[UTP] Epilogue 1: First Meeting

**This is Lu Yi’s point of view starting from Chapter 1**

A girl in LiuShanmen, of course he has heard of her, but he never paid any attention to the news, until that day. 

The General Services Office of the Defense Department lost the Jizhou city defense map but didn’t dare to report it. After trying to cover it up for a few days, until they couldn’t lie anymore, only then did they decide to report it. The biggest suspect in the matter is Cao Ge, who has been missing for several days. It’s not easy to find him, but coincidentally, Cao Ge was related to another murder case, so even if Liu Shanmen didn’t catch the person, they would still have enough clues to find him. Since this is an extremely urgent matter, he personally went to pay a visit to Liu Shanmen.

Upon arriving at LiuShanmen, he saw two constables drag a man and a woman into the office. He was Cao Ge. From just a glance, Lu Yi recognized his face on the wanted poster. Lu Yi ordered Cen Shou to guard the horse. After showing their badges, announcing their reasons for being here and escorting both of them back to his office. 

Before leaving, he overheard a faint voice from behind the wall.

“We searched for several days and caught them with great difficulty. Me and Da Yang haven’t even handed him over to the Department of Justice, yet he’s just taking them away just like that? That’s not very fair!” A clear woman’s voice, it was the constable that was escorting Cao Ge. 

Immediately followed by a man’s voice, lecturing her: “JinYiWei needs this person. If you purposely try to stall time, they will charge you with helping a criminal, will you be able to bear the consequences?”

“Charge us? We work hard like dogs, bringing these two criminals back, yet you’re saying you want to charge us with a crime?” You can hear the anger in her voice. 

He frowned, he had witnessed many constables arguing and charging at JinYiWei, it seems like this young lady is also one of them. 

The officer escorting them felt embarrassed standing there, listening to her arguing. At this moment, an old man was seen limping towards them. The officer quickly walked over and said in a low voice: “Old Yang, please go talk to them and bring Cao Ge out. Lu Daren is waiting.”

The old man nodded and limped inside. 

The officer turned to face Lu Yi, laughingly said: “Lu Daren, how about we go to the main hall and have a cup of tea first?”

He nodded in agreement, knowing that the officer didn’t want him to hear the argument. Cao Ge and his mistress were handed over to Lu Yi fairly quickly after the crippled old man walked in. As he didn’t want to stay any longer, he quickly returned to work. 

He had always disliked the method of obtaining information by means of torture, not because his heart was soft, but because the screams of people who were in extreme agony always made his head hurt. Therefore, unless it’s a special case, he would prefer Nanzhen prison over Beizhen prison. 

The frightened Cao Ge sat uneasily in the interrogation room.

The dried blood stains made his heart beat faster.

“I—I… I didn’t do anything, why did you bring me here?”

Lu Yi leaned back on the old wooden chair, looking up at him: “Why do you think you are here?”

“I do not know.” Cao Ge answered quickly.

Lu Yi slowly said: “You can try to guess. How about this, you can ask me ten questions to help figure out your answer.”

Cao Ge looked at him cautiously: “I can ask?”

Lu Yi nodded his head.

Lu Yi tilted his body slightly to cover the wrinkles on his forehead as heart-rending screams of torture echoed from the next cell.

“Does it have something to do with the service office of the public works department?” He asked.

“Yes, this is the first question.”

“The public service office has lost something”

“Yes, this is the second question.”

After Cao Ge hesitated for a while he continued to ask: “What item did you lose?”

“Jizhou city defense map, this is the third question.” In answering these questions, Lu Yi was very patient. With the three questions Cao Ge asked, the missing Jizhou defense map must have something to do with him. How else could he have been so on point with his questions right from the start? 

“Do you suspect I have anything to do with this?”

“That’s right, this is the fourth question.” Lu Yi smiled slightly, “Only four questions and you’ve already guessed why you’re here. Now, it’s my turn, where is the Jizhou city defense map?”

Cao Ge said frantically: “I— I don’t know, this thing has nothing to do with me, you guys are asking the wrong person.”

Lu Yi frowned as the terrifying screams from next door pierced through the walls, straight to his ears. He looked at Cao Ge and shrugged: “The torture device is ready. I don’t want to make things difficult so don’t force me..”

Cao Ge’s face looked unsure, he stuttered: “I don’t know—Right—I really don’t know…”

Lu Yi looked at Cen Fu. Cen Fu quickly understood his signal, walked forward, grabbed Cao ge and pressed him against the bloody torture chair. Lu Yi stood up and walked out of the cell. 

After a cup of tea passed, Cen Fu came out and reported: “Cao Ge confessed, he said he has sold it, but he doesn’t know the person that bought it. The transaction happened at night, so he could only remember the person was wearing a Taoist robe.”

