Chapter 1694: The Perfect Honeypot Custom-Made for Him

By year's end, the Zhou Zongyan family-slaughter case still had no progress. The case was thoroughly filed away in the cold-case archive.

Perhaps someday new leads would reopen the investigation.

Before the New Year, Chen Chen Guanlou told Mu Qingshan to prepare the holiday duty roster early. This year they would start rotating leave two days before the Minor New Year and keep it going until the fifteenth of the first month.

The main reason was that plague that summer, which had killed far too many prisoners. To this day, many cells still sat empty. Fewer prisoners meant less work, so naturally they could start the holiday early.

Walking out of the Heaven Prison, he saw someone in front of the notice board,

a burly man with thick brows and big eyes.

Judging by his clothes, he probably wasn't from Jingcheng.

It was the end of the year; every household was busy preparing for New Year. The families of imprisoned officials had to celebrate too, and the money and goods they were supposed to send had already arrived at the start of the month. At this season, the Heaven Prison side basically had no visitors.

"My friend, if you're here to visit a prisoner, please register at the gatehouse. Set a time and come on schedule. If you have money, don't be stingy with tips. Money makes things easier!"

Chen Chen Guanlou gave him a friendly reminder.

The man turned at the sound, and Chen Chen Guanlou immediately let out a sigh of admiration—such sharp eyes. This one had lives on his hands. He was a hundred percent certain.

"You are…"

"I'm the Heaven Prison's Prison Clerk. May I have your surname, friend?"

"Nothing to hide—surname Qu!"

"So it's Brother Qu! Pleased to meet you! Here to visit someone? Just say the word, I'll arrange it for you."

"Many thanks, but no need. I have no relatives in prison. I was just passing by and got curious, took a few extra looks."

Just passing by?

Chen Chen Guanlou smiled half-heartedly. "No relatives in prison—congratulations! The weather's bitter cold; Brother Qu had best leave early. Embroidered Uniform Guard agents pass through here often. They have year-end tasks, and if they see you're an out-of-towner, they might grab you to make up the numbers."

"Thank you for the warning, my lord. I'll leave at once. Is it that obvious I'm an out-of-towner?" he asked again.

Chen Chen Guanlou nodded. "Pretty obvious. One look and you can tell you're not from here. New Year's coming, and Jingcheng's security is tight. If you've got nothing to do, don't wander around here. If you keep walking this way, you'll mostly hit the various yamen of the court. Go to Nancheng—it's livelier over there, and they don't police things as strictly!"

"Understood. Farewell!"

The man cupped his hands in salute and left decisively, without lingering.

Mu the Mu Yiguan came out wrapped in a cloak. "Who was my lord chatting with?"

"No one. Met an interesting fellow, just exchanged a few words."

"An interesting person? My lord rarely describes anyone that way. Once you use 'interesting,' isn't he some notorious bandit?"

Chen Chen Guanlou laughed heartily. "Old Mu, you're overthinking it. Even if he were a notorious bandit, it's none of our business. Come, my treat for drinks. In this wretched weather, you need something hot to feel comfortable."

He threw an arm around Mu the Mu Yiguan and headed straight for a tavern to enjoy himself.

He had assumed his meeting with the man surnamed Qu was just a chance encounter.

He didn't expect to run into him again so soon—this time at the temple fair during the New Year holiday.

He was accompanying Consort Jing, who had disguised herself, to the temple fair to burn incense.

Consort Jing was bold enough, and Chen Chen Guanlou wasn't afraid of trouble either. Under everyone's eyes, a man and a woman meeting at the temple fair—bystanders all assumed they were husband and wife.

Chen Chen Guanlou teased, "You really aren't afraid of dying! It's New Year, and instead of staying put at Wang Fu, you insist on joining the fun at the temple fair. Lucky you didn't bring the child along."

"If I were afraid of dying, I wouldn't have had a child. Next year I'll bring the child out too, and we'll burn incense together." Saying this, Consort Jing burst into giggles, looking quite pleased with herself.

