Listening to the Rain for One Night

  When he came out of prison, the sky was drizzling with small rain. Yan Sanbai didn't bring an umbrella, so he could only walk alone in the rain. Getting wet from the rain was just a beautiful imagination for people, no matter how high Yan Sanbai's martial arts were, he couldn't be like those legendary protagonists in novels, shaking his body and shattering the raindrops that were about to fall on him.

  That's unreasonable.

  But Yan Sanbai's conjecture at this moment was not very reasonable, so he walked a bit slower. Perhaps after being drenched in the rain, his mind would be clearer and he could think of a completely different answer. However, this was just self-deception. Deep down, Yan Sanbai knew that once the conjecture had been formed, it would only become more solid with each step he took.

  Because his guesses were extremely unlikely to be wrong.

  This is not self-boasting, but a fact verified countless times.

  Swallows are sometimes willing to be a little foolish and confused in order to live better.

  He walked slowly in the rain, his white shirt outside already wet from the rain. He was originally walking slowly, but as the speculation in his heart became more and more certain, he suddenly ran quickly.

  A white boot stepped into a newly formed puddle, splashing up tiny specks of mud that didn't have time to climb up his hem before the white cloud had already drifted far away from them.

  A white cloud stopped in front of a broken temple, and this was where Li Qian's life ended.

  In the ruined temple, a bonfire was burning, and beside it sat a vagrant wrapped in tattered cloth. The vagrant was intently roasting a plant root for dinner when he suddenly heard a pleasant voice coming from outside, as clear as the air after a spring rain.

  "May I come in?"

  The vagabond turned his head and saw a person standing outside the rain curtain.

  He narrowed his eyes and quickly recalled who this person was. Although he had a good impression of him, he still felt a sense of vigilance.

  Yan Sanbai walked into the broken temple, shaking off the rainwater on his clothes, and sat down beside the vagrant without caring whether the ground was clean or not.

  The vagrant gave him a strange look, gripping the root tightly and shifting his body to one side. "What do you want?"

  Yan Sanbai smiled and pointed to the rhizome, saying: "This thing can be eaten, but try to eat less, eating too much will accumulate toxins. If you really can't find anything else to eat, go find the one with purple skin, although it looks even more toxic, but in fact it's just the opposite."

  The vagrant looked at him with an even stranger gaze - I'm only eating these because I'm starving, how does a refined and handsome young master like you seem to know more about pig feed than me?

  "Don't worry, I'm not cheating you, I've eaten all of these." Yan San's eyes were sincere, which slowly disarmed the vagrant's defenses. Anyway, he didn't have anything on him that was worth scheming for, so what was there to fear?

  "Can you tell me about that dream of yours the other day?" Yan Sanbai asked again, telling the vagrant about the root of things, and then asking for another thing, which was very reasonable.

  "Which dream?" The vagrant was stunned for a moment, and then quickly remembered. He looked at Yan Sanbai with an increasingly strange gaze - this little brother looked like a bookworm, but turned out to be a fellow practitioner?

  Yan Sanbai was made very embarrassed by him, actually he didn't want to either.

  Which dream made Yan Sanbai so embarrassed, of course it was that spring dream that started with a lecture. It's said that spring dreams leave no marks, but the vagabond remembered it very clearly.

  "Can you tell me in detail what that woman looks like?"

  The vagabond showed an expression of being deeply moved, "Oh~~~ her, she's simply a fairy, so beautiful, I've never seen such a beautiful woman before, she was wearing all white clothes, oh right, just like you."

  Swallow Three White touched his nose and nodded in recognition.

  "That day, she walked towards me with a gentle smile in the rain... The tramp's eyes became distant, revealing a happy glow. "That day was just like today, raining lightly, she held an umbrella and smiled as she approached me. I suddenly felt like I was in a paradise, couldn't even hear the sound of the rain, then she hugged me, I smelled a pleasant fragrance on her body, my whole person..."