*[a cup of tea is used to measure time, which is approximately 10-15 minutes, TN]

“Where?”

“Cao Ge said he doesn’t know. He doesn’t seem like he’s lying,” Cen Fu continued, “I will make sure they continue to investigate.”

“Sold it?” Lu Yi thought for a while, gave an order, “Arrange some people to disguise themselves. Spread the word, saying we’re buying it at a high price to lure them out.”

“Beizhe understands.” Cen Fu walked out. 

From inside the cell came another heartbreaking scream, this sound came from Cao Ge. Lu Yi furrowed his brows and then stepped out of the prison.

In the dusk of the evening, Cen Shou hurried to the office to deliver the news. He said someone had come forward claiming the defense map was in their possession, but the exchange cost was five hundred silver, and they wanted the payment before handing over the map. Afterward, we need to arrive at the shrine by Jinshui bridge and someone will deliver the map. 

“Five hundred silver, what a reasonable price.” Lu Yi snorted.

He immediately ordered someone to fill a box with rocks and place it near the bridge, then assigned a few people to keep a close watch on it. Noon, almost night time, the street is filled with people. Among the crowd, a person wearing a taoist robe appeared, holding a bell in his hand, making his way toward the shrine. 

The fortune-teller seized the opportunity when the people around him were not paying attention, stretched out his hand to grab something. The nearby guards, who had been hiding suddenly jumped out and pinned him down. Surprisingly, the taoist isn’t a weak person, he quickly knocked down two guards and escaped. 

A fortune-teller blends himself into the crowd at the capital’s night market, which is very loud and crowded. Upon hearing the report, Lu Yi, who was waiting outside the restaurant, quickly left. As a result, they scattered and continued to search the main road.

Lu Yi chased until he reached Jinshui Bridge, when he heard a faint sound of bells ringing. Following the sound, he saw a fluttering robe slip between the crowds of people. He approached the fortune-teller from behind, his clothes were torn by the shoulder, and claw marks were visible on his neck. There was no doubt that he just fought someone. 

Although Lu Yi is not in uniform, his reflexes indicate that he is not an ordinary person. The fortune-teller immediately recognized danger as he was approaching, but instead of confronting him, he continued walking. 

Seeing Lu Yi following him, he twisted his hand, pointing the knife that was tucked away in his sleeve towards Lu Yi.

At this moment, Lu Yi is certain this is the person he’s looking for. Lu Yi lazily kicked the person in front of him. It took only one move to send the fortune-teller flying and breaking wood on a stall. 

Seeing that he had knocked down a stall, Lu Yi rushed over. The fortune-teller stood and drew his knife at the woman in front of him. Thankfully, she was able to dodge it but it still slash through her sleeves. 

Afraid that he will attack people again, Lu Yi once again kicks him in the chest, forcing him to vomit blood and groan in pain. 

“Say! Where did you hide the map?” He placed his foot on the hand with the knife, forcing him to let go of the weapon. 

He was surprisingly quite stubborn: “….Do not know!”

Lu Yi pressed his foot even harder, his wrist started to make crackling noises. 

“I…. truly…. don’t know!” He screamed in pain. 

A person’s desire is motivated by greed. Lu Yi coldly looked at him, it seemed like he treasured his money over his life, because even when his wrist was broken, he still refused to confess. Lu Yi was about to teach him a lesson, suddenly someone approached him and interrupted. 

“I don’t know what this fortune-teller did, but is it necessary to interrogate—”

“JinYiWei are on duty, those not involved move aside!” Lu Yi hates being interrupted while investigating. He pushed his outer robe aside, revealing his JinYiWei’s badge. 

Just by seeing JinYiWei’s people, even if others were curious they wouldn’t dare to come any closer, so they rapidly left the scene. The crowded Xinfeng Bridge quickly became deserted. The fortune teller who was on the ground saw JinYiwei’s badge, and his face immediately changed.

Cen Shou walked over with several JinYiWei, reporting to him: “Young Master, Cao Ge is dead.”

This is the result of being interrogated by a merciless JinYiWei, Lu Yi couldn’t help but sigh. At this moment, a woman’s voice interfered with his thoughts. 

“Officials, you guys shouldn’t smash my stall even if you are handling a case!””

Lu Yi, seeing the fried tofu stall falling apart, hot tofu and sauces scattered on the floor, furrowed his brow and ordered Cen Shou to drag the lord fortune-teller to prison.

After hearing Cao Ge was dead, and knowing how bad Beizhen prison is, the fortune-teller was terrified; he didn’t want to die there. He suddenly stood up and shook violently, then put something in his mouth and dropped dead. 

Cen Shou shouted, then reached out to check his pulse, turned to Lu Yi and shook his head.

