ziqu would be on the same page as him, and what couldn't the brothers do together? But he hadn't expected to have to disagree.

"What's the problem?" Lu Ziqu smiled at him, his mood incredibly light. He should have been more eager for revenge, but perhaps the joy of getting married and Lu Qing's worried appearance had dulled his emotions and steadied his mind.

"Since Qingqing and I don't see things the same way, let's do it this way, we'll both investigate separately," said Lu Ziqu as they were both close friends of Lu Yun and must have had something to do with his death. Even if the murderer was someone else, they had travelled with Lu Yun and knew more than Xu Qingbiao.

"Separated?"

"Yes." Lu Zique nodded with a smile.

Since Lu Qing thought Duan Xiangxiang was a suspect, he would ask around to see if there was any evidence that she had killed Lu Yun, and he himself would ask Ding Xuan for more information.

This was a reasonable consideration, as it would be fruitless to try to rub it in the faces of those who felt innocent, so it was better to do the opposite.

The idea was reasonable, so Lu Qing nodded, the sweet taste of sugar always made him sleepy, and he rubbed himself in Lu Ziqu's arms without saying a word, and no one could be more aggressive than Lu Qing.

"There is nothing more that can be done" Lu Ziqu smiled warmly and lay down so that he could sleep in her arms, a gesture he had been doing since he was a child and which was the most relaxing way for Lu Qing to snuggle.

***

It was late at night and only the stars were shining in the sky.

Everyone in the Xu family home had gone to bed early, and as tomorrow was a day they couldn't miss, no one saw her pass by.

"How could... that year...?"

She gnashed her teeth in hatred, never imagining that a disciple, and a son, would emerge a dozen years later.... Apart from hating herself for not investigating it first, she also wondered how much those two smart-looking kids knew about who had killed Lu Yun.

Did you know that... it was she who killed him?

"No." She let go of the nail that was about to be bitten and hurried to apply the oil to it with a handkerchief. Nail colour had been given a lot of thought, nail colour was made from four or five different kinds of anemone petals, which were crushed and made into an oily liquid, and then smeared with leaves to set the colour.

The nail was not to be ruined on a day like this.

She wanted to look beautiful, more beautiful than anyone else.

"Am I not beautiful enough?" she muttered to herself. Naturally no one would give her an answer.

The deep night and the silence of the house were eerie, but he felt at ease, and those days with Lu Yun were always so peaceful, even a little strange.

Thanks to Lu Yun's constant attention to her, the scary stories did not bother her.

"If I'm not beautiful enough, I can learn, but.... Why did you marry that woman? Ugly, poor, and who kept you out of the Jianghu..."

How could this be tolerated? The Lion King, who once ruled the world, could not abdicate unless he died, otherwise those who had coveted the Lion King's throne would have invaded and divided it. Lu Yun was that lion, but his mistake was that he listened to that woman and put his claws and teeth together, which led to his death.

"If it hadn't been for me, someone would have killed him sooner or later." She was convinced that she had done the right thing, and that it was the woman who was wrong, the woman who had tricked Lu Yun out of his body and mind and even his feelings.

Her pink fingernails dug deep into her flesh, she almost saw blood coming out, and she spent the night sleepless, wondering how much the two children would know, she was anxious until the sky turned white.

"No." He still had to find out how much they knew, and if they knew too much.... If he knew too much ... he already had blood on his hands anyway, so what was the point of getting more blood on his hands?

***

On the morning of the big day, Lu Qing fell asleep. Lu Ziqu called out to him several times before he allowed him to leave the nest, but he was busy outside, so he slipped a steamed bun into his arms and told him not to suppress his hunger and to remember to eat it, then left the table to help clean up the mess.

I didn't know what happened yesterday. The tables and chairs were overturned yesterday, so it was a difficult task to count the number of broken cups and plates and replace them.

Halfway through the work, Duan Xiangxiang and Ding Xuan asked if they could help, but Xu Qingbiao told them to go and have a cup of tea, and the two girls scolded him for patronising them and then went off to find something they could do.

Coincidentally, Ding Xuan went to Lu Ziqu's place, carrying a cup of tea and saying he would give it to him.

"Thank you, Aunt Ding." Lu Ziqu thought to himself: it's good to see what she has in mind, so he took the cup of tea and drank it, soaking his neck a little.

"Aunt..." Ding Xuan smiled embarrassedly, "Yes, in terms of seniority, you should call me aunt." Lu Ziqu put down the teacup and drew some more marks on the paper, and only now counted the number of cups and plates, which would have to be counted again when he finished, just because of the high price.

"Aunt Ding, may I ask you about my teacher?" Lu Ziqu waited for a long time, but saw no further action from Ding Xuan, thinking this girl was more careful than she thought, and after a long time of thinking, she put away her pen and paper and went to fetch a teapot and cup from a side table, poured some cold tea and handed it to her, "I'll just ask them to prepare another teapot later." Ding Xuan smiled and said he looked a bit like Lu Yun at the moment.

