Martial Arts Crossover: My Wife is the Top Scholar

Chapter 68 Twins, Copycat Crime, Visual Misdirection

early morning.

Mei Zhu woke up in Li Zhaoting's arms.

"Master...Master, wake up!"

"Now you know how to be shy? Why weren't you shy last night? Stop hiding, stop dodging. Suzhen was busy interrogating Phoenix and didn't have time to eavesdrop outside."

"Interrogate...interrogate what?"

Ask me if I've attracted any attention.

"No need to ask, there definitely is!"

Mei Zhu snuggled closer to Li Zhaoting.

The young woman was much more unrestrained than Feng Suzhen. She struck every pose from Li Zhaoting's treasured album until she was completely exhausted and her voice was hoarse.

Where did this booklet come from?

Of course, it was given to Feng Suzhen by her mother-in-law when she got married, and she was told to study it carefully.

This is the rule of wealthy families.

Often, parents and elders will place picture books in a prominent place in the study, so that children can find these picture books when they go to the study to look for poetry and classical books.

If a young master is from a wealthy family, he may have a personal maid to help him understand things. The most famous example of this is Xiren.

Feng Suzhen was exceptionally talented and had the potential to become a top scholar, but in some ways, Mei Zhu was more learned and bolder than Feng Suzhen, daring to do anything.

Before long, everyone finished washing up.

This is the first breakfast at the ancestral home in Nanjing.

Feng Suzhen personally cooked a pot of porridge.

The side dishes are salted duck eggs and pickles made by Mei Zhu.

Looking at the fragrant, oily duck egg yolk, Li Zhaoting secretly regretted coming back so early. He should have gone to Gaoyou to try the Gaoyou salted duck eggs, the delicacy he had read about in his Chinese textbook and the one he longed for the most.

Nanjing's ducks are famous throughout the world, and their duck eggs are naturally of the highest quality. Mei Zhu's cooking skills are quite good, only slightly inferior to the descriptions in the Chinese textbooks.

Lan Fenghuang looked at Li Zhaoting with curiosity.

Li Zhaoting doesn't peel duck eggs directly; instead, he makes a small hole in the top and scoops out the egg white and yolk through the hole, leaving the shell intact.

"Brother Li, what kind of way is this to eat?"

“When I was in private school, my teacher taught me that I could make a silk pouch, put an eggshell inside, and put a few fireflies inside to make a small lantern.”

Wow~ This is so interesting~

"Mr. Yu had two great hobbies in his life: one was that he liked to make his own side dishes, and the other was that he liked to play. There was no game that Mr. Yu couldn't play, such as fishing, catching birds, and catching crabs."

Is Mr. Yu in Nanjing?

"He moved north a few years ago."

"What else did Mr. Yu teach you?"

"I'll cook you a few side dishes!"

Mr. Yu's cooking skills are very average. His greatest hobby is drinking. In order to better appreciate the wine, he makes all kinds of dishes to go with it. These dishes are not good with rice, but they are very good with wine. In the dead of winter, when the snow is falling heavily, he invites three or five friends, sets up a hot pot, warms a pot of yellow wine, and makes three or four dishes to go with the wine. He is as happy as an immortal!

After breakfast, we set off for Peach Blossom Castle.

The ancestral home was not yet fully renovated, and someone needed to look after it, so Lan Fenghuang volunteered to stay.

When Lan Fenghuang saw Mei Zhu's hair bun, she knew that Mei Zhu had gotten what she wanted last night. Her little brain analyzed the clues and came up with a bizarre deduction that made people both laugh and cry.

Meizhu supervised the renovation; she worked incredibly hard and made great contributions!
Li Zhaoting personally awarded the prize!

Conclusion: Supervising the renovation process can achieve the desired results!
This conclusion cannot be said to be wrong, but if Lan Fenghuang wants to stay at home, Feng Suzhen will not stop her.

Someone definitely needs to keep an eye on things at home.

To prevent shady characters from secretly plotting against us.

The Li and Hua families are very close, and there are many things that Feng Suzhen can't say, so she can ask Lan Fenghuang to do it for her. If this causes trouble, she can just say that she is naive and doesn't know any better.

Feng Suzhen couldn't bring herself to refuse.

Blue Phoenix never suffers a loss.

She would curse anyone who dared to make her suffer.

……

Hua Manlou is playing the zither by the lake.

This piece of music was sent by Li Zhaoting. It is derived from the ancient famous piece Guangling San and is called "Laughing at the World".