“Check his body!” Lu Yi gave the order.

First, they moved the knife away, then Cen Shou waved his hand, ordering the other JinYiWei to inspect his body, from head to toe. 

Lu Yi carefully observed his men, suddenly behind came a low whisper. 

“They’re doing a good job.” A man said.

“This is nothing, just a little practice. This is the basic standard level in LiuShanmen, they are just a group of rude people.” 

The woman’s voice from earlier, her tone remained the same, but there was a hint of 

Also the woman’s voice earlier, her tone was no longer the same as before, there was a hint of disdain. The word LiuShanmen caught Lu Yi’s attention, and he suddenly remembered the voice he heard earlier today. 

“Lu Daren, there’s nothing!”

After one of the men finished searching the fortune-teller’s body, there’s absolutely no sign of the defense map. 

Lu Yi slightly frowned, since both of them are dead, there’s no other hint as to where the defense map is. At this moment, a whisper was heard again. 

“Can you guess what they’re looking for?” The voice belonged to the tall man standing beside the woman. 

“Needless to say, it must be related to a major case of state affairs.”

Even though her voice was quiet, but she specifically emphasized the word ‘big case’ and said it loudly, which meant she wanted him to hear it. As of now, Lu Yi had already remembered the owner of this voice, it was the female constable in LiuShanmen that caught Cao Ge today. The one that was very displeased with the fact that she had to hand them over to JinYiWei. 

Lu Yi tilted his head to look at her, only now did he notice her slightly delicate and beautiful features, her eyes moving quickly and agilely, nothing like the image he had in his head. 

She directly walked up to him and said sincerely: “Officer, the price of my bean curd is actually not expensive,  if you could give me two taels of silver it would be enough.”

Cen Shou stepped forward: “TTwo people have died, and we still haven’t found the map, later the Commander–”

Just as Lu Yi was about to speak, she raised her voice.

“Cough… cough…Officer, you should at least compensate me a little!”

At this time, not only Lu Yi, even some Jin Yiwei had also heard what she said, they turned their heads to see who would dare to interrupt their leader.

Lu Yi looked at her coldly, not only was she not scared, she continued to step forward a little, shifting aside for them to see the fallen tofu stand.

“Two taels of silver is enough.” She smiled.

Seeing her smile, Lu Yi knew right away she was a scheming woman. Even though two taels of silver isn’t much, but using this kind of situation to make an earning is ridiculous, especially from a LiuShanmen, 

“Do you want to die? Move!” Cen Shou yelled at her. Since Cen Shou came to the scene later than Lu Yi, of course he doesn’t know what happened to the tofu stall. 

She unyieldingly said: “Compensate me, and I will go, if not then I cannot explain to my mother.”

“You—” Cen Shou was already tired from all the mess, now he have to deal with a woman, who is randomly demanding a compensation, of course he is angry. 

Lu Yi raised his hand to stop him, impatiently said coldly: “Give her the silver and let them go!”

Cen Shou was helpless and could only throw two pieces of silver at the woman.

She happily accepted the money and immediately left the place. Her light footsteps reflect her smile and happy mood. Seeing this, Lu Yi couldn’t help but look down on LiuShanmen a little. 

After walking a few steps, she suddenly stopped and turned to look at him, smilingly said: “I don’t know what the officers are looking for, but on his sleeve there is a trail of moss and his shoes are half wet; I guess he just visited a place not far from the river, for example a place near the bridge.”

Lu Yi glanced at her, then knelt down to check the spot that she mentioned. It was true, there are traces of moss on both of the fortune teller’s sleeves. 

“That place is a bit high, so he put his foot on his foot, his left hand pressed against the wall, and used his right hand to dig something up” She continued to explained, “If my guess is not wrong, between the cracks of his left nail there is a piece of moss.”

Quickly holding up his left hand, carefully examining, Lu Yi quickly found moss between the crack of his nails. Listening to her explaining, made him fall into deep thoughts. 

As soon as she finished her words, she and the man walked away.

Not expecting her observation to be so keen, Lu Yi stood up again and gave an order: “Quickly go search the bridges around here, both above and below the bridges must be searched, especially in the dark and hidden places under the bridges, the cracks and the holes on the side of the bridge must not be missed.”

Cen Shou didn’t understand: “Young Master, she’s just a person that sells tofu, can her words be trusted?”

“She is a constable in LiuShanmen.” Lu Yi said, “Leave quickly!”

Even though Cen Shou didn’t understand why a girl that sells tofu can become a LiuShanmen, also why he had to waste two silvers on her, but since the Young Master gave out the orders, he didn’t dare to ask questions. Cen Shou immediately ordered people to thoroughly search the location. 