"He was also a spontaneous and quiet person. I won't lie, I met him at a roadside stall. I was so tired from walking that I couldn't say a word, so Yun-ge saw me like this and poured me a cup of cold tea. As helpful as you are now.

"Is this how Auntie and my master started travelling the Jianghu?" Lu Ziqu did not expect his casual action to be as successful as a blind cat meeting a dead rat, so he followed up the question with a snake.

"Of course not." Ding Xuan laughed and said that she was the daughter of Duan Zuofang of Jiangnan, so how could her parents feel comfortable letting her leave home with a strange man? Naturally many things happened. "My father was very complimentary to Yun-ge and understood my desire to be part of the Jianghu, so when my father asked him, he said he would marry me. Which made it possible for me to leave home and see the world."

"He would marry you..." Lu Ziqu was no fool, so he could hear how different Ding Xuan's tone was when he said those three words, some thoughts crept into his mind, but that, just thoughts.

"Did my teacher really say that?"

"I know in my heart that Yun-ge said that because he took pity on me, and the only person who could really make Yun-ge get out of his way was his wife" She laughed bitterly," But I wanted to see the outside world so badly that I trusted Yun-ge to swear that oath to my father. I am grateful to him for treating me so well, but who would have thought...? Oh... "When she got to the heartbreaking part, Ding Xuan could not help choking, using a handkerchief to wipe the corners of her eyes, which made her look particularly pitiful.

Seeing this, it was easy for Lu Ziqu to imagine Lu Qing praising her and even saying that she was not the murderer. How could such a pitiful girl do horrible things like killing people and children? In an instant, Lu Ziqu suspected that she might also have made a mistake in thinking that way of such a gentle and considerate woman.

"Don't be too sad, Aunt Ding, because Master wouldn't feel comfortable if he knew." Said Lu Ziqu trying to comfort her, half sincerely, half hesitantly, "Aunt Ding, do you know... Do you know if my master had enemies?"

Ding Xuan looked at him with wide eyes," Yun-ge didn't like to hold grudges against people, he always thought he was at a disadvantage, but.... Alas! unfortunately, this sex is not worthy of me and my Xiang-jiejie...."

 "Unfortunately?"

Ding Xuan said: "How can a man in the Jianghu not make enemies? Lu Yun's sense of justice was particularly strong, and when he saw someone who had been victimized, he would always draw his sword and defend them. Fortunately, Lu Yun was straightforward and never used tricks, so those who had been helped by him were grateful to him. But such a person usually falls into darkness."

"What do you mean my master had many enemies?" Lu Ziqu frowned and asked.

"I don't know... But if there's anyone who doesn't like Yun-ge, it's probably a few of them.

Ding Xuan asked if there were any suspects involved in the bloodshed ten years ago, and when he received a negative answer, he frowned, thinking that Lu Ziqu was asking because he had a clue.

"If it wasn't for the strange wounds on the teacher's body, no one would have suspected it was a fire."

"So that's it..." Ding Xuan let out another long sigh, her grief overwhelming. Lu Yun's death may not have been as easy for her as the death of an old friend.

Lu Ziqu thought that Miss Ding must have loved Lu Yun, from her manner, her eyes and even the tone of her voice when she mentioned it, expressed her deep love, and that her promise to marry her was perhaps not all because she wanted to see the outside world, but because she was counting on the slightest of hopes.

 "Aunt Ding, if I may be so bold, how deep do you think the hatred between the man who did this and my master must be?"

Although he was infected by his emotions, Lu Ziqu never lost sight of his purpose, this was his stubbornness that had been cultivated since he was a child and was completely engraved in his bones when he found himself in desperate situations. Otherwise, how else could he have raised his martial younger brother on his own without falling behind in the cultivation of knowledge and martial arts?

It was as if Ding Xuan could not understand the question, and only after a long time he sobbed and coughed slightly.

"If there is anyone who hated Yun-ge, I really can't say. Yun-ge was good to everyone, but no matter how careful he was, no precaution is too big to be compromised..." she said that as many people as Lu Yun had helped along the way, as many people as thanked him and loved him, there could be as many people as hated him.

"That's true."

"It's been ten years and you're still thinking about it?" Ding Xuan stroked her cheek painfully, "It must be hard to let those thoughts fill your mind, especially after all these years of clinging to them."

"The dead are gone" said Lu Ziqu knew that even if he tried hard enough, he could not bring his master back to life, but as a disciple, son and brother, he wanted to know why that man had killed his master and destroyed his family.

"If it were not for this, my brother would not have been forced to follow me, and forced to understand and mature at such a young age, he would have grown up carefree and under the care of his parents, instead of just me.... "To put it bluntly, this is the pain, regret and hatred in Lu Ziqu's heart.