The Guangling San is passionate and heroic, which doesn't quite match Hua Manlou's personality. Fortunately, after Liu Zhengfeng and Qu Yang revised it, they added the dynamism of mountains and rivers, the unrestrained joy, the carefree spirit of letting go of everything, and the detached detachment of letting go of grudges to the melody, which perfectly matches Hua Manlou's experience.

Hua Manlou really liked this piece of music.

One person with one zither, without any accompaniment, can still play out the true meaning of the melody. If Qu Yang were alive today, he would surely die in peace upon hearing Hua Manlou's music.

But today is a little different.

Hua Manlou was not playing The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, but Guangling San. The melody was still melodious and graceful, but it had a more urgent and somber feel to it, like the mournful drumbeats.

Suddenly, the sound of a flute came from afar.

The sound of the xiao flute rose and fell, seemingly there and not there, without a fixed melody, like a piece of music played casually by a musician on a whim. Yet, it appeared in a wonderfully gentle and soft way at the moment when Hua Manlou's zither music was most powerful and most confusing, stopping the fighting and silently dispelling the gloom in Hua Manlou's heart.

Sometimes soaring and generous, sometimes melancholic and low, reaching infinite heights and endless lows, melodious and smooth, the skill reaching a state of perfection and unparalleled mastery.

The music from Hua Manlou gradually returned to calm.

The sound of the flute changed from intermittent to ethereal and unpredictable, as if it came from the horizon, scattering soft cotton wool, allowing one to lie on the clouds and have a comfortable sleep.

The sound grew softer and softer until it finally fell completely silent, leaving only the kingfisher's call.

Lu Xiaofeng flew down from the pavilion: "You don't even have the heart to disturb the sparrows, no wonder it's called Hua Manlou!"

Hua Manlou put away his seven-stringed zither and joked, "Only Lu Xiaofeng would come uninvited and eavesdrop from behind."

Lu Xiaofeng smiled and said, "The only person in the world who can play the qin and xiao with Hua Manlou is Li Zhaoting."

"You've finally said something sensible."

Li Zhaoting carried two gift boxes in his hands: "These are gifts for you, brought from Suzhou!"

Hua Manlou smiled and put away the gift box.

Lu Xiaofeng opened the gift box directly.

Inside is exquisite Suzhou embroidery.

Wow, amazing skill! Where did you buy it?

"The Xue family of divine needles!"

"Oh my god!"

Lu Xiaofeng jumped around like a big monkey.

Meizhu seized the opportunity to advise, "Master, this is what happens when you have too many romantic entanglements. You should be careful!"

Li Zhaoting pinched her nose: "If the master wasn't a womanizer, how would you, little girl, have entered the family?" Feng Suzhen glanced at the two of them: "Don't put on an act in front of me. Do you think I'm a shrew?"

"Madam is mighty, surpassing even lions and tigers!"

"I am a lion-tiger, who are you?"

"I am a little white rabbit!"

Li Zhaoting's attempt at being cute is utterly disgusting.

Lu Xiaofeng leaned against a pavilion pillar and vomited.

Hua Manlou was thankful that he couldn't see.

Feng Suzhen decided to go home and prepare a washboard.

Mei Zhu thought... her husband was really handsome!

Lu Xiaofeng subtly changed the subject: "There was a murderous aura in Hua Manlou's zither music. This is the first time I've sensed anger from you. Why is that?"

Hua Manlou sighed, "If I told you it was because of someone who died more than ten years ago, would you believe me? Or would you think I'm possessed?"

Li Zhaoting patted him on the shoulder: "Lu Xiaofeng and I are both famous detectives in the martial arts world. If there are ghosts, we will subdue them; if there are no ghosts, we will solve the case."

Hua Manlou uttered two words: "Iron Shoes".

If we were to name the person in the martial arts world who loves life the most and is the most gentle and mellow, it would undoubtedly be Hua Manlou. Hua Manlou is worthy of the description "gentle and refined like jade" from the inside out.

However, things reach their extremes and then reverse, a phenomenon known as circulation.

Darkness and filth often lie beneath the light.

Hua Manlou suffers from severe psychological trauma.

This shadow comes from... the Iron-Shoe Thief!
More than a decade ago, a notorious bandit appeared in the underworld, wearing a mask and iron shoes. He was elusive, could travel a thousand miles a day, and stole money and killed people without hesitation.

