Baima Temple (4) No. 54

  The highest-ranking official among the top ten detectives, Bai Qianfan, hesitated for a moment before speaking up: "When I investigate cases, I often have many eccentric habits, my behavior is not elegant, and I work day and night, which may make my colleagues laugh at me and also make people feel disgusted. Therefore, I request to handle this case alone."

  Not surprisingly, almost everyone chose to work alone. The same is true today, although when investigating a case, everyone works together and divides the labor, but people with strong investigative abilities tend to think about problems in a situation where one person is not disturbed.

  These people are all famous for their detective work, but they are also officials of the imperial court, each one is clever and cunning. I think that for them, blowing each other's trumpets and being careful in their interactions is more tiring than concentrating on solving cases. We are just county magistrates, our status is lowly, there's no need for us to express our opinions, the gentlemen ahead of us have already firmly rejected the proposal for joint investigation.

  Apart from us, Yu Feiyan also remained silent.

  It seems that Fang Xuanling had already made up his mind about everyone's choice. He just smiled calmly and said, "Since that's the case, let's end tonight's banquet early and have you all return to your inns for rest. The White Horse Temple is now heavily guarded by troops from Luozhou, and no one is allowed to enter. I will immediately send various passes to each of your inns, and you can arrange your own time to enter the temple for investigation at your convenience. You have a month's time to investigate this case clearly. One month later, I will report the results of the investigation to the Emperor truthfully and reward those who have made contributions."

  This is a rather tactful way of putting it, but even if we're stupid, we can still understand the key point. We only have one month to investigate, and if we succeed, we'll be rewarded accordingly. But what if we don't? That's not something that needs to be said.

  Back at the inn, my mind was still thinking about the strange case of Baima Temple. With only a month's time limit, every day is precious, and tomorrow must be taken action. So, I didn't change clothes to rest, but walked out of the room and headed towards Nie Qiuyuan's room.

  I think he should be gathering us for a meeting tonight. But before I even approached his room, I saw a slender and elegant figure in red knocking on the door of my male god's house.

  It's late at night, a woman, all alone, goes to knock on a strange man's door?! I'm furious, what is this?! This is really not proper!

  I took a few quick steps forward, walking up to Yu Rong's side. She turned her head to look at me, with not even a hint of surprise on her face. I flashed a dazed smile.

  "Miss, it's so late, aren't you resting yet? But feeling lonely in your heart? Want to or not, let's go have a drink?" I teased her.

  Upon closer inspection, the beauty really is beautiful. Originally I thought Ye Liu Yue looked pretty good, but compared to her she suddenly became a green and inexperienced little girl, which made me even angrier.

  The beautiful woman's perfect face slowly brought up a hint of a smile, although very pretty, but this smile was disdainful and icy.

  "Have a drink? Are you sure you can handle liquor?"

  I was startled. So sharp! Even a small role like me who is not eye-catching on the wine scene, has also been discovered by her!

  She's a tough cookie, I'll have to risk my life to squeeze her out!

  The door creaked open with a "creak", and Nie Qiuyuan stood at the entrance, expressionless, staring at me who was still dressed in men's clothing, with my face not yet fully concealed.

  Cough cough, this is simply too terrible.

  "What brings you here?" He turned to the beautiful woman.

  When Yu Wan's face lit up with a smile, the contemptuous expressions that had just been slapped on my face disappeared without a trace.

  "My family's elder has fallen ill, and with time being of the essence, Zhenzhu didn't bring anyone else along. As a lone woman, I'm afraid I'd be at a disadvantage. So, if Lord Luo is willing, would it be possible for me to accompany him when he investigates the case in your esteemed county?"

  "If it's about the overall capture, there are many of you who have come this time, and those with high status and heavy power are not rare. Why must you necessarily join hands with the unknown Yiquan County?" Nie Qiuyuan raised an eyebrow and asked somewhat coldly.

  Right! Right! I nodded repeatedly in my heart, it's really suspicious!

  Ruò Yuàn Yuán lightly smiled.

  "I'm just a humble General Catcher under the command of Fa Cao, I'm afraid it's hard for other seniors to reach me."

  In short, among all people, only those with lower status are easier to talk to.

  "If you want to catch him, it's better to go find County Magistrate Nie together. Coming to the county lieutenant in the middle of the night, I'm afraid he won't be able to make a decision!" I couldn't help but say with a sarcastic tone.

  As I spoke, I stole a glance at Nie Qiu Yuan. A faint, inexplicable expression flashed across his calm face, as if he was about to smile, or maybe it was something else, but the expression vanished in an instant.

  It can't be that you've seen such a lovely person and though you don't say it out loud, your heart has moved, right?!

  Ruò Yuè Juān didn't answer me, but instead pouted her mouth and smiled slightly, her eyes only gazing at my handsome guy.

  Nie Qiuyuan remained expressionless, simply saying: "That's not bad either. One more person, one more helping hand. I'm sure Master Nie won't refuse. It's late, Miss, please return. After all, it's not very convenient."

  The beauty nodded slightly and turned around, walking slowly along the corridor, without even giving me a glance.

  How could I have agreed with her? I was furious and turned around to leave, but then I heard a voice behind me that sounded like it was smiling:

  "Yè Shén bǔ, jìn lái shuō huà."

  Translation: "Leaf God captured, come and talk."

  I turned around and saw Nie Qiuyuan reveal a very faint smile, glancing at his own room with the corner of his eye.

  Let me... go to his room?! Oh my god! What's going on here?!

  I had a burst of anger, and almost threw all the unpleasantness that just happened to the farthest cloud. But after all, I still have dignity and upbringing, so I pouted my mouth and said with hatred:

  "You and I are different, it's so late already, after all, it's not very convenient!"

  I repeated what he said to Ruoyanjuan.

  The smile on his face grew even more pronounced: "You're not a woman now either, so don't worry about it!"

  Anyway, I entered his room, and I was probably half-pushed and half-justified. If he changed his mind and didn't let me in, I might have found an excuse to squeeze in desperately. Alas, people are just so cheap!

  "I'll make you a cup of tea," the male god said gently. "Dachun and Jiujiu will be here soon."

  “……”

  I was overthinking, it's actually time for the evening gathering I had guessed.

  "Huh? Liuyue, you're here so early?" Rong Dachun pushed open the door and said in surprise. They arrived too quickly, not giving me a chance to be alone with my male god.

  "Let's go to Baima Temple tomorrow morning," said Nie Qiuyuan. "I've thought about it, and I think we should start from the scene."

  We all nodded.

  "And that matter of Nie Yuxiu being captured by the prefect of Yingzhou..." When Nie Qiuyuan mentioned her, I felt a inexplicable sense of annoyance in my heart.

  "Did you promise her?" Lu Da Chun asked in surprise. "This doesn't seem like your style! Could it be that you really have a crush on her?"

  I secretly rolled my eyes at him, but couldn't let him notice, it was really frustrating. But I had to admit, why did I care so much about what he said?

  "The more people, the more strength." The male god didn't say much, only answering vaguely like this.