That wretched vixen has disguised herself as my wife!

Jiang Jingming was now truly impressed by her methods.

"Fellow young heroes—"

At that moment, a helpless and frustrated voice came from the crowd.

Lu Zhao, panting heavily, glared at the group of people who were engrossed in their work.

"I've been looking for you all over the streets for ages, and it turns out you were all hiding here watching the monkey show!"

......

As soon as Lu Zhao got off the boat, he told the others to wait for him there for a while, and then hurriedly went to check the notice board at the city gate.

The Imperial Guards posted notices, but did not provide a portrait of the murderer, only a vague warning:

"The perpetrator of the recent massacre at Tingpu Villa is still at large. If you see any suspicious persons, please report them immediately. Anyone leaving the city must have a city exit permit."

The notice was stamped with the red seal of the Divine Capital Guard. Lu Zhao sighed, knowing that issuing such a worthless notice meant that there was indeed no progress in the case.

However, no matter what, this matter has little to do with him.

His mission on this trip was ostensibly to investigate the bandit case, but in reality, he was just responsible for taking the young lady on a long trip for fun.

His mission would be successfully completed once he brought the young lady back to the capital.

"There's still no news about the murderer. What are the authorities doing?!"

"If that enchantress is truly the young mistress of the Duyue Sect, and if the Duyue Sect were to re-emerge, wouldn't they be targeting our Fengling City?"

"Since we can't capture the demoness and won't let anyone leave the city, I think if there really are members of the Demonic Sect, we might as well just wash our necks and wait to die!"

Upon seeing the notice, the people gathered around began to complain in hushed tones.

After all, it was such a major case of annihilating an entire family, which is bound to cause concern.

As one of the five major sects belonging to the Righteous Path Alliance, Tingpu Manor holds a position in Fengling City similar to that of the Divine Capital Guard in the capital, and is the sect most respected and longed for by the locals.

And they were all wiped out overnight.

Just then, Lu Zhao saw several people dressed in the uniforms of the Divine Capital Guards walking by with swords on their shoulders, so he quietly withdrew.

He knew these colleagues were there to disperse the crowd, and that it was a critical time to prevent rumors from spreading.

However, while rumors circulating in the open can be stopped, the widespread panic among the people is uncontrollable.

Lu Zhao stood in the crowd, lost in thought for a long time, but ultimately remained steadfast in his initial choice.

I won't get involved in this mess.

As far as he knew, the person in charge of this case at the Divine Capital Guard was Chen Sha.

Who is Chen Sha?

The highest-ranking officer of the Divine Capital Guard is Commander Xie, and below him are two deputy commanders on the left and right.

Chen Sha is the current Left Deputy Envoy, who is in charge of arrests and prisons, and is known as the "Jade-Faced Rakshasa".

The fact that Commander Xie specifically requested him to handle this case demonstrates the importance he attaches to it.

If even Lord Chen Sha can't solve this, then it would be futile for me to risk intervening.

Given this situation and the current chaos, the most urgent task is to send the young lady back to the capital.

Thinking of this, Lu Zhao felt that things wouldn't go as smoothly as he had expected, so he turned around and hurriedly returned to the ferry.

Where were the young lady and her entourage?

Startled, he pushed through the crowd and searched frantically for a long time before finally finding a few people who were intently watching the monkeys.

"Hey Miss, are you up to something?"

Lu Zhao frowned, his suspicions running high.

"What the hell could I be doing?! Can't I even watch the monkey show anymore?"

Xie Yunqi tried to open his eyes wide and put on a frank and open appearance.

"You're obviously hiding something, aren't you?!"

Lu Zhao had interrogated many prisoners before, and he immediately noticed her unnaturalness from head to toe.

Jiang Jingming watched the show for a while with his arms crossed, and seeing that the young lady was about to be caught red-handed, he had no choice but to speak up to defuse the situation:

"Brother Lu Zhao, actually, the young lady has always wanted to visit an old friend in Fengling City."

"Old friend?"

Lu Zhao turned his head, looking confused.

"That's right! It's an old friend!"

Xie Yundian nodded vigorously, making a solemn vow.

"Which old friend is it?"

Lu Zhao glanced at the two of them with a mixture of belief and suspicion.

Based on his observations over many years of working hard in Beijing, this young lady's interpersonal relationships were not particularly good.

The capital city is full of delicate young ladies from noble families, who spend their days studying music, chess, calligraphy, painting, and needlework.

The eldest daughter of the Xie family usually only loves playing with swords and guns and fighting. She looks down on these things and can't play with them at all. There is basically no news of her having any close female friends.

Even the capital city doesn't have it, but Fengling City does? That's strange.

Lu Zhao remained skeptical.

"Have you heard of Wen Fuxiao, the Chief Clerk of Fengling City?"

Xie Yunqi, however, stood with his hands on his hips and chin raised, exuding confidence and not appearing to be lying.

Chapter Sixty-One Hermit

Wen Fuxiao.

Lu Zhao nodded; he had naturally heard of such a prestigious name.

The most renowned Hanlin scholar was praised by the late emperor himself as "learned throughout the ages," a literary talent rarely seen in a thousand years.

It can be said that his name truly reflects his character.