After an hour passed, the defense map of Jizhou city wrapped in a tarpaulin was found on the ceiling of the bridge pier. It turned out that everything was just a moment of panic.

***

When I met her again, several days had already passed. It was on the ship, on the way to Yangzhou. 

During his journey to Jiangnan this time, Lu Yi knew in advance that Yang ChengWan and two of his subordinates were coming along. One was Yuan Jinxia, a female constable, and the other was YangYue, Yang ChengWan’s son. Both of them grew up together and followed Yang ChengWan into LiuShanmen. 

That day, he boarded the ship earlier than planned. After waiting nearly an hour, Liu Xiangzuo, the Assistant Minister of Left of the Judicial Review Department, Yang ChengWan and the others had finally boarded the ship. 

At first, Lu Yi planned to greet Liu Xiangzuo first, but as he passed by the dock, he noticed Yuan Jinxia and YangYue happily whispering something to each other. 

Standing still, he watched YangYue pass her a pancake, then listened to her complain that she didn’t have enough money for food, even after asking in advance for two months’ salary.

How much money does she need?

Passing by Lu Yi, a crew member stared at him with confusion, not understanding why he was neither going out nor going in. Following a moment of hesitation, Lu Yi turned around and returned to his room, took a cup of tea, and then returned to the dock, pretending to be enjoying the scenery. 

The two people on the opposite side paid no attention to him and continued talking. They’ve arrived at the marriage topic, whether or not she should marry her brother’s teacher so they could save on tuition and other expenses. Lu Yi became so absorbed in their conversation that when another crew member walked by he couldn’t help but laugh, then quickly lowered his head and pretended to drink his tea.

Until when she accidentally turned around, she realized that he was on the deck with them.

Clearly, he glanced at them, but he pretended not to see them, then sipped his tea casually, and gazed out into the distance. Waiting patiently for the two of them to come over and pay their respects. 

She wasn’t the one who stepped forward, but YangYue.

“LiuShanmen YangYue, greets Lu Daren.”

Only then was it her turn to come forward to greet him, but her tone was unwilling: “LiuShanmen, Yuan Jinxia, greets Lu Daren.”  

He raised his eyes to carefully look at the face behind a stream of steam coming from his tea cup. Compared to that day, she dressed much more neatly today with her green clothes and a watermelon hat on her head. 

“Mhm….” He replied coldly and then asked, “Constable Yang, where is Superior Yang ChengWan?”

“My father has a troublesome injured leg, he is currently resting in his room.” YangYue explained. 

Lu Yi raised his hand, pointed at the direction of the cabins, signalling for YangYue to lead the way. The other hand deliberately handed the girl his tea cup. Knowing that she looked down on JinYiWei, therefore Lu Yi wanted to show her she was wrong. After all, he’s not doing anything bad. 

***

Lu Yi had just finished an unpleasant conversation with Yang ChengWan. Even though Yang ChengWan was very polite from beginning to end, but he was very distant, and did not open himself up to answer any of his questions. It seems like he’s trying to hide something. 

By evening, the birthday presents that Wang Fanxing was escorting were gone. Originally Lu Yi wanted to use this opportunity to observe Yang ChengWan, but because of his injuries, all the investigation was left to YangYue and Yuan Jinxia. 

Remembering her words that night, he knows Yuan Jinxia has great observational skill. The smell left in the room, the wax on the floor, the scratches on the wall, although she didn’t see the chests, but she can immediately guess their sizes, materials and weights. At the end of the investigation, regarding the culprit, YangYue and Yuan Jinxia weren’t being very straightforward.

Lu Yi felt that both of them had something to hide, but if you forced them to speak, they might not be telling the truth either. After returning to the cabin, he saw both of them entering Yang ChengWan’s room. After thinking, he decided to hide near there.

Not long after, he saw Yuan Jinxia and YangYue come out.

YangYue, who was yawning about to return to the room, was pulled by Yuan Jinxia: “What are you doing again?”

“Shush… I want to go down and have a look under the water!”

Hearing this, Lu Yi immediately frowned: “Underwater? Is it possible that the chests are in the water?

YangYue kept shaking his head: “Father has already said, we can’t interfere.”

Yang ChengWan doesn’t allow them to interfere? Why? Is it because it’s better for them not to add more troubles; Or is it because he doesn’t like Qiu Luan, so he doesn’t want to help him find the birthday presents; Or maybe, Yang ChengWan is trying to avoid him? Lu Yi frowned at every reason. 

Meanwhile, YangYue and Yuan Jinxia whispered back and forth. After Yuan Jinxia failed to persuade him, she stepped away. 

Lu Yi saw YangYue helplessly chasing after her.

“My swimming skills aren’t great, you know that.”