  "Cough, I'm talking about specific looks."

  "It's just... really beautiful!" The vagabond couldn't quite recall, after all it was a dream. People in dreams are always blurry. He tried hard to remember, he also wanted to recall the woman who appeared in his dream and suddenly lit up his life.

  Yan Sanbai didn't urge him, two people with completely different identities sat in the same dilapidated temple, listening to the patter of rain outside, quietly stirring the dry branches in the fire pit.

  This made the vagrant feel deeply relaxed, as if the differences between people had been eliminated in an intangible way. The world was very quiet, and his memories slowly became clear. The woman's face was still very vague, but he suddenly became excited, "I see a red dot! Like a grain of cinnabar, it's extremely beautiful!"

  "Vermilion?"

  "Yes, it's beautiful... so beautiful that it's breathtaking, I think I'll never forget this in my lifetime..."

  The vagrant opened his mouth and talked endlessly, it had been a long time since he had spoken so freely with someone, and this person looked good too.

  But good times don't last long, soon someone came to pick him up.

  Yan Sanbai stood up and looked at Li Yan under the umbrella, "How did you get here?"

  "It's not raining, is it? I'll come pick you up." Li Yan said casually, waving his hand for him to hurry over. This guy really was something, running around in the rain, and yet he always looked so calm and composed, but here he was, still busy investigating a case late at night. If Ah Meng hadn't left many eyes on the outside, he wouldn't have even known he had come here.

  Yan Sanbai bid farewell to the vagrant and quickly walked into the rain, entering under an umbrella. However, just as he was about to leave, he pulled Li Ye back and turned around to say to the vagrant: "Actually, that purple root can be dried in the sun and is sweet and delicious to eat. If there's a lot of it, you can sell it to the shops in town."

  Having said that, he turned around and said: "Let's go."

  The vagrant sat dazedly by the bonfire, watching his back as he left, the root in his hand had gone cold, but for some reason, his heart was warm.

  Yan Sanbai and Li Yan strolled under the yellow paper umbrella, Li Yan turned his head to look at Yan Sanbai's profile, suddenly very curiously asked, "Is that purple root really delicious?"

  "Of course, but it's definitely not comparable to the food in the Wang mansion." Yan Sanbai said: "But I think it tastes great."

  "I haven't eaten yet, will you treat me next time?"

  "Alright." Yan Sanbai slightly curved the corners of his mouth, because this was something he liked to eat, and Li Ye also wanted to eat it, so he was happy, even though Li Ye didn't know what those unremarkable purple roots meant to him.

  After a while, the topic was brought back on track.

  "Have you checked clearly?"

  "It's almost there."

  As they spoke, Yan Sanbai's gaze passed over the eaves and into the black night sky, and the smile on his face gradually faded.

  The next day.

  Counting today, there are only two days left before Li Yan returns to Chang'an. Zero Ding is definitely going with him, so it's been a bit hectic since early morning.

  Rushing through the nine provinces with wind and fire, rushing to investigate cases with wind and fire.

  But just as he was about to start searching, Yan Sanbai stopped him, "No need to search today."

  "Huh?" Zero didn't understand.

  However, Yan Sanbai did not answer his question as before. Treading on the morning dew, he went straight to the government office.

  The case is still in the hands of the Luoyang Magistrate, who has been unable to sleep for two days due to recent events. The memorial reporting the assassination attempt on Prince Luoyang has already been sent to Chang'an, but there has been no response yet. Although Prince Luoyang will certainly not be pleased with this tattling, the Magistrate had seen the monthly letters that the Emperor personally wrote to his beloved nephew, which were always delivered to the relay station without fail. Under such imperial favor, the Magistrate did not dare to conceal anything.

  After all, the Emperor and the Prince of Luoyang, the former is still more terrifying.

