A needle falls and the house price is precious

  Liu Linglong couldn't stop laughing, refusing to accept Min'an's reasoning. Min'an had already used a magnet to attract any metal objects from the wound, but when nothing came out, he had no choice but to cut open Ma Miwu's neck and retrieve a shiny steel needle from his blood vessels.

  The subsequent trial was not difficult, as Li Peinan brought out a copper stove and said to Liu Linglong: "If you don't admit defeat, just burn incense and throw it into the stove. Let's see if Master Ma accepts your sacrifice."

  Liu Linglong didn't know it was a trick, and she really burned three high incense sticks, with the charcoal fire burning red hot, and steadily put the incense stick into the copper stove. Li Peinan took a look and said to Wang Huaili: "With such a steady hand, she must have practiced many times, and only she can pierce the steel needle without shaking at all, catching her is definitely not wrong."

  Wang Huaili immediately led a group of people to rush up and drag Liu Linglong back to the government office for interrogation.

  In the afternoon, the county government sent a bloody case to Li Peinan, detailing the process of Liu Ling's murder. Liu Ling's brother Liu Er came to her and hid in the cabinet behind Ma Mieyu's bed, which was the only room with few people walking around and asking questions. Liu Ling was worried that Ma Mieyu would point out Liu Er's hiding place, and also because Wu Ren was from Huangshi County government, who were rivals of Liu Er, so she came up with a vicious plan.

  Liu Linglong hinted that Wu Banshan on the street could cure people, and Ma's eldest son went to invite him. After Wu Ren finished performing the ritual and gave him herbal medicine, Old Lady Ma would naturally feed him the medicinal soup. Liu Linglong took advantage of the opportunity to wipe Ma Mianyu's mouth with a handkerchief and stabbed him with a steel needle without leaving any marks, ending his life. Afterwards, she was afraid that things would be exposed, so she quickly closed Ma Mianyu's suddenly opened mouth and sent her brother away to spend the night at the Ma family ancestral hall, waiting for the storm to pass before returning. Later on, she still hoped to change her brother's appearance and have him enter the Ma household as a long-term worker.

  Min An heard everything from Li Fei's mouth, asked about Liu Ling's origin, and took out a small amount of silver to give to Li Fei. This time Li Fei refused to accept the silver, and even helped to send Wu Ren away, sending the two master and apprentice out the door.

  Don't look at Wu Ren's arrogant temper, when it comes to Old Book Li, he is still very polite. After finishing his bow and saying goodbye to Li Fei Ge, he turned back to see Min An wearing a good set of clothes, scowling and shouting: "You dare to waste money buying fancy clothes? Are you tired of living?"

  Min An hastily put on a smile and told Wu Ren about his meeting with Li Peinan the night before. Wu Ren didn't listen, grabbing Min An's ear and saying: "Where did you get this from? Take it off and pawn it for me! You're always wearing these fancy shirts and running around, trying to entice men and women to come after you!"

  Min An was in so much pain that he jumped up and down, and was dragged by Wu Ren all the way to the pawnshop. With tears in his eyes, he took off his outer garment and redeemed two taels of silver. Wu Ren snatched the silver from him and searched Min An's waist bag thoroughly, humming a tune as he returned to the inn. He sat at the table, fiddling with the abacus, not looking like someone who had just been through a disaster.

  "Lost in the eyes of money."

  Wu Ren raised his head and asked: "Have you finished taking your medicine?"

  Min nodded.

  Wu Ren sighed: "The medicine can't be stopped - unfortunately, the silver coins are not enough."

  Min An's eyes lit up, and he hastily spoke about the benefits of becoming an apprentice, from both long-term interests and immediate wealth. However, his master refused to listen, one hand rubbing his muddy toes and the other flipping abacus beads, saying: "Don't get involved with the Li family, they may be wealthy now, but they're just waiting for the right moment to discard you like a worn-out donkey."

  Min An was always grateful for Li Peinan's help, and said discontentedly: "How can Master say that! Although the young master is a bit cold, he has a good heart."

  Wu Ren sneered and threw a cloth shoe over, hitting Min An's forehead. Min An sat there fuming, Wu Ren raised two fingers to ask: "How many is this?"

  Min An didn't answer. Wu Ren threw a small ceramic bowl, hitting Min An's forehead painfully. Min An shouted: "Two!"

  Wu Ren stretched out three fingers: "How many is this?"

  Min An no longer wanted to be at a disadvantage and hastily replied: "Three!"

  Wu Ren pinched the lid of the round teapot, scraping off the mud from the bottom of his feet, and said: "Twenty years ago, Emperor Xian forced King Zhen Nan to welcome the marriage, I was still in the palace at that time. King Zhen Nan made a request to let the eldest son inherit the title, and Emperor Xian established Li Pei Nan as the crown prince. Li Pei Nan entered the temple to thank the emperor, but he was only four years old. Emperor Xian asked him which one was bigger, Bianjing or Yangzhou where his father lived. He replied that the sun was the biggest. Emperor Xian asked for the reason, and Li Pei Nan said that no matter where you stand and raise your head, you can see the sun shining brightly, so where is the shadow of Bianjing or Yangzhou under such strong light?"

  Min An Zheng stared blankly with his neck stretched out, Wu Ren walked over and covered Min An's eyes with a mud lid, asking: "What can you see now, foolish disciple?"

  "The black lid."

  "What else?"

  "A ring of sunset glow."

  "Does it smell good?"