"Ziqu..." Ding Xuan was so moved that the tears she had only managed to hold back slipped away again. On such a joyous occasion, the two were caught up in the sad conversation of their deceased friend, and both saw similar emotions in each other's eyes until Ding Xuan saw a flash of dark red in her pocket and let out a "Eh."

"What's that?"

The dark red was really striking, for one thing, it was a rare colour on a man, and for another, the way it hung over the edge, shivering, was a real cause for cold sweat, but when Ding Xuan asked, Lu Ziqu also lowered his head, and the thing fell to the ground with a dull "click" on the masonry.

When it fell at Ding Xuan's feet, he naturally picked it up and looked at it more closely. He said "eh" again after a while.

"Isn't this Xiang-jiejie's hairpin? Why is it with you?"

 "What, what?" Lu Ziqu froze, forgetting to ask for the hairpin back "Is it Auntie Duan's?

"Shh!" Ding Xuan suddenly stopped him nervously and looked around several times, which made even Lu Ziqu tense up before squeezing his shoulder and telling him to shrink a little and not make too much noise.

"Xiang-jiejie hates to be called aunt, call her jiejie if you can".

"Hey, but... Don't you call her that too?" If I did, it would be a disaster. It would be confusing to know who is the eldest of whom!

"I can't help it. Anyway, don't call her auntie, or she'll kill you."

Lu Ziqu was completely convinced that the woman could do this.

He nodded, in return for the touch on the head for her understanding. Then they both looked at the hairpin in this awkward position, the red colour even more vivid in the darkness, not knowing what secrets had been added to it.

"My sister and I have one of these peony hairpins. Yun-ge gave them to both of us. I keep mine in safekeeping. I haven't seen her wear it for a while, and I thought she treasured it more than me, who kept it from everyone. Why do you have it?"

Lu Ziqu blinked, once, twice, three times. He had a habit of doing this when he was thinking about something, closing them slowly and opening them again to prevent his thoughts from being stolen, and only Lu Qing dared to put his face in front of him at a time like this, when it would be easy to panic if he were unprepared.

"I found this next to my teacher's corpse and have kept it for over ten years, hoping to avenge him if I get the chance to do so." He said it must have been the object of the murderer, because his mother never wore earrings, necklaces or rings, not to mention hair clips, let alone such a beautiful item.

"What?" Ding Xuan took a deep breath and a bad thought quickly popped into his mind, his face suddenly turned pale, his brow furrowed and tears faintly appeared at the corners of his eyes. "You mean...? Xiang-jiejie... "

Lu Ziqu nodded, not shying away from the idea presented.

"How could it be? It can't be..." Ding Xuan was bewildered, never expecting to hear something so horrible here, and looked at Duan Xiangxiang with fear in her eyes, unable to believe that the person who had always been considered her sister could be Lu Yun's real murderer.

"If only we could be sure that this is his pitchfork, we couldn't deny it."

Lu Ziqu took the hairpin from Ding Xuan's hand, but looked at it out of the corner of his eye.

If what I thought was true, this could be a good opportunity to get a snake out of a hole.

But now that a decade had passed, and the years had erased what should have remained and what was destined to happen, there had to be an unorthodox way to break through.

He gripped the hairpin tightly in his hand, mud and years had nearly shattered the tattered peony, pinching the marks in his palm, the wound bloodless, no one could understand the pain except the wounded themselves.

As it stood now, no one knew his calculations and plans except Lu Ziqu himself.

***

Lu Qing felt very uncomfortable.

The sweet pumpkins must have been bad last night, and I had a vague tummy ache in the middle of the night when I woke up this morning and was put to work non-stop. The table and chairs, which had been confirmed to be in good condition last night, were in a horrible state as if they had been thrown up and down by a pack of unruly wild dogs, not to mention the strange mud marks on top of them that annoyed people.

When Xu Qingbiao saw the situation, he tried his best to clean up the mess, but Lu Zigui couldn't bear to see it, so he followed him, sweeping up the broken glass crumbs that were scattered all over the place.

When Lu Qing saw this, he felt warm in his chest at first because he was pampered last night, but then he felt depressed because it was just a steamed bun and a word and nothing else in the morning; when he grabbed the steamed bun and bit into it, he saw the two people talking, a man and a woman who seemed to be close to each other regardless of etiquette, and they were talking happily to each other, which made him lose his appetite.

He knew in his heart that Ding Xuan was old enough to be his mother, but how could he not be bitter about Lu Ziqu's relaxed and casual attitude when she showed herself in front of others without reservation?

That should have been him!

Unhappy with the sight, Lu Qing walked away, but in his disturbed state of mind he accidentally bumped into Duan Xiangxiang, who was rolling up his sleeves to help him.