  So when he was helped down from the bed, Xu Wei, the county magistrate of Luoyang, still had a dizzy head. When Yan Sanbai took out a token and flashed it in front of him, saying "close the case", Xu Wei was instantly enveloped in happiness.

  Case closed!

  It's finally going to be closed!

  To hell with Luoyang Wang's red-faced confidant and green hat!

  Xu Wei was busy making arrangements with the clerk, and by around noon, everyone had gathered at the yamen.

  Jia Qing and Li Yan arrived, Yuan's father and son as well as the onlookers also arrived, a moment later, the prisoner Xiao Yue was brought up.

  "Bravo!" The sound of a stick hitting something echoed, and Xiaoyue knelt in the hall, her slender body appearing slightly weak.

  The case was still presided over by the county magistrate, but Yan Sanbai sat on his right-hand side, first seat, while Li Yan sat on the left-hand side, first seat. Everyone knew that the outcome of the case depended entirely on these two men.

  "Cough, cough." After clearing his throat, Xu Wei recounted the charges against Xiaoyue once again, just as Yan Sanbai had said that day, without any discrepancies. The common people had already heard about this case of a foolish man and a resentful woman leading to bloodshed over the past two days, so although there were sighs, the reaction was not very strong, with only sounds of lamentation still coming from the crowd.

  At this moment, all we can do is wait for the verdict.

  Yuan Yiqing's tense gaze turned to Xu Wei, Xu Wei looked humbly at Yan Sanbai, and Yuan Yiqing also turned his gaze to Yan Sanbai.

  Everyone was watching him, he was Yan Sanbai who was ordered to investigate the case, the token in his hand was the Shangfangbaojian, what he said would be the verdict.

  Yuan was comforting his son, saying that Yan Daren is a good person and will give Xiaoyue a chance. Most of the people present also thought so, so their mood wasn't too heavy.

  However, when they really heard Yan Sanbai's words, their hearts couldn't help but sink a little. They opened their mouths wide and looked at him in confusion.

  How did this happen?

  How can this be?!

  The anxiety and tension in Yuan Yi's eyes were instantly replaced by astonishment, he took a step forward but was stopped by the official, yet he still struggled to move forward, asking: "Why?!"

  Yan Sanbai stood up and looked at him without answering, but instead repeated what he had just said, "Xiao Yue committed the crime of murder, should be exiled to the northwest."

  Exile, at least sounds much better than the death penalty, but with Xiao Yue being a weak woman who doesn't look very healthy, and now is also the season when people are prone to catching colds, how could she possibly make it to that harsh and cold place in the northwest?!

  Xu Wei was also stunned, he had actually made preparations for a web of one face, public opinion is like this, of course, to go with the flow. Moreover, the dead are a group of prostitutes, and the killer is also, after all, there are not many people who really mourn for them, just let it pass.

  "Lord Yan, this..."

  "Does anyone have any objections?" asked Yan Sanbai.

  Xu Wei looked at the somewhat astonished commoners, and after a moment's thought, said: "Lord Yan has shown compassion to Xiao Yue, sparing her from death. However, as for this place of exile, we can choose somewhere closer, what do you think?"

  The common people all nodded in agreement, after all, he had killed someone, and being exiled to a place that was relatively close by would perhaps give the young lovers another chance to reunite in the future. However, what they did not expect was that Yan Sanbai refused.

  "It's impossible." Yan Sanbai said resolutely, revealing an unprecedented firmness, "Xiao Yue's crime cannot be pardoned lightly, she must be exiled to the northwest."

  "This..." Xu Wei was at a loss for words, while outside the hall, a commotion had already begun.

  "How can it be like this? Can't you just be a bit more flexible?"

  "What's wrong with Lord Yan?"

  "That's right, exile to the northwest, isn't that a death sentence!"

  "What's going on?"

  …………

  Everyone was making a racket and expressing their own opinions, but almost all of them were dissatisfied with the verdict. Xu Wei helplessly struck the wooden block, "Silence!"