Because his iron shoes were so conspicuous, he was known as the Iron Shoe Thief, and the government offered a reward of 50,000 taels of silver.

Hua Ruling organized martial arts masters to ambush Tiexie. They blocked Tiexie several times, but he always managed to escape. Later, Tiexie sneaked into the Hua family's ancestral home, where he was discovered by Hua Ruling. He then kidnapped Hua Manlou and fled. During the escape, Hua Manlou scratched Tiexie's face. Enraged, Tiexie used his sword to slash Hua Manlou's eyes, causing Hua Manlou to go blind.

Losing one's sight is an extremely severe blow.

Especially children.

This could very well plunge them into complete darkness.

Fortunately, during Hua Manlou's darkest and most helpless period, he had the gentle love of his parents, the caring companionship of his older brother, and made a good friend.

This friend is Lu Xiaofeng.

Lu Xiaofeng, who came from humble beginnings, lived in a completely different world from the rich young master. However, he was neither ashamed of his background nor did he try to curry favor with the powerful or wealthy. He also did not mock Hua Manlou's eyes. He simply played with him and treated him like a normal person.

Not for fame, not for profit, but for righteousness.

There are no entanglements of interests, no deceit or treachery, only the innocence of children and the loyalty of good brothers.

This sincerity was like a ray of light, illuminating the darkness of Hua Manlou, and the two became good brothers from then on.

Hua Manlou never mentioned these things.

After he went blind, Hua Ruling mobilized all her connections to hunt down the Iron Shoe Bandit. Three months later, she personally captured him and chopped off his head with her sword.

The Iron-Shoe Thief disappeared from that day forward.

Until recently, Hua Manlou sensed the presence of the Iron-Shoe Bandit again. The Iron-Shoe Bandit was quietly lurking outside Peach Blossom Castle, watching everything inside.

Cruel, ferocious, ruthless, and greedy.

This kind of energy is so familiar.

Hua Manlou will never forget this feeling.

"Li Zhaoting, what are your thoughts?"

"I guessed how Iron Shoes would commit the crime."

"In what way?"

"The Twins Trick".

Can you speak human language?

"For example, imagine someone in the world who looks exactly like you, wears the exact same clothes, and is drinking a thousand miles away."

You killed an enemy here.

The imperial constables tracked you down by following clues, and in your answer, the person drinking a thousand miles away was Lu Xiaofeng, who became your alibi.

Everyone saw Lu Xiaofeng drinking a thousand miles away when the incident occurred, so you are not the murderer.

Iron Shoes Thief could not travel a thousand miles a day, nor could he be resurrected from the dead; it was indeed Iron Shoes who died.

One of the iron shoes!
Disguising oneself as a master thief in iron shoes is too easy.

All you need to do is wear a mask and a pair of iron shoes.

I have a feeling that, in addition to the Iron Shoes Thief committing the crime himself, there must have been copycat attacks at the time.

For example, if I'm really short of money lately and want to do some low-cost business to fill my wallet, I can wear a mask and iron shoes to disguise myself as a master thief, commit crimes locally using his identity, and then pin the blame on him.

Finally, let's talk about those iron shoes.

Iron shoes serve two purposes.

One is to train leg muscles. Some body-strengthening techniques require wearing heavy objects. For example, in the Hung Family Iron Wire Fist, iron rings are worn on the wrists to train arm strength.

Secondly, it increases weight, which is often used by sailors. In stormy weather, the surface of the water is fraught with danger, but if they sink underwater, they may have a chance of survival.

Some experienced sailors would sink to the bottom of the river with heavy loads in the event of a disaster, and walk step by step along the river to the shore. Iron shoes were a very useful tool, as the wide uppers of the shoes could prevent the feet from sinking into the mud.

If I'm not mistaken, the location where the Iron-Shoe Bandit was ambushed must have been near a river. The Iron-Shoe Bandit, in a desperate situation, jumped into the water to escape and followed the riverbed to his death.

The Iron-Shoe Bandit is a master of naval warfare.

He can stay in the water for a very long time.

This is the secret to his ability to fly and disappear.

Hua Manlou's feeling is not wrong.

Iron Shoes has indeed returned.

Another iron shoe.

Over ten years, he might have cultivated an elite Iron Shoes squad to confuse the public.

If a fight breaks out, don't trust your eyes.

Your eyes will definitely be misled.

Listen to Hua Manlou's instructions.

Iron shoes cannot mislead Hua Manlou!

Li Zhaoting quickly formulated a battle plan.