She raised an eyebrow and asked Guan Yue: “Wasn’t it you who told me that Chancellor Chen himself set the fire, ordered his people not to extinguish it, and loudly proclaimed in the fire that the Loyal and Brave Marquis’s treason case was actually his own fabrication, and that he no longer wanted to live, haunted by vengeful spirits? Many people in the Chen residence witnessed and heard this. Could it possibly be false?
Guan Yue reined in his horse, silently watching their carriage turn at the intersection and disappear.
He had always been suspicious of this Miss Yi. His years of investigative experience and instinct told him she definitely had a secret, but he lacked evidence.
Normally, he would arrest a suspect and interrogate them at the yamen, but for someone like her, once brought in for questioning, she might be tortured if she refused to confess. This being a case involving the death of a court official, she might be subjected to intimidation even before questioning, potentially even being harassed, given her beauty.
Yet, for some reason, the thought of her enduring interrogation made him uncomfortable. What if he was wrong? He needed to find concrete evidence of her crime first.
Yu Yi was already near the main courtyard, and Yu Xin walked away, so she stood in place and watched her figure disappear through the courtyard gate. She glanced at Meng Qing, wanting to explain that her previous words were just to comfort Yu Xin, but afraid he might not have heard anything, and explaining might make her seem guilty.
She didn’t know what to say, so she casually walked towards the small path leading down the mountain.
Meng Qing accompanied her for a few steps and asked gently, “Is Yu Xin feeling better?”
Mentioning Yu Xin, Yu Yi felt quite relieved about her condition: “She’s been much better these past few days. Today when she went out and returned from eating at Yi Pin Pavilion, she even laughed and was in the mood to chat with me.”
“That’s good,” Meng Qing said. “What did you two talk about?”
“Nothing much, just casual conversation,” Yu Yi said, acting nonchalant.
After walking for a while, Meng Qing suddenly blurted out, “I heard it, you know.”
Yu Yi was stunned, not daring to ask what he had heard, but her face gradually grew warm. She turned her head to avoid his gaze, hearing him say, “I like it too, more and more…”
Something in Yu Yi’s heart was gently kneaded, with a subtle feeling spreading. Though she didn’t look at Meng Qing, the corners of her mouth involuntarily curved upward.
Meng Qing continued, “…I like this mountain villa. I feel a sense of home here. The longer I stay, the less I want to return to that cold ‘bachelor dormitory’.”
Yu Yi’s smile froze. Was this what he had heard? The subtle and sweet mood from moments ago vanished. Her smile faded, and she controlled her emotions, saying calmly, “If you like it, just stay.”
“Do you know why I like this mountain villa?” he asked.
“Why?” Yu Yi wasn’t particularly interested but responded since he was asking.
“Because of you,” he said.
Yu Yi’s heart stirred. She turned to look at Meng Qing and saw him with a mischievous smile, saying, “This is the first time you said you like me.”
Her eyebrows jumped, feeling somewhat embarrassed, and she explained, “…You heard? I was just comforting Xin-mei.”
“It’s okay, even if you said it to comfort her…” he continued smiling, his voice becoming low, “To comfort me, say it again.”
Yu Yi curved her lips and said, “Like.”
“I like you too, more and more…” his voice grew lower but remained clear, as he was close, his lips near her ear.
Yu Yi’s eyes filled with deeper laughter. Turning to look at him, his clear black eyes were extremely close, and she felt the familiar warm, soft, and moist sensation on her lips.
Meng Qingdao: “When the stream’s water volume is low, stones remain in place. During summer, when the water volume is high, smaller stones are washed downstream a certain distance. After many years, they are gradually washed out of the mountain by the stream and smoothed into a round shape by the water flow. If we go upstream, we should still be able to find jade. As for the quantity, it depends on whether there’s a large jade mine.”
Yu Yi said: “This mountain isn’t entirely mine. The estate only occupies a small part of the mountain.”
Meng Qing said: “I’ll find time to explore.”
If there’s really a jade mine, you should buy this mountain.”
Yu Yi let out a scornful laugh: “This jade mine was discovered by Young Master Meng. I wouldn’t dare to claim it exclusively.”
Meng Qing also laughed: “Whether there’s a mine is still uncertain. Don’t think too far ahead.” He looked up at the sky: “It’s too late. Let’s go back.”
He took Yu Yi’s hand, pulling her to the shore. They exchanged a glance and jumped ashore together. Meng Qing gave her a smile and said: “Let’s go to my place. I have something for you.”
Back at the villa, he took out a small box and handed it to Yu Yi. Upon opening it, she found a delicate silver bracelet adorned with several irregularly scattered pink gemstones. She looked up: “I’ve already given the brooch to my sister.”
Meng Qing smiled softly: “Then don’t give this one away.”
Yu Yi hummed in agreement, taking the bracelet from the box. Only then did she notice a tiny, semi-transparent micro-earpiece in the box. She looked at Meng Qing in surprise, wondering if he wasn’t just giving her jewelry.
Meng Qing placed the earpiece near her ear, saying: “When we partner on missions and sometimes need to split up, we can’t always have you run to the bathroom to contact me. Sometimes it’s inconvenient to speak directly. This is for communication.”
Yu Yi carefully examined the bracelet. Its inner side had a shallow concave area.
When she pressed it with her fingertip, she noticed no change.
Meng Qing took the bracelet, pressing his thumb on a pink gemstone. He first rotated it twice, then pushed, revealing a tiny circular hole. He explained: “It can recognize lip movements. You can speak without making a sound.”
Yu Yi tried mouthing “Mission complete” into the small hole. Immediately, a clear electronic synthesized voice came through the earpiece: “Mission complete.”
Meng Qing also put on an earpiece and took out his ink-colored ring, opening its engraved surface to reveal a small hole. Mouthing words into it, Yu Yi heard his voice in her earpiece: “I love you.”
Yu Yi’s face instantly turned red. Meng Qing smiled and helped her put the bracelet on her left wrist, saying: “Press and hold the button inside the bracelet, speak to it, and in the future, it will use your voice instead of the electronic synthesis.”
Two figures stood by the courtyard gate, pressed against the door for a while, before the taller figure took a step back, taking the other’s hand and saying: “I’m hungry, I’ll let you off this time. Let’s go eat.”
When they were about ten meters from the main courtyard, Yu Yi broke free from his hand and walked ahead alone. Meng Qing followed behind her, saying softly: “Trying to cover up, do you think just because we’re coming to eat so late, they won’t know what we’ve been doing?”
Yu Yi pretended not to hear and walked straight through the courtyard gate.
Yu Song’s wife and her other sisters were already eating. They were stunned when they saw Yu Yi enter.
Yu Yi was also surprised to see they had started eating without waiting for her and Meng Qing. Meng Qing always ate three meals a day in the main courtyard, and Yu Song’s wife would always wait for him before starting to eat. So Yu Yi found this scene extremely unexpected.
Yu Song’s wife immediately put down her chopsticks and stood up with a smile: “Young Master Meng, please sit. Because Yue’er said she was hungry, I didn’t wait for you… Please don’t take offense, Young Master Meng.”