"Oh, God! Look out!" She frowned, but didn't look at the daredevil any differently when she saw who it was, "Why are you so dizzy, why don't you sit to the side?" Lu Qing was embarrassed that a girl would make fun of him, so he swallowed the bread in two bites and said, "No," and then joined in the carrying and cleaning.

The buckets full of water looked particularly impressive. Unlike ordinary girls, Duan Xiangxiang rolled up her sleeves to reveal her arms, bent down to pick up towels and wiped the tables, and in no time, she had finished several tables.

Lu Qing, who was already a strong person and suspicious of Duan Xiangxiang, did not want to be left behind, so he rolled up his sleeves and did the same. The experience of having to do almost everything alone when he was young helped a lot, and he did these jobs every day, so he was quick and good at them, and even Duan Xiangxiangxiang looked up to him with admiration.

"Not bad, nephew," he said. He wiped his sweat with the back of his hand and said, "At first I thought you depended on your brother."

"Hmph, not at all." Lu Qing scoffed at this, but he was still a child at heart and didn't like being told what to do, let alone who to do it with. "I don't depend on anyone."

"That's right! Don't depend on anyone, and go on living freely." Duan Xiangxiang was very proud of this. "Yun-ge always said: People should rely on themselves, especially women." She didn't like the typical girl who did what her father and husband told her to do. Fortunately, I took her advice! Look how well I am now!" When she spoke about Lu Yun, her heart was full of joy and her voice was unusually high, which she had not seen when talking to others.

"Wasn't Aunt Duan like that before..... Oh!" He thought that since the other party had taken the initiative, he would simply follow the snake's example, but as soon as the words left his mouth, a cut on his hand struck him, so fast and furious that Lu Qing only had time to reach out and block it, but Duan Xiangxiang was a veteran, and her other hand reached out and struck him on the back of the neck, causing Lu Qing to cry out in pain.

"If you were not Yun-ge's son, I think your brother would be preparing to pay his respects to me," she said fiercely, and added, "Call me Duan-jiejie, no one else calls me that!"

When had Lu Qing ever seen such a brutal person?

But his martial arts instincts made him realise that Duan Xiangxiang's threats were coming from somewhere, so he reassured himself by saying: Don't be so mean to a girl, and ended up saying: "Duan-jiejie" in a low voice, putting aside the question of seniority between them.

"Duan Xiangxiang saw that she had softened and stopped harassing him, but her emotions came and went quickly. He used to be a different person from now. Lu Qing was eager to hear more, so he said, "How did Duan-jiejie and father meet?"

"Oh, now you're sensible? You really are worthy of being Yun-ge's son! You know what you're doing!" he laughed a couple of times before starting to talk about his relationship with Lu Yun.

At this time, she was sixteen and should have been married, but she was not satisfied with any of the men her father had chosen for her.

"I just didn't like this one and I didn't like the other one, but when I think about it, I didn't want to get married."

He said he did not know where she had found the courage to suggest that there should be a martial arts contest, and whoever beat her would marry her. At first, her father was reluctant, but he could not resist her repeated pleas and tantrums, so he finally agreed.

But on the day of the competition, he met Lu Yun.

"At that time, Yun-ge was chasing a group of bandits, and they chased him into the ring, so I saw how interesting it was and defeated them together with Yun-ge. Ha! Thanks to me, the bandits didn't succeed in their sneak attack."

Duan Xiangxiang was a professional storyteller, and it only took a few words to hook Lu Qing, even more exciting than the bedtime stories told by Lu Ziqu! The rest of the story was more like a storybook, and Lu Qing recalled the anecdotes told by the storytellers at home, where the twists and turns were as strange as this story.

"In the end, the match could not be counted, but I said that I had benefited a lot from the cooperation, which proved that Lu Yun's martial arts skills were superior to mine, so why not let Lu Yun marry me? But naturally, Yun-ge refused."

Duan Xiangxiang was just a child at the time, and after several unanswered questions, she was not happy either, shouting that he had ruined the tournament and was responsible for marrying her or else....

"Otherwise...?" Lu Qing leaned closer to her, now more like a curious child who wanted to know the rest of the story.

"Otherwise, he would be responsible for convincing my father to let me go away for a year, and if I returned after a year without success, he would marry me according to my father's wishes!"

Of course, Lu Yun chose the latter. Duan Xiangxiang said that she did not ask Lu Yun how she got her father, who was always stubborn, to agree to her going out, but that she only thought she could go out and make a name for herself. She became known in the Jianghu as "Duan nüxia" (the warrior woman). Her reputation for chivalry and righteousness spread to the Duan family, and a year later she was no longer obliged to marry, which was a blessing.