  He involuntarily cast a pleading glance at Li Yan, "Your Highness, look..."

  And also Prince Wang of Luoyang!

  Everyone's heart rose with renewed hope, especially Yuan Yi Qing, who hastily cried out: "Your Highness, please show mercy and spare his life!"

  Li Yan turned his head and glanced at him, but quickly shifted his gaze away, saying to Xu Wei: "Let's do as Lord Yan said."

  Yuan Yi's eyes lost their hope, he stood numbly outside the hall, still unable to accept this reality. He looked at Xiao Yue, looking at that weak back, his heart was like a knife cut.

  Xiao Yue, however, remained silent and didn't utter a word in her defense. This poor woman seemed to have resigned herself to her fate of hardship. She merely turned around, flashing a faint smile, as if trying to comfort her lover, "Yi Qing..."

  But this laughter was even more heart-wrenching than crying, and the crowd couldn't help but feel an increasing sense of sorrow, the noise growing louder and louder.

  Xu Wei couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat, he looked at Li Yan and Yan Sanbai, these two were still as calm as ever, so how was this going to end? Don't be fooled by Xu Wei's name having the character "Wei", this person wasn't majestic at all, at this moment he could only rack his brains to think of a compromise.

  "Otherwise... otherwise, let's put off the exile for a few more days and let Xiaoyue return home to reunite with her family? After all, she's just a weak woman, she can't escape anyway."

  Yan Sanbai thought for a moment and nodded, "Okay."

  Li Yan naturally had no opinion, and so this case was settled in this way.

  Yuan Yi Qing was not satisfied, and the common people outside were also not very pleased. However, neither Li Ye nor Yan San Bai were people they could control. So the two of them walked out through the main gate with ease, but no one dared to stop them.

  They don't understand Yan Sanbai's approach, and Ling Ding, who has been following them all along, doesn't quite get it either.

  "Prince Wang, Yan Daxia, why? Little Sister Yue...?"

  "Don't you think it's cruel?" Li Yan interrupted him and asked back.

  Ling hesitated for a moment, but still nodded.

  Unexpectedly, Li Yan didn't utter another venomous remark about him being stupid. Instead, he put away his folding fan and clasped his hands behind his back, his voice sinking down as he said, "The truly cruel part is yet to come."

  Zero didn't understand what was going on, but he guessed they must have already known something.

  Just as the three of them sat down at a wonton stall by the side of the road, he asked again: "Now that Xiaoyue's case is closed, how are we going to continue investigating?"

  "The case is closed." Yan Sanbai repeated what he said this morning.

  "Already married? What about Li Qian and Cheng Rui?" Ling Ding's eyes widened.

  Yan Sanbai said, "The case of Li Qian and Cheng Rui is actually very simple. We were just misled by too many irrelevant details at the beginning and thought it was too complicated. Ling Ding, I ask you, if we exclude Xiaoyue's involvement and only look at the case of Li Qian and Cheng Rui, who is most likely to have killed them?"

  Ling Ding stroked his chin thoughtfully, and suddenly his eyes widened. He opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't bring himself to say the name, "It can't be..."

  "Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth."

  Just as they were talking, the boss brought over three bowls of wontons.

  Yan Sanbai stopped talking, picked up his own bowl and took a spoon to eat. But when he scooped up a hot meat-filled dumpling, he hesitated again. He looked at the dumpling, with a hint of melancholy in his expression.

  "If you don't want to eat, then don't force yourself." Li Yan said, and he himself didn't take a single bite.

  Zero Ding looked at them with a strange expression, this was not something that Wang Ye would normally say.

  Yan Sanbai paused for a moment, but still stuffed the wonton into his mouth, chewing slowly and seriously before swallowing it down.

  Those bright eyes looked at Li Yan and said, "If you want to live a good life, you have to eat seriously."

  P.S: Tomorrow may not be more, because the seal of the underworld has been opened. You know, I have to go and maintain world peace.

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