Chapter 801

Was he looking for a better job?

"How could he know you?" "Big Brother, he knows my past very well, and also knows that you rescued me from the devil's cave." Zhu Xiuer stared at He Lingchuan, "My intersection with Sun Hongye is you!"

He Lingchuan touched his nose.

"I know Sun Hongye quite well; he doesn't visit without a reason, so why would he kindly help you?"

"He proposed cooperation." Zhu Xiuer smiled, "Each gets what they need."

"How so?"

"My enemy is related to the current Censor-in-Chief He Liwen. Sun Hongye just happened to want to give He family's second son He Su and third son He Jing some color."

He Lingchuan remembered; before Sun Hongye defected to him, he had been a study companion for the third son of the He family.

That year, Generals Wu Di and Ke Jihai broke through the Woling Pass using the tactics contributed by He Jing, the third son of Censor-in-Chief He Liwen, so He Jing was heavily rewarded. But in fact, this strategy was proposed by Sun Hongye; He Liwen attributed the credit to his third son, only sent Sun Hongye away with a dozen taels of silver, and drove him out of the house.

Later at the Luming Garden, He Su, the second son of the He family, sent people to tamper with Sun Hongye's carriage, and the latter was nearly beaten to death by a ghost ape when going down the mountain, thanks to He Lingchuan's rescue.

He Lingchuan once told Sun Hongye that he should take revenge for his own grudges, and leave the He family to him.

It seemed Sun Hongye listened and never forgot, and started planning as soon as he returned to Yuan.

He was born in poverty and had no helpers in the Yuan capital, and He Chunhua couldn't possibly care about such things, so finding Zhu Xiuer to join forces against the enemy was a good way.

"The ideas he came up with were good, and we implemented them smoothly." Zhu Xiuer said softly, "I won't say specifically how we did it; I don't want to dirty your ears with such filthy things. Anyway, both my and his enemies suffered bad luck."

"I was very happy and invited him to the Yuefu Restaurant to celebrate; my husband went with me that day." Zhu Xiuer sighed, "Although Sun Hongye attended, his eyes were wandering, as if he had something on his mind, and he was absent-minded when talking to us. Seeing him arrive with luggage, before he could drink two glasses of wine, he said he was leaving the Yuan capital."

"Where to?"

"He said he was going east, to Beijia." Zhu Xiuer said, "We asked him what happened, but he just shook his head, and then gave me a book. If you came back, give the book to you; if you never appeared—then I could dispose of the book as I pleased."

"Left for me?" These last two sentences were beyond He Lingchuan's expectation, "Where is the book?"

"The strange thing is here." Zhu Xiuer smiled bitterly, "I took it back, and the next day, the book disappeared."

"Disappeared?" He Lingchuan kicked a small stone at his feet, "Where did you hide it?"

"In the secret compartment of the bedroom." Zhu Xiuer said, "I checked it before leaving home that morning, and it was still there; when I returned home in the evening, it had disappeared."

"Who saw you hide the book?"

"My husband." Zhu Xiuer said solemnly, "He went to the Yuefu Restaurant with me, met Sun Hongye with me, and therefore knew I hid the book in the secret compartment by the bed. But he is open-minded and acts upright; he said he didn't take it, so I believe him."

"Anyone else?"

"The maidservants in my courtyard, I questioned them too, and they all swore to heaven." Zhu Xiuer sighed long, "It's my fault; the things Sun Hongye entrusted to me were lost in my hands."

He Lingchuan shook his head: "Intentional calculation against the unintentional. Someone was watching Sun Hongye, so he wanted to pass the book to you. As a result, the other party was still more skilled."

He said solemnly: "Sun Hongye didn't consider it carefully; it's very easy to bring trouble to you."

Zhu Xiuer bit her lip: "Perhaps he had no one else to entrust, so he had to ask me for help?"

"What is the title of the book?"

"《Yao Hua Ji Zhu》 (Notes on Yao Flowers)." Zhu Xiuer said, "It's a handwritten original; I flipped through a few pages, and there were traces of revisions. This seems to be written by a scholar in the Yuan capital thirty years ago, very obscure; I had never heard of it before."

He Lingchuan nodded: "Good, I know."

Zhu Xiuer stood still: "You are very different from before after this trip."

"Oh?" He Lingchuan smiled, "How different?"

"As if..." Zhu Xiuer looked at him, pondering her words, "More reliable and steady, and..."

This kind of reliability and steadiness was washed and settled by time, which others couldn't imitate or act out.

After only a year apart, what happened to him?

Zhu Xiuer smiled: "And more liked by girls."

This youth's eyes were too bright and spirited, as if he could see through the deepest part of the human heart. Which young lady could withstand him staring at her like this? He Lingchuan had a thick skin and always accepted others' praise calmly: "Is Sister Xiuer going to introduce me to a noble lady in the Yuan capital?"

"Yuan capital? Which noble lady here is worthy of you?" Zhu Xiuer was implicitly disdainful, "You deserve better!"

"Where is there?"

"Anyway, not here." Compared to his playfulness, Zhu Xiuer was very serious, "After I returned to my grandfather from County Magistrate Lake, I once thought about marrying someone casually. But after marriage, I found that this person is too important."

She looked at He Lingchuan solemnly: "You are the same. You must marry a virtuous wife; you must not listen to the family's random assignment!"

"I've learned." He Lingchuan cupped his hands to her, "Sister Xiuer has true insight."

"I have to go back; I have to accompany my grandfather out in the afternoon." The business was finished, so Zhu Xiuer curtsied to him and said goodbye.

She was always very polite to He Lingchuan.

He Lingchuan called for someone to take Xiazhou specialties and stuff them to her, and only then watched her leave the mansion and board the carriage.

"She and your brother are the same, both entrusted by Sun Hongye." The Soul-Sucking Mirror in his arms said "Ouch," "But the book Sun Hongye entrusted to her has already been stolen. Can those sets of code numbers still be solved?"

"Before finding the book, it can't be solved." He Lingchuan's face sank, "Sun Hongye's departure must be related to the message he wanted to pass to me."

He walked around the mansion a few times and went to find Steward Wu.

This person was busy distributing the internal affairs of the He mansion; hearing He Lingchuan mention Sun Hongye, he was stunned.

"Sun Hongye?" Steward Wu was stunned, "Yes, Mr. Sun resigned to the Master three days ago, withdrew fifteen taels of silver from me, and left."

"Didn't he explain the reason?" Resignation must have a reason, right? "The reason was physical discomfort and the intention to go east. I said the mansion could invite a physician for him, but Mr. Sun said no; the Master wanted to raise his salary, but he didn't stay." Steward Wu scratched his head, "Mr. Sun was indeed sick twice on the way from Xiazhou to the Yuan capital with us. His physical foundation wasn't very good, and his complexion wasn't good when he came to me to collect silver."

"How did he perform in the mansion over the past year?"

(End of chapter)