"My father once said he wanted me to get married because he was afraid I would offend people and not be able to take care of myself. Now I don't have to depend on a man for a living! So I've been doing this for a long time, and I'm happy." Seeing her open mind, Lu Qing agreed with her, not to mention the fact that she had taken the initiative to tell him all these things, which saved him a lot of effort in making up a story, something he had been afraid of at first, as that was Lu Ziqu's forte.

"Well... Duan-jiejie you must have been very sad when you heard that my father had been killed," he said. Duan when he heard this, his face sank, and it was only after a long time that he lowered his head and nodded several times, and Lu Qing almost looked away.

"I was... I was busy and I couldn't go back. When I finally came back, it was too late. I only had time to apologise to Yun-ge, because I had agreed with him that 'the love of the children and his wife was more important than affairs of state, and I had to prioritise them'. If I had gone earlier, knowing that he still had two living children, you wouldn't have had to work so hard.... "

He could never have imagined that Duan Xiangxiang, with whom he had just laughed and scolded loudly, would now be crying so sadly that he could not bear it, so he patted him lightly, saying:

"My father doesn't blame you"

I didn't know what else to say other than that. Duan Xiangxiang took several breaths and said in a sobbing voice, "If I find out who killed Yun-ge, I won't let that person go! I have been chasing the thieves who killed my brother for three years, and if I have to spend my life chasing him, I would be willing to do it!" Her tone was full of indignation and resentment, which made Lu Qing's hair stand on end.

This woman... There is no trace of falsehood. He said to himself. Somehow, Lu Ziqu's words suddenly appeared in his mind: She is also very outspoken and impatient, and I suppose if she has a complaint, she will bring it up immediately, not wait two years to seek revenge ... He had to admit that in many cases Lu Ziqu was the one who saw things more clearly.

The woman who shed tears for being late, who even apologised for not being responsible, who was sincere in her eyes and in her tone of voice, who Lu Qing could not deceive herself even if she didn't like it?

"Ah, forget it! There's no point in thinking about it! I'll start making up for it now!"

Duan Xiangxiang wiped away her tears with a flourish and began to act like a mother, telling Lu Qing that, if she had any difficulty in jianghu, she should not hesitate to go to her Duan-jiejie. And with that, she slapped Lu Qing on the back so hard that she almost coughed her lungs out! No, this woman was still too tough!

Lu Qing cried out in pain as he pressed his back and swore in his heart that he would never bother this Duan Nüxia again!

***

Although Xu Qingbiao was not a traveller, he had many friends along the way. When they arrived one by one, there were not enough tables and chairs, so the Lu brothers made a place for them.

While monitoring the situation, Lu Ziqu kept a watchful eye on Lu Qing, asking him about the outcome of his conversation with Duan Xiangxiang.

"That woman is not a woman at all!" Lu Qing had stuffed his mouth with fish, and his hungry face made Lu Ziqu shake his head and sigh," I almost coughed up my breakfast when she slapped me on the back!"

Lu Qing looked as if Duan Xiangxiang's bravado had forced her to do something wrong, and her speech was choked with emotion.

When Lu Qing saw that Lu Ziqu's eyes were still affectionate, she shamelessly rubbed her face against his arm and childishly said, "Don't you feel love for me too?"

He resembled the dog that begged for peace and wanted to be pampered after getting into trouble for fear of being scolded.

"Of course you do," he said miming it, "It's done, I'll reward you later." The younger one laughed heartily at this, but because the movements and the eyes and even the conversation were extremely subtle, and the table was not yet full, no one saw anything strange.

"So, was there any mention of the Master?" asked Lu Ziqu quietly. There were many people at the banquet and there was no telling where there might be an extra ear, so it was best to be careful.

"There was, but... Duan Xiangxiang said she was investigating a case of bloodshed in the jianghu at the time and was distracted."

"What bloodshed?" Lu Qing's words to him were not new to him, Lu Yun had mentioned them to him only a few days before the tragic incident and advised him to stay away as much as possible in these unstable times.

The reason he was impressed was that the day after the issue was raised, Lu Yun went out alone and bought enough meat and vegetables to feed a family for a month.

"Did you say you were investigating the case at the time?

"Yes, she said that some of the people who died were very close to her, but they were killed for no reason, so she was angry and vowed to find the thieves and eat them alive."

Lu Qing saw how violent it sounded and got goose bumps, but after all, it was about her personal feelings and had nothing to do with whether she was the murderer or not.

Lu Qing confessed that he also felt that Duan Xiangxiang was not a murderer because she did not look like a woman who would kill someone because she had lost her love.

"You're right, Duan Xiangxiang is not the kind of woman who would put up with things for two years before exploding." Lu Qing said that when Duan Xiangxiang was told that her brother had been killed, she was so angry that she vowed not to be named Duan until she killed the murderer.

"That leaves us with only one target." Lu Ziqu also told him what he had heard, pausing only to talk about the broken peony hairpin, more as a matter of deliberation than atmosphere.