Unfortunately, ten years ago, when the righteous alliance and the demonic sect Duyue went to war, Wen Fuxiao defied the odds and submitted a memorial entitled "Stop the War," which angered the emperor and resulted in his demotion to Fengling City.

However, Lu Zhao overheard conversations in teahouses that Mr. Wen had actually fallen out of favor with the Emperor before this, and was simply taking this opportunity to leave the capital and avoid disaster.

As for why he failed to win the emperor's favor, that's a secret that ordinary people can't know.

"If I remember correctly, Mr. Wen is probably around sixty years old now, right? Could he be an old friend of yours, Miss?"

Lu Zhao's lips twitched, clearly disbelieving.

"I've never heard of a friendship between people of different ages!"

Xie Yunqi glared at him, annoyed.

"I even held him when he was a little boy!"

"?"

"...He held me when I was little!"

Xie Yunqi promptly changed his story and added another piece of compelling evidence:

"He's the teacher who taught me how to write poetry."

"..."

Jiang Jingming is now starting to doubt whether Mr. Wen's abilities are truly as Lu Zhao described.

"Jingming, don't misunderstand."

Lu Zhao immediately waved his hand and explained:

"When Mr. Wen was still in the capital, he served as the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy for a period of time, during which time he taught many sons of high-ranking officials. I did not know that Miss Xie had also learned to write poetry from him when she was young. Perhaps Mr. Wen understood the importance of teaching according to aptitude."

"Why do I feel like you're subtly putting me down in your words?!"

Xie Yunqi made a menacing gesture as if he were about to draw his sword.

Jiang Jingming took a step back, avoiding the area where the young lady's sword might reach.

At this moment, Fang Zhiyi, who had been watching the show from the sidelines, suddenly said with a smile:

"In fact, this Mr. Wen is not only highly regarded in the imperial court, but also admired by thousands among the common people. I have even heard of him."

"Yes."

Lu Zhao nodded in agreement with her statement:

"Mr. Wen is not only a pivotal minister in the court, but also a highly accomplished poet, calligrapher and painter in private, admired by countless literati. So when he was demoted to Fengling City ten years ago, many people were secretly excited, after all, they all know that Fengling City is the capital of literati."

At this point, he shook his head and sighed again:

"It's a pity that Mr. Wen was born at the wrong time. Although there is a saying that there is no first place in literature and no second place in martial arts, if we really talk about the literary star of our time, there can only be that one person."

This is not Lu Zhao's personal preference; it is a consensus among the general public.

From Hanlin scholars to ordinary people, no one had any objections.

Who is it?

Jiang Jingming was somewhat curious, after all, this Mr. Wen had been praised to the skies, and there was actually someone in the world who could surpass him.

He had previously been in the Xiquan Sword Sect, where he had read extensively, but he had never heard of this person.

Like the Ghost Doctor, the library has no records related to him.

This suggests that even important figures like Wen Fuxiao were only mentioned briefly in the records, indicating that the Xiquan Sword Sect had no intention of getting too involved with the imperial court.

"He was a legendary hermit. He never held an official position in his life, only serving as a minor official in the academy for a few years. Even when the late emperor personally summoned him, he only drank wine and attended banquets, refusing to accept fame or fortune, and unwilling to be troubled by worldly affairs."

At this point, Lu Zhao's tone became excited, filled with a young man's admiration for his seniors:

"Perhaps for ordinary people, a talented man like him who discards fame and fortune like worn-out shoes would be more romantic than a great man like Mr. Wen."

Jiang Jingming listened silently, finding it hard to believe that Lu Zhao, who was so eager to improve himself, could say such things.

"During my travels, I heard many rumors about this hermit."

Fang Zhiyi smiled and nodded, recalling the story she had heard:

"I've heard that he occasionally gets drunk and spontaneously composes poems and sings wildly with his hair disheveled on the rooftop. Every time, he draws crowds of people who flock to catch a glimpse of his talent and absorb some of his literary flair."

"He certainly sounds like a rare madman."

Jiang Jingming imagined that scene.

The moon hangs high in the sky, and the scholar draws his sword.

The bustling city of Beijing came to a standstill at this moment, and everyone looked up in reverence, as if a literary star had truly descended to earth.

"I know, I know!"

Xie Yunqi clapped his hands, then his eyes suddenly lit up.

She remembered that Xie Jichuan secretly kept a painting given to him by that hermit, which he treasured like a precious gem and never allowed anyone else to touch.

But Xie Yunqi still managed to sneak into the study and peek inside.

"It's a splashed-ink landscape painting, but it looks like it was scribbled by someone who was drunk."

The young lady gave a sincere evaluation.

Jiang Jingming couldn't help but think that since she had said so, it must indeed be a masterpiece.

"Hey! Miss, now that you've seen that gentleman's landscape painting, did you notice the name on the signature?"

Lu Zhao suddenly thought of something and began pacing back and forth excitedly.

He was a hermit because he rarely told others his name or where he went, but if it was a painting he personally gave away, it should have been signed.

"I remember, but it sounds strange, like a person's name."

Xie Yunqi shook his head, recalling the hasty, wild calligraphy at the end of that landscape painting.

"It seems it should be called... Guardian of the Cold."