“Relax, you don’t need to go in the water, you just need to be on the ship and help me.” Yuan Jinxia smiled, “More importantly, don’t let others find out.”

“We’re obviously government officials, yet we’re acting like thieves, for what?” YangYue said. 

She’s going underwater, does she want to steal the birthday present? Lu Yi watched the two of them climb over the deck, only then he silently returned to his room and changed his clothes. Actually, he could have waited on the ship for them, but he was curious to where the chests were kept. 

Hidden underwater, where can it be hidden?

He entered the water, swam under Wang Fangxing’s ship, and saw Jinxia scraping and hitting the bottom of the ship. Looking at Jinxia, her face was a little funny looking. She was stunned when she saw him, and then she made a choking face. Jinxia pointed to the surface of the water, indicating she’s going to go up to catch her breath. 

Lu Yi was not stupid, he fully knows she’s going to run away. With his left arm, he pulled her down, her legs kicking wildly in the water. Who does she think he is? Having used numerous tortures in prison, he knows the exact behavior of someone drowning, but Jinxia looked like a thief caught in the act. 

It was only after waiting for her to calm down and that she wouldn’t try to run away again that Lu Yi let go of her leg and swam back towards the ship. When he observed the board, he gathered all his strength, made a fist, and smashed it, revealing eight chests within seconds. 

It was hidden here! Under the ship there are also hundreds of storage areas, how did she find them? When Lu Yi turned to look at her, she was staring at the chests. 

This time, Lu Yi went on this trip alone, even Cen Fu and Cen Shou didn’t dare to follow him. When he was loading the chest on board, he suddenly realized how good Jinxia’s swimming skill is, and also not forgetting YangYue was standing on board waiting for her. He immediately ordered both of them to load the rest of the chest. 

Lu Yi returned to his room, changed his clothes and opened the chests. At a glance, each chest was filled with precious and expensive things. It seemed that Qiu Luan really used this opportunity to his advantage. 

There was a soft knock on the door, it seemed to be Yuan Jinxia and YangYue, he replied: “Come in.”

When she walked in, Lu Yi raised his eyes to look at her, he was immediately stunned: Her hair was still wet, her lips were slightly purple, and she seemed to have lost her strength. Anyone who saw this scene would feel sorry for her, because after all, she’s just a girl, and it’s still early spring, therefore the water is still fairly cold. When Lu Yi gave the order, he didn’t consider the fact that she’s a girl, now he’s feeling a little regretful. 

She didn’t bother paying attention to Lu Yi, but rather her eyes were fixed on the stuff inside the chest, and then whispered to YangYue: “Look, it’s a jade green silver lion!”

“A golden lion on top of the kirin, this gold cup looks like it’s about four or five tails in weight.”

“It seems to be.”

Her eyes brightened by the expensive things in the chest, and she continued to whisper. Lu Yi slightly frowned, the regret in his heart immediately diminished. 

“You two quietly went underwater, meaning you were going to embezzle these birthday items, right?” He asked coldly.

As soon as they heard his question, Yuan Jinxia and YangYue immediately panicked, trying to explain each other’s actions, but their words were a little messy.

Constables that get worked up over a simple question, Lu Yi secretly laughed at them in his heart, then he continued to ask: “How did you know these chests were underwater? You, talk.” He pointed at the honest YangYue. 

“Uh—uh, no… so you see… on top of the chest was wax, uh—no, on the floor was wax—then there were also scratches… so—so we guessed…” YangYue stuttered.

Lu Yi impatiently stopped him, raised his eyes to look at Yuan Jinxia: “You, talk.”

She was a bit more calm: “Actually, we were only guessing, and luck was on our side. Then we found these chests underwater.”

“So that’s how it is,” Lu Yi looked at her, “Then you might as well guess, is it possible for me to put you in the chest and then sink you underwater?”

“Jingli Daren loves to joke—haha..” She laughed dryly.

Lu Yi’s gaze didn’t change in the slightest, still looking at her.

Only then did she tell the truth one by one, the findings and assumptions of her investigation, no longer hiding anything.

“You are aware of this speculation, but hid it by acting ignorant, still saying no because you were about to commit embezzlement.” Lu Yi said without rushing.

“Wang Fangxing was suspicious of the subordinates who were with him, of course it’s not good for me to say this in front of the crowd.” Jinxia laughed sweetly, “Besides, we were not certain that these chests would be underwater, so I thought after confirming I would report to Daren.”

Seeing how she continued to foolishly laugh, it suddenly warmed Lu Yi’s heart. When Lu Yi told YangYue to summon Wang Fangxing to his room, seeing her standing there alone, doing nothing, he couldn’t help but ask her a few questions. His heart filled with joy when he noticed how tense she was. 