He was always so cautious that Lu Qing was not surprised, and when the stew was served, he hurriedly filled a bowl for each of them, hot and fragrant, each mouthful full of seafood flavour and extremely generous with the ingredients. Lu Qing took a spoonful and gave it to them, practically fishing out everything he could find in the bowl and tasting all the seafood in his mouth.

Xu Qingbiao had put a lot of effort into this wedding banquet, as the venue was not near the sea, so it was a lot of work to get all this seafood, and the amount of silver was also huge.

"Don't just worry about me, take some for yourself."

"I know, brother."

The one who said he knew kept feeding him soup, so Lu Ziqu had no choice but to take a shallow sip and push the rest to finish it.

 "Why don't we ask Duan Xiangxiang tonight?" said Lu Ziqu.

"How?" The proposal was so abrupt that Lu Qing barely followed the train of thought.

When the next dish was brought to the table, the ever greedy man was naturally caught by it, and before he could hold a bowl full of Dongpo pork and Qingjiang vegetables in one hand, with the other hand he was trying to pick up his chopsticks and feed him, as they had done in his room and in private, Lu Ziqu deftly picked up his own chopsticks and stuffed a small piece of pork rind into his mouth.

"Oooh!" Lu Qing was unprepared and let the pigskin moisten his mouth, although it was not hot and tasted excellent, he was a little aggrieved.

Lu Ziqu had always favoured him, and even on those occasions when he was a scoundrel, he usually laughed, but rarely forced him to eat in this way.

"I'm sorry, brother." He apologised frankly.

"It's good to know you're wrong." Now that everyone had had enough to drink and eat, and those who should have made a scene had already done so, and those who had restrained themselves had spilled over the table, no one was watching, but there were still outsiders.

Aren't you afraid that someone might know about our extraordinary relationship?

"Tonight, let's ask him if he has any memory of the hairpin left behind," said Lu Ziqu and put the hairpin in his pocket, but Lu Qing narrowed his eyes and snatched it away.

"Qingqing!" For the ever careless brother to break the already fragile hairpin, Lu Ziqu did not dare to reach out and snatch it from him, so he shouted at him to be more careful.

 "I don't think it looks like a peony, but Aunt Ding has a good eye." Lu Qing had seen this hairpin countless times, but each time she couldn't make out a single thought. Now, although Ding Xuan's words sounded reasonable, he couldn't tell it was a peony even though he looked at it from left to right, but Lu Ziqu was silenced by these words.

Yes, it was true that the hairpin did not look like a peony, but how could Ding Xuan have seen the real thing at a glance? The hairpin had fallen out of his pocket at that moment, not to mention the fact that it had broken off the edges over the past ten years.... If he didn't love peonies, there was only one possibility left....

Lu Qing was still playing around, trying to figure out if it was a peony, not seeing the horrible look in Lu Ziqu's eyes as he pondered, but as soon as the next dish was served, he left the peony behind and went after the dish of crab meat and cabbage, which meant "growing old together", exclaiming that it was delicious.

***

What was I to do? The peony hairpin... If they saw it in Duan Xiangxiang's bag, they would be suspicious of her.

He patiently remembered if he had seen a bright red spot on Duan Xiangxiang's bag before he went on the road with her a few days ago.

At this point, she couldn't be sure, so she became increasingly anxious. If she had let Duan Xiangxiang take the hairpin out of her bag, wouldn't her lie have been convincing? She regretted being so clever earlier, but she had never imagined that the two brothers would be so aggressive as to go and confront Duan Xiangxiang right after they had discovered the information.

What was he to do? Although lying might be a good way to cope.... As the clock ticked down, she grew increasingly nervous. She had no appetite for the exquisite dishes that followed, she just looked at the two brothers.

It was clearly late spring and early summer, but it felt extraordinarily cold.

Her nails were digging into the palm of her hand, and if she pressed any harder, she would bleed. She didn't even care about her carefully stained nails at that moment, she just felt that she had been at ease for more than ten years, and even her vigilance had decreased, so she thought the brothers might leave her.... It was true that no one called Lu should live in this world.

The shiver of blood on his hands was as vivid as if it had happened yesterday, and he vaguely remembered that it was the first day of the Shangyuan Festival, when lanterns were hung in every house, waving in the light of the red oil paper making it even more treacherous. Since then I hated the festival, including, naturally, those red lanterns.

He kept his eyes away from the others as much as he could, thinking about when the frenzied feast would end. It was not impossible to leave in the middle of the feast because of etiquette. He could not talk to anyone.

At that moment, a loud shout exploded next to him, Xu Qingbiao had already drunk and was shouting for everyone to drink the jug of wine with him. He felt helpless and sat silently away from him. It was a pity that she could not hear the conversation between the two brothers again, but it was even worse to let Xu Qingbiao catch her.