Chen Chen Guanlou rolled his eyes, thoroughly disdainful. "Go on making trouble then. Walk by the river long enough, and your shoes will get wet. Let's see how you wrap this up!"

"You act like you despise me, yet you can't bring yourself to refuse me. Chen the Hundred-Household, you're such a contradiction! Clearly, you're just a lecher."

Chen Chen Guanlou chuckled. "As if you weren't the lecherous one. Who's the one clinging and pestering, after all!"

"You really kill the mood when you talk."

Chen Chen Guanlou had noticed that ever since the child came along, Consort Jing was no longer as polite to him as before, and couldn't be bothered to flatter him. She said whatever she thought—straightforward, sincere, and unrestrained.

As for him, he was a lecher in name and in truth.

Consort Jing had Emperor Jian Shi utterly bewitched—her looks went without saying, top-tier beauty! And her temperament fascinated him too.

The two of them kept pulling and tugging at each other; the child was already toddling around, yet they were still tangled up together.

This had already broken all past records.

In the past, no matter how beautiful a woman, she never lasted more than two years with him before they parted. He'd hand over a generous breakup fee and cut ties completely.

Yet with Consort Jing, he was a little reluctant to let go.

Men are all cheap to the bone.

He liked widows—beautiful, high-status widows especially. Consort Jing fit his aesthetic perfectly, even her temperament matched it.

Like a custom-made perfect honeypot, tailored just for him!

Satisfying in every way!

Look at her brazen, cocky, fearless attitude, and that thrill of sneaking around on the sly—he loved it to death.

Pathetic!

"Why skip the famous temples and Taoist shrines and come to this messy temple fair instead?" Chen Chen Guanlou demanded.

"Don't you think it's lively?" Consort Jing said excitedly. "Places like Baoguo Temple—where's the fun of a temple fair? Besides, at Baoguo Temple right now, every third step is some dignitary, every fifth step someone you recognize. I can't guarantee I won't be spotted. This is much better—all common folk, no noble worth setting foot here. We're safe, and we're free."

She spoke with full conviction, picked an unassuming temple at random, went in, gave the incense-offering money, burned incense and worshipped the Buddha—utterly devout.

Chen Chen Guanlou didn't go in with her; he just wandered around looking.

Then he spotted Brother Qu. The man seemed to have just finished burning incense, his expression somewhat Solemn.

"Brother Qu, what a coincidence—we meet again. May I ask your full name?"

"So it's the Prison Clerk, my lord. Indeed a coincidence. You may call me Qu Yuan."

"So it's Brother Qu Yuan! I'm surnamed Chen—Chen Chen Guanlou."

"I've heard of you. There are many rumors about you in the jianghu."

"Just people being kind. So Brother Qu is also a man of the jianghu—I wouldn't have guessed." Chen Chen Guanlou smiled and sized him up.

The other party was a martial artist; he had seen it at their first meeting. Their grade was quite high! But their body also had many hidden injuries. There was a feeling that they had disregarded their own life and death in order to raise their cultivation.

"I'm not familiar with the jianghu either, I just occasionally hear a few rumors from it."

"Meeting by fate! How about I treat you to a drink!" Chen Chen Guanlou invited warmly.

Qu Yuan looked toward Consort Jing inside the great hall, "Doesn't Jiang Jiang Yucheng Chen accompany his Lady?"

"Haha… she's not my wife, just a lover. I've never married!"

Qu Yuan's face went blank.

It was the first time he had learned that men and women in the big city played this way.

Not husband and wife, yet traveling together like a married couple, unafraid of gossip and slander. Truly a big place, with open and tolerant customs. None of those broken rules from small towns.

What a perfect misunderstanding!

"Next time then! If we meet by fate next time, I'll treat Jiang Jiang Yucheng Chen to a drink."

"Sure! Which inn are you staying at? I'll come find you some other day."