—

Sha Xiuzhu is a warrior from the north, but rarely has contact with the outside world. Seeing the chest, he was stunned. Lu Yi only asked him a few questions and Sha Xiuzhu immediately confessed to everything. Lu Yi fully knows, there’s no way Sha Xiuzhu could’ve done this alone. 

Under the window there was someone eavesdropping, Lu Yi knew exactly who it was, and felt a little annoyed. These two constables aren’t afraid of anything, or maybe they were ordered by Yang ChengWan to eavesdrop. 

Sha Xiuzhu refused to say who was behind him. Lu Yi glanced at the windows, and suddenly turned to kick him. 

Along with the sound of bones breaking, Sha Xiuzhu screamed and fell to the floor.

Lu Yi’s face did not change, turned towards the window, directly looked at Yuan Jinxia’s shocked eyes. This was a warning for the both of them; Secondly, it’s to make it easier to control Sha Xiuzhu. Lu Yi walked out of the room without looking back. 

YangYue and Yuan Jinxia couldn’t believe what they were seeing. Sha Xiuzhu’s leg was broken by his kick, so even if someone wanted to help him, they would be carrying a huge burden. 

—

As Yuan Jinxia and YangYue were too overwhelmed by the situation, they didn’t know Lu Yi had already ordered Sha Xiuzhu to be locked up, and he had already arrived in front of Yang ChengWan’s room to report on them.

“Lu Daren?” Yang ChengWan limped towards the door.

Lu Yi said politely and softly: “Somehow your two disciples are hiding under my window and eavesdropping. I’m quite open minded and honest, there’s nothing to hide. I’m just worried whether or not there is a misunderstanding between Senior and me, are there any complaints”

Yang ChengWan was stunned, but instantly understood what was going on. He hurriedly explained to Lu Yi: “No—no, there’s nothing! Daren, please do not misunderstand, my disciples are just naive and impolite, they dare to offend you. I’m the one to blame for their behaviour. I will punish them.”

“Senior’s words are too harsh,” Lu Yi laughed lightly, “Yan Yuan is still young, therefore while traveling to Jiangnan, if there’s something you’re unsatisfied with, please let me know.”

“I dare not.” Yang ChengWan quickly said.

“It’s just a misunderstanding. Senior, please have a rest, Yan Yuan won’t bother you anymore.”

Lu Yi turned and walked away, leaving the furious Yang ChengWan in the room alone. 

Yang ChengWan used to be a JinYiWei, he knows eavesdropping is a normal thing for them, but if someone else eavesdropped on them, it’s considered a serious violation. Unfortunately, YangYue and Jinxia are very ignorant with the rules, they dared to eavesdrop on Lu Yi’s business. With Lu Yi’s status, he can easily punish those two without reporting to him, but the fact he took into consideration of telling him first, means Lu Yi still respects him as a senior. This trip just started, yet he already has a problem with Lu Yi, not sure what Lu Yi is going to do if YangYue and Jinxia repeat this behaviour. 

While thinking, Yang ChengWan looked at his disciples calmly entering his room. He took a deep breath, coldly and loudly said: “Now that your wings have opened and you ignored the words I said, you don’t have to follow me anymore.”

“Father, I was wrong!” YangYue quickly knelt down first.

Jinxia hurriedly knelt down: “Master—Master, please don’t listen to that evil Lu Daren, we actually—”

Yang ChengWan fiercely glared at her, making her go quiet immediately. 

“Master, I was wrong. I won’t do it again.” She said, 

Yang ChengWan slammed the door and ordered them to continue kneeling. Yang ChengWan purposely made them knelt outside to show Lu Yi he was serious with his words.

—

During the day, Lu Yi went up and down the stairs a few times. From afar, he could see two figures kneeling in front of Yang ChengWan’s bedroom. In his heart, he knew that Yang ChengWan deliberately made a scene, so he could witness it. These constables don’t seem to know their mistakes, they really can’t tell the difference between what’s appropriate and what’s not. This punishment is well deserved. 

After all, just kneeling on the floor is a very light punishment for them. 

—

It’s evening, the ship docked at the pier, the crew members immediately start working on refilling water and gathering food. Lu Yi against the dock and watches the sunset. Sha Xiuzhu is being locked up on the ship, plus his injury is quite serious, which means, if his friends are loyal, they might come and try to rescue him tonight.  

Yang Chengwan limped towards him, talked for a while. Lu Yi invited him to go have dinner together, but Yang ChengWan declined. The two of them walked towards Yang ChengWan’s bedroom together. 

“These two…” Seeing Jinxia and YangYue kneeling, Lu Yi pretended to be surprised. 

“These students did not understand the rules and have offended Jingli Daren. You don’t need to pay attention to them.”