  "Master!" Min An woke up and pushed Wu Ren away, rubbing his muddy eyes, "At your age, you're still playing tricks on me!"

  Wu Ren walked back to the stool, scraping the mud off his other foot, and said with a smile: "You're now blinded by mud, taking Li Peinan as the sun and worshipping him, so you can't see the dark shadows behind him."

  Min An slapped the table: "Master, just say it clearly, why are you hiding a strange tone!"

  Wu Ren chuckled: "He's still okay, don't mess with him. Twenty years ago, your dad was defeated by the Li family, you'd better be careful and stay far away. If not, we can just forget about being officials."

  Min An remained silent.

  Wu Ren chuckled and put a mud lid on Min An's head, patting the back of his skull, saying: "The medicine can't be stopped, it seems - your brain has become so stupid!" Then he walked out the door. That evening, after Min An finished dinner and took a bath, not seeing his master return, he carried a lantern to find him.

  The tavern was empty, the gambling house was empty, and the night market was empty. Min'an didn't know where his master had gone. He stood there in a daze, looking at the street, when suddenly the eight rows of snow lanterns in front of the inn lit up simultaneously, illuminating the majestic main building. A team of guards surrounded Li Peinan, who wore an arrow-sleeved narrow robe, as he dismounted his horse. Li Peinan tossed the reins to a nearby attendant and walked forward a few steps before turning back, pursing his lips and whistling softly. A black leopard with golden spots leapt into the air, dashing into the doorway like lightning, and disappeared from view.

  Then a white crane flew low and cut into the main building. After the hunting helpers returned, Li Peinan led the way to the performing hall, leaving behind a trail of lanterns. Min An walked closer with his lantern, unaware, and Li Qun called out for someone to close the large gate. Turning around, he saw him and asked: "Young master, is there anything else?"

  Min woke up and thought to himself, "Yes, the case is closed, what excuse or business does he have to come here?" Although his mind was clear, his words were different: "I came to pay respects to Second Master and discuss needlework with him."

  Li Qun had also heard about the unusual circumstances of Mo Yan's visit, and didn't ask any more questions. He invited Mo An in. As soon as Mo An entered the courtyard, he saw the maid who had helped him bathe and clean up the night before busily moving a basket. He immediately asked: "Does Second Master not need to burn incense and change his clothes?"

  Li Qun just smiled and pointed to the building behind him, saying: "Young master, go yourself, I have to go upstairs to listen to the difference."

  Min An hastily asked: "Did the young master go out this afternoon?"

  Li Qun rubbed his palms, and his expression was invigorated: "Master Wang invited the young master to go hunting at Haitang Mountain, and the young master caught a lynx, its appearance is truly majestic, not in vain this trip." He hastily walked into the pavilion to change clothes and wash up.

  Min walked towards the rear courtyard, carrying a paper lantern in her hand, stepping on the silver moonlight. Fei Yi wore a narrow dress, tied up her sleeves and pants legs, and was holding a silk wooden lantern, jumping onto the green jade glass tile roof, putting the full basket of flowers and grass under the moon to dry.

  Min An stood under the eaves and looked up to say: "Don't worry, Master didn't agree to take you as his apprentice, I'll persuade him."

  Fei Yi sat on the roof, motionless, staring at Min An in the moonlight. After a long while, he finally replied, "If you don't agree, the young master will take action."

  "What about you? Will you make things difficult for Master?"

  "The young master will make his move first, and then it's my turn with the knife."

  "Alright, I'll go back and try harder." He walked two steps away, then turned his head to see Fei Yi sitting with a posture like a celestial being. His heart skipped a beat as he asked, "What can be seen from up there?"

  Moon.

  "What else?"

  "You."

  "What else?"

  Fei Yi picked up a flower fruit seed and threw it at the corner of the house, saying: "You can climb up yourself along the ladder to take a look."

  Min An found a ladder standing at the corner of the house, put it in place, and nimbly climbed up to the eaves. He stepped on the glazed tiles, feeling a bit slippery, so he carefully crawled past on all fours. After settling down, he clapped his hands and said: "Wow, what a big and round moon! It's like a teapot lid."

  One does not answer when not properly dressed.

  "Alas, you said that Chang'e lives on the moon, so the Guanghan Palace must be very large, and as majestic as this temple?"

  Fei Yi remained silent as before. Min An pushed him: "You'd better say something."

  "Uh-huh."

  Min An was taken aback for a moment, then came to his senses and said: "Then how much silver will it take to build this Guanghan Palace on the ground?"

  "The front gate costs 2 million wen, the main building costs 20 million wen, and the backyard costs 8 million wen. Adding them up, it's equivalent to 30,000 taels of silver."

  "How did you know?"

  "Ah, the size of our house's front yard is just like a small hotel."

  Min An stopped talking and thought again: "But how could that Wang Zhi County suddenly produce so much silver?"

  Fei Yi pursed his lips and didn't respond, thinking to himself that this was exactly the kind of place where the Crown Prince would use as a pretext to strike. There were too many corrupt officials who took bribes, and if they weren't dealt with, Chu Prefecture would surely collapse.

  Min An covered his eyes with his hands, then opened them one by one, looking at the moon through his fingers, and was delighted. After playing silently for a while, he said: "I suddenly thought that if the moon becomes an arc, will Chang'e be squeezed down?"

  Fei Yi looked at the round moon and endured for a while before speaking: "Sit further away, don't disturb me."

  Min An's dog crawled a distance away, sat down and said: "The immortal will definitely not come down, the current housing prices are too expensive, she can't afford to live even if she lands."

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