Chapter 77: Men never like being told they are

Before long, the dishes were served one after another. The first few appetizers were quite ordinary.

When the stewed chicken with mushrooms was brought out, the fragrance billowed forth.

Looking closely, one could see golden oil droplets floating on the surface of the soup, with pinkish-white chicken meat and brown mushrooms unfurling in the boiling broth. The heat and aroma rushed toward them; before they even raised their chopsticks, they were already drooling.

Xie Shouzheng was cautious, using silver chopsticks to test for poison first. Seeing nothing amiss, he ladled a bowl of meat soup and handed it to Dongfang Qi: "Young Master, have a taste."

Dongfang Qi turned and placed the bowl in front of Lin Qingyue, then ladled another for himself.

Seeing Xie Shouzheng looking a bit dejected, he casually ladled one for him too: "Aren't you very hungry? Eat."

Xie Shouzheng cheered up, lowered his head, and began slurping the soup and eating the meat, commenting as he ate: "The chicken is excellent, and the soup is as fresh as nectar, but I still feel I was swindled by that merchant."

After tasting it, Lin Qingyue said: "You've already eaten it, why dwell on it? Hmm, the soup is fresh and the meat is tender; it truly lives up to being a chicken that fell asleep to little tunes every night."

Dongfang Qi agreed: "It is quite good."

Xie Shouzheng hurriedly added: "If you both like it, we can raise a batch at home later; the cost certainly wouldn't be this high."

Dongfang Qi shook his head: "My status is not suitable for such things. Otherwise, if word got out and those below scrambled to imitate it, it would inevitably lead to a trend of extravagance. There is much suffering among the common people; this one table has already consumed a month's worth of expenses for an ordinary family. It is fine to taste it occasionally, but one must not be greedy."

Xie Shouzheng let out an "Oh" and began smacking his lips while eating.

Dongfang Qi frowned: "Xiao Hui, don't smack your lips while eating, mind your manners! Don't sit with your legs crossed, mind your manners! Don't..."

Before he could finish, a chicken leg was stuffed into his mouth, blocking the rest of his words.

Lin Qingyue rolled her eyes at him: "Just eat, my Prince!"

She finally understood whose personality Xie Shouzheng had inherited his nagging from.

A perfectly fine, elegant, and handsome man, yet he loved to nag—what a mood killer!

After finishing the meal, the three of them went upstairs to rest.

Before going up, the waiter warned them repeatedly: "Remember to lock your doors and windows at night. No matter what sounds you hear, do not come out to check!"

"Alright, we understand."

After sending the waiter away, Xie Shouzheng lowered his voice and said to Lin Qingyue and Dongfang Qi:

"The closer we get to the border, the more demonic and evil things there are on the road; it's not as peaceful as the capital. You must be careful!"

Lin Qingyue stayed in a room by herself. As soon as she entered, she opened the window to let as much moonlight into the room as possible, so she could absorb the essence of the sun and moon while meditating.

As for the waiter's warning—she didn't take it to heart at all.

The night was deep and quiet, with the occasional bark of a dog from the street outside reaching her ears.

But as it grew later, even the barking fell silent. Only the night breeze drifted gently into the room, carrying a chill.

Lin Qingyue leaped, her form like a swallow, skimming lightly over the window and landing on the street outside.

The next instant, the shop door opened, and Dongfang Qi walked out.

Seeing Lin Qingyue, he was startled: "When did you come out?"

Lin Qingyue pointed to the window above: "I climbed out the window. Why did you come out too? Could it be..."

The next moment, a "thud" was heard, as if something had rolled down the stairs from the inn's lobby.

Lin Qingyue and Dongfang Qi looked over simultaneously. By the moonlight, they saw Xie Shouzheng climbing up while grumbling: "So stingy, not even leaving a light on at night, causing me to take such a tumble—hey, you two!"

He saw the two people outside the door and trotted over: "Why are you two out here? Could it be..."

Dongfang Qi said: "Weren't you just snoring away, sleeping soundly? Why are you suddenly out here?"

Xie Shouzheng said: "I was just sleeping briefly. With such a major disappearance case in the county, I have to come out and see the situation, otherwise, I can't sleep soundly. Your Hig... Young Master, why don't I go take a look with Deputy Envoy Lin? Your health is not good, it's safer for you to stay at the inn."

Men never like being told they are "no good," and Dongfang Qi was no exception. He glared at Xie Shouzheng: "Since we're all out, let's go."

The night streets were empty; indeed, no one dared to go out at night.

They walked for over half an hour without finding anything. The three stood in the middle of the street, discussing whether they should go to the Yamen to ask for specific information—the news they could get from the waiter had passed through too many hands and was neither accurate nor reliable.

Just then, a large net suddenly descended from the sky. Caught off guard, the three were instantly trapped within it.

Had the culprit appeared?

The next moment, a loud shout was heard: "Finally caught you! Don't you dare resist!"

Then, two men, one tall and one short, jumped out, holding blades in one hand and tools like compasses and demon-binding locks in the other.

Xie Shouzheng found the tools in their hands very familiar and suddenly realized: "Are you brothers from the Xuanjing Division?"

After the tall and short men exchanged a glance, the tall one said haughtily: "You have a good eye to recognize this officer!"

The short man said: "That's right, good eye!"

The tall one said: "Since you've heard of our Xuanjing Division's great name, how dare you still commit crimes?"

The short one: "Still dare to commit crimes?"

The tall one: "Where have you taken the previous missing persons? Confess truthfully!"

The short one: "That's right, confess truthfully!"

The three of them finally realized that they had been mistaken for the culprits!

Xie Shouzheng hurriedly explained: "Mistake, it's a mistake! This is truly a case of the flood washing away the Dragon King's temple! We aren't the culprits, we're just passing travelers!"

The tall one said: "What passing travelers dare to wander around in the middle of the night? One look at you three and I know you're no good. Daring to commit crimes on our turf, you're courting death!"

The short one said: "That's right, courting death!"

As the tall one spoke, he sniffed at Xie Shouzheng with his nose upturned, then his expression suddenly changed in shock: "There's demon Qi, you're a demon!"

The short one also sniffed: "That's right, it's a demon!"

Besides the headquarters in the capital, the Xuanjing Division also had branches in various places. Each branch had a chief and a deputy chief, and the number of subordinates varied, not being uniform.

And the tall and short men were local prefecture guards who had even gone to the capital to visit relatives and seen Xie Shouzheng a while ago.

Xie Shouzheng naturally recognized them: "Are you... Damao and Ermao?"