Lu Yi glanced at Yuan Jinxia, ​​saw her lowering her head, not uttering a sound, it was rare to see her being so obedient. It turned out that punishing her was a good thing. 

“It’s just a misunderstanding, a small matter, Senior. You don’t have to worry about it. It’s better to let them stand up, otherwise Yan Yuan will feel uneasy.” Lu Yi said while laughing at Yang Chengwan.

Yang ChengWan had been waiting for these words. The two children had been kneeling all day long, and they hadn’t eaten anything. Upon hearing Lu Yi’s words, he immediately said: “Since Jingli Daren already said that, I will forgive them this time.” Yang ChengWan faced them both and loudly said: “Didn’t you already hear? Yet, you don’t know how to stand up and thank Jingli Daren! Next time if it happens again, I won’t be this lenient!”

Jinxia held onto something beside her to stand up, then turned to look at Lu Yi and uttered some words: “Thanks to JingLi DaRen for being so understanding,” Before she could finish, her weak legs immediately collapsed, causing her to fall back. 

Knowing that her legs must’ve been numbed, seeing her fall. Lu Yi subconsciously wanted to extend his hands to support her, but luckily he stopped himself in time and placed his hand behind his back, then said with a cold face: “No need to bow, just stand up.”

She got up and walked away with YangYue. 

Yang ChengWan sighed: “These two troublesome children have made Daren uncomfortable.”

Lu Yi chuckled: “Senior’s words are too much. Last night, because of them, I was able to retrieve the birthday chests. They definitely did something good.”

“As long as they don’t bring me trouble, that’s good enough.”

—

In the darkness of the night, a small boat silently approached the ship, very quickly, a figure quietly jumped onto the ship.

Lu Yi, who was hiding in the dark, waited for the person to jump onto the deck. It was only then that Lu Yi jumped on his boat, and grabbed a paddle.  

Before Lu Yi’s shoes touched the water, he already landed back on the ship, leaning against the side of the ship, and continued to wait. 

After a while, from the cabin side, light footsteps were heard. Lu Yi turned around and saw the tall, dark figure wearing a veil.

“You’re a little slow.”

“So, it was you who broke Brother Sha’s leg?”

Lu Yi seemed to be distracted by something else, his eyes were fixed on the nine knot iron whip on the man’s waist. Then he quietly said:  “The nine knot iron whip is a weapon used to attack, but hard to defend, don’t you carry any other weapon?”

“This master can kill you even with bare hands!”

As soon as his words ended, the masked man swiftly ran a few steps, throwing a high leg kick in the air, heading straight for Lu Yi’s face.

The two of them attacked each other, the nine-knot iron whip dancing and twirling in the wind, this man kung fu was no joke. Lu Yi didn’t bother to use all his strength, plus he wanted to use this opportunity to figure out the man’s background, because his kung fu was not ordinary.  

In a shocking turn of events, Lu Yi witnessed Sha Xiuzhu walk out of the dark, holding Yuan Jinxia as a hostage. How could an injured prisoner be holding a LiuShanmen hostage?

Seeing the knife on Yuan Jinxia’s neck, Lu Yi immediately thought: Is this constable stupid? Is she doing this on purpose?

“If you dare to come here, I will kill her!” Sha Xiuzhu pressed the knife against Jinxia’s neck.

Lu Yi’s eyebrows furrowed.

“Brother, you better calm down first.”

Seeing how calmed Jinxia was, Lu Yi secretly sighed, then said in a cold tone: “I should’ve guessed that you were working with them from the beginning. Did you think you could fool me?”

She immediately panicked and said: “Daren, that’s not fair! They’re threatening me right now—”

Lu Yi coldly cut her off: “No need to act anymore. Why don’t all three of you attack at once, it will save me time.”

“Ha!”

The masked man lunged at him from the side again. The masked man snorted heavily, although he knew Lu Yi was very skilled, he couldn’t leave without a fight. With his wrist trembling, the nine knots moved forward to attack. Lu Yi responded by using half of the nine knot defective whip in his hand. 

From the beginning to the end, Sha Xiuzhu kept the knife on Yuan Jinxia’s neck. As she watched the fight between the two people, she feared the masked man would get injured. 

Lu Yi, while facing the masked man, overheard Yuan Jinxia persuading Sha Xiuzhu: “Stop watching, are you waiting for them to use all of their moves?”

She’s still talking? Why isn’t she thinking of ways to escape? At this moment, Lu Yi really couldn’t help but think, how did this stupid girl become a constable?

Sha Xiuzhu and the masked man shouted at each other, showing their loyalty. Lu Yi took this opportunity to attack harder. At this moment, he was able to injure the veiled mam. Right then, YangYue appeared to help Yuan Jinxia, but accidentally gave Sha Xiuzhu a chance to escape. 