"Drink! There are still three more flasks left, drink!" Xu Qingbiao was so drunk that he grabbed the person and handed her a glass of wine, but the nonsense he said was so funny that she felt familiar with the scene. Duan Xiangxiang was back in his seat, and when he saw her crying, he thought she had been bullied, and Xu Qingbiao had become the unfortunate one.

She looked at the scene and felt a little sorry, but the woman's thoughts were quickly eclipsed by other things, and the fingernails that had dug into her palm finally saw blood. And she remembered that harrowing night, did the blood mark on the man come up with her soft sword like this?

It had been so long that she couldn't remember.... Hatred had blinded her, making her remember how hateful and foolish that man's stubborn face had been, and how he had tried to protect that bitch even at the cost of his life.

***

Lu Ziqu was in the courtyard enjoying a rare moment of peace and quiet. The wedding banquet, as he expected, could not end. Xu Qingbiao did not allow anyone to leave once he was drunk, so the scene turned into another drinking contest, and Duan Xiangxiang kept shouting at the man that he had not changed his temper. And that in those years when there was this alcoholic event, Lu Yun saved him from an accident.

"It's a good thing I'm celebrating today, so leave it alone," Ding Xuan said kindly and brought them some cups of tea to drink.

"You and Yun-ge are the only ones who pampered him, he doesn't know how to grow up!" Duan Xiangxiang also drank heavily and spoke more recklessly, as if he wanted to teach him a good lesson with his sword.

Ding Xuan could only laugh bitterly at the sight, knowing that Duan Xiangxiang was as foul-mouthed as she was kind.

In the end, there were so many people lying in the corridor, not to mention being carried back to bed, that even moving them could make a mess all over the floor.

Lu Ziqu said it was fine, he would just get some quilts to cover them, at least they wouldn't catch cold, and when they were done, he and Lu Qing went back to their room to get some air.

"I'm so tired," said Lu Ziqu leaned back and exhaled, not hating the exhaustion that symbolised joy and euphoria, but accustomed to the quiet, he appreciated the moment when it was over.

The dark night with the twinkling stars and the cool evening breeze were perfect for sobering up. The mild inebriation caused by the inability to exert himself during the meal slowly dissipated and the heat in his body slowly subsided.

"Brother." Lu Qing walked forward and tied his robe belt tightly, his eyebrows full of concern, "Be careful of catching a cold."

"You too, so finely dressed."

"I'm not afraid of the cold, have you forgotten?" Lu Qing laughed and said that he had always been the warmer in the past," Brother, are you going to meet Duan-jiejie later?" Lu Ziqu shook his head after a short pause, not forgetting to take Lu Qing under his cloak with him.

"I'm afraid it won't help if we go there now." The volume of his words was low at first, but slowly increased with each word, without the slightest hint of abruptness. There was no surprise. Even Lu Qing was stunned for a long time before he sensed that something was wrong.

"We'll be back tomorrow. We can't get away with the pitchfork there anyway, and I'm sure Duan-jiejie doesn't have it with her."

"I'll ask again tomorrow. Brother, I feel dizzy when I drink too much... I always seem to be dancing, back and forth..." said Lu Qing, and his rhythm began to falter, his voice trembled, and he was somewhat erratic.

"Didn't I tell you not to get drunk? Really..." Lu Ziqu scolded him warmly, then helped him slowly walk towards the house.

As soon as the door closed, Lu Qing did not tremble. It was all an act, to fool the killer, whoever he really was.

The house was not lit to make bedtime more real.

The Lu brothers had no preconceived ideas, but relied on tacit understanding and intuition, something that might not have been possible if they had not lived together since childhood.

Cautiously, Lu Qing murmured, "Brother" with relief, but pulled his cloak to indicate his intention, and when he turned his head, he asked with his eyes what he wanted to do next. Lu Ziqu tried to answer with a gesture and a look, but after a while he realised that it was easier to know than to do, so he took Lu Qing in his arms and leaned down so hard that they were almost kissing as soon as he raised his head.

"Come on. If I'm right..." Lu Ziqu leaned towards Lu Qing's ear and whispered, but unless someone else heard him like Lu Qing, he couldn't to hear him.

"Brother, can you..." Lu Qing dawdled, not with any intention of lust, but with no intention of receiving it, when he saw his partner frown and growl, telling him to stop wasting his time. "but yes Duan-jiejie doesn't have the hairpin with her, and Ding-jiejie said she hadn't seen that hairpin in a long time.... "

"Then we'll talk about it." He said that, even so, the fact that he had tried to steal was too strong a proof to deny it.

Hearing Lu Qing's muffled voice, the other rarely amused party lowered his head and opened his mouth to nibble on the tip of his nose, attracting a pair of incredulous eyes.

"Don't be angry, when this is over, we won't have to worry about it day and night, and we can live in peace and quiet." The meaning of the words was clear, not even a hint of metaphor, and Lu Qing understood at once that this was his brother's way of reassuring him that all the confusion and noise had come from somewhere, that he should not take it personally and should not cling to it, and that when this was over, they could both return to the peace and quiet of the old days.

"Brother treats me like a child again" He growled, but his heart was sweet, "I won't be angry, Qingqing knows what is right and will be with you to the end."

"Well, we'll stay together until the end." He said. This is the sweetest vow in the world, not even a hint of falsehood, like a trickle of water flowing into the heart. I'm afraid there is nothing else.

The two leaned against the door and embraced, slurping kisses under the dressing gown, their mouths pouting not wanting to part, often distancing themselves for a moment before meeting again, the faint smell of wine sweetening, the repeated pecks, Lu Qing murmuring the word 'brother', as if covered in honey and sweetened with pouting.

"Qingqing... No..." But being six years older meant she had more self-control, and although her body was burning, she did her best to expel this desire, which she had never had to do before, and which showed the weight of Lu Qing in her heart.

"Qingqing, behave yourself, don't make a scene, in someone else's house, be careful," he said, panting sharply.

"Oooh, mmm..." Lu Qing was interrupted by this soft voice and took a while to restrain himself, but when he finally managed to do so, Lu Ziqu gave him a kiss of encouragement.

"Qingqing is great, when this is over, we will go home and ... we will continue."

The abrupt end to their emotional intentions did not make the atmosphere stiff and cold, just a big waterfall that turned into a small gust that filled the air with every exhale and exchange of glances, and Lu Qing finally could not resist giving him a kiss on the cheek, followed by a grimace, worthy of a spoiled naughty child.

***

After all, they were still two inexperienced kids.

She was relieved, otherwise the thought of sneaking into the room in plain sight and stealing the hairpin would have been enough to turn her hair white. Now she was busy settling in with Xu Qingbiao and the other guests, and the two brothers were careless enough to think that, if the evidence was there, they wouldn't be able to escape. But, even so, she was still cautious and waited outside the Lu brothers' room for a while, until it was so quiet that it was awfully quiet before she left.

It was three minutes past the hour of darkness and all was quiet. The corridor that had been so busy was slowly quietening down, so she walked towards her room with Duan Xiangxiang, regretting that she had not suggested that the two of them should share a room, so that she would not have to be so cunning.

The room was not lit, and Duan Xiangxiang was probably not going to sleep in his room tonight, so he couldn't help but smile at the thought.

"I've been surrounded by wild men for a long time, and now I'm tough". He had not prepared any lock-picking tools because he knew the woman rarely locked her room, which had to do with her experience of sleeping in the wild. No lock would work better than her own vigilance. She remembered that every time she spent the night in the wilderness she felt extremely relieved, because Duan Xiangxiang was a qualified night watchman from the core, just like Lu Yun.

"Watching together... How cute." Moonlight streamed in through the window and the cotton paper on the window was so mysterious that if the moonlight was strong enough, I could see the shadow of a fluttering butterfly. Only Xu Qingbiao's wife could come up with such an ingenious idea. Although he was fat and stupid, he had married a woman with an ingenious mind.

Duan Xiangxiang's travel bag was casually tossed on the bed, she didn't even bother to open it. He knew that she didn't like to carry a lot of things when she went out, and sometimes she only took some silver, copper and a long sword.

He remembered that the peddler had told him that the hairpin could be filled with a fragrant powder that had turned into water, and that the fragrance would last for 3,000 miles. When he smelled it close to his nose, he saw that it was the same fragrance that Duan Xiangxiang's hair had always had, and that it could not have been done only a few times.

As she thought about what this hairpin meant to both of them, she felt a pang of pain and tears almost rolled down her cheeks.

The peony was in full bloom, the beauty of the peony was overwhelming.

"What made you buy these two hairpins in the first place?" she murmured, but no matter how passionately she asked, no one answered as she wished, so the question remained in the back of her mind, resolving, brewing, fermenting, souring and stinking ...

If he had not had to keep the hairpin intact as a perjury, he might have broken it in the heat of the moment to vent his anger; when an unpleasant 'click' spilled from his palm, he released his hand to examine it, but the moonlight was too dim to see the difference, and when he touched it, nothing seemed amiss, and he thought he could stay no longer, God knows what he might do. He put the hairpin in his pocket and returned the cloth bag to its original form, and left the room the way he had come, the butterflies still fluttering on the floor like a dream, as if nothing had happened.

"I'm sorry, Xiang-jiejie, but I'll take it as a loan," she said. She closed the door and was on her way to her room when someone was already waiting for her on the terrace, smiling at her as she stopped in her tracks.

"Isn't the night too exquisite to get you drunk that you want to take a peek on the porch? If you were loitering at this time of night, people would think you were doing something like stealing."

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