Lu Yi swung the half end of the nine-knot whip towards Sha Xiuzhu — Suddenly, Yuan Jinxia was pushed into the middle, locking Sha Xiuzhu from Lu Yi’s attack. 

Without any minute to think, Lu Yi’s eyes narrowed and immediately withdrew his attack, forcing him to use all of his internal energy, and creating an intense pain in his chest. At the same time, because of having to pull back a powerful back, the nine-knotted whip scratched his hand, and a few drops of blood were seen. 

Sha Xiuzhu threw himself at Lu Yi, tightening his grip on his legs, then turned around and screamed at the masked man, telling him to leave immediately. YangYue rushed over to Yuan Jinxia’s side and checked on her wound. 

“You—you… how do you feel?”

“I don’t know either. Am I dying?” She touched her neck and an agonizing pain rushed through her body, forcing her to gritted her teeth. 

Lu Yi tried to adjust his breathing, waiting for the pain in his chest to subside, and then turned and said to YangYue: “Drag Sha Xiuzhu back to prison! Her wound is only a trivial matter, why bother caring?”

YangYue angrily said: “You almost killed her!”

Lu Yi didn’t want to explain his intentions to them. Standing there, he stared at Jinxia, holding onto her neck and wincing in pain. The little monster seemed kind of pitiful and idiotic, so he feared if he didn’t explain things properly, she would think he actually tried to kill her. Lu Yi helplessly said: “First, she was suddenly pushed by Sha Xiuzhu into our fight to replace the masked man’s position, who was supposed to take the whip; Second, I’ve used all my strength to withdraw my attack, so her wound is no difference than being scratched by a branch; Third, Sha Xiuzhu is a wounded person. With her abilities, from the time she was taken as a hostage, she should have been able to escape. Why did she not run away?”

As YangYue listened to Lu Yi’s words, he was dumbfounded.

His chest aches, so he wants to return to his room as soon as possible. Lu Yi impatiently said: “If I really thought you were his accomplice, killing you wouldn’t be a big deal. Right now, her injuries are minor and that’s because I was very generous.”

“You—You don’t think we’re working together?” She asked. 

Is this girl actually naive or just playing around with him? Or is she really stupid?

Lu Yi looked at her in annoyance, not wanting to explain or argue with her anymore. He turned to look at YangYue and ordered him to take Sha Xiuzhu away. He noticed a bloodstain on his robe, he disgustingly wiped it away and then went back to his room. 

“Does that mean you deliberately frame me earlier to be an excuse to ignore my life?” She thought that she finally understood his intention. 

Lu Yi sighed secretly, stopped his steps, tilted his head to look at him, expressionlessly said, “You’re an official, yet your mind is too simple, that’s not good.”

“You!”

“Success is nowhere to be seen, yet failure is visible.”

Lu Yi actually wanted to continue scolding her but noticed the blood dripping from her neck, he left things at that and returned to his room. 

—

After a long meditation, he finally recovered. Lu Yi lay down and fell asleep. 

As soon as he woke up, wasn’t sure why the first thing on his mind was the wound on that little constable’s neck. After thinking for a while, he got up, and took the medicine bottle from his clothes. 

After all, she did get hurt because of him, and regardless she is still a girl, she can’t have a scar on her body, it’s not a good thing and he needs to think about his connection with Yang ChengWan. While thinking, he tucked the bottle into his sleeves, hoping to give it to her when he goes to her room and interrogates her. 

After breakfast, he walked towards her room, just as he was about to knock on the door, a voice came from inside: “Father said it’s better for us not to get close to that Lu Daren. We need to maintain our respect towards him, that’s it.” It was YangYue’s voice. 

Next came Yuan Jinxia’s voice, but it seemed like she was chewing something: “The Yangzhou case has not yet been solved, yet we’re traveling with this ‘Lu’, it’s definitely going to be troublesome. How do we avoid him?”

Lu? Lu Yi slightly frowned.

YangYue said again: “Regardless, let’s maintain our distance and act according to orders. Don’t let him find our mistakes.”

Yuan Jinxia snorted: “That Lu is so evil and cunning, how could he possibly leave us alone? Last night, when he injured me, he didn’t even blink. Da Yang, he’s from Beizhen Prison, you know those people are always cold-hearted.”

Up to this point, Lu Yi couldn’t listen anymore. He turned around and went back to his room, it seems like she doesn’t need his medicine. 

—

A few days later, the ship arrived at Yangzhou.

The wind has dried up the wetness from last night’s rain. This is the sign of spring. 

Several peach blossom trees started to bloom.

***

Happy New Year everyone, I’ve taken a few weeks of break and i’m ready to get back to work! Please look forward on The Sword and The Brocade!